Competitors for Lightning Lanes may be fierce in larger crowds because of extra friends shopping for Multi-Go line-skipping. Regardless of surge pricing that may trigger the paid FastPass service to value round $40 on busy days, demand is highest when attendance and wait occasions are at their worst. (Up to date February 23, 2025.)
Accordingly, you want superior technique to attain probably the most journey reservations, particularly throughout the busiest dates when Lightning Lane Multi-Go is costliest and contours are longest. Sadly for energy customers, many of the next-level hacks that had been exploited beneath Genie+ are all gone beneath LLMP. There’s no 120 minute rule, stacking is now not a factor, and pace technique doesn’t matter as a lot.
Thankfully, there are new methods to squeeze probably the most out of Multi-Go, which we clarify in our Prime 10 Ideas & Tips for Lightning Lanes at Walt Disney World in 2025. That’s a crash course in turning you right into a Lightning Lanes energy person, and we’d extremely suggest it for all of the ins and outs. Of these methods, there’s a cause why “Have a Robust Refresh Recreation” is much and away the #1 tip & trick for Lightning Lane Multi-Go at Walt Disney World. This submit is meant to do a deeper dive, explaining why that issues and the way it works.
None of that is defined by Walt Disney World on its official websites, and possibly for good cause–the following pointers may be complicated and overwhelming. Nonetheless, in the event you take ~half-hour to be taught these ins and outs, you gained’t simply be above common–you’ll be a high 5% Lightning Lane Multi-Go energy person.
Earlier than we dig into the small print, a few warnings are so as. First, that is complicated or intimidating at first. Whilst you can comprehend the contours by studying, you actually need to be taught this one by doing. The under rationalization will make an entire lot extra sense when you truly begin utilizing Lightning Lane Multi Go.
Even in the event you depart this submit extra confused than whenever you began, that’ll shortly change when you begin truly enjoying the refresh sport. The educational curve is steep within the summary, however not in apply.
Second, this may completely improve your display time. I do know that’s a serious concern with lots of Walt Disney World trip planners, and a few of our different recommendation avoids being glued to your cellphone. This doesn’t. Enjoying the refresh sport is addictive, and you could possibly spend hours of your day making an attempt to commerce up your Lightning Lane alternatives and return occasions.
Due to that, we extremely suggest setting some floor guidelines. Mine is that I solely play the refresh sport within the Lightning Lane return line after tapping in. This implies I’ve anyplace from 2 minutes to 10 minutes–all of it will depend on whether or not there are two faucet factors, the place merge happens, and many others. I’ll additionally search for journey reservation refills any time I’m ready–to select up a Cell Order, the remainder of my occasion to get out of the restroom, and many others.
Whereas this does require extra display time, it doesn’t should require hours of display time. On the contrary, I view enjoying the refresh sport as being addictive in a nasty method. Looking for 5-10 minutes per attraction is an efficient use of time, and can normally work out to your benefit. Something greater than that and also you shortly begin hitting the purpose of diminishing returns.
With these warnings out of the way in which, let’s get all the way down to brass tacks and focus on what the heck journey reservation refill guidelines even are. And for that, we rewind to March 2020, within the halcyon days of FastPass+ at Walt Disney World…
There’s a cause we’re calling this “journey reservation refill guidelines,” and it’s not simply because I’m a sucker for a superb alliteration. It’s as a result of that is nothing new, and was one thing Walt Disney World had been fine-tuning within the ultimate days of FastPass+. I don’t keep in mind exactly after they began, however it turned a extra pronounced apply in 2019. (Or so it appeared to me.)
Walt Disney World would add same-day FastPass+ journey reservations for headliner points of interest “at random” all through the day. Besides it wasn’t actually at random, it was primarily based on a set schedule. The entire function of this was to throw a bone to friends who didn’t notice journey reservations had been booked 30/60 days prematurely, and confirmed up on the parks with nothing in hand.
Basically, it was an try to treatment visitor complaints about FastPass+ from first-timers. Besides, like all issues, the predictable course of was reverse-engineered and it was higher exploited by the savviest planners than ill-prepared newbies.
Nearly equivalent journey reservation refill guidelines had been constructed into the Lightning Lanes for the very same causes. That features the now-defunct Genie+ system. For those who already performed the refresh sport with that, you already understand how this works–the mechanics have modified barely, however the thought is similar.
Transferring ahead, right here’s every part else you must learn about journey reservation refill guidelines beneath Lightning Lane Multi-Go at Walt Disney World…
Refills vs. Cancellations
It ought to go with out saying, however these aren’t the identical. If one occasion cancels a journey reservation, that single reservation returns to the system together with its precise time slot. There are lots of friends all utilizing Lightning Lane Multi-Go on the identical time.
Let’s say that 9 completely different events all see and try to e-book one reservation for Slinky Canine Sprint. Clearly, just one can–and that occurs in milliseconds, earlier than Disney’s techniques can replicate that it’s gone to everybody else. Making issues worse, all can provoke the reserving course of and it’ll disappear out from beneath 8 of you.
Cancellations can turn into simpler to determine over time as a result of they are going to be for some random time. As soon as that’s booked, the return time clock jumps again to wherever it was in its cycle earlier than (or goes unavailable, because the case could also be). In contrast, reservation refills restart the clock and advance incrementally over the course of some minutes (generally much less, generally extra) earlier than reserving up.
Occasion Measurement Does Not Matter
That is actually solely a tangential level, however it’s one thing that comes up so much, and pertains to the primary level of confusion. For those who see a cancellation, however are one of many disenchanted events that had been too sluggish to e-book it, there could be the belief that it’s as a result of your occasion was too massive.
In truth, I don’t know whether or not that’s the case with cancellations–if it exhibits for everybody regardless of not being a match. Nothing would shock me, however I do know that at the same time as a celebration of 1, I’m routinely have the cancelled reservation rug pulled out from beneath me.
What I additionally know is that occasion dimension doesn’t matter with journey reservation refills. Lightning Lanes aren’t like Advance Eating Reservations–Walt Disney World isn’t making an attempt to match attraction automobile seating with hourly capability. That’s not even remotely potential. It’s a pure numbers sport: X variety of journey reservations are launched, and that quantity may be booked in any permutation potential.
Refilled Experience Roster
Listed here are the points of interest that we’ve seen get reservation refills at one level or one other:
- Magic Kingdom: Tiana’s Bayou Journey (far and away the most typical as of 2025), Jungle Cruise, Haunted Mansion, Peter Pan’s Flight, Pirates of the Caribbean, Seven Dwarfs Mine Practice, Area Mountain
- EPCOT: Frozen Ever After, Remy’s Ratatouille Journey, Soarin’ Across the World
- Hollywood Studios: Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway, Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run, Slinky Canine Sprint, Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance, Toy Story Mania, Twilight Zone Tower of Terror
- Animal Kingdom: Avatar Flight of Passage, Kilimanjaro Safaris, Na’vi River Journey
Word that a few of these are Lightning Lane Single Go points of interest.
Do These Experience Reservation Refills At all times Occur?
Nope. Some points of interest have their Lightning Lane availability replenished regularly, others occur on uncommon event, and most are someplace in between the 2 extremes. I might share a bunch of refill occasions right here at the moment, and so they might be mistaken tomorrow, subsequent week or month.
Probably the most illustrative instance is Tiana’s Bayou Journey. It makes use of journey reservation refills rather more ceaselessly than different points of interest because of its unreliability. If it’s having a “unhealthy” day, refills will likely be sparse or nonexistent. If it’s having a “good” day, it’s possible you’ll usually discover same-day Lightning Lane drops which can be solely 10 to half-hour out.
Much less excessive examples happen with most different points of interest when attendance isn’t as heavy as inside forecasts projected. If Walt Disney World anticipated 50,000 friends, however there solely 40,000 friends confirmed up, that’s a reasonably large miss on the projection. This opens up the door for extra journey reservation refills, as Disney load balances between the Lightning Lanes and standby strains.
When Are Lightning Lane Experience Reservation Refill Occasions?
I wish to stress that there are not any ensures.
Furthermore, I don’t have the extent of firsthand testing expertise crucial to identify patterns. There was a time after I was shopping for and utilizing Lightning Lanes not less than as soon as per week at Walt Disney World, as we labored to place collectively our sources. Nonetheless, because the paid FastPass service has turn into extra steady, the necessity for additional testing has decreased. And we’d quite not waste cash, so we’ve slowed that all the way down to about as soon as per thirty days, or at any time when issues change. (For instance, Tiana’s Bayou Journey and Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind switching to standby–that doesn’t pertain on to LLMP, however it has second-order results.)
The excellent news is that the parents over at Thrill-Information monitor what they name Lightning Lane “popup releases” (identical kinda factor, completely different title). The listing of points of interest seems incomplete to me, however it ought to offer you an thought of when to anticipate journey reservation refills or popup releases.
It’s price stating that their knowledge is automated–which means an precise human isn’t reviewing the app and making notes of what’s being refilled. Meaning they’ll–and do–miss refills that seem and vanish shortly. It’s additionally price stating that refills are principally same-day beneath Lightning Lane Multi-Go, however I’ve additionally seen them throughout the preliminary pre-arrival choice course of. So in the event you don’t extra display time earlier than leaving residence, you can provide this a attempt then, too.
What’s the Finest Method to Snagging Refills?
You must instantly select the perfect accessible choice after you’ve tapped into Lightning Lane to unlock your subsequent choice (profiting from the “rolling 3 rule,” a associated idea, is essential to getting probably the most mileage out of LLMP). At all times e-book one thing–don’t refresh and watch for the “good” Lightning Lane. Reserving one other journey reservation is actually a hedge.
From there, play the refresh sport by trying to find one thing higher. My tried and true Lightning Lane refresh technique is tapping in, reserving the perfect accessible choice, after which modifying. Though the above listing of journey reservation refill points of interest may be useful, I assume, I’ve discovered the precise listing of points of interest to be longer–and drop occasions extra scattershot–in my testing of LLMP. Principally, I’m spamming the modify button.
There are just a few approaches for refreshing from right here, however I favor toggling the “shut” dropdown on the modify display to refresh occasions. I do that repeatedly each few seconds at some stage in that 5 minute clock (see the highest of the screenshots). About 75% of the time, I’ll discover one thing higher inside that span of time.
Examine the left and proper, the latter of which exhibits pop-up availability for 4:25 pm that wasn’t there 2 minutes earlier. In my expertise, toggling this “shut” dropdown is probably the most environment friendly approach to play the refresh sport.
Lastly, we wish to underscore but once more that Lightning Lanes aren’t the end-all, be-all of park touring technique. Our Finest Time-Saving Technique at Walt Disney World covers the perfect and worst methods to beat the crowds proper now and Lightning Lanes are not the perfect (and definitely not the simplest) method in 2 of the 4 parks.
The one parks the place Lightning Lane Multi-Go works higher than all different methods are Disney’s Hollywood Studios and Magic Kingdom. In every single place else, there are superior methods for saving time ready in line. In any respect 4 parks, there are various approaches that work nicely sufficient, don’t value cash, require as a lot backtracking, and don’t contain display time.
The underside line is that you could possibly ignore Lightning Lanes completely–faux they don’t even exist–and nonetheless have a unbelievable journey. Don’t let FOMO get the perfect of you–shopping for Lightning Lanes isn’t a “want” and there are many different methods to beat the crowds. For those who’re overwhelmed by Lightning Lane Multi Go, the aforementioned submit is probably the most succinct useful resource for present technique.
In the end, this could be complicated or irritating, however it’s essential to do not forget that that is basically a “loophole” and Disney itself doesn’t publish something about journey reservation refills for a cause. This isn’t meant to be widespread information–they’re alleged to be a ‘aid valve’ of kinds for friends who don’t know all the ins and outs, and are simply randomly on the lookout for availability.
Whereas the bottom lined right here is sweet data to have, on the finish of the day all you actually must know is that spamming the modify button can assist you commerce up points of interest and return occasions because of journey reservation refills. (There’s a cause why our Prime 10 Ideas & Tips for Lightning Lanes at Walt Disney World in 2025 is rather more succinct!)
The underside line is that a lot information will make it easier to make higher selections and get extra mileage from Multi-Go. To cite the good Indiana Jones (Journey): “Actual Rewards Await These Who Select Properly.” For every part else you must learn about LLMP, see our Information to Lightning Lanes at Walt Disney World.
Planning a Walt Disney World journey? Find out about lodges on our Walt Disney World Resorts Evaluations web page. For the place to eat, learn our Walt Disney World Restaurant Evaluations. To save cash on tickets or decide which sort to purchase, learn our Ideas for Saving Cash on Walt Disney World Tickets submit. Our What to Pack for Disney Journeys submit takes a novel take a look at intelligent gadgets to take. For what to do and when to do it, our Walt Disney World Experience Guides will assist. For complete recommendation, the perfect place to begin is our Walt Disney World Journey Planning Information for every part you must know!
YOUR THOUGHTS
Do these journey reservation refill guidelines make sense to you or is it too overwhelming? Will you utilize this technique for scoring Lightning Lane alternatives? Have you ever had success in getting Slinky Canine Sprint throughout one in every of these refills? What about headliners in different parks? Ideas on leveraging journey reservation refills versus different technique? Do you agree or disagree with my evaluation? Any questions we can assist you reply? Listening to your suggestions–even whenever you disagree with us–is each fascinating to us and useful to different readers, so please share your ideas under within the feedback!