It is finally here! Lightning Lane Premier Pass has debuted at Disney World!
©Disney
We had the opportunity to try out the system at Disneyland last week, and yesterday, we tried out the Premier Pass in all four Disney World parks. After a day of riding every single attraction with a Lightning Lane, we gathered our thoughts to see if Lightning Lane Premier Pass was really worth it.
Lightning Lane Premier Pass officially debuted on October 30th. This third Lightning Lane option allows you to ride every attraction within a park one time, eliminating the stress of return times and giving you more flexibility to plan your day.
Mad Tea Party Lightning Lane
This new option is only available to those staying at Deluxe Resorts and other select hotels. Like Lightning Lane Multi and Single Pass, it can be purchased seven days before check-in. While Premier Pass is limited to a select number of resort guests and sold in limited quantities, even if you stay at a Deluxe Resort, you are not guaranteed to be able to purchase it.
Step-By-Step: How to Buy Lightning Lane Premier Pass on the Disney World App
Lightning Lane
Pricing for Premier Pass is high and varies based on the time of year and the park. Pricing is as follows:
- Magic Kingdom: $329-$449 plus tax
- Disney’s Animal Kingdom: $129-$199 plus tax
- EPCOT: $169-$249 plus tax
- Disney’s Hollywood Studios: $269-$349 plus tax
Lightning Lane
We tested this new system out on the first day in all four parks, and here is what we thought!
Haunted Mansion Lightning Lane
To start, it has a very high price jump from Lightning Lane Multi and Single Pass, and as expected, you still wait in the same Lightning Lane line and wait the same amount of time as someone who paid for Lightning Lane Multi or Single Pass. There is no extra “royal treatment” for this luxury service. It’s simply another way to skip the standby lines.
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Lightning Lane
So, should you splurge on this luxury service? Honestly, this is not realistic for the average family, and it’s not meant to be. There are so many excellent strategies for getting the most out of the other two Lightning Lane options (or you can rope-drop the parks and avoid paying to skip the lines altogether!). This is a luxury option, and you do NOT need it to be successful in Disney World.
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Lightning Lane
It is obviously very expensive, and it can be hard to justify the cost on top of the expense of tickets, hotel, and food.
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Now, a lot of people are comparing Disney’s new Premier Pass to Universal’s Express Pass, but we should point out that Universal operates a little differently than Disney, so it’s not a truly fair comparison. That said, many would have liked to see Disney offer “unlimited” access to the Lightning Lane at each attraction, instead of being limited to a one-time skip.
Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway Lightning Lane
Now, it was not all negative. Premier Pass is super easy to rely on and use. We were able to breeze through our day with the added flexibility of riding attractions when we wanted to. Since you do not have any return times to commit to, it would be easy to return to your resort to take a break during the day to eat, swim, or nap.
Lightning Lane
It was also nice that it included ALL the Lightning Lanes in a park, including Single Pass attractions.
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Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind is included with EPCOT’s Lightning Lane Premier Pass
Overall, if you are willing to pay hundreds of dollars, you are getting a very similar service that a V.I.P. Tour provides for a fraction of the cost. We did not wait more than 15 minutes in any lines. This is a good alternative for a V.I.P. Tour, and you do not have to worry about meeting a time requirement. We loved the added flexibility and found the service to be easy to use, but we just do not think it is realistic for most families. Especially when comparing it to the price point of Lighting Lane Multi and Single Pass.
Winnie the Pooh Lightning Lane
It has only been a day since Premier Pass started, so we will continue to keep an eye out to see if anything changes. For more Disney tips and news, make sure to continue to follow along with Disney Food Blog!
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Will you be interested in trying our Lightning Lane Premier Pass? Let us know why or why not in the comments!
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I think it would make more sense for the price to be $500-$600, but for it to be for all 4 parks for a specified period, say 4-5 days. Then the holder could park hop if they wanted to and would have one price to plan for if they wish to utilize it.
Of course it is not worth it. It is only worth for those a few that can eaisly afford it. I don’t think Disney had all guest in mind for this as it is only a few, not the masses. But this is just another luxury Disnay has that most Guest cannot afford, so this nothing new and we should’nt be surprised.
The only slight possibility that I would ever fork over this kind of money for the Premier Pass LL is if I was staying at Shades of Green. At least that deluxe resort is affordable to the average family – if you have access.
We are going to be at WDW from 12/7-12/14 staying at VGF. I was thinking about splurging on the premier pass for Hollywood Studios. There are 12 of us going down, but this would be for 5 of us. Are you able to limit the participants, or does everyone on the reservation have to sign up for the premier pass?
I will definitely NOT be getting the premier pass!!! We are 3 people who go to Disney 2 times a year. We buy Sorcerer annual passes at over $2700.
We are going to Disney in 2 weeks…I priced what the cost would be for our 6 days at the parks…it came out to an additional $3882! this is absolutely absurd.
Disney is pricing themselves out for the average middle class family. I truly wonder what Walt would say…he wanted to have a place where children and parents could have a fun day together.
Sadly Disney is now only available for the upper and wealthy classes.
Very very sad.
I’m going to purchase it as a gift for my husband and myself for Christmas Day this year in Magic Kingdom. I think it would be worth the price to navigate the crowds and stay out of my phone on one day. We will be there from the 19th to the 27th of December, the balance of the trip it will be Multi-Pass and LL.