The last vestige of free FastPass still has the candle burning, even if it’s going by a different name. Tokyo Disney Resort announced that they will be offering free Priority Pass, skip the line passes, to select attractions during their ongoing 40th anniversary celebration. This will start sometime this summer. In this post, we’ll detail the news and then add our commentary.

Let’s start with the release from Tokyo Disney Resort:

Tokyo Disney Resort announced that in commemoration of “Tokyo Disney Resort 40th ‘Dream-Go-Round,’” the anniversary celebration which began on April 15, Priority Pass will become available for select experiences at Tokyo Disneyland® Park and Tokyo DisneySea® Park. This service, available free of charge, will be introduced this summer for a limited period, allowing guests to enjoy certain attractions with a reduced wait time.

The Tokyo Disney Resort 40th Anniversary Priority Pass gives guests the ability to select eligible experiences using the Tokyo Disney Resort App after entering the Park. Guests will be able to enter the venue from a designated entrance at a specified time and enjoy their selected experience with a reduced wait time. This service will provide options for how guests experience the Parks, offering convenience and added flexibility for those who wish to
personalize their experience and get the most out of their visit.

The launch date for the Tokyo Disney Resort 40th Anniversary Priority Pass is yet to be determined, but is scheduled to become available this summer and perhaps longer. We do have the list of attractions that will be offered:

Tokyo Disneyland

• Star Tours: The Adventures Continue
• Space Mountain
• Buzz Lightyear’s Astro Blasters
• Big Thunder Mountain
• Pooh’s Hunny Hunt
• Haunted Mansion
• Monsters, Inc. Ride & Go Seek!

Tokyo DisneySea

• Aquatopia
• Indiana Jones Adventure: Temple of the Crystal Skull
• 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
• Turtle Talk
• Nemo & Friends SeaRider
• The Magic Lamp Theater
• Raging Spirits

If you’re unfamiliar with Priority Pass, it’s essentially like Genie+, or FastPass+ before it. Tokyo Disney Resort does offer a paid option called Premier Access for these select attractions:

Tokyo Disneyland

• The Happy Ride with Baymax – 1,500 yen
• Splash Mountain – 1,500 yen
• Enchanted Tale of Beauty and the Beast – 2,000 yen
• Disney Harmony in Color Parade – 2,500 yen
• Tokyo Disneyland Electrical Parade Dreamlights – 2,500 yen

Tokyo DisneySea

• Tower of Terror – 1,500 yen
• Journey to the Center of the Earth – 1,500 yen
• Toy Story Mania – 2,000 yen
• Soaring: Fantastic Flight – 2,000 yen
• Believe! Sea of Dreams – 2,500 yen

Commentary

I will continue to mourn the loss of paper FastPasses but seeing something mobile and updated that’s offered for free is exciting. While this is sold as a limited time option, there’s reason to think that it may stick around past the 40th anniversary.

As Disney continues to try to wipe the word FastPass out of everyone’s head for no apparent reason, Tokyo Disney changed the name to follow suit. But bringing back a free skip-the-line option is interesting. Oriental Land Company owns the Tokyo parks, not Disney, so a different option than what is currently at the domestic parks isn’t a huge surprise.

There’s a tricky line to thread in Japan, as those parks are noticeably local driven similar to Disneyland Resort a few years ago. There’s been a push by OLC to make the resort more of a global destination but the audience base will always have a strong local demographic. Since reopening, those loyal and local fans have had plenty to gripe over with no sales of annual passes or even multi-day tickets. The resort has not catered to them at all, hopefully this is a first step in altering that course.

In defense of Oriental Land Company, the park tickets are offered at a significantly lower cost than any Disney owned park and the upkeep is a notch above. Along with that, there are gigantic expansions that have or will be opening at both Tokyo Disneyland and DisneySea. It makes some sense to try push the resort as global destination because it is! Sure, you don’t want to cut off the hand that feeds you but the other hand could theoretically hold wads of extra money to buy better food. Personally, I hope the Japanese parks aren’t headed in that direction but it does make business sense to try.

Getting back to Priority Pass, I think the free offerings at Tokyo Disneyland are particularly strong. It’s nice to see the Premier Access options not get oversaturated, although I suppose the cynic could see this as a test for what attractions to add, based on popularity. Pooh’s Hunny Hunt would be my priority (no pun intended) at TDL, with some combination of the mountains, Mansion and Ride & Go Seek following that.

DisneySea has a few more minor attractions on the list as there are less rides at the park and four on Premier Access. Indiana Jones is the clear choice with SeaRider, 20,000 Leagues and Aquatopia after that in some order.

Unfortunately, I don’t think this announcement spells any change for the American Parks. I’ve already mentioned the different ownership and there’s also cultural spending habits to consider. As much as I despise the constant upcharging in the domestic parks, people are willing to pay. Until they aren’t willing, then free line skipping passes won’t be offered.

This is a nice perk for Tokyo Disney Resort during an especially good time to visit Japan thanks to the conversion rate. It stands to reason that this offering will last through the 40th anniversary celebration which runs until March 31st, 2024 but we do not know that for sure. I would expect Priority Pass to start in the next few weeks. Welcome back, free line skipping! We missed you.

What do you think about Priority Pass? Let us know in the comments! Curious about planning a trip to Tokyo Disney Resort? Check out our planning guide to get you started! Thank you for reading Wandering in Disney. If you enjoy what you’re reading please subscribe to the blog via WordPress or email and like our social media pages. You can do both of those things on the right side of this page. Have a great day!