A banner for Lightning Lane Multi Pass at Downtown DisneyBack in August, my family and I spent a few days in Anaheim when we took our whirlwind RV trip across the country. That, of course, included some time at Disneyland Resort. Since our time was limited we purchased Lightning Lane Multi Pass and were able to hit everything that we wanted! It worked just as well as Genie+ had on other trips. Since we used to purchase MAXPASS, I wasn’t even too upset about having to buy it. I felt like it was money well spent, and it helped us to get the most out of our time at Disneyland.
Back in August (and in the Genie+ days) it was easy to get plenty of Lightning Lane rides. We would scan one, check the Disneyland App, and make a reservation for just a few minutes away. I think the farthest out reservation in August was about half an hour.
Fast forward to October 18. My daughter and I flew to California to attend Oogie Boogie Bash on Sunday. We have the Enchant Magic Key, and that Friday was our only full day in the Disneyland Parks because we were blocked out on Saturday and Sunday. We wanted to make the most of our day, so we bought Lightning Lane Multi Pass again. This time, it was a totally different experience.
The main ride we wanted to go on was Space Mountain. It had been closed the past two times we were at Disneyland, and the California version is so much better than what we have in Florida. We bought Lightning Lane Multi Pass as soon as we entered Disney California Adventure that morning, and I immediately checked on Space Mountain. The first available LL time was 1:20. That seemed pretty far off, but we booked it, knowing that we couldn’t make another selection for two hours. We then went and enjoyed some time in Disney California Adventure.
When the two hours had passed we decided to make a second selection. We picked our other must-do at Disneyland, Indiana Jones Adventure. The earliest time available was 9:00 PM! We booked it immediately, and the time jumped to 9:25. We had to wait two more hours to make our third selection. We decided that was okay, none of the Lightning Lane rides had close times.
So what was different? It wasn’t the crowd levels, both days were packed. (August was during D23, the Ultimate Disney Fan Event, so there were people visiting from across the globe!) It wasn’t the park hours. There was one thing I could think of, the announcement of Lightning Lane Premier Pass.
While the new Lightning Lane tier was not yet being used during our day, I do think that it played into the problem. With Lightning Lane Premier Pass, you don’t have to make any Lightning Lane reservations. You just walk up to the LL entrance, scan your phone or MagicBand+, and in you go! Lightning Lane Premier Pass at Disneyland comes with a premier price. It’s $400 per person at Disneyland! How are they going to convince people that they need to spend that much extra money if they can ride everything that they want when only buying the Lightning Lane Multi Pass?
This of course is speculation on my part, but I think the available number of Lightning Lane Multi Pass reservations has been cut drastically. The days of riding back to back attractions without waiting in the Standby Line are most likely over. And even though this was my experience at Disneyland, I bet the same thing will happen at Walt Disney World. It’s soon going to be a lot harder to do everything that you want with Lightning Lane Multi Pass in Florida.
We did make a third Lightning Lane selection on our Disneyland day. When our second two hour period was up, we booked Pirates of the Caribbean. The Disneyland App said 8:00 PM when we looked, but by the time we officially booked it our return time was 9:40. I’ve seen the times jump up before, but never by that much!
The next time we’re at Disneyland, I will probably buy Lightning Lane Multi Pass again. It did come in handy for two of our favorite rides. It also includes PhotoPass, so we took advantage of that. But I can’t recommend it with the same enthusiasm that I felt back in August. And there is no way that I’m adding an additional $400 per person to my ticket for Lightning Lane Premier Pass. I may be a Disney addict, but I have my limits!