The highest tier of Disneyland’s Lightning Lane, the Premier Pass, is intended to guarantee one-time entry to each available Lightning Lane attraction in both parks. When it comes to the Disneyland Resort, the mega-expensive offering is best for guests visiting the “Happiest Place on Earth” for the first — and possibly only — time, as it essentially guarantees (operation permitting) rides on the most in-demand attractions at both Disneyland and California Adventure. It’s likely not nearly as necessary for Southern California locals, or others who have visited the resort multiple times in the past and plan to continue doing so in the future.
Mission Breakout!
Back to the “one-time entry” part of Premier Pass, though, while that holds mostly true across the board, there’s a hack that allows TWO rides: Guardians of the Galaxy: Mission Breakout. However, there is a seasonal catch!
Both Guardians of the Galaxy: Mission Breakout and Guardians of the Galaxy: Monsters After Dark — the spooky Halloween overlay of the Marvel-based attraction that runs each night during the season — are eligible for Premier Pass rides.
Guardians of the Galaxy: Mission Breakout
As the name would imply, Monsters After Dark runs at night — though, due to popular demand, the change occurs at 2:00 PM each day as of 2025 — with the normal iteration of Mission Breakout running from park open until 2:00 PM. So, if you want to use your Premier Pass to ride both versions, you’ll need to ride Mission Breakout before it shuts down for the day. You will NOT be able to wait until the changeover happens and then Monsters After Dark twice.
©Disney
Guardians of the Galaxy: Mission Breakout opened in 2017 as the first major Marvel attraction at the Disneyland Resort. The attraction, a re-theme of the California Adventure version of the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror, follows Rocket Raccoon on a “thrilling mission to rescue the Guardians of the Galaxy from the Collector’s fortress.”
©Disney
The Monsters After Dark version first debuted in 2017 as well. The Halloween overlay takes place chronologically after the events of the main version of the attraction and centers around Rocket needing to rescue Groot, who was “left behind” following the events of the initial ride, from a group of escaped monsters. Monsters After Dark runs each evening from August 22nd to October 31st in 2025.
Monsters After Dark
While Disneyland’s new Lightning Lane Premier Pass only allows one ride on each eligible attraction, there’s actually a way to ride one popular Disneyland Resort ride twice during spooky season. Stay tuned to DFB for more on Disney’s newest offerings.
How To Avoid Booking “Junk” Lightning Lanes in Magic Kingdom
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I wonder if that works for the regular lightning lane passes for those two versions of the ride. I have never tried that.