Lightning Lane at Walt Disney World

[G00fyDad]

To those that are happy with this, and thrilled with the low price, just remember that what is $15 one day is $55 the next. I guess enjoy it while you can, Disney will price you out someday.

This is my last Disney trip ever. I don't really care if they raise it after this. I know that sounds selfish of me but I'm only going to Disney this time for one reason and one reason only. After this trip I'm done.

 

[SarahWI]

Truth. I have really bad anxiety so maybe I’ll hop on a video call for free genie passes on my next trip!

And this is my issue - some people will do this.

 

[jpinkc]

So I will have to waste time at 7am to pay to add genie+ each day while other guests with day passes get ahead of me booking/ paying for FPs?

Yes it will be a 7am RAT RACE EVERY DAY, What happened to VACATION!!

 

[Admiral01]

This appears to be just another thing that used to be included in our tickets/passes that we now have to pay for.

Poor show. I realize it isn’t that expensive, but it’s another cost item that’s been added without increasing the value of the product. FastPass and FastPass+ were included. Genie+ and Lightning Pass are the same thing, but now we pay for it? Do I understand it correctly?

Ticket prices go up. Resort parking is now a cost item. Food and merchandise prices go up. Attractions are closed to make room for temporary apple cider kiosks. And now we pay more for another thing we used to have included.

Disney’s product used to be high quality. It was intended to attract people who wanted a high quality vacation. Now it’s just a cult. “Fans” will pay what Disney tells them to pay with no regard for quality or value for money.

It’s disappointing and disheartening.

 

[britain]

Quite frankly I actually think this is better then I had thought it would be. It’s relatively low priced, when you compare it to the equivalent at Universal. Only difference with Universal is you don’t need to book your Fastpass time.

The ONLY thing this had going for it is that I was wishing for a prohibitively high price so that most of the crowds would settle for a faster moving Stand By line. By making this "low" priced, it's just another annoying upcharge that just about EVERYONE will do, except for the uneducated or the folks who were pinching pennies to simply get in to the park in the first place.

 

[G00fyDad]

Yes it will be a 7am RAT RACE EVERY DAY, What happened to VACATION!!

If I want to sleep in and relax all day long then I'll go to Hawaii.

 

[nickys]

Wait - one last question:

At 7 am for resort guests - can we book both of our upcharge rides then? Or is it only one at a time? Feels like it should be both...

Both.

 

[jpinkc]

This is honestly not as bad as I expected.

It's not good, and I foresee a lot of annoyances, but it could have been far worse.

Oh the other SHOE has yet to drop when you see the Surge Price for Tier 1 rides every day......

 

[techgeek]

Notable Rise of the Resistance point from the D23 interview with Josh:

Think about Rise of the Resistance. It’s a highly demanded attraction. Guests show up in the morning and they try to get into the virtual queue. We get as many people on there as we can, but inevitably someone is disappointed. Now there’s another option on top of the virtual queue so if Rise of the Resistance is the reason you’re at Disneyland or Disney’s Hollywood Studios, there will be an option for you to purchase Rise of the Resistance. So again: flexibility, optionality, better guest experience overall.

Reading this quote made me actually feel physically ill. What a magical feeling.

 

[britain]

I'm just... I'm just done with them.

They don't stand for anything I really appreciate anymore, and it's not worth it.

 

[TJJohn12]

This is why people liked the dining plan. Now we need dining plan for rides (I know, makes no sense—or does it?).

Isn't that called a ticket book?

 

[Javier Antonio Nisa Avila]

This appears to be just another thing that used to be included in our tickets/passes that we now have to pay for.

Poor show. I realize it isn’t that expensive, but it’s another cost item that’s been added without increasing the value of the product. FastPass and PastPass+ were included. Genie+ and Lightning Pass are the same thing, but now we pay for it? Do I understand it correctly?

Ticket prices go up. Resort parking is now a cost item. Food and merchandise prices go up. Attractions are closed to make room for temporary apple cider kiosks. And now we pay more for another thing we used to have included.

Disney’s product used to be high quality. It was intended to attract people who wanted a high quality vacation. Now it’s just a cult. “Fans” will pay what Disney tells them to pay with no regard for quality or value for money.

It’s disappointing and disheartening.

Nice words !!!

 

[NelsonRD]

You time your first one for when the lines begin to lengthen.

If the park opens at 9am, then onsite guests get in at 8:30am. Those guests ride one or two of the Tier 1 rides first and then move onto the Tier 2 rides soon after park opening. After 1-2 hours lines everywhere start to grow, and that’s when you’ve book your first LL for. And you stay one step ahead from then on, choosing the ride that has the shortest return time.

We will see how this shakes out. I am struggling to see the advantage. If i use my first at 10am with no waits, then book the second for 11am, and offsite guest can book the first for 11am with an 8am opening, there is no advantage.

 

[flynnibus]

Except for the changes to DAS, which are welcome, literally no one likes this.

Actually I think this has a lot of benefits...

1 - It limits how much FP use there is in the parks - potentially VERY significantly compared to prior
2 - It eliminates the redonkulus advanced FP booking for the majority of users
3 - So far the pool of paid lightning pass attractions is incredibly small
4 - The two paid lightning pass limit really limits it's potential impact on lines

That said... that's all offset by the cons...

like having to pay for maxpass(digital FP) when Disney was already doing it for free
the limits they start with won't last...

I see it like a ticket price increase... Maxpass is here, FP+ is dead, and Disney is monetizing peak attraction demand in limited cases. That's Aug 18th, 2021 in a nutshell for you.

 

[GoofGoof]

Right. And a 9am wait time is short for T2 attractions. Nobody is rope dropping Haunted Mansion. So the advantage doesn't apply until later in the day, where offsite guests can then book. How does the 7am window help?

If it’s like max pass you can book a 2nd reservation 90 mins after the first even if you haven’t used the first yet or if you use the first one, as soon as you scan in and enter the queue you can book a 2nd reservation. So making the first reservation at 7am allows you to book the second one no later than 8:30 and so on. You in theory will get up to several additional reservations a day being on site.

 

[nbinks]

Notable Rise of the Resistance point from the D23 interview with Josh:

Think about Rise of the Resistance. It’s a highly demanded attraction. Guests show up in the morning and they try to get into the virtual queue. We get as many people on there as we can, but inevitably someone is disappointed. Now there’s another option on top of the virtual queue so if Rise of the Resistance is the reason you’re at Disneyland or Disney’s Hollywood Studios, there will be an option for you to purchase Rise of the Resistance. So again: flexibility, optionality, better guest experience overall.

He talks as if Disney doesn't control the supply. This isn't a naturally limited resource.

 

[wdwmagic]

This makes me think that they are planning on eventually having date-based pricing for Genie+.

Certainly looks that way.

 

[Disney Analyst]

The ONLY thing this had going for it is that I was wishing for a prohibitively high price so that most of the crowds would settle for a faster moving Stand By line. By making this "low" priced, it's just another annoying upcharge that just about EVERYONE will do, except for the uneducated or the folks who were pinching pennies to simply get in to the park in the first place.

I don't disagree, I had hoped for an expensive new system that would make most standby lines shorter and make FastPass limited and a true perk.

It will be interesting to see how this plays out. They admitted they started WDW at $15 unlike Disneyland's $20 due to this being so new for WDW, and due to the general length of stays at WDW, but I imagine the price won't be $15 for long.

 

[G00fyDad]

Ummmm. Disney perhaps?

My point was more to the fact that people on this forum and other forums are the ones labeling tier 1 attractions right now. No one really knows what Disney is going to consider to be tier 1 attractions. We can pretty much guess that attractions like Tron, Guardians of the Galaxy, etc will be tier 1 but in the end no one really knows what they're going to consider tier 1 until Disney announces them.

 

[rio]

This is my last Disney trip ever. I don't really care if they raise it after this. I know that sounds selfish of me but I'm only going to Disney this time for one reason and one reason only. After this trip I'm done.

I’m going to California for a week in December, and had the option of spending 2 days at Disney or taking a train to San Jose (1 day) and going to Sea World San Diego the other. I’m choosing the latter option. I don’t like to gamble normally, and I find personal insult to being told to pay up because I was “unlucky”