Disney World Pilots New Lightning Lane Premier Pass for Deluxe Resort Guests Starting October 30, 2024

Oct 16, 2024 in "Disney Genie"

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Lightning Lane Premier Pass logo

Posted: Wednesday October 16, 2024 8:06am ET by WDWMAGIC Staff

Beginning October 30, 2024, Walt Disney World will pilot a new service called the Lightning Lane Premier Pass, offering an exclusive option for guests staying at Disney Deluxe Resorts, Disney Deluxe Villa Resorts, and select partner hotels. This pass provides an opportunity for eligible visitors to gain quicker access to attractions, but with limited availability and specific purchasing guidelines.

Lightning Lane Premier launches at Walt Disney World on October 30, 2024

Priced between $129 to $449 (per pass, plus tax), the Premier Pass grants one-time entry to each available Lightning Lane experience in a single park for one day. This includes attractions available with both the Multi Pass and Single Pass. Unlike the existing Multi and Single passes, the Premier Pass doesn’t require you to select arrival windows for each attraction. You can enter Lightning Lane entrances whenever you choose.

How to Purchase the Lightning Lane Premier Pass

To purchase the Lightning Lane Premier Pass, guests must open the My Disney Experience app, where it will be available for eligible guests to buy up to seven days before their stay. Prices will vary depending on the date and theme park, and availability is expected to be limited. It’s important to note that the pass can only be purchased by guests staying at eligible resorts during their stay at Walt Disney World.

Once purchased, the pass provides one-time access to each available Lightning Lane entrance at one park per day. Guests can skip standby lines for attractions and enjoy a shorter wait time. After tapping into an attraction with a linked MagicBand, MagicBand+, Disney MagicMobile pass, or another admission method, they can continue to use the pass throughout the day.

Pricing and Availability

Pricing for the Lightning Lane Premier Pass will fluctuate based on demand, date, and the park selected. Guests can view the cost for their selected date in the My Disney Experience app, but availability is expected to be highly limited due to the pilot nature of the program.

Disney's Animal Kingdom: $129 - $199 + tax per person
EPCOT: $169 - $249 + tax per person
Disney's Hollywood Studios: $269 - $349 + tax per person
Magic Kingdom: $329 - $449 + tax per person

Eligible guests will be able to purchase the pass for their entire length of stay, up to 14 days, starting at 7:00 AM Eastern Time up to seven days before their first day at the resort. It’s essential to have valid theme park admission, and in some cases, park reservations may also be required.

Eligibility and Resorts Participating in the Pilot Program

The Lightning Lane Premier Pass will be available exclusively to guests staying at Disney Deluxe Resorts, Disney Deluxe Villa Resorts, and select hotels, including the Walt Disney World Dolphin Hotel, Swan Hotel, and Shades of Green Resort.

Here is the full list of eligible resorts:

Disney Deluxe Resort Hotels: Animal Kingdom Lodge, Beach Club Resort, BoardWalk Inn, Contemporary Resort, Grand Floridian Resort & Spa, Polynesian Village Resort, Wilderness Lodge, Yacht Club Resort
Disney Deluxe Villa Resorts: Bay Lake Tower, Boulder Ridge Villas, Copper Creek Villas, Animal Kingdom Villas (Jambo House & Kidani Village), Beach Club Villas, BoardWalk Villas, Old Key West Resort, Polynesian Villas & Bungalows, Saratoga Springs Resort & Spa, Riviera Resort, The Villas at the Grand Floridian
Select Other Hotels: Walt Disney World Dolphin, Swan, Swan Reserve, and Shades of Green

Guests staying at these resorts will have the opportunity to enhance their park experience with this new pass, though it remains to be seen how Disney will refine the program based on guest feedback during the pilot phase.

Using the Lightning Lane Premier Pass

Once the pass is purchased, it can be activated by simply heading to the Lightning Lane entrance of any participating attraction and tapping in with a linked admission method. The app also allows guests to track their Lightning Lane experiences through the “My Day” feature, helping visitors manage which attractions they’ve already redeemed and what’s still available.

How does Lightning Lane Premier Pass differ from Lightning Lane Multi Pass and Lightning Lane Single Pass?

All 3 Lightning Lane passes enable you to skip the standby line and use the Lightning Lane entrance to join a shorter line for select theme park attractions and experiences.

However, Lightning Lane Premier Pass differs from Lightning Lane Multi Pass and Lightning Lane Single Pass in the following ways:

Provides More Flexibility: With Lightning Lane Premier Pass, you don’t have to choose arrival windows for Lightning Lane attractions and experiences—so you can enter Lightning Lane entrances for the experiences you want, when you want (subject to availability). With other Lightning Lane passes, you must choose an arrival window for each Lightning Lane experience.
Includes Each Available Lightning Lane Experience in One Park: Lightning Lane Premier Pass gives you one-time entry to each available Lightning Lane experience in one park for one day. This includes Lightning Lane Multi Pass experiences and Lightning Lane Single Pass experiences in that park.
Lightning Lane Premier Pass and Lightning Lane Multi Pass both include photo perks—so you’ll receive digital downloads of select attraction photos and videos from your day, captured with Disney PhotoPass Service. Plus, access Disney PhotoPass Lenses. Disney PhotoPass Terms and Conditions apply. These photo perks are not included with Lightning Lane Single Pass.

Eligibility

In order to purchase any Lightning Lane pass, you must have valid park admission. Park reservations may also be required, depending on the date of your visit. Please see theme park reservation requirements.
Lightning Lane Premier Pass will be available in very limited quantities for Guests staying at Disney Deluxe Resorts, Disney Deluxe Villa Resorts and other select hotels.

Discuss on the Forums

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HauntedPirate2 hours ago

1. That will never be included in a rack rate unless the rack rate rises a commensurate amount. Disney is addicted/dependent on LL revenue. 2.

Disstevefan13 hours ago

I think that would be GREAT! And in my opinion, if they included free LLPP for (even rack rate) stays in say only two deluxe resorts; GF and Poly, there would be a multi year wait list for these resorts.

MickeyLuv'r4 hours ago

I just stayed at Endless Summer Surfside. It was REALLY nice. Now I had one of the bigger suite style rooms, but it was a really nice room, and the extra microwave/fridge/table was great. I think it was only $150/night. The food court could be a little bigger, but one thing I really liked was the ability to get fresh berries every morning. Fresh berries have become extremely hard to find at WDW at any price point. The Skyliner is a bit more fun than buses.

CAV5 hours ago

That doesn't negate my point.

HauntedPirate5 hours ago

I said the same thing earlier today about LLPP never being bundled for free. I'm beginning to think that statement may not age well. 🤔

Disstevefan16 hours ago

Don’t worry, Disney will never include free LLPP like Universal includes free Express pass. There are folks who don’t like Universal and won’t go to their park at any price and that’s fine, but we loved the free express pass included when staying at the Universal resorts. Not sure it’s the same now but we got free express passes on check in day and check out day too when staying at Universal resorts.

LSLS7 hours ago

The problem is hotel prices don't matter if people don't want to pay ticket prices. I can tell you right now that is 100% the reason we haven't been to Universal. If Disney with it's nostalgia is priced to the point we don't consider it worth it, then a new park we have no allegiance to certainly is too much at the same price point. I get their hotels may be nicer and cheaper, but if I can't justify the ticket price, the hotel cost is moot. We may make our first trip this summer with Epic opening, but that's far from a foregone conclusion. Spending $2K just to get in the door for 3 days is tough to justify. Adding fastpass to the hotel cost will help, but I'm still hit with the sticker shock of getting in the door.

Andrew257 hours ago

Universal has been playing the #2 game since the opening of Cabana Bay. They've priced that hotel (and the other values) at lower rates than Disney's options. Endless Summer, while lacks the character of a Disney Value Resort, is by far a better room/value than Disney. While not as dramatic as Disney, Universal has already started to raise prices at their resorts (though they've slowed down with the downturn in tourism/attendance).

Trauma7 hours ago

I like to look at things in a simple way and the way I see it I think Universal has 2 options. #1 Start charging Disney level prices while removing perks ( straight out of the Disney playbook ) #2 Offer great value coupled with Epic that start grabbing a munch larger chunk of market share ( I think this would happen since Disney is at a tipping point. ) Only after taking a large chunk of market share do they start to raise prices. Will be interesting to see how it plays out.

Dranth8 hours ago

Interesting. Hopefully it happens but it really would be a big policy change internally as they were adamantly opposed to doing this in the past. If any hotel got it, Helios makes the most sense to me as it is co-owned by Universal but Sapphire Falls is solely owned by Lowes if I remember correctly. If this does happen, I wonder if Lowes had to give up something or agree to changes to the existing contracts on the older resorts to get Universal on board.

RSoxNo110 hours ago

Awesome, I'm staying off property and my first day is January 7th. This is downright dumb.

celluloid10 hours ago

Saphire changed to Signature due to location was the first phase. Once the rest of the newness tapers off some more the plan is to charge a bit more and add Express. Helios maybe too one day but that is farther away due to factors of being new, proximity walk in to EPIC and much smaller in rooms.

Sirwalterraleigh11 hours ago

Nothing confirmed… But most rumors seem to think they will add express pass to certain hotels after the initial booking period for epic passes. Rumors of sapphire falls too…which would be great. Let us remember: bookings in Orlando are soft (well at least for the two out of control)…they are NOT going to improve…and those corps have to have a plan. This is a good option for Comcast… …or they can just start turning every old warehouse, outhouse, doghouse, etc they already have into timeshares? …but I doubt even they would go trailer park

Dranth11 hours ago

Has there been a change or announcement on this or is this what you think is going to happen? The latest official word I can find is no additional express pass in the new hotels.