Lightning Lane Premier Pass is launching October 23

[gottalovepluto]

Haha that’s what I assumed. I guess they have to limit it in WDW because of how many resorts they have.

It's also a single park only offering in WDW so there are fewer LLs available per purchase than at DL.

 

[disneychrista]

The thing is, I think a lot of people — myself included — managed our disabilities with FastPass and then MaxPass (which was really the best). When those options went away, I think many disabled people looked into DAS for the first time, increasing the number of people who used it. In other words, Disney used to have a free option to reduce line wait times (FastPass) that was good enough for many disabled people. When a paid option became the only choice, those people started looking at DAS. Sure, there were cheaters, and I’m sure there are still cheaters, but a lot of people got pushed into asking for DAS versus managing their disabilities themselves. Plenty of people would rather not have to go through the DAS screening process, which is invasive and in the past was inconsistent in terms of approval.

I can sympathize with the restroom issue, as one of my disabilities is moderate-to-severe ulcerative (pan)colitis. Certainly there are times when going to Disneyland isn’t an option at all. But even when I have symptoms under control, the stress and anxiety of long lines can cause issues (that’s just part of the disease, as you probably know with IBS-D), and there are times that my UC means I have very little energy, or significant pain. In those cases, I might manage a lightning lane line wait, but not a standby wait. I have had to leave a lightning lane, and that’s just part of it. Right now I am coming out of a major flare and my iron levels are so bad I will need to either use a rollator walker (so I can have better balance with dizzy episodes, sit immediately if needed if I get lightheaded, and also to have a place to sit if we can’t find one for the parade) or a wheelchair.

We paid for LLMP for our upcoming trip, in an attempt to make it easier on me. Pushing a walker to every (non-accessible) ride exit to get a return time makes me exhausted just thinking about it. If this $400 LL premier pass offered more than it does (such as unlimited rides, access to all rides, or a faster line time than the LL return lines), I probably would pay for it for one day, just to have a better experience.

I know I never considered DAS as an option before my last trip in May. It was only after seeing IBS discussed on a DAS thread that I went "What?, I can get DAS? Why didn't I think of that before?"

Yes just the stress of being away from home can be a trigger. Unfortunately, even with taking my normal medication and adding Imodium into the mix there are issues.

 

[brightlined]

...

 

[LKing]

For WDW they say you have to be staying deluxe. I haven’t seen anything stated for DLR. Can anyone buy it for DLR? My wife and I are taking our kids for a spur of the moment trip December 25-29. With how busy the parks will be then and how little we get to do things like this we might splurge for at least one day of premier pass. But we’re staying at The Westin Anaheim so it would need to be open to everyone.

If you end up doing it, will you come back and report on how it went?

 

[AstroBlasters]

A couple years ago we bought the ILLs for Rise the morning of our last day at the parks. Kept going down and we never did get on that day. In that case I was able to contact support after the trip and they refunded us the cost of the ILLs, but like you say what if the same thing happened with the Premier Pass? Doubt they'd give you a portion of the cost back even though that would seem justified.

They could give you a multi experience pass for a future date I suppose

 

[disneychrista]

They could give you a multi experience pass for a future date I suppose

Couldn't you use the MEP for a second ride on different attraction, just like you can now?

 

[AndrewC]

Couldn't you use the MEP for a second ride on different attraction, just like you can now?

And that's what I'm wondering... based on how often Rise and Indy go down, it might be fairly likely that you could get a couple during any given day and if I could turn around and use those on Rise or Indy when they came back up.... well now again the needle moves a little more towards this would be nice to have...

 

[AstroBlasters]

Couldn't you use the MEP for a second ride on different attraction, just like you can now?

But I wouldn’t want to if I was trying to use it for Rise or Radiator Springs… they’ll have to figure that out…

 

[lsutigers03]

If you end up doing it, will you come back and report on how it went?

Absolutely. Originally our plan was to get to our hotel around around 5:00pm on Christmas Day then rest and take it easy. My wife thinks it would be really cool to try and get an extra day in the parks on Christmas Day. We'll have to see how long the parks will be open before we decide to go on our arrival day. We would only do premier pass for one day. If that was the case would I need to buy tickets with LLMP for the days we'll use that and then a separate purchase for the one day we'll do premier pass? I fell like it's so new at this point that no one knows if Disney will simply upgrade people who already have LLMP but want premier pass.

 

[disneychrista]

But I wouldn’t want to if I was trying to use it for Rise or Radiator Springs… they’ll have to figure that out…

But it is unlikely that any attraction would be down the entire day, you could ride it when it comes back up. Plus they don't adjust the price of LL when an attraction goes down for maintenance, so I am doubting they will do anything more than they normally do when an attraction goes down.

 

[disneychrista]

. We'll have to see how long the parks will be open before we decide to go on our arrival day.

Most likely DL will be open until midnight and DCA until 10pm.

 

[lsutigers03]

Most likely DL will be open until midnight and DCA until 10pm.

On Christmas Day? If we can get 4-6 hours I might add on another day.

 

[Steven G]

I view it as a budget vip tour. Yes, it's without the guide, and it's only once per ride, and only LL rides, and no shows, but I think this is who they are catering to. For someone who's been to DLR a few times and doesn't need the guide, it's a pretty good deal compared to the vip tour. For the regular park goer, especially with 3 or more people, it doesn't make a lot of sense

 

[AstroBlasters]

But it is unlikely that any attraction would be down the entire day, you could ride it when it comes back up. Plus they don't adjust the price of LL when an attraction goes down for maintenance, so I am doubting they will do anything more than they normally do when an attraction goes down.

Unlikely, but not impossible. It will happen to someone at some point, so they should have a process for it if I am paying $400.

 

[MonocularVision]

Old news

I am glad to see how expensive it is. Rather than going for a bunch of tiers of experience it looks like it will just be VIP, LLPP, LLMP and local magic key holders

 

[RoseColored97]

That is atrocious. I expect some level of corporate greed from the company now, but this is too much. I mentioned before our last trip that I would love for there to be an unlimited option, but when I said that I was thinking it would be something like $100/day not $400...and for only one ride each!

Somehow this feels more outrageous than paying $950/night for a room at the Grand Californian for 5-nights like we did a few years ago.

We're definitely taking a break from the parks.

Edit: I can't believe this is the same park as just 10 years ago where you could with no advance planning; fly into California and check into a hotel, purchase your ticket at the gate the day of, enter through Disneyland and get FastPasses for rides every 2-hours, see Mickey and the Magical Map in the Fantasyland theater (or Frozen at the Hyperion), watch a parade during off-season, then go and stake out a spot for Fantasmic right at the front railing.....all for FREE once you paid for your $92/per day ticket. It's not the same park anymore.

 

[twodogs]

That is atrocious. I expect some level of corporate greed from the company now, but this is too much. I mentioned before our last trip that I would love for there to be an unlimited option, but when I said that I was thinking it would be something like $100/day not $400...and for only one ride each!

Somehow this feels more outrageous than paying $950/night for a room at the Grand Californian for 5-nights like we did a few years ago.

We're definitely taking a break from the parks.

Unfortunately they already charge (and get!) $3500-5600 for 7 hours of unlimited (mostly) ride access for a VIP tour, so I see no way that they would offer any similarly unlimited product for anything less than that. Maybe they would charge a little less than a VIP for an unlimited LLPP, if LLPP did not include shows/parades/a tour guide, but definitely not $100 pp. They are grabbing for cash here, and I suspect they will get it, unfortunately.

Some people who couldn’t stomach the price of the VIP may be able to justify this. For me, I feel like I can do really well with LLMP, EE, modifying and hoping for a few MEP in there. As long as they leave G+ around the current price, LLPP will not be worth the upcharge to me. We have done several VIP tours when my parents and my kids are with us, and those are a very special treat, few and far between. But they have much more value to me than this LLPP because you get re-rides on almost everything, a guide to manage ride closures, character access, shows and parade and fireworks viewing, someone to grab a coffee for everyone, etc. But I see many people who currently buy G+ who will upgrade to the LLPP now.

 

[RoseColored97]

Unfortunately they already charge (and get!) $3500-5600 for 7 hours of unlimited (mostly) ride access for a VIP tour, so I see no way that they would offer any similarly unlimited product for anything less than that. Maybe they would charge a little less than a VIP for an unlimited LLPP, if LLPP did not include shows/parades/a tour guide, but definitely not $100 pp. They are grabbing for cash here, and I suspect they will get it, unfortunately.

Some people who couldn’t stomach the price of the VIP may be able to justify this. For me, I feel like I can do really well with LLMP, EE, modifying and hoping for a few MEP in there. As long as they leave G+ around the current price, LLPP will not be worth the upcharge to me. We have done several VIP tours when my parents and my kids are with us, and those are a very special treat, few and far between. But they have much more value to me than this LLPP because you get re-rides on almost everything, a guide to manage ride closures, character access, shows and parade and fireworks viewing, someone to grab a coffee for everyone, etc. But I see many people who currently buy G+ who will upgrade to the LLPP now.

Maybe unlimited was the wrong word choice. "Unlimited" meaning, you can go on any one ride as many times as you want every 2-hours, similar to legacy FP. You can only hold one pass at a time, every two hours. Instead of what GP+ is now where you can select a FP for a specific time, but only are allowed one chance to ride per day.

I honestly thought the VIP tours were a bit more. It actually works out to be cheaper than the premier pass if you go during non-peak times and take 10 people.

 

[twodogs]

Maybe unlimited was the wrong word choice. "Unlimited" meaning, you can go on any one ride as many times as you want every 2-hours, similar to legacy FP. You can only hold one pass at a time, every two hours. Instead of what GP+ is now where you can select a FP for a specific time, but only are allowed one chance to ride per day.

I honestly thought the VIP tours were a bit more. It actually works out to be cheaper than the premier pass if you go during non-peak times and take 10 people.

I agree with you on all of this!

I just looked up the pricing of VIP, and that is for the lowest priced day. It goes up to $800 per hour, so $8000 if you want 10 hours. But yes it is for 10 people, so would be cheaper pp than LLPP if you go on the least expensive day and only do 7 hours on the VIP (not including tip, which is optional, but we always feel the guides deserve it because they are certainly not getting much of the thousands we pay for the tour itself!).

 

[AstroBlasters]

That is atrocious. I expect some level of corporate greed from the company now, but this is too much. I mentioned before our last trip that I would love for there to be an unlimited option, but when I said that I was thinking it would be something like $100/day not $400...and for only one ride each!

Somehow this feels more outrageous than paying $950/night for a room at the Grand Californian for 5-nights like we did a few years ago.

We're definitely taking a break from the parks.

Edit: I can't believe this is the same park as just 10 years ago where you could with no advance planning; fly into California and check into a hotel, purchase your ticket at the gate the day of, enter through Disneyland and get FastPasses for rides every 2-hours, see Mickey and the Magical Map in the Fantasyland theater (or Frozen at the Hyperion), watch a parade during off-season, then go and stake out a spot for Fantasmic right at the front railing.....all for FREE once you paid for your $92/per day ticket. It's not the same park anymore.

If it was $100 then too many people would buy it. That’s basically the same price people are paying now for LLMP + the two single pass rides.

So why would we expect Disney to offer a new service that doesn’t make them any more money?