Lightning Lane at Walt Disney World

JD80

Well-Known Member
When we had to cancel our trip in 2020 I had paid £500 each. When we actually went in 2022 it was £600 each. Thats a 20% increase in 2 years. Inflation wasn’t 20%.
Last few years - prices have been stable 2022, 2023, 2024. All ranging between $145 and $155ish. 3% increases every year is about 5 bucks or so.

Of course the world saw massive inflation between 2020 and 2022.

Rough estimate through 2023, adjusted for inflation vs. 2023 dollar (around last summer)
1708975846532.png


Data that I used. First column is year, second column is actual cost, third column is inflation factor, last column is 2023 value.

2000​
$46​
1.76
$80.96​
2001​
$48​
1.71
$82.08​
2002​
$50​
1.69
$84.50​
2003​
$52​
1.66
$86.32​
2004​
$52​
1.60
$83.20​
2005​
$60​
1.56
$93.21​
2006​
$63​
1.50
$94.50​
2007​
$71​
1.46
$103.66​
2008​
$75​
1.39
$104.25​
2009​
$79​
1.41
$111.39​
2010​
$82​
1.40
$114.80​
2011​
$85​
1.35
$114.75​
2012​
$89​
1.33
$118.37​
2013​
$95​
1.30
$123.50​
2014​
$99​
1.28
$126.72​
2015​
$105​
1.27
$133.35​
2016​
$110​
1.26
$138.60​
2017​
$115​
1.24
$142.60​
2018​
$119​
1.21
$143.99​
2019​
$125​
1.19
$148.75​
2020​
$125​
1.18
$147.50​
2021​
$135​
1.12
$151.20​
2022​
$145​
1.03
$149.35​
2023​
$150​
$150​
 

Sirwalterraleigh

Premium Member
Last few years - prices have been stable 2022, 2023, 2024. All ranging between $145 and $155ish. 3% increases every year is about 5 bucks or so.

Of course the world saw massive inflation between 2020 and 2022.

Rough estimate through 2023, adjusted for inflation vs. 2023 dollar (around last summer)
View attachment 770338

Data that I used. First column is year, second column is actual cost, third column is inflation factor, last column is 2023 value.

2000​
$46​
1.76
$80.96​
2001​
$48​
1.71
$82.08​
2002​
$50​
1.69
$84.50​
2003​
$52​
1.66
$86.32​
2004​
$52​
1.60
$83.20​
2005​
$60​
1.56
$93.21​
2006​
$63​
1.50
$94.50​
2007​
$71​
1.46
$103.66​
2008​
$75​
1.39
$104.25​
2009​
$79​
1.41
$111.39​
2010​
$82​
1.40
$114.80​
2011​
$85​
1.35
$114.75​
2012​
$89​
1.33
$118.37​
2013​
$95​
1.30
$123.50​
2014​
$99​
1.28
$126.72​
2015​
$105​
1.27
$133.35​
2016​
$110​
1.26
$138.60​
2017​
$115​
1.24
$142.60​
2018​
$119​
1.21
$143.99​
2019​
$125​
1.19
$148.75​
2020​
$125​
1.18
$147.50​
2021​
$135​
1.12
$151.20​
2022​
$145​
1.03
$149.35​
2023​
$150​
$150​
Oh dear
 

SamusAranX

Well-Known Member
This is anecdotal but yesterday confirmed for me Disney is fudging the wait times.

On DAS, normally your call back is posted standby wait, subtract five minutes.

Looking at the app at 7 pm, rise was listed at 65 minutes, TSMM 55, Slinky Dog 100, and ToT 55 minutes. Yet all except Slinky was giving us call back times of 20 minutes or less. Why weren’t they matching up with the correct standby times, I can’t explain it. Even Slinky was an hour call back even tho listed at an hour and forty minute standby.

I could be misreading it but that’s my impression
 

JD80

Well-Known Member
This is anecdotal but yesterday confirmed for me Disney is fudging the wait times.

On DAS, normally your call back is posted standby wait, subtract five minutes.

Looking at the app at 7 pm, rise was listed at 65 minutes, TSMM 55, Slinky Dog 100, and ToT 55 minutes. Yet all except Slinky was giving us call back times of 20 minutes or less. Why weren’t they matching up with the correct standby times, I can’t explain it. Even Slinky was an hour call back even tho listed at an hour and forty minute standby.

I could be misreading it but that’s my impression

At 7AM the wait times are all predictive, so of course there is a little massaging going on.
 

Disney Glimpses

Well-Known Member
Plus I really think the crowded nature of LL at this point is people abusing DAS - which I think has been alluded to here and elsewhere that DAS represents a huge portion of LL usage.

Now, this isn't to say that DAS isn't needed, and that there are many people who legit need it - I know some - but there are YouTube videos out there telling people how to trick Disney into giving DAS passes in order to get free LL. I do think this is something Disney needs to figure out how to clean up without affecting those who legit need it.
I can tell you for sure that DAS abuse has become a very significant issue (primarily among local APs) that Disney is still scratching their head on how to fix. I can't share specific numbers but the ratio of LL scans that are DAS is mind blowingly high.

Yet another unforeseen or under estimated consequence of charging for the FP service.
 

Brian

Well-Known Member
I can tell you for sure that DAS abuse has become a very significant issue (primarily among local APs) that Disney is still scratching their head on how to fix. I can't share specific numbers but the ratio of LL scans that are DAS is mind blowingly high.

Yet another unforeseen or under estimated consequence of charging for the FP service.
I will say that while abuse is up, one must also consider that overall DAS usage is also up because some guests didn't need a DAS accommodation (or even think to look into it) when they had access to a reasonable, free alternative in FP+. It wasn't the same as DAS, but it did the trick for some guests with disabilities, since it accomplishes the goal of keeping the guest out of lengthy queues. Now that there is a fee to access the FP+ service (slightly repackaged), some are left to search for accommodations for the first time.

This is in no way an argument that DAS abuse isn't up. Because of the shift from free to paid FP, word has gotten out about DAS essentially being "free Genie+." Needless to say, abuse is certainly up, and I've seen it with my own eyes (similar stories to what Len Testa described), in addition to hearing about the problems through the grapevine. I merely want to point out that the increase in DAS usage isn't entirely the result of guests abusing the system, and there is a more innocent explanation to some of it.
 

lentesta

Premium Member
What’s your average wait time in ILL?

Also to others, what’s your average wait time in ILL?

Folks are paying big bucks to ride a ride once, it would be interesting to know the wait times.

Average waits in line for FastPass+ and Genie+ for years 2018, 2019, 2023, and 2024, self-reported from our users:

Screenshot 2024-02-27 at 12.32.38 PM.png


Here's the file with the data. I have not looked hard at this, so let me know what I'm missing.

The confidence intervals seem to say:
  • Genie+ users are waiting longer in line in 2024 than in 2023
  • Genie+ waits are longer than FastPass+ waits (okay, that's a 94% confidence interval)
The caveats:
  • This is user-reported data. It's possible they thought they were in the wrong line or attraction. We have no easy way to check that.
  • I haven't separated this out by resort (WDW vs DL) or park
  • Excluding 2020, 2021, and 2022 bc pandemic
 

Disney Glimpses

Well-Known Member
I will say that while abuse is up, one must also consider that overall DAS usage is also up because some guests didn't need a DAS accommodation (or even think to look into it) when they had access to a reasonable, free alternative in FP+. It wasn't the same as DAS, but it did the trick for some guests with disabilities, since it accomplishes the goal of keeping the guest out of lengthy queues. Now that there is a fee to access the FP+ service (slightly repackaged), some are left to search for accommodations for the first time.

This is in no way an argument that DAS abuse isn't up. Because of the shift from free to paid FP, word has gotten out about DAS essentially being "free Genie+." Needless to say, abuse is certainly up, and I've seen it with my own eyes (similar stories to what Len Testa described), in addition to hearing about the problems through the grapevine. I merely want to point out that the increase in DAS usage isn't entirely the result of guests abusing the system, and there is a more innocent explanation to some of it.
Can't say I disagree with that. I was told there is a strong pattern of the types of DAS requests though which may indicate gaming of the system. Disney has avenues they can take to mitigate this (legally) but it would come with extremely poor guest feedback and press.
 

Laketravis

Well-Known Member
I can tell you for sure that DAS abuse has become a very significant issue (primarily among local APs) that Disney is still scratching their head on how to fix. I can't share specific numbers but the ratio of LL scans that are DAS is mind blowingly high.

Yet another unforeseen or under estimated consequence of charging for the FP service.

I was really surprised how often I overheared "DAS" or "D - A - S" a couple of weeks ago while either standing in line or when walking into an attraction and hearing parts of a conversation between a quest and CM at the entrance.

I totally agree it's become an unintended (and most likely unanticipated) consequence of now charging for reduced wait times.
 

Tha Realest

Well-Known Member
I was really surprised how often I overheared "DAS" or "D - A - S" a couple of weeks ago while either standing in line or when walking into an attraction and hearing parts of a conversation between a quest and CM at the entrance.

I totally agree it's become an unintended (and most likely unanticipated) consequence of now charging for reduced wait times.
This was entirely foreseeable. They’re only doing something about it now because I don’t think they appreciated how much their laxity on DAS would overwhelm the operational restrictions they’ve implemented, and thus have started affecting their bottom line (which becomes more acute with dwindling revenue from raw attendance numbers and hotel stays)
 

Splash4eva

Well-Known Member
This is anecdotal but yesterday confirmed for me Disney is fudging the wait times.

On DAS, normally your call back is posted standby wait, subtract five minutes.

Looking at the app at 7 pm, rise was listed at 65 minutes, TSMM 55, Slinky Dog 100, and ToT 55 minutes. Yet all except Slinky was giving us call back times of 20 minutes or less. Why weren’t they matching up with the correct standby times, I can’t explain it. Even Slinky was an hour call back even tho listed at an hour and forty minute standby.

I could be misreading it but that’s my impression
Did HS close at 8pm ? If so i saw similar during my last visit. Before that trip DAS would not be available for rides with longer wait times that exceeded park closing. My guess legal changed that because of obvious reasons and now when this happens you can get DAS for those rides with “random” return windows
 

Purduevian

Well-Known Member
Average waits in line for FastPass+ and Genie+ for years 2018, 2019, 2023, and 2024, self-reported from our users:

View attachment 770458

Here's the file with the data. I have not looked hard at this, so let me know what I'm missing.

The confidence intervals seem to say:
  • Genie+ users are waiting longer in line in 2024 than in 2023
  • Genie+ waits are longer than FastPass+ waits (okay, that's a 94% confidence interval)
The caveats:
  • This is user-reported data. It's possible they thought they were in the wrong line or attraction. We have no easy way to check that.
  • I haven't separated this out by resort (WDW vs DL) or park
  • Excluding 2020, 2021, and 2022 bc pandemic
A few questions on the data.
1) Does this include ILL attractions for G+?
2) Are users instructed to stop the clock at the vehicle or (first) preshow?
3)I know it's not there now, but can the data be sorted by ride?

2) is the most interesting to me because if it's to the ride vehicle Guardians, RotR, MMRR, and MFSR all include a merge before a decent length pre-show followed by an additional line.
 

lentesta

Premium Member
A few questions on the data.
1) Does this include ILL attractions for G+?
2) Are users instructed to stop the clock at the vehicle or (first) preshow?
3)I know it's not there now, but can the data be sorted by ride?

2) is the most interesting to me because if it's to the ride vehicle Guardians, RotR, MMRR, and MFSR all include a merge before a decent length pre-show followed by an additional line.

1) I'll check
2) Whatever it is, it's consistent for each ride across years. We haven't changed 'the ride starts here' in a while.
3) Yeah, I just need more time.
 

Register on WDWMAGIC. This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.

Back
Top Bottom