It has been a little while since we last checked in on the Lightning Lane Multi Pass and Single Pass refill times at Walt Disney World. In this article, we’ll cover what Lightning Lane Multi Pass refills are, what attractions typically have refills throughout the day, and what time the Lightning Lane Multi Pass & Single Pass refill drops happen. If you’ve found this article, chances are that you already have a basic to advanced knowledge of the Lightning Lane Pass system. If you don’t, check out our guide below to the new Lightning Lane Passes at Walt Disney World.
Key Takeaways
- This article discusses Lightning Lane refill times and explains the process behind Lightning Lane Multi Pass refills at Walt Disney World.
- Lightning Lane Multi Pass refills occur due to operational factors like ride downtime and inventory management by Disney.
- The article provides specific refill times for key attractions in each theme park, including Magic Kingdom, EPCOT, Disney’s Hollywood Studios, and Disney’s Animal Kingdom.
- Understanding the refill schedule can greatly enhance your experience with Lightning Lane at Walt Disney World.
What is a Lightning Lane Multi Pass Availability Refill Drop?
We all know how Lightning Lane Passes function on the surface – there is a daily inventory that is bookable in advance, based on various factors. From there, availability will naturally dwindle until the inventory disappears. It would stand to reason that when the inventory is gone, there’s nothing left. However, the operational reality of the theme parks is that Disney hedges its bets a bit on attraction reliability and popularity. The most reliable hedge that Disney employs on a daily basis is holding back Lightning Lane inventory in case of unexpected attraction downtime.
If an attraction experiences downtime, guests with a Lightning Lane Multi Pass reservation will be given a “multiple experiences” pass. There are limitations on which attractions the pass can be used for, but there are two ways the pass can be used:
- The pass can be used for the attraction that was experiencing downtime when it resumes operation
- The pass can be used on a different qualifying attraction other than the attraction originally experiencing downtime
Either of those outcomes will put an unexpected strain on an attraction. But what if the strain isn’t unexpected? Disney has tons of data – including data about average downtime per attraction. To that end, Disney regularly holds back Lightning Lane inventory to either allow for unexpected downtime or to distribute throughout the day if an attraction is operating normally.
Thanks to data from thrill-data.com, we can visualize those “availability refill drops” when Disney releases new Lightning Lane times into the system throughout the day. As seen in the graph below, when there is a significant color change from either gray to color, or darker to lighter, consistent across multiple days, we consider that to be a reliable Lightning Lane availability refill time. The example below is for Test Track. We can see three clear and obvious vertical lines where the color changes day after day. To me, that indicates a reliable time when Walt Disney World releases more Lightning Lane availability for Test Track during the day.
Note that there could be a few-minute swing on either side of the times we note below, we recommend at least 5-10 minutes of refreshing for the best chance at success. We’ll expand on this very important caveat at the end of this article.
Lightning Lane Refill Times (Fall 2025)
We’ll start at the busiest theme park at Walt Disney World and make our way down to the least busy theme park.
MAGIC KINGDOM
In general, not much has changed at Magic Kingdom in terms of Lightning Lane refill data in the last year or so. The biggest change is the fact that Big Thunder Mountain Railroad is closed for a lengthy refurbishment. Big Thunder typically has made the list of attractions that partake in refills, but it is closed until sometime in 2026. We’ll revisit the data once Big Thunder reopens and operations start to settle in.
Other than that, we’re seeing fewer refill times for Tiana’s Bayou Adventure and one more refill time for Seven Dwarfs Mine Train.
Tiana’s Bayou Adventure
Tiana’s Bayou Adventure has some reliable and relatively unreliable refill times. Your best bet at snagging a refill Lightning Lane is during morning and early afternoon drops. From there, afternoon storms can be a big factor on whether or not the evening refills happen or not.
- 9:45am
- 11:45am
- 1:45pm
- 3:45pm
- 5:45pm
- 7:45pm
- 9:45pm
Seven Dwarfs Mine Train
Seven Dwarfs Mine Train has added a new refill drop time since we last checked in on the attraction. As you can see in the screenshot below, there are two refill times. Note that there are no 6pm refills on dates where the Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party event is scheduled due to the fact that Magic Kingdom closes to regular guests at 6pm, and there is no Lightning Lane Multi Pass or Single Pass during the party.
- 2:15pm
- 6:00pm
EPCOT
Heading over to EPCOT now, the biggest change is that Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure doesn’t seem to be participating in the refill program anymore. Instead, we see that Test Track 3.0 has a very clear pattern of refill times throughout the day. Here’s a closer look!
Test Track
The reimagining of Test Track has been well-received by guests after it reopened this Summer. In fact, Test Track is now the hardest to secure Lightning Lane at the park! That said, you can usually find more availability at the following times:
- 8:45am
- 12:45pm
- 2:45pm
Honorable Mention: Soarin’ Around the World
The Soarin’ Around the World Lightning Lane graph is interesting. While there is no clear drop time, there appears to be a sort of soft refill around park opening. We can see the color go from yellow to greenish around park opening. There’s a pretty good chance that you have your Lightning Lane selections locked in, but if you’re looking to improve your Soarin’ time, it doesn’t hurt to do some refreshing around park opening.
DISNEY’S HOLLYWOOD STUDIOS
Making our way to Disney’s Hollywood Studios, we see an active refill program implemented. That was the case a year ago as well. The biggest change is that Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run appears to have dropped out of the refill game. As you’ll see below, Hollywood Studios loves to target the same refill times for multiple attractions. There actually may be an afternoon touring plan tip hidden in the data. We might just have to put it to the test! Here’s a look at what we’re seeing.
Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance
We’ll start with the Lightning Lane Single Pass attraction at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, and one of the most popular rides on Walt Disney World property. Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance has two very clear refill times, continuing the same pattern that we observed last year.
- 10:45am
- 3:45pm
Slinky Dog Dash
Like Rise of the Resistance, Slinky Dog Dash appears to be continuing the same refill rate that it did last year.
- 1:15pm
- 3:45pm
Toy Story Mania
Staying in Toy Story Land, we see that Toy Story Mania has a couple of clearly defined Lightning Lane refill times. In fact, it has the same refill times as Slinky Dog Dash, so move quickly! Of course, if you’re going to prioritize a refresh, try for Slinky Dog Dash first!
- 1:15pm
- 3:45pm
Tower of Terror
At the risk of sounding like a broken record, we have the same refill times for the popular Tower of Terror attraction as well!
- 1:15pm
- 3:45pm
DISNEY’S ANIMAL KINGDOM
Disney’s Animal Kingdom is where the data starts to get a bit muddy, but we’ll wade through. Looking at the data, it looks like fewer people use Lightning Lane at Disney’s Animal Kingdom than at any other theme park. Therefore, the lines aren’t as clearly drawn, but they are faintly visible.
Avatar Flight of Passage
Ok, there is a lot going on here. The first refills appear to be before the park officially opens to guests. From there, there are a lot of refill drops throughout the day – to the tune of once per hour. There are probably two reasons for this. First, only selling so many return times at a time can moderate demand and keep the longest line in the park somewhat manageable in terms of standby waits. I think another benefit of pulsing availability is that there will be a number of guests who see availability throughout the day. There are 10 opportunities for Disney to make a sale throughout the day, which I’m sure happens quite often when faced with a 90+ minute posted standby wait.
- 7:45am
- 8:45am
- 9:45am
- 10:45am
- 11:45am
- 12:45pm
- 1:45pm
- 2:45pm
- 3:45pm
- 4:45pm
Expedition Everest
Expedition Everest has one strong refill indicator and a weaker indicator. The difficult thing here is that if there isn’t a lot of uptake for an Expedition Everest Lightning Lane, it becomes harder to see changes within the graph. That said, here’s what I think the graph shows.
- 8:45am
- 12:45pm (sometimes)
Kali River Rapids
Kali River Rapids has an occasional afternoon refill time. This could be somewhat dependent on the weather for the day. If there is little weather downtime, then we’d expect the following refill drop:
- 1:45pm
Kilimanjaro Safaris
Just like Kali River Rapids, Kilimanjaro Safaris has a single reliable drop. Unlike Kali River Rapids, which has a drop in the afternoon, Kilimanjaro Safaris has a morning refill drop time.
- 9:45am
I want to close with a few important caveats. We’ll start with the most important reminder: the drop times listed in this article are best-guess estimates. The data that we’re using is presented in 5-minute increments. That means that while the refill happened around the times that we have listed above, the refill doesn’t necessarily happen exactly at the times listed above.
Another caveat is crowd levels. We saw this a bit with the graphs for Disney’s Animal Kingdom, but it’s possible for a refill to get “lost” in the graph if there isn’t a ton of demand. That is, there could be refill times that we missed because it wasn’t clear and obvious in the data.
Another caveat is that we’re working with averages here. Your mileage may vary. While having the knowledge of when certain attractions could drop new Lightning Lane return times is useful, it may not work perfectly on the day of your visit. I hear this a lot from readers who say that reporting on averages, such as lower crowds, isn’t true because they personally had to wait 30 minutes for a hot dog at Casey’s Corner in September when it was only a five-minute wait during Spring Break. Your individual experience may fall outside of the bell curve from time to time.
Other variables at play on the day of your visit that aren’t necessarily represented in the data above could be attraction downtime. Perhaps you visited Hollywood Studios when Toy Story Mania was down most of the morning. In that case, Disney may choose to skip the 1:15pm refill time.
Overall, the fact that you’re reading this article at all puts you way ahead of the game when it comes to maximizing your time with Lightning Lane Passes at Walt Disney World. I will make one more observation and that is that with the new Lightning Lane Pass system (versus Genie+), most of your work is done ahead of time anyway. For most guests, your initial three selections that you make before you arrive will have a bigger impact on your day than grabbing a Lightning Lane during a refill time.
As always, keep checking back with us here at BlogMickey.com as we continue to bring you the latest news, photos, and info from around the Disney Parks!
