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

4 hours ago in "Disney Genie"

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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.

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RSoxNo11 minute ago

I'm guessing the internal sales pitch is we need to "bridge the gap" between traditional Lightning Lane and VIP tours. If we can offer the primary perk of the VIP tour without a tour guide, let's do that.

JD803 minutes ago

How many views does it take to earn $400 to pay for a "How Fast Can We Do All The Rides At MK" video?

SoFloMagic3 minutes ago

This pass is an upsell for the rich. The tour is it's own thing. Not to mention the tour lets you go to all parks and gives fast transportation between. They'll watch your stroller, get you water, take you backstage instead of having to walk all the way out the front. Plus fireworks and parade viewing. I think there's enough differentiation.

ToTBellHop5 minutes ago

The only ones excited about this are likely the bloggers who will now get a $400 “tax deduction“ due to this new “work expense”.

JAB6 minutes ago

I can't imagine too many people paying for this, so I started to wonder if this might actually be a bit of "you are the magic" marketing psychology to boost LL-MP & LL-SP. Offer a ridiculously priced option that takes the "work" out of LL and so, by comparison, LL-MP & LL-SP make you feel like you're getting a "great deal" if you're willing to put in a little more effort yourself.

mattpeto7 minutes ago

I think you aren’t weighing how much value the typical guest feels for skipping “some” lines. And how much Disney values guests skipping lines as well. More time to spend on merch/food. It’s considered mutual win-win. LLMP is here to stay.

Disney Analyst8 minutes ago

Disney has had options for those with money since nearly the beginning. Hello Club 33. It just looks different these days. Welcome to capitalism!

Touchdown8 minutes ago

PML guests are going to have an expectation that they will wait less then 15 min per attraction at that price. MLL guests are going to have an expectation to use their pass on long line attractions 5ish times. My position is that Disney cannot meet both expectations, it’s impossible. Given that, Disney is going to cater to the group that pays more. I expect the system to morph to what DLP has where you can buy individual LL and PLL.

Vegas Disney Fan10 minutes ago

Disney has fully embraced the budget airline business model, it’s amazing how quickly they’ve gone from being the best, highest service, all inclusive, airline to becoming Spirit. Do they not realize most people avoid these airlines like the plague because they loathe the nickel and diming?

networkpro14 minutes ago

So are you ready for the other shoe to drop (reduction in LLMP and ILL allocations) ?

Disney Analyst18 minutes ago

This lacks value at WDW, but could be very useful for people at Disneyland with a parkhopper. This is the direction I always thought they should go, but they need to fully remove the multipass option. Offer single ride purchases only, and this.

Jeff45622 minutes ago

I can't see enough people buying this to make a dramatic difference to everyone else it is insanely expensive. Makes Universal's premier offer look so good, we are staying in rooms at AP rate for sub $300 a night and getting two days of unlimited express for both of us for that. If we had kids they'd get it as well!

Purduevian26 minutes ago

You will also have the issue on the top demand LLMP rides (SDD, Remy, Frozen, Navi, Tiana). These rides sell out pretty quick on LLMP, in theory these LLPP users may not have a chance to ride these on LLMP (sold out before they could get to it), but now they get their seats. So, you again either have to take that seat away from LLMP (sells out quicker) or Standby (changes the ratio of LL/standby). I still think at first this will be pretty minimal, but overtime it may become noticable. On a side note standby skipper is only $25 per day!