Disney's new 'lightning pass' promises a lot - but the cost is eye watering

Disney has launched a new 'lightning pass' which comes with a lot of perks, but it is not cheap.

The Mouse House's new Lightning Lane Premier Pass is designed to only be used by a few guests, and will be priced per person per day, based on the date and demand. The new pass allows visitors to use a faster line at any time during the operating day — once per ride — without having to reserve it on the app.

Prices for the pass range between $137.39 (£105.87) and $478.19 (£368.57) and will be available at Walt Disney World Resort in , from October 30. It will also be available at Disneyland Resort in for $400 (£308.31) per person per day, from October 23.

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At Disney World, the pass will also be priced based on the specific park you’re visiting, Disney shared with For example, it will cost $137.39 (£105.87) to add the Premier Pass to an Animal Kingdom park ticket on a less busy day, and that pass would work only in Animal Kingdom.

EPCOT’s pass would cost more,a bit more than that, with the most expensive Premier Pass at Magic Kingdom. To buy a Premier Pass for the Magic Kingdom park on a very busy day such as , it would cost $478.19 (£368.57), in addition to the price of park admission.

The new pilot programme will only be available to guests staying at Disney World's deluxe hotels and must be purchased seven days in advance of check-in. On the other hand, at Disneyland the Premier Pass will work differently. It will be available to all guests for the same price, and can be used both at Disneyland and Disney California Adventure parks on the same day. For this pass, guests will be able to purchase it two days in advance.

There are some other catches with the costly benefit. Not every attraction will have a faster line. In total, 55 attractions will have have Lightning Lanes across four of the Disney World parks and 24 at the two Disneyland parks.

Previously, if visitors wished to cut the queues they needed to purchase a 'Multi Pass' which would allow access to the faster lines by reserving them one at a time in the resort's app. Some of the most popular rides also had a separate 'Single Pass', which allowed guests to buy access to the faster line for just one ride.

The passes were considerably cheaper, but required a lot of strategizing in the app. This Premier Pass dispenses with all those steps by allowing guests to simply hop in the faster line, wherever available, at any time.

If individuals don't wish to fork out hundreds of pounds, they can still purchase a multiday ticket to the attractions and add on 'Multi Pass'.