Kachow, Madison!
Welcome to planDisney. Thank you so much for making a pitstop here with your question. How exciting you are thinking ahead for your upcoming Disney vacation. Soon it will be time to start planning your route, including booking your
Disney Dining Reservations and
Enchanting Extras Reservations beginning 60 days out from your Resort Check In day (or 60 days out from the event if you are not staying on property.)
Madison, let's get to the nuts and bolts of Lightning Lanes. Since you have a 3-year-old, he or she will be required to have a theme park ticket and therefore will also need to have a
Lightning Lane Multi Pass if you plan to purchase the Multi Pass to expedite your wait for any of the attractions that have Lightning Lanes. You don't have to have a Lightning Lane Multi Pass or Lightning Lane Single Pass to enjoy the parks - you can opt to wait in the Standby Queues for all of the attractions. However, if you are planning to purchase Lightning Lane passes for your party and want your 3-year-old to ride the attractions with you, then they will need their own Lightning Lane passes. The Lightning Lane passes are tied to the ticket holder.
If you are staying at a Disney Resort Hotel, you can purchase and make your initial selections for your Lightning Lane Multi Passes, as well as purchase any Lightning Lane Single Passes for specific attractions, beginning 7 days in advance of your Check-In day for the entirety of your stay. Please note that when you purchase Lighting Lane Multi Passes, the passes are good for one day. If you have multiple park days planned and want Lightning Lane passes for each theme park day, you just need to purchase them for each day. If you are not staying at a Disney Resort Hotel, then you can purchase the Lightning Lane Passes and make initial selections beginning three days from the date you will be visiting that park.
For the Lightning Lane Multi Pass, you can make your initial three selections prior to entering the park; however, once you tap into your first attraction, you can make another selection. You can always have up to three Lightning Lane Multi Pass attractions reserved at a time.
I hope this helps you, Madison! If you have any more Disney vacation planning questions, race back here to see me, and I'll be so happy to help you.
Git-R-Done!
Keri