Unpaid Priority Pass Replacing Free FastPass at Tokyo Disneyland & DisneySea
Tokyo Disney Resort has announced that free FastPass is being permanently retired, but in a plot twist, it’s not being fully replaced by a completely paid alternative like Genie+ and Lightning Lanes. Instead, unpaid Priority Pass is being introduced. This post details the Tokyo Disneyland and DisneySea attractions that’ll offer free line-skipping again, plus our commentary, implications for Walt Disney World and Disneyland, and what to expect going forward.
Let’s start with the announcement from Oriental Land Company, the owner and operator of Tokyo Disney Resort. In commemoration of the Tokyo Disney Resort 40th Anniversary ‘Dream-Go-Round celebration, Priority Pass will soon become available for select experiences at Tokyo Disneyland and Tokyo DisneySea.
This service, available free of charge, will be introduced in Summer 2023 for a “limited period” and will allow 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 attraction from a designated line at a specified time and enjoy their selected experience with a reduced wait time. This service will provide options for how guests experience Tokyo Disneyland and DisneySea, 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 in Summer 2023. Below are the eligible attractions for the unpaid Priority Pass in each park:
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
In addition to this, Tokyo Disney Resort also has its own version of paid FastPass that launched a couple years ago. Here are the paid Premier Access attractions in each park, along with their per-ride costs:
Tokyo Disneyland
- Disney Harmony in Color Parade – 2,500 yen per access
- Tokyo Disneyland Electrical Parade Dreamlights – 2,500 yen per access
- Enchanted Tale of Beauty and the Beast – 2,000 yen per access
- The Happy Ride with Baymax – 1,500 yen per access
- Splash Mountain – 1,500 yen per access
Tokyo DisneySea
- Believe! Sea of Dreams Nighttime Spectacular – 2,500 yen per access
- Soaring: Fantastic Flight – 2,000 yen per access
- Toy Story Mania! – 2,000 yen per access
- Tower of Terror – 1,500 yen per access
- Journey to the Center of the Earth – 1,500 yen per access
Turning to commentary, the most interesting aspect of this news is that it’s happening at all. Obviously, this is not exactly the same as free FastPass returning in full, as the above free vs. paid line-skipping lists of approximately the same length demonstrate.
Nevertheless, Tokyo Disney Resort is returning to some form of free line-skipping, breaking ranks with every other Disney theme park on the planet. It’s the outlier there, and obviously the outlier in being the only one not fully or partially owned by the Walt Disney Company. While we still don’t know some of the specifics, it’s safe to assume it’ll work via the app in a similar way as before–but with a different name and presumably less frequency. (Also, paper FastPass appears to be gone for good.)
Also of interest is that the name FastPass is being retired. Our strong suspicion here is that this is a mandate from the Walt Disney Company. While the latter doesn’t own or operate Tokyo Disney Resort, it does own that mark and branding. Disney also has the ability to dictate certain operational policies and standards to ensure that the Japan parks are upholding the image and quality of the Disney name (ha).
For reasons that I’ll never understand, Disney made the brilliant decision to retire one of the most recognizable theme park brands of all time in FastPass. A term that had so thoroughly permeated the collective consciousness–even among non-fans–that it had become shorthand for fast lane, much like Kleenex or Band-Aid.
As you’re likely aware, Walt Disney World and Disneyland made the decision to replace that iconic branding with a system that mashes up characters from Aladdin and Cars. Franchises that go together like chocolate and onions. (There’s no shortage of ongoing criticism about the Genie system, but we really don’t talk about how utterly stupid and nonsensical the naming convention is.)
The next wrinkle of this news is that OLC is touting this as a “limited period” offering that starts in Summer 2023. With that said, they’re also advertising the full name as the “Tokyo Disney Resort 40th Anniversary Priority Pass.” Given that branding, it’s necessarily limited to the duration of the 40th Anniversary. It’d be odd for the 50th to roll around and Priority Pass still be referencing a milestone that happened a decade ago.
My expectation is that the intention is for Priority Pass to become permanent, but that OLC wants to give itself latitude in not using the system. It wouldn’t be the least bit surprising if Priority Pass is utilized during below-peak times of the year, but suspended at times when attendance soars. That’s because line-skipping services reduce park capacity–as we’ve discussed repeatedly elsewhere, they’re a form of virtual queue that effectively allow guests to be in two places at one time.
Continuing with guesses, my next one is that attractions from the Premier Access list above gradually move to the Priority Pass list. This might be bold and I very well could be wrong, as the Premier Access lineup has already expanded a couple of times in the last year or so. It started as only the headliners in each park, then added the new Tokyo DisneySea nighttime spectacular, then added more rides in both parks, and then added parades.
It’s a foregone conclusion that the attractions in Fantasy Springs at Tokyo DisneySea will join the Premier Access paid line-skipping lineup. Probably all of them, including the Pixie Hollow kiddie ride. There’s also the reality that OLC is attempting to reposition Tokyo Disney Resort as a bona fide destination for domestic and, to a lesser extent, international tourists.
A lot has been done post-reopening to cater to those guests instead of the diehard locals–but that was an inevitability even without the closure. Theme park operators don’t invest billions of dollars to continue catering to the same locals and diehard fans that would visit regardless. It’s the same playbook used by Disneyland for the last decade-plus…and it has produced only mixed results.
Point being, with this attempted transformation into more of a vacation destination for infrequent visitors, OLC has been attempting an increasing number of upcharges, enhancements, priority seating, and package offerings. The logical conclusion would thus be to expect more of this, not less of it, going forward–especially with Fantasy Springs as a blockbuster addition with tremendous drawing power.
However, OLC’s desire to transform the parks from a locals’ hangout to a bona fide tourist destination does not make it so. (Again, see Disneyland.) The Japanese are famously frugal and not free spenders like their western counterparts, which is why inflation has not been nearly as pronounced in Japan as other countries coming out of the pandemic…or even for the last two decades.
For this and other reasons, the Bank of Japan has taken a divergent approach to monetary policy…which is why the yen is weaker and Japan is such an attractive destination for international tourists right now. There are countless current and historical explanations as to why inflation is lower in Japan, which are quite fascinating but beyond the scope of this post. To that point, I’d highly recommend watching this video about “Japanification.” That covers why low inflation might sound great, but it’s not all rainbows and sunshine for the people of Japan.
In any case, Tokyo Disney Resort has benefitted from freer spending guests as a result of fiscal stimulus for domestic tourists, followed by an influx of international visitors who view everything in Japan as being “on sale” as a result of the weak yen. Just like at Walt Disney World and Disneyland, there’s also been pent-up demand driving spending–but that’s starting to cool faster than it did at the US parks.
Anecdotally, we’ve heard that paid Premier Access is not a straightforward add-on for a growing number of guests, but instead, comes at the expense of buying souvenirs, snacks, etc. In other words, that it’s not a new revenue stream that simply adds to per guest spending–Japanese guests go into the parks with a set budget and spend that amount one way or another. They don’t splurge or go into debt with impulse buys.
As pent-up demand slows and consumer sentiment sours, our expectation would be that further belt-tightening occurs and guest uptake of Premier Access for borderline attractions decreases. With a free alternative once again available, we’d expect more attractions (and probably entertainment) to be moved over to that bucket. That’s essentially our core thesis, and why we believe the current trend will reverse course even with Fantasy Springs opening. But that prediction could very well be wrong, especially if OLC sees success in attracting more tourists.
Ultimately, the return of free line-skipping at Tokyo Disneyland and DisneySea is very much a good thing, even if it’s only a small and (supposedly) limited time step in that direction. Although owned by a different company, this alone proves that paid line-skipping is not permanent damage that cannot be undone over the course of time.
With that said, we don’t want to give false hope that the same will happen anytime soon at Walt Disney World or Disneyland. For one thing, American consumers are fundamentally different and have a far higher tolerance for spending freely and taking on debt. And in fairness, household balance sheets in the United States also tend to look better.
Moreover, despite all the fears of recession and economic downturn, Americans feel good about their own finances. (Seriously, 73% of Americans feel good about their own financial circumstances…but only 18% feel that way about the national economy. Those numbers don’t quite add up!) This is important because, even as Walt Disney World is experiencing a summer slowdown, that’s more of a mild return to reality than it is the demand plummeting.
To that point, there’s also the reality that once the Walt Disney Company gets a taste of a new revenue stream, it’s very difficult to put the genie back in the bottle–both literally and figuratively. Many of the highly-touted 40% increases to per guest spending have been driven by ticket and resort price increases, and further fueled by monetizing FastPass. Even as CEO Bob Iger has made a lot of positive and guest-friendly changes upon returning, Genie+ has only gotten more expensive on average during that time. That trend is only likely to continue until guest spending and sentiment sour on the paid FastPass replacement.
At some point in the future, it is possible that Walt Disney World and Disneyland make a change like this. However, we’re probably talking years down the road. It’ll likely require a deep recession during which a majority of Americans feel negatively about their personal finances, Disney losing market share in a meaningful way, and needing to lure back disillusioned fans. Wishful thinking aside, the US parks aren’t even remotely near any of those points and, as such, the company has absolutely no incentive to bring back free FastPass and leave Lightning Lane revenue on the table.
Planning a trip to Tokyo Disney Resort? For comprehensive advice, the best place to start is our Tokyo Disneyland & DisneySea Trip Planning Guide! For more specifics, our TDR Hotel Rankings & Reviews page covers accommodations. Our Restaurant Reviews detail where to dine & snack. To save money on tickets or determine which type to buy, read our Tips for Saving Money post. Our What to Pack for Disney post takes a unique look at clever items to take. Venturing elsewhere in Japan? Consult our Ultimate Guide to Kyoto, Japan and City Guide to Tokyo, Japan.
YOUR THOUGHTS
What do you think of OLC introducing the Tokyo Disney Resort 40th Anniversary Priority Pass? Expect this to be expanded or become permanent over time? Think that Premier Access will reverse course, or is targeting higher and freer spending guests a viable plan in Japan? Do you agree or disagree with our assessment? Any questions? 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!
We were in Tokyo Disneyland and Disney Sea this week for the fourth time. Went on a weekday to try and avoid the worst of the lines.
Disneyland. Went on a Tuesday. Lines were probably the same length as pre-Covid, but moved much faster. Not many people were using Premier so I think this was making the other lines much faster. Most lines were less than 30 minutes all day long. The exception was ‘ Enchanted Tale of Beauty and the Beast’. This had an ‘emergency stop’ in the morning. Was soon back up and running but stayed as Premier only until 7:30pm.
Disney Sea. Went on a Thursday, quite busy. Sourin’ had about a 2.5 hour line, but came down to 60 minutes during the day. Most other lines were only about 40 minutes, though the app was showing the times as much longer. By about 7:00 most rides were walk on.
I think bringing in free Premier will definitely make the lines slower. They seem to be working much better without it.
As for masks, we never wore one for our 2 weeks in Japan. On the trains you could get in one car and everyone would be wearing masks, but other cars, no one would be wearing one, seems very much personal choice.
Stayed at the Hilton Tokyo Bay. Would definitely recommend this hotel. It’s only a 5 minute walk to the Bayside Disney monorail station (hotel even has a bus to/from bayside), or about a 25 minute walk to Disneyland entrance. Hotel has a shuttle to Maihama every 20 minutes.
Mark – we were there the same time as you! And we had just boarded Beauty and the Beast when it had the emergency stop – we got evacuated. (They gave us priority pass to ride later in the day.) Wednesday had much shorter lines than Tuesday, for whatever reason, in both parks.
We stayed across the street in the Grand Nikko hotel – also recommended. Same walk as the Hilton and it was nice. When we booked, prices for the Hilton were fairly high.
Thanks for the update on this Tom. We’ll be at TDR June 29 and 30 and we’ll see if this is up and running by then. We are all super excited about our first visit to Japan. It’s been years in the planning and all of your articles over the years here and Travel Caffeine have been a big help. Thank you!
Thanks, Tom! We are headed that way next month and I’m a bit frazzled trying to figure out the existing system (you can’t click through to see return times unless you are in the park)— and now it seems I may as well scrap it and start figuring out the new system.
I was hoping you have advice for the paid priority access for the nighttime shows. Candidly, we’ve had AWFUL experience with “Genie+” for parades at WDW and even paid dining parade packages at Disneyland weren’t always great. We have one shot at each nighttime spectacular and I am happy to pay for better seats—but wondering if they are actually any good— especially if we have a room overlooking the park Miracosta, are we better off trying to watch from the hotel? Assuming we pay for electrical parade, how early do we need to show up to get the best seats?
Thanks for any help Tom (or recent visitors) can provide.
Hey there! We went to TDR last month, so I’m happy to offer you some advice. We ended up not buying Premier Access for anything. We just grabbed a spot for Electrical Parade one hour before it started (in front of Haunted Mansion proved to be a good choice). It helps that everyone is sitting down during the parade, so you get a good view regardless of where you are. We watched ‘Believe! Sea of Dreams’ on two nights. The first time we were standing (you can’t sit down for this show since it’s on the water and you’re behind a fence) to the left of Fortress Explorations when you face the water. This way, you get the best view of the projections on MiraCosta, which are a very vital part of the show. For this reason and many others, I would advice against watching the show from your hotel room – you’d miss a great deal of it, not to mention you’d be very far from the characters. On the other night, we watched from Mediterranean Harbor, on the walkway leading up the Rimembranze Bridge. This gave us the chance to get a very good view of the characters and their facial expressions, although we had to look behind us a few times to see the projections on MiraCosta. This is a very popular show, so grabbing a spot one hour before it starts is a must. Have a great time!!
We are headed ther next week and there’s a notice on the mobile app that the system is down the early morning hours of June 12… I wonder if it’s to get ready for Premier Access? Excited to hear of this change and hope it makes its way over to Anaheim….
Interesting news. Though we made good use of FP o er the years, we have enjoyed DLP and TDL without them. One thing that was njce is that even when average wait times are over am hour, the parks feel free to walk around in. You aren’t shuffling along in a crowd dodging strollers but can stroll and enjoy the ambiance.
Hi Tom,
Thanks again for your assistance in making multiple trips to Disney seamless, efficient, enjoyable, and with less stress. speaking of stress-I’m going to Tokyo Disney and DisneySea June 10th to the 14th.
Using your help, I had planned a loose itinerary of rides for all four days with time to experience the parks. With this new information how passes will operate, I have no idea how to plan anymore. Is there going to be a two hour rule, what would be a smart revision to the order of rides? etc. any advice on what strategy can be used using the new system?
Thanks!!!
Kevin
I meant we will be there July 10-14
We were at Tokyo Disneyland May 30th and Disney Sea May 31st. It was our first trip so I have nothing to compare it to–but it definitely “felt” to me as though it was somewhat close to fully opened as far as rides and restaurants?? (There were some food carts that were not open, but I feel like I have seen that at Disney World once in awhile over the years). I can’t really speak to the entertainment because that isn’t something we were seeking out, but the nighttime entertainment at Disney Sea was great! Again, really hard for me to say overall since we had not been there before. I visited Disney World in May of 2021 and that for sure felt different!!!
I would say 50% of the people there were masked at most. Definitely saw many unmasked cast members. I never wore a mask the entire time I was in Japan and I never felt out of place. And I definitely would have worn one, and was prepared to do so, if I felt I was making anyone uncomfortable. There were many foreign tourists everywhere we were so that probably factored in. We did pay the fee to skip the lines for Soaring and it was worth it to me considering the one day ticket price was so reasonable. I can’t describe what it was like to ride it in Japan–so cool! It was a great trip—we enjoyed every minute of it! The Japanese people were wonderful!
What is on the list of revenue streams the Walt Disney company has given up? The only thing that comes to mind is undoing the parking charge at WDW recently?
I’ve seen the term “Lightning Lane” thousands of times and this article was the first time I considered it being named after Lightning McQueen (I’d previously assumed it was a nod to the Six Flags “flash pass”). That makes the “Genie” naming convention that much dumber.
On a more pertinent note, I considered our first Japan trip this spring but didn’t pull the trigger when I could have gotten cheap airfares (and then they skyrocketed). Not sure yet about next spring, but it’s in consideration. I’m frugal but on a once-in-a-lifetime trip with limited time in the parks I’d surely be willing to splurge on line-skipping. My bigger question is how EASY will it be for English speakers to navigate the Priority Pass process? From what I’d gathered, obtaining and using Premier Access was fairly onerous for non-Japanese speakers. Will this now be two competing systems or will they be synthesized/consolidated? And do they even WANT foreign guests to use them? (Making them tough for tourists kind of creates a “locals’ perk”, no?)
We bought Premier Access for the TDS nighttime spectacular last fall, and it was easy. The only difficult we had was with tickets (see: https://www.disneytouristblog.com/discount-tickets-tokyo-disneyland/), but everything upon arrival was much simpler.
With that said, OLC definitely put up needless and seemingly purposeful barriers for non-Japanese guests to visit in the last couple of years, which was a big shift as compared to pre-closure as they were gearing up for the Olympics. (That doesn’t make TDR locals’ parks any more than WDW not having Japanese signage makes them locals’ parks; in both cases, the overwhelming majority of tourists are domestic ones.)
Thanks Tom; really appreciate the international park coverage – especially TDR.
Would be interested to get an update from you regarding TDR’s glacially-paced return to “normal”. Any significant progress over the past couple of months? We can’t wait to get back!
We opted to err on the side of caution and cancel our Japan trip this year once we found out Sarah is pregnant, so we don’t have any firsthand knowledge.
The big changes are the removal of plexiglass barriers at restaurants and dropping of mask rules. In talking to friends who visited for the 40th, mask-wearing was far less ubiquitous than even a few months ago–even among Cast Members. It’s still a majority of guests, but you won’t feel out of place if going mask-less, apparently. (Hopefully others with actual first-hand experience will chime in about other changes or confirm/deny those ones.) Still a lot of shuttered shops and snack stands per the website, though, and entertainment isn’t back to normal.
I was just there a few weeks ago in May and the mask wearing has dramatically changed. I’d even dare to say that the mask wearers outdoors might be a minority now, which may not feel like a big deal, but was utterly shocking by comparison to my September and November visits last year. Even indoors, there were far more locals without masks than I expected. I absolutely would agree that maskless doesn’t feel out of place anymore.
I can confirm went there on the week of the 22nd through 26th and was in Japan from the 7th May. No one will look at you funny for not wearing a mask. As weeks went on it was less and less people wearing masks. It felt like more people were wearing masks in Tokyo Disneyland then In Disneysea but that might be my own opinion as I got a younger and hipper vibe from Disneysea if thats a thing.
Overall it was very friendly. The restaurants were almost all open as were the shops. However the shops feel emptier on an ammount of items they sell basis. This might be covid or just to deal with the crowds on busy days or maybe just Japanese culture im not sure on that one.
Premier access was very easy to buy but I would advise you to print your tickets as well as having electronic ones so you can scan them as you have to scan them in park. Id also buy them through an official sales website instead of the Tokyo Disney site itself as that website seems to have problems taking payments (I have an international card that works everywhere except that website.)
Oh and other than going on a weekday and not during the peek times- my experience was that rain will wash everyone out of the park to an even greater extent then the US parks. I was no waiting or 10 minute waiting big thunder mountain and several of the major drak rides in the middle of the day. Only the big paid E tickets were with any sort of line. Was one of those magical days where I had a coat and did almost everything even with going back to the Hilton for a few hours out of it(thanks Tom great hotel reccomend it highly).
I would love to see Disney World and Disneyland move to a free “FastPass” system where you have to be in the park to book the ride and you can book only one ride at a time. This system would force guests to allocate their time. It has always made poor business sense to me why Disney wants its guests who are paying thousands of dollars to visit the parks to spend most of their day standing in line. Not everyone can afford or is willing to purchase Genie+ and the ILLS. Many of these guests will simply never return to Disney. We use the DAS, and we regularly spend our waiting time in the stores or in the lounges having food and drinks. We spend hundreds of dollars each visit because of the DAS. Without the DAS, we would quit going to Disney because we are older and physically can no longer tolerate standing more than a few minutes in one place.
“Not everyone can afford or is willing to purchase Genie+ and the ILLS.”
Respectfully, doesn’t this work against the point you’re trying to make? If someone cannot afford Genie+, where is the money to buy extra food/souvenirs while waiting in a virtual line going to come from?
those skip the line prices are “eek” – 2500 yen is around £14 and i was paying that for a whole days Genie plus at WDW back in January. (didn’t pay for ILL though so i suppose comparable to that)
part of me would just prefer say an extra £50 on the ticket (a VIP ticket) to save having to make that decision about the value of every single premier ride – too much decision making to do – just make it an overall price and I’d be happy (even if actually i’d probably only pay for 2 if done seperately)