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Thoughts on the new Lightning Lane Multi Pass

Heigh-ho, everybody! We're about to make our biggest video yet about Lightning Lane Multi Pass and I wanted to know what your thoughts are about this new system and share some of mine, as well. Have you used it yet? If so, what did you think? If not, what are you excited about and what are you less-than-excited about?

For me, these are the big takeaways:

• It has been relatively easy to book whatever I want on the day of my visit, even though lots of things look like they have few or no times left when I make my initial selections – but I am a party of one or two and it may be different for parties of 5 or more as it was with Genie

• Even though you can pre-book, it definitely does not cut down on the time you spend looking at your phone and managing the system. In some cases, I think it can lead to spending even more time on your phone because you are now babysitting three queues instead of just one

• This system gives a HUGE advantage to early risers and especially park hoppers who start their day at Animal Kingdom since you can typically start booking for all the parks an hour before everyone else

Looking forward to hearing your thoughts!

15 answers0 replies

Comments (15)

Andy Giles

Oct 28

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What I hadn't realised until I watched the latest 27 Tips video, is that you could change the actual date the LLMP pass is used after you buy it, from one day to another.

That makes it so much better from my perspective, as it means the money isn't wasted if plans change at the last minute (for example due to weather).

One question I have is, up to when can you change the day? Can you change the day on the day itself, provided you haven't tapped into the park yet?

I assume also that if you change the day, then all reservations are re-set and don't carry forward to the other day you choose.

Anyway, great video (love the playing-card analogy), and this new system isn't as bad as I first feared! :-)

Jessica Walker

Oct 01

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I have to agree with Rob on all of these - I went in September with a party of 5 - which included ME an annual pass holder - I only prebooked 3 days ahead each day - and got not great selections - BUT every day day of - I was able to modify into basically every ride we wanted EXCEPT... Slinky Dog - we could never get this - or Tower of Terror - Hollywood Studios seemed packed BOTH days we tried and those were just not options.

The other parks we had no problem getting what we wanted! HOWEVER....

My mom commented I was ALWAYS on the phone - every lunch, line, break, show - I was refreshing and modifying to get the rides - I definitely think this is MORE phone time not less.

Andy Giles

Oct 01

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Replying to

The "ALWAYS on the phone" comments is my fear. We live on our phones all day, and the last thing I want is to be on the phone all day at Disney! That's why I actually liked the old Genie. You just had to play the slots a couple of times after each ride.

Jessica Walker

Oct 01

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Replying to

Total agreement

Rachel Russell

Sep 25

Thank you for the quick response, this is so helpful!

Andy Giles

Sep 23

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It would be interesting if you did a video on “buying multi-pass on the same day you use it”.

I’m the type who doesn’t plan ahead, and only choose which park I go to on the day, depending on weather, how I feel etc.

I’m guessing it is actually possible to buy on the same day?

Rob

Sep 24

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Replying to

If you buy early in the morning (or even better, the night before), you'll end up with better initial selections after playing the slots for a bit than the folks who set their picks 3 days early and didn't adjust them.

Andy Giles

Oct 01

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Replying to

Ha! So the big change for playing the slots, is you can "play the slots" for the initial 3 choices even before you hit the parks!

Rachel Russell

Sep 21

Hi Rob -

Thank you for asking! I have not used the system yet, but I do check the availability on my phone from time to time.

Booking for a large group. I will have 8 people, if I need to split into 2 groups of 4, that will be 6 LL to manage at a time. Is that possible? Will we have times that align? :(
Rope Drop and MLL - If I want to rope drop, say, Jungle Cruise, when should I have my first MLL for? I have read earlier is better, so presumably when the park opens, so does "rope drop" have a lot less appeal when using MLL? Instead I should book JC with a MLL and then book something else right after?
Overlapping MLL in advance - I know this isn't possible, but if I want us to be able to hit a bunch of rides in MK early in the morning, should I try to adjust the times the morning of? Can I do that at 7 am? Or should I just try and book other rides in between the prescheduled LLs?
I also want to schedule breaks in the middle of the day at MK and HS, so hopefully the system will have flexibility that I can do that day of for the afternoon and they will not have run out.

Thank you!

Rob

Sep 24

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Replying to

Hi Rachel! We just filmed a video that will answer a lot of these questions in more detail, but here are the Cliffs Notes versions:

I'd split the group only when you need to (some folks want to ride other things OR unable to find return times for the rides you still want after a lot of time playing the slots). Otherwise, save yourself the headache and book everything as one big group.
With Multi Pass, you are much better off tapping in at your first attraction as soon as humanly possible, especially at Magic Kingdom. If possible, make the Tier One the first ride of the day and book it right at park open. If that's not possible, book a Tier Two right at park open and then book another Tier One as soon as you tap in. You might also consider modifying one of your other Tier Twos into a Tier One at that time.
You can begin overlapping entirely at midnight on the day of your visit. You can sometimes overlap a bit in the days before, but it is finicky and unpredictable.
Scheduling breaks is one of the strongest parts of this new system because you can use the Modify Time feature to pick a later time rather than accepting the first available like you had to with Genie Plus.

Hope that helps!

Tracey Hill

Sep 18

So from the UK, staying on site in August. We used it for HS and it made for a very easy first day in the parks - we took family that had never been and it meant we felt less rushed as we already knew we had some key rides booked for them to experience. We also paid for the single pass for Rise. We had 1.5 days planned so we used it on our full day and actually we felt very relaxed over the whole day and allowed everyone to experience the overall vibe of the park and not just the rides. Being able to book 7 days in advance (and yes there is a workaround for those in the UK) was very helpful. We only then used it on one other day which was actually Animal Kingdom and we decided that on arrival in the US - again very relaxed day as we knew we had rides already booked and as I know the layouts of the parks very well, meant I could plan not to keep crossing the parks.

We did not purchase for MK as we had Halloween party tickets and our experience had shown us it was not needed on those days and thankfully we were right as we arrived a little bit earlier, did the rides and then focussed on the special events/rides - we only purchased a single pass for Tron as we found virtual queues are just as long and use up valuable park time, especially as we had purchased the event tickets.

Tracey Hill

Sep 18

Replying to

Ps we were a group of 10, most riding and a couple not

Edited

Kiran

Sep 18

I'm really looking forward to this video!

I haven't had a chance to use multi-pass, but I have been looking at the tip board from time-to-time to help me devise a strategy. I wish I could see LL availability further out than the day-of without a park pass (please let me know if there is a way to do this).

One thing I've noticed is that nothing significantly changes at 7am on the day, so I wonder whether the idea that they open up additional slots is a myth, and it's just that more people are making changes to their previous selections at this time. But given that I can't see what things looked like the day before, maybe they do open things up very early in the morning My overall impression is that your choice is between spending your time in lines, or spending your time on your phone. The game is then to find a way to minimize phone time to make it a clear winner over not buying the pass. You have to be disciplined about when you try to modify, and limit how much time you spend doing it.If you spent no time modifying and just accepted what you first get, does that still result in a significantly better day than not using multi-pass at all?

Rob

Sep 18

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Replying to

Hi Kiran! I saw much bigger changes in availability at 7am before than I do now. It seems only a couple of attractions gain availabilty on the day of now - Slinky and Tiana. It could be that people are just shuffling their LLs at that time, but it is surprising to me that folks would be dropping those two attractions. I see a lot more volatility the night before and that is definitely people shuffling for the next day. You can see LL availability on a chart over at Thrill Data: https://www.thrill-data.com/lightning-lane

I'm not sure how they are getting that data because I can't imagine they are buying LLs for each park every day along with hotel stays to get that amount of visibility. Maybe there is a hack where you can see the raw data somewhere?

This reply was deleted.

Rob

Sep 24

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Replying to

Do take those charts with a grain of salt. They are based on a single snapshot at a moment in time. In the course of a single minute, Disney can release a batch of Lightning Lanes and they can all be snatched up and that system would not even catch it. But they give you an idea of availability.