Lightning Lane at Walt Disney World

[Sirwalterraleigh]

You may be right; I'm still dusting the cobwebs off of my old FP+ planning knowledge. The psychology of attraction tiers just seemed like it might give a reason their could be lower T1 availability day-of. I'm really curious to see what happens when the actual usage data starts rolling in. That's when the real strategy fun begins.

Tiers weren’t “psychology”…they were a public admission that their attraction slate wasn’t good enough day to day to diffuse the demand so they all complimented each other.

 

[Vegas Disney Fan]

The use one book one feature of multi pass is intriguing to me for this reason. You can have 1 or 2 set attractions for later in the day while still being able to take advantage of the rolling FP/LL.

It will be interesting to see what’s available a couple hours after park opening, I always booked our FPs in the 11am-2pm range, that was when the parks became so chaotic we struggled to find anything to do, I love knowing we have 3 rides to look forward to when the parks are insanely busy, we’ll most likely stick to this plan unless the next several months show there’s decent availability a couple hours into the day, in that scenario I think I’ll still book 2 of them for 11-2 but book the third close to opening to try to snag a fourth before the afternoon hotel break.

We’ve never been power users, to us the true value is in maximizing park time over maximizing the number of rides we get on.

 

[GhostHost1000]

It will be interesting to see what’s available a couple hours after park opening, I always booked our FPs in the 11am-2pm range, that was when the parks became so chaotic we struggled to find anything to do, I love knowing we have 3 rides to look forward to when the parks are insanely busy, we’ll most likely stick to this plan unless the next several months show there’s decent availability a couple hours into the day, in that scenario I think I’ll still book 2 of them for 11-2 but book the third close to opening to try to snag a fourth before the afternoon hotel break.

that might not be a bad idea.. just hard to know. If we'll be able to modify 2 tier 2's to a tier 1 at 7am, there will be many start to do that as well... and therefore the 7am scramble is back

 

[Vegas Disney Fan]

that might not be a bad idea.. just hard to know. If we'll be able to modify 2 tier 2's to a tier 1 at 7am, there will be many start to do that as well... and therefore the 7am scramble is back

I wonder if Disney will have the foresight to have the app limit reservations to one tier 1 at a time to limit trickery, that could be a good hack but also would vastly decrease how long the tier 1s last.

As someone who doesn’t like waking up early to the stress of trying to get VQs, etc I hope they limit it.

 

[GhostHost1000]

does anyone know if we'll be able to overlap times when the changes take place?

example
Attraction 1 - 9:30am-10:30am
Attraction 2 - 10:15am-11:15am
Attraction 3 - 11:00am-12:00pm

 

[wedenterprises]

The way I see it, the 7 day jump gives a perk to folks staying on site.

It's only a perk once you arrive in the US.
The 7 day perk becomes less than the 3 days perk for off-site guests.

 

[ConfettiCupcake]

that might not be a bad idea.. just hard to know. If we'll be able to modify 2 tier 2's to a tier 1 at 7am, there will be many start to do that as well... and therefore the 7am scramble is back

I think 7 am is marginally improved now because:

1) those interested in maximizing their day know rope drop is vital in those plans and they’re probably up anyways

2) those who liked to stack and come in later now at least have a starting point of 1 desirable attraction and 2 of varying degrees of time saving without having to wake up at all

To me, it doesn’t matter where Disney shifts the scramble time to. Itll always be at some time of the day that’s inconvenient for someone because they just don’t have enough to go around.

 

[GhostHost1000]

I wonder if Disney will have the foresight to have the app limit reservations to one tier 1 at a time to limit trickery, that could be a good hack but also would vastly decrease how long the tier 1s last.

I wonder that as well... after all the talk about that potentially being a "work around" to get more Tier 1's... I could see them implementing a change like that. It wouldn't be hard to do logically, but changing that after the fact might get some interesting reactions

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

There were basically no “good” rides available day of during prebooking prior

To assume now there will be is a belief that not enough people will buy it.

Possible

The problem is the standbys will get worst - again - and they have multiple breakdowns of damn near everything each day

Just badly run…nothing more you can say

 

[Saskdw]

I think 7 am is marginally improved now because:

1) those interested in maximizing their day know rope drop is vital in those plans and they’re probably up anyways

2) those who liked to stack and come in later now at least have a starting point of 1 desirable attraction and 2 of varying degrees of time saving without having to wake up at all

To me, it doesn’t matter where Disney shifts the scramble time to. Itll always be at some time of the day that’s inconvenient for someone because they just don’t have enough to go around.

Technically you could have 2 top attractions if you book a paid LL and then your 3 pre-books.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Technically you could have 2 top attractions if you book a paid LL and then your 3 pre-books.

…for “a modest fee”

 

[ConfettiCupcake]

Technically you could have 2 top attractions if you book a paid LL and then your 3 pre-books.

Yup you could! Maybe even 3 if you’re hopping (I think this works?) and are in the mood to spend.

 

[Saskdw]

…for “a modest fee”

Bob needs a new car.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Bob needs a new car.

…wax for the yacht

 

[ConfettiCupcake]

There were basically no “good” rides available day of during prebooking prior

To assume now there will be is a belief that not enough people will buy it.

Possible

The problem is the standbys will get worst - again - and they have multiple breakdowns of damn near everything each day

Just badly run…nothing more you can say

This is why I think 7 am switch scramble may be moot, and it’s the refreshing and drop times after the parks open that may be the best bet. You’re right, availability was generally crap when you got close enough to the day but was workable if you knew how to mess with it during the day.

 

[Vegas Disney Fan]

There were basically no “good” rides available day of during prebooking prior

To assume now there will be is a belief that not enough people will buy it.

Possible

The problem is the standbys will get worst - again - and they have multiple breakdowns of damn near everything each day

Just badly run…nothing more you can say

If I can snag either Space or Big Thunder along with HM and PotC for that dreaded afternoon timeframe I’ll be thrilled, assuming it’s $20-25.

I agree it’s going to be hard to get good rides beyond that though, most of the rides I’d hope for after the initial 3 are on the tier 1 list and will likely be gone very early in the day.

 

[GhostHost1000]

Bob needs a new car.

Bob needs to take a vacation... he's been working hard trying to correct all the problems

I hear WDW is nice this time of year. Crowds are low but it's kinda expensive, and it might be rough now that Florida gets hot in the summer

 

[JAB]

Tiers weren’t “psychology”…they were a public admission that their attraction slate wasn’t good enough day to day to diffuse the demand so they all complimented each other.

My post was more about the unintended psychological effect of categorizing attractions (i.e. the Country Bears Effect) causing uninformed guests to assume higher-category attractions are "better," and not about any intentional psychology in Disney's implementation of tiers.

 

[lentesta]

Based on current G+ use and the new park tiers, here's an initial guess as to the most valuable LLMPs you could book in advance:

Magic Kingdom

• First Tier: Tiana's Bayou Adventure, Jungle Cruise, or Peter Pan's Flight
• Second Tier: Haunted Mansion and Buzz Lightyear
• We'd recommend the LLSP for 7DMT. In 2023, it was down around 1 day per week at rope drop. Buying the LLSP means you don't have to risk your valuable rope-drop time there, and simplifies your touring strategy. It would also allow you to rope-drop another First Tier attraction.

EPCOT

• First Tier: Remy or Frozen (and rope-drop the other)
• Second Tier: Mission: Space (orange) and Spaceship Earth. If not riding M:S, Living with the Land or The Seas with Nemo and Friends

Hollywood Studios

• First Tier: Slinky Dog Dash (decent rope-drop might be RnRC or Railway)
• Second Tier: Tower of Terror, Toy Story Mania!

Animal Kingdom (not tiered)

• Na'Vi River Journey, Expedition Everest, Kilimanjaro Safaris

 

[ToTBellHop]

If I can snag either Space or Big Thunder along with HM and PotC for that dreaded afternoon timeframe I’ll be thrilled, assuming it’s $20-25.

I agree it’s going to be hard to get good rides beyond that though, most of the rides I’d hope for after the initial 3 are on the tier 1 list and will likely be gone very early in the day.

For me, I will appreciate knowing I have some rides booked as this will inform my 8:30 am strategy. If I have those 3 booked, I can prioritize Space Mtn and perhaps sneak on Pooh en route to Jungle Cruise at 9.

Even better at DHS if I have SDD, ToT, and Midway Mania, I can then prioritize probably RnRC and MMRR at open (perhaps Rise but that’s such a crapshoot and I hate running all the way back there for it to be down).

I think this will make a DHS day better but still the most stressful park because it has too many big ticket rides that are routinely broken down.

Not personally planning on using it at Epcot and at DAK, we prefer getting the LL single for FoP and waiting for everything else.