Walt Disney World has rolled out the brand new Lightning Lane Multi-Cross, killing off the Genie+ service. This put up solutions numerous often requested reader questions concerning the new pre-arrival trip reservation system based mostly on our firsthand experiences in utilizing the brand new app characteristic just about continuous since 7 am.
There are numerous questions on the entire Lightning Lane Multi Cross system, and we’ve already answered lots of them in our Information to Lightning Lane Multi Cross & Single Cross at Walt Disney World. This entire system is complicated and convoluted, particularly for individuals who by no means used FastPass+. This put up is greatest seen as a complement to that information and FAQ.
The truth is, that’s the way it began. I used to be updating that FAQ based mostly on questions we’ve acquired at present once I realized I had already written 2,000 phrases and was including them to a 5,000 phrase put up. That didn’t appear to be one of the best method, particularly for readers who already combed by means of that information. It appeared like a waste of time (for you) and that this could be the higher possibility for readability, avoiding confusion, and many others. So right here that is as a separate standalone put up with questions and solutions that’ll be rolled into that. If in case you have extra questions that this doesn’t reply, please put up them within the feedback!
Is refreshing and rebooking trip reservations attainable with Lightning Lane Multi-Cross prefer it was with FastPass+ or Genie+?
Sure, and it’s straightforward due to the modify button. As earlier than, you possibly can play the ‘refresh sport’ and get higher or extra handy return occasions, and in addition seek for availability at different sights with out dropping your current Lightning lane trip reservation.
You don’t have to cancel and rebook. Between the modify button and the 5-minute cart, you possibly can bounce between the “Modify Plan” button and the “Shut” button to refresh and examine for brand spanking new occasions fairly simply with out dropping your current choice–or committing to an inferior one.
Is extra availability added to Lightning Lane Multi-Cross all through the day?
Sure. That is no shock by any means, as each FastPass+ and Genie+ had trip reservation refills, drops, or no matter you need to name them that occurred at constant occasions. (See Experience Reservation Refill Guidelines at Walt Disney World.)
It’s nonetheless early, so it’s unattainable to know the cadence of those beneath Lightning Lane Multi-Cross at this level, however I’ve already seen trip reservation refills for a number of sights beneath LLMP. And I do know they had been refills and never cancellations, as a ton of occasions popped up–they’d the entire hallmarks of a refill.
With the modify button, looking for trip reservation refills is straightforward. Mixed, the 2 methods may be leveraged to attain a number of extra Lightning Lane choices per day. Simply be warned: it turns into addictive–similar to a online game. Additionally like a sport, it may possibly imply dropping a ton of ‘actual world’ time as your face is glued to a display.
Which Lightning Lane choices are the “greatest” ones from every tier?
We rank one of the best Lightning Lane Multi-Cross picks for every park based mostly upon time saved and the way rapidly return occasions refill and run out. That is extremely useful for selecting the order to e-book your trip reservations:
One phrase of warning: these are very, ahem, “optimistic” about what number of Lightning Lanes you’ll be capable of e-book per day versus the on-the-ground actuality we’re seeing on day certainly one of Lightning Lane Multi-Cross. However it’s nonetheless very early and lots might–and can–change.
Does Park Hopping value additional?
With Lightning Lane Multi Cross, there isn’t any extra cost for Park Hopping, and you don’t want to pay for the Lightning Lane Multi-Cross a second time. There’s numerous confusion about this on account of inaccurate reporting and assumptions based mostly on Disney’s historical past of nickel and diming, however they’re inaccurate.
Nonetheless, you need to use your first Lightning Lane earlier than making subsequent choices in several parks. The rationale for that is that upfront pricing does differ. That means with out this ‘faucet in’ requirement for the primary Lightning Lane, I might buy Lightning Lane Multi Cross for Animal Kingdom at $16, make my choices there at 7:00 am, after which modify all of them to Magic Kingdom at 7:01 am. It might be a loophole to avoid wasting $9 per particular person, with out a lot value since availability remains to be fairly good at 7 am.
However you possibly can’t do this. If you happen to attempt to modify Lightning Lane Multi Cross choices from one park to a different earlier than utilizing any of them, you’ll have to pay the distinction. Thus closing that loophole. Nonetheless, should you use your Lightning Lane first (let’s say for Na’vi River Journey at 8:30 am), then you can begin making Magic Kingdom Lightning Lanes at that time with out paying something additional. Availability gained’t be nearly as good and also you in all probability gained’t get Tiana’s Bayou Journey, however that’s the tradeoff!
Ought to I e-book the default return occasions that Lightning Lane Multi-Cross spits again after deciding on my rides?
Oddly and surprisingly: sure. Sure, you must more often than not.
The Lightning Lane Multi-Cross system is “sensible” and can e-book the primary out there return time for every attraction, with a enough buffer between them so that you just’re not double-booked. That is the ‘greatest apply’ since you usually ought to be making as early of arrival occasions as attainable (for a minimum of one attraction) with a purpose to “unlock” that 4th trip sooner.
The truth is, you must think about altering your Group B choices with a purpose to prioritize for a combination of return time and trip precedence. Don’t e-book Haunted Mansion and Pirates of the Caribbean, for instance, if each have return occasions within the afternoon. Go for the subsequent highest precedence with an early return to unlock that 4th choose.
What’s one of the best order of parks for making advance Lightning Lane Multi-Cross reservations?
From what we’re seeing when it comes to availability (or lack thereof), you must e-book parks within the following precedence:
- Magic Kingdom (Tiana’s Bayou Journey)
- Disney’s Hollywood Studios (Slinky Canine Sprint)
- EPCOT (Remy’s Ratatouille Journey)
- Animal Kingdom (Na’vi River Journey, Kilimanjaro Safaris, Kali River Rapids or Expedition Everest)
For one of the best attraction and return time choices, you’ll need to backload your bookings with Magic Kingdom furthest out, then DHS, EPCOT, and Animal Kingdom. This issues much less you probably have an extended journey and extra for a shorter one.
For instance, if I had been visiting the parks August 12-15, I’d e-book within the following order:
- Magic Kingdom: August 15
- DHS: August 14
- EPCOT: August 13
- DAK: August 12
This can in all probability change as soon as Tiana’s Bayou Journey turns into extra dependable. Its capability will enhance and thus so too will its Lightning Lane availability. I’d hope that this may happen within the subsequent month or so, however failing that, TBA’s recognition ought to drop barely as soon as winter arrives.
In the long run, I’ve a tough time seeing Slinky Canine Sprint dethroned from its #1 spot. However, Magic Kingdom goes to have rotating refurbishments/reimaginings from Group A by means of 2025 and DHS does have a powerful lineup in prime tier. Not solely that, however Haunted Mansion and Pirates of the Caribbean had been the fastest-booking Group B choices of something from any park. (Considerably surprisingly.)
Are any sights reserving up past the 3-day window?
Sure. I solely have entry by means of July 31, however listed here are sights with no Lightning Lane availability throughout the on-site reserving window:
- Tiana’s Bayou Journey (no time slots or dates out there)
- Haunted Mansion (no morning time slots)
- Pirates of the Caribbean (no morning time slots)
- Jungle Cruise (restricted morning time slots)
- Slinky Canine Sprint (some dates unavailable; restricted time slots on out there dates)
- Remy’s Ratatouille Journey (restricted morning time slots)
- Frozen Ever After (restricted morning time slots)
- Tower of Terror (restricted morning time slots)
- Toy Story Mania (restricted morning time slots)
Frankly, I wouldn’t put a lot inventory in any of this exterior of Tiana’s Bayou Journey, Slinky Canine Sprint, and Remy’s Ratatouille Journey. These will stay tough to e-book at or contained in the 3-day window. Every thing else might be going to vary as stock is adjusted.
Is it attainable to see out there sights and return occasions earlier than shopping for?
Sure. The truth is, that is the solely solution to do it.
You choose your first three sights and return occasions with Lightning Lane Multi Cross earlier than you pay–that’s the final step of the method. When you make your choices, you’ll have a set period of time throughout which your ‘cart’ is reserved with a purpose to full the transaction.
Why is availability so restricted?
Virtually each Lightning Lane Multi-Cross and Single Cross stuffed up sooner at present than yesterday regardless of comparable crowds. That second half is especially related as a result of nothing modified about Single Cross apart from the title. With regard to Multi-Cross, just about the one rides that didn’t refill hours sooner than regular are people who usually e-book rapidly.
Magic Kingdom was particularly unhealthy, with Group B sights that don’t usually run out of availability till the night (e.g. Haunted Mansion, Pirates of the Caribbean, Buzz Lightyear’s Area Ranger Spin, The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, and Tomorrowland Speedway–actually, the speedway?!) being passed by early afternoon.
A part of it’s in all probability that there are numerous vloggers, bloggers, influencers, and Floridians who have to be “first” all within the parks and “clogging up” the Lightning Lanes. Nonetheless, that’s solely a minor contributing issue. My individuals are loud and obnoxious, making us appear larger in quantity than we’re actually.
The extra seemingly rationalization is that it’s the primary day of a brand new product providing. Walt Disney World has accomplished lots to put the groundwork for improved Lightning Lane availability, however the actuality stays that they’re going from 1 trip reservation previous to arrival to three–tripling demand proper out of the gate.
Given this, it’s seemingly that Walt Disney World is throttling Lightning Lane availability as a result of it’s model new and so they themselves aren’t positive of what to anticipate. I’d think about they’ll slowly open the valve, so to talk, after a couple of days and deeper into August. We should always begin seeing extra upfront availability and trip reservation refills because the months go on. In fact, crowds are additionally going to be worse for a lot of October by means of December, so there’s that, too.
The underside line is that I’d warning anybody towards extrapolating tendencies based mostly on the primary day or week. As we noticed firsthand with Genie, issues modified often and repeatedly within the first 18 months after launch. Lightning Lane Multi-Cross already seems extra steady (it’s definitely not as half-baked), however it’ll nonetheless evolve over time.
How a lot time are your decisions locked in?
You could have 5 minutes from the time you place Lightning Lanes in your “cart” to finish checkout.
This will imply there’s nonetheless a shifting of occasions proper on the 7:00:00 am mad sprint, however when you make the choices, they’re locked into place. (Error messages will happen earlier than that, if in any respect.) This can be a large enchancment from Genie+ when occasions had been ‘blind’ for the primary half-hour as a result of large shifting attainable.
This additionally means you in all probability need to hold enjoying the ‘refresh sport’ till round 7:30 am when reserving your Lightning Lanes through Multi-Cross, as carts will expire and different friends will hold swapping round Lightning Lanes and “buying and selling up” occasions as availability permits.
Do tiers apply same-day?
If you happen to’re simply reserving ‘chilly’ or for the primary time, the Grouping A and B distinctions do apply along with your first same-day Lightning Lane Multi-Cross choices.
When you’ve entered a park and tapped into your first Lightning Lane, tiers not apply for subsequent choices.
What about tiers to modifications?
In our expertise, tiers don’t apply to modifications as long as you’ve already redeemed a Lightning Lane. That means that you could possibly redeem a Lightning Lane for Pirates of the Caribbean at 9:05 am, after which modify pre-booked Lightning Lane from Haunted Mansion to Huge Thunder Mountain Railroad whereas nonetheless additionally holding a Tiana’s Bayou Journey Lightning Lane.
The query I can not reply is whether or not you could possibly faucet into the park after which modify all of those Lightning Lanes to Group A choices earlier than tapping into any of them.
Can Lightning Lane trip reservations overlap with each other?
Not utterly. Within the screenshot above, you possibly can see that now we have a Tiana’s Bayou Journey Lightning Lane for 11:45 am to 12:45 pm and Haunted Mansion from 12:35 to 1:35 pm–an overlap of 10 minutes.
In doing a wide range of testing, we had been capable of e-book partially overlapping Lightning Lanes by as a lot as 25 minutes. In different instances, we couldn’t do greater than 20 minutes. It’s tough to inform whether or not this was on account of availability or a rule setting the buffer.
By default, it looks as if there isn’t overlapping. It additionally seems that should you modify to create an overlap, the system will try to shift your different current choices to scale back or get rid of the overlap. However you possibly can nonetheless modify to create larger overlaps–a minimum of, in some situations, and at sure sights.
That is not like the Genie+ system, which was “dumb” and thus didn’t examine for conflicts with current reservations. It’s just like the FastPass+ system, which prevented overlap. (To one of the best of my recollection, no overlap by any means was allowed.)
Can Lightning Lane trip reservations overlap with Advance Eating Reservations?
Once more, not utterly. That means that you probably have an Advance Eating Reservation (ADR) at Cinderella’s Royal Desk beginning at 2:05 pm, you can not have a Lightning Lane additionally beginning at 2:05 pm. That is additionally not like Genie+.
Weirdly, it does appear that you may have a Lightning Lane beginning at 1:55 pm even you probably have an ADR at 2:05 pm. It’s unclear how a lot buffer is critical or if it is a glitch and can change–however it’s what we’re seeing to this point.
Have been Lightning Lanes faraway from meet & greets and leisure?
Sure. Walt Disney World made clear that this was occurring prematurely, however then oddly used the outdated sights record from Genie+ in My Disney Expertise, giving some hope that perhaps characters had been again.
As to the “why” of this and whether or not it might change…we’ll have an extended put up within the coming days. However for now till in all probability a minimum of early 2025, character meet & greets not supply Lightning Lanes, nor do parades and different leisure.
What’s the reserving window for Annual Passholders who’re staying on-site?
In relation to the reserving home windows, staying on-site at all times takes priority. That means that it doesn’t matter what your ticket sort is you probably have an on-site resort reservation that entitles you to the 7-day reserving window takes precedence. Or a minimum of, it ought to.
There’s at all times the opportunity of points relating to Disney IT and programs figuring out which “standing” to prioritize, however the official coverage is that staying on-site supersedes ticket sort. Which means that all friends with their MDX profiles linked to an on-site resort reservation ought to be capable of buy and make Lightning Lane reservations pursuant to the 7-day on-site benefit reserving window, for his or her complete keep (as much as 14 days).
What about break up stays?
Formally, resort break up stays which might be steady (back-to-back bookings with no gaps between accommodations) might buy and e-book Lightning Lane Multi Cross and Single Cross choices for the complete size of their go to as much as a most of 14 days. This could work, in idea, no matter what number of reservations you’ve gotten. I might do single evening stays for 2 weeks, and it ought to nonetheless work. (I wouldn’t need to, however I ought to give you the option to take action.)
In apply, we’re listening to that is extra hit and miss and may require an override from Disney IT. That’s not utterly shocking, as FastPass+ had comparable points infrequently. We don’t have any firsthand expertise with this and LLMP but, however it’s one thing to concentrate on should you’re doing a break up keep.
Does advance reserving of Lightning Lane Multi-Cross work for worldwide friends?
I’ve acquired 3 firsthand studies of friends in Canada having success reserving/shopping for Lightning Lane Multi-Cross and Single Cross. I’ve seen a number of extra oblique studies of this working. I’ve additionally acquired one report from a Canadian visitor who couldn’t full the method, and skim one other. My recommendation can be updating to model 8.01 of the My Disney Expertise app, however past that, I can’t supply any troubleshooting recommendation since I’m based mostly within the U.S. Sorry!
I’ve not heard any studies from the UK, Europe, or past–however am very curious as as to whether a mix of VPNs, GPS spoofers, and different know-how to side-step the rule. So please share your experiences should you’re a world visitor who has had success or failures in utilizing Lightning Lane Multi-Cross!
Is Lightning Lane Multi Cross worse than Genie+?
Say the road, Bart: queueing is a zero-sum sport that creates winners and losers in equal components.
That this implies is that attraction capability is mounted and finite. There isn’t any kind of capability than there was yesterday when Genie+ existed than there may be at present beneath Lightning Lane Multi Cross. Furthermore, if somebody receives a bonus, which means another person is deprived. There isn’t any magical system the place everybody will get to attend in shorter strains.
Line-skipping programs don’t change capability. No method to strains modifications the underlying capability. It doesn’t matter if it’s all standby, paper FastPass, FastPass+ vs. Genie vs. Lightning Lane Multi-Cross. The one significant solution to really alter the equation is by really rising capability. One of the simplest ways that’s accomplished, in the long run, is constructing extra sights.
Different methods to extend capability within the quick or medium time period are including leisure, extending working hours, or simply giving friends different issues to try this both pull them away from rides or dilute the distribution of friends all through the day. Every thing else is a matter of rearranging the deck chairs, and having totally different friends or demographics come out forward or behind.
From what I’ve heard over the course of the final 12 months or so, Walt Disney World’s intention with its suite of queueing modifications is healthier steadiness. Insurance policies and programs that really feel fairer to nearly all of friends and don’t benefit or drawback anybody an excessive amount of. From what we’ve heard, they’ve been attempting to string the needle with all of those modifications. It’s an unenviable activity and no-win proposition, however that’s the intent.
In different phrases, that is actually a matter of asking higher or worse for whom? It’s nonetheless very early, however present indicators level to considerably much less Lightning Lane availability beneath the Multi Cross and Single Cross programs. Whether or not that was intentional or not stays to be seen. Let’s assume it was, through which case this new paradigm can be worse for its patrons than the Genie+ service. However guess what? Queueing is in the end a zero-sum sport that creates winners and losers in equal components. Which means that the large winner of Lightning Lane Multi Cross and Single Cross would…friends not paying something additional to make use of the standby line!
Planning a Walt Disney World journey? Find out about accommodations on our Walt Disney World Inns Critiques web page. For the place to eat, learn our Walt Disney World Restaurant Critiques. To save cash on tickets or decide which kind to purchase, learn our Suggestions for Saving Cash on Walt Disney World Tickets put up. Our What to Pack for Disney Journeys put up takes a singular take a look at intelligent objects to take. For what to do and when to do it, our Walt Disney World Experience Guides will assist. For complete recommendation, one of the best place to start out is our Walt Disney World Journey Planning Information for every thing it’s worthwhile to know!
YOUR THOUGHTS
Have any questions we didn’t reply with the above FAQ? Nonetheless confused by how Lightning Lane MultiPass or Single Cross will work? Do you agree or disagree with our assessments? Different ideas or issues? Any questions we can assist you reply? Listening to your suggestions–even while you disagree with us–is each fascinating to us and useful to different readers, so please share your ideas beneath within the feedback!