Lightning Lane at Walt Disney World

[Andrew25]

Universal will never be a popular as the Disney brand, but that doesn't mean they can't eclipse them in the park experience/value arena.

 

[Kamikaze]

Anyone think we will get the WHOLE Genie+ and LL stuff this week?? Just wondering as I have to start our dining reservations and stuff this week.

No.

 

[Kamikaze]

Nov 2018 here. Now you've got me second guessing myself. Email receipt just gives a top line price also so that's no help.

MaxPass price increased to $15 Jan 2019.

 

[SteveAZee]

Universal is going to start beating Disney over the next 10 years. Why? Because they focus on the customer experience. Express pass is prohibitively expensive for the majority of guests making the standby lines acceptable. Genie will tell ppl to go to where the lines are short and then Jack up the price or they’ll lie about the wait times or they’ll flood it with cheap LL passes. Disney is really getting me close to not renewing my AP. I have been a pass holder since my third (I think?) birthday. My SO has been for a while too. My dad has been an AP since they created APs. My mom since they got married. We are all about to cancel depending on how hard genie screws things up.

It'll be interesting to watch over the next decade. Will it be like Coke and Pepsi, similar products but different enough to co-exist, or will it be more like VHS/Beta, or Android/iPhone? I'm thinking Coke/Pepsi, maybe Android/iPhone.

 

[EricsBiscuit]

I think Universal has a strategic pandemic benefit in their AP promotion earlier in the year when things were starting to look better and Disney was heavily limiting attendance. So they have built in a good chunk of people who have incentive already to go there repeatedly, which reduces the number of people either paying for tickets or APs at Disney somewhat. There are some like me who have passes to both, but I imagine this was a chance for many to try something else.

Now with these people getting used to going to Universal, they have the new park opening up, and that is it's own huge draw. Having the newest "thing" is going to be a big deal, especially considering that Nintendo World will be part of it. I can only hope that after Epic Universe opens that Disney follows up with some big additions of their own.

I’ve been an AP at Uni for as long as I can remember as well. Since 2010, the have really started to step up their game.

Without Disney's brand and IPs, I every much doubt it.

The difference is that Uni knows it can’t rely on IPs as the main draw. Instead, they focus on attraction quality. I don’t like Jurassic World. I love Velocicoaster. I don’t like Harry Potter. I love the WWoHP. Disney takes a formerly great IP like Star Wars and makes a depressing dystopia with mediocre rides and overpriced F&B and shopping, taking all the wrong lessons from Uni. They did even worse with Toy Story. All the while spending a fortune. Disney can’t build great rides anymore and they can’t use budgets efficiently like Uni. Uni makes good creative decisions on the fly. Disney uses a committee to take double the resources to arrive at mediocrity. Are the IPs at Disney good? Yes (how long will that last anyway?). Are the new rides any good? Not really. Not for what they’re spending. They’re being carried by what WED designed 35+ years ago.

 

[larryz]

Agreed, folks will use strandby.

It's not clear at this time but as part of the new G+, LL system, I have heard about the possibility of the standby lines being cut off, (allowing no one to wait in standby) if the standby queue gets too long.

Lets see what happens..

I wonder if we shouldn't spell it "stand-buy."

 

[LittleBuford]

Are the new rides any good? Not really.

FoP and RoTR are excellent, and I’m not the only one to think so. I’ve yet to ride MMRR, but it looks right up my street.

 

[homerdance]

Is the delay in opening of the last all stars a indicator of how poorly this is being received?

 

[mikejs78]

Is the delay in opening of the last all stars a indicator of how poorly this is being received?

No, it's an indication that there's a global pandemic going on.

 

[homerdance]

No, it's an indication that there's a global pandemic going on.

Well, they are letting Europeans in now.

Edit to add: we were in a pandemic when they originally announced the openings. Pretty sure it is a sign that future bookings aren’t hitting their desired demand.

 

[EricsBiscuit]

FoP and RoTR are excellent, and I’m not the only one to think so. I’ve yet to ride MMRR, but it looks right up my street.

And how much money did Disney spend on them? What is their capacity? Do you think their capacity is sufficient for their demand? Do you think they could have built an attraction of similar capacity and quality for less money? They have spent how much since 2017 and only 2 rides are considered excellent? It is unfortunate how inefficient they are.

 

[LittleBuford]

And how much money did Disney spend on them? What is their capacity? Do you think their capacity is sufficient for their demand? Do you think they could have built an attraction of similar capacity and quality for less money? They have spent how much since 2017 and only 2 rides are considered excellent? It is unfortunate how inefficient they are.

So I take it you don’t disagree with me that they are excellent rides.

 

[Disstevefan1]

I wonder if we shouldn't spell it "stand-buy."

Or “stand-or-buy”

 

[pdude81]

I wonder if we shouldn't spell it "stand-buy."

Get this man a suit.

 

[DisneyJoe]

Universal is going to start beating Disney over the next 10 years. Why? Because they focus on the customer experience. Express pass is prohibitively expensive for the majority of guests making the standby lines acceptable. Genie will tell ppl to go to where the lines are short and then Jack up the price or they’ll lie about the wait times or they’ll flood it with cheap LL passes. Disney is really getting me close to not renewing my AP. I have been a pass holder since my third (I think?) birthday. My SO has been for a while too. My dad has been an AP since they created APs. My mom since they got married. We are all about to cancel depending on how hard genie screws things up.

Perhaps, but only for certain segments of the population.

I went to Universal Orlando once, for 3 days, and I have absolutely no desire to ever go back.

As a handicapped person, who can ride 99.5% of the attractions at WDW, I felt as if Universal was telling me at every turn that I shouldn't have set foot in their parks - and I know many others in my situation who feel the same way.

 

[jpinkc]

My wife has mobility issues as well so I totally get what you are saying!

 

[mikejs78]

They have spent how much since 2017 and only 2 rides are considered excellent?

How many top-tier attractions has Universal opened since 2017? I count....two.

 

[Bullseye1967]

And how much money did Disney spend on them? What is their capacity? Do you think their capacity is sufficient for their demand? Do you think they could have built an attraction of similar capacity and quality for less money? They have spent how much since 2017 and only 2 rides are considered excellent? It is unfortunate how inefficient they are.

I also question how DL manages 50 to 70 more boarding groups each day when the rides essentially clones.

 

[EricsBiscuit]

So I take it you don’t disagree with me that they are excellent rides.

They’re good rides. I wouldn’t go so far as saying excellent. For the amount they spent on each they should have higher capacities and better set pieces.

How many top-tier attractions has Universal opened since 2017? I count....two.

I only said 2017 bc that’s when Disney opened Avatar. Since 2010, when Uni got in gear, they have opened at least 5. They have also expanded their entertainment offerings while Disney has cut budgets across the board.

 

[Dranth]

I also question how DL manages 50 to 70 more boarding groups each day when the rides essentially clones.

I remember someone mentioning that the DL boarding groups are smaller so they fit more in.