The Early Entry perk for guests staying at Disneyland Resort hotels has officially ended as of January 5, 2026. The benefit used to give gifts staying at a Disney resort 30-minute early entry to a designated theme park each day. With this old (and awesome) benefit eliminated, guests staying at on-site hotels are now given one Lightning Lane entry that they can use at some point during their stay.
To be clear, let’s break down the new change with language that’s straight from Disney. We’ll underline the important parts.
Old Early Entry:
Guests who are checked in and staying at one of the Disneyland Resort hotels can take advantage of 30-minute early entry to a designated theme park every day of their hotel stay to enjoy select attractions, dining and shopping locations.
Replacement:
Guests who are checked in and staying at one of the Disneyland Resort hotels can instead take advantage of one Lightning Lane entry to a Lightning Lane Multi Pass attraction during their Resort stay.
That’s not one Lightning Lane pass per day. The new “perk” gives each guest one Lightning Lane pass total for their stay. That means a guest staying for 5 days on property is going from 5 days of early access at the theme parks to one Lightning Lane pass. It’s a significant downgrade. With some planning, you used to be able to make it on a couple of attractions during the Early Entry window. That’s in addition to how nice it was entering with reduced crowds.
We hate seeing yet another perk for on-site guests removed. We know it’s all about money and operating costs, but Disney’s replacement for the old Early Entry perk is laughable. At the very least, Disney could give guests a Lightning Lane pass for each day of their visit. That’d take some of the sting out for guests staying for multiple days.
Disney continues to strip away the value for guests staying on property at either Disneyland or Walt Disney World. It’s a topic we’ve talked about quite a bit for Walt Disney World. Disney charges a premium to stay on property, and that’s fine as long as there’s enough perceived value for guests. The continued removal of hotel perks has damaged that perceived value, making many wonder if Disney will backtrack.
We’ve already seem some changes in Disney World with the limited return of the airport luggage service. But, Disneyland is a different beast and changes will only be made if hotel occupancy softens.
