Theme Park Scope

If you have ever refreshed a Disney ticket page while whispering “please, please, please,” today’s news is going to feel painfully familiar.

Lightning Lane Premier Pass has sold out on a long list of dates at Walt Disney World, and by most accounts, these are the first Premier Pass sellouts since Easter weekend back in April. Columbus Day falls on Monday, October 12, and it looks like a whole lot of people had the same idea at the same time.

First, a quick refresher for anyone who has never priced it out. Premier Pass is the top tier of Disney’s skip-the-line add-ons. It gives you one-time access to the Lightning Lane for every eligible attraction in a single park for the day, with no return times to book. It also costs a lot more than the other options. Prices change by park and date, and recent checks put Magic Kingdom’s Premier Pass somewhere in the neighborhood of $379 to $429 per person for the next few weeks, so check the My Disney Experience app for the exact price on your day.

Here is what is sold out right now, based on the latest availability update.

At Magic Kingdom, Premier Pass is sold out on Monday, October 5, Wednesday, October 7, and every single day from Friday, October 9 through Monday, October 12. That means there is no Premier Pass available for the entire holiday weekend at the park.

At EPCOT, it is sold out on Saturday, October 10, and Sunday, October 11.

At Disney’s Hollywood Studios, it is sold out on Friday, October 9, Saturday, October 10, and Sunday, October 11, plus Tuesday, October 13. Notably, Monday, October 12, is not on the Hollywood Studios list in the latest update, even though earlier reports had it as sold out, which is a good reminder that these numbers change by the hour.

And at Disney’s Animal Kingdom, there are no Premier Pass sellouts at all.

It helps to remember what a sellout does and does not tell us. It does not tell us exactly how crowded each park will feel, since plenty of people who buy Premier Pass are just paying for convenience on a day they already planned to visit. But it is a pretty reliable signal that a lot of guests are heading to the parks and that many of them want to save time in line. Premier Pass has a habit of selling out around holidays and breaks, and Columbus Day weekend is following that pattern.

Here is a little detail I found interesting. Based on the October party calendar we covered recently, Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party is on Friday, October 9, but not on Saturday, October 10, Sunday, October 11, or Monday, October 12. On party nights, Magic Kingdom closes to guests without party tickets at 6 PM, which shortens the day. On the non-party days, the park runs its full schedule, which means Premier Pass holders get a much longer day to use it. That is just my own observation, not something Disney has said, but it fits with why the weekend dates went first.

If you were hoping to use Premier Pass and missed it, you are not out of options. Lightning Lane Multi Pass and Single Pass may still be available for your date, although those can sell out too, so it is worth checking sooner rather than later. And if you are the kind of planner who likes backup plans, a travel agent through Adventure Awaits Travel Company can help you think through dates, parks, and what is actually worth paying for on your trip, at no cost to you.

Honestly, I am not shocked, and I am a little torn. On one hand, I completely understand the appeal. A holiday weekend at Magic Kingdom is the exact situation where paying extra to skip the stress sounds like a great idea, and if you only have one day, I get why a lot of families would pay for the peace of mind. On the other hand, there is something a little funny about an add-on selling out that fast, because it tells you the day is going to be busy enough that everybody wants a shortcut, which means the shortcut will not feel as short as you hoped.

If it were me heading to Magic Kingdom on a day like that, I would spend my energy on the unglamorous stuff: arrive early, pick two or three must-do rides, and let everything else be a bonus. It is not as exciting as buying your way out of the line, but it has saved more than one of my park days. And if you are going to be there on a Premier Pass-free day anyway, you are in very good company.

We will keep an eye on Premier Pass availability for the rest of the fall, so come back and hang out with us at Theme Park Scope, and tell us in the comments if you are one of the people who got a spot this weekend.