Ultimate Guide to Epcot’s Lightning Lane: How to Skip the Lines Like a Pro

Ready to maximize your EPCOT adventure with the new Lightning Lane? Buckle up, because we’ve got the scoop! Here’s our guide ranking all 10 attractions that offer Multi-Pass.

Get ready to zig when they zag with Walt Disney World’s new advance ride reservations, and cruise through your day without the pesky waits!

What is Lightening Lane?

Disney has long had a love affair with various skip-the-line services. From it’s humble Fastpass origins to the much despised Genie+ service. The folks heading up Disney Parks and Experiences know that no one wants to wait in line.

Guests at Disney parks can skip almost any line, walking straight onto the attraction. For a price. The latest iteration is called Lightening Lane Services and consists of the Single Pass and Multi-pass.

The Multi-Pass gives you access to skip the line at nearly every attraction in any of the Disney World parks, for a flat per person per day fee. But up to two attractions per park are not included and guests will need to purchase a single pass to skip.

EPCOT Lightening Lane

If you’re anything like me, Epcot might just be your favorite park. But for a lot of folks it’s second (or third) best to Magic Kingdom. And when it comes to Lightening Lanes, there’s a lot to be desired.

The main headache with the Epcot Lightening Lane is the dreaded tier system. Unlike its sister parks, EPCOT’s Group B attractions aren’t exactly thrilling. You can hit these rides with minimal waits most of the time anyway.

New to Lightening Lanes? Start here.

With Test Track closed until 2025 and Luminous: The Symphony of Us out of the LLMP lineup, there’s even less to choose from in the top tier.

Tactical Picks

One of the biggest changes to Lightening Lanes is the (re)introduction of attraction tier limitations. Within each park the most popular rides are gathered into Group A, and Group B has, well, everything else. Lightening Lane reservations can be made up to 7 days before arrival for park guests, and 3 days in advance for everyone else.

When pre-booking your Lightening Lane selections you’ll only be able to pick up to one Group A attraction, and up to two Group B attractions.

EPCOT Lightning Lane Multi-Pass Rankings – Group A

1. Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure the newest ride on the Multi-pass system, with a wait often over 90 minutes. This ride is also prone to downtime, due to the painfully new technology. And the standby queue is mostly outdoors.
2. Frozen Ever After is basically an Epcot icon now, and continues to pull insanely long lines nearly a decade after opening. Swap to top priority if this is your make or break ride. Otherwise grab some school bread (and a beer) to stick out this air conditioned line.
3. Soarin’ Around the World is available if either of the top two sell out. But thanks to the height requirements, nature of the attraction, and single ride line – booking this as an additional pass later in the day is likely.

EPCOT Lightning Lane Multi-Pass Rankings – Group B

Truly, there’s not much ranking priority for Group B at Epcot. Additional reservations should be available throughout the day. But as a general rule – book whichever has the earliest available time.

Timing of your first return window is crucial with the new Lightening Lane system. Because, additional reservations can only be made after you’ve used your first selection of the day. So, the early that you can hop on any one of these – the early you can try to secure a second Group A attraction.

1. Mission: Space
2. Spaceship Earth
3. Living with the Land
4. Journey Into Imagination
5. The Seas with Nemo & Friends
6. Turtle Talk with Crush
7. Pixar Film Fest

Should You Buy Epcot Lightening Lane Multi-Pass?

That’s the magic question but it depends on your bucket list attractions – and patience. Frozen Ever After and Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure both have consistently long lines, and so will Test Track once it comes back on line.

The good news is that the combine wait time for both should be less than 4 hours. Epcot is normally open for 12+ hours each day, plus 3 hours more for guests of Deluxe Disney Resorts (and the Swan/Dolphin collection). So you don’t need the Epcot Multi-pass to experience the whole park.

If you’re planning a half day at Epcot and hopping over to Animal Kingdom or Hollywood Studios, Multi-pass is a good buy. Especially Animal Kingdom where there are no ride tiers. But you’ll only be able to pre-book Lightening Lanes at your first park of the day. Additional selections can be made day of after use of the first return window of the day.

Epcot Lightening Lane Single Pass

If you’re not confused and frustrated yet, don’t worry there’s more! Epcot’s number one attraction, Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind is not included in the multi-pass. And there’s still not a standby line. Guests have two options for this experience: join the Virtual Queue (at 7am or 1pm) or purchase a Lightening Lane Single Pass.

The problem is that Lightening Lane Single Pass is available to pre-book just the same as the multi. 7 days before arrival for resort guests, or 3 days before for everyone else. On busy days it can, and probably will, sell out. Then you are stuck rolling the dice and trying to jump in the Virtual Queue.

The Virtual Queue which routinely books up within minutes.

Should you pre-book the Cosmic Rewind Single Pass? If you need to guarantee the experience, yes – absolutely.

We’ll be at Disney World testing out this new system (as well as Food and Wine and Not So Scary). Follow along on Instagram for a sneak peak of our latest reports and videos.

Ready to make the most of your EPCOT day? Let’s go!