Walt Disney World is in a state of change right now, with multiple new ride openings and rethemes to existing attractions coming this year. This also means some attractions are closing for these changes, which creates a big impact on the way you tour Disney World in 2026.
Disney World’s skip-the-line system, Lightning Lane Multi Pass, will be impacted by these changes, making it more necessary in some parks and nearly useless in others. Let’s get into all these major changes and how I recommend adjusting your touring strategy this year. At Mickey Visit, we report on all the recent Disney news, including the new summer announcements and discounts, plus new restaurant changes at Disneyland.
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Animal Kingdom Soon Offering Fewer Selections
Animal Kingdom currently only has a few heavy hitters that draw large lines that require Lightning Lane. One of those rides is closing permanently soon, which will reduce the list of available selections for Lightning Lane Multi Pass. DINOSAUR and DinoLand U.S.A. in Animal Kingdom will close permanently on February 2, 2026, to make way for the new Tropical Americas land. The new land will be home to two signature attractions: an Indiana Jones experience and the first-ever Encanto-themed ride-through attraction.
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Once DINOSAUR closes, there will only be a few rides that benefit from using Lightning Lane, with most of them accessible using a solid morning strategy. Once DINOSAUR closes, the right move at Animal Kingdom is to skip purchasing Multi Pass and instead purchase Lightning Lane Single Pass for Avatar Flight of Passage instead.
Magic Kingdom Increasing Lightning Lane Options
Lightning Lane changes at Magic Kingdom will be positive this year with improvements to Lightning Lane selections due to Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin and Big Thunder Mountain Railroad rejoining the list of available choices when these attractions reopen.
Big Thunder Mountain Railroad is set to reopen after experiencing over a year-long refurbishment as Disney World works on its new major theme park expansions. There will be “new magic” coming to the classic attraction with new effects, lighting, scenery, and a smoother track. The classic Magic Kingdom thrill ride will reopen in spring 2026.
Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin will also be debuting its new ride changes in spring 2026 with a major overhaul that includes new ride vehicles and handheld blasters. A new character will be introduced, a friendly robot named “Buddy” that will immerse guests more directly into the experience.
Magic Kingdom has been operating without two of its key attractions, so once these reopen, it will improve the experience in this theme park and add more Lightning Lanes to available selections. Magic Kingdom will continue to prove itself as one of the best Disney World parks to get the most value out of your Lightning Lane Multi Pass purchase.
EPCOT Demand Increase for Popular Rides
EPCOT continues to be one of the Disney World theme parks with popular attractions, and this will only continue this year, especially with the debut of the new Soarin’ storyline for the United States’ 250th anniversary celebration. This tribute to the United States will be called Soarin’ Across America and will be the third reimagining of the popular attraction. The new experience will debut by Memorial Day weekend and will increase interest in booking this particular Lightning Lane.
As for an already extremely popular Lightning Lane option, Frozen Ever After will close for refurbishment at the end of January and will reopen with upgraded Audio-Animatronics with newly sculpted heads and facial features of Elsa, Anna, and friends to improve the realistic effects of the ride. This has been a change Disney fans have been requesting for years. There is no exact date announced for the reopening, but the upgrades to the attraction should be ready in February 2026.
Is Lightning Lane Still Worth It at EPCOT?
The demand will increase for Soarin’ and Frozen Ever After this year, making these selections even harder to get for Lightning Lane.
As for the other most popular options, Test Track and Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure, this brings the total most popular options up to four. The bad news is that three of these are considered Tier 1 options, meaning you can only pick one in advance.
It’s not uncommon to only be able to snag one, maybe two, Lightning Lane options for these Tier 1 attractions in the park, which starts to make the cost of Lightning Lane Multi Pass worth far less at EPCOT. All the other attractions on the list can easily be accessed with low waits.
It might be a better strategy at EPCOT to use Single Rider for Test Track and Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure and rope drop the other in-demand attractions like Frozen Ever After and Soarin’. If I were to purchase Lightning Lane for EPCOT in 2026, I would purchase a Lightning Lane Single Pass for Guardians of the Galaxy Cosmic Rewind instead.
Hollywood Studios Changes Will Cause Issues
Hollywood Studios is another Disney World theme park with a big list of popular attractions and long lines. It’s also facing big changes this spring and summer! Rock ’n’ Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith will close permanently on March 1, 2026, as it’s transformed into a new Muppets theme. Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster will be rethemed to the Muppets, featuring fan-favorites including Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem band, as well as their friends Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy, and the gang as they travel to a concert in a super-stretched limo. The new experience will reopen in summer 2026.
Currently, Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster is one of the four selections for top priority booking for Lightning Lane, which also includes Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway, Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run, and Slinky Dog Dash.
I would not be surprised to see The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror bumped up into this top-priority section during its closure. Tower of Terror will likely experience heavy wait times during the downtime for Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster since these two attractions dominate popularity on that side of Hollywood Studios. Especially since the closing date is just before the spring break season at Disney World, which we often rate as some of the highest crowd levels on our Disney World crowd calendar.
More Demand Increase Coming to Hollywood Studios
This isn’t the only increase in demand coming soon to already popular rides at Hollywood Studios that offer Lightning Lane. Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run will debut new missions and updated storylines featuring The Mandalorian and Grogu, which will increase demand for this Lightning Lane selection. This new experience launches on May 22, 2026, to coincide with the movie release of The Mandalorian and Grogu.
The new Muppets version of Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster could be ready around the same time these new storylines debut, which will space out some of the demand for both of these options for Lightning Lane. As it is, we could see this once readily available Lightning Lane for Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run increase in demand once these new storylines are available, so be prepared.
Without a doubt, you can’t do Hollywood Studios without purchasing Lightning Multi Passes, and demand for this theme park will only continue to increase with these new experiences, which also include a new reimagining of the prior Animation Courtyard to “The Walt Disney Studios,” which is also coming this year.
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