Disney Tips Your Guide To A Great Disney Vacation
Magic Kingdom Park and Disney’s Hollywood Studios are undergoing extensive work, but that isn’t stopping guests from ensuring expedited access to their most popular attractions.
The Premier Pass, introduced as Disney’s top-tier Lightning Lane upgrade, comes with a premium price tag that fluctuates depending on park and date. At Magic Kingdom, prices have ranged from roughly $379 to $449 per person, while Hollywood Studios tends to fall between $269 and $349. Across the resort, Disney’s pricing scale places the Premier Pass anywhere from around $129 up to $449, depending on demand and season.
As we turned the calendar to October, Disney fans were met with a familiar sight: the Premier Pass had officially sold out for the Columbus Day weekend at both Magic Kingdom and Hollywood Studios. According to a recent WDWMagic report, the sold-out dates span October 6 (at Magic Kingdom only) and October 11 through October 13 for those two popular parks.
To put this in perspective, Columbus Day is observed in the United States on the second Monday of October—in 2025, that falls on October 13. Many Americans treat the occasion as a long weekend, taking advantage of extra days off to travel, visit family, or head to popular destinations like Walt Disney World. That tradition consistently pushes park attendance to higher levels, which in turn makes premium add-ons like the Premier Pass the first to sell out.
Columbus Day weekend marks the first big fall/winter attendance push, with the Walt Disney World Resort preparing for large crowds on Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s. This comes after a slower summer season at the Central Florida destination.
With that kind of cost, it’s striking to see how quickly the passes disappeared. The sellout underscores just how strong demand remains for Disney’s “skip-the-line” experience, especially during peak travel periods. Columbus Day weekend is a particularly popular time for visitors looking to enjoy one last taste of Florida’s late-summer weather before the holiday rush officially begins, so competition for those top-tier experiences is always fierce.
Related: NEWS: Walt Disney World Issues Immediate Price Increase
In short, Columbus Day weekend 2025—October 11 through 13—has already been wiped clean of Premier Pass availability for both Magic Kingdom and Hollywood Studios. Guests hoping to use the service during that stretch will need to adjust their plans, look for alternative dates, or prepare for longer waits in standby lines as the holiday crowd descends on Walt Disney World.
How do you feel about Disney World’s costly Premier Pass continuing to sell out despite criticism that vacations are becoming too expensive? Let us know in the comments below!
