Disney's Lightning Lane Introduced: The Story Behind the Travel Photos
- Nov 9
- 9 min read
Updated: Nov 15
Disney's Lightning Lane Introduced
So, is the current system of Disney's Lightning Lane worth it? Read on.
The services are now called Lightning Lane and now, Lighting Lane Premier.
So, is Disney's Lightning Lane worth it? Compare and facts to "Know Before You Go:"
Disney's Lightning Lane Introduced
Disney has three basic planning features:
GENIE
Genie: this lets you create your own itinerary so that you don't forget the fun things you may want to do, like catch a parade, or a character greeting. This is a free feature within the My Disney Experience app. However, this does not get you on the express line. It's just a list of what you may want to do. The app will tell you how long the wait is for a certain attraction, and if you have your notifications turned on, you'll get a reminder to head over to an event or location.
PS: you don't have to specifically use the Genie option to see wait times. That is also a feature of the app itself. After you have chosen what you think you will like to do, click My Day and you can see your day planned out. Also, click the Tip Board for, well, more tips.
Lighting Lane and Lightning Lane Multi Pass
Lightning Lane and Lightning Lane Multi Pass are paid features. You have to have a park ticket and a reservation (if required) for the day you want the feature. You can make express reservations for an attraction. Decide if you want to ride one ride or up to three (multi pass) The prices fluctuate because it depends on the day but it ranges somewhere starting at $22 or so, per person, per day. High peak times and weekends may cost more. The price might also vary depending on the park.
This is how it works:
a. Decide which day you're going to visit which park. You can still park hop (if your ticket is a park hopper ticket).
b. You can now purchase the pass in advance.
c. Decide if you want to purchase a Lightning Lane pass for just one attraction or for up to three (I know, there is a Premier Pass, we have that info below).
d. As you buy your pass, make the reservation for the attraction. You won't pay until you make the reservation. This way, you know you'll have the pass for the attraction you want at possibly the time you want it.
e. You can buy more Lightning Lane passes (single or multi) if they are available for the day after you ride the first time around.
f. If the ride goes out of service, sometimes the app figures it out and makes an adjustment. If not, there are several Guest Experiences carts around the parks who are there with their tablets to help you out (you don't have to trek to the front of the park to the main Guest Service window). They will scan your park ticket or magic band and help you figure it out.
Lightning Lane Premier Pass
You can buy a pass in advance. The pass allows you on almost all of the attractions, one time only, in one park. The price depends on which park and what day you are going. The price of the pass might be higher during peak times such as holidays and weekends.
So there you have it: Disney's Lightning Lane system. If you think it is worth it, for go for it.
Enjoy!
In 2014, the Fast Pass system (after being in existence since 1999), with the tickets, was changed to the app and allowed you to book up to three rides at once. The rides/attractions fell into certain categories (probably depending on popularity). Therefore, you could only book one ride in a very popular category, not three. It wasn't perfect, but I guess they were trying to make sure something like Space Mountain stayed attainable.
During the Covid-19 virus pandemic, Disney discontinued its Fast Pass program and began it's Genie, Genie+ and Lightning Lane program, confusing the heck out of us! Many theme parks already had a paid express service: pay extra to get on a faster line to the attractions.
Introducing a new system during the pandemic era, and the phasing in of reopening the parks was just interesting timing. Who would pay for a pass when no one was in the park? So revision after revision after revision began, which led to confusion after confusion after confusion. Disney's Lightning Lane and Genie+ were not worth it because the lines weren't long. Attendance was severely limited.
One complaint was that as Disney park goers, we liked the fact that there were some differences. Other theme park companies had long instituted their paid express passes, sometimes with prices that were higher than the park ticket itself. In fact, Universal's express pass can cost more that an annual pass, depending on when you buy it.
Disney fans figured that we paid high enough prices for an admission ticket but you could reason that it used to be a good deal: rides, parades, shows, character greetings, exclusive merchandise and treats. Not having too many extra fees made the parks different and we felt special. Yes, the lines were long, but the Fast Pass was free and repeat park goers quickly figured out ways to navigate the park time-wise and maximize how they spend the day.
But Disney probably needed the money. Or they figured they would do what everyone else did: just try to make money. Regardless, now getting on an express line for most attractions was going to cost us.
Not only did Disney restructure the program, they changed the name and process so many times that it was frustrating. Finally, they arrived what they felt was a better solution. And guess what? After complaining all over social media, fans just finally sucked it up and decided to run with it. Paid express passes to popular rides are sold out fast during peak times and people are actually buying the Premier passes. Go figure. t
Back in the Day
The paper Fast Pass system ended in 2014, when Disney introduced its app. Fast Pass became Fast Pass + and moved over to the app. This version allegedly ended in October 2021 but it really ended during Covid. The transition from Fast Pass to Genie to Genie + to Lightning Lane and its various versions happened over a period of time. But let's take a little stroll down memory lane.
The old Disney Parks Fast Pass was a free service. It used to be with tickets. You went to a machine, scanned your park ticket, searched for a ride that you liked, and requested a ticket to enter the express line. If you were successful, the ticket chose the next available time. You took your ticket, looked at the time, and headed to the attraction at that time. Once you used that Fast Pass, you could try to get another one. You could only do one attraction at a time. Meanwhile, until it was time to get on the ride, you did something else. And since it was Disney, that wasn't hard to do. There were already wait times listed at the entrance of each ride (there was no app back then for the paper Fast Passes). So, you went to the ride you wanted, looked at the wait time, looked at your Fast Pass and did a little math.
Or, you looked at the Times Guide (remember that??). Was there a show or maybe a parade? Not a problem. Easy to kill time that way. Finally, you could always get something to eat.
There were plenty of good attractions that would help you waste time while you waited for your Fast Pass time to arrive. If you were in Magic Kingdom, the alternately curious and almost offensive Walt Disney's Enchanted Tiki Room was available. It would be a cute show: animatronic birds in a Polynesian styled night club coming to life with a cabaret act. The offensive part was the script and accents of one of the masters of ceremonies birds: Juan's accent. This problem has been solved when Disney upgraded the entire show prior to Disney World's 50th anniversary, including eliminating or revamping some of MC's dialogue. In addition to Juan, one could have been offended by some of the representation of the Polynesian and Hawaiian culture, which is the theme of the entire attraction. This attraction remains because it is one of the original attractions of Magic Kingdom that was almost a duplicate of the version in Disneyland.
Further research shows that Disney integrated its other franchises at one time or another: using characters from Aladdin and The Lion King. It was nice to see Iago and Zazu. Over in Japan, their version included aspects of Lilo and Stitch until it was closed altogether.
Another place we used to waste time was over in Tomorrowland. The People Mover is a ride that moves overhead on tracks through Tomorrowland, narrating the highlights of that land. By the way, if you are new to the Magic Kingdom, this is the attraction to ride first when you get to Tomorrowland so that you can figure out what you want to do there. Anyway, once you finished this, head over to the Carousel of Progress, a 20 minute show about how technology used to be. It's nicer than you think and it, too, has some history. It was actually an attraction in the World's Fair in 1964, in Queens, New York. Disney had a pavilion there. When the fair closed, the show moved to Disneyland. After that, it was moved permanently to Disney World.
Not your cup of tea? Most people would use a Magic Kingdom Fast Pass for the Haunted Mansion, Big Thunder Mountain or Space Mountain. So another good attraction that was guaranteed to waste a whole hour or so is the Jungle Cruise. This is a love or hate ride. It features a boat ride through the jungle with old animatronic animals. The so-called lure? The corny "Dad" jokes that your tour guide tells as they take you on your cruise. If you have a very good cast member, then the ride is worth it. If you don't, not only will the ride seem like a relic, but the entertainment won't even be good. Nevertheless, no matter how crowded or empty the park is, I have never seen the wait time less than 40 minutes in Magic Kingdom. Usually the wait time is guaranteed to an hour.
Over in Disney's Hollywood Studios, Rockin' Roller Coaster and the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror were the big draw (they still are). The Fast Pass kiosk was actually over there near the rides (the area is still there, sometimes with Guest Experiences). What to do meanwhile? Those were the glory days when up until 2007, the park was called Disney-MGM Studios and the "theme" of the theme park was really about film and television production. You could literally spend much of your time at the Studio Backlot Tour, which was a long experience when it first opened up. Coupled with The Great Movie Ride, you would have no problem waiting for your Fast Pass to kick in. In fact, the original studio tour was so long, you would have to figure out if you had time to do it.
Or, you could improve your drawing skills in Animation Court. The Animation Academy, which is now over at Disney's Animal Kingdom, was in Hollywood Studios and that attraction was guaranteed to help you to spend a lot of time. Not your thing? Shows used to be all over the place: Star Wars didn't have a land yet, but they prepped for it. There were shows on the stage in front of the Great Movie Ride, stunt car show (Lights, Cars, Motors) was a good filler as well as three shows that are still there: Beauty and the Beast, Indiana Jones stunt show and the Little Mermaid. If your Fast Pass was at the end of the day, you didn't have to worry. There was plenty to do.
Disney's Animal Kingdom's biggest draw was its Safari, with the Kali River Rapids ride sometimes coming in a close second depending on the time of year. Dinosaur also was great competition. But when the roller coaster Expedition Everest opened, fast passes were definitely needed, making people use the safari to pass the time. Animal Kingdom's shows were helpful in passing time, too. In fact, these live performances, Festival of the Lion King, and Finding Nemo, could be hot ticket items themselves. Pandora had not yet been built.
Was there anything worth using a fast pass for before 2014 in Epcot? Could be. Test Track opened in 1998 and to this day, it would be a miracle if the wait time would be less than 60 minutes. Soarin' was another one (until additional theaters were built). What to do back then? Need you ask? It's Epcot. Wander around the World Showcase (Frozen and Remy had not yet been built, so they were not there during the paper Fast Pass days). That took care of a lot of time.
So that was our experience of using Disney Parks' paper Fast Pass system.
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