Disney World’s Line-Skipping Premier Pass Now Available to More Guests

It's been nearly a month since Walt Disney World introduced Lightning Lane Premier Pass which allows guests at the parks easy access to all the Lightning Lanes at a luxury price.

Premier Pass includes all of the rides currently offered by the Lightning Lane Multi Pass and Single Pass experiences at Walt Disney World without needing to book return times. This means that guests simply scan into each Lightning Lane entrance whenever they like which greatly simplifies a day in the park and allows far more ride access.

The Premier Pass is a luxury service and has a price to match. Now this new service has been expanded to offer availability to more guests!

Disney World Expands Eligibility to More Hotel Guests

Previously, the Walt Disney World Premier Pass was only available for purchase for guests staying in deluxe Disney resort hotels.

There is a very limited quantity of the Premier Pass available for each theme park for each day to help control how many guests are in the Lightning Lanes at one time. The price range for Premier Pass at Walt Disney World ranges from $129 (Animal Kingdom on a non-busy day) to $449 (Magic Kingdom on a peak day) per person.

Disney has updated the Premier Pass website to expand eligibility to guests staying at all Walt Disney World hotels, not just those staying in deluxe hotels. This means now any guest staying on-site at Walt Disney World has the option of purchasing Premier Pass! This includes all Disney Resort hotels, Walt Disney World Dolphin Hotel, Walt Disney World Swan Hotel, Walt Disney World Swan Reserve and Shades of Green Resort.

Is Disney World Premier Pass Selling Out?

Walt Disney World's Premier Pass sold out for the first time for Thanksgiving Day at both Magic Kingdom and Hollywood Studios and is now sold out for additional days that week at both those parks.

But I don't think we can necessarily use this data as a good indication of demand since this is during Thanksgiving week which is one of the busiest days of the year according to our Walt Disney World crowd calendar. I can see the logic of many families taking that big holiday Thanksgiving trip and opting to purchase Premier Pass as a splurge.

Aside from Thanksgiving week, we haven't seen the pass consistently selling out which may indicate a bit of a lackluster demand on regular days of the year outside of peak travel dates. Opening up the eligibility to all hotels helps fill in the gaps in demand between peak travel weeks like Thanksgiving and Christmas. But based on this data, I also think this is a good indication we will see Premier Pass sell out during Christmas week. Especially now with purchasing being available to all hotel guests.

READ MORE – Don’t Waste Your Lightning Lane On This Popular Disneyland Ride

Premier Pass Availability Opens Up New Strategies

Premier Pass now being available to all Walt Disney World hotel guests, including those staying at value hotels, opens up a new possibility of strategizing. The cost of a Walt Disney World deluxe hotel is such a drastic difference from a value resort that guests could effectively stay in one of the cheapest value hotels and then use that money saved from a deluxe resort to purchase Premier Pass for some of their trip.

If you had already planned on a deluxe hotel and had the budget for it, this might be something to consider. It gives guests more options on how to customize their trip and prioritize what they want to spend their money on. Personally, I love some of the value resorts (Pop Century, looking at you!) more than some of the moderate and deluxe resorts so I could see this trade off working well with some guests.

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