Lightning Lane at Walt Disney World

[JD80]

Good lord that FoP wait time.

But no, no expanded capacity needed folks. Move along folks

While they 1000% need more capacity, even if the park had 4 new attractions the wait time would still be obscene. Way too many people there.

 

[JD80]

For many parents it's either this week or the summer.

I think it's mostly people who don't do any research or do very little and think WDW at Christmas will be fun!

Then they go and regret it. Most people just don't understand how massive a tourist engine WDW is. Most people think it's a super version of whatever their closest regional amusement park is. It's many many multiple above whatever their expectations are.

Or they have some vague memory from 20 or 30 years ago when they last went that is worn away by time and childhood memories.

 

[Jrb1979]

For many parents it's either this week or the summer.

I get that Christmas and summer work the best for time off school. Maybe it's just me but for my family Christmas was about spending time with family.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

While they 1000% need more capacity, even if the park had 4 new attractions the wait time would still be obscene. Way too many people there.

There are going to be a handful of weeks that are just crazy crowded and kind of have to accept it. They can't really, business wise, like quadruple capacity just so those handful of weeks there are minimal lines

 

[mattpeto]

I get that Christmas and summer work the best for time off school. Maybe it's just me but for my family Christmas was about spending time with family.

I hear you, but I don't think it's mutually exclusive.

You can go to WDW on 12/26 through NY and your kids don't miss school. You still get family time on Eve and Christmas at home.

Or you can go with your family to WDW.

 

[ChrisFL]

I think it's mostly people who don't do any research or do very little and think WDW at Christmas will be fun!

Then they go and regret it. Most people just don't understand how massive a tourist engine WDW is. Most people think it's a super version of whatever their closest regional amusement park is. It's many many multiple above whatever their expectations are.

Or they have some vague memory from 20 or 30 years ago when they last went that is worn away by time and childhood memories.

Or they think if they go on Christmas Day to Magic Kingdom they'll see the televised parade in person even though it's recorded in November (at least they used to, do they even really have parade segments anymore on TV?)

 

[DCBaker]

Genie+ at Disney's Animal Kingdom has sold out.

 

[HauntedPirate]

330 minute posted wait time for FoP right now.

 

[Chip Chipperson]

330 minute posted wait time for FoP right now.

I hope anyone getting on that line packed a lunch. And maybe dinner, too.

 

[Fido Chuckwagon]

330 minute posted wait time for FoP right now.

I don’t understand how someone sees that and is like “Ok, guess I’ll go stand in line for 6 hours.”

 

[el_super]

I get that Christmas and summer work the best for time off school. Maybe it's just me but for my family Christmas was about spending time with family.

They are spending time with their family... 330 minutes at a time.

 

[ChrisFL]

or they can't math. I'm not judging, I also can't math

 

[Fido Chuckwagon]

or they can't math. I'm not judging, I also can't math

Let’s give them the benefit of the doubt and assume they misread it as 3.5 hours. Who decides “Yeah, that’s fine, let me just wait in this line.”

 

[Fido Chuckwagon]

Good news, FOP is down to 4 hours and 10 minutes!

 

[bryanfze55]

Personally, I envy the people who can tolerate a line that long. I certainly couldn’t do it.

We can assume these people are having a terrible time, but who knows. Maybe us fans are just jaded. I have a coworker who just got back from a Christmas trip at WDW, and she said they had a good time. I have no reason not to believe her. I think the casual visitor just may have different expectations.

 

[DisneyCane]

Let’s give them the benefit of the doubt and assume they misread it as 3.5 hours. Who decides “Yeah, that’s fine, let me just wait in this line.”

Not even the best theme park ride ever created (whatever that is to you) is worth waiting over 3 hours for. You are paying an admission fee just to stand around for hours not doing anything. That's where a park designed around all virtual queues would be valuable. Even if you were only allowed to be in one queue at a time, you could spend 3 hours enjoying atmosphere and walking around or eating/drinking.

 

[MrPromey]

RNRC is currently down, so probably similar to today, but yeah - that park really can handle when rides go down (and they have a few that are down at least an hour every day .... Could use a few more low tech/high reliability rides)

... that have mass appeal.

Just wanted to add that last point because a couple of 3-4 minute spinners won't fix this problem.

They need something with high capacity without height restrictions that can appeal to a wide demographic like... that ride they got rid of - the one based on movies - that was a reliable people-eater.

 

[tanc]

why would anyone go is beyond me. I can't imagine waiting that long.

 

[MrPromey]

There are going to be a handful of weeks that are just crazy crowded and kind of have to accept it. They can't really, business wise, like quadruple capacity just so those handful of weeks there are minimal lines

No but they could probably double it in most parks (with a mix of desirable attractions including but not exclusively e-tickets) to make the them enjoyable and manageable the rest of the year and then just maybe it would be a little more bearable this time of year as an added perk.

Remember, thanks to the way they've manipulated attendance, there is no "slow" season anymore so it's not like that capacity would go unused the rest of the year.

 

[Biff215]

For many parents it's either this week or the summer.

I have two kids and also teach yet have found other times to visit throughout the year. To each their own.

My wife and I went Christmas week before having kids. Christmas Eve and Day were actually enjoyable. Then the 26th on was positively miserable. We went in with reasonable expectations and were still glad we did it, but agreed that we would never do it again, especially with kids.

Now I’d pick something like a cruise for a busy period as even though it will be full, there is a maximum capacity. With Disney you never really know!