How to Book Individual Lightning Lane Selections at Walt Disney World

In addition to being able to make Disney Genie+ Lightning Lane selections in the My Disney Experience app, you can also book individual Lightning Lane selections at each Walt Disney World theme park.

The individual Lightning Lane attractions selections are not included with Genie+. They are sold separately and are pay-per-use.

If you opt to pay for it, you’ll schedule a time to arrive at up to two “highly demanded” attractions each day using the Lightning Lanes.

These include the likes of Seven Dwarfs Mine Train at Magic Kingdom and Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance at Hollywood Studios, to name a few.

There’s a lot to know about individual Lightning Lane selections, including pricing and how to make bookings.

Let’s get to all of the ins and outs!

What is Disney’s Lightning Lane?

Disney’s Lightning Lane is the new name for FastPass+ lines.

Who can use the Lightning Lane?

There are several ways to access the Lightning Lane:

Individual Lightning Lane Selections

This pay-per-ride option allows you to purchase a time to ride select popular attractions at Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Hollywood, and Animal Kingdom. Once your return time is called, you can board the attraction using the Lightning Lane. More on how to book it below.

Genie+

Starting at the price of $15 per ticket, per day (plus tax), Genie+ allows you to bypass the Standby Line using the Lightning Lane at select attractions across each Walt Disney World theme park.

Disability Access Service

Disability Access Service (DAS) guests will use the Lightning Lane to board to attractions when their return time is called.

VIP Tour Guides

You will use the Lightning Lane to access attractions at each park when you purchase a Disney World VIP Tour.

What is the best strategy for booking Lightning Lane Selections?

Having a good strategy is important if you want to maximize your money.

There is a lot to juggle with both Genie+ and Individual Lightning Lane Selections requiring some advanced planning.

To help decide what is going to work best for you, make sure you check out our post on Genie+ strategies.

VIDEO: Disney Genie Plus and Lightning Lanes Explained (w/ Tips on When to Buy)

How do you buy a Lightning Lane for Rise of the Resistance?

We walk through how to book a Lightning Lane down below, but for many people, snagging a Lightning Lane return time for Rise of the Resistance is top priority.

To help with that, we also have an entire post that goes into a lot more details on specific Rise of the Resistance Lightning Lane strategies.

What is Disney Genie?

Disney Genie is the new digital planning tool built in the My Disney Experience app that gives you a personalized itinerary and recommendations to help you map out an entire park day, including attractions, dining, entertainment, and more.

What is the Tip Board?

It is inside The Tip Board where you can purchase Lightning Lane pay-per-ride selections as well as make Genie+ selections (if you have purchased that).

The Tip Board in Disney Genie also displays estimated wait times for your top attractions, entertainment, and dining.

What is the My Day Tab?

The My Day tab is where you can see your personalized daily itinerary, along with Disney Genie recommendations.

Which attractions have individual Lightning Lane access?

Here are Disney World’s individual Lightning Lane attractions currently available for purchase.

Magic Kingdom

• Seven Dwarfs Mine Train
• TRON Lightcycle / Run

Epcot

• Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind

Hollywood Studios

• Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance

Animal Kingdom

• Avatar Flight of Passage

How much do Lightning Lane attractions cost?

Pricing for the pay-to-ride Lightning Lane option varies by date, attraction, and park. All Individual Lightning Lane attractions have a range of prices, and the busier the time of year or the more popular the attraction means the higher the prices.

Here are the starting prices for Individual Lightning Lane Selections.

Please note that during busier times of the year, prices *will* be higher. Also note that there are several attractions below that move between being offered with Genie+ and as Individual Lightning Lane Selections.

Magic Kingdom

• Seven Dwarfs Mine Train: $12

Epcot

• Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind: $14

Hollywood Studios

• Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance: $15

Animal Kingdom

• Flight of Passage: $11

You can check the My Disney Experience app on the day of your visit for current prices and attraction availability.

How many Lightning Lane attractions can I purchase per day?

There is a maximum of two purchases per guest, per day. The two selections must be for two different individual Lightning Lane attractions. They can be made for the same park or different parks.

Can individual Lightning Lane selections sell out?

Yes, there’s a limited number of Individual Lightning Lane purchases available each day, meaning they can sell out. If they are sold out, it will state “Not Currently Offered.”

Know that sometimes more inventory becomes available, so keep checking! You never know what will open up.

Do I need to purchase Genie+ to buy Lightning Lane passes?

No, Genie+ and pay-per-ride Lightning Lane passes are separate from one another.

Which is better, Genie+ or Individual Lightning Lane Selections?

Which is better really depends on several factors, including what you’re willing to spend, the park, the attraction, crowds, wait times, your personal goals, and more.

Genie+ and individual Lightning Lane selections will definitely benefit guests who don’t visit Disney World as often or those who’ve booked a once-in-a-lifetime trip. You want to maximize your park time? This might be for you.

As for Disney World Annual Passholders, the new paid-FastPass system isn’t necessarily tailored to us.

More often than not, you can ride a lot of attractions with just Genie+. If you combine Genie+ with the pay-per-ride selections, you can accomplish quite a bit.

If you’re only concerned with the most popular rides, like Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance and Flight of Passage, you may just want to pay to ride those and try Standby the rest of your day.

This isn’t an easy question to answer because there are multiple scenarios and elements in play.

Can I cancel an individual Lightning Lane selection?

Individual Lightning Lane selection purchases are final. You cannot cancel, modify, or rebook.

Can I get a refund for individual Lightning Lane selections?

Yes, but it depends, including whether the ride breaks down or not.

What happens if a ride breaks down?

If a ride goes down, your return time will be extended throughout the end of the day.

What happens if a ride breaks down and never reopens?

According to an unnamed Disney World spokesman who went on record in an Oct. 20, 2021 Orlando Sentinel piece, guests will automatically receive a refund for individual Lightning Lane selections if a ride does not reopen for the rest of the day after a closure.

What happens if I can’t ride the attraction that reopens after breaking down?

According to the above spokesman, if a ride reopens, but you cannot ride due to individual circumstances, you’ll have to contact Guest Relations for a refund.

If you have questions, be sure to ask a Cast Member, a Guest Experience Team member (find them near the blue umbrellas in the parks), or visit Guest Relations.

Can I still join a virtual queue?

Does Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind have a Virtual Queue?

At this time, the only attraction that offers a Virtual Queue is Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind.

In addition to having the option to purchase an Individual Lightning Lane Selection, guests can also try for a spot in the Virtual Queue. There is no regular Standby Line for Cosmic Rewind.

Does Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure Still Have A Virtual Queue?

On Jan. 10, 2022, the virtual queue was paused for Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure at Epcot making way for a Standby line.

In addition to the Standby line, depending on the time of the year, you can also purchase entry via the pay-per-ride Lightning Lane option OR by using Genie+.

Does Rise of the Resistance still have a virtual queue?

On Sept. 23, 2021, the virtual queue was paused for Rise of the Resistance at Hollywood Studios making way for a Standby line.

Disney stated that a virtual queue could return at a later date or “from time to time.”

In addition to the Standby line, you can also purchase entry via the pay-per-ride Lightning Lane option.

Are Lightning Lanes available where there is a virtual queue?

When available, attractions with virtual queues will still have Lightning Lanes.

But, the Lightning Lane can only be accessed with an individual Lightning Lane selection, and not with Genie+.

This means guests who don’t join the virtual queue can only ride if they purchase an individual Lightning Lane spot. There is no regular Standby Line.

Can I make individual Lightning Lane selections with a Park Hopper?

Yes, as long as you have a Park Hopper ticket, you can make pay-to-ride Lightning Lane selections at different parks.

Does my first pay-per-ride selection have to be where I made my first theme park reservation?

No, you can make your individual Lightning Lane selection outside of your theme park reservation.

You can either make two selections in one park or at different parks.

Can I make park hopping pay-per-ride selections for any time of the day?

Yes, you can make your pay-per-ride selection at any time. For a couple of years, park hopping was restricted to after 2 p.m. However, as of January 2024, that is no longer the case.

You can choose from a list of available times throughout the day, which comes in handy to allow you to select a time that works best for your park hopping schedule.

How much is Disney’s Genie+?

Genie+ uses date-based pricing, with busier times of the year being more expensive. Currently, Genie+ starts at $15 per ticket, per day (plus tax).

As an example of how the date-based pricing works, in November 2023 (a relatively busy month at Walt Disney World), the price for Genie+ was $35 per ticket, per day (plus tax). There is the potential that the price could be even a bit higher over the busy Christmas season.

Currently, there isn’t a way to know ahead of time how much Genie+ will cost on the day of your visit. Instead, you will see the price when you go to purchase it inside the My Disney Experience app.

How does Genie+ and individual Lightning Lane selections compare in pricing?

You may end up paying the same amount for the chance to ride multiple Genie+ selections (typically nearly every attraction in each park) as you would to ride an individual Lighting Lane selection.

For example, on October 22, 2021, the price to ride Rise of the Resistance via the pay-per-ride Lightning Lane option was $15.

For the same $15, you could choose to purchase Genie+ instead, which would give you access to 12 attractions at Hollywood Studios. But, keep in mind that Genie+ does not include Lightning Lane access to Rise of the Resistance. If you wanted to ride that attraction via Lightning Lane, you’d have to pay extra or wait in the Standby line.

Of course, if you wanted to purchase both Genie+ and a pay-to-ride Lightning Lane pass for Rise of the Resistance, that would cost you $30 plus tax.

Note: the above scenario was before the October 2022 change to date-based pricing for Genie+. But, the premise is still the same – for around the same amount of money you could ride 1 attraction (Rise of the Resistance) or every attraction that is a part of Genie+.

How to purchase individual Lightning Lane selections in Disney Genie (a step-by-step guide)

Open the My Disney Experience app

Hit the “+” at the bottom of the home screen and tap “View My Genie Day and Tip Board”.

Navigate to your Tip Board in Disney Genie

Onsite Walt Disney World Resort hotel guests (including those staying at Shades of Green and Swan and Dolphin) can start making individual Lightning Lane selections starting at 7 a.m.

Guests staying offsite can’t start making selections until park opening — but, they don’t have to be inside the park to do so.

When your booking window opens, navigate to your Tip Board in Disney Genie. You may need to pull down to refresh.

Note: The current window time available for individual Lightning Lane selections is listed next to the price.

Make sure you are looking at the correct park

You can make the correct park selection by tapping “Change Park” on the Tip Board and directly underneath the park name listed at the top.

In an important update: once you’ve selected your park for the day, the service no longer automatically defaults back to Magic Kingdom. Your park for the day should always appear first now!

Select your preferred attraction

You can see pricing to the right of the individual Lightning Lane attraction.

Select your preferred time

Be sure to check your existing plans (tap the arrow next to “Plans During This Time”) so you don’t have too much of an overlap of selections.

If you have a Park Hopper, you can purchase pay-per-ride selections at parks other than where you have a park reservation.

If necessary, you can edit your party at this time

You can either add or deselect guests. Once finished, select “confirm party”.

Important: Not only do you need to make sure your travel party members are in your Family & Friends list, but they must have valid theme park admission and the same theme park reservation. Otherwise, their names won’t show up or they won’t be able to be added to your individual Lightning Lane selections.

You will be prompted to “review details”

If everything looks ok, go ahead and hit “Continue”. If you need to make changes, there is an arrow in the top left corner of the screen.

You’ll confirm your contact and payment information

You have 10 minutes to check out.

At the end, you’ll agree to the Terms & Conditions

Hit “purchase”.

You’ll then see a screen confirming your purchase

Hit “continue.” You’ll also receive an email confirmation of your purchase.

Once your purchase is complete, your attraction return time will be displayed under that ride in the Tip Board.