Lightning Lane, NO

Chef Mickey

Chef Mickey

Well-Known Member
graphite1326 said:
Not true. We rope drop every day and it's more like 4 rides before the lines get beyond 30 minutes.

By the way we rope drop and spend the day at the parks and into the evening. No mid day rest for us. Been doing this for years and now in our late 60's and still going strong. Anything below 8-10 miles a day is rare for us.

I am one of those people that doesn't require a lot of sleep. 5 hours is a good night for me. So it's up early and stay up late.

That being said lets get back on topic here. I really don't care what kind of money or vacation time people have in Europe.
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Yeah, depends on the ride. I sleep 10 hours.
 
D

disneypopstar

New Member
graphite1326 said:
Maybe I'm just being bull headed but I am just not going to do this. I just can't spend that extra money. Not that I can't afford it but I can get along just fine without it. We always use early entry and get to ride the attractions we want to without too much of a wait. If later in the day we want to stand in a line, we look at the posted wait times and decide if it is worth it. Sometimes we do it and sometimes we don't. Besides the queue lines can keep you entertained if you just look around.

Besides I always get the park hopper option. If I had to book lightning lanes and some end up later in the day then that makes PH obsolete. Right? Or am I wrong about that?
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I totally get where you're coming from. It sounds like you've figured out a system that works well for how you like to do the parks. Early entry really gives you a nice head start, and honestly, some of the lines are part of the fun when you take in all the details and theming.


And you're right, the whole Lightning Lane setup can make park hopping tricky if your return times are later in the day. It kind of locks you into one park longer than you'd like, which takes away some of the freedom that makes park hopping great.


In the end, if you're getting on the rides you want and having a good time, that's really what matters. Curious to hear if others have found a way to make both Lightning Lane and park hopping work well together.
 
graphite1326

graphite1326

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
disneypopstar said:
I totally get where you're coming from. It sounds like you've figured out a system that works well for how you like to do the parks. Early entry really gives you a nice head start, and honestly, some of the lines are part of the fun when you take in all the details and theming.


And you're right, the whole Lightning Lane setup can make park hopping tricky if your return times are later in the day. It kind of locks you into one park longer than you'd like, which takes away some of the freedom that makes park hopping great.


In the end, if you're getting on the rides you want and having a good time, that's really what matters. Curious to hear if others have found a way to make both Lightning Lane and park hopping work well together.
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I couldn't have said it better.
 
mkt

mkt

When a paradise is lost go straight to Disney™
Premium Member
marni1971 said:
It’s just a cash grab now. Even if ratios have been altered to attempt to appear not as greedy.
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But it’s always been a cash grab. It’s basically pure profit, the cost to implement and operate is minimal.
 
nickys

nickys

Premium Member
disneypopstar said:
Curious to hear if others have found a way to make both Lightning Lane and park hopping work well together.
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Two ways to consider.

The easiest one is to rope drop park #1 and book LLs for park #2 with times starting whenever you like to park hop.

The other way is if you’re willing to take more of a chance. Book LLs for park #1, making one of them as close to park opening as possible. Then once you tap in, you can modify the times of the others and book your next LL. Other than the really hard to get rides, you should be able to get earlier times. And if you can’t then either keep the times or just book them at park #2.
 
graphite1326

graphite1326

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
nickys said:
Two ways to consider.

The easiest one is to rope drop park #1 and book LLs for park #2 with times starting whenever you like to park hop.

The other way is if you’re willing to take more of a chance. Book LLs for park #1, making one of them as close to park opening as possible. Then once you tap in, you can modify the times of the others and book your next LL. Other than the really hard to get rides, you should be able to get earlier times. And if you can’t then either keep the times or just book them at park #2.
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I think your first suggestion may work. As far as taking a chance I'm just not sure. I actually have done this on the old system but sometimes there is just nothing left.

Then there is that sometimes we don't know what our second park to hop to is.
 
MickeyLuv'r

MickeyLuv'r

Well-Known Member
disneypopstar said:
In the end, if you're getting on the rides you want and having a good time, that's really what matters. Curious to hear if others have found a way to make both Lightning Lane and park hopping work well together.
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IMO, I mostly have. Mind, I much prefer the ease of Universal's Express Pass. but I don't usually buy LLMP unless I can hop and get at least 7-8 good rides out of it.

My approach might not be for everyone, because it does involve a few potential qualifiers (trade-offs):
1. I often skip most ILL rides. I don't feel like pretty much any ride is worth $25, especially Rise, TRON, or 7D. Just no. About the only ILL I sometimes buy is FoP. It isn't really 'worth' the upcharge either, but without it, AKL just doesn't have that many attractions, IMO.

2, I'm also not generally eager to wait in any queue for more than 60, unless a ride is new. I made a small exception for Hagrid's. I will sometimes also make an exception if it is a major holiday/the parks are very crowded.

3. I'm willing do to my version of rope drop and also to close the parks. I have my own car/pay for transportation, so getting back to the hotel is relatively quick, and thus afternoon breaks (some days) are feasible, but they are not necessary. The important part of my strategy is to take advantage of low night crowds paired with stacked LL.

4. the current version of FP/G+/LLMP still sucks! Three of the 4 parks just don't have enough attractions to make it work, esepcially with so many rides now closed/down. It just should not be such a pain to get on rides after paying for WDW's stupid upcharge. It is insulting. If they were going to shut down a major ride, then they should add an ILL to the pool of LLMP rides until the major ride re-opens.

5. The current version of LLMP makes it hard to schedule any meals. they are wildly overpriced anyhow. Just they are nothing like they were ten years ago. It is sad to see the current state of WDW table-service dining/buffets. It is especially not worthwhile to pay the crazy buffet prices on top of LLMP+park admission+absurd hotel prices.

So I usually prebook my 3 passes. IMO, AK only has 4 worthy multi-pass LL's: Dino, EE, maybe Kali, Safari, Na'vi. I book 3 of them before you arrive, so you only have to pick up 1 more in the park, or ride one of them at rope drop.

Epcot only has 4: FEA, Rat, Soarin', and maybe SE. But if you get Remy or FEA, you prob can't get both. So you either skip one (FEA), you wait, or you do it at rope drop or late.

HS only has about 5: MMRR, maybe MF, RNRC, Slinky, TSM, ToT, and maybe Aliens.

So usually once I've booked the 3-5 worthwhile attractions in these 3 parks, I usually swap to booking evening passes in another park, often MK. I can usually score an afternoon drop of 2 worthwhile passes, and 1 so-so pass. In the meantime, I go on the attractions that have shorter waits or maybe see a show.
 
MickeyLuv'r

MickeyLuv'r

Well-Known Member
graphite1326 said:
I think your first suggestion may work. As far as taking a chance I'm just not sure. I actually have done this on the old system but sometimes there is just nothing left.

Then there is that sometimes we don't know what our second park to hop to is.
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Around noon is usually when I start looking in park #2, and that's partly when I decide where to go. but the best options are usually in MK.

2. Another option is to take advantage of the fact that standby waits tend to get pretty short late day in HS and AK, but that's a bit of a gamble. You have to be willing to trust that the wait times are inflated.

3. Oh, another part of my touring strategy is using the single rider queues where available. If your group is able to split-up for a few minutes, and don't care about ride photos, the wait for many rides is shorter, but it is also a bit of a gamble that the wait will be short.

Back to #2 above, when (actual) standby waits are short, I usually just abandon booking/using LL's. When standby wiats are short, then using passes often slows down touring/adds extra walking especially in Epcot.
 
Jrb1979

Jrb1979

Well-Known Member
Chef Mickey said:
I just looked up the cost for that "Premier" thing or what at MK. $409 per day and allows any ride, any time, but ONCE? Omg, this is just sad. So nearly $2k for a family of 4 to ride everything once?
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If you don't want to spend the money then don't. I know my family will put that $2K into our budget for it. Makes touring the park much easier for us.
 

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