Lightning Lane at Walt Disney World

[MurphyJoe]

If I was Universal I would be fast tracking that 3rd park.

I would be focusing on how much market share I could gobble up while the mouse is busy stumbling around like a greedy drunken fool.

Oh wait Disney has nothing to worry about.

They have KiteTails!!

The Epic Universe site is active with prep and backstage construction work. Rumor, on an Universal forum with a typically good track record, has it that Comcast / Universal is moving select attractions from EU to their current theme parks and canceling other attractions so they can use the space and funds for even better attractions (or major attractions they were planning on building later). Comcast appears to be out for blood with how well the parks have been performing.

It's a much different calculus if you're solo or travelling as a couple than it is for a family with children.

It's going to be interesting to see if solo and couple visitors don't have a major advantage with G+ and LL. Since LL entries are being distributed in real time, spending time discussing where a group is heading next could push available times further into the future. Solo and couples can make quicker decisions on what to do which could add an attraction or two on busy days. Not to mention snagging LL spots from blocks with only 1 or 2 seats remaining.

 

[pixarprincess]

Disney is going to BOMBARD guests with information about this, as evidenced by @dreday3 already receiving an email less than an hour after it was released.

VIP tours sell out at 60 days consistently. It’s not that few people want to do it. It’s that there are limited offerings.

 

[Chi84]

I go to Disney the 19th-22nd. How do I add genie plus and when can I buy it?

We'll be there the 21st-28th and I had the same question. It looks like you can't buy it until the 19th, but that it will be available to add on to your tickets through the app. Or you can buy it each day, but they didn't say what time. I assume sometime after midnight.

 

[Casper Gutman]

The Epic Universe site is active with prep and backstage construction work. Rumor, on an Universal forum with a typically good track record, has it that Comcast / Universal is moving select attractions from EU to their current theme parks and canceling other attractions so they can use the space and funds for even better attractions (or major attractions they were planning on building later). Comcast appears to be out for blood with how well the parks have been performing.

What’s pleasant about Uni is that it still feels like there is the possibility of spontaneity. You can go into the park, wait in a moving line for this or that attraction, see Cyclops and Wolverine wandering around, and choose where to eat, with only Toothsome usually having much of a wait (and you’ll get in eventually). No preplanning, no six-month-out reservations with cancellation fees, no BGs or other complicated crowd management systems to navigate. It’s relaxing. (Also they build things, but that’s another matter).

The price increases are what slammed the door on the chances of my returning to WDW for more then a day, but it was their slow process of killing the spontaneity of a vacation that made me not mind the slamming door too much.

 

[dreday3]

Commercial break!

Anyone going soon - do yourself a favor and watch The Muppets Haunted Mansion special. It's basically a love letter to the ride. Very fun. Really gets you in the mood for your trip!

 

[floydbeatle]

If it makes my vacation better by reducing crowds, making touring more efficient, more fun, and more relaxing then I am all for it, and will gladly pay for Genie+ and ILL. However, I highly doubt that will be the case. I think the uptake on both products will be higher then expected. I don't see these extra charges changing the calculus for guests who are already spending thousands of dollars. What's another couple hundred. Drop a signature restaurant ressie or two, and don't do a dessert party and all of a sudden you have the money to pay for ILL and Genie+. IMHO the prices need to go higher if we are to see some real change in guests behavior.

 

[FantasiaMickey2000]

Well I arrive on the 17th. I don’t think I want to be the guinea pig who is fighting the IT mess on day one. I think I’ll pass on the first day. If it turns out that your experience is severely diminished then I might buy it the rest of the week. I can afford it. Switched our stay from the contemporary to all star movies when it was clear they weren’t offering any fall discounts and they announced all this stuff. I can pay for all the individual attractions and genie+ each day and still come out thousands of dollars ahead. Win for me, loss for disney.

 

[FantasiaMickey2000]

Maybe but there are just a lot of negative things about this in my opinion. Who wants to schedule their morning to be on their phone planning their day at 7am

Also why does it have to be so confusing? Most of us on here are what I would call Disney experts but it’s not clear to some of us still

This is my biggest issue with this. I don’t like waking up early on my vacation and I certainly don’t want to start the day off with a microtransaction. They would have made more money increasing ticket prices $20 a day and would have suffered a lot less backlash. Paying money up front brings me a one time negative reaction. Now they are making me do it every day and a memory from my trip will be starting every single day with a negative thought on paying for fastpass if I do this and having to wake up early every day to do it. I feel like it’s a dumb move but I don’t make millions to make decisions for a multi-billion dollar company.

 

[GhostHost1000]

If it makes my vacation better by reducing crowds, making touring more efficient, more fun, and more relaxing then I am all for it, and will gladly pay for Genie+ and ILL. However, I highly doubt that will be the case. I think the uptake on both products will be higher then expected. I don't see these extra charges changing the calculus for guests who are already spending thousands of dollars. What's another couple hundred. Drop a signature restaurant ressie or two, and don't do a dessert party and all of a sudden you have the money to pay for ILL and Genie+. IMHO the prices need to go higher if we are to see some real change in guests behavior.

But that already would be a change in guest behavior if many start not going to some dining places to pay for this

 

[floydbeatle]

But that already would be a change in guest behavior if many start not going to some dining places to pay for this

Agreed. What I left out was that I think there could be more availability for restaurants, parties, and other upcharges. I should have been more succinct that I think the guest behavior in terms of what is most important to most guests (rides) will not change. Thanks for the opportunity to clarify!

 

[CaptainAmerica]

If it makes my vacation better by reducing crowds, making touring more efficient, more fun, and more relaxing then I am all for it, and will gladly pay for Genie+ and ILL. However, I highly doubt that will be the case. I think the uptake on both products will be higher then expected. I don't see these extra charges changing the calculus for guests who are already spending thousands of dollars. What's another couple hundred. Drop a signature restaurant ressie or two, and don't do a dessert party and all of a sudden you have the money to pay for ILL and Genie+. IMHO the prices need to go higher if we are to see some real change in guests behavior.

You're asking the wrong question. It doesn't matter whether the guests can afford it in absolute terms, the question is whether there's sufficient perceived value. I can afford to buy prime rib dinner for my family at Steakhouse 71 AND buy IAS for Mine Train and Expedition Everest, but I'm not GOING to, because Mine Train sucks and Expedition Everest doesn't get long lines.

 

[freedogshampoo]

Can the $7 for Expedition Everest go towards the SAVE THE YETI Foundation?

 

[Casper Gutman]

You're asking the wrong question. It doesn't matter whether the guests can afford it in absolute terms, the question is whether there's sufficient perceived value. I can afford to buy prime rib dinner for my family at Steakhouse 71 AND buy IAS for Mine Train and Expedition Everest, but I'm not GOING to, because Mine Train sucks and Expedition Everest doesn't get long lines.

But how does that calculation change if Disney ensures EE does get long lines?

 

[CaptainAmerica]

But how does that calculation change if Disney ensures EE does get long lines?

You've proposed this conspiracy theory several times and I'm not interested in addressing it. If you think Disney is going to deliberately and artificially drive up wait times by taking trains out of service or whatever, there's no reasoning with you.

 

[FantasiaMickey2000]

You're asking the wrong question. It doesn't matter whether the guests can afford it in absolute terms, the question is whether there's sufficient perceived value. I can afford to buy prime rib dinner for my family at Steakhouse 71 AND buy IAS for Mine Train and Expedition Everest, but I'm not GOING to, because Mine Train sucks and Expedition Everest doesn't get long lines.

I disagree because if guests can only afford one or the other and have to cut other things because they perceive that they have to get genie+ and pay for IAS or stand in really long lines then they are going to be left with a negative experience. They won’t have gotten to enjoy that meal they really wanted or event they wanted because they had to allocate money to line skipping. So say instead of having a table service meal every day they had to eat quick service. That could easily lead to people deciding not to come back. Not saying it will but this could be a penny wise and pound foolish move.

 

[castlecake2.0]

But how does that calculation change if Disney ensures EE does get long lines?

Attractions jobs are to get the most people through it as safely possible per hour. They’re not going to purposely reduce capacity.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

Attractions jobs are to get the most people through it as safely possible per hour. They’re not going to purposely reduce capacity.

He seems convinced that they're going to run Everest with a single train to sell IAS.

 

[castlecake2.0]

He seems convinced that they're going to run Everest with a single train to sell IAS.

Not happening lol

 

[Casper Gutman]

You've proposed this conspiracy theory several times and I'm not interested in addressing it. If you think Disney is going to deliberately and artificially drive up wait times by taking trains out of service or whatever, there's no reasoning with you.

I honestly don’t know why you consider this a conspiracy theory. Disney routinely manipulates line lengths in various ways. They stack at the end of the evening to discourage people entering the line, they greatly inflate wait times as we just saw last week. Even something as simple as altering the number of cast and vehicles based on anticipated crowds keeps the line in broadly steady parameters. Now, explain why, having spent billions to create a system that provides a monetary incentive for manipulating lines, they won’t do so? What moral or corporate philosophy renders this beyond reason? They can justify it to themselves and others very easily - well, not many paying reservations for EE, demand is low, don’t need to staff much at all. Instead of condescendingly dismissing this out of hand, tell me why it’s crazy.

 

[Casper Gutman]

He seems convinced that they're going to run Everest with a single train to sell IAS.

Now, I really didn’t say that, and you know it.

Your position is that, after shifting course years and years ago to focus on manipulating crowds rather then building new rides and investing billions into crowd manipulation infrastructure, they will cease manipulating crowds just as they have directly monetized it because…?