Lightning Lane at Walt Disney World

[pdude81]

We always went to MK the first or second full day of our trip, and were always able to get both of those attractions fairly easily.

They were certainly doable because of the large number of FP attractions at MK and the resort window, but PP mentioned getting the headliners at the times they wanted. I also don't think that going back to FP+ is a good choice, as the transitions to a more flexible and fluid experience is good for customers in the long term. It's exactly what people say they like about the competition. The problem is that they dug a big hole by not keeping up with capacity over the past decade, and in this "profits now" environment they need a way to find a way to "pay for" infrastructure upgrades and show big returns on new rides. Again I think the problem here is in horrible execution of a decent idea, but if they don't start building quicker it's going to get ugly if/when the hordes return.

 

[crazy4disney]

They were certainly doable because of the large number of FP attractions at MK and the resort window, but PP mentioned getting the headliners at the times they wanted. I also don't think that going back to FP+ is a good choice, as the transitions to a more flexible and fluid experience is good for customers in the long term. It's exactly what people say they like about the competition. The problem is that they dug a big *** hole by not keeping up with capacity over the past decade, and in this "profits now" environment they need a way to find a way to "pay for" infrastructure upgrades and show big returns on new rides. Again I think the problem here is in horrible execution of a decent idea, but if they don't start building quicker it's going to get ugly if/when the hordes return.

as i have said i truly never had an issue getting them in the am as one of my 3 FP+ attractions and most times the 9am one to start the day.... FP+ basically gave you the flex by booking multiple rides thruout the course of the day or booking them all at night or all in the afternoon if you were a rope dropper.... genie gives you literally no flexibility at all & forces you to make decisions at 7am when you are half asleep still in bed for your family & then the best part is when you book SDD if you are lucky enough to snag one you wait and see what time they tell you to return lol. I cant see more than 15% of people actually enjoying this

 

[Homer fan]

At MK we were able to get 10 genie+ reservations, and we still had 2 hours left when we stopped. This was this week, and as we left the park we still could have made another reservation. Crowd size seemed pretty typical for MK. Thanks to Len's touring plans we avoided all the long lines even though there were long lines throughout the park.

I am not a fan of paying for it, and was very skeptical of it going in. But this trip convinced us to use it for magic kingdom as long as its in its current iteration for the foreseeable future. My wife says she spent less time on her phone then she did with the old fastpass+ system (outside of playing with the photolenses).

Edit - went back and checked, we actually did hit double figures on genie+ selections. I missed our Dumbo genie+

That’s great! I mean, I don’t mind spending the money if it’s worth it. We are doing 7 park days and will only be on site for 5 of them, so I was not going to get G+ for the days we aren’t on-site, because we likely won’t get any decent rides. I’m just wondering if I should expect to not get on much at all during those days.

 

[MickeyLuv'r]

Yes, if you can book.

They have been booking up fast, and onsite guests have the advantage of being able to book for length of stay at 60 days out from their check-in date, like ADRs.

And the rate is anything from $450-$800 per hour, minimum of 7 hours. It’s variable pricing so it depends when you’re going.

I don't think it is actually for me.

But it is weird to see how the pricing stacks up against simply staying at a deluxe resort.

 

[MickeyLuv'r]

At MK we were able to get 10 genie+ reservations, and we still had 2 hours left when we stopped. This was this week, and as we left the park we still could have made another reservation. Crowd size seemed pretty typical for MK. Thanks to Len's touring plans we avoided all the long lines even though there were long lines throughout the park.

I am not a fan of paying for it, and was very skeptical of it going in. But this trip convinced us to use it for magic kingdom as long as its in its current iteration for the foreseeable future. My wife says she spent less time on her phone then she did with the old fastpass+ system (outside of playing with the photolenses).

Edit - went back and checked, we actually did hit double figures on genie+ selections. I missed our Dumbo genie+

It might be helpful to know what G+ you got, and roughly the order/timing. Simply saying 10 G+...well that could be barnstormer(20), parade (better spot), dumbo (25), teacups (20), Aladdin (15), philarmagic (10), monsters (15), Little Mermaid (15) , Speedway (25), and Small World (35). standby according to Genie = 180min

Or it could be: Jungle Cruise (60), Space (50) , Splash (60), Peter Pan (60), BTMRR, HM (50), Pooh (30), Meet Cinderella (currently at 50min), and Buzz (55) for a Total standby according to Genie = 415 min

 

[DCBaker]

Beginning May 31st, Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure will no longer be on the Individual Lightning Lane list and will move to the Genie+ list of attractions through at a least August 7th (Remy's joins Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway, Frozen Ever After, Space Mountain and Expedition Everest in this list through August 7th).

 

[kalel8145]

Beginning May 31st, Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure will no longer be on the Individual Lightning Lane list and will move to the Genie+ list of attractions through at a least August 7th.

What will be the ILL at EPCOT? I m assuming Guardians and any idea what else if any?

 

[DCBaker]

What will be the ILL at EPCOT? I m assuming Guardians and any idea what else if any?

Cosmic Rewind and Remy's until May 30th. Each park will then only have 1 Individual Lightning Lane for now (until at least August 7th).

 

[kalel8145]

Cosmic Rewind and Remy's until May 30th. Each park will then only have 1 Individual Lightning Lane for now (until at least August 7th).

Thanks!

 

[Po'Rich]

Beginning May 31st, Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure will no longer be on the Individual Lightning Lane list and will move to the Genie+ list of attractions through at a least August 7th (Remy's joins Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway, Frozen Ever After, Space Mountain and Expedition Everest in this list through August 7th).

Aaaggghhhh! I'm heading back home (as away from WDW) on the 30th!

 

[Disney Glimpses]

Frustrating to see the desperate inventory needs of Genie+ that they are only offering one attraction per park as ILL. I wish they would go the extra mile and suspend ILL altogether.

That being said, somewhat unrelated, the 7am and 1pm VQ drops for Guardians should help alleviate not only the crowds at the other parks but the Genie+ usage as many, many more people will be reserving EPCOT as their first park.

 

[FutureCEO]

If Disney doesn't offer free fastpass, then they should combine Genie Plus and Lightening Lane and charge it so not a lot of people will pay it so the lines don't get bogged down. $100 maybe.

 

[Andrew25]

If Disney doesn't offer free fastpass, then they should combine Genie Plus and Lightening Lane and charge it so not a lot of people will pay it so the lines don't get bogged down. $100 maybe.

Universal starts at $110 - Disney can charge 2x as much for Magic Kingdom.

 

[kong1802]

Universal starts at $110 - Disney can charge 2x as much for Magic Kingdom.

Yep. This is what I keep saying. If WDW were to go this route, the price would be a lot higher than most hope for.

$250 minimum for an express type add on that doesn't allow for re rides.

And that's probably low

 

[mikejs78]

I wish they would go the extra mile and suspend ILL altogether.

I wonder what the reaction would be if they suspended ILL altogether and raised the price to $25. This would, however, remove any resort benefit to the whole Genie+/Ride skip system.

 

[Jeff4272]

That’s great! I mean, I don’t mind spending the money if it’s worth it. We are doing 7 park days and will only be on site for 5 of them, so I was not going to get G+ for the days we aren’t on-site, because we likely won’t get any decent rides. I’m just wondering if I should expect to not get on much at all during those days.

Not sure why you wouldn’t get any good rides with genie+ by staying offsite?

All guests can book their first at 7am, offsite and onsite. Only disadvantage offsite has it you cannot book ILL until park opening (resort guests at 7am) and you don’t get morning or evening hours.

 

[HoustonHorn]

I wonder what the reaction would be if they suspended ILL altogether and raised the price to $25. This would, however, remove any resort benefit to the whole Genie+/Ride skip system.

Not if they only allowed resort guests to book at 7, and non-resort guests had to wait until park open to book their first.

If they would make the second one available 2 hours after you book your first (or use one), it would also spread out the "hits" on their system, which now runs every two hours after park opens for every guest.

 

[SingleRider]

I wonder what the reaction would be if they suspended ILL altogether and raised the price to $25. This would, however, remove any resort benefit to the whole Genie+/Ride skip system.

One idea: all attractions are under Genie+ but resort guests pick their first at 7am, offsite at park open.

 

[HoustonHorn]

One idea: all attractions are under Genie+ but resort guests pick their first at 7am, offsite at park open.

Hmmm...I think I like this idea.

 

[Ripken10]

Not if they only allowed resort guests to book at 7, and non-resort guests had to wait until park open to book their first.

If they would make the second one available 2 hours after you book your first (or use one), it would also spread out the "hits" on their system, which now runs every two hours after park opens for every guest.

We took that into account when we booked ours. We waited till the 7:05 am refresh, and got a 10:05 Jungle Cruise (was late afternoon before the refresh). After we rode Jungle Cruise we were now selecting our 2nd genie+...better yet we were doing it at a set...at least our plan was to do every 2 hours from there (10:15-12:15-2:15)...but we ended up getting Pirates as our second for 10:50 (despite the 45 min disney posted wait time), so we were booking our 3rd genie+ before 11 am.