Hello there Amy!
Welcome to planDisney, and thanks for sending in your fun question. I'm not sure what I love more, Disney Dining or using a Lightning Lane pass to skip the stand by line on my favorite attractions? I love your strategy, and can tell you're off to a zip-a-dee-do-dah start for planning a magical day!
I wish I knew where you planned to dine, which may help with estimating travel times. Different Disney Dining venues can also vary in the amount of time they take to enjoy. But in general, I'd recommend leaving yourself between 1 to 1.5 hours to enjoy your meal. Then 1 hour to comfortably travel back to Magic Kingdom, enter the park, and walk to your preferred attraction. What does that put us at... around 6:00 - 6:30 pm?
One nice thing about
Lightning Lane passes is the return time window is a one hour period, which gives you a little wiggle room. So if you select a 6:30 pm pass, you just need to arrive any time between 6:30 - 7:30 pm to tap in for your ride. Personally I'd try and select any reservation from 6:30 pm, or later.
Other things to consider:
- How late is Magic Kingdom staying open that day?
- What time will the Happily Ever After fireworks show be that evening? Do you want to plan time to find a good spot, and watch the show? (I don't mean to be bossy... but the answer to that last question is "yes"!)
- If your visit will be July 20 or later, you don't want to miss the highly anticipated new nighttime parade Disney Starlight!
You can find all of these time and schedule details by checking the
Park Operating Calendar for your visit date, which may help you fine tune those plans.
If you are already inside your booking window, reserve those Lightning Lanes as soon as possible, Amy! That's 7 days prior to arrival for Disney Resort guests, starting at 7 am ET, or 3 days prior to arrival for other guests.
I think that's it... you're ready to plan your magical evening like a pro! I'm sending pixie dust your way, and hope you have a wonderful time at Walt Disney World! Please send me another
message at planDisney if I can help with anything further.
Adventure is out there!
Tami