I’ve been a fan of theme parks my entire life, and now writing about them has become my real job. I’m not afraid to call myself a theme park expert. I’ve learned a lot about how they work, from the behind-the-scenes design of the attractions to the operational aspects of major parks like Disney World and Universal Studios. And yet, even I can learn something new on occasion.
You see, since writing about theme parks is my job, most of my travels over the past few years have been work-related. When there’s something new to report at Disney World, like the opening of Tiana’s Byou Adventure, or when I’m invited to Universal Studios Hollywood to experience Super Nintendo World, I head out alone or with work colleagues to get the job done.
I usually have time to enjoy the parks as a fan there too, but it’s different. Being able to go on a ride before everyone else often means there’s little to no waiting in line. Things like food are usually provided so I don’t have to pay much. It’s not exactly a “normal” theme park experience.
But recently I decided to show my kids why I love theme parks so much by taking my family on a real Disneyland vacation. I didn’t ask for any favors, we paid the regular price for everything out of our own pocket. This required a level of planning I’d never had to worry about before. I decided to spend money on pretty much anything that was available that I thought would make the trip easier or more fun for everyone. Some of that money was very well spent. Some of it, as it turned out, was total waste.
Lightning Lane Multi-Pass was money well spent
One of the strange things that happens when you visit the same theme parks often is that you find that the attractions, the reason most people go to theme parks in the first place, become less necessary. I love Space Mountain as much as ever (even though Disneyland had closed it for renovation on this trip), but I rarely feel like I must ride it on any trip I want. This is probably the last time I ride it, and if I don’t make it this trip, there’s always the next one.
But my seven-year-old daughter hasn’t ridden everything yet. The last time she was at Disneyland, she was too little for many of the rides and too young to care. Now she’s big enough to do everything except ride an Autoipia car on her own, and old enough to know what she’s missing out on. Because I wanted to make sure we could ride as many things as she wanted, I spent the money on something that was called Genie+ when I bought it, but by the time I used it, it had been renamed Lighting Lane Multi-Pass.
To be clear, I hate as much as anyone that the old FastPass system now costs money. The system is less confusing at Disneyland than the recent changes at Walt Disney World. In fact, little has changed compared to Genie+ except the name. For a family of four, buying one for everyone is basically like buying a fifth ticket every day, but as much as I hate it, it was worth it.
We did about 10 attractions over the course of our day at Disneyland Park. We also watched the Magic Happens parade, Fantasmic, and the fireworks, and had a table service lunch at Blue Bayou. We did a dozen attractions at Disney’s California Adventure. We also had a table service lunch at Lamplight Lounge, saw World of Color, and the kids ran around the Redwood Creek Challenge Trail for a while. We technically did many of these rides twice since we switched drivers on anything the toddler couldn’t ride.
I can say with certainty that without Lightning Lane we would never have gotten as much done in two park days in the summer. I wouldn’t have minded waiting in lines and visiting fewer attractions. I haven’t used rides like this as intensively in years, but my kids were happy and probably even happier that they didn’t have to wait in long lines.
Buying park hopping tickets was a waste of money
I spent the money on Lightning Lane because my goal for the trip was to maximize the opportunities. I wanted to at least have the opportunity to do basically everything that was necessary for everyone to have fun. For this reason, I Also spent money on park hopper tickets that gave us the ability to hop between Disneyland and Disney California Adventure under the rules of the “I can’t believe this still exists” reservation system. It was a waste of money. We literally never used them.
Back when we had annual passes, my wife and I were constantly moving from one park to another. The two parks at the Disneyland Resort are just a few feet apart. It’s so easy. I find that park hopping at Walt Disney World is mostly a waste of time because transportation between parks usually takes too long, but at Disneyland, it’s a breeze.
However, since we easily got into the Lightning Lane rhythm of visiting one attraction at a time on both days, it was easier to stay where we were. On the first day at Disneyland, we kept saying, “We can come back on Thursday and do that.” We didn’t…not once.
Choose between Lightning Lane and Park Hopper
My situation was obviously not one that every single Disneyland visitor might find themselves in, but I would bet that many families visiting the park might find themselves in a similar situation. If you are visiting the park without children and/or are interested in things other than attractions, this advice is certainly not necessarily for you.
But we all know that many families plan these big trips and try to experience everything the Disneyland Resort has to offer in one go. If that’s you, you might want to keep this advice in mind. There are ways to spend money that can make the experience even better, but it’s also not worth wasting money on things you don’t need. That money can be spent elsewhere on your Disney vacation.
The real answer is that for most people, it’s probably not worth spending money on both at the same time. If you’re like my family and want to see a lot of attractions, then take the Lightning Lane, but save on the Park Hopper and visit as many attractions in each park as possible individually. If attractions aren’t your goal, there may be more reason to hop from park to park, but save the money for the Lightning Lane.
