disneyland, Planning Resources

Disneyland Lightning Lane Strategies

disney fans!

I’m Chelsea

Co-owner of Pixie Point Gals

One of the most confusing aspects of a Disneyland trip is the Lightning Lane pass system. In this quick guide I will break down some of the best kept secrets!

Lightning Lane Tips- Disneyland Park

  • Indiana First: Book Indiana jones at rope drop. It is considered a higher tier lightning lane and breaks down frequently. If it is broken down… you get an extra lightning lane pass that allows you to ride any multi-pass ride you want .
  • Modify Your Time: Did you know you can go into the app and modify times for your lightning lane? I do this after I book my first lightning lane at rope drop. I can modify it to later (when lines are longer) about 2 hours out from my first time booking it. This allows me to have more than 1 lightning lane at a time later on in the day (and use rope drop to wait in short lines).
  • Rope Drop Early: I always suggest to show up an hour before the park opens. This allows you to get through security, wait in line, and walk throug main street to get a coveted spot at the front. They typically let people in 30-40 minutes before the park opens to walk up main street.
  • If you can see the Rope, Peter Pan it is! : One of the best mottos for a newbie is at rope drop if you can see the rope (an actual rope in front of the castle) and have small kids who want to ride peter pan. go there first! It doesn’t have any sort of lightning lane

Each Multi-Pass Lightning Lanes Value Disneyland Park

  1. Indiana Jones (book right at rope drop) *
  2. Space Mountain *
  3. Tianas Bayou *
  4. Matterhorn *
  5. Mickey and Minnies Runaway (mornings wait times are usually slow here) *
  6. Big Thunder Mountain
  7. Haunted Mansion
  8. Millennium Falcon: Smuggler’s Run
  9. Buzz Lightyear Astro Orbiters
  10. Roger Rabit Spin
  11. Star Tours
  12. Its a small world
  13. Autopia

Each Multi-Pass Lightning Lanes Value California Adventure

  1. Guardians of the Galazy *
  2. Toy Story Mania *
  3. Web-Slingers *
  4. Incredicoaster (if you can ride single rider it moves a long fast)
  5. Soarin’ around the world
  6. Grizzly River Rapids
  7. Goofy Sky School
  8. Monsers Inc.
  9. Little Mermaid
Anything with a * is a top tier multi-pass free pass ride. That means when it breaks down.. you get an additional pass that allows you to ride more coveted rides (again!).

Lightning Lane Types

There are multiple types of lightning lanes that you can get at disneyland! Some are more “valuable” vs others.

  • Individual Lightning Lane- You are charged per ride to do this. For example Radiator Springs at California Adventure is an individual lightning lane. These are typically the rides with the longest lines.
  • Multi-pass Lightning Lane- You pick 1 ride once you have scanned into the park. Once you scan into the ride or wait 2 hours since the lat time you picked a lightning lane selection… you can pick another ride.
Rope Drop Prioritizes

Rides that do not have a lightning lane that I prioritize at Rope drop

Disneyland

Fantasyland– If you have littles.. this is a great place to start. There aren’t any fast passes in this area and you can ride the short kids rides quickly in the morning! Here are some of the ones we always priortize:

  • Peter Pan (consistently one of the busiest rides at Disneyland)
  • Dumbo the flying elephant
  • Alice in Wonderland (this ride is always so long for the length/what it is)

Toon-town- Another great option for littles.. we usually can hit both before crowds really pick up. If you start here it can be great for kids who want to meet characters (they come out wandering at rope drop) or the line for minnie house will be short!

  • My 7 year old loves the gadget coaster. Its seriously 30 seconds long and gets a long line by the middile of the day.
  • Meet characters here and ride runaway railway in the morning

Adventureland- Pirates of the Carribean and Jungle Cruise are both great options while you wait for your Indiana Jones ride or Tianas. Neither of these rides have a lightning lane.

Disney California Adventure

Many people rope drop Radiator Springs Racer but I have found that its worth paying the ILL for this ride and/or do a single rider

Cars land- Rope drop the other two lines here while everyone else runs to radiators.

  • Luigis
  • Mater Junkyard

Pixar Pier- Do the rides that don’t have lightning lane lines (you can also rope drop the incredicoaster and ride it twice if you have lightning lane). Most of the rides in this area don’t have lighting lanes.

Want a More concierge level service?

Don’t want to plan your own trip?

We also power Churro Captains Travel, a Disney focused travel agency that specializes in Disney parks. These are separate from DVC rentals. We create custom itineraries, walk you through lighting lane, food options and more when you book a package with us.

Located in St. George, UT we also meet one on one with our clients to help them create the exact trip they are wanting.

Meet or work with us
Posted In: disneyland, Planning Resources

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