Disney’s next evolution to Lightning Lane ease and convenience has arrived. Disney World Premier Pass sprinkles an extra dose of pixie dust over park days with added line-skipping power, but is it really worth the hype and the added cost?
We took advantage of Disney World Premier Pass during its pilot phase in late 2024 and have written this Lighting Lane Premier Pass review. We’ll tell you what we liked, what we loved, and whether we really found it worth the ding to our wallet.
What is Disney Premier Pass?
Disney World Premier Pass is an iteration of Lightning Lane Single Pass and Multi Pass, formerly known as FastPass+ or Genie+. By purchasing a Premier Pass, guests are able to skip the regular queues on many rides, in favor of a faster queue called the Lightning Lane. Since access to the Lightning Lane is controlled, waits are minimal.
Disney World Premier Pass enables guests to ride every Lightning Lane enabled ride in a single park each day it is purchased without waiting in the regular queue.
Disney World Premier Pass Review: Premier Pass allows guests to skip the regular queue on most rides in favor of a shorter, more exclusive line called Lightning Lane. It’s a perk that can save you a tremendous amount of time and help you to see and do more within the parks.
How Does Disney World Premier Pass Work?
Since it provides access to the Lightning Lane, Disney Premier Pass works in much the same way as Lightning Lane Multi Pass. The key difference is that you do not need to book any Lightning Lane reservations.
If you aren’t familiar with Multi Pass or Single Pass, a short explanation is in order. With either of these services, you must pre-book a one hour window during which you have access to the Lightning Lane. If you miss your booking window, you’ve also missed your exclusive access opportunity to skip the regular queue.
A Lightning Lane Multi Pass or Single Pass reservation may only be booked once a day for each ride and each person visiting a park. With Premier Pass, you’re held to the same 1-ride per day rule, but you may access the Lightning Lane at any time you choose, without booking a reservation.
Disney World Premier Pass is available for most rides and is extremely easy to use. Once you’ve purchased the service, it syncs with your MagicBand, Key to the World Card or MagicMobile device to provide you with seamless access into the Lightning Lane. Simply tap, and you’re in, skipping even the longest lines in the park.
Premier Pass does need to be purchased in advance. Since there are a limited number of reservations available in each park for a day, it’s important to do this before leaving home. Guests of Disney World resorts, including Swan, Dolphin and Shades of Green, may do this up to 7 days prior to arrival for the length of their stay, through the Disney World app. Guests of other resorts may book Premier Pass 3 days prior to their scheduled park visit.
Disney World Premier Pass Review Summary: We found Lightning Lane Premier Pass to be a game changer during our day. There was no need to make Lightning Lane reservations prior to leaving home. Best of all, we had no need to keep a constant watch on our phones to book new Lightning Lane experiences each time we used an existing one. We found Premier Pass made our day more relaxing and enjoyable.
Understanding Disney Premier Pass Pricing
Disney World Premier Pass does incur a per person, per day charge. Prices vary depending on date and the park where you plan to use it. Prices start at under $200 per guest, per day for Animal Kingdom and top out at over $400 per person, per day at Magic Kingdom. Keep in mind these are per day charges. If you wish to use Premier Pass at multiple parks over multiple days, you will need to purchase it for each day and park.
Disney World Premier Pass Review: Is Disney Premier Pass Worth It?
Disney Premier Pass is definitely worth it if you’re visiting during peak travel seasons, such as around holidays or during popular spring break weeks. You’ll avoid the longest lines on nearly every ride and visit more attractions in the time that you have. This bit of advice is particularly true if your trip is short, say 5 days or less, and you also happen to be traveling during peak seasons.
We do find it hard to justify the cost of Disney World Premier Pass if you are traveling on an average vacation budget during normal to slower travel periods. For instance, our visit to Disney World’s Magic Kingdom in November on a day when Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas party was scheduled for the evening was already a sparsely populated park day. We could have easily skipped the $1,000+ we spent on Lightning Lange Premier Pass and found it just as easy to avoid the longest lines with a combination of Multi Pass and Single Pass. Using these two tools with a well thought out itinerary would have netted the same results, especially when the standby line wasn’t much longer on some rides than the Lightning Lane we accessed with Premier Pass.
On the other hand, the unlimited flexibility afforded by Premier Pass does have a strong appeal. You can float through the parks, doing what you want, when you want and stopping to enjoy the special surprises without worrying about hitting long lines or missing Lightning Lane reservations. On our Magic Kingdom park day, we took advantage of the Smellephants on Parade activity in Storybook Circus, chatted with cast members and even strolled aimlessly about taking pictures, all things we wouldn’t normally do when trying to beat long lines and keep appointments with Multi Pass.
Without a doubt, our Disney World Premier Pass review recommends purchasing this exclusive perk if your budget is expandable or you’re onboard for a big vacation splurge. There is something to be said for relaxing in the parks and still skipping lines. In essence, Disney World Premier Pass can afford you some of the perks of booking a Disney World VIP Tour at a lower price point.
Another advantage to Premier Pass that we particularly liked is the fact that you don’t need to book spots into the Lightning Lane. With Multi Pass, I am reaching for my phone nearly every time we enter a Lightning Lane queue to book our next Multi Pass experience. With Disney World Premier Pass, you’ve eliminated that task and worry.
One thing we did not like about Premier Pass were the few long lines we encountered. To be fair, this was somewhat our fault. Normally, I plan our day strategically, scheduling the more popular rides for earlier in the day and filling the later hours with attractions that typically have shorter queues anyway.
Since we had Premier Pass, I eschewed the itinerary planning, thrilled with the thought of a carefree Disney day. This left us hitting Tiana’s Bayou and Haunted Mansion following the afternoon parade, celebrating entry into the Lightning Lane with several other guests all flowing in after watching princesses and characters on elaborate floats.
The sheer number of people opting to use their Multi Pass or Premier Pass options at the same time did drive up wait times quite a bit. We waited close to 15 minutes for Tiana’s Bayou and around 10 minutes for Haunted Mansion in the Lightning Lane queue. Earlier in the day, we could have visited the 999 happy haunts with no wait through the Lightning Lane and with minimal delay for Tiana. The moral of the story is only this: The Lightning Lane may not always be a no-wait experience, even after shelling out the cost of a Premier Pass, but will almost always be shorter than the standby line.
Coming down to the saliant point, the question is this: Would we buy Lighting Lane Premier Pass again? Under certain circumstances, absolutely. If my budget happens to be padded with some extra funding, I would definitely book Premier Pass again, and I would make only one change. Either reserve Premier Pass at Magic Kingdom for a day when I know the parks are likely to be busy or reserve it for another park.
All in all, you can’t beat Premier Pass for flexibility and a relaxing park experience, but if your budget can’t support the purchase, it’s easy to garner the similar results using Multi Pass, Single Pass and a good itinerary. Just keep in mind when using Multi Pass, that unless you arrive early and start using reservations within an hour of park opening, you may find that passes to attractions sell out before you are able to book all of the Lighting Lane reservations you would like. As more people take advantage of Premier Pass, this may become an increasingly true reality, particularly if traveling during times of high capacity.
To get the best tips and strategies for using Multi Pass, be sure to read our complete guide to the Lightning Lane.
