Disney Genie+ is out and Lightning Lane Multi Pass is in! More than just a rebrand, there were some significant under-the-hood and cosmetic changes to Disney World’s skip-the-line system, and we made our way out to Disney’s Hollywood Studios on day one to put it to the test. There’s nothing quite like battling the Central Florida summer heat to try and see if you can last longer than your phone’s battery. In this article, we’ll offer our in-the-field first impressions of Disney World’s new Lightning Lane Multi Pass system – the great, the good, the bad, and the ugly!

I thought about starting with a bit of a preamble up top explaining what Lighting Lane Multi Pass is, how it differs from Disney Genie+, and the ins and outs of using the My Disney Experience app to navigate both your pre-arrival planning and a day at the park, but we’ve already got a lot of that covered with our Lighting Lane Passes page, and we’ll have more of the evergreen coverage on the way. What I’m most interested in answering now is: how does Lightning Lane Multi Pass work while you’re at the parks?

Starting the day, I had three Lightning Lane Multi Pass attractions lined up and ready to go before even arriving at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. The day of our visit, July 24th, was the first day that the Lightning Lane Pass system went live, so my experience booking attractions on the morning of my visit was different than what you’ll experience when booking 3 to 7 days in advance of your trip, but the end result was roughly the same.

I was very happy with my selections, especially given that Slinky Dog Dash was originally sold out when I made my purchase. Some pre-arrival refreshing led to a pretty good return time for Slinky Dog Dash, which will very likely remain one of the top Lightning Lane Multi Pass experiences to book.

I arrived at the main entrance to Disney’s Hollywood Studios at 9:28am, which is absolutely ideal if you don’t have Early Entry. Standard rope drop at Disney’s Hollywood Studios is just about as unpleasant of a start to any day that you can have at Walt Disney World, with zero line management and crowds filling the plaza. Unlike EPCOT or Magic Kingdom, which allow guests to tap into the park, even if it’s not very far (in EPCOT’s case), Disney’s Hollywood Studios has comparable crowds and everyone is forced to wait in the entrance plaza.

Anyway, my goal was to arrive sometime after the rope drop crowds subsided at the main entrance (usually 15-20 minutes after park open), but also early enough to catch my Tower of Terror Lightning Lane near the start of the return window. I figured that while a lot of the day can be simulated from home, you can’t really replace the mechanics of tapping into an attraction and trying to secure another Lightning Lane Pass while simultaneously trying to avoid slamming your shin into a low wall or catching your hip on a queue stanchion.

I was done with Tower of Terror around 9:55am and had a little bit of time to kill until my 10:25am Toy Story Mania return time. I probably could’ve snuck in a ride on Alien Swirling Saucers (posted wait of 30 minutes), but my day was less about doing every ride at Disney’s Hollywood Studios and more about seeing how much I could get done with Lightning Lane Multi Pass. I decided to pace myself and just hang out until 10:20am to tap into Toy Story Mania using the 5-minute early buffer that is still in place with the new system. As you’d imagine, attraction operations are unchanged.

I had another break before my noon return for Runaway Railway, so I decided to drop in to watch the Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular. Being just one person, it’s usually pretty easy to find a spot to sit and watch, but the theater does fill up to capacity on most days, so it’s a pretty good Lightning Lane to have in your back pocket if you want to watch the show (and you do want to watch the show).

I was getting a bit antsy and really didn’t like the 2:20pm return time that I had for Smugglers Run, so I started to check for other attractions that were closer to the 1:35pm window for Slinky Dog Dash. Looking back on it, I shouldn’t have changed my Smugglers Run Lightning Lane. Let’s stop here for a bit to talk about the big takeaway from using Lightning Lane Multi Pass in the parks.

The story of the day on the ground was poor day-of availability. This is a huge mindset shift from the days of Disney Genie+, and I think that the jury is still out on which method I personally prefer. Obviously, poor day-of availability seems to be a good trade-off for what Disney is looking to do with the Lightning Lane Multi Pass system. That is, the center of gravity, if you will, shifts from the day of your visit with Genie+ to 3-7 days before your visit with Lightning Lane Passes. Essentially, you need to put in the work of purchasing and modifying your Lightning Lane Passes in the lead-up to your vacation so you do less on the day of your visit.

The second takeaway that we had from our day in Hollywood Studios is how great the app is to use. Some key improvements were made to the app to ensure that it actually assists guests instead of being a hindrance to them. While I wanted to pinpoint a single page or action that has improved, the biggest improvement is the display and ease of ingesting information. Disney has done an excellent job of utilizing screen real estate in an efficient manner. Whether it’s modifying a selection, or finding a more perfect return window for your initial selections, the app is much easier to use.

Combine that with other enhancements to system policies such as pre-arrival selections, and being able to choose a return window, and the Lightning Lane Multi Pass enhancements deserve a round of applause.

This is pretty much where I ended the day. From here on out it was going to be either waiting an hour to redeem a MuppetVision 3D Lightning Lane, or hopping between stage shows. The elephant in the room is Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster, which was having availability issues yesterday and never had a Lightning Lane Multi Pass available when we checked. That would likely be different when you visit, and something that you can sprinkle into your day as needed.

Overall, the change to Lightning Lane Multi Pass is a significant one. We’ll continue to keep an eye on the offering as it evolves over the next weeks and months, but I think it’s safe to say that Disney has accomplished the goal of creating a paid FastPass+ product. If you’re visiting in the coming weeks, I’d expect a similar story to ours to play out. You can expect there to be some competition in securing Lightning Lanes 3-7 days ahead of your visit, and scarce availability or long return-to-attraction spans when you visit.

We’ll continue to keep an eye on Lightning Lane Pass, including more in-park reports in the coming months. If you have any questions about Lightning Lane Pass, feel free to leave them in the comments below, or to reach out on social media!

For more of our Lightning Lane Pass coverage, including reviews from in the parks, check out our Lightning Lane Pass page below!

Lightning Lane Multi Pass & Single Pass

We have everything you need to know about Lightning Lane Multi Pass and Lightning Lane Single Pass at Walt Disney World

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