Lightning Lane at Walt Disney World

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Hawg G

Well-Known Member
"El Magnifico" said:
Honest Question. And this may have been addressed in the 400+ previous pages but:

Why didn't they go with a Universal type system?

Say: 1 Day/1 Park LL pass for $100pp (With a multi-park option at a higher price point) - then maybe a 1 Park/after 3pm option for say $60? Single use, no reservations, no return times.

Could have been included with Deluxe resorts as an incentive (obviously built into the room rate), and maybe offered as a % off for moderates and values. Otherwise you stand in line.

Seems to me from a guest experience perspective that would have been the way to go. But I guess Disney is making more revenue doing it this convoluted way.
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Because for most of this century, and the end of the last,, Disney built hotels instead of adding ride capacity. They convinced the Diznoid rubes that FP+ was a great thing, even though it severely limited your rides per day, because there simply isn’t enough ride capacity.

They can’t do what Universal does.
 
D

drizgirl

Well-Known Member
Hawg G said:
Because for most of this century, and the end of the last,, Disney built hotels instead of adding ride capacity. They convinced the Diznoid rubes that FP+ was a great thing, even though it severely limited your rides per day, because there simply isn’t enough ride capacity.

They can’t do what Universal does.
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Exactly that. They've been playing a shell game trying to hide the fact that there isn't enough ride capacity for the number of people coming through the gates.

100% agree they could never offer what Universal does.
 
D

dreday3

Well-Known Member
Trying AK today without Genie +.

So far, it's worked really well for us. Only ride that ran out was Slinky Dog, but that's because we were playing a game of chicken, trying to see if we could schedule one for evening. We lost. 😂

Do we like paying? No. But in the heat/humidity we've had this trip, it was worth it for us.

Only rides we would pay extra for again would be Railway and Rat. We loved those rides. Railway you won't need to if you ride near close though, waits were 15 minutes!

Rise was fun, but not worth paying for more than once.
 
D

dirtnap101

Member
Chip Chipperson said:
I certainly preferred the FP+ system. At least then I could know that a day in MK wouldn't be spent criss-crossing the park multiple times to ride everything I want because I'd be able to schedule them in advance in a way that made our loop around the park make sense. Now? Maybe I'll still be able to do that while in the park, but it seems less likely - not to mention $15/person more than the $0 paid for FP+. I'm still in "wait and see" mode with how G+ will pan out, but it seems like the 1 park with enough rides to justify (for lack of a better word) the cost is also the one that could see guests paying for a more tiring experience. The value of G+ in every other park seems to hinge on whether or not you're going to be park-hopping later in the day and there is still some decent LL availability in that 2nd park.

I guess I should say 1 good thing about G+ so as not to hurt its feelings. I assumed that it would require waking up and being on my phone every morning at 7 AM sharp to get a good ride, but that seems to only really be the case with SDD so far (although that may change during the holiday weeks coming up).

Of course, the rush for SDD LL selections wouldn't be quite so bad if they hadn't insisted on having 2 ILL attractions in every park regardless of how many attractions those parks actually have. If they had made RotR the only ILL selection in DHS then MMRR would take at least some of the burden off of SDD when people booked their first selection at 7 AM - and might have even made the company more money in the long run by making G+ seem like a better value (and thus selling more of them) and also allowing them to consider charging a few dollars more for the Rise ILLs to make up for the lost MMRR ILL revenue. Has MMRR sold out all of its ILLs on any date so far? It seems like it hasn't, although I admittedly haven't followed that closely. So they'd lose the MMRR revenue but gain maybe $5 per Rise ILL and it will still sell out at that price, and they'd also sell more of the $15 G+ service to DHS visitors.
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I haven't paid much attention to MMRR ILL, but based on today (9:50am and the return time is 1:40) that it is kind of popular to purchase and likely sells out or comes close to it later in the day on busier days.
 
D

dirtnap101

Member
I knew MDE/G+ wouldn't let you know with a push notification when you are eligible for your next G+ selection, but it's truly unbelievable that MDE/G+ does not provide any push notifications when your G+ return time window opens either.
 
MrPromey

MrPromey

Well-Known Member
matt9112 said:
Its an important element of prospective though that the deluxe resorts at uni are what half of the cost of disneys deluxe?
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Oh, absolutely.

This is just in relation to the value of this particular offering. Not trying to suggest Universal is pulling a fast one here - just pointing out that they are the ones that set the "value" of this perk since they control the price of the same feature being bought separately and it comes at essentially no cost to them.

When you compare this to Disney's 30 minutes in the park early for resorts on their property that cost the same or usually more and which don't offer the same quality standards (moderates - we won't even get into how these Universal resorts are of higher standards than the Deluxe) there is just no comparison in quality and benefits.

These days, it seems the "Disney Difference" may just be code for "It'll cost more and probably not be as good".
 
H

Hawg G

Well-Known Member
"El Magnifico" said:
Its funny and you make a very valid point.
There are some very good rides at Uni. Some.

With EP -in a few hours you ride the coasters and their E tickets - and by 4pm you’re thinking “Okay. What should we do now? I know. Let’s ride the coasters again.” Then after 3 Hulks, 4 Mummys, 3 Rips. You start thinking “screw it, let’s go get something to eat.”
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Yet at Disney, folks loved FP+ because they got a single ride on Peter Pan with no wait. Then getting to ride Dwarf Hill ONCE the next day. Expectations are much lower at Disney. And you pay the same for a glorified motel as you do for a true luxury hotel at Universal.

I guess a lot of folks think it’s a great deal.
 
Jeff4272

Jeff4272

Well-Known Member
Chip Chipperson said:
I guess I should say 1 good thing about G+ so as not to hurt its feelings. I assumed that it would require waking up and being on my phone every morning at 7 AM sharp to get a good ride, but that seems to only really be the case with SDD so far (although that may change during the holiday weeks coming up).
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drizgirl said:
Exactly that. They've been playing a shell game trying to hide the fact that there isn't enough ride capacity for the number of people coming through the gates.

100% agree they could never offer what Universal does.
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100% disagree.......Charge more money and have a limited amount that can do it


easily done
 
Jeff4272

Jeff4272

Well-Known Member
dreday3 said:
Trying AK today without Genie +.

So far, it's worked really well for us. Only ride that ran out was Slinky Dog, but that's because we were playing a game of chicken, trying to see if we could schedule one for evening. We lost. 😂

Do we like paying? No. But in the heat/humidity we've had this trip, it was worth it for us.

Only rides we would pay extra for again would be Railway and Rat. We loved those rides. Railway you won't need to if you ride near close though, waits were 15 minutes!

Rise was fun, but not worth paying for more than once.
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AK or HS?
 
Chi84

Chi84

Premium Member
Jeff4272 said:
Thats the problem with Genie+ and I think people are already figuring it out to a certain degree but it will be well know by Jan 1st

When its slow, you dont need it

When its busy, its not worth it because you wont be able to get the rides you want

Genie+ and ILL$ are poorly thought out and expensive
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It’s slow now but we definitely found value in not having to wait at all for SDD, Soarin’, Safari and ToT. Different times kept loading throughout the day for the less popular rides and we canceled and rebooked with no issues. We also got to skip even the shortest waits on rides we booked with almost immediate times available. It all depends on whether you are more interested in saving money or avoiding lines. We were glad we had it.

It’s not as good as FP+ for me personally, but for people who are all about getting a lot of rides without scheduling them, it does this (although we didn’t have problems doing this with most FP+ rides). Can’t speak to busier times.
 
Jeff4272

Jeff4272

Well-Known Member
doctornick said:
Disney has that, it's the VIP guided tour.
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HA.......

How many people do you think would buy unlimited IAS at WDW if it was $100 per person per day?

What if it was $150 pp?
What if it was $200 pp?


thats what im talking about......

not a $4,000 add on, a $600 - $800 per day add on for a family of 4


And this would work, they just have to limit the amount they sold
 
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Lirael

Lirael

Well-Known Member
Would be interesting to check the regular line wait times on the days where people report the G+ worked out fine and they could pick the rides they wanted.
 
J

jpeden

Well-Known Member
In the Parks
No
Good luck getting a refund on your individual LL purchases when the ride goes down. Bought one for Rise and the ride went down. This was the only time the entire trip we had scheduled for HS with a 16 month old and a pregnant wife, so no rescheduling worked for me. Had to argue at guest relations for 15 minutes with the extremely rude cast member just consistently and condescendingly quoting the T’s and C’s at me (which she was wrong, nothing in the emailed T&C’s I got stated it would not be refundable).

When I pointed out that Disney had issued a statement to the Orlando Sentinel stating that they would give refunds in this case, she told me “it must not have been from a real Disney employee.” I’ve gotten better customer service from a mall hawker. So many people were in there getting Rise LL refunds it was a joke. A lot of folks complaining saying the company no longer cares and they’re not coming back.

I recognize cast have a hard job, and never in over a decade of coming here have I ever negatively reported a cast member by name. Today, I did. Her attitude and demeanor was that bad and that rude, especially when she said “are you sure you want me to refund this - you will not be able to ride Rise once it comes back up if I process this recovery action.” No, after I’ve had to argue with you for 15 minutes I’m not going to miraculously change my mind to help your metrics.

Also, since when do managers not come out when you ask to speak to them? The entire time I was at guest relations there was a stream of CM’s going back after a guest requested to speak to a manager, but not once did one come out to speak to a guest. That is pitiful and embarrassing for a company that once prided itself on customer service.
 
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D

doctornick

Well-Known Member
Jeff4272 said:
HA.......

How many people do you think would buy unlimited IAS at WDW if it was $100 per person per day?

What if it was $150 pp?
What if it was $200 pp?


thats what im talking about......

not a $4,000 add on, a $600 - $800 per day add on for a family of 4


And this would work, they just have to limit the amount they sold
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I don't know how many people would buy it, but that's irrelevant. Disney already offers such a program with the VIP Guided Tour. Why would they offer or even consider a cheaper more accessible option? The difference in function between what you are suggesting (the Uni Express Pass system) and what the VIP Tour offers is pretty small but Disney would make a ton less money by offering that - so why cannibalize their own product?

You want unlimited, on demand Fastpass? Buy a VIP Tour (at least that would be Disney's prospective).
 

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