Fixing the Problems With Disney World’s Premier Pass

The new Lightning Lane Premier Pass hasn’t even debuted, yet its flaws are readily apparent.

That’s significant because when Disney sells something at this price, it needs to be great from the start.

Realistically, that’s true of any major park addition. As an example, when’s the last time you used Disney Genie?

That’s a free theme park virtual assistant embedded in your My Disney Experience.

You’re probably not using it because you either heard it was bad or didn’t like it the first time you tried the app.

Disney has millions of dollars riding on Lightning Lane Premier Pass. So, it needs to get this right, but I’m skeptical that it has.

Let’s discuss some of the problems the Premier Pass has, along with suggestions to fix them.

Problem #1: The Gatekeeping

Disney wants to have its cake and eat it, too, with Premier Pass.

In addition to selling the service at a hefty price of up to $449 per day, you must stay at a Disney Deluxe Tier resort just to buy it.

That statement applies to Walt Disney World only, an aspect that hasn’t been well-publicized to date.

People keep pointing to this bit of gatekeeping, not always realizing that Disneyland Resort doesn’t have this rule.

Still, the overwhelming majority of Disney’s American hotel guests stay at Walt Disney World, which hosts a factor of five more resorts.

So, this rule matters, and it’s a significant sticking point. In truth, it’s a way for Disney to extend the cost of the service.

Unless you stay at a Deluxe Tier resort, the Premier Pass isn’t even an option, save for four possible exclusions. Those are:

• Shades of Green Resort
• Walt Disney World Dolphin Hotel
• Walt Disney World Swan Hotel
• Walt Disney World Swan Reserve

Here’s the full list of participating Disney hotels where you can buy the Premier Pass.

As you can see, those are Disney’s most expensive resorts. Now, I swear by the properties listed there.

As proof, we stayed at the Contemporary and the Polynesian during our most recent Disney trip.

I’ll be back there in two weeks, and we’re booked at Old Key West. I vote with my wallet, and all these places are great.

Still, you’ll pay a few hundred dollars more for these hotel rooms during your stay, as opposed to less expensive options at Value Tier and Moderate Tier properties.

Disney should change that, as it’s just too greedy.

If someone wants to book at an All-Star resort and spend their money on Premier Pass instead, that should be an option.

Problem #2: The One Ride Limit

One of the other Premier Pass rules isn’t one I’d expected.

Disney is obviously mirroring the Universal Express Pass, which comes in two forms.

The vastly superior version of it is the Universal Express Unlimited Pass, which comes as a free amenity to guests staying at their best hotels.

Frankly, that is the model I would have suggested that Disney employ.

Instead, Disney has implemented this policy for Premier Pass.

Guests will get to skip the main standby queue for every Lightning Lane attraction.

Instead, you will enter the Lightning Lane queue, which is shorter and generally gets you on the ride within minutes.

Anything that has a Lightning Lane queue is fair game for Premier Pass. Madison Owens compiled a full list of attractions here.

However, the rules for Lightning Lane Multi Pass state that you may only enter the Lightning Lane queue once per attraction.

Here’s the problem with the one-ride limit. Disney has created a kind of mini-VIP Tour.

We’ve discussed VIP Tours on several occasions. And we’ve also mentioned a couple of attempted cheats of the system.

Those were informational to Disney. The criminal activities highlighted that there was demand for a cheaper version of a VIP Tour.

At its core, that’s what Premier Pass is. You enter the attraction’s shorter queue whenever you want, just like on a VIP Tour.

With Disney’s best rides, once is never enough, though. On a VIP Tour, you can just re-ride whenever you want.

With the Universal Express Unlimited Pass, you can also ride as often as you want.

Instead, Disney has limited the appeal of the pass, primarily because Lightning Lane Single Pass rides are part of the package.

Disney should allow you to ride at least the Multi Pass options repeatedly.

Problem #3: The One Park Only Rule

During the short-lived Disney Genie+ era, the system originally allowed Park Hopping for free.

The catch was that you couldn’t book at a different park until after 2 p.m. since that was when Park Hopping began.

There was also a flat price that proved less than ideal for Disney.

Guests at Disney’s Animal Kingdom and EPCOT didn’t buy it as much.

So, Disney added a Park Hopper option to Disney Genie+ once Park Hopping returned to its pre-pandemic operations.

Since park officials needed to perform more crowd control at Magic Kingdom, the Park Hopper version cost the same as the Magic Kingdom one.

You’d expect Disney to adopt the same tactics here, but they didn’t.

Instead, the Premier Pass offers the following prices:

• Disney’s Animal Kingdom: $129-$199 plus tax  
• EPCOT: $169-$249 plus tax 
• Disney’s Hollywood Studios: $269-$349 plus tax
• Magic Kingdom: $329-$449 plus tax 

That’s nonsensical to me. Disney should offer a Park Hopper version with the same logic as with Disney Genie+.

Park officials should encourage guests to visit the other parks. That’s the crowd control mechanism for Magic Kingdom.

Some guests would buy Premier Pass to ride the Lightning Lane Single Pass attractions everywhere at Walt Disney World, but so what?

They’re paying up to $450 for the privilege, and those attractions on their own would cost no more than $100 if purchased separately.

That’s found money for Disney and provides a more enriching experience for guests.

Disney has indicated that it’ll tweak the system along the way, but I’m shocked Premier Pass will debut without a Park Hopper option.

That should be corrected before October 30^th. It’s that glaring an oversight to me.

Disney would sell a lot more Premier Passes if it worked at every Lightning Lane queue at Walt Disney World rather than at a single park.

Guests would feel like they’re getting much better value, whether they used Premier Pass at other parks or not.

Problem #4: The Price

When I discussed the possibility of the Premier Pass in October’s Disney Rumors, I used a pricing comparison.

In broad strokes, the Premier Pass is like an all-day version of Disney After Hours.

During that event, guests enjoy access to all the open attractions at a time when the park has closed for guests with regular admission.

These events generally cost $125-$200. So, that was the price range I’d expected, although I acknowledged something else.

You get all-day access, which is more valuable than a four- or five-hour after-hours event.

Frankly, I expected a price right around $200. But I was only partially right.

As you can see, Animal Kingdom and EPCOT fall into that range.

Meanwhile, Hollywood Studios and Magic Kingdom cost somewhere between more and A LOT more.

I totally understand the why of it, but the reactions I’m seeing are indicative that Disney has overshot by a bit.

Obviously, that’s anecdotal data, and we won’t know for sure until Premier Pass has been available for a few days.

Still, the simple fix here is that Disney needs to rein the pricing in a bit.

Alternatively, it could include some of the other options I mentioned like Park Hopping or multiple rides if desired.

As I said the other day, I don’t see the value at current pricing. But I might after some tweaks.

Final Thoughts

I’m not averse to this concept. As I’ve stated, I even plan to buy it for one day on my next trip. So, I’ll provide additional thoughts then.

My current perception is that the Premier Pass rollout appears likely to follow the same formula as Disney Genie+.

Once Disney identified the flaws with the system, it adjusted accordingly to create a better product.

With a few modest updates, the same thing can and should happen to Premier Pass.

Let’s not panic about anything here. Instead, let’s allow the early days to play out and go from there.

Disney has demonstrated a recent willingness to adjust to customer complaints and improve experiences over time.

That’s what should happen with Premier Pass, which is debuting in an imperfect form. But it does show promise as a concept.

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