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NEW FOR 2026! Lightning Lane Guide for Epcot at Walt Disney World — Transcript

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0:00We've got a brand new Epcot Lightning
0:02Lane video for 2026 with updated
0:05recommendations on what you should book
0:07first, what you should book after that,
0:09and how to get the most fun packed into
0:11your Epcot day. We got a lot to do, so
0:14let's get to it.
0:20[music]
0:21Hi ho, everybody. This is Rob with Ear
0:24Scouts coming to you from Epcot at the
0:26Flower and Garden Festival. We are here
0:28to make a brand new Lightning Lane video
0:31for 2026. If you can believe it, it's
0:34actually been over a year and a half
0:35since we've done a Lightning Lane
0:37strategy guide for Epcot. So, obviously,
0:40some things have changed since then.
0:42There's a brand new version of Test
0:44Track now that is super popular. So,
0:47we've got updated recommendations on
0:50which rides you should focus on first in
0:52order to get the most done in your day.
0:54And we're also going to share with you
0:55some of our best tips for how to use
0:57Lightning Lane, but [music] not let it
0:59take over your day so you still have
1:01time to enjoy things like the Flower and
1:04Garden Festival or whatever festival is
1:06running when you're here or exploring
1:08the World Showcase. We've got a lot of
1:10stuff to cover in today's video. So,
1:12we're going to just jump right into it.
1:13And my very first tip, no matter which
1:16park you're in, if you're using
1:17Lightning Lane Multipass, you want to
1:19make sure that you've got at least
1:21something booked as soon as possible for
1:23when you're planning to arrive at the
1:25park. That's because when you first get
1:27here, you're going to be locked. You can
1:30only have one tier one attraction. Uh
1:33you can have two tier 2s, but you're
1:35limited to just one tier one. Also, if
1:37you're planning to park hop later in the
1:39day, you can't book attractions in other
1:42parks until you unlock yourself. Now,
1:44the way that you unlock yourself is
1:46simply by tapping in to your first
1:49Lightning Lane of the day. So, if you're
1:51starting your day here at Epcot, you
1:53need to have something booked so that
1:54you can just go tap in somewhere, unlock
1:57yourself, and then you are free to have
1:59multiple tier one attractions. And here
2:01in this park, that is key because the
2:05most difficult lightning lanes to book,
2:07especially as the day goes on, are all
2:09tier 1 ones. So unlocking is super
2:12important. We were actually really lucky
2:14this morning. We were able to get an
2:15attraction that we really wanted. It was
2:17on our musto list and we were able to
2:20grab it for 9:15. So it's 9:05 right
2:23now. In case you weren't aware, you can
2:26tap into lightning lanes five minutes
2:28early, and you also have a grace period
2:30on the end that we'll talk about a
2:32little bit later. But I'd like to go
2:33ahead and make use of that grace period
2:35on our first Lightning Lane so that we
2:36can start booking our next Lightning
2:38Lane as [music] soon as possible. So,
2:40let's head on over to our first ride of
2:42the day, Saurin.
2:53>> [music]
2:58[music]
3:03[music]
3:09[music]
3:15[music]
3:16>> Well, that was a lovely ride to start
3:18the day. Unfortunately, it was a really
3:21long wait. Saurin is actually about to
3:23become a brand new attraction to
3:26celebrate the semiquincentennial,
3:29I think I said that correctly, of the
3:31United States. It's going to become
3:33soaring across America, which is going
3:35to feature brand new scenes from sea to
3:38shining sea here in the US. And I'm
3:40actually really excited about that. It's
3:42kind of the superpower of that
3:43attraction is it can turn into something
3:45else without them having to completely
3:47rebuild everything. But they do have to
3:49test things with the new version and
3:50that's why they're down to just two
3:52bays. That was a posted way of 15
3:54minutes. Actually took us 30 minutes to
3:57ride that attraction. In the end though,
3:59it's totally fine because we've still
4:01got 20 minutes before we need to tap
4:03into our next Lightning Lane. And that's
4:05going to give me time to grab a cup of
4:07coffee and tell you why I booked what I
4:10booked first here at Epcot. [music]
4:17Our next lightning lane this morning is
4:19going to be Mission Space, [music] which
4:21is over here in World Discovery, right
4:23across from World Nature. My plan for
4:25this morning is to try to knock out
4:27everything I can up here at the front of
4:29the park [music] as quickly as possible.
4:32So, that frees me up to be able to move
4:34back into World Showcase and enjoy
4:36[music] exploring that area of the park
4:38without having to keep coming back and
4:40forth up to the front to do Lightning
4:42Lanes. It can sometimes be very
4:43difficult [music] to work everything out
4:45that neatly, but so far we're off to a
4:48great start. The other thing that's
4:50really important though as you're
4:52booking your first Lightning lanes is
4:54[music] to think about which Lightning
4:55lanes are going to be more difficult to
4:57book later in the day. Those most
4:59popular Lightning lanes in each park,
5:01[music] in some cases, they'll all be
5:04sold out before you even get here to the
5:06park. Now, don't [music] worry. Disney
5:08is going to sprinkle in some more
5:09throughout the day, assuming that
5:11attraction [music] is running
5:13efficiently. And also, people sometimes
5:16change their plans and they let go of
5:18Lightning Lanes. And if you happen to be
5:20looking when they let one go, you can
5:22swoop [music] in and grab it. But
5:23really, the name of the game is to try
5:25to avoid having to do that as much as
5:27possible. [music]
5:28You want to book those key lightning
5:30lanes that are going to be super hard to
5:32grab [music]
5:33as early as you can. And if you don't
5:36come here all the time, [music] you
5:37might not know which Lightning Lanes
5:39those are. For that reason, we created
5:41what we call the Lightning Lane deck.
5:44And this is [music] essentially like a
5:46deck of cards. And the ace in the deck
5:48is going to be the most difficult to
5:50book Lightning Lane in that particular
5:52[music] park. Here at Epcot, the
5:54undisputed ace of the deck right now is
5:56the re-imagined test track. That is the
6:00ace. And I'm happy to say that we
6:02actually already have that [music] one
6:03in our pocket. That was one of our
6:05pre-booked lightning lanes. Now, Test
6:08[music] Track is a tier one, meaning
6:10that we could only have one attraction
6:13in that tier. It was Test Track, and
6:15that meant that [music] the other tier
6:16one attractions we couldn't book until
6:18we tapped in back there at Saurin. As
6:21you can see, that was a big deal because
6:23[music] the king and the queen in our
6:25deck right now are Frozen Ever After and
6:28Remy's Ratatouille Adventure. And those
6:31are the [music] other tier one
6:32attractions in this park. They're also
6:35both attractions that are further back
6:37into World Showcase. But that's okay
6:39[music] because they are hard to book.
6:41It's likely that we're going to get a
6:43late return time for them anyway. So,
6:46it's not the end of the world that we're
6:48going to get a later time cuz [music]
6:49that's when we're going to want to ride
6:50them. In fact, as soon as I was in that
6:53line at Saurin, that's exactly what
6:55[music] I did. I went ahead and booked
6:57the king in the deck, which is frozen
6:59ever after. [music] And then because I
7:01had time to wait in that line, I went
7:03ahead and I backed that time up a little
7:05bit. Right now, I've got it for around
7:07[music] 3:00, which is not too bad. I
7:10might try to back it up a little bit
7:11more. Uh, but 3:00, that's perfectly
7:14fine for my plan, if that's where it
7:16ends up staying. Later in this video,
7:18I'm going to share with you some tips
7:19for how we back [music] up Lightning
7:20Lanes. But if you want a full and
7:22detailed explanation, be sure to check
7:25out our Lightning Lane guide for 2026.
7:28It has all of our best tips and [music]
7:30tricks, and it's going to teach you
7:31everything you need to know about using
7:33Lightning Lane multi-pass, [music]
7:35single pass, and Premier Pass. The jack
7:38in the deck right now is actually
7:40Saurin, which we've already ridden now.
7:42We've taken that card out of the deck
7:44for the day. I do think that this
7:46attraction is going to become more
7:48popular once that new version of Saurin
7:50opens up. You're going to want to check
7:52out our updated decks. We keep an
7:54updated version of decks for all the
7:56different parks online. You can visit
7:58earscouts.com/deck
8:01and I recommend you do that before your
8:03trip because you'll want to see the
8:05latest rankings for all the Lightning
8:07Lanes in the different parks. The 10 in
8:09the Deck is the next ride that we have
8:11booked, Mission Space. We'll be able to
8:12tap in there in just a little bit. The
8:14nine in the deck is right next door,
8:17Spaceship Earth. The eight is currently
8:19Journey into Imagination with [music]
8:21Figment. Seven is a show, Turtle Talk
8:24with Crush. I would say with Turtle
8:27Talk, you really probably don't need to
8:29book a Lightning Lane for that, but if
8:31you did want to book it, it's relatively
8:33easy to get. The number six Lightning
8:35Lane is Living with the Land. Number
8:38five is The Seas with Nemo and Friends.
8:40And rounding out the deck at number four
8:43is the Disney and Pixar Short Film
8:46Festival over at the Magic Eye Theater.
8:49You really never need a Lightning Lane
8:51for that Disney and Pixar Short Film
8:53Festival. If you want to check it out,
8:55you can always get into that with no
8:57wait, but that Lightning Lane can be
8:59very handy if you've not been able to
9:02grab anything early in the day so that
9:04you can tap in and unlock yourself.
9:06There's almost always lightning lanes
9:08available over there at that Pixar
9:10theater. You can book that for when
9:12you're planning to arrive at the park
9:13and just use that lightning lane to
9:15unlock yourself. Otherwise though, I
9:18don't think it's probably worth booking
9:19that one. If you want to visit that
9:21attraction at any point, you can get in
9:23without a lightning lane. Well, I've got
9:24a whole lot more details to share, but
9:26right now we've got to go tap in at our
9:28next Lightning Lane because that's the
9:31only way we're going to be able to book
9:32another one. With Lightning Lane
9:34Multipass, you have three slots at all
9:36times, but whenever you use one of those
9:39Lightning lanes or it expires or you
9:41cancel it, that frees that slot up to
9:44book something else. So, let's go ride
9:46Mission Space and free up another slot.
9:49[music]
10:01>> [music]
10:11[music]
10:15[music]
10:24[music]
10:29>> Man, I love that ride, but it is
10:33definitely one of the most polarizing
10:35rides in all of Walt Disney World. If
10:37when you were a kid, you always wanted
10:40to be an astronaut and go into space,
10:42you're probably going to dig this ride.
10:44And if you have kids who are really
10:46excited about growing up to become
10:47astronauts, they're going to dig that
10:48ride. But here is who is not going to
10:50dig that ride. If you get motion
10:53sickness, yeah,
10:54>> or you just had a really huge meal, you
10:57probably don't want to go straight to
10:59ride Mission Space, especially not the
11:02orange mission. So, this is an
11:04attraction that's actually broken into
11:06two parts. There's the orange mission
11:09that you can choose if you want a more
11:11thrilling, intense experience, and then
11:14there's the green mission, which is
11:17still I'm not going to say it's like a
11:19walk in the park. It's still definitely
11:21got some motion to it. And if you have
11:23motion sickness, you might not even be
11:25able to tolerate green, but it's not
11:27nearly as bad as orange because in
11:30orange, you're going to feel the
11:32G-forces. It's basically a huge
11:34centriuge that's going to spin you so
11:37fast that you're like plastered to the
11:38back of the wall. I love it. I love the
11:41sensation. I love how it feels. But
11:44let's just say this is the only
11:46attraction I know of in Walt Disney
11:47World that has barf bags in the ride
11:50vehicle. And that should give you a
11:52sense of what you might be dealing with
11:54if you have motion sickness issues. It's
11:57also important to note that this is one
11:59of the few attractions that has
12:01essentially two different rides you can
12:02ride, but your Lightning Lane is only
12:04going to allow you to ride one of them.
12:06So when you get there, you can tap in at
12:09either mission that you choose, but that
12:11essentially validates the Lightning Lane
12:13for that attraction. And with all rides
12:15using Lightning Lane, you can only use
12:17that Lightning Lane once per attraction.
12:20There are some rare exceptions to that,
12:23like for example, if a ride went down
12:25when you had it booked and you didn't
12:27get to ride, you would get what's called
12:29an experience redemption, which lets you
12:31ride a whole bunch of different rides.
12:33and then you could rebook that
12:35attraction that went down. The good news
12:38about an experience redemption though is
12:40it doesn't have that same limitation. If
12:42you've already ridden a ride with a
12:44Lightning Lane, you can use that
12:46experience redemption to ride it again.
12:48But that's pretty much the only way that
12:50you're going to get to ride an
12:51attraction multiple times in one day
12:54using Lightning Lane. Well, as soon as
12:56we tapped in there, I did go ahead and
12:58book our next Lightning Lane. Now, you
13:00might be thinking based on the deck that
13:02I would be aiming for Remy's Ratatouille
13:05Adventure. That's the queen. We already
13:07had the ace and the king, but I didn't
13:09go in that direction. And here's why.
13:12You remember how I said my plan was to
13:14try to finish up everything I could up
13:15here at the front before I headed back
13:17into World Showcase? Well, I'm starting
13:20to put that plan into motion. I wanted
13:23to book another attraction that I could
13:24get really quickly right here at the
13:26front. Ideally, the next one in my deck,
13:29which would be Spaceship Earth. And
13:31that's what I recommend you do. Don't
13:34treat this deck like a Bible. Don't
13:35think, "Oh, I have to book this next
13:37because it's the next card in the deck."
13:39Think about your plan for the day. Think
13:41about which attractions are most
13:43important to you. And use the deck as a
13:45guide to let you know, okay, I'm making
13:48this choice, but I know probably this
13:50ride is going to be more difficult to
13:52book later. And that's what we did.
13:54We're rolling the dice. We think we're
13:56still going to be able to get Remy
13:58without a problem later today. And we
14:00have something to ride right now in the
14:02front of the park, and that is Spaceship
14:04Earth. Before we go ride it though,
14:06let's take a look at what our Lightning
14:08lanes look like right now. So, we have
14:11Spaceship Earth for right this moment.
14:13We can go ride it now. After that, at
14:1511:00, we have Test Track. And then
14:18later this afternoon, back in World
14:20Showcase, we have Frozen Ever After.
14:22We've got a pretty great lineup and I
14:24feel comfortable once I tap in over here
14:27at Spaceship Earth. That'll be a good
14:29moment for me to go ahead and try to
14:30book Remy. But first, we've got to go
14:32back in time on one of the most iconic
14:34attractions here at Epcot, Spaceship
14:37Earth. [music]
14:46[music]
14:51Heat.
14:59[music]
15:04[music]
15:06Heat.
15:18>> [music]
15:25>> That is the most iconic attraction in
15:28all of Epcot. If you've never done
15:30Spaceship Earth, you have to do it at
15:32least once. It really does kind of
15:35represent the old school Epcot, which
15:37was kind of more about edutainment. Uh,
15:40and it was still fun. It was still
15:42entertaining, but it was more about
15:44rides that were very much geared towards
15:46teaching you something. In this case,
15:48about the history of communication.
15:50Don't get me wrong, I love the new rides
15:53that have been coming in. Guardians of
15:55the Galaxy is one of my favorite rides
15:56in all of Walt Disney World, [music] but
15:58it's nice that we have these classic
16:00attractions to kind of keep Epcot
16:02grounded in what it [music] was meant to
16:04be from its founding. As soon as we
16:06tapped in back there at Spaceship Earth,
16:08we went ahead and focused on booking our
16:10last really difficult to grab ride. This
16:13was the last of our face cards, Remy's
16:16Ratatouille Adventure. We were
16:18successful, but it definitely took us a
16:20few tries to get it. And I do want to
16:22show you really quickly a tip that's
16:23going to help you a lot if you're aiming
16:25for a tough to book ride like Remy.
16:28We're here today on Easter Sunday. I
16:30love to film these Lightning Lane videos
16:32on holiday weekends because I kind of
16:34want to show you worst case scenario.
16:37Today, Lightning Lane is completely sold
16:39out. So, this is basically as many
16:42people aiming for Lightning Lanes as
16:44you're ever going to have. It's like the
16:45difficulty is turned up to nine. Now,
16:48it's not turned up to 10, however, cuz
16:51I'm only booking for myself today. If
16:53you have a party that is larger than
16:55four, it will be even more difficult to
16:57book. [music] But in my experience,
16:59parties of 1 to four are really kind of
17:02about the same. But even with a party of
17:04one on a day like today, it's definitely
17:06challenging to grab those most difficult
17:08to book rides. The most important tip I
17:11have to share on this front is not to
17:13book the ride directly. Now, that might
17:16sound counterintuitive. If I'm aiming
17:18for Remy, why wouldn't I just go ahead
17:19and book Remy if I saw it come
17:21available? Well, you could certainly
17:23try, but let me show you what happens
17:25when you book a Lightning Lane from
17:27scratch. It's going to ask you who all
17:29is in your party. By the time you've
17:32selected your party and moved on to
17:34confirm it, in many cases, that time
17:37slot is long gone, and you won't have
17:39that attraction booked. What I recommend
17:42doing instead, go ahead and book
17:44whatever you can grab easily. Select the
17:47members of your party that you want to
17:49ride the ride you're ultimately aiming
17:51for, which in this case is Remy. Once
17:53you've done this and you've booked this
17:54ride, you can modify this Lightning Lane
17:58and try to turn it into Remy. When you
18:01do that, it's going to use the party
18:03that you selected for that new
18:05attraction. You don't have to take the
18:07time to select them. [music] And let me
18:09tell you, on a day like today, those
18:12seconds matter, especially for a ride
18:15like Remy. So that's exactly what we
18:17did. And we were able to turn it into
18:19Remy without a problem. In fact, we were
18:21even able to back it up a little bit.
18:23But I do want to show you really quickly
18:25how you go about modifying a Lightning
18:27Lane either to get an earlier time or to
18:29switch it to something else. If it's a
18:32tough to book ride like Remy, you're
18:34going to want to start by asking the
18:36Genie for a little bit of help. The
18:37Genie is a system that lets you choose
18:39the attractions that are most important
18:40to you, and it will offer you
18:42suggestions of when you might want to do
18:44those attractions during your day. But
18:46the other benefit of the Genie is it
18:48will pin those attractions to the top of
18:50your view when you're booking or
18:52modifying Lightning Lanes. So, just go
18:54ahead and tap on my plans. And then on
18:58that screen, you're going to see
18:59something that says add preferences. If
19:01you've already set preferences, it'll
19:03say edit preferences instead. But we're
19:05just setting it up. So, we're going to
19:06say add preferences. It's going to ask
19:09you some basic questions like what day
19:11it is, what park you're going to, who
19:13all is going with you to that park, but
19:15ultimately it's going to ask you which
19:17attractions you're most interested in.
19:20In this case, you only want to choose
19:22the rides that you're aiming for at that
19:24moment and limit yourself to two or
19:26three. If you have a whole bunch of
19:28stuff pinned, it really kind of defeats
19:30the purpose of having it there at the
19:31top. Once you've selected your
19:33attractions, it's going to ask you if
19:34you're interested in other things like
19:36princesses. Just skip that for now. We
19:39don't want to add any more things to the
19:40top of our view. We just want those
19:42rides. Now that we've done that, let's
19:44go ahead and tap on the Lightning Lane
19:46that we've booked and that we want to
19:48change into Remy. A little menu is going
19:50to pop up and you're going to choose
19:52modify from that menu. Now, you're going
19:55to see the ride that you have booked
19:56there at the top. It'll show you the
19:58time you have it booked for. Below that,
20:00it'll show you the time you could book
20:02it for. Right? Then, if you were to
20:04scroll down, you would see other
20:05attractions you could book instead. If
20:08you're not happy with what you're seeing
20:09or you're not finding the attraction you
20:11really want, in our case, Remy, all you
20:13got to do is take your finger, slide it
20:16down the screen, and refresh your view.
20:18This is going to cause it to go back and
20:20look and see if there are more times
20:23available. In my videos, I like to call
20:25this playing the Disney slots because
20:27it's kind of like playing a slot machine
20:29game. You spin the reels on the slot
20:32machine and you hope you hit the
20:33jackpot. This can be a really
20:35challenging process and it can take a
20:37long time to do it. So, that's why I
20:39recommend do this when you're in line
20:41for an attraction. Do it when you're
20:43waiting for your food to come up uh at a
20:45restaurant. There are moments in your
20:47day where you've really got nothing
20:48better to do, and that's the best time
20:50to play the slots. But most importantly,
20:54you need to think of this not as a tool
20:56for booking rides, but more like a game.
20:59In this case, a slot machine game.
21:02Because if you think of it as a tool,
21:04you're going to find this to be so
21:06frustrating. It is really difficult on
21:09busy days like today to get the ride
21:11that you're aiming for. [music] But if
21:13you turn it into a game, especially if
21:15you make it a competitive sport between
21:17the members of your group to see who can
21:19grab that ride, it changes it from being
21:21a chore into being something that's kind
21:23of fun. I actually love playing the
21:26Disney slots now when I'm using
21:27Lightning Lane. In some cases, I have
21:30almost as much fun booking the ride as I
21:31do riding it. But the reward for playing
21:33the game is we get to ride amazing rides
21:36like this next one we're heading to
21:37right now. We're headed to Test Track,
21:40the Ace in the Deck. We're right in the
21:42middle of that lightning lane window.
21:43So, this is a great time for us to go
21:45tap in. And that's going to free up that
21:47slot to book something else. Let's go do
21:49it.
21:53[music]
22:02[music]
22:15>> [music]
22:22[music]
22:28>> As with any good Disney ride, you exit
22:30through the gift shop. And I think this
22:32is probably officially the most
22:34expensive gift shop in all of Walt
22:36Disney World. If you need to pick up a
22:38new General Motors vehicle, though, this
22:41is a pretty sweet showroom. I really do
22:43like the update to that attraction. I
22:44think it's a lot more fun. The finale, I
22:47feel like, is a much bigger wow moment.
22:50If you haven't done this attraction
22:51since it's been updated, you should
22:53definitely check it out. We [music] have
22:55one ride left here in World Discovery,
22:58and it is the big one. It is Guardians
23:00of the Galaxy Cosmic Rewind. My favorite
23:03ride in all of this park, but
23:04unfortunately, that one is not available
23:07with Lightning Lane Multipass. For that
23:09one, you have to purchase what's called
23:11a single pass lightning lane.
23:13Essentially, you're buying a Lightning
23:14Lane for just that one ride, and you got
23:17to buy it for every person who wants to
23:19ride it. Now, I was able to grab a
23:21Lightning Lane for that when I was
23:22pre-booking, so it's much later in the
23:25day today, though. I am going to try to
23:27back that up though because ideally I
23:30would love to do it before we go back
23:31into World Showcase so I don't have to
23:33come back up here to the front of the
23:34park in the middle of the afternoon.
23:36Backing up single pass lightning lanes
23:38is a little bit different than
23:39multipass. So when you tap on modify for
23:42a single pass lightning lane, you're
23:44going to get a slightly different
23:46screen. This is because with single pass
23:48lightning lanes, you can actually modify
23:50the day that you have them on as well.
23:53If you want to play the slots on this
23:55screen, there are two different ways to
23:57do it. One is you could just change the
23:59date back and forth to a different date
24:02and then back to the date you're on.
24:04Each time you do that, it's going to
24:05refresh the view and look to see if
24:07there are other time slots available.
24:09The other option, if you have a park
24:10hopper ticket or an annual pass, scroll
24:13down a little bit and you're going to
24:14see all the different park icons there.
24:17That's what allows you to switch your
24:18Lightning Lane to a Lightning Lane
24:20that's in a different park. But in our
24:22case, we can use it to refresh the view.
24:26So, just go ahead and tap on one of
24:27those other parks. You'll see it
24:29refreshes everything when it does that,
24:31and it'll look to see if there are more
24:33times available. If you get lucky,
24:35however, and a time does show up, even
24:37if it's not the time you want, you
24:39should go ahead and tap in on it. That's
24:42because once you're on that confirmation
24:44screen, you don't have to accept that
24:46new time. And there's a button in there
24:49that says modify time. This is a much
24:52easier way to repeatedly check for new
24:55times cuz you just keep tapping on that
24:57one button. It'll keep searching and
25:00seeing if there's anything else
25:01available. Up at the top, you're going
25:02to see a timer. That timer is going to
25:05tell you how much time you have left
25:06before you either have to settle on this
25:08new time or go back to what you had
25:10before. We haven't had any luck yet, but
25:12we're going to keep trying to back up
25:14that time for Guardians of the Galaxy.
25:16But either way, we've got it and it is
25:18part of our Epcot day. The other thing
25:19that we've got right now is a lightning
25:21lane for living with the land. So, we're
25:24heading back over into World Nature.
25:25We're going to burn through all of these
25:27attractions up here at the front and
25:29then it'll be time to head into World
25:31Showcase and enjoy the beautiful Flower
25:33and Garden Festival. Let's go do it.
26:12>> [music]
26:17>> That is such a beautiful and relaxing
26:20ride. And it's even more beautiful if
26:22you're here for the holidays because
26:24they do something called glimmering
26:25green houses where the whole
26:27attraction's covered in Christmas
26:29lights. That's one you definitely want
26:31to do at night. But if you're at any
26:32other time of the year, you want to do
26:34that one during the day. I bring up
26:36Glimmering Green Houses, though, because
26:38once that starts, this is going to
26:40become a much more popular Lightning
26:41Lane. It'll definitely rise in the
26:43rankings. So, if you're going to be here
26:45around the holidays, check out the
26:46latest deck. We'll keep it updated for
26:48you over at Scouts.com/deck.
26:52As soon as we tapped in, I went ahead
26:53and booked the Seas with Nemo and
26:55Friends. That was one of the two
26:57Lightning Lanes left that I wanted to
26:59book. And that brings me to another
27:01point, which is when people are using
27:03Lightning Lanes, sometimes they get very
27:05tunnel focused. They think, "Okay, if
27:07we're going to ride that ride, we need
27:08to book that Lightning Lane." That's
27:10really not always the case. Sometimes
27:12there are attractions that it just makes
27:14more sense to hop in a short wait. For
27:17example, right here, Journey into
27:19Imagination with Figment has a posted
27:2115minute wait. Why would we bother
27:24taking the time to book that Lightning
27:25Lane and back it up when we can just get
27:28in this line and ride it? And guess
27:30what? If we do that, we are done booking
27:33Lightning Lanes for the day because we
27:35already have Remy, we already have
27:37Frozen, we already have the Seas with
27:39Nemo and Friends. The only other two
27:41Lightning Lanes left in the park are
27:43Turtle Talk with Crush and the Magic Eye
27:45Theater, which has that Disney Pixar
27:47short film festival. You really do not
27:50need lightning lanes for either of
27:52those. It is extremely rare that you
27:54would not be able to get into the very
27:56next show, which is what you'd be able
27:58to do with a lightning lane. So, we're
28:00going to go ride Journey into
28:01Imagination, and when we get out, I'm
28:04going to share with you some of the
28:05secrets that we used to back up
28:07Lightning Lanes, and then we're going to
28:09enjoy the festival. Let's go do it.
28:15>> [music]
28:21[music]
28:26[music]
28:28>> posted weight was 15 minutes and the
28:31actual wait was just 15 minutes. I
28:34really love doing a standby line every
28:36now and then when I'm on a lightning
28:38lane day, especially if it's not too
28:40long. And the reason for that is
28:43twofold. One, it means I don't have to
28:45bother with booking that lightning lane,
28:47but two, it gives me an opportunity to
28:49kind of focus on playing the slots and
28:51really optimizing the lightning lanes
28:54that I have to come or maybe booking one
28:56that I haven't been able to grab yet.
28:57But I want to show you right now though,
28:59one of the most common mistakes that I
29:01make, especially when I'm sort of going
29:03through a line like that. So, I'm going
29:05to show you in real time on the screen
29:07right now. This was my screen as I was
29:10going through. We're going to speed it
29:12up. And then look at what happens right
29:16now. So you see there was a perfect time
29:20that popped up. It was 2:10. It would
29:22have been ideal. And what did I do? I
29:25didn't even try to tap in. I just swiped
29:28again. And when it refreshed, that time
29:31was gone. I actually do this a lot when
29:34I'm just mindlessly playing the slots,
29:36just refreshing and refreshing. You
29:38really do kind of need to stay focused
29:40on this because when those rides pop up,
29:42it's going to be for a split second and
29:44you really got to be Johnny on the spot.
29:46So, what I do, I refresh and then I just
29:50let my finger hover. Like, I'm just
29:52ready to pounce. And by doing that
29:54action of actually hovering my finger,
29:57it reminds me I'm doing something right
29:59now. I'm not just mindlessly refreshing.
30:02I'm waiting to pounce on that lightning
30:04lane when it appears. It's a little
30:06thing, but it really does sometimes make
30:07a big difference, and it prevents you
30:09from doing what I did, which is letting
30:11a great time get away. We have a few
30:13more rides to ride, and of course, we've
30:16got to enjoy the beautiful World
30:17Showcase and this amazing festival. And
30:20I've got some more advanced Lightning
30:22Lane tips to share because once you get
30:24to this part of the day, we're hitting
30:26lunchtime. The park is packed. When
30:29you're in that situation, you're going
30:31to have to up your Lightning Lane game.
30:33And we're going to share with you in
30:34just a little bit some of the tips
30:35that'll help you do it. But for right
30:37now, let's go tap into our [music] next
30:38lightning lane at the seas with Nemo and
30:41friends.
30:51[music]
30:56My favorite part of that attraction is
30:58the very end when you see Nemo and his
31:02friends and behind them are all the
31:04actual fish of the aquarium. Because the
31:07seas with Nemo at friends is actually
31:10inside of one of the largest aquariums
31:13in North America. In fact, when this was
31:16built, it was the largest saltwater
31:18aquarium in the world. You should
31:21absolutely make some time to explore
31:23this aquarium when you're here. It is
31:26stunning and there are some amazing
31:28animals and fish that you can encounter,
31:31including manatees and rays and sharks.
31:34It is awesome that this is here at
31:36Epcot. And you don't have to pay
31:38anything extra. It's just included in
31:40your ticket. There really are several
31:42walkthrough attractions that you should
31:44experience when you're here at Epcot if
31:46you have time. And that's the beauty of
31:49Lightning Lane. It's giving you time
31:51back in your day so you can do things
31:54like explore the aquarium or go next
31:56door to the journey of water with Moana.
31:59That attraction is an interactive
32:01experience. Little kids love it. And if
32:04it's a hot day and you choose to, you
32:06can get completely soaked back there.
32:09You might even want to bring an extra
32:10change of clothes for your little ones
32:12cuz they might enjoy playing around in
32:14that splash pad. That's part of that
32:16attraction.
32:20>> [music]
32:31>> Well, we had a delightful festival
32:33brunch and then we took a moment to just
32:36really focus on lightning lanes. Uh we
32:39had that one lightning lane for Remy
32:41that I really wanted to back up cuz it
32:43was so late in the day. It meant we were
32:45have to come all the way to the front of
32:46the park to do Guardians and then go all
32:48the way back to the back of the park to
32:49ride Remy. Now, we could have done it
32:51and definitely it's better to have Remy
32:53for anytime than to not have it at all.
32:56But we thought that we could maybe
32:57optimize it if we just took a little
32:59time and focused. So, that's what we
33:01did. We came here to the Odyssey
33:02Pavilion, which is a great place where
33:04you can grab a seat. There's air
33:06conditioning, but it's also a great
33:08place where you can focus on backing up
33:10your Lightning lanes. And that's exactly
33:11what we did. This took us 11 minutes to
33:14do, but we were able to back Remy up to
33:17basically right now. So, we got it for
33:20305 and we got it around 255, which was
33:24pretty amazing. But I do want to show
33:26you right now some of the more advanced
33:28techniques that you might need to
33:29consider using when you get this late in
33:32the day. First, I want to show you a
33:34technique you would use if you were
33:36aiming for a ride that still had
33:38lightning lanes available. Now, when you
33:40modify this lightning lane, you'll see a
33:42time and it may not be the time that you
33:44want, but that's perfectly fine. What
33:46you're going to do is just tap into it
33:47anyway because when you tap in, it's
33:50going to look at that moment to see what
33:53the best time is at that moment. So, it
33:56may not be the time that you saw on the
33:58previous screen. And if you're lucky,
34:01you might see a time that is even
34:03earlier than what was there before. Now,
34:05the benefit of this is normally you have
34:08to tap in really fast if you find the
34:10time that you want and hope that you can
34:11grab it. But with this scenario, you
34:14don't need to tap in fast. You already
34:16did the tap. You have this Lightning
34:18Lane booked. Now, if you don't see a
34:20time that you like, all you got to do is
34:22tap back out. It's going to give you a
34:23warning like, "Are you sure? Are you
34:25sure you want to go back? It's fine. Go
34:27back." And then you're just going to tap
34:30right in again. You don't need to
34:31refresh the view. and it's going to look
34:34again to see if there's a better time.
34:36And if you're lucky, you might find the
34:38time that you're looking for pop up
34:39there and then you can just confirm it.
34:41You've got that ride booked. You don't
34:43need to worry about tapping in quickly
34:45cuz you just did the tap. You're already
34:47confirmed. So, that's the trick that you
34:49want to use if it's a lightning lane
34:51that still exists. But if it's a
34:53lightning lane that doesn't have any
34:55times available and you are able to tap
34:57through, but you don't get the time you
34:58want, do not tap back at this point.
35:02Instead, what you would do is you would
35:04modify on that screen. You would look to
35:07see if there were other times available.
35:09Now, most cases, there won't be other
35:11times available, but this is a much
35:13easier way, just like we did with that
35:16single pass lightning lane. It's an easy
35:18way to keep refreshing and looking to
35:20see if something comes up. And if it
35:22does, it's easier to grab it from this
35:23screen. Of course, in many cases, you're
35:26going to tap on a time and before it
35:28even gets to that screen, it's going to
35:29say wamp wamp wamp. Sorry, that's no
35:32longer available. If that's the case,
35:34you just got to buckle down and try
35:36again. And that's what we did. We
35:37actually lucked out and were able to get
35:39Remy for just about now. One thing
35:41that's important to mention when you're
35:43playing the slots all day like we've
35:45been doing, it really runs down the
35:47battery on your phone. That's why it's
35:50super important that you pack a battery
35:52pack with you. These things are
35:54lifesavers. In fact, every Lightning
35:56Lane video that we make, we're only able
35:58to make because we have a battery pack
36:00with us. If you don't have one yet, I
36:02recommend this one from Ankor. It's been
36:04my favorite that I've had so far. This
36:06one's pretty massive. It's got a ton of
36:08power in it. And what I love is that
36:10it's got this USB cable already
36:12attached, so you don't have to worry
36:13about accidentally forgetting the cable
36:16for your battery pack. It's right there
36:18attached to the device. We'll put a link
36:20to this one in the description down
36:21below, but really all of the Anchor
36:23battery packs are great and you can
36:24oftentimes find a really good deal on
36:26them over at Amazon. Right now, we're
36:28going to head into World Showcase and
36:30just enjoy the rest of our afternoon.
36:32It's 3:00. We've got 6 hours of park
36:34time and we are completely done with
36:36booking Lightning Lanes and backing them
36:38up. I'm not worried about riding Remy or
36:41Frozen because I have a grace period on
36:44the back end of those lightning lanes.
36:46Even though they're currently from 305
36:48to 405, last time we checked, you could
36:52actually still tap in for those
36:53lightning lanes up to an hour and 59
36:56minutes late. So, even though it says
36:58405, as long as you're there by 604 and
37:0159 seconds, it's going to glow green and
37:03let you in. Now, it's important to note
37:06according to Disney, you officially have
37:07a 15minute grace period on the end, and
37:10they could change it to that at any
37:12point in time, but since it's become
37:14Lightning Lane Multipass, it has had an
37:16hour and 59minute grace period in
37:19effect. So, we'll let you know with an
37:21updated video if that changes, but for
37:23right now, relax, enjoy yourself, and
37:26know that that Lightning Lane will still
37:28be there when you're ready to use it.
37:33>> [music]
37:38[whistles]
37:39[music]
37:45[music]
37:51[music]
37:56[music]
38:12>> How gorgeous is World Showcase right
38:15now? [music] We actually did a whole
38:16episode over on the podcast about Epcot
38:20strategy. And one of the things that we
38:21[music] talked about was you really need
38:23to take time to come back into all of
38:26these different World Showcase
38:27pavilions. Don't just breeze by them.
38:30[music] Actually go in because there is
38:32so much to see and do, explore. There's
38:36amazing musicians. There's stuff for all
38:38the different festivals going on.
38:40There's delicious things to eat. While
38:42Spaceship Earth is the most iconic
38:45attraction at this park, World Showcase
38:48is the heart and soul of this park. So,
38:50you really do want to spend some [music]
38:52time exploring back here. And again,
38:55that's the beauty of Lightning Lane.
38:57It's giving you that time back so that
39:00you can do that. And that's exactly what
39:02we've been doing. The other thing that I
39:03wanted to mention though, we're a little
39:05bit late right now for our Remy
39:07Lightning Lane because we've been
39:08enjoying World Showcase. But look at
39:10what happened once that Lightning Lane
39:13expired. So, right now we have Remy,
39:17Turtle Talk with Crush, and Frozen Ever
39:20After booked, and all of them have
39:22expired. And when that Lightning Lane
39:24expires, it essentially opens that slot
39:27back up and allows us to book something
39:30else. So, normally you only have three
39:32slots with Lightning Lane Multipass, but
39:35right now, we have five attractions
39:38booked, and we have room to book another
39:41one if we wanted to. This is the power
39:43of that grace period we were talking
39:45about. Now, I do want to mention there
39:47are some important caveats to this grace
39:50period. Number one, it could go away at
39:52any time. So, if an attraction is super
39:54important to you, you might want to be
39:56careful using that extended grace
39:58period. Number two, it does not work for
40:01shows that have posted showtimes. So, it
40:04does work for Turtle Talk with Crush
40:06because that's one of those shows that
40:08just repeatedly shows over and over and
40:11you get in line and see whichever show
40:13uh comes up when you get to the front of
40:14the line. But for shows that have
40:16specific showtimes like Festival of the
40:18Lion King, for example, or the Frozen
40:21Singalong over in Hollywood Studios,
40:23those shows you cannot do this trick.
40:26You have got to use your Lightning Lane
40:28in the window that you're given cuz it's
40:30for that specific show. But for all of
40:32the other Lightning lanes, this is a
40:35huge bonus that lets you really be
40:37flexible with your time and it lets you
40:40have more than those three Lightning
40:42lanes booked at once. Before we hop on
40:44Remy, there are a few other things I
40:46wanted to share with you about using
40:48Lightning Lane. The biggest one is you
40:50can no longer book Lightning Lanes for
40:53character meet and greets. So, here at
40:55Epcot, you can meet Figment, you can
40:57meet Mickey and the gang up towards the
40:59front of the park at Communicore Hall,
41:01but unfortunately, those are no longer
41:04offering lightning lanes as an option.
41:06So, you would have to do standby for
41:08those. If you wanted to meet characters
41:10here in Epcot without having to wait in
41:12a long standby queue, you can sometimes
41:14catch them roaming around. Today,
41:16because it's Easter, we actually saw
41:18Rabbit over in the UK pavilion, which is
41:20a really rare sighting. You'll
41:22oftentimes see princesses though out in
41:24their various countries. Uh there will
41:26usually be a line for those though. If
41:29you want to meet princesses without a
41:30line, you could book a reservation at
41:32Akerus, which is one of the character
41:34dining locations here at Epcot. You'll
41:37get a rotating mix of princesses there,
41:39and they serve up delicious Norwegian
41:41inspired food. You can also get a dining
41:44reservation at Garden Grill, which is
41:46over at the Land Pavilion. There you can
41:49meet Farmer Mickey, Chippendale, and
41:51Pluto, and you'll enjoy a more
41:53traditional American meal. Right now,
41:55let's go whip up some Ratatouille with
41:57Remy. And when we get out, we're going
41:58to put that hour and 59 minute grace
42:01period to the test. We're going to go to
42:03the last moment and tap in at Frozen
42:05Ever After and make sure that it still
42:08works. In the meantime, we'll enjoy
42:09World Showcase, and we'll finish our
42:11Epcot day with a ride on Guardians of
42:14the Galaxy Cosmic Rewind. Let's go do
42:16it.
42:4021 minute waits for Remy even using the
42:44Lightning Lane. That's because the
42:46attraction briefly went down while we
42:48were in line. If that happens when
42:50you're in a Lightning Lane, it is always
42:53in your best interest to stay in that
42:55Lightning Lane until either the
42:57attraction comes back up or they offer
43:00to give everyone an experience
43:01redemption to come back and ride later.
43:04It can sometimes take a little while,
43:06but once they feel confident that it's
43:08not going to come back up anytime soon,
43:11they do offer those experience
43:12redemptions, and it's absolutely worth
43:14the wait.
43:15If you leave the queue before riding the
43:18attraction, in most cases, the cast
43:20members are not going to give you a
43:22redemption to return. And so, you just
43:25kind of forfeit the ability to use that
43:26lightning lane. But, we're not going to
43:28forfeit our ability to use that Frozen
43:30Ever After Lightning Lane. At least, we
43:32hope not. We're going to test out the
43:35grace period. I will meet you over at
43:37Frozen Ever After at exactly 6:04 p.m.
43:42because that will be 1 minute before the
43:442hour mark [music] when the Lightning
43:46Lane would truly expire. With any luck,
43:49it's going to glow green and let us into
43:51that ride. But in the meantime, I'm
43:53going to go enjoy the rest of World
43:54Showcase.
44:10Turn [music] me around again. [singing]
44:18[music]
44:25[music]
44:35>> [music]
44:38>> Well, it is almost time to test out our
44:41[music] hour and 59 minute grace period.
44:44I should warn you, you do not want to
44:46cut it this close when you're here
44:47because there is a risk. If Frozen were
44:50to go down before I tap in, I don't have
44:53a valid lightning lane anymore according
44:55to the system. So, it's not going to
44:57give me an experience redemption when
44:59this goes down if it were to. And if
45:02it's past that hour and 59 minute mark
45:05when it comes back, my lightning lane is
45:07no longer valid in any way, shape, or
45:09form. But in the name of science,
45:11[music] let's find out, shall we? Does
45:13our lightning lane still work for Frozen
45:15an hour and 59 minutes after it is
45:18expired?
45:21[music]
45:24That was cutting it very close. There
45:27was a big crowd of people right in front
45:28of me. I didn't know if I was going to
45:30make it there in time for 604, but I
45:32just barely made it. And still green,
45:36baby. Still works. So, at least for now,
45:39the hour and 59m minute grace period is
45:42still in effect. I'll meet you after
45:44this ride and we'll talk about some of
45:45the attractions you cannot use Lightning
45:47Lane for, and then we'll wrap up over at
45:50Guardians of the Galaxy.
45:55>> [music]
46:04[music]
46:12[music]
46:22>> What a lovely attraction that is. And
46:24it's actually looking more lovely than
46:26ever because they just redid the
46:28animatronics of Anna, Elsa, and
46:30Kristoff. They look amazing. Well, the
46:33last thing I want to talk about related
46:35to Lightning Lane here at Epcot is an
46:37important one, and that is that Epcot is
46:39the park at Disney World with the most
46:42attractions that are not available with
46:44Lightning Lane, either multiass or
46:46single pass. There are lots of shows
46:49around the world showcase like Canada
46:52far and wide. There's a circle vision
46:55show over in China. There's a Beauty and
46:58the Beast sing along and Impressions def
47:00France over in France. The American
47:03Adventure Pavilion has an amazing show
47:05with incredible animatronics you should
47:07definitely check out. And there's even
47:09an attraction over in the Mexico
47:10Pavilion Grand Fiesta Tour with the
47:13three Cabayeros. That one does not have
47:15a Lightning Lane either. The good news
47:17is none of these attractions tend to
47:19have super long waits. So you can do
47:22them whenever you'd like without having
47:24to worry with a lightning lane. And
47:25that's probably why Disney hasn't added
47:27Lightning Lane to them. We do have a
47:29little bit of time left before we go
47:31ride Guardians. So let's head over next
47:33door to the Mexico Pavilion and ride
47:36that attraction that doesn't have a
47:37Lightning Lane. Grand Rand Fiesta Tour.
47:40[music]
48:00>> [music]
48:01>> Heat. Heat.
48:08Hey,
48:15[music]
48:22[music]
48:33hey,
48:34hey.
48:49>> [music]
48:53>> What a perfect ending to an amazing day
48:55we just had here at Epcot. That is my
48:58favorite ride and I love that it was the
49:00last thing we did for this video. As you
49:02can see, if you can manage to get those
49:05key rides booked early in the day, Remy,
49:08Frozen, and Test Track, you can really
49:11make everything else fall into place.
49:14The challenge is just getting those
49:15rides and getting them early. Before we
49:18go, I do want to give a huge thank you
49:20to our Patreon family. Thank you so much
49:23for supporting what we do here at Ear
49:24Scouts and making videos like this
49:26possible. If you'd like to join them and
49:28get access to exclusive bonus content,
49:30head on over to patreon.com/earcouts.
49:34And of course, I want to thank all of
49:36you. Thank you so much for watching this
49:38video. If you found it helpful, help us
49:40out by giving it a like, subscribing to
49:42our channel, and ringing that bell. That
49:44way, you'll be notified whenever new
49:46videos like this come out. Until next
49:47time, don't forget to think happy
49:49thoughts, everybody. We'll see you again
49:51real soon.
49:56>> [whistles]

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