Rumors have been swirling for months that the Disney Parks would be adding a service similar to Universal’s Express Pass. Those rumors were confirmed today as Disney announced the Lightning Lane Premier Pass – an offering allowing guests to skip large portions of the line for certain rides. With a higher price point, guests don’t have to reserve a time to use their Lightning Lane. In this post, we’ll explain Lightning Lane Premier Pass and how it works before adding our commentary at the end.

Before we get into the ins and outs of this new pass, here’s a few broader details. Lightning Lane Premier Pass will be offered at both Disneyland and Walt Disney World. At Disneyland, guests must have a park reservation and the initial rollout will be October 23rd. At Walt Disney World, guests must be staying at an eligible hotel. Those eligible are essentially any Disney owned on-site resort (including Shades of Green) and the Swan & Dolphin. There will be a very limited amount of passes available upon initial rollout, starting on October 30th.

That differs from Disneyland. Lightning Lane Premier Passes can be purchased via the Disneyland app up to 2 days in advance of your park visit, starting at 7:00 AM Pacific Time (subject to very limited availability). That seems simple enough, just make sure all of your group’s tickets are linked. We highly encourage anyone purchasing in the first few months to be ready right at 7 AM two days ahead of time. As you might notice, both the Disney World and Disneyland websites are very adamant about having a very limited amount of availability.

At Disney World, eligible guests can purchase Lightning Lane Premier Passes up to 7 days before the first day of their Resort stay—for their entire length of stay (up to 14 days)—starting at 7:00 AM Eastern Time. Valid theme park admission is required.

Before you purchase a Lightning Lane Premier Pass at WDW, you’ll need to do 3 things:

1. Connect everyone in your travel group via your Family & Friends list—so you’ll be able to purchase Lightning Lane Premier Passes for everyone who is eligible.
2. Make sure that everyone in your party is a registered Guest at an eligible Resort hotel, and has valid theme park admission. Park reservations may also be required, depending on the type of admission and the date of your visit. Please see theme park reservation requirements.
3. Download the latest version of the My Disney Experience app.

Open the My Disney Experience app, find “Lightning Lane Premier Pass” on the home screen and then tap “Purchase”. Follow the prompts to complete your purchase—and receive a confirmation.

As far as price goes, Walt Disney World’s pass will fluctuate depending on the day and park. At launch, prices will range from US$129 to US$449. This is just like the tickets and every other Lightning Lane offering, but with a much wider range.

On the west coast Lightning Lane Premier Pass will be priced at $400 per person, per day for park visits through December 31, 2024. Beginning in 2025, pricing will vary by date and demand within a $300 to $400 range. Prices will be displayed in the Disneyland app up to 2 days in advance of your park visit.

Passes at WDW aren’t eligible for park hopping, unlike at Disneyland Resort, so it would stand to reason that the Lightning Lane Premier Pass would be cheaper at Animal Kingdom than it would be at Magic Kingdom. There are just less interesting options there for now. That said, I’d be surprised to see the pass be much cheaper than Disneyland’s offerings, at least to begin with.

At WDW, Lightning Lane Premier Pass gives you one-time entry to each available Lightning Lane entrance in one park for one day. Here’s how to use it:

• Go to the Lightning Lane entrance and tap in using a Disney band, Disney MagicMobile pass, Key to the World Card or ticket card that’s linked to your valid theme park admission.
• You’ll skip the standby line and join a shorter line for that attraction or experience instead.
• Continue to enjoy other Lightning Lane experiences in the park—at your leisure.

View your Lightning Lane Premier Pass and tap to see your experiences for that day—including which ones remain available and which ones you’ve already redeemed. Open the My Disney Experience app and tap “Today’s Plans” in the app menu. This will take you to the “My Day” feature.

The process is largely the same at Disneyland. As I mentioned, the Premier Pass could be redeemed in both parks. Theoretically, that could be 24 attractions in one day! I’m not sure how well the app at Disneyland keeps track of your progress but I would imagine that information would be in there.

Commentary

I’ve never been in favor of more cost gouging for Disney Park guests but my reaction to this one may surprise. Ever since free FastPass was taken away, I’ve advocated for higher prices and less availability when it came to the Lightning Lanes. The reasoning is simple – this will have the least amount of impact on standby guests. It would raise the capacity of the parks, thanks to less people being in one place physically and one place digitally.

This new pass is a step in that direction and is how Universal has operated for years. I’m not here to tell you that Universal’s queue/ride model is the most efficient. That’s just not true. But I do think Disney has had a problem with the amount of line skipping passes they’ve handed out in recent years. Ideally, this is a step in the right direction with a limited number of these passes available along with fewer Lightning Lanes.

Now if Disney views it this way is the real question. If this is all just another money grab in addition to the current offerings then my feelings would flip. Given recent comments by the higher ups in the company, I think there’s an understanding that the parks need a higher capacity. While we’d all like to see that done by just adding more rides, this could help. There are reasons to be optimistic about this!

Let’s say the average price for Lightning Lane Premier Pass sticks at $300. That’s roughly 10 times more than the usual cost of Lightning Lane Multi Pass on both coasts. So, let’s say Disney takes away 30% of their Multi Pass offerings but then a third of that goes toward guests purchasing Lightning Lane Premier Pass. That’s a winning proposition for Disney and guests – less people have Lightning Lanes making the service more efficient and the standby lines move faster all while the company makes more money than they did before.

I’m also not naive. There’s a chance that Disney just wants the extra cash flow on top of what they’re already making. Some would say that’s the most likely outcome but I’m trying to be optimistic here!

As far as the value of purchasing Lightning Lane Premier Pass… If you’re doling out $400 per ticket to skip the lines then may I point you in the direction of a friendly Disney Parks blog that could use some donations? Totally kidding! Honestly, this would be an absolute blast! If money isn’t an object, then splurging for this as Disneyland Resort, Magic Kingdom or Hollywood Studios would be very fun. Seeing if you could fit in all 24 rides at Disneyland Resort sounds like a challenge I’d love to do but won’t spend the money on!

In that same vein, this is not at all necessary to have a good day at the parks. Following a competent park itinerary will generally get guests through most of the park’s rides without spending triple digit (or quadruple for a family!) dollar figures. No matter how much money you have, purchasing this pass for Animal Kingdom in its current form is a bad idea. Epcot is slightly more reasonable but still not advisable.

In the end, I choose to be encouraged by the introduction of Lightning Lane Premier Pass. This combines an upscale offering, a way to increase park capacity and for the company to make more money all in one. Whether or not the new pass ends up being that remains to be seen.

What do you think of this new offering? Let us know, along with any questions you might have, in the comments below! Looking for discounted tickets to Disneyland or Walt Disney World? Check out this site! If you’re planning a trip to a Disney Park, please check out our guides to help you get there! If you enjoy what you are reading here on Wandering in Disney please share this post with your friends, as well as like our social media pages. You can also subscribe to the blog via WordPress or email. All of those links are on the right side of this page. Thank you for reading, we really appreciate it!