Of the numerous controversial components of the Lightning Lane Multi-Go line-skipping system, the no re-ride rule simply makes the highest 25. (It’s a protracted checklist of complaints.) Fortunately, there are methods to bypass lengthy strains and expertise points of interest repeatedly, together with one advanced-level hack that’ll can help you use paid FastPass on the identical experience greater than as soon as.
That is particularly related now. In any case, ’tis the season…of loopy crowds at Walt Disney World and Disneyland. As attendance will increase, so too does “competitors” for Lightning Lanes because of extra friends shopping for the Multi Go choice. Regardless of surge pricing that may trigger the paid FastPass service to value $40+ on busy days, demand is highest when attendance and wait instances are at their worst.
Accordingly, you may need to have advanced-level Lightning Lane technique in the course of the busiest dates when strains are longest and there’s essentially the most competitors for the very best LLMP choices. You’ll need to leverage experience reservation refills, have a robust refresh sport, and extra. Even then, when you’re visiting in the course of the peak weeks of Thanksgiving, Christmas, or New 12 months’s Eve, there’s an excellent likelihood you’re not scoring Lightning Lanes for each headliner, even with the entire greatest methods up your sleeve.
In that spirit, this can be a Lightning Lane Multi-Go superior technique and publish. Which is to say that superior technique isn’t ample (particularly the one coated right here), so that you’ll additionally need to leverage the opposite, common savvy standby methods. This can be a matter of practicality. You must by no means put your whole eggs in a single basket, and overreliance on Lightning Lanes is a typical recipe for disappointment.
That’s doubly true relating to Lightning Lane Multi-Go superior technique, none of which is foolproof or assured. You possibly can play the refresh sport aggressively or know all of the ins and outs, however when you go to on a peak season day and Disney opts to throttle experience reservation refills or availability is in any other case restricted, you’re out of luck.
Whereas we’re on the subject, it’s price a ‘warning’ up entrance that Lightning Lane superior technique could be complicated and overwhelming. In the event you take ~half-hour to be taught the ins and outs, you gained’t simply be above common–you’ll be a high 5% LLMP energy person. Nevertheless, this additionally means it isn’t simple. If it have been, everybody would do it, and also you wouldn’t be a high 5% energy person!
Simply mentioning this as a result of at any time when we do a hacks publish like this, there are inevitably readers who’re confused and change into upset that you just “should” do a ton of homework simply to know Lightning Lanes. You completely don’t. This isn’t the baseline for common friends. In the event you discover all of this overwhelming, merely decide out. You’ll nonetheless be fantastic. That is advanced-level and past what 95% of friends will do and even want. In different phrases, these are not the fundamentals of Lightning Lanes at Walt Disney World.
With that in thoughts, let’s begin with the savvy supplemental standby methods that you just ought to be using alongside Lightning Lane Multi-Go if you wish to re-ride favourite points of interest. Or when you’re merely visiting throughout a busy timeframe when it gained’t be attainable to attain each experience reservation by way of LLMP. In the event you’re already conversant in these, skip to the final entry for one more superior Lightning Lane hack…
Early Entry – Earlier than every of the Disney theme parks formally open for the day, there’s Early Entry, which is presents 30-minute entry to friends staying in on-site accommodations. (See our Information to Early Entry at Walt Disney World or our Information to Early Entry at Disneyland for more information & technique.)
Early Entry begins half-hour earlier than every of the parks open. For instance, if Magic Kingdom formally opens at 9 am, that places Early Entry at 8:30 am. Magic Kingdom is the most well-liked park at Walt Disney World, and this 8:30 begin time doesn’t current a ‘barrier to entry’ for most individuals. This implies MK has the most important crowds for Early Entry, rendering the perk virtually ineffective for the most well-liked experience, Seven Dwarfs Mine Practice.
At each of the citadel parks, Early Entry can also be restricted to solely Tomorrowland and Fantasyland. On the different three Walt Disney World theme parks, it encompasses the whole thing of the park and all headliners. Consequently, Early Entry is most helpful at Animal Kingdom, Disney’s Hollywood Studios, and EPCOT–in that order. You possibly can often do fashionable rides by way of standby with 15-20 minute waits. Generally much less.
Rope Drop – In any other case referred to as official park opening time, when a rope is dropped permitting common friends to entry all of the lands of park. It ought to go with out saying, however rope drop happens after Early Entry.
Rope drop is most helpful at Disneyland and Magic Kingdom, exactly as a result of Early Entry is much less helpful at these parks. In each citadel parks in addition to Disney California Journey, there are main points of interest and whole lands that aren’t open till rope drop. Within the different parks, there are second-tier fashionable points of interest which might be additionally nice. Right here’s a partial checklist of the very best rope drop rides:
- TRON Lightcycle Run (Magic Kingdom)
- Jungle Cruise (MK)
- Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance (Disneyland)
- Indiana Jones Journey (DL)
- Large Thunder Mountain Railroad (MK/DL)
- Tower of Terror (Disney’s Hollywood Studios)
- Rock ‘n’ Curler Coaster (DHS)
- Radiator Springs Racers (Disney California Journey)
- Frozen Ever After (EPCOT)
- Soarin’ (EPCOT/DCA)
- Kilimanjaro Safaris (Disney’s Animal Kingdom)
- Expedition Everest (DAK)
Since Animal Kingdom opens so early and is much less fashionable than the opposite parks, most rides are good choices at common rope drop. Even these in Pandora – World of Avatar. Likewise, Early Entry eligibility is so restricted at Disneyland Resort that even Fantasyland or Avengers Campus points of interest are inclined to ‘reset’ and have low waits once more at common rope drop. Probably the most borderline entry on the above checklist is Frozen Ever After at EPCOT, which does have decrease waits than noon, however you can nonetheless wait ~half-hour at rope drop.
Buzzer Beater – Equally, there’s the tried and true strategy for any headliner attraction: 1 minute earlier than park closing. That is just like the reverse rope drop, or ‘rope rise’ choice. We like to think about it because the “buzzer beater” strategy, since all you’ve gotta do is bounce in line earlier than the clock strikes park closing.
Disney doesn’t cease strains for points of interest till park closing, which implies you may queue up proper till the clock strikes midnight (or at any time when the parks shut–often a lot earlier at Walt Disney World than Disneyland). This successfully extends your day and is when the precise wait time is lowest for all headliners on each coasts.
Ignore the posted wait time. Disney intentionally inflates wait instances on the finish of the night time to discourage friends from getting in a single final experience. The extra individuals who bounce in line for the excitement beater strategy, the longer it takes to clear the park, which implies extra $$$ for Disney in staffing.
We have now accomplished the ‘buzzer-beater’ strategy to Seven Dwarfs Mine Practice, TRON Lightcycle Run, Indiana Jones Journey, Area Mountain, Radiator Springs Racers, Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance, and different top-tier points of interest on each coasts dozens and dozens of instances. Nearly each single night time, the truth is. The overwhelming majority of the time, our precise wait time for any of those points of interest has been between 10 and quarter-hour. There have been instances once they’ve been walk-ons!
Prolonged Night Hours – This one is unique to Walt Disney World, to sure nights, particular parks, and a small pool of friends. Suffice to say, there are a lot of limiting elements on Prolonged Night Hours (ExEH). In the event you’re unfamiliar with the ins and outs, be taught extra in our Information to Prolonged Night Hours at Walt Disney World.
Prolonged Night Hours is absolutely helpful at Magic Kingdom, the place you are able to do just about any attraction–together with Seven Dwarfs Mine Practice and TRON Lightcycle Run–in direction of the top of the night with minimal waits. It’s not fairly as advantageous at EPCOT, partly as a result of extra restricted experience roster and partly as a result of all the pieces’s so unfold out.
There’s actually not a lot distinction with Prolonged Night Hours and common park closing. Prioritize the second-tier points of interest earlier throughout ExEH and the top-tier ones on the very finish. Soar into line for Remy’s Ratatouille Journey, TRON, or SDMT on the very finish, and all the pieces else earlier than that to maximise your time saved.
A number of Expertise Go (MEP) – That is referred to as a bunch of various issues, each formally and unofficially. Disney was once so good about constant branding and naming conference, however that basically went off the rails when retiring FastPass, Further Magic Hours, and so forth. (Is it truly referred to as Early Entry? Is it capitalized? Will depend on the place you look!) However I digress.
Disney and followers principally check with this because the A number of Expertise Go or MEP. That’s a bit complicated now that Lightning Lane Multi Go has been launched, however no matter. We’ll roll with it.
A number of Expertise Passes are what you obtain an attraction for which you will have an upcoming experience reservation is experiencing downtime. You’ll obtain a notification a couple of modification to your plans, together with an evidence that the attraction is quickly unavailable or one thing like that. Listed here are examples from Magic Kingdom:
This A number of Experiences Go can then be used on the Lightning Lane entrance of your alternative, with quite a lot of caveats. These passes have a number of tiers, and the exclusions on yours will fluctuate based mostly on the experience you had booked by way of Lightning Lane Multi-Go. Phew. That’s a whole lot of multiples!
The salient level right here is that the A number of Experiences Go doesn’t depend towards the re-ride rule. Which means that these floating experience reservations don’t have the restriction of solely being legitimate for every attraction as soon as per day–you should use MEPs to expertise your favourite rides time and again. That is basically a wildcard or ‘get out of jail free’ card or no matter you need to name it. The MEP exists in a parallel universe, largely unencumbered by the principles of the Lightning Lane system.
In the event you take a look at the screenshot above, you’ll see that I acquired that A number of Experiences Go for Area Mountain. As soon as I acquired that, Area Mountain was again on the desk as an attraction I may reserve once more (topic to availability) by way of Lightning Lane Multi-Go. So I did. However because it was nonetheless damaged down, this instantly transformed to a different MEP. This, in flip, allowed me to guide a experience reservation for Area Mountain once more. And guess what I did?
Above is my assortment of A number of Experiences Passes from Area Mountain being damaged down on this explicit day. I additionally booked a Lightning Lane Multi-Go for Area Mountain that really “caught,” that means that I ended up with 4 LLMPs flowing from Area Mountain on this explicit day. I may use these to experience something, besides the higher-status headliners in Magic Kingdom.
It gained’t all the time work, and truthfully, I’m stunned the system let me maintain reserving Area Mountain. A lot of the time, a experience breaking down will ‘freeze’ its Lightning Lane availability, thereby avoiding this consequence the place the system is spitting out A number of Experiences Passes like sweet. For no matter motive, that wasn’t the case on this explicit day.
Fairly than counting on a glitch or anomaly like this, there’s a extra tried and true manner of scoring the coveted A number of Experiences Go. You possibly can troll or fish for them. There are specific points of interest which might be extra susceptible to breakdowns or the dreaded delayed opening.
Disneyland diehards routinely work the system with Indiana Jones Journey and Area Mountain, together with the Pixar Pier headliners, Soarin’ and Grizzly River Run. In the event you reservation considered one of these as your first Lightning Lane of the day, there’s a first rate likelihood you’ll be rewarded with a A number of Experiences Go as a result of the experience is unable to open with the park. If not, you may both experience or play the modify sport and maintain fishing.
Different points of interest at Disneyland and Disney California Journey the place this often works all through the day are Large Thunder Mountain Railroad, Matterhorn, Monsters, Inc. Mike & Sulley to the Rescue, and Goofy’s Sky Faculty. At Disneyland, it additionally appears simpler to attain upcoming LLMPs for rides which might be at the moment experiencing downtime.
At Walt Disney World, it’s a bit trickier. That is largely as a result of the vast majority of rides which might be probably to expertise the dreaded delayed opening are additionally essentially the most tough and coveted Lightning Lanes. Nonetheless, right here’s a listing of points of interest to focus on:
- The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh
- Pirates of the Caribbean
- Haunted Mansion
- Large Thunder Mountain Railroad
- Tiana’s Bayou Journey
- Slinky Canine Sprint
- Rock ‘n’ Curler Coaster
- Remy’s Ratatouille Journey
- Spaceship Earth
- Expedition Everest
Clearly, a few of these are going to be extra helpful when trolling for a A number of Experiences Go than others. It additionally ought to go with out saying, however experience reliability is unpredictable and topic to alter. There was a time not too way back when Pirates of the Caribbean and Rock ‘n’ Curler Coaster have been reliably experiencing unreliability. You would guide considered one of these for the earliest morning time slot and have a 50/50 likelihood they’d be down. As of proper now, even essentially the most breakdown-prone rides are solely having delayed openings below 20% of the time. Excellent news for the Walt Disney World visitor expertise as an entire; unhealthy information for MEP fishers.
There are different extra advanced-level hacks with A number of Expertise Passes, or quite, there have been. This included methods to speed up Lightning Lane return instances, obtain bonus MEPs, and extra. I imagine most, if not all, of those turned out of date with the change from Genie+ to Lightning Lane Multi Go. It’s however price reiterating that MEP exists in a parallel universe of kinds, just like the Upside Down or Twilight Zone (relying upon your age) variations of Walt Disney World and Disneyland.
What this implies in observe is that A number of Expertise Passes can interface with the Lightning Lane Multi Go system in odd and sudden methods. I do know that is going to shock each diehard fan, however typically Disney IT could be glitchy, and that’s evident every so often with MEP. Issues like precedence guidelines for which experience reservation to drag, errors leading to limitless Lightning Lanes, and extra have occurred occasionally.
The screenshot above exhibits a day after I acquired one legitimate MEP for a experience breakdown…after which saved getting extra each 5 minutes for causes unknown. That was over 2 years in the past, it’s by no means occurred once more, and I nonetheless don’t have any clue why it occurred within the first place. Maybe a Festivus miracle? Exhausting to say. The purpose I’m making an attempt to make is that typically the sudden occurs with A number of Expertise Passes, and different instances the principles change in much less favorable methods. Don’t depend on any of the above making use of long-term, as Disney usually tweaks its methods to shut loopholes…which typically creates different loopholes within the course of. It’s like Whac-A-Mole.
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YOUR THOUGHTS
Have you ever ever had success fishing for A number of Expertise Passes? Another suggestions or recommendation so as to add based mostly in your experiences? Obtained a MEP by full accident because of breakdowns? What’s your optimum strategy and time of day to do ‘supplemental’ standby rides on favourite points of interest? What would you suggest to Walt Disney World or Disneyland first-timers? Do you agree or disagree with any of our technique? Any questions we may also help you reply? Listening to your suggestions–even while you disagree with us–is each attention-grabbing to us and useful to different readers, so please share your ideas beneath within the feedback!
