Lightning Lane at Walt Disney World

[Disstevefan1]

The bad thing about this change is that they really took the worst attributes of FastPass+ and implemented them here.

It didn't really matter in the FastPass+ days because it was free.

Now folks will be paying to be disappointed.

 

[Dranth]

I've heard this sentiment expressed by posters on this site many times. What I truly don't understand is why people didn't just book the meals they wanted anyway. Essentially a receipt from a table service restaurant would turn your LL into an anytime pass for that ride. It was advantageous in some respects to book a G+ lightning lane that conflicted with your meal so that you could let it expire and hold for later.

Same.

Most of the time as soon as we got a selection that conflicted with other plans, we would just move it. If that wasn't possible, we would drop it for something else so someone else could get it. Often it would overlap just enough that we could sneak it in right before or right after eating but if that many people told Disney they weren't doing dinning because they were worried about possible conflicts then I guess we were in the minority.

 

[Saskdw]

i do not think people will find any value in the new Genie+ or whatever it is now being called......You can buy 2 ILL's and get a VQ for the top rides....why would you then buy Genie+ on top of that for 1 more Tier 1 ride? doenst make sense to me but what do I know

They are trying to fill rooms with this new version. The value is for guests who book their resorts and get the 7 day advantage and piece of mind knowing they already have 3 to 5 rides booked each day of their trip.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Which is kinda crappy for people who are paying more for the Disney hotel. You get an advantage but then Disney undercuts it by holding back inventory. So then you’re back to the refresh refresh refresh game in the park trying to get the good rides.

It's a tough situation as I have been chatting with a lot of people who feel this setup or alizes off site too much as they pay the same for the service but get a lesser product... So have to have *some* availability for them, but like you said if I now still need to deal with this day of because my preselections aren't great, this didn't really fix the issue.

I think as long as you are a bit strategic with what days into your trip you do what park you should be fine, and I am sure they will adjust things over time, but definitely have to do some thought in planning

 

[John park hopper]

It used to be 60 days out you could plan your FP made our selections and it was done --what's with the 7 days

 

[Disneydad1012]

Saw this posted on the disboards.

International DVC Members Can Purchase Lightning Lane Passes Before Arriving in the USA

Learn how DVC Member Services can help international DVC members purchase Lightning Lane Passes before their Disney trip!

dvcfan.com

 

[Purduevian]

It's a tough situation as I have been chatting with a lot of people who feel this setup or alizes off site too much as they pay the same for the service but get a lesser product... So have to have *some* availability for them, but like you said if I now still need to deal with this day of because my preselections aren't great, this didn't really fix the issue.

I think as long as you are a bit strategic with what days into your trip you do what park you should be fine, and I am sure they will adjust things over time, but definitely have to do some thought in planning

There is also a financial incentive for Disney to do this. There is a perceived value (real or not) in being able to book 7 days vs 3 days early. Thus, it will get more people to book Disney Resorts. However, once the resort is booked and paid for, Disney wants as many people as possible to buy LLMP, so leaving some inventory for off site to make it "worth it" would make them more money

It used to be 60 days out you could plan your FP made our selections and it was done --what's with the 7 days

It hasn't been 60 days out for 1,593 days

I highly suggest you read this https://www.wdwmagic.com/other/disn...t-walt-disney-world-what-you-need-to-know.htm

 

[JIMMYEDDIE]

They are trying to fill rooms with this new version. The value is for guests who book their resorts and get the 7 day advantage and piece of mind knowing they already have 3 to 5 rides booked each day of their trip.

Problem is, if rides are sold out when i go on at the 7 day mark then i wont be buying this....most guests dont know that they hold back inventory.........

If you go on at 7 days out and you are going to HS for 1 of ur 4 park days and SDD is sold out, RNR and TOT aren't available until 6pm or later and we are leaving the park at 5:30pm, why would you buy this?

This system is terrible.........the Tiering and 3 advanced picks destroys inventory and makes this so inefficient

 

[GhostHost1000]

Saw this posted on the disboards.

International DVC Members Can Purchase Lightning Lane Passes Before Arriving in the USA

Learn how DVC Member Services can help international DVC members purchase Lightning Lane Passes before their Disney trip!

dvcfan.com

that's interesting... I bet they got a lot of blow back on that

have to think doing it over the phone though would take forever

 

[GhostHost1000]

........the Tiering and 3 advanced picks lack of attractions destroys inventory and makes this so inefficient

fixed it for ya

 

[Purduevian]

Problem is, if rides are sold out when i go on at the 7 day mark then i wont be buying this....most guests dont know that they hold back inventory.........

If you go on at 7 days out and you are going to HS for 1 of ur 4 park days and SDD is sold out, RNR and TOT aren't available until 6pm or later and we are leaving the park at 5:30pm, why would you buy this?

This system is terrible.........the Tiering and 3 advanced picks destroys inventory and makes this so inefficient

At WORST, Tiana, Remy, and SDD will be sold out 7 days out.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Problem is, if rides are sold out when i go on at the 7 day mark then i wont be buying this....most guests dont know that they hold back inventory.........

If you go on at 7 days out and you are going to HS for 1 of ur 4 park days and SDD is sold out, RNR and TOT aren't available until 6pm or later and we are leaving the park at 5:30pm, why would you buy this?

This system is terrible.........the Tiering and 3 advanced picks destroys inventory and makes this so inefficient

I think we need to see if that is the case that so much is unavailable 7 days out - if true, I agree people won't buy, but I don't think that has been shown to be the case (2 days out, yes, but not 7 .... Andn ven then it is 7 days from your check in so most parks days will b more than 7 days out)

 

[JIMMYEDDIE]

At WORST, Tiana, Remy, and SDD will be sold out 7 days out.

Im not sure about that......the popular Tier 2 selections are more apt to sell out (or have too late of a return time) than some Tier 1 selections....So now you cant get your first choice for Tier 1 OR Tier 2

This system severely penalizes any touring plan other than rope drop

 

[TheMaxRebo]

At WORST, Tiana, Remy, and SDD will be sold out 7 days out.

It is is 7 days from your check in, so most parks days for onsite people will be more than 7.

So really is what is inventory 8, 9, 10 days out .... If Tiana's and Remy, etc are sold out consistently 9 or 10 days out then I think that is an issue but don't think that has been shown to be the case yet

 

[Smooth]

 

[ConfettiCupcake]

fixed it for ya

Exactly. If I may use your post as a jumping off point… The underlying problem that existed for years over the course of at least 3 systems but maybe all 4 still exists.

In order for X, Y, and Z poster on this board to get 8-10 attractions on Genie+, all the headliners, or whatever is being put out there, it means somebody out there was getting less and somebody out there was missing out. There’s a finite and too small amount of desirable capacity to go around, no matter how it’s sold and distributed. This is best displayed with Disney’s own Genie+ disclaimer, that you could expect to get 2-3 attractions.

The various ways they’ve packaged it over the years change what kind of park guest can get the most out of the system, but there is no system in which everybody or most can get ‘more’ than another system.

 

[lentesta]

I've heard this sentiment expressed by posters on this site many times. What I truly don't understand is why people didn't just book the meals they wanted anyway. Essentially a receipt from a table service restaurant would turn your LL into an anytime pass for that ride. It was advantageous in some respects to book a G+ lightning lane that conflicted with your meal so that you could let it expire and hold for later.

I don't think it was widely known. And combined with how Disney likes their rules and rule enforcement, people may have been assuming that what was printed was law. That's my guess.

 

[ConfettiCupcake]

I've heard this sentiment expressed by posters on this site many times. What I truly don't understand is why people didn't just book the meals they wanted anyway. Essentially a receipt from a table service restaurant would turn your LL into an anytime pass for that ride. It was advantageous in some respects to book a G+ lightning lane that conflicted with your meal so that you could let it expire and hold for later.

My personal guess is they didn’t want those meals bad enough and they prioritized touring. This is what Genie+ did for my group. Our ADRs often would be outside the park and associated with a break somewhere, or a planned hop. It wasn’t just a case of being late to an in park ADR, it would mean staying in a park for longer than we had planned to.

Even if the majority doesn’t hop and doesn’t leave, I think a ride focused Genie+ day just makes it mentally tougher to add one more scheduled piece to consider, even if the most inconvenience it causes is criss crossing a park. Then you add the way Genie+ added what is essentially the price difference between a QS and a TS to everybody’s day, I can see how desire to book ADRs fell by the wayside.

 

[Saskdw]

Problem is, if rides are sold out when i go on at the 7 day mark then i wont be buying this....most guests dont know that they hold back inventory.........

If you go on at 7 days out and you are going to HS for 1 of ur 4 park days and SDD is sold out, RNR and TOT aren't available until 6pm or later and we are leaving the park at 5:30pm, why would you buy this?

This system is terrible.........the Tiering and 3 advanced picks destroys inventory and makes this so inefficient

I'm pretty sure they will tweak this as they go. It's day one.

For us...."if" we go, its for a full 2 weeks. So at 7 days out I can book I can book the whole 2 weeks. Even if the first couple days are slim picking the rest will be pick of the litter as very few stay that long. This system will work great for us.

 

[lentesta]

@lentesta do you do any study on restaurant occupancy?

I will limit myself to two factual statements:

1. Beast is back at Be Our Guest as of this week.
2. I'm on record saying Disney's first response to park things not going well is to throw characters at it.