NEW Lightning Lane Premier Pass Rumored!
There’s a rumor circulating that a new Lightning Lane line-skipping service is coming to Walt Disney World and/or Disneyland. Yes, another one. This post shares details of the app appearance, along with our extensive commentary about possibilities for what the next paid FastPass could offer, and why we think Disney’s twist on Express Pass is the most likely candidate (along with predicted pricing and eligibility).
Let’s start with being very clear: this is purely a rumor based on functionality in the Disneyland app. It’s often the case that features are tested–and come to light in exactly this manner–before being fully rolled out for the general public. It’s also often the case that things are toyed with that never see the light of day.
Meaning the approximate timeline for a Lightning Lane Premier Pass announcement is as early as tomorrow or as late as never. We could know all of the specifics by August 23, or this could be a distant memory that’s long forgotten by 2025. Accordingly, if you only want “official” news and not wild speculation, you might want to skip this post and wait a few days or weeks.
We also are pretty confident that this is not a replacement for Lightning Lane Multi Pass (LLMP) or Single Pass (SP). Although there has been some backlash towards these new systems, that’s always the case with major changes at Walt Disney World and Disneyland that create new categories of winners and losers.
It’s our understanding that Disney is pleased with the new system and it seems to be going well despite some hiccups. Even if that weren’t the case, another major overhaul would not be possible so soon. It wouldn’t happen until 2026 or later. Regardless, there’s absolutely no reason to believe that’s what this is.
As for the substance of the rumor, ThemeParkIQ is reporting on social media that they spotted functionality that Disney recently pushed in an update to the Disneyland app to include a new “Lightning Lane Premier Pass.” Disney has removed this already.
ThemeParkIQ also shared this: “It looks like you will be able to pre-purchase Lightning Lane in advance and book ahead of time similar to Walt Disney World. This may come at an added cost.”
I don’t know what their basis is for drawing this conclusion, but it’s worth noting that this account is a great resource and often spots changes in the Disneyland app before they’re rolled out. I use their website for perusing menu changes at Disneyland before they’re officially announced–but I know they have a bunch of other features.
Here’s the graphic that ThemeParkIQ shared from the app:
Another thing that’s worth noting before we dig into the commentary is that ‘Premier’ is already used in branding for all of the international parks. Curiously, what it means or offers differs at all of them.
Shanghai Disneyland, Hong Kong Disneyland, and Disneyland Paris all have skip-the-line services that that are effectively bundles. Guests can buy a set of attractions–or all of them–for a set price. These are more expensive, on average, than what the domestic parks charge for Lightning Lane Multi Pass. Accordingly, Premier Pass could be a package similar to one of those.
Meanwhile, Tokyo Disney Resort uses the name Premier Access to refer to what is known as Lightning Lane Single Pass in the domestic parks. The Japan parks also still offer free FastPass, albeit by a different name–Priority Pass. Finally, TDR now offers vacation packages and ticket types that offer what’s essentially akin to Universal’s Unlimited Express Pass. (As a reminder, TDR is not owned by Disney, so it kinda does its own thing.)
To further confuse things, the Premier Pass is a coast-to-coast Annual Pass for Walt Disney World and Disneyland. It was once sold to the general public, but has only been available to Club 33 members and Golden Oak residents (and perhaps other VIPs?) since 2020. So who knows…maybe this is a Lightning Lane for the turnstiles at both Walt Disney World and Disneyland?!
Turning to commentary, there are a couple of realistic possibilities for what Lightning Lane Premier Pass could offer. The simplest and most straightforward explanation is that this is pre-arrival ride reservations coming to Disneyland. For those who aren’t aware, when Genie+ was retired and replaced by Lightning Lane Multi Pass, it occurred in name only at Disneyland Resort.
This is to say that the system was totally overhauled at Walt Disney World, with the introduction of a new system that looks strikingly similar to FastPass+, but paid. (I’d argue that LLMP has more in common with FP+ than it does Genie+, minus the whole money thing. Minor detail.) By contrast, it was a change in name only at Disneyland. It was done for the sake of continuity between the coasts and because the Genie brand had become so toxic.
In any case, this has created a larger product gap between Walt Disney World and Disneyland. You thus might be inclined to draw the reasonable conclusion that Disney is going to fill that by offering pre-arrival Lightning Lanes at Disneyland. This makes some degree of sense. Due to different demographics, it makes sense for Disneyland to stick (mostly) to same-day bookings. But many planners prefer advance selections, and this could be a product offering targeted at those (on average) bigger spenders. It makes sense!
However, I’m skeptical of this possibility. For one thing, I think offering two substantively-identical products but with different names would create consumer confusion. You could argue that this has already happened by virtue of Lightning Lane Multi Pass being different on the two coasts. But introducing yet another product that does the same thing would only further muddy the waters and complicate matters.
Then there’s the fact that this is in the Disneyland app. If this were in My Disney Experience (and only MDX) my take on it might be different. But everything I’ve heard over the years suggests that Disneyland was a “reluctant” participant in the whole Genie debacle, and it was an initiative pushed from on high for both coasts. That Disneyland wanted to stick with MaxPass, but it wasn’t their call.
Even in the absence of such rumors, you’re probably aware that Disneyland is the more laid back resort. Disneyland is not nearly as keen on pushing upcharges or making things complicated for guests. The California parks have gotten worse about this since 2021, but still nothing like Walt Disney World. So it’s difficult for me to imagine a Disneyland-exclusive initiative that makes ride reservations even more complex than at Walt Disney World. It’s just not happening.
There’s also the matter of incentives. What benefit is there to Disney in creating a new pre-arrival system for Disneyland and then, presumably, selling it for the exact same price as Lightning Lane Multi Pass? That’s presumably what would happen if this were Walt Disney World’s version of LLMP by a different name.
So now suddenly Disneyland has two systems to juggle, priced at or about the same amount that cause greater consumer confusion. And for what? Does anyone realistically believe that this would increase sales to enough of a degree for it to offset the added costs? It wouldn’t.
There is not a huge untapped market of guests who are on the sidelines, skipping Lightning Lane Multi Pass at Disneyland because it doesn’t have a pre-arrival component. (Beyond all of the above, the same day system works much better at Disneyland.) The market for this product simply does not exist at scale sufficient to justify its costs. I’m pretty confident it isn’t happening.
Which brings us to the second possibility for Lightning Lane Premier Pass: that it’s more like 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.
My guess is that if Disney is introducing yet another line-skipping product, it’s essentially this–a “competitor” to Universal’s Express Pass. There would be sufficient product differentiation between Lightning Lane Multi Pass and this, and it would actually be viable. It probably also wouldn’t just be at Disneyland.
Before anyone even thinks about going there, Lightning Lane Premier Pass would not be included in select resort stays as its counterpart is at Universal Orlando. C’mon! They don’t even give away Lightning Lane Multi Pass to on-site guests…why on earth would they give away the higher end product?!
With that said, it would not surprise me in the least if there is a hotel component to this. By that, I mean that it’s only available for select guests to purchase in the first place. This would actually make a lot of sense, as it would significantly limit the guest pool for a product that might otherwise be very popular–even at an extremely high price. It would also function as a “perk” of sorts, incentivizing higher-end hotel stays among “whales” who might otherwise stay in off-site luxury accommodations.
This isn’t a hugely bold prediction. Walt Disney World already did this 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 will almost certainly be higher. Such a service would easily have a 8x multiplier on the cost of Lightning Lane Multi Pass. Maybe even 10x or more.
The bottom line is that there’s a bigger market for a ‘hassle free’ Express Pass-esque alternative to Lightning Lane Multi Pass and the guests willing to purchase this will probably pay more than you think it’s worth. If you already scoff at paying for FastPasses that used to be free, you aren’t the target audience. And that’s not a value judgment–I’m not, either!
However, there’s also an internal desire 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. From what we’ve heard, Disney has been trying to thread the needle with all of the queueing and capacity changes over the last few months. It’s an unenviable task and no-win proposition that’s resulted in a good amount of backlash, but that’s the intent.
If my guesses about Lightning Lane Premier Pass are correct, this possible system may seem at odds with that. After all, this is pay to play taken to the extreme, aimed at the most affluent of guests. But this is precisely why I suspect this product offering will be limited to Club Level guests (or maybe Deluxe/Villa guests if forward occupancy projections really are as rough as I’ve heard). I’d be absolutely shocked if someone staying at the All Stars or off-site is able to purchase this.
That might also explain why it’s appearing in the Disneyland app first. Given that there are only three hotels there and they’re all fairly expensive, it might be easier to test Lightning Lane Premier Pass at Disneyland first before rolling it out at Walt Disney World.
Or, it’s possible that it’ll be rolled out simultaneously and it just wasn’t spotted in MDX. I can’t imagine Disneyland wants to be the test ground for this–and it also might be better to rip the band aid off all at once instead of letting a new system that will revive “Disney only cares about the rich!” headlines have two news cycles.
Ultimately, that’s a rundown of what has been rumored so far, possibilities as to what it could be, and what I think Lightning Lane Premier Pass actually is. A couple of additional shot-in-the-dark guesses I’d offer are that it’ll have starting prices over double those of Express Pass at Universal (I’d be surprised to see this cost less than $200 per person) and that there will not be an ‘unlimited’ option (meaning it’ll be one line-skipping entitlement per attraction). Again, complete guesses on all of this–I have zero inside information.
I also suspect Disney won’t want to disturb that ‘delicate balance’ in queue capacity allocation by offering Lightning Lane Premier Pass at an unlimited level (even if they could easily sell it for $1,000 per person, per day). Perhaps more importantly, they won’t want to cannibalize VIP tour sales. The goal will to be slot this in between existing product offerings, not compete with them.
Finally, I could also see this not coming to fruition at all. That Disney is toying with the idea but will get cold feet, fearing a negative PR cycle and backlash. There have been rumors of such a system for years, and they’ve never quite happened for this reason or that. I could see this falling through yet again, especially given all of the recent negative headlines and attention Disney has garnered. It might make sense to kick the can down the road yet again, wanting for a more opportune time. Or maybe they think that time is now, and the vibe is positive post-D23? I don’t really know…but I’d never bet against Disney’s appetite for more revenue!
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YOUR THOUGHTS
What do you think about the rumored Lightning Lane Premier Pass? Will this actually come to fruition, or is it another test that’ll lead to nothing? Predictions as to what LLPP will entail? Will it simply be Disneyland’s version of pre-booking or will it be Disney’s version of Express Pass? Guesses as to what it’ll cost or who will be eligible to purchase? 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!
Lightning Lane has become a scam with artificial standby line times to frighten the customers into paying. I have never paid for it last summer when visiting Disneyland since they offered SoCal discounts. That tells you the parks aren’t selling out. So with all that extra capacity with lower crowds, why not offer another line cutting scheme? They will cash out.
We went to Disneyland in 2022. We waited in line at the Monsters Inc ride for 2 hours. It inched along as the LL guests kept passing us by. It was enough to make you get out of line and walk out of the park. Next time I am in LA, I am going to Universal or Knott’s Berry farm.
i would have given serious thought to purchasing MaxPass if things hadn’t changed, because there was still a free component offered. but since they took away all the free options with no replacements, i’m not paying anything extra.
speaking of bad news lately, would you be interested in adding commentary on the recent raglan road/disney+ story? i know it’s only tangentially related to the trip planning nature of this blog, but also in the venn diagram of disney parks experts and people with law experience, you’re the one who comes to mind as uniquely capable of explaining the whole thing.
I think you’re on the money that it’s going to be limited to club-level Disney hotel guests, and I think the sky’s the limit in terms of price. They know how much people are willing to pay for VIP tours, and they probably also know that 90% of those people are not booking them for the Disney history; they’re doing it to cut the lines. If VIP tours max out around $8000+ for 10 people and a full day, I’d say that gives a value of $500-$800+/person/day for this pass. There are a lot of wealthy people who will pay anything for a hassle-free vacation, but the VIP tours just aren’t a good fit – need to go back to the hotel midday for naps, only 2-4 people, etc.
If Disney wants to minimize backlash, they should make it available for “free” as part of a special package attached to a subset of club-level guest rooms. Create a “magic” package with a couple of additional goodies thrown in like a free balloon on check-in, breakfast buffet, etc. to hide the actual upcharge for the express passes, and then charge $1000-$3000/night more for those rooms vs. the regular club rooms. And if there’s still excess demand, raise the prices even more. If Disney’s hotel bookings are soft, which it sounds like they are, it’s a great way to get the customers who would otherwise stay at the 4 Seasons or who just go somewhere else on vacation because Disney’s too much work. And making it a true premium product like the VIP tours will mean that it doesn’t affect the regular LL and standby lines too much.
And I agree – they don’t need to have it be truly unlimited rides. Each attraction once/day is still a huge value-add for people.
Your thought process here is great–and a savvy approach for Disney to minimize backlash!
Still, I wonder whether this would do enough to move the needle on occupancy if that’s part of the intent (and I really think it is at least a contributing factor). It’s a delicate needle to thread, and Disney won’t want to scare away too many guests. Packages for $1-3k per night might result in some sticker shock. Or maybe not–it might be exactly the right amount.
I dunno, maybe I’m just biased towards the Club Level paid FastPass+ playbook since they’ve already done that–and history has already been repeating itself a lot this year with Disney’s strategies.
By the way, I’m not saying this is what they should do from a moral perspective, just what makes sense from a business perspective. They’ve been thinking about how to squeeze out every last penny for decades now – still can’t believe how cheap the tissue and toilet paper is at their hotels. Worse than any office building!
Why not tier out as a perk for resort guests?
-Include Lightning Lane Multipass for Deluxe resort guests
-Then maybe a choice of single pass and discount for Multipass for Moderate guests.
– and still offer the rumored Unlimited Multipass as alternative to VIP tours.
I heard LLMP availability at Disneyland hasn’t been quite as good since the rebrand a few weeks ago. Coincidence?
That is correct. Both coasts have, actually. That throttling makes a lot more sense if this was the plan all along!
Not that I completely trust their algorithm to get it right, but I don’t think an Express Pass-style add on would hurt the queue all that much. My guess is that it’ll just mean fewer slots available for the normal LLMPs earlier in the day until the burn rate for the Premier is registered per ride. Or, at least, fewer LLMP on the most popular stuff early – figure if I’ve got a Premier, I’m going to attack all the major stuff first since I just can. So you’ll get a PP burn through those early, and shifted MPs to the afternoon for most, with refills occurring as the PP usage rate/ride increases.
Yeah, I know, Disney IT doesn’t exactly have the track record for me to believe that’ll work flawlessly, but is the right way to maximize revenue on both the PP and the MP sides. You’d probably incentivize some of the regular MP users to upgrade to PP if they’re frustrated with only post-noon slots being available, etc.
I’m inclined to agree with this analysis, with the same caveat that anything is possible with Disney IT. But I think you have the correct idea/line of thinking.
The difference between what you have proposed at Disney and Universal’s Express Pass is that at Universal, the only options are express pass or standby. If Disney is going to keep LLMP, which seems like a certainty, I actually think they have to keep the price lower than the Universal alternative (or equal) to get a big enough audience who could alternatively choose LLMP. In other words, the difference in value between LLMP and LLPP is smaller than the difference between Express Pass and standby at Universal, so I suspect Disney cannot charge the same cost jump without having a lot of people jump ship back to LLMP. For example, my family of 4 went to Universal this past Spring Break and Express Pass was a must for us (via Deluxe hotel stay), since the alternative of standby lines during Spring Break was, for us, untenable. However, for a similar trip to Disney World, if for example the price was$200/day/person for LLPP vs. $30/day/person for LLMP, I would go with LLMP, because the LLMP gives us enough to have a good trip without the crazy cost. If I was chooising between a $200/person/day LLPP and standby, I suspect I would choose LLPP (or at least, a whole lot more people would). Maybe there are enough people that still will take it to warrant a high price for LLP, but that would be my economic take if I were Disney and setting pricing.
My guess is that Disney would view this as a much more niche product than LLMP. That it slots in above VIP tours in terms of uptake, but still way, way below LLMP.
I doubt they would want many/most people to choose LLPP, which is precisely why I also think it gets walled behind Club Level in the first place.
Call me cheap. Call me old school. But would like to see line skipping gone. Just run an efficient regular line. 100% equitable. No 40 skippers to 10 standby (as observed Aug 9-17) during my last WDW vacation. No tech to deal with. Sometimes simple is best. I get it’s a revenue source and people are willing to pay any amount to skip the line. But one can dream. This is not a complaint, just a wish. I am an AP Holder, DVC Member and live 1,500 miles from WDW but do at least two park visits/year.
Yet another scam to prize another dollar out of us, it’s the companies failure to provide enough infrastructure to allow guests to enjoy the park as it should be. As for changing DAS & offering genie as an accommodation to ride & also saying to parents to leave minors alone in the queue it’s disgusting as for denying disabled people & veteran’s accommodations unless they pay & all the company does is send out generic emails.
I will be in Disneyland this September, staying at a Disneyland Hotel Villa, and I am the target audience – i.e., happy to pay $200 per day if it was the “unlimited” version like Universal. Call me Disney – I’ll test it for you! LOL.
Joking aside, I would LOVE a product like this, but would likely use it to spend fewer days per trip. If I could spend two awesome days doing all the rides with super minimal waits, I’d rather pay for that than 4 days in the park. When I first started enjoying Disney trips, the “strategy” was part of the fun, and I was pretty successful, but I’ve been going for 10+ years, and I’m kind of over having to zig, zag, refresh an app, and arrive at 6:45 am all to avoid 45-minute waits in hot, crowded lines.
What would you be willing to pay, or would you purchase it at all, if it were *not* the unlimited version?
I think your second point–an unlimited service allowing you to use it fewer days per trip (or shorten your trip)–also helps explain why they probably won’t opt for an unlimited version.
If they come out with this new pass I know I wont be one of Disneys target customers for this. We don’t go as much as we used to now, but for many years we used to have a yearly WDW resort vacation staying at All Stars/Pop Century Resorts for anywhere from a week to 10 days. We’d usually buy in advance a 1 day 2 park, park to park tickets with the regular express pass and then We’d take one day of our vacation and cab over from WDW to Universal Parks and spend a whole one day there riding all the rides we wanted to one time with the express pass, doing both parks in one day, and then we were done with it, we didn’t need anything more than that from Universal and it was worth the extra cost to get it all done in one day!! But, I wouldn’t pay 2 or 3 times the price for an express pass, and I wouldn’t pay for a deluxe resort or club level to get an express pass. I won’t wait in line for an hour or more to go on a ride either, I’d rather skip it. I’ll try out the LLMP and ILLs on our upcoming WDW resort vacation but it seems more and more like we’re getting priced out of WDW vacations and the value just isn’t there anymore. Plus, the thought of dealing with insane lines and crowds make a WDW vacation just seem less and less enjoyable. I’m afraid my future grandchildren will never get to visit WDW the way prices keep rising. I used to recommend Disney vacations years ago, but now I no longer recommend WDW resort/Disney Parks to friends, family, or acquaintances.
Good point, makes sense that it won’t be unlimited, although that’s the main feature I want. That’s what I miss most from the Fast Pass / Max Pass days, the ability to refresh a bunch and get another pass for Big Thunder or other favorites. My non-mathematically inclined brain doesn’t understand why that worked with the free version, but they can’t offer that with the paid? I intensely dislike lines (claustrophobia) so almost never choose stand-by except at rope drop or closing time.
To answer the question though, I’d probably pay ~$150 per person to have a no-reservation, but NOT unlimited version of Lighting Lane. I don’t think I’d pay $200+ per day however and I have a small family of 3. The value just isn’t there for me if I can only do each ride one time.
I can see it as a perk to offer to DVC members who bought directly from Disney and not a resale purchase. Everyone who buys resale says the perks of buying from Disney directly don’t begin to cover the difference between direct and resale prices.
I can’t believe we have normalized paying exorbitant ticket prices to get into a park that won’t let you ride unless you pay more. Can you hear yourselves? This is insane
Over 90% of the time that we go to the parks, we do not purchase Lightning Lanes. Other strategies still work, line-skipping is not mandatory. (If it were, it wouldn’t actually be line-skipping…it would just be the new line.)
My guess is they want something in place to draw and manage crowds before LA Olympics 2028
My bet is that, like the Paris Summer Olympics, other tourist destinations in Southern California won’t be as busy during the Los Angeles Summer Olympics in 2028. I’d love to be wrong about that, but I think the value in the Olympics is the longer-tail marketing. People watch on TV and book trips in 2029, 2030, etc. as a result of the Games, but are less likely to visit *during* them.
My family went to Disneyland during the LA Olympics in 1984. I also had a boss that went. It was bonkers! They could only get on a few rides a day. Dining was near impossible. Huge lines for the bathroom. Both saw many Olympians and got some autographs which was great. Traffic was absolutely horrendous. Worse than normal LA traffic. And this was all in 1984. We live in northern CA and driving there is not an issue. It’s not an issue for many close states to get to CA easily. I think, at least in 1984, people were going to the games and decided to go to Disneyland also. Possibly caught Disneyland off guard. If people were able to get tickets to say to the opening ceremony and gymnastics but nothing else, there could be a day or two with nothing to do and they took a whole week off for vacation. So, why not go to Disneyland in between? It will be interesting to see in 2028.
I don’t believe that Disney will ever offer an unlimited option at WDW. The E-Ticket rides that everyone would want to ride are too spaced out between the four parks. People would keep riding the same ride all day long, making the standby lines for these rides unreasonable for most guests. If Disney does offer the equivalent of the Universal Express Pass, they will need to price it high enough and offer it to only a select number of guests to ensure that this option is purchased by a limited number of guests. You may be correct about the Club level, but it would also likely need to be offered only to guests who purchase non-discounted vacation packages that include a minimum hotel stay. (It would not automatically be offered to DVC members.) The other item Disney will need to address at some point is that Universal offers free Express Pass After 4 to its Premier Passholders. (Passholders are for the most part not the target audience for Universal’s Express Pass.) This benefit is huge to us since we rarely go to any of the parks before 3 p.m.
I agree with all of this except the last part–there’s no way Walt Disney World offers an afternoon/evening Lightning Lane option for APs. In fact, I think it’s much more likely that Universal drops it than Disney adds it.
Yes, please!! Universal’s express passes and the techless experience of using them is far superior to what we have to do for “skip the line” at Disney!
I would go for an after hours event over buying a day ticket plus $200 for a premier pass. At Hollywood studios we did after hours and all rides except for Slinky were walk ons. I think we waited 15 mins for Slinky. Easily did everything (and some rides 2X) from 7:00pm-12:30am. I think I paid $165 per ticket. Plus all snacks are included. Other easy ways to get short lines would be just go shoulder season for shorter lines or literally go on a rainy day. I am a big spender when it comes to Disney. We do parties, after hours, stay deluxe, and table service each day, and basically don’t have a budget but…for anyone that goes to Disney yearly and understands the crowds, best times of day to ride headliners, etc this just wouldn’t seem necessary unless I was there for Christmas, New Years, or spring break. Guess I’m not their target audience! My guess is wealthy first timers/every 5 years visitors/club level people who don’t want to plan.
This is exactly how I feel
This is a really good point–After Hours may set an upper limit on what Walt Disney World or Disneyland are able to charge for such a (theoretical) service. There’s a reason we call those parties a quasi-VIP experience.
The other advantage offered by After Hours is that they occur at night, offering a reprieve from the heat. The counterpoint, though, is that they only last a few hours.
It’ll be interesting to see what, if anything, happens with LLPP. In the end, it probably comes down to a guest demographic that isn’t giving the alternatives this much thought. They just want convenience, but not the cost or experience of a fully-fledged VIP tour.
I like the thought comparisons to Universal – My one pushback is wouldn’t this complete with Disney VIP tour ? We’ve done it a few times and it’s essentially unlimited fast pass with the cast member guiding you to the front of each line, but it is $650-$850/hour with a 7-hour minimum. If this pass becomes available, my thought would be it’s due to the VIP tour becoming popular enough that Disney can charge $300+/person for this pass, then push VIP tour pricing higher and offer even more distinct benefits (Club 33 lounge access for example). Also, Club 33 members get 8-10 VIP tours / year included with their membership, so they likely provided that once they removed the extra fast passes
$200+ per person, per day, and limited to just one ride skipping entitlement per attraction? I’m not sure I see the value in that.
That’s just a guess–and I’ve aimed too high with pricing predictions in the past (this year’s Oogie Boogie Bash being a prime example).
That said, if Lightning Lane Premier Pass is Disney’s twist on Express Pass (and that’s still a big if!), it’s not going to be aimed at people who are concerned with value for money. It’ll be targeted towards those who don’t care.
Tom, the lineskip in Paris, Premier Access is crazy expensive in my opinion. So I think you’re right, it will be a Universal equivalent, super dear , covering all rides. A sledgehammer to crack a nut in my opinion. Row back to FP+ and just make us pay already!
The fact you wrote this article gives me optimism this will happen! I would be the target audience for this offering. Own DVC and usually stay in 3br gran villas, only eat at signature dining, buy dessert party tickets, etc. but the $200pp is very steep to me so while I would love the option, i dont know that I would pay that (extra $1k per park day for my family of 5)…….
Should I be depressed that we’re living in a timeline where I can’t even tell if this is satire or real life…?
Its real life…….I would love a line skip like Express pass with no reservations but at $1,000 per day, no way jose
I think $200pp for unlimited instant line skip is wishful thinking – that’s most of the value of a VIP tour and would be priced closer to that end. if they had it that cheap they would clog up all the lightning lanes way too much.
I think $200pp only gets you each ride 1x with no reservations.