Disney Genie & Lightning Lane at Walt Disney World
Lightning Lane! Disney Genie! Virtual Queues! A trip to Disney World these days involves dealing with multiple potentially-confusing technologies with fanciful names. These technologies have two things in common: they’re all accessed through the My Disney Experience app on your iPhone or Android phone, and they’re all ways of minimizing your time spent waiting in line. This page explains in detail how all of these tools work, so you can use them effectively at Walt Disney World!
There’s so much to cover about Lightning Lane Multi Pass (formerly Genie+) and Lightning Lane Single Pass (formerly Individual Lightning Lane) that we split the information onto two pages:
- This page covers how all these technologies work and the various rules and policies, like a “user manual” for Genie, Lightning Lane Multi Pass (formerly Genie+), Lightning Lane Single Pass (formerly Individual Lightning Lane) and Virtual Queues.
- We also recommend reading our Lightning Lane Tips & Strategy page, a complete guide to maximizing the value of these tools so you can have the best possible Walt Disney World vacation!
Jump to:
- Disney Genie
- Lightning Lanes
- Lightning Lane Multi Pass (formerly Disney Genie+)
- Lightning Lane Single Pass (formerly Individual Lightning Lane)
- Virtual Queues
Disney Genie
The Disney Genie service is a FREE planning tool, built into the Walt Disney World My Disney Experience app, available for most smartphones. The service is conceptually pretty simple:
- At some point (preferably before you arrive), you use the app to select specific attractions you want to experience, plus restaurants you’d like to visit, places you might like to stay, and so forth. You can also select more generic types of experiences you are interested in, like “Princesses” or “Star Wars”.
- The app puts together a plan for you, trying to pick attractions that match your preferences and minimize wait times as best it can. It also suggests a place to have lunch and/or dinner, and lets you either make a reservation or pre-order your food so you can swing by and eat with minimal wait. It’s smart enough to not recommend a restaurant that is already fully reserved or an attraction that is currently down for refurbishment.
- If you aren’t happy with the plan, you can change things around. You can change a step in the plan by asking it to pick something else, delete things you aren’t interested in, or just ignore parts of the plan and do something else. Like a GPS, the app is supposed to recalculate its best overall recommendations for the rest of the day, whether you follow its suggestions or go your own way. In practice, it doesn’t always work as advertised; read on for more details.
Currently, the app cannot create a plan in advance. You can enter your preferences well in advance and edit them any time, but it will only start showing you plans on the morning of that park visit. That makes it less useful for planning things that require advance reservations, like table-service dining, dessert parties and so forth. On the plus side, once you’ve made dining reservations, the app will know those times and work the rest of its suggestions around them.
The app doesn’t seem very aggressive about getting you on your favorite rides. It seems to often instead suggest you go on nearby rides that have short waits. This is great if your priority is just getting on rides and minimizing walking and waiting, but it does mean that you really can’t force it to prioritize getting on your must-do rides. If certain rides or shows are really important to you, Genie may not be your best approach.
The app should keep track of some of your activities and adjust automatically, but that doesn’t always work. For example, if you’ve made sit-down dining reservations or pre-ordered food via mobile order around dinner time, the app should note that and stop suggesting other restaurants for dinner. If your reservation is earlier or later than what the app thinks is “dinner” you may find your list has dining recommendations you don’t want. Similarly, if you use Lightning Lane Multi Pass or Lightning Lane Single Pass for an attraction, the app should automatically remove that attraction from your recommendation list. But sometimes that doesn’t work correctly. As Disney works through the bugs, things like this should slowly get better.
Even in the best case, using the app relies on you doing a certain amount of manual management. If you take the app’s lead and ride the next thing it suggests, it may or may not figure out that you’ve crossed that ride off, so to speak, and may continue to suggest it. If so, you’ll need to go in and delete that recommendation so it will stop trying to shoehorn it into your day’s schedule. If you’re not happy with what Genie suggests, you basically need to ask it to come up with an alternative, or just delete the thing you don’t want to go on.
Following the app’s plan will almost certainly reduce the amount of time you will wait in line compared to just wandering randomly. The app can know, for example, that the lines for Haunted Mansion go down a little when a big parade is happening, and can tell you to wait until the parade time to visit that attraction. It knows that in the morning, going on Space Mountain before Pirates of the Caribbean will be a lower overall expected wait time than going on Pirates before Space Mountain. These may seem like small things, but we can tell you from experience, it really adds up.
People who are used to planning a Disney trip and like to use carefully constructed park plans will not get much out of the basic Genie functionality. Optimized plans like the ones printed in The Unofficial Guide To Walt Disney World or available on various web sites are going to get you on more of the rides you care most about.
On the other hand, if you prefer to not have to follow a rigid schedule, using Genie’s recommendations is not a bad idea. If you’re not sure what to do next, having Genie suggest your next move is better than the traditional method that families have used at Disney parks for decades: standing in a small cluster while the adults stare at the map and say things like, “My sister says Haunted Mansion is good,” while the children complain that they’re bored. Frankly, anything is better than that approach.
Lightning Lanes
Lightning Lanes are special entrances available at select attractions that allow you to skip the regular line and get straight to the ride quickly, usually in 10 minutes or less. If you’re familiar with the (now discontinued) FastPass system, it’s roughly the same thing, just no longer included with the ticket price. How do you get access to the Lightning Lane? Read on!
First, you need to make a Lightning Lane reservation, either via Lightning Lane Multi Pass (which costs money) or via Lightning Lane Single Pass (which costs money). There are a few other ways you might get a Lightning Lane reservation. Disney might give some out just to add magic to a guest’s day or potentially to encourage guests to move to a less crowded part of the park. Guest Relations can give people extra Lightning Lane passes to help make up for a problem or mistake like a ride breaking down. But most of the time, they’ll be ones you booked yourself on your phone.
Each guest is limited to getting just one Lightning Lane reservation per day for any specific ride. You are welcome to ride almost any ride or show as many times as you want by waiting in the regular line for each ride, with the exception of rides using a virtual queue, but you can typically only use the Lightning Lane once each day. One potential workaround: If you’re visiting the park with people who don’t want to ride a specific ride, and don’t mind letting you use their Lightning Lane reservations, you can get them a reservation as well, borrow their MagicBand or park ticket and use it to tap in for the ride a second time. As long as you’re using a valid, unexpired, unused reservation, Cast Members don’t seem to care who’s using it.
At any time during a reservation’s return window, you can go to the Lightning Lane entrance of that attraction and “tap in” by touching your ticket or MagicBand at the Mickey symbol.
- If you get a green light, you can proceed into the Lightning Lane, which should get you onto the attraction (either the loading zone or the first pre-show experience) within 10 minutes or so.
- If you get a blue light, that means there’s a problem, and the attendant at the entrance can tell you what’s going on. Typically you’re there too early or late, but in any case the attendant can offer various options depending on the exact situation they see on their console.
There is an automatic “grace period” built in, so currently you can show up for your reservation as much as 5 minutes early or 15 minutes late and the computer should just let you in. If you show up more than 15 minutes late, the attendant might let you in, especially if you have a good reason why you are late. Sometimes if you are held up through no fault of your own (a ride or transportation breakdown, for example), attendants have some wiggle room to let you ride, but there are always times when things are just too busy and attendants are told not to let in stragglers. And, of course, Disney can shorten or eliminate the grace period at any time. Bottom line: try not to be late!
Lightning Lane Multi Pass (formerly Disney Genie+)
Lightning Lane Multi Pass is an upgrade that unlocks Lightning Lane access to over 40 attractions across the 4 major Disney World parks. By purchasing Lightning Lane Multi Pass, you can get faster access to one ride at a time, selected from a set of popular attractions, all day long.
Purchasing Lightning Lane Multi Pass
If you are staying in a Disney-owned resort, you can purchase Lightning Lane Multi Pass for all the days of your trip (up to 14 days long), 7 days before your arrival day, If you are staying in a non-Disney resort, you can purchase Lightning Lane Multi Pass one day at a time, up to 3 days in advance of each day you want to use it.
Lightning Lane Multi Pass costs between $15.98-$37.28 (tax included) per person, per day at Walt Disney World. The price varies depending on which park you’re buying it for, and how busy that park is expected to be on that day. The multiple-park Lightning Lane Multi Pass will always be the most expensive. (Note that Disney can raise the price at any time.)
You can typically see what Lightning Lane Multi Pass will cost a few weeks in advance of the date you can first purchase it. Just open the My Disney Experience (aka Disney World) app and select “Lightning Lane Passes” from the main menu, then select a date, and finally select a park. The price for Lightning Lane varies based on which park you select, with Magic Kingdom typically the most expensive and Animal Kingdom being the least expensive.
To buy Lightning Lane Multi Pass, launch the My Disney Experience app and log into your Disney account, if you haven’t already. You should see a Lightning Lane section right at the top of the home screen, with a “Purchase” button. Tap that and select a date, then which park you want to buy for. You can buy Lightning Lane Multi Pass for your whole travel party if they’re all linked to your My Disney Experience account. You’ll need to provide payment info if you don’t already have a credit card attached to your Disney account.
Warning: Lightning Lane Multi Pass can sell out! Most days of the year, Lightning Lane Multi Pass is available for purchase the whole day, but on very busy days (peak holidays like spring break or Christmas especially) it can sell out, sometimes in advance. If you are there during a peak time, it’s generally a good idea to get it purchased bright and early in the morning on the first day you are eligible to purchase.
Using Lightning Lane Multi Pass
If you are staying in a Disney-owned resort, you can book your first three Lightning Lane Multi Pass attractions for each day of your trip (up to 14 days long), 7 days before you arrive. If you are staying in another resort, you can book your first three Lightning Lane Multi Pass attractions for each day, up to 3 days before the day you want to use them. In either case, you’ll be able to pick from any available times each day. You will only be able to pre-book attractions in a single theme park, even if you have a Park Hopper or Annual Pass.
The attractions are divided into two “tiers.” Tier 1 contains 4-5 of the most popular rides in each park. You can only pre-book a maximum of one attraction from Tier 1, and two from Tier 2. These tiers only affect your first three pre-booked attractions – once you’re in the park, as soon as you tap into your first attraction you can book any other available attraction – tiers don’t apply. That said, the Tier 1 attractions will usually be the first to sell out each day, so it’s a good idea to grab those attractions as early as possible.
Once you’ve used up each one of your first three Lightning Lane reservations, you can choose another. If you have a Park Hopper ticket or Annual Pass, you can pick a Lightning Lane reservation in a different park.
In the “Tip Board” section of the app, certain attractions have a “Multi Pass Experience” button with a time listed. Tap the button to reserve that time window for that attraction. If you haven’t purchased Lightning Lane Multi Pass yet, it will take you through that process, then take you back to the Tip Board to reserve your Lighting Lane time.
If you have a 1 Park Per Day ticket, you can only select attractions in one park. If you have a Park Hopper ticket or Annual Pass, you can make the next reservation in a different park.
Be careful! You may get a different time on the next screen! The time listed on the Tip Board is not guaranteed to be the time you get when you actually book. The system doesn’t “hold” the times listed on the Tip Board. Once you get to the actual booking screen, the time should be held (for at least a minute or so), and you should be able to count on on the time listed there being the time you’ll actually book. Return times can change very quickly, especially early in the morning. You may think you’re getting a 9:00 – 10:00 am reservation, only to see that it’s now a 10:20 – 11:20 am reservation on the next screen.
All of your booked reservations, including Lightning Lane Multi Passes and Single Passes, restaurants, events, etc. appear in the “My Day” section of the app. You’ll also see a few upcoming reservations on the top of the app home screen (tap the little house in the lower left to get to the home screen).
Once you’ve made your first three Lightning Lane Multi Pass reservations, you can make one for a new ride as soon as you use, cancel or let expire one of your three existing ones. In essence, you can always have three booked. If you currently have less than three (because you used one, let one expire unused, canceled one or just never booked all three), you can book another.
Additional Lightning Lane Multi Pass Notes
- You can only get one reservation per ride each day. Once you’ve used (or let expire) a Lightning Lane Multi Pass reservation for an attraction, you cannot get another Multi Pass reservation for that same attraction that day.
- The system will require that all your three pre-booked reservations don’t conflict with each other, but once you’re in the park, it will let you book a reservation that overlaps other plans, like a dining reservation or another Lightning Lane reservation. It will warn you that another reservation overlaps, but it won’t stop you from making it.
- You can modify a Lightning Lane Multi Pass reservation, to try to get a different time, or to change a reservation to a different ride. Just tap the Modify button when viewing a Lightning Lane Multi Pass reservation in the app, or tap the three dots and select “Modify” from the drop down menu. You can do this before you arrive or while you’re touring in the park. Before you arrive, the pre-book restrictions still apply (you can’t book overlapping times, and you can only have one Tier 1 attraction booked). Once you’re in the park, you can modify to any attraction that still has times available, and pick any available time, even if it overlaps another reservation.
- Lightning Lane Multi Pass also includes some special animated Augmented Reality Lenses so you can use your smartphone to take fun videos and photos of your friends and family with Disney characters. (These aren’t physical “lenses”, it’s just a feature of the My Disney Experience app that lets you take photos and videos with Disney characters magically included.)
- Purchasing Lightning Lane Multi Pass also gets you FREE downloads of any attraction photos via PhotoPass (but not photos from the in-park PhotoPass photographers). The FREE downloads are just the on-ride photos taken while you’re riding. Those photos will be added to your Disney account automatically if you’re wearing a MagicBand+. If you don’t have a MagicBand+ , there is usually someplace right after you exit the ride (in the gift shop, typically) where they can help you look up your ride photo and get it linked to your account.
- Be sure to also check out our page of strategy tips for using Lightning Lane Multi Pass, which provides practical tips for how to maximize the value you get for your money!
The attractions available for Lightning Lane Multi Pass reservations:
- Magic Kingdom:
- Tier 1 (can only pre-book 1 from this list):
- Big Thunder Mountain Railroad
- Jungle Cruise
- Peter Pan’s Flight
- Space Mountain
- Tiana’s Bayou Adventure
- Tier 2 (no restrictions):
- Barnstormer
- Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin
- Dumbo the Flying Elephant
- Haunted Mansion
- “it’s a small world”
- Mad Tea Party
- Magic Carpets of Aladdin
- Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh
- Mickey’s PhilharMagic
- Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor
- Pirates of the Caribbean
- Tomorrowland Speedway
- Under the Sea ~ Journey of The Little Mermaid
- Tier 1 (can only pre-book 1 from this list):
- Epcot:
- Tier 1 (can only pre-book 1 from this list):
- Frozen Ever After
- Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure
- Soarin’ Around the World
- Tier 2 (no restrictions):
- Disney and Pixar Short Film Festival
- Journey into Imagination with Figment
- Living with the Land
- Mission: SPACE – Green
- Mission: SPACE – Orange
- The Seas with Nemo & Friends
- Spaceship Earth
- Turtle Talk with Crush
- Tier 1 (can only pre-book 1 from this list):
- Hollywood Studios:
- Tier 1 (can only pre-book 1 from this list):
- Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway
- Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run
- Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster
- Slinky Dog Dash
- Tier 2 (no restrictions):
- Alien Swirling Saucers
- Beauty and the Beast Live On Stage
- Disney Junior Play & Dance!
- For the First Time in Forever: A Frozen Sing-Along Celebration
- Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular
- Muppet*Vision 3D
- Star Tours
- The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror
- Toy Story Mania!
- Tier 1 (can only pre-book 1 from this list):
- Animal Kingdom:
- DINOSAUR
- Expedition Everest
- Feathered Friends in Flight!
- Festival of the Lion King
- Finding Nemo: The Big Blue… and Beyond!
- It’s Tough to Be a Bug!
- Kali River Rapids
- Kilimanjaro Safaris
- Naʻvi River Journey
Lightning Lane Single Pass (formerly Individual Lightning Lane)
One or two ultra-popular attractions in each park have a separate paid option to get a Lightning Lane reservation. Reservations for these attractions are not available through Lightning Lane Multi Pass (and do not require buying Lightning Lane Multi Pass to reserve), and can be purchased individually. You can buy up to two of these in advance, with the same rules as for Multi Pass.
The prices for getting Lightning Lane reservations for these attractions vary, both based on ride popularity and how busy the parks are. Examples of Lightning Lane Single Pass prices we’ve seen so far range from $7 per person for Expedition Everest to $17 per person for Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind. Disney will adjust those prices up or down on different days depending on how much demand there is for Lightning Lane reservations for each ride. On weekends, for example, the prices are a little higher, and on weekdays they’re a little lower. On holidays they can be much higher. The price stays the same all day. You don’t have to worry that the price of a Lightning Lane reservation will change later in the day, but you do potentially need to worry about it selling out.
Making an Lightning Lane Single Pass Reservation
If you are staying in a Disney-owned resort, you can book up to two Lightning Lane Single Pass attractions for each day of your trip (up to 14 days long), 7 days before you arrive. If you are staying in another resort, you can book up to two Lightning Lane Single Pass attractions for each day, up to 3 days before the day you want to use them. In either case, you’ll be able to pick from any available times each day.
On the home page of the Disney World app there is a Lightning Lane section with a “Purchase” button. As early as 7am Eastern on the first day you are eligible to book Lightning Lanes, tap that button. Select a date on the next page, then a park on the next. It will show you any available Multi Pass or Single Pass options for that park. Select one or all of them, then select Continue. You can now select the time(s) for your Single Passes, and if you booked a Multi Pass, you’ll select attractions and times for those.
All of your booked reservations, including Lightning Lane Multi Pass, Lightning Lane Single Pass, restaurants, events, etc. appear in the “My Day” section of the app. You’ll also see a few of your upcoming reservations on the top of the app home screen (tap the little house in the lower left to get to the home screen).
If you have a 1 Park Per Day ticket, you can only select rides in one park. If you have a Park Hopper ticket or Annual Pass, you can make reservations at multiple parks.
Additional Lightning Lane Single Pass Notes
- You can only get one reservation per ride each day. Once you’ve used (or let expire) an Lightning Lane Single Pass reservation for an attraction, you cannot get another reservation for that same attraction.
- Lightning Lane Single Pass reservations are independent of Lightning Lane Multi Pass reservations, so making Single Pass reservations has no effect on your ability to make Multi Pass reservations, if you purchase both.
- The system will let you make a reservation that conflicts with something else such as a dining reservation, a Lightning Lane Multi Pass reservation or another Lightning Lane Single Pass reservation. It will warn you that another reservation overlaps, but it won’t stop you from making it.
- You cannot cancel paid Lightning Lane Single Pass reservations. Guest Relations staff have the technical ability to cancel one, but will only do so under special circumstances.
- If your ride goes down during your reservation window and before you were able to ride, or after you’ve tapped in but have not yet completed the ride, you should get assigned a special pass that lets you ride that ride once at any time for the rest of the day. If it doesn’t, visit Guest Relations and they should be able to fix it. If the ride stays down for the rest of the day, you should get a refund, though it may require a trip to Guest Relations if it doesn’t happen automatically. If the ride comes back up, but you weren’t able to ride because you had to leave the park or had another conflict, you won’t get an automatic refund, but Guest Relations should still be able to help.
The complete list of rides available for Lightning Lane Single Pass reservations (which Disney can change any time):
- Magic Kingdom:
- Seven Dwarfs Mine Train
- Tron Lightcycle / Run
- Epcot:
- Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind
- Hollywood Studios:
- Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance
- Animal Kingdom:
- Avatar: Flight of Passage
Virtual Queues
A “virtual queue” is a way of holding a spot in line for an attraction without having actually having to stand in a physical queue. Disney uses this system sparingly, typically only for one or two rides per park that are brand-new and/or in very high demand. Disney has also used it in the past to manage access to new park “lands” like Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge. Virtual queues are FREE.
- Tiana’s Bayou Adventure in Magic Kingdom currently uses a Virtual Queue.
- Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind in Epcot currently uses a Virtual Queue.
When you enter a virtual queue, you get assigned a numbered boarding group, which is just like taking a number at the deli. You can always see what number is currently boarding, and can get a rough idea of how much longer you’ll have to wait for your number to come up. If the ride goes down for some amount of time, boarding will pause and your number will get called later. There’s no guarantee that they’ll ever get to your number, though if the ride operates normally they generally get to all or almost all groups.
Virtual queues are completely separate from Lightning Lane, and don’t affect your ability to pay for a Lightning Lane Single Pass selection. In fact, if a ride has both a virtual queue and paid Lightning Lane Single Pass access, you can use both and ride it twice!
A virtual queue has been used in the past for Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance and Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure, and potentially could return. Be sure to check if any rides you want to experience are using a virtual queue before you arrive, because the system for using them is unique.
How To Get A Boarding Group
Disney can change the system for virtual queues at any time (and has, several times), but here’s the system currently in use:
- Each day, you have two main opportunities to join the virtual queue (plus one more if you qualify for Extended Evening Theme Park Hours and the park is offering them that night). The first time is at 7:00 am (from outside the park) and the second is at 1:00 pm (after entering the park). Often all the boarding groups are given out within minutes (or even seconds on busy days), so plan to be ready a few minutes before 7:00 am (and then just before 1:00 pm if you aren’t successful at 7:00 am). If you get one at 7:00 am, you can’t get another at 1:00 pm.
- There can be another Virtual Queue opportunity just for guests who qualify for Extended Evening Theme Park Hours. If a ride with a virtual queue is in a park that is offering extended evening hours, and you are staying in a hotel that qualifies you to take advantage of them, you can try one more time for a special virtual queue covering the extended hours. This special queue usually opens at 6:00 pm (but check the app to make sure). You do not need to have entered the park to book this late-night virtual queue.
- Before your visit, make sure you have installed the My Disney Experience app on your phone or other device.
- Log into your My Disney Experience account in the app, and make sure your park tickets are listed; you will need to use the same account that owns the tickets you use to enter the park.
- If you need to, get a park reservation for the park that you are going to visit. Only people using specialty or very old tickets, or people with Annual Passes will need to get park reservations. People with regular dated tickets don’t need them.
- Make sure that everyone else you are traveling with is linked to your account, so you can get a boarding group that includes everyone who wants to ride together. Also, look at the Tip Board section of the app and find the attraction. If you tap the Virtual Queue button you can set up your party in advance and make sure everyone who wants to ride is selected.
- If possible, have everyone else in your party also get the app, log in, and make sure they’re linked to everyone in the party; each person can simultaneously try to get a boarding group for the whole group. (You won’t accidentally get two – once one person succeeds, everyone in that group is locked out from getting another for that day.)
- If you’re at a Disney hotel or at a Disney Park, turn off wi-fi and switch to your phone’s data plan (if you have working cellular data service). When everyone is refreshing at the same time, Disney’s wi-fi gets very congested, adding random delays to the system. Typically cellular networks are more robust and this can give you a tiny edge. Every little bit helps. (Once you’re done trying to snag your virtual queue slot, you can turn wi-fi back on.)
- About an hour before the queue selection happens (6:00 am for the first one), you can use the My Disney Experience app to select the people who will be in your virtual queue party. It’s a good idea to get this set up before the actual virtual queue opens, especially if one or more of your party doesn’t want to ride.
- At a few minutes before 7:00 am (Eastern), have everyone who is participating launch the Disney World app and select “Join Virtual Queue.” It should be on the main “Home” section of the app, or you can go to the Tip Board section of Genie and find the attraction, and there’s a virtual queue button there as well.
- Select the park you are going to visit and the ride you plan to ride. At about 6:58 am or so, start refreshing the page (on a phone, drag down on the page to trigger refresh) until you see the “Join Queue” button appear solid and clickable.
- Click the button.
- Select all the members of your party (or just make sure they’re all selected) and click “Join” or “Next”.
- Hopefully one person got a boarding group! If not, don’t despair. Go ahead and enter the park when it opens, and at 1:00 pm you’ll have another chance to join a boarding group. Follow the same basic steps, starting at 12:58 pm or so. Note that everyone in your group needs to have entered the park to join a boarding group at 1:00 pm. It doesn’t appear that it’s necessary to actually be inside the park – just that at some point each guest actually entered the park. You can’t get a boarding group at 1:00 pm if you already got one at 7:00 am.
- Whether or not you got a boarding group at 7:00 am or 1:00 pm, if Extended Evening Theme Park Hours are going to be offered in the park the ride is in, and you qualify for the extended hours, you can try again at 6:00 pm. You can get one for the extended hours even if you already got a boarding group earlier in the day!
- If you do get into a boarding group, it will have a number. Disney will “call” numbers in order over the course of the day, which you can see in the My Disney Experience app. Make sure to check your phone fairly often over the course of the day to see how the boarding groups are moving along. You should also enable notifications for the My Disney Experience app, but it’s a good idea to check manually from time to time.
- Once your boarding group number comes up, head to the ride entrance. You should have a fairly moderate wait, assuming the ride is running normally, though not as short as Lightning Lane.
- If you can’t make it to the ride when your boarding group comes up because of a conflict, head to the ride as soon as you can and explain your situation to the Cast Members there. There’s no guarantee, but they may have enough capacity to accommodate latecomers, especially if you have a good reason.
- We expect that most rides that have virtual queues will also be available for Lightning Lane Single Pass (i.e. paid Lightning Lane access), so if you don’t want to get up at 7:00 am to try to get a group, you may be able to spend some money to get a reserved time to go on the ride. Or you can get both a boarding group and a Lightning Lane Single Pass reservation and ride twice!
- There’s no guarantee that your boarding group number will be called. If the ride has substantial downtime, they may not get all the way to your number. Further complicating things, if the ride goes down for a while, when it comes back up they will prioritize people with paid Lightning Lane reservations, which will further slow down the boarding groups. If riding that specific ride on that specific day is very important to you, we recommend getting a Lightning Lane reservation.