As of last Wednesday, Disney’s Premier Pass has finally returned! Yeah, I’ll keep dreaming. Walt Disney World has, however, officially launched their new Lightning Lane Premier Pass. Now, Walt Disney World guests are offered three Lightning Lane services, with Single-Pass, Multi-Pass, and the all new Premier Pass. Has Disney’s attempt to monetize a free service backfired on them? Let’s take a deep dive into Walt Disney World’s Lightning Lane conundrum.
Prior to the Covid-19 lockdowns, guests visiting Walt Disney World could participate in the free FastPass+ system, which allowed guests to pre-book three skip-the-line passes for the attractions of their choice. Once used, guests could book additional passes pending availability. Upon reopening in July 2020, Disney announced the service would be indefinitely suspended due to social distancing and reduced park capacity, and in August 2021 Disney announced a new paid service, initially called Genie+, would replace the FastPass+ offering. Initially starting at $15 per person, guests could purchase the service, which would allow them to book return times for select attractions once per day. Some of Disney’s most popular attractions, such as Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance and Avatar: Flight of Passage, could only be accessed through Individual Lightning Lanes, which ran for an additional fee per person.
Since the service's inception, Walt Disney World has altered the service several times, officially rebranding Genie+ as Lightning Lane Multi-Pass last summer. Just like FastPass+ the rebranded service allows guests to book 3 multi pass experiences prior to their visit. Pending availability, guests can book additional experiences. Guests with Park Hopper tickets can also book at other parks. Essentially, Lightning Lane Multi-Pass is FastPass+ with shorter booking windows, but now costs guests between $15-$39 per person per day. Walt Disney World’s biggest attractions are not included in this service, unlike FastPass+. With the rebranded Lightning Lane Single-Pass, guests, regardless of whether they have Multi-Pass, can book return times for Disney’s newest E-Tickets, such as Tiana’s Bayou Adventure, Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind, and TRON Lightcycle/Run. The single entry reservations range from $10-$25 per person, per ride.
Now introducing the exclusive Lightning Lane Premier Pass, eligible guests staying at Deluxe Resorts can purchase the front-of-the-line upgrade, which allows guests to select one park to access all Lightning Lane experiences once without booking a return time. This new offering does not work between parks and costs between $129-$449 per person per day.
Don’t get me wrong, I am not a FastPass+ apologist. If you knew how to work the system, FastPass+ was great! However, the high level of guests using FastPass queues made Stand By wait times almost unmanageable throughout the busier times of year. The free service benefited returning guests rather than families on vacation, which is exactly why Disney has committed to making this service an upgrade. Unfortunately, Disney’s slow commitment to the premium service has crafted a unique problem within its resort. While still attempting to cater to families, Disney has gutted a free system in favor of an upgrade that is a skeleton of FastPass+. Queues are better than they used to be, but the premium upgrade still floods Lightning Lane queues, significantly slowing down Stand By times. They have also introduced an additional layer of complication when planning a Walt Disney World vacation, which, unfortunately, replicates a huge problem with FastPass+.
The real question is “how does Disney manage this half-baked attempt at replicating the success of their FastPass system?” My answer is look for inspiration down I-4. Universal Orlando Resort offers two variations of their Universal Express service, one allows guests to skip the line at all attractions once-per-day, and Express Unlimited allows guests to skip the line at most attractions as many times as they wish per day. The premium product is expensive, ranging from $90-$350 per person per day. With that in mind, it is packaged as a premium offering that not every guest will have access to. In addition to the price, Universal does not offer Express on their newest attractions, making accessing the resort’s most popular experiences fair game for all guests. The product does gatekeep those with less expendable income from access to the upgrade, but also limits the number of people using the system. Guests staying at select Universal Orlando Resort hotels also receive the service as a part of their hotel stay, which is an incredible perk for those choosing to stay on-site. While Disney has actively chosen to avoid offering an upcharge skip-the-line service like Universal Express, their solution to solving crowd problems within the parks has been less than successful both in streamlining the park experience and with guest satisfaction.
I understand that Disney wanted to keep the service accessible to the majority of guests. I don’t think they need to copy Universal Express to find a proper solution to the ever growing complications of planning a Walt Disney World vacation, they just need to repackage the system. Offering guests at Deluxe Resorts the ability to purchase a Universal Express-type service is incredibly smart. One of the largest complaints with the loss of FastPass+ has been the lack of included perks while staying at a Walt Disney World Resort hotel. While not as stellar of a deal as getting it for free, offering a premium upgrade to those staying at the most expensive hotels is a logical move. It is unfortunate that Value and Moderate hotel guests are left out of that offering. Over the past decade, Walt Disney World has slowly stripped hotel benefits, such as Extra Magic Hours and Disney’s Magical Express, in favor of upcharge offerings. Disney has the perfect opportunity to encourage guests to stay at their resort hotels by offering the ability to purchase Multi-Pass (updated to include Single-Pass experiences) as a perk to hotel guests. Making Multi-Pass a hotel perk would make the number of guests using the system more predictable for the resort, helping operations. Offering Single-Pass (with an expanded roster of attractions) to day guests could, very well, increase profit for the service as well. This might not completely eliminate the reality of slow Stand By lines, but it would at least limit the service and incentivize the value of staying on property, something Disney has lost over the past few years. I would love to see this service be complementary to hotel guests. Realistically, I do not expect Disney to offer any Lightning Lane service for free anytime soon.
The service has made Disney a significant amount of money over the past 3 years, which was revealed to be nearly $1 billion after the company’s Slack leak earlier this year. Based on Disney’s continuous updates to the system, it is clear they have not yet found their stride with this product. Hopefully, we will see Disney find a balance between profit and value as Lightning Lane continues to evolve and expand.
Read More Walt Disney World: