Lightning Lane at Walt Disney World

[Disney Glimpses]

"no interest whatsoever" is extreme, but the primary focus is on making MONEY with a passive eye on guest experience..

I also think they have shifted away from giving everyone a good customer experience to giving certain people a good customer experience.

 

[Disstevefan1]

I also think they have shifted away from giving everyone a good customer experience to giving certain people a good customer experience.

Agreed. TWDC is an inclusive company as long as you have enough money....

 

[brettf22]

The whole discussion of park hours was because 20+ pages back Patcheslee said they preferred 1am over RD as the best time of day to ride attractions without having to use any fast passes.

Almost the only time the parks were open that late was during Extra Magic Hours and on major holidays. For many years, Epcot's regular closing time was 9pm AK's was 5/6pm, HS's ranged between 7-10pm. The park that ranged the most, and stayed open the latest was MK.

Generally speaking though, touring the parks at 1am meant using EMH hours. Which were themselves offered as a kind of alternative to FP.

Looking ahead, touring until 1am will only work if the parks are open until 1am. I'm not confident that will happen.

Looking at the MK operating hours data from 2011 and 2019, specifically comparing the number of times MK closed at midnight or 1AM, the difference is obvious:

2011 MK closing times
12AM - 91 times
1AM - 45 times

2019 MK closing times
12AM - 33 times
1AM - 2 times

 

[Chi84]

I mean, they aren’t running parking lot trams and the only way to change the date of a ticket on the day of is to wait for 90 minutes to three hours on the phone. Both of those are more egregious violations of the guest experience then longer wait times that are avoidable (for a small fee) and that even savvy guests will be unsure can be blamed on Genie.

What was WDWs last major improvement in the guest experience?

What do you believe was the last major improvement in the guest experience?

 

[Casper Gutman]

What do you believe was the last major improvement in the guest experience?

I’m not the one claiming WDW is particularly concerned with the guest experience.

Putting aside the opening of new rides and simply considering how the resort is experienced by the guest, I don’t think the guest experience has improved for a long time. The very clear trend has been towards less spontaneity, less freedom, less options, more restrictions, more complicated systems, more things to pay for, more crowds, higher prices, all for the benefit of Disney.

So I ask again, what was the last improvement in the guest experience?

 

[Disstevefan1]

What do you believe was the last major improvement in the guest experience?

I have a couple:
The Magical Express
The Osborne Lights

Both now gone

 

[Casper Gutman]

I have a couple:
The Magical Express
The Osborne Lights

Both now gone

Ok, yes, Magical Express was a substantial plus to the guest experience.

I loved the lights, but I’d put them more in the attraction category.

 

[Disstevefan1]

Ok, yes, Magical Express was a substantial plus to the guest experience.

I loved the lights, but I’d put them more in the attraction category.

The Osborne lights was a substantial plus to my guest experience.
Being seasonal, I looked forward to them every year.
Each year, they kept plussing them.
The lights were effectively "free" with admission, no upcharge.
I was super impressed with the work involved to create this, not to charge the guest extra, created just to enhance the guest experience.

The bean counters may have justified them as "bringing in more paying guests into the park", but when when I was there, I felt pure joy.

 

[Chi84]

I’m not the one claiming WDW is particularly concerned with the guest experience.

Putting aside the opening of new rides and simply considering how the resort is experienced by the guest, I don’t think the guest experience has improved for a long time. The very clear trend has been towards less spontaneity, less freedom, less options, more restrictions, more complicated systems, more things to pay for, more crowds, higher prices, all for the benefit of Disney.

So I ask again, what was the last improvement in the guest experience?

For me it was FP+ and the addition of certain upcharge events or experiences that we particularly enjoyed - Highway in the Sky Dine Around, the Polar Patios, etc. You asked about me, personally - I know others will not consider them improvements and that’s fine.

 

[Virtual Toad]

I think the biggest goal achieved by Disney re: G+ is it removes local APs from the FP queues. That alone will keep things light. Unless we believe that locals are likely to cough up 15 bucks every time they visit the parks (and that's after the insane price hikes).

I can see single AP holders shelling out the $15 each time they visit (and spending a little less on food and merch to compensate) but for a local AP-holding family of four that’s $60 each visit which is pretty much a non-starter. Add the ever more frequent and severe traffic jams on I-4 and visiting as an AP holder really starts to lose its luster. A big loss for locals but I think that fits nicely with Disney’s new strategy.

 

[dig311dug]

even if this new system was free, everything is far too confusing for the average park-goer.
good luck cast members

 

[Disstevefan1]

I can see single AP holders shelling out the $15 each time they visit (and spending a little less on food and merch to compensate) but for a local AP-holding family of four that’s $60 each visit which is pretty much a non-starter. Add the ever more frequent and severe traffic jams on I-4 and visiting as an AP holder really starts to lose its luster. A big loss for locals but I think that fits nicely with Disney’s new strategy.

Allow me to put my Disney fanatic rationalization hat on. "$15 dollars, that's nothing, I spend that on one pin or one counter service"
To Disney, you can spend $15 to buy a pin or a counter service, but there are costs to Disney for these.
To Disney, Genie + or individual Lighting Lane, this is PURE PROFIT they are now taking money for something that was previously free.

 

[flynnibus]

- They didn't give IAS a name in order to keep the attention off it, as it was obviously going to be the least popular aspect of the new system.

Yet be the first thing someone looks for on the highest profile, most popular rides on property.

That's like trying hiding an elephant by giving it a tree branch to hold.

It's a marketing flop that has yet to be resolved.

 

[flynnibus]

I guess my point is:

what’s easier, get a pass that lets you on every ride, at any time and you can use it as much as you want, including multiple times on any ride for free with a qualified hotel

or

Genie, genie+, ias, BGs, park pass reservations

They could have made it way more user friendly

Fastpass was not simple in itself.

Ideas like 'reuse', etc all immediately bring in their own complexity. This is again people trying to make things complicated as they try to squeeze any angle out of something and calling it complex.. instead of just looking at how the general population is expected to use it.

Walk around.. get suggestions... and if you pay for Genie+, be offered line skips.

It's not hard to grasp why you don't get one offered
- It's not available
- It's run out
- You can only use once per ride a day

IAS is simply a paid line skip for some rides.. pay for it if you want it, otherwise get in line when/how offered.


It's not hard to digest. The rest is people trying to optimize to death.

 

[flynnibus]

If resort guests can purchase IAS at 7am and everyone else has to wait until park opening, why wouldn't Disney just let resort guests purchase their 2 IAS rides 60 days in advance? Whats the difference?


Most resort guests will have already made dining ressies, park pass ressies and will know what park they will be in.........I just don't see why they are making it 7am?

Because that would lock Disney in early - vs allowing them to dynamically do what they want.

 

[mikejs78]

But unlike FP, G+ limits you to one line skip per ride per day, so it's not "unlimited," and I'd say that's a pretty significant change from FP.

They were very quick to emphasize "at launch". I wouldn't be surprised if this changes once Genie+ has been broken in for a bit.

The people who arrive at the park at say 10 or 11 am or even later and decide to wait until 10am then to book their first Genie ride might find they are not going to find the next available to be 1030 either either. So in some way shape or form some rides will always be available later in the day as the only option.

At 7am we do not know what will show as a time for next available for any of the rides on the Genie + tier. At 7am technically the next available for all of them is park opening at 9am. So the best option might be to wait a few hours to book rides to arrive later.

Won’t be that hard. If you’re going to use genie+ and plan to arrive at 10am, take a quick glance at your phone at 8:30 to see where things stand and book accordingly.

Yep. To me that's a big downgrade from FP+ - not being able to pick a return window from what's available. I would love it if they ultimately went in that direction, but I don't hold out much hope of that unless a ton of people complain about it.

 

[Patcheslee]

They were very quick to emphasize "at launch". I wouldn't be surprised if this changes once Genie+ has been broken in for a bit.




Yep. To me that's a big downgrade from FP+ - not being able to pick a return window from what's available. I would love it if they ultimately went in that direction, but I don't hold out much hope of that unless a ton of people complain about it.

Some podcast made claims the free Genie portion that let's you plug in your likes and such will include whe you plan to enter the park. When combined with the Genie+ supposedly it will show you times you would actually be in the park. We'll see how much that is true in a few days. That might be a workable solution if not too restricted: tell Genie you will be in park the time you want, search for ride, book. Keep adjusting "in park" time before each booking to snag the time you want.

 

[MickeyLuv'r]

I think that's it. I'm noticing a subset of people whom have only ever navigated FP+. Which I actually believe was a more convoluted management system. It's the lack of ability to plan 60 days out (which I thought most people hated), that now everyone seems addicted to.

This is MaxPass (with a few attractions removed) AND no two-tier paper system, which was always less convoluted than FP+.

If this new system is so simple.....

...why can the name of the new program be reduced to a simple two, maybe three letter abbreviation like FP-, FP+, EP (Express Pass)?

As convoluted as the DDP was, at least we had a simple acronym for it as soon as the idea was released.

 

[MurphyJoe]

If this new system is so simple.....

...why can the name of the new program be reduced to a simple two, maybe three letter abbreviation like FP-, FP+, EP (Express Pass)?

As convoluted as the DDP was, at least we had a simple acronym for it as soon as the idea was released.

G, G+, LL, IAS

It's not hard to digest. The rest is people trying to optimize to death.

Sounds more like they're trying to pound a square peg into a round hole with trying to make Genie+ work like FP+ instead of approaching it as the digital revamp of traditional FastPass with a fee attached.

 

[Wendy Pleakley]

Is that where we're at?

The system is too complex because of an acronym?