Lightning Lane at Walt Disney World

[Disney Analyst]

At least they've finally consolidated all of this into the one name, and it makes more sense just by the name. Genie, Genie+ lighting lane, Genie+ Individual Lightning Lane selection, was a mess.

 

[GhostHost1000]

which is an underrated nice change. Being able to select your time instead of modifying all day long.

the two things I wanted to change the most (other than the cost lol) was prebooking of at least 1 attraction and being able to select your times rather than play the 7am and modify lotto game every day and all day

one thing I didn't like about G+ was the zig zagging all day... FP+ allowed me to rope drop something and know I have 3 more already planned out and I could sorta map out my path around the parks each day and be around attractions around my lunch spot around that time as well

I think these changes will work out ok... don't get me wrong... it's still a broken system and they need more capacity in a major way... but power users can make this work I believe (time will tell)

 

[Ayla]

See here:
View attachment 794462

To clarify, this SPA (ha ha!!) is in addition to whatever you paid for Genie+, correct?

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

This. We didn't always ride a bunch of rides but we had the ones we wanted because I could stack and move times to fit how we were feeling each day. Good days we could roll in early and go nuts, rough days we could wait until late afternoon and still get a few good rides in. I really liked the overall flexibility.

This is a massive downgrade if that has been removed.

That’s one of the two big reasons why fastpass+ didn’t work and died

You having a 4 hour preplanned block is NOT good for business

If that returns…they’ll have more problems under a bigger microscope

 

[Liloandstitch3]

It’d be

At least they've finally consolidated all of this into the one name, and it makes more sense just by the name. Genie, Genie+ lighting lane, Genie+ Individual Lightning Lane selection, was a mess.

better if they got rid of the penny pinching individual/single pass and put everything into same bucket for a premium fee.

 

[Dranth]

I mean you can be angry at it I guess, but this is a major improvement from what we have currently. Outside the cost, this is a massive improvement over FP+ from a functional level. FP+ always had the risk of being unusable after 3 anyway.

No, it isn't better. It is better for the get up and go crowd or those that like to have their days planned out. It is worse for everyone else, at least based on the information we have so far which admittedly may not be complete.

 

[Disney Analyst]

It’d be

better if they got rid of the penny pinching individual/single pass and put everything into same bucket for a premium fee.

That would take people not buying it, and let me tell you... I was shocked at Disneyland last week by how many people do the individual purchases for Rise and Racers.

 

[GhostHost1000]

The core issue with FastPass+ and Genie+ was too many people using it thus making its whole purpose rather pointless. Having been to multiple parks with a $80+ skip the line option, its evident that this all works better when less people are using it. A skip the line option should be a premium option, not something that every single person in the park can access for $25.

the core issue is there isn't enough attractions.

FP+ had some of the ILL attractions in it... and it was free to use for everyone so more were using it

also, things work better when attractions don't have so much downtime throughout the day as well

 

[Doberge]

I think you can select your times though... so when you enter the park you could have 3 + ILLs if you'd like

That's pretty much what I do already. I book first at 7 and then every two hours after opening so by time I go in at like 4pm I have at least 4 booked.

Genie+ is pretty egalitarian because, if using on popular attractions at MK opens at 8 am, we're all looking at 5th attraction bookings at 4pm. Under this new system those getting in early can use their three booked in morning and then play free the rest of the day booking things I can't until I use my first selection after I enter after 4 pm.

I should add that it is possible that some people will push through parks faster this way. Like, morning people might finish sooner because they used more selections through the afternoon. If that happens then technically they could be wrapping up by time I start and then crowds are decreased and I have fewer people competing for evening selections. I don't know if it will work that way but it's at least possible.

 

[JD80]

No, it isn't better. It is better for the get up and go crowd or those that like to have their days planned out. It is worse for everyone else, at least based on the information we have so far which admittedly may not be complete.

Of course people who plan out their day and get out earlier and spend more time at the parks are going to get more out of it. What were you expecting?

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Just an observation:

Since now you can conceivably book for up to 14 days of MPLL or SPLL in advance at one time, the true cost of this may be a major turn off for some.

A family of 4 booking for 7 days at $30 per person, plus throw in some SPLL reservations and you're already over $1000 that you have to pay for immediately.

No thank you.

Woah…two minutes for “too early acronyming”

Get in the sin bin, bub

 

[aladdin2007]

I’m gonna get stoned to death for this but I hope this comes with a significant price increase.

The core issue with FastPass+ and Genie+ was too many people using it thus making its whole purpose rather pointless. Having been to multiple parks with a $80+ skip the line option, its evident that this all works better when less people are using it. A skip the line option should be a premium option, not something that every single person in the park can access for $25.

Universal’s version is far and away the best version. Priced appropriately with an experience that matches its $100+ price. My Universal Orlando trip was incredible with the Express.

The pricier it is, the less people in the park will be using it, making the LL line actually a true worthwhile skip the line.

But Disney will never do that. They want as many people as possible using the service.

Oddly it seems like the higher prices go the more people buy into this, same way with tickets, the higher prices go the more people come.

 

[donsullivan]

No, it isn't better. It is better for the get up and go crowd or those that like to have their days planned out. It is worse for everyone else, at least based on the information we have so far which admittedly may not be complete.

Unless they hold back some capacity, it feels like the non-resort guests will be at the same disadvantage on the most popular attractions they had back in the FP+ days.

 

[Sectorkeeper71]

there is no good "fastpass" system at disney because they don't have enough capacity and then like to overcomplicate and charge for it all

The only “good” system would be to go to an express system like universal that’s prohibitively expensive and capped at a low threshold. Which is p much stand by for 90%+ of people, which would irritate a lot but I’d rather do that at this point than this constant charade

 

[JD80]

Unless they hold back some capacity, it feels like the non-resort guests will be at the same disadvantage on the most popular attractions they had back in the FP+ days.

Not as bad I guess. 7 vs 3 days instead of 60 vs 30.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

I’m gonna get stoned to death for this but I hope this comes with a significant price increase.

The core issue with FastPass+ and Genie+ was too many people using it thus making its whole purpose rather pointless. Having been to multiple parks with a $80+ skip the line option, its evident that this all works better when less people are using it. A skip the line option should be a premium option, not something that every single person in the park can access for $25.

Universal’s version is far and away the best version. Priced appropriately with an experience that matches its $100+ price. My Universal Orlando trip was incredible with the Express.

The pricier it is, the less people in the park will be using it, making the LL line actually a true worthwhile skip the line.

But Disney will never do that. They want as many people as possible using the service.

It actually needs to to be effective at all…

But that isn’t their goal…their goal is to get the most amount to buy it right at the line that produces the maximum price per…

They NEED it…it’s a financial necessity now

 

[DCLcruiser]

You guys must all go on Christmas morning. I can’t recall a time where I felt that FP, FP+ or Genie+ weren’t worth the time savings. I return during my window and my wait is 5 minute? Standby is 60+?

I’d FP Figment just to prevent myself from waiting 2 minutes. Haha

 

[GhostHost1000]

Unless they hold back some capacity, it feels like the non-resort guests will be at the same disadvantage on the most popular attractions they had back in the FP+ days.

well... they need to fill more resort rooms... they should honestly be giving more perks to onsite guests IMO

 

[Doberge]

You can prebook 3 at any time of your choosing assuming availability. So that's a pre-stack of 3. If you were to do it currently, with park open at 9AM, those bookings would be at 7AM, 11AM and 1PM. If you're not in the park by 3PM where your 4th booking would happen, you are technically losing out compared to today just on quantity.

However, with this version, assuming times work out for you, you can prebook 7 days out for each day, and not have to worry about waking up at 7AM and managing booking windows every 2 hours after.

It's an upgrade for everyone honestly.

I hear you but I'd rather get up at 7 and have more control than have fewer opportunities going into parks later. There's no great system that works for everyone. This will work better for some and worse for others, just like every system before.

 

[donsullivan]

Not as bad I guess. 7 vs 3 days instead of 60 vs 30.

But since the 7 guest can book up to 10 days, it has the potential to totally overwrite the 3 day guests.