Disney World’s pay to skip the line service has a few different forms. Known as Lightning Lanes, Multi Passes offer several rides that guests can skip the line at. If you’re going to pay for a skip the line service, that is our preference. To pair with that offering, Disney also offers Lightning Lane Single Passes to their most popular attractions. These passes are good to skip the line once at only that attraction. We don’t find this to be a good value and don’t recommend purchasing them. In this post, we’ll offer an alternate touring strategy to all of the Single Pass Lightning Lane attractions at Walt Disney World.

In total, WDW has 5 attractions that utilize Lightning Lane Single Passes. There are 2 rides at Magic Kingdom and 1 each at the other 3 parks. Disney has quietly raised the prices on these passes lately, with most of the 5 attractions hitting their all-time max in the last few weeks. As an aside, if you’re planning a Walt Disney World trip but haven’t got tickets yet then buy them now. I expect prices to go up very soon. Anyway, the Lightning Lane pricing is dynamic depending on the date and attraction. Mine Train in Magic Kingdom is routinely the cheapest, settling in the $12-$15 range. Flight of Passage and Cosmic Rewind are typically just under $20 while Rise of the Resistance and Tron Lightcycle Run are just over $20.

You might think those prices aren’t bad and I’ll even admit that on the worst crowd days you could make a case for the price to be worth it. But by and large, these prices are close to the cost of the Multi Pass price and that offers a much better value. Of course, you can purchase both but then the day gets incredibly expensive. That is not worth it in our view as there are other strategies you can use to ride the most popular attractions without spending $80 for a group of 4 to skip one line. That’s where this post comes in!

I’ve listed the Lightning Lane Single Pass attractions below and share the best time to hop in their standby line, making your credit card bill a little less daunting. Obviously, I can’t give a perfect strategy for every day of the year. Crowds are going to change depending on the time of year and park hours. Is this paragraph here to cover myself after you’ve been waiting in the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train queue for an hour next to a screaming child and thinking, “Andrew really steered me wrong here”? Maybe. I want to avoid anyone dropping some Floridian curses on.

With that out of the way, I do believe in these strategies. Instead of dropping the extra money, you’ll likely need to be up early or late to avoid the dreaded 60+ minute waits. But each ride is a little different so let’s get to it!

Seven Dwarfs Mine Train (Magic Kingdom)

This family coaster has been one of Disney World’s most popular rides for over a decade now. Unlike the roller coaster’s vehicles, the popularity shows no signs of slowing down. The strategy is pretty simple here, do this as the last ride of the night! Many of the answers to these attractions will be rope dropping them but that’s definitely not our preference at Mine Train. Everyone does that. Instead, the later hours will provide a break from the youngest riders and getting in line a few minutes before closing should see the line move faster, as the Lightning Lane will no longer be active once the park closes.

The exception here is if it is a Magic Kingdom party day. That would see the park closing early but the mix-in party crowd would be there already. If that’s the case, then the line won’t die down before closing. If you’re going to Magic Kingdom on that day then rushing to the attraction as the park opens is your best option. The same is true if Magic Kingdom has very early opening hours and you’re staying on-site. If Early Entry hours are from 7:30-8 then starting the day off at Seven Dwarfs Mine Train is the way to go!

TRON Lightcycle / Run (Magic Kingdom)

One of the more expensive Lightning Lane Single Passes, the Tron coaster is just not worth the price. But the strategy is a confusing thanks to Lightcycle Run being so much more fun at night. The secret’s out and everyone else knows to do this at night too. On one had, if you’re okay not doing this in the dark then that makes this an easy rope drop choice. You won’t hit nearly as much resistance as other times. You could even look for a mid-morning lull here!

But if you do want to ride this at night then Magic Kingdom’s touring strategy becomes more difficult. We’ve already recommended going to Mine Train for your last ride of the night. You could shift the strategy and make this the last ride of the night, although that will still have you waiting a while. Another option is to hit this attraction a little after 7, giving yourself time to make it through the queue before the nighttime entertainment begins. There’s not a great way to avoid the line here unless you go first thing in the morning.

Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind (Epcot)

This one is simple. If you’re staying on-site, then wake up early and rope drop Cosmic Rewind. With the park’s hours being 9 AM to 9 PM almost all of the time, getting to Epcot by 8 AM pays dividends. You’ll be done with Cosmic Rewind by the end of Early Entry, freeing up the rest of the day for attractions and walking around World Showcase. If staying off-site then getting there well in advance of opening and rope dropping the attraction or saving it for the last ride of the night is an option. But the earlier you can be at Epcot to ride Cosmic Rewind, the better! The rest of the itinerary will sort itself out after you’re done saving the galaxy.

Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance (Hollywood Studios)

Rise of the Resistance crowds have been a subject of fascination for me ever since the ride opened almost 6 years ago. I’ve never been a big fan of rope dropping this ride, especially with the stacked attraction lineup at Hollywood Studios. Rise of the Resistance is in the back corner of the park and doesn’t attract many crowds near closing. So we recommend doing this attraction in the last 2 hours of park operation. There is a little bit of risk with this strategy. The ride could break down and then you miss it for the day. Outside of that, this timeframe is easily the least crowded time to ride Rise. Even when the wait time posted is high, the eye test at night typically says otherwise.

Avatar Flight of Passage (Animal Kingdom)

Flight of Passage is the easiest of the Lightning Lane Single Pass attractions to find an alternative for. There are quite a few options! If you’re up for it, get to Animal Kingdom nice and early to enjoy the rope drop. You’ll be out of the attraction before 9 and have so much time for the rest of the park. If you’re allergic to mornings, then the last hour of operation is an easy alternative. Without many attractions, crowds leave Animal Kingdom in the afternoon. That leaves low waits at Flight of Passage just before closing. Finally, there’s typically a mid-morning lull in crowds at this attraction. I’d put that option as the last resort but it does work better than other times of the day.

Do you use or avoid Lightning Lane Single Passes? Let us know, along with any questions you might have, in the comments below! If you are planning a trip to Disney World, then check out our planning guide. Looking for discount Walt Disney World tickets? Check out this site! If you enjoy what you are reading here on Wandering in Disney please share this post with your friends, as well as like our social media pages. You can also subscribe to the blog via WordPress or email. You can do all of that on the right side of this page. Thank you for reading, we really appreciate it!