Lightning Lane at Walt Disney World

[Jeff4272]

They would but IMO it would upset people even more. Right or wrong Disney guests won't accept waiting in lines.

There are MANY more more problems with Genie+ than just this.........the list is very long

Its terrible on a lot of fronts

 

[mightynine]

People often compare Universal's attractions to WDW's. And then I remember all those times I visited the parks without riding a single attraction and still had the best day.

I get where you're coming from - my last trip a few months ago with my girlfriend, we spent a good part of our days just tooling around transport, hitting up resorts for Tervises? Tervii? (she loves to collect them), and it was nice to enjoy a boat ride or two on Seven Seas Lagoon.

But then I think, for the cost of doing that, I could be visiting someplace that's real. Compare that Lagoon ride to say, riding the Seattle ferry, and seeing some truly beautiful scenery or driving up into the mountains, on my own schedule, no rush - for possibly cheaper than a WDW trip.

I know the pull is strong for WDW, but is it truly unescapable? Once a habit is broken, will it return?

I'm not saying I'd never go back WDW, but there was a time where I wouldn't even think twice about it. But as it stands right now, I'm considering DL next (girlfriend has never been), and then after that, I'm gonna have Super Nintendo World on my radar.

 

[Jrb1979]

There are MANY more problems with Genie+ than just this.........the list is very long

Its terrible on a lot of fronts

I know there are lots of problems. One of the biggest ones is Disney guests are so used to not waiting in lines that capping sales will backfire.

 

[Jeff4272]

I know there are lots of problems. One of the biggest ones is Disney guests are so used to not waiting in lines that capping sales will backfire.

very likely, i do agree

 

[WDWFREAK53]

I know there are lots of problems. One of the biggest ones is Disney guests are so used to not waiting in lines that capping sales will backfire.

They cap the parks...so is it really that much worse?

 

[Jeff4272]

I know there are lots of problems. One of the biggest ones is Disney guests are so used to not waiting in lines that capping sales will backfire.

Id rather them just price it higher tbh

 

[crazy4disney]

Most people do not want to be on their phones all day while on vacation and in the parks. Scheduling and stressing about making time slots makes that a necessity. That is a big complaint of my own but I see and hear it everywhere. When people travel to WDW on vacation they want to relax, arrive when they can, leave when they feel like it , and just tour the parks at their leisure taking in and fully enjoying all the atmosphere and the magic that is (was) Disney parks.

yet people have been coming in record numbers ... and if you only want to enjoy the parks that way then a phone is not needed because you wouldnt be going on many rides. Alternatively with No skip the line options besides Plaid service which in turns means waiting on long lines which sounds like a way worse experience than needing to be on your phone which this society nowadays seems to be addicted to anyway so. As ive stated countless times FP+ was and is to me the best and fairest option as a resort guests after the corner Disney has backed themselves into

 

[Disney Glimpses]

In your educated and knowledgeable opinion and im not disagreeing with you on why there are some problems now but how much of this current nightmare is truly because of years of neglect and not understanding the parks have not had enough capacity for way to long and its finally caught up to them with all the cancelled projects etc and overlays as opposed to actual additions?

Their popularity is exasperating deficiencies. Magic Kingdom, for example, is seeing 10,000 more guests per day than it did 10 years ago. That's a lot of people. As I've said in the past, they aren't perfect and mistakes have been made but most of these issues can be boiled down to there simply being too many people wanting to visit the parks.

And I still maintain that Disney has demonstrated considerable constraint here in light of this. They could easily double the price of admission and all of this would go away.

 

[Jrb1979]

They cap the parks...so is it really that much worse?

No they cap sales on skip the line passes at every other park. Those you do buy it have short waits and get on more then 2-3 rides a day.

 

[nickys]

I just want to say that I know this is a frustrating time for everyone. Genie+, Park Pass and AP suspensions combined with supply chain constraints and COVID closure related staffing issues have led to an experience, that as a Disney fan, really kinda puts a knot in your stomach. I'm not in a position of power by any stretch by I am confident that this time will be viewed as an unfortunate blip in the past. They will find a stable ground to land on - on all counts. It's just going to take some time. Likely a couple of years.

That might be too late for many international visitors. People will be coming back this year and next in their thousands (always assuming of course that the U.K. especially can get their airports working normally) with postponed trips.

But if their experience is soured by Genie+ and other problems then they may not bother returning. And with the cost of living soaring there is the possibility that it might take a few years for the next wave of first-time visitors to be able to book.

 

[Jrb1979]

Their popularity is exasperating deficiencies. Magic Kingdom, for example, is seeing 10,000 more guests per day than it did 10 years ago. That's a lot of people. As I've said in the past, they aren't perfect and mistakes have been made but most of these issues can be boiled down to there simply being too many people wanting to visit the parks.

And I still maintain that Disney has demonstrated considerable constraint here in light of this. They could easily double the price of admission and all of this would go away.

In some ways they have but in many others they went away from a lot of what was working.

 

[Disney Glimpses]

In some ways they have but in many others they went away from a lot of what was working.

Constant pressure to save money and generate revenue will do that. Chapek as the head of Parks is the wrong person to advocate for guest experience and now D'Amaro as the head of Parks clearly is too weak to do so as well. Execs want to spend less and make more, that's nothing new.

 

[Jrb1979]

Constant pressure to save money and generate revenue will do that. Chapek as the head of Parks is the wrong person to advocate for guest experience and now D'Amaro as the head of Parks clearly is too weak to do so as well. Execs want to spend less and make more, that's nothing new.

It's why I find it hard to really believe they care about guest satisfaction at the top.

 

[yensidtlaw1969]

Their popularity is exasperating deficiencies. Magic Kingdom, for example, is seeing 10,000 more guests per day than it did 10 years ago. That's a lot of people. As I've said in the past, they aren't perfect and mistakes have been made but most of these issues can be boiled down to there simply being too many people wanting to visit the parks.

And I still maintain that Disney has demonstrated considerable constraint here in light of this. They could easily double the price of admission and all of this would go away.

Is restraint the word, or is it foresight?

 

[Disney Glimpses]

It's why I find it hard to really believe they care about guest satisfaction at the top.

They do because they know what that leads to. They also want to maintain their elite reputation in the industry. They know there is a way to maintain the revenue while improving guest satisfaction but they also will take their time in doing it. GSAT ultimately will always win. They really, really listen to their guests. They are obsessed with their surveys.

 

[Disney Glimpses]

Is restraint the word, or is it foresight?

Maybe a bit of both. Price increases means increased volatility in attendance. They've managed to find a model that is quite expensive but also eliminates any concept of a "slow season."

 

[Jrb1979]

They do because they know what that leads to. They also want to maintain their elite reputation in the industry. They know there is a way to maintain the revenue while improving guest satisfaction but they also will take their time in doing it. GSAT ultimately will always win. They really, really listen to their guests. They are obsessed with their surveys.

I do believe you. For a company that worries so much about guest satisfaction it's unbelievable the missteps they constantly make. Like I said ever since Covid, staffing issues aside, they have really gone away from what worked so much.

 

[Darstarr]

Their popularity is exasperating deficiencies. Magic Kingdom, for example, is seeing 10,000 more guests per day than it did 10 years ago. That's a lot of people. As I've said in the past, they aren't perfect and mistakes have been made but most of these issues can be boiled down to there simply being too many people wanting to visit the parks.

And yet, they continue to add hotel rooms. This seems counterintuitive to me.

 

[Disney Glimpses]

And yet, they continue to add hotel rooms. This seems counterintuitive to me.

They naively believe that they are just cannibalizing off site business. What they don't realize is that those hotels are quite aggressive in their attempts to fill rooms.

 

[Jrb1979]

They naively believe that they are just cannibalizing off site business. What they don't realize is that those hotels are quite aggressive in their attempts to fill rooms.

Stuff like this is why I say they don't get it. They are very good with their media side of things but have lost touch on how parks work.