Lightning Lane at Walt Disney World

[lazyboy97o]

If they wanted to invest in more accurate queue times, the technology is probably out there. It could be as simple as a sensor at queue entry that counts people. Combine with ride info of capacity/cycle time and it could calculate the time. If the technology isn't there I call dibs lol

They have the technology. The sensors you describe are already there. It’s why you no longer walk through a physical or optical turnstile.

 

[G00fyDad]

Six Flags hasn't owned it in years. From videos I've seen it's changed a lot. It has 1 of the best coasters in the US in Storm Chaser.

I know. I just got so used to calling it Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom. Kind of like people still go by MGM for DHS. I don't think Six Flags recovered after that girl Kaitlyn (I only remember that because it is my daughter's name) got her foot cut off before they sold to Ed Hart. My cousin and his husband fly all over the US going to theme parks and he was pretty excited when Ed Hart bought the place. My cousin thought he was going to do some great stuff but he tanked it too. Whoever owns it now has a lot of work to do.

I didn't know they got a new coaster. Not sure where they put it since KK is so crammed into the city of Louisville. You can literally hit one of the coasters from a city street with a rock.

 

[G00fyDad]

I'm up in Seymour, IN. You're closer to Holiday World fun little park

I FORGOT ABOUT HOLIDAY WORLD! LOL I haven't been there in ages.

 

[G00fyDad]

If they wanted to invest in more accurate queue times, the technology is probably out there. It could be as simple as a sensor at queue entry that counts people. Combine with ride info of capacity/cycle time and it could calculate the time. If the technology isn't there I call dibs lol

It exists.

 

[Purduevian]

10:20am on a Tuesday: ILL with standby waits

Ride	Price	Current Wait	Price per minute (lower is better value)
7D	$10	50	$0.20
Space	$7	40	$0.18
Frozen	$9	65	$0.14
Rat	$9	~45min if in VQ	$0.20
RotR	$15 (sold out)	125	$0.12
MMRR	$8	55	$0.15
Everest	$7	15	$0.47
FOP	$11	65	$0.17

 

[aaronml]

Red cards used at DCA yesterday. Not wdw but genie will be here soon

I believe that DLR still uses FLIK cards (albeit less of them than they used to IIRC) because they don’t have MagicBands here. The mobile app does have BLE though (for those who’ve enabled it) so they probably use data from that also.

 

[Andrew M]

2 questions if I may. Can one person in the party make an individual attraction selection at 7AM while another does a Genie + at 7AM on another phone? So one does Rise, while the other does SDD? Also, if I have an under 3 year old in my party.....since they have no ticket media, will I be able to make park reservations and Genie + for them? Thanks in advance for any help!

Yes, although the app might act up when you try to do two different things for the same party on different devices. That's why they usually suggest against trying to get a boarding group on multiple devices. However these don't go nearly as fast as the Virtual Queue, so no reason you can't do one and than the other.

And nope, the 2yr old just needs to show up, no ticket, park reservation or LL.

 

[Purduevian]

Also does anyone know the ratio of ILL to standby they are using on these attractions? Just looking at RotR:

Capacity ~1,500 people per hour
Price: $15
Hours open today:12

% of ride going to ILL	Daily Earnings from RotR ILL	Days to pay for $1,000,000,000 SWGE
25	$67,500	~15,000 days
50	$135,000	~7,500 days
75	$202,500	~5,000 days
90	$243,000	4,115 days

 

[ChrisRobin124]

Yes, although the app might act up when you try to do two different things for the same party on different devices. That's why they usually suggest against trying to get a boarding group on multiple devices. However these don't go nearly as fast as the Virtual Queue, so no reason you can't do one and than the other.

And nope, the 2yr old just needs to show up, no ticket, park reservation or LL.

Thanks so much!

 

[Fox&Hound]

Quick question: Do I need to buy Genie+ if I want to buy an ILL or are they separate? As in, can I buy an ILL for Pandora if I never upgraded to Genie+ for AK that day?

 

[G00fyDad]

Quick question: Do I need to buy Genie+ if I want to buy an ILL or are they separate? As in, can I buy an ILL for Pandora if I never upgraded to Genie+ for AK that day?

Separate. You can buy one without the other.

 

[RoadiJeff]

Disney charges a daily parking fee, rooms don't have microwaves unless you're in DVC and their tax rate is the same or similar.

My $70 per day room at a Comfort Inn right down the road from Universal did not charge me a daily parking fee and it included a microwave and mini fridge. I'm surprised that a room at Hard Rock for over 7x more cost per day does not have that.

 

[MickeyLuv'r]

My $70 per day room at a Comfort Inn right down the road from Universal did not charge me a daily parking fee and it included a microwave and mini fridge. I'm surprised that a room at Hard Rock for over 7x more cost per day does not have that.

But you would pay a parking fee at WDW, and to park in the Universal parking garage (to go to the parks) unless you have an AP for Universal.

In which case, you should have been able to get a lower rate on the rooms, unless you were booking at the last minute.

and HRH isn't the lowest price onsite Universal hotel with Express pass, Royal Pacific is. It consistently costs about $40-50 less. Even Portofino often costs less than HRH. HRH is the highest because it is located just a few feet from the park entrance, plus HRH = the extra morning park hour.

Mind, I often stay offsite myself, but there are some tradeoffs beyond just Express Pass. Getting from your hotel to the property is one. Then getting from the drop off/parking area to the parks is a bit further than walking to US from the HRH.

It matters quit a bit that you were solo. If a family of four chooses the HRH, then at the rates you quoted, they would be getting 2 days of Express Pass effectively for $349/4 /2= $43.62 each. Even if they only did 7 EP rides, that would be $6.23 per ride.

For myself, well, I am not sure why you only did 7 Express Pass rides. In a very easy going day, I easily do twice that number.

It is especially easy with a few re-rides. I often ride MiB 3 times in a row in about the amount of time it takes to walk through the queue +ride it. I've never kept precise track of how long it takes, but probably about 35minutes tops to ride it 3 times. Mummy is another easy re-ride. I have sometimes had a 10-15min wait with Express Pass, but that is about as high as it ever gets. It is usually more like 5-10min wait with EP. Meandering slowly between MiB and Mummy, I could easily get 6 uses of Express Pass in less than 2 hours on just those two rides alone. I am sure I regularly use EP 9+ times in just US in just a few hours without even trying. IMO, that's one of the huge pluses of Express Pass: unlimited re-rides with no scheduling, no phone and almost no wait. You just ride everything as much as you want, whenever you want.

At a mere 7 uses, EP at $170 cost you $24/rie, but you easily col d have raised that to 11 EP uses and lowered your per ride cost to $15.

 

[RoadiJeff]

But you would pay a parking fee at WDW, and to park in the Universal parking garage (to go to the parks) unless you have an AP for Universal.

In which case, you should have been able to get a lower rate on the rooms, unless you were booking at the last minute.

and HRH isn't the lowest price onsite Universal hotel with Express pass, Royal Pacific is. It consistently costs about $40-50 less. Even Portofino often costs less than HRH. HRH is the highest because it is located just a few feet from the park entrance, plus HRH = the extra morning park hour.

Mind, I often stay offsite myself, but there are some tradeoffs beyond just Express Pass. Getting from your hotel to the property is one. Then getting from the drop off/parking area to the parks is a bit further than walking to US from the HRH.

It matters quit a bit that you were solo. If a family of four chooses the HRH, then at the rates you quoted, they would be getting 2 days of Express Pass effectively for $349/4 /2= $43.62 each. Even if they only did 7 EP rides, that would be $6.23 per ride.

For myself, well, I am not sure why you only did 7 Express Pass rides. In a very easy going day, I easily do twice that number.

It is especially easy with a few re-rides. I often ride MiB 3 times in a row in about the amount of time it takes to walk through the queue +ride it. I've never kept precise track of how long it takes, but probably about 35minutes tops to ride it 3 times. Mummy is another easy re-ride. I have sometimes had a 10-15min wait with Express Pass, but that is about as high as it ever gets. It is usually more like 5-10min wait with EP. Meandering slowly between MiB and Mummy, I could easily get 6 uses of Express Pass in less than 2 hours on just those two rides alone. I am sure I regularly use EP 9+ times in just US in just a few hours without even trying. IMO, that's one of the huge pluses of Express Pass: unlimited re-rides with no scheduling, no phone and almost no wait. You just ride everything as much as you want, whenever you want.

At a mere 7 uses, EP at $170 cost you $24/rie, but you easily col d have raised that to 11 EP uses and lowered your per ride cost to $15.

The Comfort Inn I stayed at had free shuttles to Universal, so no parking fee on the two days I was going there. The $170 Express Pass I bought was only good for one time per ride, so after I did the things on the list I had previously made back home I could not use it to go again. Some rides/attractions did not have an Express Pass option and a few were walk-on when I got to the entrance and I didn't feel like using the Express Pass in case I wanted to go back later in the day and re-ride something. Thus, I did ride more than 7 things but I only used my $170 Express Pass 7 times.

I had joined up with some family members who had preteen kids and all they wanted to do was ride the most terrifying, fastest, spinning things in the park. After a few hours of that my body needed a break and it wsn't getting much of one when we were Express Passing from one of those types of rides right onto the next one. Even the next day when I went solo to Disney's MK my head was still spinning a bit from the previous day at Universal. Nothing that I rode at Disney affected me quite like that. I don't think I would have made it without the help of Dramamine.

 

[Muffinpants]

I had joined up with some family members who had preteen kids and all they wanted to do was ride the most terrifying, fastest, spinning things in the park. After a few hours of that my body needed a break and it wsn't getting much of one when we were Express Passing from one of those types of rides right onto the next one. Even the next day when I went solo to Disney's MK my head was still spinning a bit from the previous day at Universal. Nothing that I rode at Disney affected me quite like that. I don't think I would have made it without the help of Dramamine.

What does this have to do with anything? WDW is not a thrill park while Universal is more so.

 

[Vinnie Mac]

I can think of 4 really good reasons:
1. Push Genie+ sales
2. Have people avoid rides and go to a shop instead
3. Slow down DAS users so they don’t “steal too much” LL spots from Genie+
4. People who do get in line are thrilled when it’s shorter

I think it's been somewhat confirmed in the past that reason #4 is the reason for inflated wait times but #1 is a very possible reason as well.

 

[lazyboy97o]

I think it's been somewhat confirmed in the past that reason #4 is the reason for inflated wait times but #1 is a very possible reason as well.

Exceeding expectations is why you would err on the side of caution and do a little padding. It’s not why you would greatly inflate times as it causes confusion and sets unrealistic expectations.

 

[UNCgolf]

Exceeding expectations is why you would err on the side of caution and do a little padding. It’s not why you would greatly inflate times as it causes confusion and sets unrealistic expectations.

Right -- I've always believed the wait times were padded by 10-20 minutes for this reason. It wouldn't make any sense to inflate them by 45+ minutes just for that, though.

 

[mikejs78]

Exceeding expectations is why you would err on the side of caution and do a little padding. It’s not why you would greatly inflate times as it causes confusion and sets unrealistic expectations.

Right -- I've always believed the wait times were padded by 10-20 minutes for this reason. It wouldn't make any sense to inflate them by 45+ minutes just for that, though.

My guess is it is partially to do with that, and partially to do with line management. It's in their oprational interest to prevent lines from spilling too much, for example, into the pathways. So they may inflate at high volume attractions to move people to lower volume attractions. Expecially with FP+ gone this becomes more necessary. They also may wantt to steer people to different portions of the park at different times of day. If you look at TouringPlans at any one time, their estimated actual time (which I've found to be fairly accurate) is sometimes well under the posted time, sometimes right in line with the posted time, and sometimes a little above the posted time.

For example, right now the actual wait time estimates in Touring Plans' lines app (posted wait times in parentheses):

Saucers - 27 (35)
MMRR - 46 (60)
MFSR - 38 (50)
RNRC - 34 (45)
SDD - 35 (70)
ST - 5 (5)
RotR - 49 (95)
TSM - 32 (35)
ToT - 56 (100)

By the looks of this, right now my guess is that they want to steer people from ToT to RnRC, from RotR to MFSR, and from SDD to TSM.

 

[RoadiJeff]

What does this have to do with anything? WDW is not a thrill park while Universal is more so.

I think it originally started with how people were complaining about the cost of Genie+ and ILL and I was comparing it to what I recently paid at Universal for a one-day Express Pass. The Disney price is still a pretty good deal compared to that.