Lightning Lane Premier Pass Starts Selling Out for Christmas Week 2024

Dec 16, 2024 in "Disney Genie"

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Lightning Lane Premier Pass logo

Posted: Monday December 16, 2024 9:50am ET by WDWMAGIC Staff

The Magic Kingdom Lightning Lane Premier Pass has officially sold out for December 22, 2024, marking the first date during the busy Christmas holiday week to reach capacity.

Following the high demand during Thanksgiving week, this sell-out signals the start of what is expected to be another high-demand period for this new Disney World add-on.

Thanksgiving Week Trends

Thanksgiving week provided the first glimpse of the Lightning Lane Premier Pass's popularity after going on sale in October. All four parks sold out for November 25, the Saturday of Thanksgiving weekend, with Magic Kingdom, EPCOT, and Hollywood Studios seeing multiple sold-out dates across the week.

Magic Kingdom was the most sought-after park, with Premier Passes selling out for five consecutive days from November 23 to November 28. Hollywood Studios also saw strong demand, with four sell-out dates over the same period. Despite what many consider to be high-pricing for Lightning Lane Premier, these trends underscored the appeal of skipping standby lines for headlining attractions during some of the busiest days of the year.

What to Expect for Christmas Week

The sell-out of Magic Kingdom on December 22 (priced at $429) suggests that the Christmas week could follow a similar pattern to Thanksgiving. Historically, the Christmas and New Year's holidays bring the heaviest crowds of the year to Walt Disney World. Popular parks like Magic Kingdom and Hollywood Studios are likely to experience additional sell-out dates for the Lightning Lane Premier Pass in the coming weeks.

Guests planning to visit Disney World during Christmas week should take note of the following:

Plan Early: Guests can purchase the Premier Pass up to seven days before their resort stay. Availability is limited, so purchasing as soon as possible is recommended.
Monitor Sell-Out Trends: With December 22 already sold out, other dates—particularly December 24 through December 31—are likely to sell out soon.
Consider Alternative Options: If Premier Passes are unavailable, guests can use Lightning Lane Multi Pass or Lightning Lane Single, which may still be available.

Why the Premier Pass Is in Demand

The Lightning Lane Premier Pass offers unmatched flexibility compared to other Lightning Lane options. Guests can skip standby lines and enjoy one-time access to all available Lightning Lane attractions in a single park for one day, with no need to schedule arrival windows. The pass also includes Disney PhotoPass perks, making it an attractive option for those looking to capture holiday memories.

Looking Ahead

As Christmas week approaches, sell-out dates for the Premier Pass are likely to accelerate, especially for Magic Kingdom and Hollywood Studios. Guests visiting Walt Disney World during this time are encouraged to act quickly if they plan to purchase the pass for their trip.

Discuss on the Forums

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MrPromey10 minutes ago

What if they announced it was going away at the end of the year? 💩

DCBaker6 hours ago

Lightning Lane Premier Pass at Magic Kingdom is now showing as sold out for today:

SingleRider4 days ago

Back in the days of Genie+ if you had an ME pass and a later Genie+ time reserved for the ride it would pull the Genie+ reservation, even if you were HOURS early for it. And if that was your most recently booked reservation you could immediately book another. And if your ME pass was also valid at that next attraction - wash, rinse, repeat.

Tigger&Pooh4 days ago

The prevailing suggestion is to make sure you use the LLSP within the stated window (9am-10am in your example). Don't rely on any "grace period" before or after because it may take the PP at that point.

MickeyLuv'r5 days ago

Isn't what due to weather? The lack of passes?

Chi845 days ago

Isn’t that due to the weather, though?

MickeyLuv'r5 days ago

We pretty much had the opposite reaction to LLMP, given how empty the parks were this past week. The days I bought it, I thought the prebooking options were a sad joke, especially once we saw how empty the parks were. The standby waits were so low we sometimes just used the standby queues instead of booking passes. The other big problem I have with LLMP is that there is a ghost passes. We'd start to book a pass and initially be offered what appeared to be a 2-3pm pass, but then the time of the actual pass would be vastly different. Instead of 2-3pm, it would be a 3-4pm pass, or even sometimes a 7-8pm pass. That's just bad.

JD806 days ago

Not to say it could never happen, but there is no rumor about it. It's mostly speculation that gets echo'd around social media.

Spoonful of Sugar6 days ago

Just returned from WDW, using MP on a few of our days - worked well. Reminded us of FP days. We are a larger family and would never be able to justify adding such a high price tag for PP for any given day for all of us. Is there any truth to rumors that MP & SP will be eliminated...eventually leaving PP as the only option for the Disney parks?

HoustonHorn7 days ago

That's exactly how it works.

Purduevian7 days ago

Can't guarantee it. However, in the past Disney has always "used up" the most restricted valid pass when tapping in. For instance if you were holding both a ME pass and a LLMP for an attraction, the system would automatically use the LLMP. I assume it would work the same way for LLPP, but might be worth asking before tapping in.

JD807 days ago

Good question.

EpcotTom7 days ago

How would the following be handled... I purchase a Premier Pass for Epcot and a Lightning Lane Single Pass for Guardians. The single pass is for 9am-10am. I enter the lightning lane for Guardians at 9am. Which pass will be used? I'd hope the single pass leaving the premier pass usable at any time the rest of the day.