Working on your 2025 Disney World trip plans? Thinking about what you might want to splurge on like Lightning Lanes?
Well, you might actually want to hold off on that purchase. While bypassing long lines at popular rides is pretty tempting, next year might be the perfect time to pocket that extra cash. Let’s break down why skipping Lightning Lanes could be a savvy move for your trip.
As we were saying, when typically considering if you should buy Lightning Lanes or not, it usually can be worth making the investment to skip those long lines.
But with all that’s coming down the pipe at Disney World in 2025, this might be the perfect time for you to save a few bucks and redistribute that money towards other parts of the trip budget. Let’s go over why we think you’ll want to skip out on the Lightning Lane option in 2025.
Animal Kingdom: No Lightning Lane Needed
If Animal Kingdom is on your itinerary, and you haven’t heard about all the changes coming to the park in 2025, well, you’re in for a surprise and not the magical kind. First off Dinoland U.S.A. will be closing so that Disney can construct the new land – the Tropical Americas. That means, they will be permanently closing rides in the current land.
TriceraTop Spin will be the first to close permanently in January. In fact, the entire area will be closed for construction. Then throughout the year, they will be closing off the rest of the land for construction, which means no DINOSAUR, gift shop, or restaurants.
Moving on from there, over at Discovery Island, It’s Tough to Be A Bug will also be closing to make way for a new Zootopia show as well. Combine all of that with the annual refurbishment of rides like Kali River Rapids, really solidifies the fact there aren’t enough rides left at this park to even have to worry about wait times.
If you’re planning on spending a full day here, there’s no need to pay extra for Lightning Lanes. Instead, take advantage of Animal Kingdom’s walking trails, wildlife experiences, and shows like Festival of the Lion King or Finding Nemo: The Big Blue… and Beyond!. Honestly, the park’s crowd levels and wait times will likely be manageable throughout the year.
Refurbishment Season
Another one of the reasons to skip Lightning Lanes in 2025 is due to the fact that a lot of attractions across the parks will be under refurbishment, starting in January. Yes, that does mean some of your favorite rides might be temporarily unavailable, but it also means there will be fewer headliner attractions to draw those massive crowds.
The reality is that when fewer rides are in operation, Lightning Lane availability becomes less impactful. Why pay extra when the remaining rides don’t typically have extreme wait times?
Instead, you might want to focus on strategic rope-dropping, enjoying less crowded areas of the parks, or even taking advantage of nighttime hours when standby lines tend to shorten naturally.
Timing is Everything: Early 2025 Might Be Your Sweet Spot
Disney World has already signaled that the second half of 2025 is going to be busy. Think crowds, heat, and long lines. But if your trip is planned for the first half of the year, things might look a lot different. Since they are expecting the crowds to be lighter earlier in the year, that makes it less necessary to pay for Lightning Lane access.
I mean, without those intense crowds, you can use that time to explore the parks at your own pace. You’ll be able to take advantage of standby lines, and still have plenty of time to hit your favorite attractions.
Also, by skipping out on those Lightning Lanes, you’ll be freeing up a nice chunk of change for some other Disney World experiences. It might be time to treat yourself to a character meal, snag a limited-edition souvenir, or finally try that one Mickey-shaped snack you’ve been eyeing for a while now!
Those are just a couple of our thoughts on not purchasing any Lightning Lanes at Disney World in 2025, and until then, make sure you stay right here at AllEars and we’ll keep you updated with all the latest Disney World news!
What’s Actually Worth the Splurge (and What’s NOT) at Disney World in 2025, From a Professional Disney Adult
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Are you heading to Disney World in 2025? Tell us in the comments below!
I think this is bad advice because experience has shown when a main attraction is down, wait times for the remaining attractions go up and not down because such individual closures have huge impacts on crowd sizes. So instead what happens is that you still get roughly the same size crowds with fewer things to divide them into queues for. Now, do I agree this advice probably works for the off peak winter and spring and fall times? Sure. But I wouldn’t bet on this advice working on Spring Break, during Disney run weekends, the summer, and once we hit the Halloween and Christmas seasons in the parks.
I’m not sure that I understand. If there are a lot of closed rides in the parks due to construction, won’t the remaining rides be more crowded? Due to the fact that there are fewer rides for the crowds to disperse to?
We’re planning on going early February, and I’ve got a group of 8 including first timers and a 2 yr old. Definitely interesting to consider this as I plan our trip and our experience in the parks. Not sure if I’ll still get LL at least for Magic Kingdom and for rides like Guardians of the Galaxy…this makes me think twice about something I felt was essential when we visited Oct 2023 yet I do see how things have changed with projects and time of year.