Walt Disney World has a skip-the-line service that guests can reserve ahead of a park day called Lightning Lane Multi Pass. This was previously known as Genie+ but without being able to reserve ahead. Before that, and a worldwide pandemic, this was known as FastPass+ but it was free. Slightly different offerings, very different names! In this post, we’ll cover the Lightning Lane Multi Pass strategy for Walt Disney World’s Epcot. To catch up on other park’s Lightning Lane strategies, click here.

Of the four Walt Disney World theme parks, Epcot is the third best one to use Lightning Lane Multi Pass at. It’s closer to second place than fourth though. A lack of thrill rides offered keeps Epcot from passing Hollywood Studios although they do offer the same amount of attractions through Multi Pass – 11. The problem is in the weakness of Epcot’s tier 2 attractions. DHS offers Tower of Terror, one of the best rides in all of Disney World, as well as other popular attractions in tier 2 and Epcot doesn’t come close to that, even if you are a Soarin’ stan. We’re on the fence about recommending a Multi Pass at Epcot, as we think an effective rope-dropping itinerary will get you through the park well enough in a day. But if you have the means, getting a Multi Pass will make the day much easier.

Assuming you did decide to get it, purchasing the pass can happen 7 days in advance of your hotel stay if you’re staying on-site, 3 days ahead of your park visit if not. Guests can purchase Lightning Lane passes for days they have valid theme park admission starting at 7:00 AM Eastern Time on their first day of eligibility. That’s 4 AM(!) on the west coast, but I do recommend waking up for it. If you’re going to splurge on this then you might as well make it worth your while. The way to do that is right when they go on sale. Make sure all of your group’s tickets are linked in the app before purchasing.

Once purchased and the park day has rolled around, guests will have 3 reserved Lightning Lanes. When the first of those attraction windows come up (or you’ve checked into the ride) a new reservation can be made for whatever is left available. Epcot’s top tier (where you can only pre-reserve one attraction out of those) is crowded, so grabbing anything out of there on the day of is a coup.

To accomplish as much as possible, keep reserving as soon as you check in for a ride. One of the biggest plusses of this system is that it’s a rolling 3 attractions to reserve and you don’t have to complete all 3 pre-reserved passes first. You can also hop to another park if you have an applicable ticket, which might be worth thinking about if you’re a ride focused family and are interested in some of the Hollywood Studios offerings.

As I’ve already mentioned, Epcot uses a tiered system for their Lightning Lane attractions. Guests can reserve a single tier 1 attraction and 2 attractions from tier 2 in advance. Once the park day comes and you’ve completed one attraction then whatever’s left can be reserved. With that in mind, we recommend scheduling at least 2 of the Lightning Lanes early in the day.

I’ll rank the tiers separately but on the day of, take any of the tier 1 attractions over the tier 2 ones. They aren’t necessarily the better ride but they are far more popular! The only tier 2 attraction that rivals any of the tier 1 attractions, in terms of popularity, is Soarin’. Honestly, that one isn’t all that close either. Guardians of the Galaxy – Cosmic Rewind is not included in Multi Pass, instead being a Single Pass. If you’re buying Multi Pass, rope drop Cosmic Rewind in the standby line. For those that wanted a crash course in Disney World terminology then this post has you covered!

We’ll start with the tier 1 Lightning Lane rankings before moving to tier 2. Keep in mind, these are not in order of what our favorites are but instead what is the best use of a Lightning Lane. More than anything, this is to help you stay out of line. Naturally, these rankings do follow some of our attraction rankings but they are being judged off of popularity and what attractions run out the fastest. If you have questions about how Multi Pass works or our rankings, let us know in the comments below!

Tier 1 Lightning Lane Attractions

1. Test Track

Test Track has been redone and is now the most popular ride in Epcot! It’s nearly on par with Cosmic Rewind, even a few months after the re-debut. This will be a highly contested Lightning Lane to book so set those early morning alarms and get in your thumb exercises. Test Track is the clear option unless you really want to avoid thrill rides, then drop down to the second place finisher. If you were unable to secure a Test Track Lightning Lane then consider the Single Rider line here, as it moves very quickly.

2. Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure

The other Tier 1 options at Epcot scratch the family ride itch. Neither are our favorite dark ride but they’re both enjoyable and immensely popular. The chances of grabbing a Ratatouille Lightning Lane on the day of are extremely slim. Even with the reemergence of Test Track, Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure is a highly sought after Lightning Lane and not a bad option if only half of your party wants to ride Test Track. If that’s the case, book a ride in the France Pavilion and then send the group that wants to do the thrill ride through the single rider line there at some point during the day.

3. Frozen Ever After

Epcot has the most popular tier 1 attractions of any WDW park, as Frozen Ever After still draws long waits. In terms of standby lines, this attraction is fairly even with Remy. This is a much easier attraction to get via Lightning Lane though so we’ve put it in the number 3 slot. If you’re able to snag this on the day of then Multi Pass will have been worth it. Keep an eye out for people canceling theirs as the day goes along. On the other hand, if both Test Track and Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure are sold out when you go to purchase Multi Pass, reconsider getting it at all.

Tier 2 Lightning Lane Attractions

1. Soarin’

This is the easiest choice of them all. Soarin’ is far more popular than any other tier 2 attraction at Epcot. While the ride does have shorter standby waits than it used to, specifically in the first and last hour of operation, Soarin’ remains a top 3 or 4 attraction in Epcot in both popularity and quality. That makes it the right choice here.

2. Spaceship Earth

Despite showing age, I still love Epcot’s iconic attraction. What I don’t love is the outdoor queue. The only appeal is that guests stand in line under the ball. Spaceship Earth doesn’t draw very long lines anymore but the outside portion is enough for me to move it up to second place, partially because I really don’t like the number 3 option.

3. Mission: Space

I don’t have many good things to say about this ride and that’s why it dropped to number 3 on the list. In reality, this is probably the second place finisher in terms of popularity. But Spaceship Earth is a safe choice with a hot outdoor queue. Mission: Space is less family friendly and will usually have guests standing inside. Is this all an excuse for me to just not rank it in the top 2? Maybe. I’ll stop writing this paragraph before I move it to 4th place.

4. Living with the Land

Every now and then, this boat ride inside of The Land Pavilion sees a wait time spike. That’s especially true during the holidays, when Living with the Land gets an overlay. But those spikes don’t happen often, especially if you stay away from the standby line in the middle of the day. This is fine to book day of after going through a few other attractions but there’s not a lot of reason to use a Lightning Lane here.

5. Journey into Imagination with Figment

We’re to the part of the list where there’s no real reason to book a Lightning Lane for the attractions. If you’re at Disney World during an especially busy time then go see Figment while skipping the line. Otherwise, it might take more time to book this than going through the standby line.

6. The Seas with Nemo & Friends

We don’t really advise to ride this via standby or Lightning Lane. It’s better to just enter via the exit and explore the aquarium. But if you’ve exhausted all of the other picks here then sure, why not? Or move on to another park with your Multi Pass!

7. Turtle Talk with Crush

In general, shows are a bad use of any Multi Pass selection. That’s especially true in Epcot, where the options aren’t popular. Turtle Talk with Crush is a nice enough family attraction and could be worth a final Multi Pass booking on the busiest of Epcot days. But this probably isn’t worth pulling out your phone to get.

8. Disney and Pixar Short Film Festival

Instead of using your phone to book a Lightning Lane for the Short Film Festival, you could just watch the shorts on your phone while waiting in line for something else. This is not worth a Lightning Lane.

Epcot has 5 or 6 attractions that are worth a Lightning Lane. That could be stretched to 7 or 8 on a really busy day. The big problem is that 3 of those are in the top tier, where you can only book 1 in advance. Epcot is an interesting park to start the day with a Multi Pass before hopping elsewhere. Otherwise, we’re on the fence about the add-on purchase here.

Will you use Lightning Lane Multi Pass at Epcot? Let us know your thoughts or any questions you might have in the comments below. Planning a trip to Walt Disney World? Check out our Disney World Trip Planning Guide to help you out. Looking for Disney World discount tickets? You can find them here! 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. All of those links are on the right side of this page. Thank you for reading, we really appreciate it!