I've been following this thread since the beginning, but this is my first post! I wanted to share my data-driven review of our experience with the Premier Pass for Dec 29 - 31.
I was super excited to hear the announcement of this pass. We had already booked our trip to WDW from Dec 26-Jan 2 before the announcement, and when I heard about the pass I hoped it would make this trip even more magical. And it definitely did.
We got LLPP for HS on Dec 29 for 3 people, MK on Dec 30 for 2 people, and Epcot on Dec 31 for 2 people. We also got LLMP for Dec 29 and 31. On Dec 29 we started the day in AK and used LLMP/SP for 4 rides, rode 7 rides at HS with LLPP, and 3 rides at MK at night with LLMP. The only standby ride we rode was Peoplemover twice.
Summary of 3 days:
- Rides with Premier Pass: 27
- Rides with Multi/Single Pass: 10
- Rides with standby: 2
- Total rides: 39
- Average wait: 9min
- Average posted wait: 70min
- Average time saved per ride: 61min
- Shortest waits: Peoplemover 0min, Mad Tea Party 2min, Everest 3min, Navi 3min, Jingle Cruise 3min, Spaceship Earth 3min
- Longest waits: Guardian’s 22min, FoP 20min, Haunted Mansion 20min, Tron 20min, Soarin’ 20min
- Shortest times saved: Pirates 5min, Mad Tea Party 13min, Mermaid 16min, Safari 20min
- Largest times saved: Remy 170min, FoP 165min, Frozen 159min, Tron 125min
- Total waited: 342min (5.7 hours)
- Total time saved: 2,368min (39.5 hours)
- Total cost for Premier+Multi+Single Passes: $2,860
- Cost per minute saved: $1.21
Subjective Thoughts:
The cost was worth it for us.
Would we go to Disney World again between Christmas and New Years if we got the Premier Pass? Absolutely. Would we go with just Multi Pass? Probably. Would we go with no
lightning lane at all? No.
Would we get the Premier Pass for a trip during a less crowded time for a party of 2 or 3? Probably, because being able to tour the parks in an efficient order (a circle), and being able to ride every ride in a day, is not something we’ve been able to easily achieve with regular FastPass+/
Genie+/MultiPass. We’ve done it but it felt like the exception not the rule.
Would we get the Premier Pass with a bigger group, like 10 people? No, we’d look into a VIP tour if it was a short trip and rides were our top priority and we could afford it.
Pros:
- While the parks were packed, it never felt stressful. The crowds didn’t feel impactful like they have on other trips. We were never in a hurry to get to the next ride.
- The flexibility of riding whichever ride we wanted to next was great. We’d get off of a ride and ask “what should we ride next?”
- Much less walking than usual. My feet were happier than previous trips.
- Combining Multi Pass and Premier Pass meant we could skip rides in 3 parks in one day. On Sunday I’m glad we made the Premier Pass our afternoon park, so we could book the morning rides in advance and the evening rides that day during the morning/afternoon.
Cons:
- The cost was a sticker shock.
- Premier Passes sold out more than 7 days ahead for all 3 days we booked it for. Dec 29 sold out for HS on the 21st at 7:02am, Dec 30 sold out for MK on the 21st at 7:04am, and Dec 31 sold out for Epcot on the 23nd at 3:27am. (Source: thrill-data . com). We got all 3 on Dec 19.
- The benefit we got at Epcot felt less than MK and HS. Part of this is there are only a couple of rides with really long waits, and we did MultiPass+SinglePass this day too. I wouldn’t get both Premier and Multi/Single on the same day at Epcot again, even on the busiest day of the year.
I posted a more detailed review with ride wait / time saved breakdown on reddit. I'll share the link in another comment right after this in case linking to reddit isn't allowed. Hope this helps anyone decide whether the PP is worth it for your party!
Edit: Updated total cost and cost per minute saved, since I originally included the cost for the other days of our trip too.