Disneyland Eliminates Early Entry for Resort Hotel Guests Beginning January 5, 2026

[irlandaise]

I couldn't care less about the benefit one one (really?!) LL per stay. Doesn't come close to the benefit of EE every day and honestly, the price of one LL is not that important to people who are willing to fork over $600-$1200 a night for a hotel stay. I usually go with 1 or 2 other people, so that LL benefit is worth a whopping $64-$96 on a hotel stay that's going to run me nearly $6K for 6 nights.

It's worse than that. DLR hotel guests won't be getting a full LLMP for one day, only "one Lightning Lane entry to a Lightning Lane Multi Pass attraction."

As someone else pointed out, if an LLMP costs $36 on a certain day and you use it on six rides, this new perk has an effective value of only $6 for each hotel guest.

 

[geargrinder]

I'm DVC. I'm wondering if I booked each day as a separate reservation then have member services note my stays as "continuing". I'd get a LL on each day. Worst case, I'd have to check out and in each day. Not a huge deal, our stays are usually short and we pack light.

 

[irlandaise]

The cynic in me wouldn’t be surprised if their next move with regard to hotels is to begin getting rid of them entirely. Let the off sites handle the load and reclaim the space for more IP attractions, shops and dining.

Cynicism won't outweigh business considerations. Disney won't get rid of their hotels. The hotels are part of their theme park resort experiences.

 

[joseph821]

We will see, while the numbers are not high they are also not losing money

I think they just rather keep cutting costs like how we have wayyy less shows then pre covid.....so Disney Fans have shown they are down for lesser experiences and will still pay

I'd love to be wrong but Disney fans just seem to be fine with paying for things no matter what, most after night events sell out and even the Keys...the giant 60 dollar keys sold out
ntually
So would loveeeee to be wrong but think Disney is fine with "losing money" if it means it cost less to run

Eventually it will hit Disney..ABC and linear tv and cable assets are bleeding money....they will be sold eventually. You can only cut costs so much and you hit a wall. We will see if the Disneyland Resort hotels occupancy rate stay the same or increase or decrease.

They are NOT fine losing money at all...the press loves to put the spotlight on Disney and Disney is part of the DOW 30.

 

[Disneyland1084]

I agree that they are getting bit on the backside by cost of goods for construction now and going forward...we all know all that construction steel isn't coming from the US...but what's even more important...I don't think Disney gives a d*** about its customer base any longer..."if you don't like it,get outta line and let the next person go on" because they know people will still keep coming no matter how badly they are treated.

I have strong emotional ties to DL, that's why I go. Once in a blue moon, I get hit with some fairy dust and it makes it all worthwhile. But it hasn't been the place of my youth for A LONG TIME...and it makes me sad that they just keep cheapening the value of the experience for young families just starting out.

I totally agree with you. I despise the people that run Disney. I only go because I LOVE the rides and memories. You were right when you said DL doesn't care about their customer base anymore. I really, really hope Disney sees a massive decline in people who stay at their resort hotels. That's the ONLY way to get the message across.

 

[disneychrista]

I wonder how much of this is due to guest dissatisfaction with EE because of the mess at security. Rather than fix the underlying problem (security opening too late with too few lines with antiquated metal detectors) they just get rid of EE. Which will then just push the mess to regular rope drop.

Evening hours would solve the whole security fiasco btw!

Which would force park closures to earlier like they are at WDW. No one wants to see Disneyland closing at 9 or 10pm so they can "extend" the evening hours for hotel guests.

 

[joseph821]

Which would force park closures to earlier like they are at WDW. No one wants to see Disneyland closing at 9 or 10pm so they can "extend" the evening hours for hotel guests.

True but if they charge a price - they will.
I would not want it even though I always stay onsite. EE is the best way.

 

[JerrodDragon89]

lol

why are people trying to Give Disney bad ideas....do no close the park early for hotel guests

 

[Stank]

The economy is not great for most people right now, so they may be doing a big case of "finding out" in the near future, if you know what I mean. We've already spaced our trips out to every 2 years from yearly.

It’s actually doing well for most people. There are some holding out on purchases to make a point to themselves, but Home Depot called it out yesterday; the deferred spending by some won’t be long-lived. Their best monthly comp of the year was July where sales accelerated. Life has to go on. June tax receipts up +13% YOY. Unemployment 4.2%. I watch the DVC resale market; inventory has shrunk with a -250 drop in net available contracts on the marketplace since fiscal bill passed in early July. Nothing at all indicates a “finding out.” More likely holdouts are going to relent and buy just as Home Depot noticed in July for their quarterly report. Just as DVC resale inventory is shrinking with plenty of buyers.

 

[Stank]

Maybe but I've seen people pointing out Disney might be trying to save as much money on labor as they can....this program did cost them a good deal..not that they didn't make it back but they are going to see if only 10-20 percent drop and that is more than worth it to loose some people and have to staff less

Take 30 minutes times hundreds of employees times the days in a year times the hourly wages.

 

[RoseColored97]

Holy smokes, I didn't see this coming.

We liked staying at Club Level at the DLH. One of the main perks was to get EE so we could knock out rides, especially because we are now doing shorter/more frequent trips rather than the longer 5+ day trips that we used to do pre-COVID. There is not much drawing us back to on-site now, especially not CL because we with this change we will need to maximize time in the parks which makes CL not as useful.

The biggest downgrade, IMO, is to the GCH. There is not much point in using the side entrance near GRR when you are being let in at the same time as the main entrance, so are at a disadvantage of being on the opposite side of the park to the main headliner rides. Unless you run super fast, you will always be behind the crowd being let it at the main entrance.

I'm not really sure what they are thinking here. CMs have to be in before the parks open, anyways, to get things set up...what is an extra 30 minutes of operating costs really going to save?

 

[Smugpugmug]

lol

why are people trying to Give Disney bad ideas....do no close the park early for hotel guests

Agreed. That already sucks in WDW. I miss midnight MK closing times so much.

 

[mom2rtk]

I wonder if WDW will follow suit - they said early entry will continue (at WDW) through 2026 but who knows what could happen afterward.

WDW is more of a resort business with theme parks. DLR is a theme park business with hotels. So I could see them keeping it at WDW.

 

[LizzyS]

It’s actually doing well for most people. There are some holding out on purchases to make a point to themselves, but Home Depot called it out yesterday; the deferred spending by some won’t be long-lived. Their best monthly comp of the year was July where sales accelerated. Life has to go on. June tax receipts up +13% YOY. Unemployment 4.2%. I watch the DVC resale market; inventory has shrunk with a -250 drop in net available contracts on the marketplace since fiscal bill passed in early July. Nothing at all indicates a “finding out.” More likely holdouts are going to relent and buy just as Home Depot noticed in July for their quarterly report. Just as DVC resale inventory is shrinking with plenty of buyers.

Well yes, there are still wealthy people about to spend money and they will continue to do so.

 

[RoseColored97]

Take 30 minutes times hundreds of employees times the days in a year times the hourly wages.

Except, those rooms more than cover that cost.

GCH has 994 rooms, lets say they only have a 60% occupancy rate per night. Base nightly price is just at $600. That is $357,000 per night. Lets say they have to have 6000 cast members, making $30/hour to provide EE. That is $180,000 for 30 minutes prior to EE (to set up) and 30 minutes for EE. Obviously other operating costs go into that 30 minutes of EE, but they are still doing quite well on just the GCH alone during slow occupancy times while still providing that benefit. Not to mention the revenue brought in from the other two hotels. This is just greedy.

 

[OlliePop27]

Which would force park closures to earlier like they are at WDW. No one wants to see Disneyland closing at 9 or 10pm so they can "extend" the evening hours for hotel guests.

They are starting to close DL at 11 instead of Midnight on weekends this fall. I hope this trend does not continue. One of the best features of DL is the consistent 8-midnight hours.

If they start trimming those, it will be very disappointing.

 

[disneychrista]

They are starting to close DL at 11 instead of Midnight on weekends this fall. I hope this trend does not continue. One of the best features of DL is the consistent 8-midnight hours.

If they start trimming those, it will be very disappointing.

I can remember the parks not opening until 10am and closing at 8 or 9 in the "off season." But now there is barely any "off" times to go.

 

[katmigordon]

It's getting to a point where I'm starting to believe these defenders are being paid by Disney. There's no other explanation as to why you'd defend this and other stupid decisions Disney has made.

I would be more likely to think this if the parks didn't keep getting busier all the time.

 

[joseph821]

They are starting to close DL at 11 instead of Midnight on weekends this fall. I hope this trend does not continue. One of the best features of DL is the consistent 8-midnight hours.

If they start trimming those, it will be very disappointing.

There would be a revolution if Disneyland closed earlier than 11pm. I do not think the Southern Californian base would take that!

Except, those rooms more than cover that cost.

GCH has 994 rooms, lets say they only have a 60% occupancy rate per night. Base nightly price is just at $600. That is $357,000 per night. Lets say they have to have 6000 cast members, making $30/hour to provide EE. That is $180,000 for 30 minutes prior to EE (to set up) and 30 minutes for EE. Obviously other operating costs go into that 30 minutes of EE, but they are still doing quite well on just the GCH alone during slow occupancy times while still providing that benefit. Not to mention the revenue brought in from the other two hotels. This is just greedy.

Great analysis. This is pure Disney corporate greed. The new extra LL costs Disney nothing.

 

[katmigordon]

Just another reason to stay at a good neighbor hotel on Harbour (plenty of these are closer to the gates than Dland hotel/Pixar Place anyway) and 1/3-1/2 the price. Staying on property at Disneyland hasn't been worth it in a long time.

I just wish those same hotels had safe connection routes for ECVs. We're stuck using Disneyland hotels so we can use our ecvs which we can't get around much without.