Lightning Lane at Walt Disney World

[Purduevian]

That’s most likely how it will work.

Biggest question is do I need to use one of my 1st 3 reservations to book #4 without the tier restriction or will I be able to modify one of the first 3 after park open - drop a tier 2 and replace with a second tier 1.

There are basically 3 options:

1. 3 prebooked LLs retain all of their restrictions
2. All 3 prebooked LLs lose all of their restrictions at a set time (midnight, park open, and 7am seem the most likely)
3. Once your first LL is used restrictions are eliminated on your remaining 2 as well as your new 4th LL

I could see all three being possible. I personally hope its #2 as this would most likely be not very well know and would give an advantage to people that know the inter workings

If it is #3, I will probably book some sort of burner tier 2 for park open every day (although I might do this anyway at EPCOT and AK if its option 1). Either I tap in and unlock everything or 1 hour after park open (when I "miss" my LL) everything gets unlocked.

 

[ConfettiCupcake]

It just occurred to me that if you are purchasing Lightning Lane Multipass (geesus, who comes up with these names?) for all the days of your ticket at one time, that is potentially a huge chunk of change added to your trip all at one time, vs the daily purchase of Genie+. (Yes, this is kind of a "duh!" moment for me. )

A family of 4 who books a typical week-long vacation usually has 5 or 6 day tickets. Let's assume LLMP will be priced at $30 a day, times 4 people, times 5 days. That is $600 extra to your vacation cost.

For UK visitors, who are able to buy the exclusive 14 day pass, that is $1680!!

As a reminder, this is to ride rides you've already paid to ride through your admission ticket.

I think this can go both ways. Either people have sticker shock seeing the whole amount all at once, or people are happier paying it up front before they arrive instead of feeling like they’re opening their wallet even more on vacation.

I think it’s similar to the DDP, in that you’ve got to work to even make it break even at this point but people love not having to constantly think about how much they’re spending while down there. Because of that, I wonder if the eventual goal is to allow for adding it as an option to packages at the time of booking with some locked in price point.

The nickle and dimed feeling has been a loud online complaint in recent years. I don’t know how that translates to the actual general population of guests but my guess is pre-paying overall helps rather than hurts.

 

[Dranth]

My hope is you can't modify anything til you either use your first LL or you enter the park.

If they people modify at 7am with no tiers, a lot of tier 1 attractions will be home.

Why? The people showing up later in the day paid just as much money as you did. Is there some reason they should be left with nothing but their prebooks?

I seriously don't understand that mindset. You already get short lines from early entry and rope drop. You are already going to be able to grab MANY more LLMP selections than someone who arrives later. Why the need to screw over anyone who doesn't vacation the way you do (general you)?

 

[Ayla]

The point is we can’t pre-book right now.

But if I buy 14 day tickets, I might decide to buy it for 6 days and prebook rides on those days. And then maybe after a couple of days of seeing what wait times are actually like, I might decide to book another couple of days.

You can pre-book before you arrive at the park. No, it isn't the 7 days advantage, but don't say you can't pre-book at all.

 

[Saskdw]

I think this can go both ways. Either people have sticker shock seeing the whole amount all at once, or people are happier paying it up front before they arrive instead of feeling like they’re opening their wallet even more on vacation.

I think it’s similar to the DDP, in that you’ve got to work to even make it break even at this point but people love not having to constantly think about how much they’re spending while down there. Because of that, I wonder if the eventual goal is to allow for adding it as an option to packages at the time of booking with some locked in price point.

The nickle and dimed feeling has been a loud online complaint in recent years. I don’t know how that translates to the actual general population of guests but my guess is pre-paying overall helps rather than hurts.

100% prepaying lowers stress and increases enjoyment of the vacation.

The last few WDW trips for us were booked with free dining. So basically everything was paid for in advance except tips and shopping.

Our last couple of Universal trips it felt like everytime I turned around I had to pay for something. It gets really annoying after a while. Food used to be cheaper at Universal than Disney, but they have really jacked their prices since covid.

In the end the amount of money spent is probably close, but it's just a more enjoyable experience when it's already paid for.

 

[GoofGoof]

There are basically 3 options:

1. 3 prebooked LLs retain all of their restrictions
2. All 3 prebooked LLs lose all of their restrictions at a set time (midnight, park open, and 7am seem the most likely)
3. Once your first LL is used restrictions are eliminated on your remaining 2 as well as your new 4th LL

I could see all three being possible. I personally hope its #2 as this would most likely be not very well know and would give an advantage to people that know the inter workings

If it is #3, I will probably book some sort of burner tier 2 for park open every day (although I might do this anyway at EPCOT and AK if its option 1). Either I tap in and unlock everything or 1 hour after park open (when I "miss" my LL) everything gets unlocked.

Ideally, for fairness of the system, #1 is the way it should work. You get the advantage of pre-booking but with restrictions and only once you book #4 and forward the restriction are dropped. The original 3 maintain the restrictions. As you said that would make a 9am or park open reservation a wise play. You tap in close to 9am and book #4 and maybe snag a second tier 1.

Logistically I’m not sure the system is setup to handle that. If you try to modify an existing pre-book it would need to remember the original tier and park (which would obviously be known) and ensure you only pick another ride from the same tier and park. A simple flag on the reservation would do that but I have no clue if the system actually has that flag. Your option #2 is much easier to implement. It’s all time based so at park open time the restriction drop for all reservations. That’s the easiest option but with a definite loophole for those in the know.

 

[JAB]

My hope is you can't modify anything til you either use your first LL or you enter the park.

If they people modify at 7am with no tiers, a lot of tier 1 attractions will be home.

Biggest question is do I need to use one of my 1st 3 reservations to book #4 without the tier restriction or will I be able to modify one of the first 3 after park open - drop a tier 2 and replace with a second tier 1.

We obviously don't know how it will work yet, but from a development standpoint, dropping tier restrictions system-wide at a specific time (whether that's 7am or at park open) is the simplest solution and therefore the most likely IMO. Checking to see if someone's used a pre-booked LL every single time any guest tries to book a LL would add thousands of concurrent database requests that would put more strain on the system.

 

[osian]

You can pre-book before you arrive at the park. No, it isn't the 7 days advantage, but don't say you can't pre-book at all.

Indeed. We can do all our pre-planning while we're driving our hire car from the airport. Or maybe while w're waiting at the baggage carousel. If it's all about before litreally arriving at the park, isn't that what Genie+ always allowed on-site guests to do, so what's the difference and why have people been asking for pre-booking?

 

[Brian]

You can pre-book before you arrive at the park. No, it isn't the 7 days advantage, but don't say you can't pre-book at all.

They're staying at a resort and paying a handsome premium (when compared to comparable off-site accommodations) to do so. They should be afforded to the same seven day benefit as domestic guests.

 

[DisneyHead123]

I would challenge someone to find a day using thrill data where all G+ rides were sold out in any park 4 hours after park opening (which would mean people should be on their 3rd LL at minimum). Its possible people only got 1 or 2 because they didn't know the system, or they didn't like the rides that were left... but there was always availability for 3 rides (yes star tours counts as a ride).

My open questions for Mutiple LL pass which I don't think we will get until July 24th

• Modifying day of:
  • Can you modify a prebooked tier 2 into a tier 1 at some point?
  • Can you modify a prebooked LL to another park at some point?
    • If yes to either of them, at what time/trigger can this happen?
• When can you book for a date-based ticket?
  • 7/3 days from the start that your ticket is valid?
  • 7/3 days from your first park day?
• How much overlap in time can 2 or 3 LLs have?

I mean for a group of 10 - 12 (can’t remember the max size allowed) going during spring break or Jersey week, it happens.

I’m not saying “Oh, Disney is so unreasonable for not allowing a party of 12 to find 5 rides within the hours of 8:30 - 2:30 at Magic Kingdom during Spring Break!” That’s a tall tall order, I get it. But it’s also why pre-books work better for us, in our particular circumstances.

Edited to add: And yes, there are typically things like PhilharMagic left, that’s fair. But if they’re already a walk-on, it’s basically the same as not getting a ride.

 

[nickys]

You can pre-book before you arrive at the park. No, it isn't the 7 days advantage, but don't say you can't pre-book at all.

I see you’re taking the official Customer Services line then?

Many U.K. families arriving this summer will fly in and head to WDW. They can book once they get somewhere with wifi, ie: at the resort.

They miss out even on getting the advance booking that offsite guests get. The only people who are worse off are those who turn up on the day and buy a day ticket.

Why should we not ge5 the 7 day advance booking that other onsite guests get? Do you seriously think it’s fair?

 

[DisneyCane]

If you're American, you're well-aware the average family is unable to take a 14+ day vacation anywhere....not just Disney.

As much as I enjoy WDW, I don't think I would enjoy two weeks straight there.

 

[JAB]

I see you’re taking the official Customer Services line then?

Many U.K. families arriving this summer will fly in and head to WDW. They can book once they get somewhere with wifi, ie: at the resort.

They miss out even on getting the advance booking that offsite guests get. The only people who are worse off are those who turn up on the day and buy a day ticket.

Why should we not ge5 the 7 day advance booking that other onsite guests get? Do you seriously think it’s fair?

It's not fair, and it's going to lose them on-property hotel bookings and LL sales which is why I'm leaning toward it being some regulatory issue because Disney really wants to take your money if they can.

 

[GhostHost1000]

As much as I enjoy WDW, I don't think I would enjoy two weeks straight there.

actually it's much better to take an extended trip and pace yourself rather than try to cram everything in a week. I usually do 10 or 11 days at a time when I can and have some "off" days... or sleep in and do whatever we feel like days

 

[nickys]

It's not fair, and it's going to lose them on-property hotel bookings and LL sales which is why I'm leaning toward it being some regulatory issue because Disney really wants to take your money if they can.

Funny how no other visitor attraction in the US seems to have a problem with regulatory issues. I can go and pre-purchase a timed ticket for the Capitol building, the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Mount Vernon for example or a dated ticket with “fastpass” for Legoland or Universal.

Admittedly those places use websites, maybe there is some issue with app regulations - although afaik the DLP app works in the US so I don’t really believe there is.

Either way, if Disney just made the changes to the website we could prebook like everyone else, like we could for G+ when it was pre-bookable. The fact they haven’t is either because no one foresaw the consequences of moving towards app only or because they think there’s no need to spend the money.

 

[nickys]

As much as I enjoy WDW, I don't think I would enjoy two weeks straight there.

Which is why we do offsite things too whilst we’re there.

 

[JAB]

As much as I enjoy WDW, I don't think I would enjoy two weeks straight there.

actually it's much better to take an extended trip and pace yourself rather than try to cram everything in a week. I usually do 10 or 11 days at a time when I can and have some "off" days... or sleep in and do whatever we feel like days

We found 10 days to be the right length for us, too, with a rest day in the middle (although "rest day" for us simply means "no rope drop") and a couple miscellaneous days at the end. It lets us get everything done but still have a relaxed pace without feeling too long.

 

[ConfettiCupcake]

I see you’re taking the official Customer Services line then?

Many U.K. families arriving this summer will fly in and head to WDW. They can book once they get somewhere with wifi, ie: at the resort.

They miss out even on getting the advance booking that offsite guests get. The only people who are worse off are those who turn up on the day and buy a day ticket.

Why should we not ge5 the 7 day advance booking that other onsite guests get? Do you seriously think it’s fair?

It’s so blatantly ridiculous, especially given the way they actively court UK guests, that I will be shocked if there isn’t something done to rectify or work around.

Booking once you land is not an appropriate solution at all.

As an aside, the 7 days vs 3 days booking window creates an issue that didn’t exist previously with 30 and 60. When the difference between onsite and offsite is shorter than the max ticket length they sell they create a situation where a long enough offsite stay trumps an on-site stay. I can see tweaks coming to single and multi pass.

 

[Purduevian]

We obviously don't know how it will work yet, but from a development standpoint, dropping tier restrictions system-wide at a specific time (whether that's 7am or at park open) is the simplest solution and therefore the most likely IMO. Checking to see if someone's used a pre-booked LL every single time any guest tries to book a LL would add thousands of concurrent database requests that would put more strain on the system.

Didn't the old FP+ system restrict your prebooked tier 2s to tier 2s until you used it? I don't think you could modify those at any point throughout the day to a tier 1.

Not saying the time based unlock wouldn't be logistically easier, but I feel like that had a different system already implemented in FP+.

I hope you are right though and I doubt we will get official word until 7/24

 

[pdude81]

Didn't the old FP+ system restrict your prebooked tier 2s to tier 2s until you used it? I don't think you could modify those at any point throughout the day to a tier 1.

Not saying the time based unlock wouldn't be logistically easier, but I feel like that had a different system already implemented in FP+.

I hope you are right though and I doubt we will get official word until 7/24

You previously (FP+) had to use all 3 or let them expire to book another, so functionally you were limited to one T1 at a time. They could somewhat easily limit the system to allowing one T1 per user and then not worry about what you rode or modified.