There’s a new era of skip-the-line offerings at Walt Disney World. Starting today, July 24th, Disney Genie+ is retired and Lightning Lane Multi Pass has arrived. Lightning Lane Multi Pass is more than just a name change from the old Disney Genie+ system. There are notable differences such as the ability to pre-select Lightning Lane attraction selections before you arrive. There are also new rules about Park Hopping, redemption events, and more. In this article, we’re going to take a look at how Park Hopping works, and the price to unlock Lightning Lane Multi Pass Park Hopping.
Lightning Lane Multi Pass “Free” Park Hopping
We’ve previously covered the pre-launch information about Park Hopping with Lightning Lane Multi Pass, but with the launch today, we are getting on-the-ground experience with the system and wanted to provide updated information with real-world screenshots of our use of the system.
At launch, Walt Disney World is not charging extra for Park Hopping privileges with Lightning Lane Multi Pass. You may have read differently, but we’re in the parks today to test the system and there is no additional charge to use Lightning Lane Multi Pass at multiple Walt Disney World theme parks. Of course, that is always subject to change.
With the old Disney Genie+ system, you’d have to purchase a “Multiple Parks” entitlement to be able to book Lightning Lanes at more than one theme park. Surprisingly, Walt Disney World has not built in an additional fee for using the new Lightning Lane Multi Pass at different theme parks. That means that you can technically purchase Multi Pass for Disney’s Animal Kingdom (the cheapest theme park), and Park Hop over to Magic Kingdom and use Lightning Lane Multi Pass over there as well.
We’re going to show you how to use the Lightning Lane Multi Pass Park Hopping feature with a few screenshots before closing out with a bit of commentary on the perk.
First, kudos to Disney for making it very obvious when you’re eligible to book a new Lightning Lane Multi Pass selection. Making new selections will likely be the top action that guests are trying to do in the My Disney Experience app, so they put a notification card right at the top of your screen. Guests can also find new selection eligibility at the top of the “Tip Board” section of the app.
If you’re eligible for a new selection and your ticket type allows Park Hopping, you’ll be able to switch between theme parks on the Tip Board as shown below. Simply tap on the “change park” text below the park name at the top of the screen and select which park you’d like to see the Tip Board for.
Once you’re on the Tip Board for the theme park that you want to book a Lightning Lane Multi Pass for (below, left), simply find the attraction and click on the “Multi Pass Experience” button to go through the booking process. In our case, we started at Disney’s Hollywood Studios and wanted to hop over to Magic Kingdom to ride Big Thunder Mountain Railroad.
As part of the selection process, you can see your existing Lightning Lane Multi Pass selections (below, middle) and how the new selection will fit into your day. Optionally, you can modify the new selection to a different time. Once confirmed, you’ll see your Lightning Lane Multi Pass selection added to your My Day tab (below, right).
So that’s the process if you’re making a new Lightning Lane Multi Pass selection, once eligible after redeeming a previous Multi Pass experience, but what if you wanted to modify a selection at your current theme park for a new experience at a different theme park? No problem, and no extra charge.
In the example below, we want to modify our Smugglers Run selection to another park, but we’re not sure what ride we want to do next. Simply head over to the My Day tab and select the three dots in the upper right corner of any Multi Pass card. A context menu will appear to show you what you can do to that Multi Pass selection. In our case, we want to tap modify (below, right).
In what might be my favorite part of the new UI, when you have unlocked Park Hopping (redeemed first Multi Pass at starting park, and have Park Hopper on your ticket), the UI will show you your current selection (and the ability to modify the time), and it will show you the list of other available attractions and experiences at the other Walt Disney World theme parks in addition to options for your current park (seen below).
From there, you can get a wonderful at-a-glance view of your entire list of Lightning Lane Multi Pass options at all four Walt Disney World theme parks.
Ok, back to some commentary. While this article is intended to be somewhat evergreen, there is always the chance that Disney World will start charging for Park Hopping. That said, I don’t think it’ll behoove them to do so. We’ll have to see how availability shakes out once usage of the system settles in, but with the ability to hold up to three Lightning Lane Multi Pass selections at a time, afternoon availability is not great. There might not be a ton of people getting huge value out of Park Hopping, and even fewer finding value in purchasing for Animal Kingdom and then waiting until 7pm to ride Dumbo at Magic Kingdom to save a few dollars.
I also want to give some initial impressions about the UI and design of the Lightning Lane Multi Pass system. It’s wonderful. The system is easy to use and has been very responsive with relevant information. There is little need to scroll or dig for information when trying to accomplish a task. Also, the ability to choose a return window was sorely missing from the Genie+ system, and almost incomprehensible that it was even allowed to function with take-it-or-leave-it first-available selections. When paying for something, you want to feel like it adds to your day.
I’ll have more thoughts after I get a full day of use from Lightning Lane Multi Pass, and my opinions will likely continue to shift in the coming months as I use it more, but we’re off to a great start, and a much-needed reset of Disney World’s skip-the-line system.
For everything you need to know about Lightning Lane Multi Pass, Lightning Lane Single Pass, and the latest Lightning Lane Passes news, check out our Lightning Lane Pass page below!
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