Lightning Lane Premier Pass Sells Out at Magic Kingdom for the First Time Since Expanded Access

Jan 31, 2025 in "Disney Genie"

Gallery / 1 Photo
Lightning Lane Premier Pass logo

Posted: Friday January 31, 2025 9:45am ET by WDWMAGIC Staff

For the first time since its availability was expanded to all Walt Disney World guests, the Lightning Lane Premier Pass has sold out at Magic Kingdom today January 31, 2025, priced at $379. The pass was previously exclusive to resort guests before becoming available for all park visitors on January 21, 2025.

A Surprising Sell-Out on a Non-Holiday, Lower-Crowd Day

Unlike previous sell-outs that primarily occurred during peak holiday periods such as Thanksgiving and Christmas, today's Magic Kingdom Premier Pass sell-out happened on a regular park day—one that is not a holiday or a particularly high-attendance date. This suggests that demand for the Premier Pass remains strong even outside of peak travel windows.

The Premier Pass allows guests to enter Lightning Lane attractions in a single park for one day, without the need to book return times in advance. Its price varies by date and park, with Magic Kingdom often commanding the highest pricing due to its ride lineup and demand.

What This Means for Future Availability

With today's unexpected sell-out, several key takeaways emerge:

Premier Pass demand is growing. Even on a non-peak day, high demand for the pass at Magic Kingdom suggests guests are willing to pay for the convenience of skipping standby lines, even at higher price points.
Future non-holiday sell-outs could become more common. While previous sell-outs were concentrated during peak travel periods, today's event signals that regular park days may also see availability run out, particularly at Magic Kingdom.
Higher demand could lead to price adjustments. If sell-outs continue to occur more frequently, Disney may adjust pricing accordingly, as has been seen with other variable-priced offerings like Genie+ and Individual Lightning Lane selections.

Planning Ahead

Guests looking to purchase a Lightning Lane Premier Pass for upcoming Magic Kingdom visits should consider securing it as soon as their purchase window opens. With availability no longer restricted to resort guests and sell-outs now occurring outside of holiday periods, competition for the pass is likely to increase.

Stay tuned for further updates as we continue tracking Premier Pass pricing trends and availability across Walt Disney World parks.

Discuss on the Forums

Get Walt Disney World News Delivered to Your Inbox

co100646 days ago

Wait times at nearly all headliners are inflated before closing time. They generally won’t decrease the posted wait time within the last 30 minutes leading up park close (sometimes longer). This has been going on for several years (yes, even prior to paid FastPass), likely as a way to discourage people from hopping in line at the last second (more cost to Ops).

TheMaxRebo6 days ago

Plus if you overinflate the longer lines it could push people to shorter lines to help spread the crowds So multiple reasons to overinflate them a bit

TheMaxRebo6 days ago

I think it makes sense to slightly inflate times as if you post it at 30 mins and they wait 25 mins they are happy. It you post it at 20 mins and they wait 25 they are unhappy. Plus this "cushion" allows for some small downtime if it happens That doesn't excuse they drastically inflating it and when there is a money reason that could be a motivating factor it makes it feel wrong in a way it didn't before But I don't think any big deal if finding they are consistently 10-20% inflated

Splash4eva6 days ago

Altho i do not disagree with you but its simply false advertising. It also can deter people from going on a ride

bmr15916 days ago

To take the positive angle, it always feels better for a guest to see 40 minutes and it only be 30. It feels awful to see 30 minutes and it be 40.

Purduevian6 days ago

That I can agree with. This past trip I did not get LLMP at AK. ~5 mins before closing Na'vi said 45 min wait. I even asked the cast member at the front if they thought it was accurate, they said yes. 12 mins later I was sitting in my boat.

Splash4eva6 days ago

Listen im not saying its being done to make money and im not saying the opposite. All im saying is its being done intentionally for whatever reasons Disney has

Purduevian6 days ago

Apparently they inflate it ~84% of the time. I can't seem to find the post, but if I'm remembering right... it has nothing to do with LLMP or LLPP and Disney has just always done that.

Splash4eva6 days ago

I just find it funny that they all were incorrect by posting times longer then they actually were… like its almost a mathematical impossibility to be always wrong in the same direction. Lol

Disstevefan16 days ago

Exactly why I said for whatever reason they cant post accurate wait times and for whatever reason (if true) they intentionally inflate wait times.

Purduevian6 days ago

I think we've had this discussion before... if I remember right... Disney has always inflated wait times and there is no statistically significant difference between how much they inflate between pre and post paid skip the line services.

Disstevefan16 days ago

Its super rare the posted wait time is correct, For whatever reason Disney simply cant post accurate wait times.

Splash4eva6 days ago

Fwiw. I have a buddy who has been in parks since Saturday. Telling me posted wait times have been consistently off each day in each park.

TheMaxRebo21 days ago

Generally included is a buffet - will have some hot food (eggs, breakfast meats, maybe potatoes), and a lot hav make your own Mickey Waffles, will have cereal, Yoghurts, pastries, etc Usually nothing amazing but enough options that everyone can find something and fill you up Definitely depends on your situation but a nice thing to have included especially if a bigger family