Lightning Lane Premier Pass Starts Selling Out for Christmas Week 2024

Dec 16, 2024 in "Disney Genie"

Gallery / 1 Photo
Lightning Lane Premier Pass logo

Posted: Monday December 16, 2024 9:50am ET by WDWMAGIC Staff

The Magic Kingdom Lightning Lane Premier Pass has officially sold out for December 22, 2024, marking the first date during the busy Christmas holiday week to reach capacity.

Following the high demand during Thanksgiving week, this sell-out signals the start of what is expected to be another high-demand period for this new Disney World add-on.

Thanksgiving Week Trends

Thanksgiving week provided the first glimpse of the Lightning Lane Premier Pass's popularity after going on sale in October. All four parks sold out for November 25, the Saturday of Thanksgiving weekend, with Magic Kingdom, EPCOT, and Hollywood Studios seeing multiple sold-out dates across the week.

Magic Kingdom was the most sought-after park, with Premier Passes selling out for five consecutive days from November 23 to November 28. Hollywood Studios also saw strong demand, with four sell-out dates over the same period. Despite what many consider to be high-pricing for Lightning Lane Premier, these trends underscored the appeal of skipping standby lines for headlining attractions during some of the busiest days of the year.

What to Expect for Christmas Week

The sell-out of Magic Kingdom on December 22 (priced at $429) suggests that the Christmas week could follow a similar pattern to Thanksgiving. Historically, the Christmas and New Year's holidays bring the heaviest crowds of the year to Walt Disney World. Popular parks like Magic Kingdom and Hollywood Studios are likely to experience additional sell-out dates for the Lightning Lane Premier Pass in the coming weeks.

Guests planning to visit Disney World during Christmas week should take note of the following:

Plan Early: Guests can purchase the Premier Pass up to seven days before their resort stay. Availability is limited, so purchasing as soon as possible is recommended.
Monitor Sell-Out Trends: With December 22 already sold out, other dates—particularly December 24 through December 31—are likely to sell out soon.
Consider Alternative Options: If Premier Passes are unavailable, guests can use Lightning Lane Multi Pass or Lightning Lane Single, which may still be available.

Why the Premier Pass Is in Demand

The Lightning Lane Premier Pass offers unmatched flexibility compared to other Lightning Lane options. Guests can skip standby lines and enjoy one-time access to all available Lightning Lane attractions in a single park for one day, with no need to schedule arrival windows. The pass also includes Disney PhotoPass perks, making it an attractive option for those looking to capture holiday memories.

Looking Ahead

As Christmas week approaches, sell-out dates for the Premier Pass are likely to accelerate, especially for Magic Kingdom and Hollywood Studios. Guests visiting Walt Disney World during this time are encouraged to act quickly if they plan to purchase the pass for their trip.

Discuss on the Forums

Get Walt Disney World News Delivered to Your Inbox

Splash4eva12 days ago

Than Thank you! Will take a look

Purduevian12 days ago

https://forums.wdwmagic.com/threads/lightning-lane-drop-times.984387/ I haven't updated it in months so I don't know if it is still accurate. Not going to lie, I did the work for it for my trip last November and figured I would share it with the forums (I also put it on Reddit), but I don't plan on updating it regularly. It's not to hard to do though if anyone wants to try to to update it. Using thrill data, it's pretty easy to spot trends. This is TSM for example. Anytime there is a consistent jump to Yellow or Green on most of the days, that's a drop time.

Splash4eva12 days ago

Yes TP i was a member of and it worked like a charm each trip this past one in February was not at all successful only finding a few openings during the trip

Splash4eva12 days ago

Thank you will take a look

nickys12 days ago

Touring Plans “liners” keep an updated list. And for a while here I think @Purduevian had one running.

MickeyLuv'r12 days ago

there's thrill ride Data. Some rides have a long list of potential drop times, but only some of them happen. TRD appears to have updated their list since just a few weeks ago. Previously, they had some of the drop times highlighted, which I took to mean the more likely drop times.

MickeyLuv'r12 days ago

Android here

JD8012 days ago

This is not how you do statistics.

Splash4eva13 days ago

Do we have an updated list and inventory drops?

Splash4eva13 days ago

Disney has their reasons and whatever they are we will never know. We can guess but most likely never know but imo no wait line posted 60 minutes should never be off more than 10. No wait time of 45 should be off more than 5. Anything 30 and below should be accurate. So on and so forth with longer yet every person i talk with who goes all say same with more inflated wait times. Even if its to make the guest “feel good” its still a “deceptive” practice. And honestly. If you are a multi billion dollar corporation with a name like Disney (at least what it use to mean) and you need to inflate wait times to increase guest satisfaction you better re think your strategy Robert…

Splash4eva13 days ago

Apple here if that helps…

MickeyLuv'r13 days ago

A number of forum members thought reforming/reducing DAS would fix the problem. I also think how much times are off can be characterized in different ways. If the posted wait is 10minutes, and actually is 5, ten we could characterize the posted wait as only off by 5minutes, or we could say the posted wait was half the actual wait. Both would be correct. There is also the challenge of how to characterize some of the pre-shows like GoG and Rise. How often are any of us here willing to test the wait for accuracy when it is over 60minutes? I think most of us here know basic park touring strategy, so we don't get in line for 7D when standby waits are at their daily peaks.

nickys13 days ago

I don’t know how it works. But I know people who do pick up LLs as a result of drops - unless of course it’s pure coincidence that they are ready to do so at specific known times and get lucky.