Lightning Lane at Walt Disney World

[1HAPPYGHOSTHOST]

Or not.

My point is that it won't work. Did you not see my "rolled eyes" emoji?

 

[DisneyNorthFan]

I'm very disappointed in this plan - not because the tools are bad, but because they are charging for it. WDW creates a problem by not offering enough hours/attractions/capacity/entertainment and then turns around and charges extra to do the things your entrance ticket should already include. The most egregious is when they note that someone makes a special trip to ride ROR, but when they get closed out of boarding groups, "we give them the opportunity to buy their way on." That's disgusting.

 

[1HAPPYGHOSTHOST]

I'm very disappointed in this plan - not because the tools are bad, but because they are charging for it. WDW creates a problem by not offering enough hours/attractions/capacity/entertainment and then turns around and charges extra to do the things your entrance ticket should already include. The most egregious is when they note that someone makes a special trip to ride ROR, but when they get closed out of boarding groups, "we give them the opportunity to buy their way on." That's disgusting.

Your ticket grants you access to the park, nothing else. Once you are inside what you do is up to you. That's not Disney's problem.

 

[Jeff4272]

I was wondering that exact thing. If someone doesn’t get up exactly at 7am, will they still get some decent LL passes? I hope that you’re right bout that, and I suspect that you are.

Why you asking. Would yoy really pay for that? I know I won’t. Wdw stinks a really bad right now and I hope that the guests push back/boycott so that mgmt knows they can’t take advantage of people.

 

[James Alucobond]

I don’t know if this has been discussed, but this seems like it will have a pronounced effect on the kind of new rides that are built (whenever that might happen). It will incentivize building only rides that can at least give the appearance of warranting an upcharge. Thus the high-capacity, mid-level attractions the parks desperately need in some number will be off the table. Attractions that should fall in that category, like Rat, will be ballyhooed as something they aren’t.

Unfortunately, this notion is probably reinforced by guest behavior and attraction ratings at this point too. I'm of the opinion that we need way more Journey of the Little Mermaid-esque attractions (perhaps with less grandiose queues), but it seems so sparsely attended in spite of being an experience more or less on par with other classic Fantasyland attractions.

 

[GimpYancIent]

Old adage "MONEY TALKS"!

 

[DisneyDodo]

Unfortunately, this notion is probably reinforced by guest behavior and attraction ratings at this point too. I'm of the opinion that we need way more Journey of the Little Mermaid-esque attractions (perhaps with less grandiose queues), but it seems so sparsely attended in spite of being an experience more or less on par with other classic Fantasyland attractions.

Agreed, though the ride's high capacity (2200 THRC vs 800/850 for PPF/Pooh) is largely responsible for the super-low wait times.

But on these boards, there are a lot of people who insist that the parks need more D-ticket people eaters that won't attract too many additional guests, and then they turn around and bash UTS for being sub-par.

 

[jpinkc]

I dont know about that a Quality Dark ride can be as much fun as any Coaster to me, Haunted Mansion anyone?

 

[DisneyNorthFan]

Your ticket grants you access to the park, nothing else. Once you are inside what you do is up to you. That's not Disney's problem.

I don't disagree, but I'd like to think my entrance to the park would allow me to take advantage of attractions & entertainment. The subjective aspect is how much you should be able to do. I now feel that without spending more, the balance will be tipped to not getting to do enough to make the entry cost worth it. My opinion, and I'm sure some will agree and some won't.

 

[jpinkc]

I hope we do keep the heat up on this Genie Garbage. Its the only way we might get some kind of concession. I am NOT happy about having to be up everyday of my Vacation at 7AM.

 

[Animaniac93-98]

But on these boards, there are a lot of people who insist that the parks need more D-ticket people eaters that won't attract too many additional guests, and then they turn around and bash UTS for being sub-par.

It's sub-par because it's poorly designed despite its scale and budget. Its faults lie in its set and figure design, staging, pacing etc, not that it isn't a head-liner experience.

You can build a quality D-ticket attraction, but Little Mermaid is not an example of one.

 

[James Alucobond]

It's sub-par because it's poorly designed despite its scale and budget. Its faults lie in its set and figure design, staging, pacing etc, not that it isn't a head-liner experience.

You can build a quality D-ticket attraction, but Little Mermaid is not an example of one.

I'd rather ride it multiple times than wait around for Pan or Pooh or IASW.

 

[gerarar]

At this rate, ROTR will lose its boarding group designation around 2025….smh

 

[UNCgolf]

Agreed, though the ride's high capacity (2200 THRC vs 800/850 for PPF/Pooh) is largely responsible for the super-low wait times.

But on these boards, there are a lot of people who insist that the parks need more D-ticket people eaters that won't attract too many additional guests, and then they turn around and bash UTS for being sub-par.

It is subpar, though. The combination of the high quality facade and elaborate queue gives expectations of an E ticket, and it's certainly not that.

However, even if that were not an issue, the ride has numerous areas that just look cheap. The Under the Sea scene has obviously plastic fish glued to sticks and on the walls, as one example. There are things that look like they were designed to be part of the set for a community drama production. Almost everything about the ride seems poorly designed/thought out. It either needed to be on a smaller scale overall or they needed to step up the overall effects. PPF is a more impressive ride despite being 50 years older.

They need more rides designed like Na'vi River Journey, not Little Mermaid. Not because NRJ a perfect ride (it has numerous flaws), but because it has wonderful detailing and never looks cheap -- it's actually transportive. Scatter 4 or 5 more rides designed like it (with the attention for detail and elaborate setting, not the lack of story etc.) around the parks and you're getting somewhere.

 

[jpinkc]

I dont know I was pretty let down by NRJ, after doing FOP. The Shaman is an amazing animatronic but the rest was pretty cheesy. I do agree it is better than Little Mermaid. But 20,000 Leagues beats both over the head with a CLUB!!!

 

[Notes from Neverland]

TLDR: Genie+ is like MaxPass at DLR. You can only book one FP at a time.

... and you can't book the most popular rides without paying an additional fee. That's a key difference.

 

[UNCgolf]

I dont know I was pretty let down by NRJ, after doing FOP. The Shaman is an amazing animatronic but the rest was pretty cheesy. I do agree it is better than Little Mermaid. But 20,000 Leagues beats both over the head with a CLUB!!!

Well yeah, but NRJ isn't supposed to be on the same level as FoP. It's not an E ticket. It's supposed to be a secondary/complementary attraction -- and as I said, it's far from perfect. If you look at it as a C ticket, the parks could use several more C tickets like it.

I actually think I like NRJ more than FoP, but I know I'm in a tiny minority and it's because just looking at a screen doesn't work very well for me. And I still would never argue that NRJ is actually a better ride than FoP; it just may be for me personally.

ETA: I do wonder if people's overall opinion of NRJ will go up now that more people should be able to ride it without a long wait. It's a solid ride for what it is; it's just not a 60+ minute wait kind of ride. I think the biggest reason people dislike it is because they feel like it wasn't worth the wait.

 

[IHeartGlaciers]

There are a lot of people who don't care about rope drop. I don't think I've ever been up at 7 AM at WDW, at least as an adult.

You're only behind the eight ball if you want to ride most or all of the attractions, which is also something a lot of people don't care about. There are only certain attractions that matter to me.

With people only able to book one at 7 AM it probably won't be an issue, but it's still an annoyance, especially since there's no reason for Disney to set it at that time. It would be different if there was some clear operational reason where they had no other choice.

I hope we do keep the heat up on this Genie Garbage. Its the only way we might get some kind of concession. I am NOT happy about having to be up everyday of my Vacation at 7AM.

Totally agree. We liked to sleep in, or have a leisurely breakfast, and then stroll into a park to do our three FPs. I feel like with the current systems we have to rope drop to be able to do the top tier rides, unless we pay the extra fee.

I really don't like the reduced perks for resort guests.

 

[J4546]

NRJ is to Pandora as Web-Slingers is to Avengers Campus. Its a small c ticket ride meant to complement the land its built in.

 

[jpinkc]

I have to agree in some ways this whole setup with Genie makes me feel like we need to be Park Commandos race to get up by 7AM, race to rope drop and go like mad til close. Thats not a vacation thats a Work Week