Lightning Lane Multi Pass Priorities at Hollywood Studios

Over this series of articles, we’ve been using math to help us determine what your Lightning Lane Multi-Pass (LLMP) priorities should be at every Disney World park. Because, in case you didn’t know, LLMP can be complicated and frustrating. And if you don’t do your research, you can get stuck paying a lot of money to only skip 2 or 3 waits each day, and that would be a bummer. And if you’re not a nerd like me, spending hours and hours studying LLMP can be equally frustrating and painful.

So for the portion of the population that doesn’t want to do all of that research, I’m offering these simpler priority lists. They combine information about booking attractions that you should enjoy, which can save you the most time, and before they tend to sell out for the day. And of course, they’re based on data. Because if you find a list that’s not based on data, run away!

This post was last updated on September 28, 2024.

Explain the Math

Even if we limit ourselves to ranking LLMP attractions with math, and not with our “feelings“, there are still many ways to do that ranking. In this post, I am going to aggregate three of those measures by doing a simple average.

1. Rank by average availability, ascending – the attraction in each park that typically sells out first will receive rank 1, and the attraction in each park that maintains book now/ride now availability the most through the day receives the lowest rank.
2. Rank by average time savings, descending – the attraction in each park where LLMP typically saves the most time compared to standby will receive rank 1, and the attraction in each park where LLMP typically saves the least time compared to standby will receive the lowest rank.
3. Rank by attraction satisfaction, descending – the attraction in each park with the highest overall average satisfaction from the past two years will receive rank 1, and the attraction in each park with the lowest overall average satisfaction from the past two years will receive the lowest rank.

Once I calculated all three ranks, then I averaged the three results and sorted from the score that was closest to one all the way to the highest number. I used those averages to come up with the following prioritized list! Phew.

Prioritized List of Hollywood Studios Lightning Lane Multi Pass Tier One Attractions

1. Slinky Dog Dash

Availability Score = 1 out of 4
Time Savings Score = 1 out of 4
Satisfaction Score = 2 out of 4

Slinky retains its rightful place at the top of the priority list at Hollywood Studios! It used to always sell out before any other option across all of WDW. Now it loses that title to Tiana’s Bayou Adventure since that attraction has been more unreliable and more popular with its recent opening. It saves you more time than any other attraction (around 35-40 minutes even in low season). And on top of that, it has the second-highest satisfaction of any tier-one attraction in the park. It’s a triple threat, and should be your top priority.

 

 

2. Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway

Availability Score = 2 out of 4
Time Savings Score =  3 out of 4
Satisfaction Score = 1 out of 4

Runaway Railway is something of a sleeper hit for a LLMP tier one reservation. Its wait time savings are “only” decent – around 15 minutes since the debut of LLMP. It’s been selling out faster than almost any other attraction at Hollywood Studios. All of that, combined with a satisfaction score of 4.6 means it gets 2nd place for Tier One.

If you are travelling with young kids and are using LLMP, this priority should very obviously shift up in your individual rankings since they don’t qualify for a lot of the other attractions. Or, y’know, you can use LLMP and rider swap for the adults to have a fun day, and just let the kids dance with Disney Junior stars all day.

 

 

3. Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run

Availability Score = 4 out of 4
Time Savings Score = 2 out of 4
Satisfaction Score = 3 out of 4

This is where I question whether I should’ve added a “Star Wars Quotient” to my equation. Because … Millennium Falcon is a lot of fun. Alas, I’ve already made the rules and now I have to abide by them.

The first time we updated this list, Millennium Falcon was booking up second out of all attractions in Hollywood Studios. And … my, how times have changed. Now it’s the tier one attraction that is available longest every day – during low season it’s frequently available all the way up until park closing. But, it can still save you a good amount of time compared to standby, 20 minutes on average even in low crowds. Its satisfaction score is a little lower, though. “Only” 4.36 on a scale of 5, and therefore lower than the other two attractions that shows up higher on this list. So 3rd place it is. You can also use a single rider queue to skip this wait instead, if you don’t mind splitting up and almost always being in the back seat of the Falcon.

 

 

4. Rock’n’Roller Coaster

Availability Score = 3 out of 4
Time Savings Score = 4 out of 4
Satisfaction Score = 4 out of 4

Rock’n’Roller Coaster is a tricky attraction. Its downtime issues seem to be a thing of the past (knocks on wood) after two lengthy refurbishments. But, neither single rider nor lightning lane saves very much time compared to standby. LLMP only yields 10-15 minutes of savings during low crowds. And even a healthy satisfaction score of 4.3 slots it into last place for satisfaction out of the Hollywood Studios tier one attractions. It sells out by the early afternoon, but that’s not enough to launch it out of last place.

 

 

Prioritized List of Hollywood Studios Lightning Lane Multi Pass Tier Two Attractions

1. Toy Story Mania

Availability Score = 1 out of 5
Time Savings Score = 1 out of 5
Satisfaction Score = 1 out of 5

Toy Story Mania has the highest satisfaction score out of any LLMP attraction at Hollywood Studios. In fact, it beats out any attractions/entertainment at the park other than Rise of the Resistance.

In the Genie+ era, Toy Story Mania had good availability. But LLMP is a totally different story. As one of only two actually good tier-two attractions at Hollywood Studios, Toy Story Mania books up very far in advance. Time savings also compete with a couple of tier-one options, in the 15-minute range even with low crowds. It’s the quintessential tier-two choice. And it’s the easy top option at Hollywood Studios, especially for families with younger kids.

 

 

2. Tower of Terror

Availability Score = 2 out of 5
Time Savings Score = 2 out of 5
Satisfaction Score = 2 out of 5

Time savings at Tower of Terror have been hovering around an average of 10 or 15 minutes – better than any of the other tier-two attractions later in this list, but not overly impressive. A lot of this is thanks to a significant amount of waiting after the Lightning Lane merges with the standby queue. But its satisfaction is higher than everything other than Toy Story Mania, and it sells out by early afternoon every day, so it comes in a solid second place.

 

 

 

3. Alien Swirling Saucers

Availability Score = 3 out of 5
Time Savings Score = 3 out of 5
Satisfaction Score = 5 out of 5

IF you plan on riding Alien Swirling Saucers, please please only do it with LLMP, or when the posted wait is something like 15 minutes or less. It’s just not worth anything more, as showcased by its worst-in-park satisfaction ranking. But don’t get this reservation before any of the others already covered by this list – it should be available into the early evening.

 

 

4. Star Tours

Availability Score = 5 out of 5
Time Savings Score = 4 out of 5
Satisfaction Score = 3 out of 5

Star Tours has the best availability out of any Hollywood Studios attraction, which earns it the last-place availability ranking. Its decent satisfaction score (4.2) can’t balance out that high availability. You can save some time by using LLMP, but Star Tours doesn’t typically generate high standby waits compared to many of the other attractions in this park. This all lands Star Tours lower in priority.

 

5. Muppet*Vision 3D

Availability Score = 4 out of 5
Time Savings Score = 5 out of 5
Satisfaction Score = 4 out of 5

Muppet*Vision 3D has almost always closed out our Hollywood Studios list, with a disappointing satisfaction score (who are you, you monsters? Muppet*Vision is a national treasure), literally zero time savings, and plenty of availability compared to most other Hollywood Studios attractions. It really isn’t a Hollywood Studios day unless you’ve watched Muppet*Vision, but you certainly don’t need to use LLMP to do it.

What Does This Mean to You?

1. LLMP availability at Hollywood Studios is still worse than any other park on the whole, but the attractions that sell out first have switched up a bunch since the Genie+ era. Tower of Terror and Toy Story Mania now join Slinky by regularly booking up into the night before the day even begins. Effectively using LLMP is tricky.
2. Most of the tier-two options at Hollywood Studios are shows. Don’t be fooled into using these LLMP reservations other than on the MOST crowded days. Situations where they’ll save you any time are very rare.
3. Hollywood Studios attractions tend to have more regular availability refreshes than any other park. So if you plan ahead and watch for these drops, you can save a lot of time with LLMP even when most attractions are “sold out” for the day.

Have you used LLMP at Hollywood Studios? Do you agree with these rankings or would yours be different? Let me know in the comments!