BREAKING: Pricey Lightning Lane Premier Pass at Disney World Announced!
Walt Disney World officially announced Lightning Lane Premier Pass, the newest and most expensive line skipping service to replace free FastPass. This post covers the launch date & price ranges for the upcharge option at Magic Kingdom, EPCOT, Hollywood Studios, and Animal Kingdom. Plus, our commentary how this compares to Universal’s Express Pass, potential popularity, and more.
There’s a lot of ground to cover here, so we will very quickly recap what has happened in the last few months with Lightning Lanes. As you might recall, Walt Disney World Lightning Lane recently retired and replaced the Genie+ service with Lightning Lane Multi-Pass (LLMP). Along with that, a la carte or Individual Lightning Lanes became Lightning Lane Single Pass (LLSP).
The big change with the switch from Genie+ to Lightning Lane Multi Pass and Single Pass is that guests can now make ride reservations up to 21 days in advance depending upon their status, and have ability to make 3 selections in advance. With this comes the loss of stacking, a disadvantage for off-site guests, and likelihood that you’ll be scoring fewer Lightning Lanes per day. Among other things, there’s also the reality that you’re committing to buying (or not) before starting your trip and seeing/feeling crowd levels.
There’s a lot more to the new Lightning Lane Multi-Pass and Single Pass, all of which is beyond the scope of this post. We’d encourage you to read our Guide to Lightning Lanes at Walt Disney World for all of the foundational need-to-know info of both LLMP and LLSP. This whole system is confusing and convoluted, so you might have a question or two-dozen. That answers all of the most common ones we’ve been receiving from readers.
The important thing to know is that Lightning Lane Multi-Pass and Single Pass will continue to exist. Lightning Lane Premier Pass (LLPP) is distinct from both, and will be an alternative line-skipping product offering for guests who don’t want to hassle with LLMP or LLSP. While Lightning Lane Premier Pass will feature the same ride rosters as the other Lightning Lane services, it’ll function fundamentally differently.
Here’s what Walt Disney World has officially announced about Lightning Lane Premier Pass…
In the coming weeks, Walt Disney World and Disneyland Resort will begin piloting another option for attraction entry that will be offered in very limited quantities: Lightning Lane Premier Pass.
Lightning Lane Premier Pass is similar to line-skipping services that have been available for purchase at other theme parks for decades, and a service like this offers a level of convenience that many Walt Disney World guests have requested.
Lightning Lane Premier Pass will include one entry to each Lightning Lane entrance in the theme park they are visiting that day, which guests can use anytime throughout the day at their convenience – without needing to book an arrival time in advance.
Some of the added perks of Lightning Lane Premier Pass include:
- All attractions from Lightning Lane Multi Pass and Single Pass.
- Guests can ride the attractions that they want–when they want.
- Lightning Lane Premier Pass will include PhotoPass photo and video downloads.
Walt Disney World will begin piloting Lightning Lane Premier Pass on October 30, 2024.
At launch, Lightning Lane Premier Pass will be available to purchase only by guests staying at Deluxe Resorts or Deluxe Villa Resorts (Disney Vacation Club Resorts). Lightning Lane Premier Pass may be purchased up to seven days in advance of their stay.
Lightning Lane Premier Pass gives Walt Disney World guests one-time entry to each available Lightning Lane entrance in a single theme park for the day. In other words, there is no Park Hopper option for LLPP at Walt Disney World.
Prices for Lightning Lane Premier Passes vary by date and theme park. Launch prices will range from $129 to $449 per person, plus tax, with the highest prices falling on a limited number of days over peak travel periods. Here are the ranges for each park:
- Disney’s Animal Kingdom: $129 to $199 per person, plus tax
- EPCOT: $169 to $249 per person, plus tax
- Disney’s Hollywood Studios: $269 to $349 per person, plus tax
- Magic Kingdom: $329 to $449 per person, plus tax
That’s an incredibly wide range–$129 on the low end for Animal Kingdom versus $449 on the high end for Magic Kingdom. For the peak season price at Magic Kingdom, you could purchase Lightning Lane Premier Pass 3.5 times on the cheapest day at Animal Kingdom!
However, the rest of the year will see roller coaster crowds at Walt Disney World, with low lows and high highs. There’s a reason that multiple weeks from October through December make both lists on our rankings of the 10 Best and 10 Worst Weeks to Visit Walt Disney World in 2024 to 2026
Anyway, expect to see the $129 pricing at Animal Kingdom in early November or December, and the $449 pricing at Magic Kingdom the week between Christmas and New Year’s Eve. For further commentary about pricing–and the big gap between base costs for Walt Disney World and Disneyland, see our post about Lightning Lane Premier Pass at Disneyland.
Walt Disney World’s official website emphasizes that they will begin piloting the rollout of Lightning Lane Premier Pass with “very limited quantities.” Our biggest question is: just how limited is very limited?
Will Lightning Lane Premier Pass be so limited that it easily sells out every single day? Is that the reason for restricting it to only Deluxe Resort and DVC Villas? Is this going to meaningful impact Lightning Lane availability for those who want to purchase Multi-Pass or Single Pass? Will this mean more capacity is allocated away from standby lines and to Lightning Lanes?
As previously mentioned, it’s been our understanding that there’s an internal desire within Disney to strike more of a balance between standby guests and Lightning Lane users. Policies and systems that feel fairer to the majority of guests and don’t advantage or disadvantage anyone too much. Disney has been trying to thread the needle with all of the queueing and capacity changes over the last few months.
Our strong suspicion is that Walt Disney World does not want to disturb that ‘delicate balance’ in queue capacity allocation with Lightning Lane Premier Pass. But on the other hand, the company does love money, so if LLPP is selling out daily during its ‘pilot program,’ we could see its availability being upped closer to Christmas. So the bottom line is that these are all open questions for us, and ones we’ll seek to answer during Lightning Lane Multi-Pass field testing later this year. (We won’t be testing LLPP–there’s no point and it’s beyond our budget.)
Turning to commentary, Lightning Lane Premier Pass is essentially Disney’s version of Universal’s Express Pass.
For those unfamiliar with it, Universal’s Express Pass is available as a ticket add-on or with select hotel stays. You can purchase two varieties of Express Pass, regular or unlimited. The regular version allows you to skip the line once per eligible attraction in either park. Universal Express Unlimited offers line-skipping privileges, as the name suggests, an unlimited number of times per attraction.
Unlike Lightning Lanes, guests using Express Pass at Universal are not required to make ride reservations–meaning there are no set return times. You simply go up to the attraction, scan your pass, and use your Express Pass entitlement. There’s nothing to reserve or hassle with in an app. It’s a totally “dumb” system–and I mean that in the best way possible. Express Pass involves zero technology and screen time. It’s completely hassle-free.
Universal’s Express Pass is also much more expensive when not included with a hotel stay. The out-of-pocket cost of regular Express Pass starts at $89.99 per person plus tax and can top out at $290, with the average being well north of $100. Unlimited Universal Express Pass ranges from $120 to $320, with the average near $200.
With that said, there are some critical distinctions between Universal’s Express Pass and Lightning Lane Premier Pass.
The first is that there will not be an unlimited option with Lightning Lane Premier Pass. It’s one entry per attraction, making this equivalent to the regular Express Pass. I guess in theory you might be able to purchase multiple Lightning Lane Premier Passes and fashion a DIY unlimited option, but that’d be pricey and I’m not even sure it’d work.
I suspect Walt Disney World doesn’t want to disturb the ‘delicate balance’ in queue capacity allocation by offering Lightning Lane Premier Pass at an unlimited level. Perhaps more importantly, they don’t want to cannibalize VIP tour sales or Club 33 memberships. If you want the unlimited option, there already exist ways to obtain that.
If they’re too expensive…the unlimited option actually is not aimed at you, I guess? The goal is to be slot this in between existing product offerings, not compete with them. (Unlimited Lightning Lane Premier Pass would likely cost $1,000 to $2,000 on the high end given these price points.)
The next distinction between Universal’s Express Pass and Lightning Lane Premier Pass is that there’s no “free” version of LLPP for on-site hotel guests as there is at Universal Orlando.
Unlimited Express Pass is included with stays at the Premier Hotels, which are Universal’s highest-tier resorts. Guests who stay at Royal Pacific, Hard Rock Hotel, and Portofino Bay all receive Unlimited Express Pass included with their stay at no additional charge (including check-in and checkout days).
We’ve heard from a number of readers in the last few years who have wanted Walt Disney World to adopt Universal’s Express Pass system. My response has been: be careful what you wish for. That’s in large part because the sense I’ve gotten is that most Disney fans only want the “free with on-site stays” part, and not the “$100+ for bypassing technology” part.
We’ve previously the discussed the ‘why’ of this at great length, but there are numerous reasons why Walt Disney World would not (and in fact, is not) offering “free” unlimited (or even limited) Lightning Lane Premier Pass with on-site resort stays.
For one thing, there’s the disparity in the number of on-site resort rooms. In total, there are just under 7,000 hotel rooms at Universal Orlando Resort (pre-Epic Universe). By contrast, there are approximately 40,000 rooms at Walt Disney World. Even narrowing it down to Deluxe Resorts and adjusting on a per-park basis, Walt Disney World still has nearly triple the number of eligible rooms. It’s a simple numbers game–free unlimited line-skipping for Deluxe Resorts would literally “break” the guest experience for everyone else.
But that’s not really what’s outcome determinative. Quite simply, Walt Disney World doesn’t offer free line-skipping because they don’t need to do so. The last few years should make this plain as day. Walt Disney World keeps increasing prices on Lightning Lanes, and guests keep buying.
There are ways that the current Multi-Pass system is arguably inferior to free FastPass, but I’m nevertheless completely confident it’ll sell out at record high prices the weeks of Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s Eve. Disney has absolutely no incentive to give away for free what guests will spend money–and a lot of it!–to purchase.
Frankly, neither does Universal Orlando! We’ve openly speculated for years that the only reason Universal still offers Unlimited Express Pass is due to a contractual agreement with Loews, which was necessary to get the hotelier on board.
I’ve finally received confirmation that this is, in fact, true. Universal isn’t including Express Pass with hotel stays because it makes any business sense or they’re generous–it’s due to Loews getting a sweetheart deal back in the 1990s when the theme park landscape was radically different.
This is also why Helios Grand Hotel–Universal’s new flagship resort overlooking Epic Universe–won’t offer Unlimited Express Pass at all to hotel guests. It’s also why the existing hotels won’t add Unlimited Express Pass for Epic Universe. The Loews contract is frozen in time, and subsequent hotels and parks are not subject to it.
The next distinction is cost. Regular Express Pass at Universal Orlando has a starting price that’s lower than the Animal Kingdom starting price, and a ceiling that’s over $150 less than the peak Magic Kingdom price.
This is another reason we’ve warned to ‘be careful what you wish for’ with this Express Pass competitor–because it would almost certainly cost significantly more than Universal’s counterpart. As should be clear by now from the endless parade of price increases, Walt Disney World has pricing power. Its demographics are also different than Universal.
Fans frequently blame one another for tolerating paying more and getting less at Walt Disney World, which is misplaced ire. This is actually attributable to first-timers and rite-of-passage tourists.
For the most part, it is not Annual Passholders or DVC members who are “causing” price increases or product offerings like this. C’mon, you really think the people who will wait in line 30 minutes for a “free” magnet or soda are the problem?! As the company itself has made clear, we are the “unfavorables” precisely because we spend less! Those are Disney’s words, not mine!!!
Free-spending first-timers pull out all of the stops for fear of missing out. They have FOMO or FUD and want to make sure their kids’ milestone vacation is as magical as the commercials. This demo almost certainly visits Walt Disney World at disproportionate levels as compared to Universal. I would be willing to bet that per guest spending is considerably higher at Disney than Universal.
The bottom line is that neither of these businesses set their price points as a courtesy to guests. They both charge what the market will bear. As we’ve also been saying for a while, enjoy this while it lasts, Universal diehards–your on-site hotels likely won’t be this underpriced for much longer! Universal didn’t spend billions on Epic Universe for local Annual Passholders–they got a taste of Disney’s demos with Wizarding World of Harry Potter, and want another bite of that with Nintendo!
The prices for Lightning Lane Premier Pass also shouldn’t be a surprise because we’ve (sort of) already been down this road before. Walt Disney World did something similar under the old FastPass+ system, allowing Club Level guests to purchase a ‘theme park extra’ package that primarily consisted of 3 extra FastPass+ selections for $50 per person, per day. That started in 2018 and ran through the closure of the parks in 2020. I thought that was crazy at the time–an insane cost for a system that could easily be ‘gamed’ with just a little effort.
I was wrong. (Well, not entirely–it was crazy to buy something you could get for free with a modicum of effort.) Club Level guests loved it–the bonus FastPass+ were insanely popular. Just ask a travel agent. Many had clients who otherwise would not have booked Club Level in the first place do so just to have access to the bonus FastPass+ selections. Meaning that their actual cost wasn’t $50 per person, per day–it was that plus the nightly upgrade to Club Level over cheaper accommodations they would’ve booked in the alternative!
If we’ve learned anything since ~2018-2020, it’s that there’s an insatiable market for exclusive Disney offerings. If such a “perk” on top of a freebie was $50 then, it could easily be triple or more that price now. Whatever you think is the “worth it” price for such a line-skipping product, the actual cost could almost certainly be higher. If you’re even thinking about value-for-money, you probably aren’t the demo for Lightning Lane Premier Pass!
This analysis of Lightning Lane Premier Pass all might sound overly blunt or cold and calculated. And I suppose it is.
But the reality is that I’m not saying this condescendingly as I laugh maniacally at the unwashed masses who cannot afford Lightning Lane Premier Pass. I’m not the target audience for LLPP, either! Heck, I’m not even the target audience for Lightning Lane Single Pass. (Fun fact: to this day, I have still never purchased an Individual Lightning Lane, Single Pass, or equivalent. And not just the Walt Disney World parks–any of them. It’s not that I can’t afford the $15-20 or whatever; it’s that I can’t justify it. I’d rather beat the system than be part of that particular “problem.”)
Look, I would love nothing more than for Lightning Lane Premier Pass to crash and burn. For Walt Disney World to finally push prices too high, and hit the ceiling. For this to end up being more trouble than it was worth for the company, and to learn a lesson as a result. Every time something pushes the envelope on prices, a part of me is hoping it’ll fail and we’ll see a reversal in these trends. I could go on and on, but you already know what I mean–I’d like for Disney to be humbled when it comes to pricing.
I completely “get” why there’s so much schadenfreude around Walt Disney World announcements like this. Given the guest unfriendly decisions, price increases and cost-cutting, it makes sense. But I also try to be level-headed and not pretend that what I want to happen is what I think actually will happen.
In this case, I have little doubt that Lightning Lane Premier Pass will be a huge success. I think it’s more likely that the service sells out with regularity, has even higher prices in 2025, or is further restricted (maybe to only Club Level guests?) than that it crashes and burns. I’d like to be wrong. Not because this particular product bothers me that much, but because I hate the general trajectory of things, and the way Walt Disney World is leaning more and more into creating an in-park class system. Sadly, I don’t think I’ll be wrong.
The bottom line is that there’s a huge market for a ‘hassle free’ Express Pass-esque alternative to Lightning Lane Multi Pass. The guests willing to purchase this will probably pay more than you think it’s worth because they’re probably not approaching it from a value-for-money perspective.
This is precisely why I’m not doing that analysis, either. I had two paragraphs about why this is a complete waste of money at Animal Kingdom when it costs $129 (and it is!) but decided to trash that since this post is already a novella and the target audience simply won’t care. That isn’t their calculus. I guess we shall see, though. Even if it’s not for me and I will never buy this, I’m curious to see how it plays out, the fan reaction (backlash?), and so forth!
The only other bad news–aside from, you know, this announcement as a whole–is that now I need to redo all of my Lightning Lane Multi-Pass field testing and strategy guides to account for how Lightning Lane Premier Pass alters the line-skipping capacity allocation. The good news is that few things bring me greater joy than “beating the system,” so expect to see plenty of that over the next few months and throughout 2025. Stay tuned!
Planning a Walt Disney World trip? Learn about hotels on our Walt Disney World Hotels Reviews page. For where to eat, read our Walt Disney World Restaurant Reviews. To save money on tickets or determine which type to buy, read our Tips for Saving Money on Walt Disney World Tickets post. Our What to Pack for Disney Trips post takes a unique look at clever items to take. For what to do and when to do it, our Walt Disney World Ride Guides will help. For comprehensive advice, the best place to start is our Walt Disney World Trip Planning Guide for everything you need to know!
YOUR THOUGHTS
What do you think about Lightning Lane Premier Pass? Thoughts on Walt Disney World’s “answer” to Universal’s Express Pass? Predictions as to how successful this line-skipping service will be? Under what, if any, scenarios would you buy Lightning Lane Premier Pass? Agree or disagree with our assessment? Other thoughts or concerns? 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!
Hi All,
I’m from the UK and generally don’t post on any sites, but this one I just had to throw my 10-pence into the ring.
First, let me say, that I have been lucky enough to get to WDW over the years with my wife and children and stayed in most of the WDW hotels, and to say it’s my happy place is not far from the mark, and my kids love it there, so it’s safe to say I’m a fan and have been for a lot of years.
That being said, the prices you guys have to pay when you live in the US are bad enough, but the costs people like myself have to pay with travel etc are astronomical now compared to even a few years ago.
When guests are travellers from Europe they tend to stay for 14 days or even longer, anything much shorter than that just wouldn’t make much financial sense, the upshot of that means we typically spend a lot of money when we are in WDW. But there just seem to be so many nickel-and-dime things going on now, which seems almost criminal seeing as how much money we all spend in the parks on food, gifts etc.
These new costs to get passes to get on rides seem almost too much to understand, and I have to think that Walt must be turning in his grave, looking at how his parks, which were meant for all families to enjoy, now can’t be enjoyed by so many due to the excessive costs and can seemingly only be properly enjoyed by the wealthy.
Gosh, I came at this from a totally different perspective, thinking ‘FINALLY I don’t have to put in so many hours of work before my vacation!’ I was sitting and thinking about how much I make an hour and how much research was required in order to get ahead and game the system, and…well, the LLPP is still too expensive, but it gets closer to breaking even that way. Not to mention it’ll cause a little bit less time spent on the phone during the vacation, too. Granted, it’s still out of my price range, and I’ve been to the parks too many times to really *need* to get on all the rides in a day. But if this was early in my Disney Discovery days, I’d have considered this a win honestly.
For me, the ease of use and the time saved that I can spend making more quality memories would have been worth saving up the extra $$ for each park. Not that I don’t enjoy knowing the ins and outs of everything Disney, but that’s also why I appreciate the chance to trade money for relaxation now and again. For that reason, I don’t really see it as exclusively a money grab – it’s exactly what I’d been wanting for a while. That said, the price…is a lot. It’s a lot. It *could* have been a little less and still been lucrative for them, and much more tempting for me…
Well I guess with all the DAS users out of the line, there’s more space for the people who are willing to pay $400 per person for access.
This was my thought as well. Initially I thought the DAS changes were related to LLMP/SP and the need for more capacity. But now I think that transition from Genie was a net-neutral but they needed the capacity for LLPP, that was evidently planned for some time. Not sure how else to interpret the moving pieces.
Can someone please tell me what is this Plaid that I keep reading about in the comments?
I was wondering, too
It’s a nickname for the cast member that leads a VIP tour based on the plaid vest they wear as part of their costume.
Oh, ok, thank you. I looked up those VIP tours. They charge anywhere from $450-$900/hour for a VIP tour dependingon the date/season, allowing up to ten people total including infants, plus you must pay the cost of the park admission for each park you visit during the tour for each person participating. Park admissions are not included in the tour. That’s quite pricey, even if you divided the cost amongst 10 people, especially once you add in the cost of Park admissions for 10 people during the tour. If you’re only a family of 4 it’s a lot of money per person per hour if you were booked on a high season date. Plus I’m sure a hefty tip is expected. If you wanted to do a few or all of the parks and stop for a meal(s), maybe stay for fireworks or Fantasmic I would think it could easily take 8 – 12 hours. That would be one expensive day. Another product targeted only for the rich obviously. It would be nice to be able to afford this I’m sure. Not in my budget. I doubt that there are enough of these tours going on everyday to impact the standby lines very much. The Premier Pass may be a different story.
Thank you for the information and my favorite part that I find even more useful, your commentary. Considering the recent changes to DAS and some legit disabilities (visible and invisible) being deferred to for return to queue (separating families from spending their day together) or outright being denied (aside from the abusers of the system), the timing of this new (cost-prohibitive for most) service screams bad optics and just poor taste.
My family of 4 are going to Disney for the first time in early Nov. and I’ve been following your posts diligently for the last year learning the system and getting lots of great advise. Thank you! We are splurging on a couple things (like LLMP for MK and Fantasmic! Dining Package) but trying not to break the bank. What’s sad to me is that it’s become so expensive, I can’t imagine ever coming a second time. And we’re staying at Art of Animation and not doing crazy expensive things like the desert party or dinner in the crystal palace. I’m glad we’re going and I’m really really excited that my kids get to experience it but we’re not ever doing this again. This sort of change makes that all the more clearer.
After 2019 the whole thing got flushed down the toilet. Was great back then and prior.
At the risk of sounding blase about all this, it sounds like it boils down to a pretty safe assumption and calculus here – if you can afford Deluxe/DVC, you can afford this. And based on history, it’s not a bad assumption. It’s like the Cleveland Browns – when people keep showing up to the game, management learns that the product on the field doesn’t matter.
And as far as “striking a balance” goes, I think that might be true at first, but I’m willing to bet by this time next year the LLMP/SP guide looks completely different than it does today. Given that profit maximization has always been the quiet goal, albeit the VERY LOUD goal since 2020, I don’t see why Disney wouldn’t tip the scales towards LLPP. The combination of the more people staying at Deluxe/DVC plus getting as many of them on LLPP as possible is the best possible profit maximization. Making it somewhat more painful/less value for people NOT at Deluxe/DVC is a feature, not a bug. If it forces them into the higher tier hotel/LL next time around, because Disney fans have demonstrated there’s ALWAYS a “next time around,” then Disney wins coming and going.
It’s just funny to me how far down the “undesirable guests” chain has gone. As a former AP, Disney made abundantly clear they neither wanted nor needed my money, and on the whole, they’ve been right – there’s always another sucker that will pay more for less. I didn’t expect the “undesirable” label to flow down to folks staying at non-Deluxe/SVC properties, but here we are. They’re betting on the first/one-timers or the FOMO buyers, and again, the parks haven’t lost money based on that assumption. Sucks to be anyone not in that category, but welcome to the Undesirable Club – we’ve got jackets.
I completely disagree. This is far more of a markup than staying deluxe especially when you figure the reason some do is the larger rooms end up being more worth it to larger families. The markup on this LLPP is far far above that. Families who save for deluxe won’t necessarily be able to also add this. Nor would I personally want to-there are far better bang for your buck options available-if I had an extra $2400 for 6 people laying around to add to one day of my trip I would easily be spending it at Victoria and Alberts btw not on line skipping
I can only imagine how hard it will be once this rolls out to get special tickets . After Hours and hard ticketed parties with unlimited rides will seem like a bargain and sell out faster than they do now.
Now we know Disney’s priorities. It’s not about families, it’s about elitist attitudes that are pervasive in society. If I ever hear Disney promote socialism again, I’ll call them out for the hypocrites they are. Up with the rich, screw the working class.
Totally agree with you John.
This would definitely be for people who are coming for a once in a lifetime trip either domestically or from another country who don’t want to do all the research to figure out WDW. We used the premier pass as a family in Disneyland Paris because we knew we only had two park days while visiting France. This is not for those of us who are AP’s or those of us who go frequently.
Tom I’ve always enjoy reading all of your articles and have looked to you for many valuable tips and information over the years. You’ve been a big help and I really appreciate your efforts. Thank you so much!
You’ve always given us really good advice. However, I have to tell you, we’ve tried your extra early early entry strategies to the parks a few times, getting there half an hour to an hour before early entry and trying to rush from ride to ride across the park and get a lot covered before the big crowds showed up and the long lines started and it is definitely doable, your strategies work, but we found them just a bit too hard on us, too early and too strenuous rushing from one attraction to another trying to get the most done, and that’s even when I was a younger adult with kids in tow. For one or two healthy young adults with a lot of determination and energy it might be easier, but for a family of four with young kids or an older person with any health issues who maybe can’t move so quickly, or teenagers who are night owls and just can’t get up that early every day, it’s too hard, it just doesn’t work for everybody. But for all of you out there who can handle it, kudos, more power to you!! I remember a time when the free fastpass system was offering us extra fastpasses for extra rides after our first fastpass was used and they were offering some decent options, like Rockin Rollercoaster or Tower of Terror or Space Mountain or Thunder Mountain or Kali River Rapids. Not just Monsters Laugh Floor or Star Tours or Frozen sing along. Now with the paid LLMPs I wasn’t able to get any decent ride offers after using one of our first 3 booked rides on our recent vacation. Maybe we just had bad timing or bad luck, but the paid LLMP turned out to be less useful/valuable than the free fastpass system used to be. That’s really sad. Because we’ve gone so many times and done all the rides and our kids are grown, a lot of the older/kiddie rides, like its a small world, are no longer of interest to us, and it’s become really hard to get onto our favorites. There’s no way we would ever book a deluxe resort and pay for Premier Passes. I can’t imagine how expensive a WDW vacation will be by the time they open their next set of planned new rides like Indiana Jones or Monsters Inc or Cars land or Villains land. As much as I’d like to check out those new attractions one day I’m afraid it just wont happen because we just won’t be able to justify the cost, especially after our poor experience at WDW this year that cost us so much money with all the raised prices and extra fees for less services and poorer quality overall. I’m afraid a lot of long time middle class customers who spent many past vacations at WDW are probably feeling the same way. I think about how much we enjoyed past WDW vacations, and it really makes me sad that WDW has changed so much so badly. Anyway, thanks again for all your help over the years.
I echo everything you wrote.
We don’t want to do rope drop. Everyone is grumpy and hangry, and I’m annoyed that my *vacation* requires a PhD and hundreds in upcharges to make it quote, unquote, easier to plan and navigate.
My husband uses a scooter and loves to sleep in on vacation. Shocking, I know.
The kids are tweens who are hustled in the early morning for school and summer camp every day. I think they deserve a slow roll into the parks.
I’m the mom doing everything to make it happen, and I don’t want to rush for my one week of vacation. It was bad enough to try to get virtual queues at 7 a.m.
We bought DVC because we DON’T want to HAVE to rush and plan, and we certainly don’t want to spend MORE money to ride the E-ticket rides and overinflated wait times for the middle-of-the-road rides that we enjoy — but not waiting in the broiling sun for 40 minutes.
No, we don’t have to buy this option, nor will we, but it’s discouraging that park hours keep getting squeezed shorter and shorter, ensuring the lines are always packed, making you feel like to maximize your vacation time, you better buy Genie+/ILL/LLPP/VIP tours/After-Hours tickets/overpriced holiday parties.
I guess the joke is on us as the idiots who keep coming and buying DVC, but we’re finding the resort experience is better than the parks. The only time we like to go to the parks is at night when it’s cooler and the crowds have thinned a bit. I don’t know what the tipping point will be, but it’s making me think I’d rather take my $8k vacation and do the DLP/Tokyo Disney bougie VIP options over there than drop the money domestically and branch out to other destinations.
Congratulations, Disney! You’ve turned off the DVC/deluxe demographic you’re supposedly trying to cater to. We’re not rich enough to afford this, and if we could afford these prices, I wouldn’t be spending the money at an amusement park. I’d be getting spa treatments at an all-inclusive and renting jet skis and parasailing with the kids in the Caribbean. Where’s the ROI for this price scheme?
“I’m annoyed that my *vacation* requires a PhD and hundreds in upcharges to make it quote, unquote, easier to plan and navigate”… “We’re not rich enough to afford this, and if we could afford these prices, I wouldn’t be spending the money at an amusement park.”
I couldn’t agree with this more. Tuesday morning, I booked my family’s flights and linked our tickets to MDE for our 9-night January trip, staying Deluxe. Had I not done so, this news very well may have made me cancel the trip entirely. To most anyone reading this, that probably sounds extreme, and maybe it is. I have been to WDW or Disneyland five times, about once or twice a decade, and have always had a great time. This will be my first trip with my own son, now 6, and I was really looking forward to finally getting to share in his experience of the parks. We have had to cancel booked trips twice in the last two years due to family emergencies, so I have literally been reading about and planning for this trip for years. The more I have read, though, the more I have come to feel that Disney World in its current incarnation probably just isn’t for me.
It is now so complicated that one really can’t go without extensive online preparation, which means being exposed to all of the latest changes and monetization schemes, and all of the various opinions on those changes and schemes. Not only is the planning itself exhausting (I’ve seen it compared to the Normandy invasion), but it’s also more than a bit …demoralizing. I am, to be honest, kind of dreading the whole thing. I know that I will never understand the reservation systems (both meal and ride) as well as a regular visitor, nor any of the other tips, tricks and shortcuts that Tom does a great job describing but are really best learned by doing. Now, I feel like a “bottom-tier” guest because I am not paying for a VIP tour or a dessert party or a premier pass, none of which I was previously aware of but all of which I now know about because they have made planning so difficult that online research is basically mandatory.
And because everything has now been so monetized, I find myself constantly having to decide “is X worth it? Or should I do Y?” to the point that I am now starting to look at the entire trip and think “is ANY of this worth it?” I have a rather sizable annual travel budget and we take 5 or 6 trips a year. I don’t mind paying for things where I find value, but if people are willing to pay an additional $1800 per day for a family of four on top of the admission price to wait in shorter lines and not have to use their phones (so, roughly my experience on my last visit a dozen years ago), how bad must the “regular” experience now be?
I have multiple family members who are long-time DVC and I was anticipating regular Disney trips as my son grew up, but the more I read about these upcharges and the number of people happily paying them while expressing to others who are less enchanted by them that the experience “just isn’t for them”, the more I think that they’re right, it’s just not for us.
I do still hope to be able to put all of this aside and show my family a great time, and I am so grateful for all of Tom’s valuable insights and those of the commenters on this site, but I love travel and I love planning and it is a real challenge to find things to love about this right now.
What strikes me as interesting is the difference in the demos for this and the Disneyland version. The first timers and right of passage families will definitely carry it at WDW. At Disneyland, you have FAR more locals with the means to buy LLPP in addition to free-spending tourists and no restrictions on their buying it except the price. WDW will likely be able to keep it running by making it exclusive to Deluxe Resorts, but I could see Disneyland’s system completely falling apart in short order. Especially with it being introduced at the height of Halloween crowds.
As someone who doesn’t buy any version of LL, I would love to see the system crash and burn here in CA and return to standby lines like during the re-opening period. I doubt that will happen, but I do have some hope this system will fail on the West Coast. Not due to lack of demand though, sadly.
I think there’s a typo. It says LL can be booked up to 21 days in advance. It’s still up to 7 for all methods, right? I’m not surprised by this new option or the pricing. We are out of state pass holders and DVC. We often buy single and multipass, well Genie+ before. We also usually stay at a Universal premier hotel for the unlimited Express Pass. We are going to Disney World during Xmas to say goodbye to some much loved attractions that are going away. I momentarily thought about it for MK on Xmas day. However, I am really thinking not. I would rather get the cheap one, probably buy 7 Dwarves and Tron, and ride the old rides that we love. We haven’t ridden Tiana yet, but if I can’t get the single pass, we will probably just pass.
Hey Sonia — it’s 7 days early from the first day of your trip, for trips up to 14 days. So 21 days before the last day of a 14-day trip.
Good luck with Tiana. We got the virtual queue group, still waited for over an hour with 3 grandchildren l, and had to exit at the loading area due to a breakdown. They gave us ONE Lightning Lane pass to use, isn’t our time worth more than ONE??? So frustrating!!!
You have to appreciate the evil genius behind this. They have slowly led us in a circle from free fast pass, which was once considered by some as elitist, to paid free fast pass. Now this latest option, which truly does create a caste system for rides is all about moving the needle on LLMP, LLSP and the Plaids. Where you might not have bought LLMP or LLSP before, when compared to LLPP now you’re saving big bucks. It makes spending on them look frugal. On the other side, if you’re traveling in a big group now the Plaids are the economical choice. But it won’t stop there. LLMP, LLSP, LLPP there’s another 23 letters left in the alphabet. LLKP (King Pass), LLCP (Celebrity Pass), LLIP (Infinity Pass), LLOP (Omnipotent Pass), etc.
You see where this is going right?
Ultimately ending with the LLFU.
You are spot on with all of this, and your LLFU is *chef’s kiss.*
I am disgusted by this announcement. I have accepted so much of their corporate greed and moved on, but when it’s another $1200 for my family of 3 to get onto the same old rides at Magic kingdom I draw the line. I hope this crashes and burns like the Starcruiser
Regarding the standby/LL capacity equilibrium, I would think instead of trying to add LL capacity to make more money and mess up whatever balance they think they have or want, they would just follow the demand side of the economic model and continue raising the prices (for those that can afford or or are willing to pay it) and leave the capacity the way it is. That seems the smarter way to go, as to not tick off the already ticked off regular standby guests, but then again how smart have they been lately?
This further convinces me that Disney no longer wants to attract the “undesirable” guests, and just wants the elite wealthy in their parks, AND that we made the right decision to not renew our annual passes. We can easily find better vacations with better value than at Disney. They don’t want us? Fine, we can make that happen.
Personally, I’m so glad that we did our main visiting in the 90’s & 00’s.
We travelled from over the pond with 5 children in tow, so money was tight and we managed just fine with the various guises of free fast passes.
As we rolled into the 10’s and we became children free, our visits took a different direction, and we had more disposable income but became aware that Disney had become all about squeezing every dollar possible out of us and prices kept rising faster than our wages and we begun to feel as if we weren’t important to Disney as we didn’t just chuck our money around with gay abandon.
We haven’t visited since 2020 and nothing that we see or hear about Disney’s current business strategy tempts us to part with our hard earned cash.
You’re an expert on this subject and thank you for providing information! I do have a few questions
when staying at a premier resort at universal, my family of five appreciated their pass and found the stay at a Premier Resort well worth it!
is Shades of Green considered eligible for this at Disney? I don’t believe it it that it is.
If pricing differs from park to park, subject to season, which Park do you believe offers the best value in terms of usage and cost?
Again, I appreciate all of the information that you provide! Good news or bad.