Lightning Lane Premier Pass is launching October 23

This is very funny to me. We went in 2022, early 2024 and are on track to go again in early 2025 - each time for 4 days - and my perspective is, why spend $400 per person per day when we might just go again in another year or two HAHA!
My husband would be right on board with your line of thinking. He says we’ve been on all of these rides hundreds of times, except for the newer ones, but I don’t plan on riding MMRR again unless/until I go with young children at some point, and even RotR we’ve been on about 10 times. Of course, entertainment is his favorite thing about Disneyland, and there is so much less than there used to be :(
 
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?
I definitely don't expect Disney to offer charity to their customers, they are still running a profit-maximizing/less guest oriented business which they have shown time and again the past two years.

But $1600 for a family of 4 per day for a single ride on each attraction that offers Lightning Lane is a bit much for most people. That same family of 4 needs to pay at least $416/pd for the privilege of paying that $1600, because the Premier Lightning Lane does not include admission.

A theoretical $144/pp ($100 theoretical "unlimited/not really unlimited" pass + $27 RotR + $17 RSR) seemed about right to me which is why I went with that number. The $400 is greedy and pushing past the limit, but that is fine if we disagree.
 
My kids have some amazing Disney memories. Cookie decorating on Main Street. Interacting with characters without having to stand in long lines (seriously, Pluto probably spent 10 minutes just with my kids in Toontown on a slow day). Being chosen for the Jedi Academy (after many times having not been chosen) without signing up in the morning ahead of time. Photos with Minnie in Amelia Earnhardt costume just a few weeks after DCA opened and people were upset about the lack of characters (we didn’t care). Getting to play the piano at Coke Corner at the invitation of the pianist. Dancing around with the Country Bears while Billy Hill and the Hillbillies played holiday music. Seeing several musicals at the Hyperion (Blast, Aladdin, Frozen). And many more memories I’m sure I just can’t remember right now. It wasn’t scheduled and it didn’t cost extra.
We STILL talk about Billy Hill and the Hillbillies and the Sally May show in the Golden Horseshoe. It was such a bummer when they took out BH&HB, but at least they had some sort of entertainment in there with the various actors. We would go for 5-6 days and have lunch almost every single day in there just to see the show because they were hilarious. I was chosen as "Slewfoot Sue" and the bank teller girl in their various skits several times, even when we weren't sitting close to the front. It was so fun and the interactive nature of the show was incredible, people loved it.

I should have seen the writing on the wall when they started taking out those smaller entertainment offerings, but didn't realize how far the parks would go from how they used to be. It's the little things that make a difference in overall experience. It's sad, but at least we have a lot of great memories.
 
My husband would be right on board with your line of thinking. He says we’ve been on all of these rides hundreds of times, except for the newer ones, but I don’t plan on riding MMRR again unless/until I go with young children at some point, and even RotR we’ve been on about 10 times. Of course, entertainment is his favorite thing about Disneyland, and there is so much less than there used to be :(
Idk, I think some people are ride junkies and others just enjoy the parks as a whole and are not as focused on riding everything. In the old days of paper fast passes, we rode everything multiple times in a day. We are ride junkies. We get bummed out when we can’t ride everything we want. We also have a little wiggle room with funds and might consider the pass in the future. It’s ok to have options.
 

We also have a little wiggle room with funds and might consider the pass in the future.
I think there are a decent number of people like you. Based on your other posts, it sounds like you will be trying off site hotels in the future. If so, that will save you a chunk of change and might add a little more wiggle room to your funds.
 
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Idk, I think some people are ride junkies and others just enjoy the parks as a whole and are not as focused on riding everything. In the old days of paper fast passes, we rode everything multiple times in a day. We are ride junkies. We get bummed out when we can’t ride everything we want. We also have a little wiggle room with funds and might consider the pass in the future. It’s ok to have options.
Yep, DH is married to a ride junkie and has two ride junkie kids (young adults now). While there are some rides we’re willing to give a pass, and some rides that don’t have to happen every trip, there are most definitely some rides that missing out on would completely bum us out. I won’t go to DL if Space Mountain isn’t running, and riding it only once per day is rather sad.

I know change happens, and that guests have been asking for this kind of “front of the line” pass. I just think the LLPP isn’t really what people want — it’s not all that different than LLMP+LLSP, it’s just slightly more flexible. Express passes at Universal and Knott’s have shorter waits than the LLs at Disney.
 
I think there are a decent number of people like you. Based on your other posts, it sounds like you will be trying off site hotels in the future. If so, that will save you a chunk of change and might add a little more wiggle room to your funds.
That’s it exactly. We just paid almost $900 a night at the DLH for a subpar experience. I think the Westin will be our next stay for half that. That leaves about $400 a night for three nights that can be parlayed into one day where we get to ride whatever, whenever. I’ll take that!
 
Yes, but one must understand that if WDW priced this at $200, there would be FAR too many people using it and it would become useless, along with the LLMP benefits. The whole idea is to limit the number of people who opt-in.

USO is a whole different ball-game, with significantly lower numbers involved. At least at the moment. I think you will find USO modifying its policies once Epic Universe comes on line.
Here's why I think comparing Disneyland to Universal Orlando is a fair comparison for this purpose. I think there is a great deal of similarity between these two parks and the passes. Both (Disneyland and Universal Orlando) are small and compact. (Until Epic Universe opens) both major parks (Disneyland and DCA/Universal Orlando and Islands of Adventures) are close together and it is incredibly easy to park hop. In both parks (Universal Orlando and Disneyland) the pass allows you to use go right into the fast line without reserving/booking/selecting a time. This is why I did the price comparison between Disneyland and Universal Orlando. I thought they parks were similar.
I definitely don't expect Disney to offer charity to their customers, they are still running a profit-maximizing/less guest oriented business which they have shown time and again the past two years.

But $1600 for a family of 4 per day for a single ride on each attraction that offers Lightning Lane is a bit much for most people. That same family of 4 needs to pay at least $416/pd for the privilege of paying that $1600, because the Premier Lightning Lane does not include admission.

A theoretical $144/pp ($100 theoretical "unlimited/not really unlimited" pass + $27 RotR + $17 RSR) seemed about right to me which is why I went with that number. The $400 is greedy and pushing past the limit, but that is fine if we disagree.
I agree with you. It's okay to make a profit. It's not okay to charge an outrageous sum because they can. Personally, I think this pass should have been priced somewhere $150-$250.
 
Wow. To each his own. I appreciate Universal Studios more and more!
I'm in that boat too. We live in Florida and have been loyal Disney goers all our lives. This coming year our AP money is going to Universal. You get Express Pass free with hotel stays there. If only they had a DVC equivalent.
 
We STILL talk about Billy Hill and the Hillbillies and the Sally May show in the Golden Horseshoe. It was such a bummer when they took out BH&HB, but at least they had some sort of entertainment in there with the various actors. We would go for 5-6 days and have lunch almost every single day in there just to see the show because they were hilarious. I was chosen as "Slewfoot Sue" and the bank teller girl in their various skits several times, even when we weren't sitting close to the front. It was so fun and the interactive nature of the show was incredible, people loved it.

I should have seen the writing on the wall when they started taking out those smaller entertainment offerings, but didn't realize how far the parks would go from how they used to be. It's the little things that make a difference in overall experience. It's sad, but at least we have a lot of great memories.
OMG, I have so many of those same memories!
 
The attendance thing…. Disney has actually been trying to find ways to lower park attendance. Well, maybe I should phrase that as smooth out park attendance. A couple years ago at a quarterly shareholder call they vaguely mentioned/alluded to trying to control attendance (down) by saying that they were increasing prices to help improve the customer experience when in the parks. Customer satisfaction, likely wait times, was specifically something that was becoming a huge issue (this was just post pandemic)
I know you're talking about DL, and I don't really know about it, but I do know lots of folks who work at WDW, and I know that post-Covid, WDW was running most rides and restaurants at half capacity. They're still not back to running everything at full capacity. That's why restaurant availability was/has been so bad, why lines were/are so long, and why it has just felt insanely crowded ever since, in spite of attendance being down some months / years since pre-2020. It sounds like a convenient excuse to say they're raising prices to control attendance. They still have the stupid reservation system in place which accomplishes that. What they really need is not less guests in the parks; they need to hire back the full amount of CMs and get everything up and running at full capacity again. They need more guests (or more accurately, more money), but they have nowhere to put them all. The price hikes, from this standpoint, reek of desperation. Can they really not afford to hire enough CMs to run all tracks on all rides? Do they really need all these blatant and obvious cash grabs just to run the parks at current understaffed levels? It looks that way...
 
My uncle was very lucky to visit Disneyland in the 60's when he was a kid and he never ever had to pay to ride rides because my mom's uncle actually worked at Disneyland where he was their top executive and because of him my uncle got to ride all the rides he wanted as a kid. According to my mom her uncle was really happy working for Disneyland until he retired and then passed away. But i'm sure that if my mom's uncle was still alive today he would be shocked at the way Disneyland has become and be also shocked at the Lightning Lane Premier Pass. I can also think Disneyland will lower the prices for the VIP tours and the tours will get cheaper for guests due to this Lightning Lane Premier Pass
 
Basically Disney has forgotten that Walt created these parks for families, for parents to be with their children.
Sure as a single person paying $400 it's totally doable. But for families it's unthinkable. To not speak of international guests who spend multiple days at the park. Just crazy
 
Basically Disney has forgotten that Walt created these parks for families, for parents to be with their children.
Sure as a single person paying $400 it's totally doable. But for families it's unthinkable. To not speak of international guests who spend multiple days at the park. Just crazy
Sure but Disney is an American company and hence it should be expected that it follows American customs. Our own government up sells you on our freeways by selling lightning lane access.
 
Basically Disney has forgotten that Walt created these parks for families, for parents to be with their children.
Sure as a single person paying $400 it's totally doable. But for families it's unthinkable. To not speak of international guests who spend multiple days at the park. Just crazy
But why do you object to its existence?
Even before this, the wealthy could still just do VIP tours.

If you feel it is overpriced for what you get, then simply choose not to purchase it.

I don't mind it existing as an option myself.
 













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