Disney Expands Lightning Lane Premier Pass to All Walt Disney World Resort Hotel Guests

5 hours ago in "Disney Genie"

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Lightning Lane Premier Pass logo

Posted: Friday November 22, 2024 7:00am ET by WDWMAGIC Staff

Walt Disney World has expanded the availability of its Lightning Lane Premier Pass, previously offered exclusively to guests staying at Disney Deluxe Resorts, Disney Deluxe Villa Resorts, and select hotels. As of November 22, 2024, the pass is now available to guests staying at all Walt Disney World Resort hotels, including the Walt Disney World Dolphin, Swan, Swan Reserve, and Shades of Green Resort.

Lightning Lane Premier Pass logo

Expanded Access for More Guests

The Lightning Lane Premier Pass allows guests to skip standby lines and use Lightning Lane entrances for one-time access to each available Lightning Lane attraction in a single park on a given day. Previously limited to guests at Disney’s highest-tier resorts, this expansion now opens the option to all Disney Resort hotel guests, making the service more widely accessible.

Eligible guests include those staying at:

All Disney Resort Hotels
Walt Disney World Dolphin Hotel
Walt Disney World Swan Hotel
Walt Disney World Swan Reserve
Shades of Green Resort

How the Lightning Lane Premier Pass Works

The Lightning Lane Premier Pass differs from other Lightning Lane options, such as the Multi Pass and Single Pass, in its flexibility and scope:

No Arrival Windows: Unlike other Lightning Lane passes, Premier Pass holders don’t need to select arrival times for attractions. Guests can enter Lightning Lane entrances whenever they choose, subject to availability.
One-Park Access: The pass includes one-time access to every available Lightning Lane experience in a single park for one day.
Photo Perks Included: Guests also receive digital downloads of select attraction photos and videos through Disney PhotoPass, adding extra value to the pass.

Eligibility and How to Purchase

Guests staying at eligible hotels can purchase the Lightning Lane Premier Pass up to seven days before their stay using the My Disney Experience app. Pricing varies by date and park and is displayed in the app at the time of purchase. As this remains a limited-quantity offering, early booking is recommended for those interested.

Magic Kingdom: $329–$449
Hollywood Studios: $249–$349
EPCOT: $149–$249
Animal Kingdom: $119–$199

View current and upcoming Lighting Lane Premier Pass pricing.

What’s Next for Lightning Lane Premier?

With this expansion, Disney is testing how the Lightning Lane Premier Pass can cater to a wider audience. While it remains to be seen how this affects availability and guest satisfaction, the move signals Disney’s interest in providing more premium service options to a broader range of visitors.

Future updates to the Lighting Lane Premier Pass may include an option allowing for Lighting Lane access across all four Walt Disney World theme parks, although Disney is yet to announce any new additions to the service.

Guests are willing to pay a high price to secure easy entry to E-Ticket rides like TRON Lightcycle Run

Discuss on the Forums

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GhostHost10001 hour ago

Bob being told people are actually paying for this

DCBaker1 hour ago

Lightning Lane Premier Pass has now sold out at Magic Kingdom on November 23. Here's a look at the dates and park locations that are currently sold out: Magic Kingdom: 23, 25, 26, 27, 28 Hollywood Studios: 25, 28

Ayla2 hours ago

So, as suspected, not enough takers. 😂

HauntedPirate2 hours ago

With this new opportunity to spend an exorbitant amount of money on something, this is the only thing I feel right now...

JMcMahonEsq2 hours ago

Ah I get you, reading and typing on phone you can lose context. I still honestly don’t see the craziness on the cake here tbh. Is it expensive, sure, though I do agree the size is enough that you can split the dessert, so I don’t think 30 bucks for dessert for 2 people is all that crazy/dumb. I mean I took my son last night to 5 guys for dinner. A burger/fries/shake was over 20bucks. And that was to go, from a fast food chain restaurant, in the suburbs of Northern NJ. It’s not obviously an apples to apples comparison but if I am going to pay 20 bucks for a to go burger and fries, at a local fast food place, how much am I really complaining about spending an extra 10 bucks to split a desert while on vacation at the largest tourist destination in us?

JohnD2 hours ago

At the current price point for Premier, I'm not hoping for this at all. I'll stick with Single/Multipass, thank you. My costs came to around $300 over 5 days. MK is $339-$449 on one day only. It really isn't that difficult in multipass to pick another experience on the app after using one.

JohnD2 hours ago

My combined costs for Single/Multipass came to about $300 over 5 days. $329-$429 for MK on one day is WAY out of my price point. LLMP is going to stay around a while.

Fido Chuckwagon2 hours ago

I wasn't referring to Lightning Lane Premier Pass. I'm talking about $30 for a piece of previously frozen cake, which was in the post that I quoted. I can certainly afford that type of meal (and would certainly pay that type of price or more at an actual Michelin-starred restaurant). But paying that price for previously frozen cake in a faux-fancy establishment? Lol, no. That's for dumb people. Sorry, but it is.

Disstevefan12 hours ago

I think the cracks are, while they are making the immediate truckloads of money from VIP tours and LLPP, used by the one time visitor, they are raising prices on everything constantly and losing sight of ther returning guests that will become priced out and stop returning. It may be Disney values the one time “limitless spending because I am here now and not returning” guest more than the returning guest. But if that’s the case, WHY the continued building of DVC towers? Perhaps to lock these folks in for decades and once they sign the contract, there is no need for any perks for these folks aside from a lounge here and there. Therefore, in my opinion, Disney loves the “spare no expense” one time visitor AND the “locked in” DVC owner. All others meh.

JD803 hours ago

What cracks?

lewisc3 hours ago

The remaining campsites will be sold AS DVC camp sites. Lowest nightly point requirement on property

JMcMahonEsq3 hours ago

No, its a price for people who have disposable income, and value their time. It really is that simply. That's all the product is. For people who go to the park regularly, sure you might not get it, since it might not really matter how much you get done during any one visit, as you will be back next week/month, ect. As for pricing for dumb people, if your worried about the price, then this isn't the product for you. The target audience for this product are people who are likely not considering the price. Its people who don't want to wait in line, and value their time. Listen if your life is so empty that standing around waiting for something, anything, is considered a good use of your time, go for it. But I can't think of any scerio where it would be dumb to priortize doing nothing, over doing something, especially during limtied time off, at the most magical place on earth.

HoustonHorn3 hours ago

Yup - this is the same way you can make the VIP tour financially feasible - you find 1 or 2 other families to get the total number of people as close to 10 as possible, you shorten the trip so that you do the VIP tour one day and hit all the headliners, then you do another day or two if you want to clean up the other stuff that would take more time. I know a lot of people for whom Disney is a box to check - you have kids, you have to go to Disney World. So you do this trip, splurge and never come back. The problem is that people like that are not (or were not) the core audience that developed brand loyalty, repeat trips, became DVC and AP holders, and whose kids formed core memories and brand loyalty that resulted in a cycle of repeat visitors. Bob and Josh and the rest are so in lust with the quick dollar people are spending, with the idea that there is a never-ending supply of first-time whales. That seems to be showing some cracks, but they are eroding their supply of repeat visitors. Shame.

Purduevian3 hours ago

I assume the biggest "issue" at MK is Peter Pan right after the Parade around 240ishpm (people watch the parade, then jump in the LL for big name rides). It doesn't take many people doing that to back up the line at Pan considering it only has an 800pph throughput. If 200 people get in the LL line right after the parade, you've built a 20 min LL even if 0 standby guests are allowed in. I have 0 data on this, but if they sell 2000 LLPP in a day, only ~10% of them need to do this for it to become a problem. If they sell 4000LLPP in a day only ~5% of users need to jump to Pan for this to become an issue LLMP availability on PAN didn't jump for 11/26 according to thrill data. It's possible there is a gap at like 1:45-2:45pm that I can't see though. I'm guessing they are just going to rip off standby right now.