Disney World’s Lightning Lane Premier Pass will soon be made available to ALL park visitors!

When Lightning Lane Premier Pass launched towards the end of 2024, the program seemed to be a compromised solution to making attraction reservations all day and feeling glued to your phone screen while on vacation. We’ve seen Lightning Lane Premier Pass even sell out consistently day after day during some of Disney World’s heaviest seasons when it was exclusively available to Disney World hotel guests. Now, all of that is about to change!
Disney World has just announced that starting on January 21st, Lightning Lane Premier Pass will be available to anyone who wants to purchase it. This version of lightning lanes will allow its purchaser the ability to walk up to rides and attractions throughout the day and scan into the lightning lane without having to make a prior reservation for the experience (like is the case for Lightning Lane Multi Pass users).

In the announcement Disney has also said that Disney World hotel guests will still keep an advantage over day ticket park visitors. If you’ll be staying at a Disney World hotel for your visit, you’ll still be able to purchase Lightning Lane Premier Pass at 7 days out from your trip, and now that the program will be open to day ticket visitors, they will be able to purchase the same option as early as 3 days prior to their visit. This is the same process that is in place for Lightning Lane Multi Pass and Single Pass currently.

This is an interesting turn in how Disney World intends to see the piloting of the Lightning Lane Premier Pass working for those visiting for the day and of course we’ll be eager to see how this program works for day visitors purchasing without being Disney World hotel guest, if it sells out completely (and how quickly), and if there are any growing pains to the system along the way.
We’ll be sure to keep you updated as we learn more about the changes to this program and report back on how it may affect your next Disney World visit. Be sure to stay tuned with us at AllEars for all of the latest Disney news, updates, changes, and more!
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Does this change encourage you to purchase Lighting Lane Premier Pass on your next Disney World trip? Tell us why or why not in the comments below!
Price gouging is what Disney is all about now. I have been DVC member since 1998 and I remember when Disney actually gave you something for your money. Now everything is an extra charge and not worth it anymore. I am from NJ so we fly in when we come. We usually come as a family during the summer because my son and daughter in law teach. It was nice to have transportation from airport, fast pass, and airport check in at hotel when leaving. That’s all gone and ticket prices are ridiculous. I will not pay for a Lightning Lane pass but as things continue it will be impossible to ride popular rides when my family comes down. My granddaughter will be 3 1/2 and 6 of us are coming down in December. 10 of us will also be there this July. Once these trips are done I will look to sell back my DVC points since it is no longer a fun place to go. Disney has ruined the fun and magic of Disney just the opposite of what Walt Disney envisioned. I think more and more people feel the same and will look for other places to take their families. They will have to rely on rich people and people from other countries who come periodically. Little by little their revenue will be effected because they priced out the average middle class individual and families.
To me they just monetized the DIS pass. My husband travels with a service dog & is on federal disability but he is not eligible for the pass BUT you can buy lightning lane.
The disability pass has never been intended to be a front-of-the-line pass; it was made so people who cannot wait in line due to the nature of their disabilities can wait elsewhere for that length of time. Just having a disability does not make one eligible since most disabilities do not prevent waiting in a line like something like severe autism might prevent. A service dog (I am also a handler) does not prevent one from waiting in line, either. There are no privileges for disabilities, only accommodations, and the pass is not an accommodation for your husband or me or most other people with disabilities. Entitlement like your husband’s makes others look bad as the most of us just want to enjoy things like everyone else, not take advantage of our health issues.
Sounds like just another way to gouge the visitor into paying considerably more on top of the ever increasing admission price. We were annual pass holders for many years. Since COVID, the cost and complexity of enjoying a day at Disney is simply no longer worth it. Fortunately, we still have fond memories of something that no longer exists – the Happiest Place on earth.
Agreed!
Agreed. I don’t know if I’ll ever go back to Disney (save for winning a free trip) as it just doesn’t seem worth it with the costs always increasing and benefits decreasing and having to plan your rides in advance etc. instead of having a relaxing vacation. I can go relax in and explore another country for less than the cost of going to Disney nowadays. I grew up going to Disney at least once a year, usually at the Polynesian, and it has changed so much since then and out of what Walt designed it to be. Sad.