Hang onto your wallets, magic-lovers of all ages! Walt Disney World has implemented the Lightning Lane Premiere Pass for their four theme parks, but the costs could cause you to faint.
Not so long ago, going to Walt Disney World Resort meant that part of your base experience included the ability to skip lines for major attractions. It was a novel idea called “FastPass”. The system allowed guests to insert their ticket into a machine at the entrance of the ride. As a result, a piece of paper would print out with a time for the guest to return later in the day for an experience without any wait. Of course, the ticket was returned as well. Once the guest enjoyed the attraction, they would be able to get another FastPass for another attraction. There were variances of this as time went on, but one of the great value-adds at Disney was the ability to use the FastPass system to enjoy more attractions than most families would have otherwise.
Promotional image of Peter Pan’s Flight via Disney World website
After the pandemic, however, things have changed.
A nearly identical system called Lightning Lane Premiere Pass is here… and this one is going to cost you. Launching on October 30th, we now have the prices for a lesser-crowded kind of day. Let’s just say it is going to set you back a few.
Guests purchasing the Lightning Lane Premiere Pass get the ability of using a line-skipping “Lightning Lane” (yes, FastPass is still trademarked by Disney and sounds better) one time on nearly every attraction. But even before guests can purchase the Lightning Lane Premiere Pass, they’re first required to stay at a Deluxe Resort. Those are hotels at Disney World like Grand Floridian, Contemporary, Polynesian and Animal Kingdom Lodge. In other words, think “expensive”. These hotel rooms average about $700 per night. Once you’ve spent $700 per night, plus purchased your resort tickets, now you can buy the Lightning Lane Premiere Pass. Here are the prices via WDW Magic:
Today’s pricing (October 30, 2024) is:
- Magic Kingdom: $329
- EPCOT: $169
- Disney’s Hollywood Studios: $269
- Disney’s Animal Kingdom: $129
A photo of Main Street USA in Walt Disney World via La Reina Creole YouTube
For a family-of-four, that’s $1,316 (before taxes) to get what was a free service at the Magic Kingdom. Imagine going from something that was free to something costs a grand! Add in the average cost of the hotel room required to get access to the service in the first place… and you’re already over $2,000 per day. How much this could cost as Disney adjusts prices for crowded days near the holidays is anyone’s guess, but we’re expecting bank account busting totals.
And remember, when we’re calculating the $2,000 per day for a family-of-four, we’re not even including the park passes themselves that get you through the turnstiles and can cost north of $200 per person. We’re not including food, souveniers or any other services Disney offers. We’re literally just counting what is required to get the Lightning Lane Premiere Passes.
Over in Disney’s Hollywood Studios, we’re testing out Lightning Lane Premier Pass! The standby wait was posted 10 minutes, and we waited 8 1/2 minutes in the Lightning Lane. pic.twitter.com/gE8CHovpqz
— Disney Food Blog (@DisneyFoodBlog) October 30, 2024
Is this a schrude business move by Disney or will this alienate consumers? We can’t be sure just yet, but it’s not a service most guests are likely to be able to afford.
