Nobody likes standing in lines to experience whatever the newest attraction at Disney World or Disneyland is, but it’s the one thing that is virtually guaranteed at theme parks. Of course, since lines are a problem, all parks are happy to sell you a solution. Every theme park now has some sort of optional line-skipping purchase. Disney’s version, Lightning Lane, is one of the least expensive on the market currently, but that isn’t entirely the case anymore, as Disney has now revealed the Lightning Lane Premier Pass, which has some nice additional benefits but is going to cost you hundreds of dollars per ticket.
Beginning October 23 at Disneyland, and October 30 at Walt Disney World, Disney Parks will begin to offer Lightning Lane Premier Pass. The new option will give guests the ability to ride any attraction that has a Lightning Lane queue, once per day, at any time of the guest's choosing.
This will make things much easier for guests, as the current Lightning Lane options force guests to pick the time they can do a ride ahead of time, and not all rides with Lightning Lanes are included in the base price. The kicker of Premier Pass is that it is, well, premier. At Disney World LLPP will run from $129-$449 per ticket per day, depending on the park. At Disneyland, the cost will be between $300-$400 per ticket per day but will cover both Disneyland and Disney California Adventure, assuming you have also paid for a park hopper ticket.
Premier Pass Charges A Premium For Simplicity
Needless to say, those prices are enough to make your head spin. Disneyland only recently saw ticket price increases that saw tickets on the busiest days exceed $200 per person for the first time. Since we can guess those days will also include the most expensive Lightning Lane Premiere Pass, we’re looking at a pass that will cost twice what the ticket does, exceeding $600 total for a single person.
Having said that, what you get for that money is simplicity. The current Lightning Lane Multipass system restricts when you can use the faster line, and how frequently you get the chance. The Lightning Lane Single Pass, available at the most popular attractions, costs even more money, and you are forced to choose when you will use it when you buy it.
Premier Pass will allow guests to ride anything with a Lightning Lane, once per day whenever they want. This means guests have the freedom to decide when they ride certain things. Their schedule won't be dictated to them by when they were able to secure a window to use the Lightning Lane.
Lightning Lane Lane Premier Pass Is Meant To Be A Premium Option
While I hate having to pay for something at Disneyland and Disney World that used to be free, I myself have argued that the existing Lightning Lane Multi-Pass system is worth the money if you can afford to spend it. I recently took my family on a Disneyland vacation and found it invaluable. Because it isn’t crazy expensive, a lot of people are spending the money. The cost of Premier Pass, especially for my entire family, is simply not an option for me, but that’s part of the point.
Needless to say, this isn’t something Disneyland is necessarily expecting to sell a lot of. The announcement says they will be available in “very limited quantities” at launch. The idea here is that this is something that people who have the money can spend that will make their experience better, but more than likely large numbers of people won’t be buying this, so it shouldn’t have a significant impact on everybody else.
The Lightning Lane Premier Pass had been leaked previously, so we knew this was coming, though the exact details hadn’t yet been revealed. Honestly, this isn’t that shocking. Many of the other major theme park companies, from Universal to Legoland, have line-skipping options that are a lot more expensive than Disney’s standard Lightning Lane options. One of the biggest problems with Disney previously was that Lightning Lane could be difficult to use because of the need to schedule your rides. Universal Express Pass was much easier to use, but it cost a lot more.
Could Premier Pass Actually Make Lines At Disney Parks Better For Everybody?
Here’s the thing, While Premier Pass may be crazy expensive and something most of us may never be able to afford, it might be a good thing. As it currently stands Disney Parks won’t be selling massive numbers of Premier Pass on top of the current Lightning Lane sales. That would overfill the Lightning Lane and make it move much slower, something people spending $200 on LLPP won’t stand for. This means that more than likely, Disney will simply sell fewer of the current Lightning Lane option for every Premier Pass that is sold. If enough people are willing to pay for the Premier Pass, could the existing Lightning Lane go away entirely?
This wouldn’t necessarily be a bad thing. Disney parks could make as much money or more selling fewer Lightning Lanes at a higher price. This makes the line for Lightning Lane smaller overall, meaning it will have less impact on the standard standby line, which would allow it to move faster. As Defunctland has previously proved, line-skipping options are great for those who use them, but they make the experience worse for those in the standby line than they would be if the line-skipping option didn’t exist.
If we lose the existing Lightning Lane Multi-Pass, while it would subject those who can’t afford the more expensive option to the standby line, if that line is regularly a lot shorter than it currently is, that may not be a bad thing.
On the other side, if Lightning Lane becomes practically a walk-on experience, it at least makes spending that kind of money more worthwhile. Having used Universal’s Express Pass in both Hollywood and Florida, there is virtually zero wait if you do spend that money, which makes spending it more palatable.
It will certainly be interesting to see where things go from here. Ever since Disney World and Disneyland brought back a line-skipping option after reopening following the pandemic, it has been going through a lot of changes. Disney Parks are still trying to figure out what to do with this service. It’s unlikely this is the last addition or change. If Lighting Lane Premier Pass does become the standard, at least that would make the decision of what to spend money on easier and less confusing.
