Walt Disney World has updated its website to confirm that Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring The Muppets will remain a top tier Lightning Lane attraction when the ride reopens in Summer 2026. Here’s the latest official news, plus our predictions about how the LL landscape will change at WDW once all of the reimagined rides debut soon.
In case you missed it, Aerosmith “retired” from Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster and the ride closed over the weekend for its ‘Muppets Makeover.’ The gang will be moving right along to Sunset Boulevard, teaming up with some of music’s biggest stars for a rockin’ music festival for Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring the Muppets.
The reimagined ride will feature Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy and more of their friends. At Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring The Muppets, guests will go across Hollywood on a wild ride with the Electric Mayhem, complete with backstage chaos, high-speed thrills, signature Muppets music & humor, and all-new Audio-Animatronics figures.
Within the last couple of months, Walt Disney World has really started pulling the curtain back on Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring The Muppets. We’ve learned about the courtyard, backstory, music, Audio Animatronics, and pre-show stage-setting scene.
If you missed any of this, see the first half of this post: Walt Disney World Reveals Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring the Muppets Opening Season. We’re going to forgo the lengthy recap here, but that covers everything we know so far about RnRC: Muppets Makeover, complete with concept art.
Unsurprisingly, the closure of Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith coupled with the excitement for Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring The Muppets has led some WDW fans to speculate that the reimagined ride could become a Lightning Lane Single Pass attraction, joining Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance as the second LLSP attraction in DHS.
Walt Disney World has now confirmed that this won’t be the case. Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring The Muppets will occupy the exact same status as its predecessor, as a Tier 1/Group A attraction as part of the Lightning Lane Multi-Pass service.
This shouldn’t come as a colossal surprise to anyone paying attention. Since the a la carte Lightning Lane tier debuted back in October 2021, it has actually lost attractions. This is despite several new headliners opening since that time at Walt Disney World.
Here’s the original 2021 a la carte Lightning Lane ride roster, for those who don’t recall:
- Seven Dwarfs Mine Train
- Space Mountain
- Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure
- Frozen Ever After
- Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance
- Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway
- Avatar Flight of Passage
- Expedition Everest
Here’s the Lightning Lane Single Pass lineup as of 2026:
- Seven Dwarfs Mine Train
- TRON Lightcycle Run
- Guardians of the Galaxy Cosmic Rewind
- Star Wars Rise of the Resistance
- Avatar Flight of Passage
Only 3 of the original attractions remain. TRON Lightcycle Run and Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind both opened since, and unsurprisingly joined the Lightning Lane Single Pass lineup.
Magic Kingdom is the only park with two attractions, albeit one with divergent demographics. Seven Dwarfs Mine Train is the oldest of the bunch, and even that’s a relatively recent (by Walt Disney World standards) addition.
Since the biggest ‘refinement’ of the tiers way back in 2022, there hasn’t been a single enhanced or reimagined ride added to Lightning Lane Single Pass. Not Tiana’s Bayou Adventure, Test Track 3.0, or Zootopia: Better Zoogether.
The biggest change since then was Lightning Lane Multi Pass replacing the Genie+ service, which resulted in the following tiers being added to the ‘bundled’ line-skipping option:
Magic Kingdom Lightning Lane Multi-Pass
Group A: Choose up to one experience from this tier:
- Jungle Cruise
- Peter Pan’s Flight
- Space Mountain
- Tiana’s Bayou Adventure
Group B: Choose your other 2 experiences—or all 3—from this tier:
- The Barnstormer
- Dumbo the Flying Elephant
- Haunted Mansion
- “it’s a small world”
- Mad Tea Party
- The Magic Carpets of Aladdin
- The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh
- Mickey’s PhilharMagic
- Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor
- Pirates of the Caribbean
- Tomorrowland Speedway
- Under the Sea ~ Journey of The Little Mermaid
EPCOT Lightning Lane Multi-Pass
Group A: Choose up to one experience from this tier:
- Frozen Ever After
- Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure
- Test Track
Group B: Choose your other 2 experiences—or all 3—from this tier:
- Soarin’ Around the World
- Disney and Pixar Short Film Festival
- Journey into Imagination with Figment
- Living with the Land
- Mission: SPACE
- The Seas with Nemo & Friends
- Spaceship Earth
- Turtle Talk with Crush
Disney’s Hollywood Studios Lightning Lane Multi-Pass
Group A: Choose up to one experience from this tier:
- Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway
- Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run
- Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring the Muppets (opening Summer 2026)
- Slinky Dog Dash
Group B: Choose your other 2 experiences—or all 3—from this tier:
- Alien Swirling Saucers
- Beauty and the Beast Live on Stage
- For the First Time in Forever: A Frozen Sing-Along Celebration
- Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular
- The Little Mermaid – A Musical Adventure
- Star Tours – The Adventures Continue
- The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror
- Toy Story Mania!
Animal Kingdom Lightning Lane Multi-Pass
Animal Kingdom doesn’t have tiers. Here are the Lightning Lane MultiPass attractions at Disney’s Animal Kingdom:
- Expedition Everest – Legend of the Forbidden Mountain
- Feathered Friends in Flight!
- Festival of the Lion King
- Finding Nemo: The Big Blue… and Beyond!
- Kali River Rapids
- Kilimanjaro Safaris
- Naʻvi River Journey
- Zootopia: Better Zoogether
Beyond Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring The Muppets, there are several other enhanced or reimagined attractions coming online in 2026 that we can expect to have Lightning Lanes:
- Big Thunder Mountain Railroad
- Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin
- Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run – A New Mission
- Soarin’ Across America
There are also a few wildcards, such as the offerings in the Magic of Disney Animation and Walt Disney Studios Lot, as well as the Bluey experience at Conservation Station.
I wouldn’t be completely shocked to see Walt Disney World trying to squeeze a Lightning Lane or two in those locations, but they’d all be low priority Multi Pass entries, and basically for the sake of manufacturing capacity. That’s not the direction Walt Disney World has gone with LLMP, though, so our assumption is that they won’t.
In any case, none of the above entries are getting ‘upgraded’ to Lightning Lane Single Pass. That just isn’t happening. The changes being made are insufficient to justify that boost. Even if MF:SR-ANM! is as great as its new name is long, it’s still staying in the LLMP package.
Still, questions remain. Will Soarin’ Across America bounce back up to the top tier of Lightning Lane Multi-Pass? What about Big Thunder and Buzz? Will any rides be demoted?!
My best guesses are pretty boring: expect the expected. Which is to say, whatever things were before or right now, it’s likely that’s what they’ll be once the reimagined or enhanced attractions come online.
I do think there’s a compelling case for Soarin’ Across America to return to the top tier (assuming it’s good). It’s already one of the more competitive Multi-Pass attractions at Walt Disney World, and it’ll likely see a popularity boost with the new film. But I nevertheless doubt it’ll rejoin the top tier.
More likely to happen is what already occurred with Test Track and Zootopia: Better Zoogether, which is that reimagined or enhanced attractions rise up the ride reservation rankings due to increased demand. Soarin’ Across America will be even more popular and difficult to book, as will the other attractions receiving updates.
Buzz Lightyear, Millennium Falcon and Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster are most interesting in this regard (assuming they’re all good), especially since two of those attractions are in the same park. Will the end result be reduced demand for Slinky Dog Dash, which is the other top tier thrill ride at DHS, and also the #1 priority for Lightning Lane Multi-Pass in all of Walt Disney World. It’ll probably still occupy that spot as of Summer 2026, but maybe the margin won’t be quite as wide.
A potentially underrated possibility is something from the top tier at Magic Kingdom moving down. My strong suspicion is that Magic Kingdom doesn’t need that many attractions in the top tier, and the only reason LLMP was structured that way to begin with was because Walt Disney World operations was concerned about the impact of Jungle Cruise, Peter Pan’s Flight, and then Big Thunder Mountain Railroad all going down for lengthy refurbishments in succession. So I could see one of those being demoted.
Finally, a really underrated possibility is Magic Kingdom ditching tiers completely. I would argue that it doesn’t need them in the first place, and that this will become even more apparent once both BTMRR and Buzz Lightyear come back online. In fact, I would hazard a guess that the only way Magic Kingdom doesn’t see a scaling back of its tiers in 2026 is if another major reimagining of a top attraction is right around the corner. We shall see!
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YOUR THOUGHTS
Thoughts on Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring the Muppets being a top tier Lightning Lane Multi Pass ride? Are you excited for Muppets makeover? Expecting any other LLMP or Single Pass changes? Do you agree or disagree with our assessments? Any questions we can help you answer? Hearing your feedback–even when you disagree with us–is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!
