Those looking to coast through the Lightning Lanes at Disney World's attractions soon won't be limited to the existing single and multi-pass options with the announcement of the new "Lightning Lane Premier Pass" Wednesday that will allow park goers to skip lines at one park for an entire day—but it won't come cheap.
Lightning Lane sign at Space Mountain in Tomorrowland at Disneyland in Anaheim, CA, on Wednesday, ... [+]
Walt Disney World and Disneyland announced the new premiere pass Wednesday as the ultimate version of the currently-available Lightning Lane passes, which allow buyers to purchase a skip-the-line ticket for a single ride, and then they are assigned a time to return to the attraction and speed through to the front (you can buy more than one single skip ticket, but there’s currently no way to buy them for every ride in the park).
With the new premiere pass, however, buyers will be able to use the pass once-per-ride at every single attraction a park has to offer in a single day, and they don’t have to wait for an assigned time to use it.
There’s no park-hopper version of the pass for Disney World visitors; it only works in a single park for a single day and prices will vary based on the date and theme park.
At Disneyland in California, the Lightning Lane Premier Pass will include access to attractions at both Disneyland Park and Disney California Adventure.
Get Forbes Breaking News Text Alerts: We’re launching text message alerts so you'll always know the biggest stories shaping the day’s headlines. Text “Alerts” to (201) 335-0739 or sign up here: joinsubtext.com/forbes.
The premiere pass will become available for Disneyland visitors on Oct. 23 and be available on a first-come, first-served basis. Disney World will begin piloting the pass on Oct. 30 only for those staying at Deluxe and Deluxe Villa resorts, like the Animal Kingdom Lodge and Grand Floridian. The passes will become available seven days before the first day of a trip.
At Disneyland, passes will be sold for $400 per day for the rest of this year and will fluctuate in cost between $300 and $400 next year, depending on the popularity of the day. At Disney World, prices will vary based on the day and park. Tickets will be the cheapest at Animal Kingdom (between $129 and $199 per person per day) and the most expensive at Magic Kingdom (from $329 to $449). They will also be available for EPCOT ($169 to $249) and Hollywood Studios ($269 to $349). The pass is purchased in addition to theme park entry, which range from $104 to $206 at Disneyland and $109 to $189 at Disney World.
With the exception of Magic Kingdom, the Lightning Lane Premiere Pass is on par with the cost of similar offerings at other theme parks. At the Universal Orlando Resort, for example, express passes range in price from $89 to $319 per person. The most expensive tickets there, however, do allow unlimited fast-pass access to the attractions for the day, where the Disney pass is still limited to one use per attraction per day.
The Walt Disney Company reported a 3% decline in operating profit at its theme parks in its third quarter results in August. Operating profit of Disney's Experiences division declined to $2.2 billion in the third quarter compared to the same period the year before, driven by climbing costs and a lack of attendance growth (U.S. locations are still struggling to return to pre-pandemic attendance levels). Single digit declines are also expected in Q4. On the earnings call, Disney CFO Hugh Johnston said lower-income customers are feeling a financial strain keeping them out of parks and higher-income customers are choosing to travel abroad instead, a trend he said will likely continue. Also in August, Disney announced major expansion plans for Disneyland that include a ride based on the Pixar film "Coco," a new land based on Avatar: The Way of Water" and "Avatar: Fire and Ash" and an audio-animatronic show called "Walt Disney: A Magical Life."