Lightning Lane at Walt Disney World

[DisneyCane]

My friend makes good money and could afford to pay for deluxe resorts and ligtning lane but he still finds it a poor value for planning that is still required vs working overtime. He would rather pay for Tokyo or Europe than do vip so that is a non factor. I'm not even sure Lowe level rich people like this system.

I'm kind of in this boat. I can certainly afford to purchase 2 ILL and Genie+ every time I visit. The issue for me is the nickel and diming aspect. The ride capacity just isn't high enough for the crowds they draw.

The two solution options from a guest perspective are:

1) Build more rides and raise the prices to cover the cost and profit the additional amount they profit from Genie+ and either remove the line skip system or go back to a free system

2) Raise the prices and limit the capacity to a point that the available attraction capacity can handle the crowd level. Make the prices such that the profit ends up being the same as current with Genie+.

As has been said, no system is going to work now for nearly all guests because the capacity doesn't exist to handle all the guests on above average crowd days.

 

[DisneyCane]

Is this a strategy that is theoretically possible? I know the odds of it working out perfectly are like impossible, but just thinking about the limits of this system.

1)Pre-Park opening: Book Jungle Cruise at 11:05am. (holding 1 LL JC 11:05am)

2)At 11am LL from Jungle Cruise cool down is over. Book Peter Pan at 1:05 (holding 2 LL. JC11:05 and PP1:05)

3)At 11:05am ride Jungle Cruise (LL) and book another LL at 1:10. Lets call this one Haunted Mansion (holding 2 LL HM1:10 and PP1:05 )

4)At 1pm cool down from Peter Pan is over book Splash Mountain at 3:05pm (holding 3 LL. HM1:10, PP1:05 and Splash3:05)

5)At 1:05 ride PP (LL) step 2 and rebook Big Thunder for 3:10pm. (Holding 3LL HM1:10, Splash 3:05, Big Thunder 3:10)

6)At 1:05 also the cool down for HM is over book Pirates at 3:15.(Holding 4LL HM1:10, Splash 3:05, Big Thunder3:10, and Pirates 3:15)

7)At 1:10 ride HM and book Buzz Lightyear at 3:20. (Holding 4 LL. Splash 3:05, Big Thunder 3:10, Pirates 3:15, and Buzz 3:20)

8) At 3PM the cool down from Splash Mountain is over. Book Little Mermaid for 5:05pm (holding 5 LL. Splash 3:05, Big Thunder 3:10, Pirates 3:15, Buzz 3:20, and 5:05 Mermaid)

8) At 3:05 Ride Splash Mountain and book Pooh at 5:10pm (holding 5 LL Big Thunder 3:10, Pirates 3:15, Buzz 3:20, 5:05 Mermaid, 5:10 Pooh)

8)Also at 3:05 the cool down timer for Big Thunder is over. Book 5:15 Mad Tea Party (holding 6 LL Big Thunder 3:10, Pirates 3:15, Buzz 3:20, 5:05 Mermaid, 5:10 Pooh, 5:15 Mad Tea Party)

9)Also at 3:05 the cool down timer for Pirates is over. Book a 5:20 Small world (holding 7 LL Big Thunder 3:10, Pirates 3:15, Buzz 3:20, 5:05 Mermaid, 5:10 Pooh, 5:15 Mad Tea Party, Small world 5:20)

10) At 3:10 Ride Big thunder mountain. Book a 5:25 Philharmagic (holding 7 LL Pirates 3:15, Buzz 3:20, 5:05 Mermaid, 5:10 Pooh, 5:15 Mad Tea Party, 5:20Small world. 5:25 Philhar)

11) Also at 3:10 the cool down for Buzz is over. Book at 5:30 Speedway ( holding 8 LL Pirates 3:15, Buzz 3:20, 5:05 Mermaid, 5:10 Pooh, 5:15 Mad Tea Party, 5:20Small world. 5:25 Philhar, 5:30 Speedway)

12) After that you should pretty much be able to use the Pirates and Buzz LL to ride Dumbo, Monsters Inc, Aladdin, and Barstormer at some point in the last few hours.

Basically my question is. Will the system really allow you to hold 8 LL at once if you played it perfectly?

Maybe the system would allow it but on a day with low enough attendance to have things available when you need them for that itinerary, you probably don't need to buy Genie+, especially at MK.

 

[dirtnap101]

Is this a strategy that is theoretically possible? I know the odds of it working out perfectly are like impossible, but just thinking about the limits of this system.

1)Pre-Park opening: Book Jungle Cruise at 11:05am. (holding 1 LL JC 11:05am)

2)At 11am LL from Jungle Cruise cool down is over. Book Peter Pan at 1:05 (holding 2 LL. JC11:05 and PP1:05)

3)At 11:05am ride Jungle Cruise (LL) and book another LL at 1:10. Lets call this one Haunted Mansion (holding 2 LL HM1:10 and PP1:05 )

4)At 1pm cool down from Peter Pan is over book Splash Mountain at 3:05pm (holding 3 LL. HM1:10, PP1:05 and Splash3:05)

5)At 1:05 ride PP (LL) step 2 and rebook Big Thunder for 3:10pm. (Holding 3LL HM1:10, Splash 3:05, Big Thunder 3:10)

6)At 1:05 also the cool down for HM is over book Pirates at 3:15.(Holding 4LL HM1:10, Splash 3:05, Big Thunder3:10, and Pirates 3:15)

7)At 1:10 ride HM and book Buzz Lightyear at 3:20. (Holding 4 LL. Splash 3:05, Big Thunder 3:10, Pirates 3:15, and Buzz 3:20)

8) At 3PM the cool down from Splash Mountain is over. Book Little Mermaid for 5:05pm (holding 5 LL. Splash 3:05, Big Thunder 3:10, Pirates 3:15, Buzz 3:20, and 5:05 Mermaid)

8) At 3:05 Ride Splash Mountain and book Pooh at 5:10pm (holding 5 LL Big Thunder 3:10, Pirates 3:15, Buzz 3:20, 5:05 Mermaid, 5:10 Pooh)

8)Also at 3:05 the cool down timer for Big Thunder is over. Book 5:15 Mad Tea Party (holding 6 LL Big Thunder 3:10, Pirates 3:15, Buzz 3:20, 5:05 Mermaid, 5:10 Pooh, 5:15 Mad Tea Party)

9)Also at 3:05 the cool down timer for Pirates is over. Book a 5:20 Small world (holding 7 LL Big Thunder 3:10, Pirates 3:15, Buzz 3:20, 5:05 Mermaid, 5:10 Pooh, 5:15 Mad Tea Party, Small world 5:20)

10) At 3:10 Ride Big thunder mountain. Book a 5:25 Philharmagic (holding 7 LL Pirates 3:15, Buzz 3:20, 5:05 Mermaid, 5:10 Pooh, 5:15 Mad Tea Party, 5:20Small world. 5:25 Philhar)

11) Also at 3:10 the cool down for Buzz is over. Book at 5:30 Speedway ( holding 8 LL Pirates 3:15, Buzz 3:20, 5:05 Mermaid, 5:10 Pooh, 5:15 Mad Tea Party, 5:20Small world. 5:25 Philhar, 5:30 Speedway)

12) After that you should pretty much be able to use the Pirates and Buzz LL to ride Dumbo, Monsters Inc, Aladdin, and Barstormer at some point in the last few hours.

Basically my question is. Will the system really allow you to hold 8 LL at once if you played it perfectly?

I agree that this is theoretically possible on paper. As I'm sure you know, the problem is getting the exact times for any of these, let alone the more in-demand ones. Being at the mercy of "next available" with G+ and not being able to pick times makes this practically impossible.

 

[nickys]

Is this a strategy that is theoretically possible? I know the odds of it working out perfectly are like impossible, but just thinking about the limits of this system.

1)Pre-Park opening: Book Jungle Cruise at 11:05am. (holding 1 LL JC 11:05am)

2)At 11am LL from Jungle Cruise cool down is over. Book Peter Pan at 1:05 (holding 2 LL. JC11:05 and PP1:05)

3)At 11:05am ride Jungle Cruise (LL) and book another LL at 1:10. Lets call this one Haunted Mansion (holding 2 LL HM1:10 and PP1:05 )

4)At 1pm cool down from Peter Pan is over book Splash Mountain at 3:05pm (holding 3 LL. HM1:10, PP1:05 and Splash3:05)

5)At 1:05 ride PP (LL) step 2 and rebook Big Thunder for 3:10pm. (Holding 3LL HM1:10, Splash 3:05, Big Thunder 3:10)

6)At 1:05 also the cool down for HM is over book Pirates at 3:15.(Holding 4LL HM1:10, Splash 3:05, Big Thunder3:10, and Pirates 3:15)

7)At 1:10 ride HM and book Buzz Lightyear at 3:20. (Holding 4 LL. Splash 3:05, Big Thunder 3:10, Pirates 3:15, and Buzz 3:20)

8) At 3PM the cool down from Splash Mountain is over. Book Little Mermaid for 5:05pm (holding 5 LL. Splash 3:05, Big Thunder 3:10, Pirates 3:15, Buzz 3:20, and 5:05 Mermaid)

8) At 3:05 Ride Splash Mountain and book Pooh at 5:10pm (holding 5 LL Big Thunder 3:10, Pirates 3:15, Buzz 3:20, 5:05 Mermaid, 5:10 Pooh)

8)Also at 3:05 the cool down timer for Big Thunder is over. Book 5:15 Mad Tea Party (holding 6 LL Big Thunder 3:10, Pirates 3:15, Buzz 3:20, 5:05 Mermaid, 5:10 Pooh, 5:15 Mad Tea Party)

9)Also at 3:05 the cool down timer for Pirates is over. Book a 5:20 Small world (holding 7 LL Big Thunder 3:10, Pirates 3:15, Buzz 3:20, 5:05 Mermaid, 5:10 Pooh, 5:15 Mad Tea Party, Small world 5:20)

10) At 3:10 Ride Big thunder mountain. Book a 5:25 Philharmagic (holding 7 LL Pirates 3:15, Buzz 3:20, 5:05 Mermaid, 5:10 Pooh, 5:15 Mad Tea Party, 5:20Small world. 5:25 Philhar)

11) Also at 3:10 the cool down for Buzz is over. Book at 5:30 Speedway ( holding 8 LL Pirates 3:15, Buzz 3:20, 5:05 Mermaid, 5:10 Pooh, 5:15 Mad Tea Party, 5:20Small world. 5:25 Philhar, 5:30 Speedway)

12) After that you should pretty much be able to use the Pirates and Buzz LL to ride Dumbo, Monsters Inc, Aladdin, and Barstormer at some point in the last few hours.

Basically my question is. Will the system really allow you to hold 8 LL at once if you played it perfectly?

The strategy works in theory. In practice though the timings wouldn’t work to that extreme. You’d have to refresh and pick the best return time and the chances are virtually nil that you could keep that pattern up for long.

Personally I’d be more worried about missing the tap in for the rides - you could arrive and get held up by a party in front of you blocking the entrance. And then the grace period is over and you cannot rebook, it counts as redeemed. Too risky a strategy for me.

 

[Purduevian]

The strategy works in theory. In practice though the timings wouldn’t work to that extreme. You’d have to refresh and pick the best return time and the chances are virtually nil that you could keep that pattern up for long.

Personally I’d be more worried about missing the tap in for the rides - you could arrive and get held up by a party in front of you blocking the entrance. And then the grace period is over and you cannot rebook, it counts as redeemed. Too risky a strategy for me.

Honestly just trying to figure out the best "use" of the system. It seems to me the WORST thing you can do with a LL is book something and ride it in just under 2 hours. The goal for both the pre-park opening LL and maybe the first new LL should be to tap in just after the cool down period is over.
Compare the two plans:

Wake up at 7am and book a 10:30 JC LL	Wake up at 7am and wait for a 10:30 JC LL
Ride JC at 10:30 and book 2nd LL of the day	Don't ride JC at 10:30 but at 11 book 2nd LL of the day
Use your LL as you would normally using it on the ride you most think is worth it (start at 10:30am)	At 11:01 tap into JC and book another LL
	Use your 2 LL as you normally would using it on the rides you most think are worth it (start a 11 and 11:01am)

So for sacrificing a half hour, you can basically get double the LL for the rest of the day. You can take this to the extreme as shown in the example above.

Personally I would probably plan to ride JC just after 11am and use 1 of the 2 LL for a Peter Pan ride just after 1pm. Once I ride Peter Pan, I now have 3 LL to play with for the next 8ish hours

 

[dirtnap101]

Honestly just trying to figure out the best "use" of the system. It seems to me the WORST thing you can do with a LL is book something and ride it in just under 2 hours. The goal for both the pre-park opening LL and maybe the first new LL should be to tap in just after the cool down period is over.
Compare the two plans:

Wake up at 7am and book a 10:30 JC LL	Wake up at 7am and wait for a 10:30 JC LL
Ride JC at 10:30 and book 2nd LL of the day	Don't ride JC at 10:30 but at 11 book 2nd LL of the day
Use your LL as you would normally using it on the ride you most think is worth it (start at 10:30am)	At 11:01 tap into JC and book another LL
	Use your 2 LL as you normally would using it on the rides you most think are worth it (start a 11 and 11:01am)

So for sacrificing a half hour, you can basically get double the LL for the rest of the day. You can take this to the extreme as shown in the example above.

Personally I would probably plan to ride JC just after 11am and use 1 of the 2 LL for a Peter Pan ride just after 1pm. Once I ride Peter Pan, I now have 3 LL to play with for the next 8ish hours

This is probably true, I agree, but it's only true in the MK, other parks don't have enough G+ attractions to bother, and it's only good (for the most part) for a party that wants to stay all day in the park.

 

[eb4]

Is this a strategy that is theoretically possible? I know the odds of it working out perfectly are like impossible, but just thinking about the limits of this system.

1)Pre-Park opening: Book Jungle Cruise at 11:05am. (holding 1 LL JC 11:05am)

2)At 11am LL from Jungle Cruise cool down is over. Book Peter Pan at 1:05 (holding 2 LL. JC11:05 and PP1:05)

3)At 11:05am ride Jungle Cruise (LL) and book another LL at 1:10. Lets call this one Haunted Mansion (holding 2 LL HM1:10 and PP1:05 )

4)At 1pm cool down from Peter Pan is over book Splash Mountain at 3:05pm (holding 3 LL. HM1:10, PP1:05 and Splash3:05)

5)At 1:05 ride PP (LL) step 2 and rebook Big Thunder for 3:10pm. (Holding 3LL HM1:10, Splash 3:05, Big Thunder 3:10)

6)At 1:05 also the cool down for HM is over book Pirates at 3:15.(Holding 4LL HM1:10, Splash 3:05, Big Thunder3:10, and Pirates 3:15)

7)At 1:10 ride HM and book Buzz Lightyear at 3:20. (Holding 4 LL. Splash 3:05, Big Thunder 3:10, Pirates 3:15, and Buzz 3:20)

8) At 3PM the cool down from Splash Mountain is over. Book Little Mermaid for 5:05pm (holding 5 LL. Splash 3:05, Big Thunder 3:10, Pirates 3:15, Buzz 3:20, and 5:05 Mermaid)

8) At 3:05 Ride Splash Mountain and book Pooh at 5:10pm (holding 5 LL Big Thunder 3:10, Pirates 3:15, Buzz 3:20, 5:05 Mermaid, 5:10 Pooh)

8)Also at 3:05 the cool down timer for Big Thunder is over. Book 5:15 Mad Tea Party (holding 6 LL Big Thunder 3:10, Pirates 3:15, Buzz 3:20, 5:05 Mermaid, 5:10 Pooh, 5:15 Mad Tea Party)

9)Also at 3:05 the cool down timer for Pirates is over. Book a 5:20 Small world (holding 7 LL Big Thunder 3:10, Pirates 3:15, Buzz 3:20, 5:05 Mermaid, 5:10 Pooh, 5:15 Mad Tea Party, Small world 5:20)

10) At 3:10 Ride Big thunder mountain. Book a 5:25 Philharmagic (holding 7 LL Pirates 3:15, Buzz 3:20, 5:05 Mermaid, 5:10 Pooh, 5:15 Mad Tea Party, 5:20Small world. 5:25 Philhar)

11) Also at 3:10 the cool down for Buzz is over. Book at 5:30 Speedway ( holding 8 LL Pirates 3:15, Buzz 3:20, 5:05 Mermaid, 5:10 Pooh, 5:15 Mad Tea Party, 5:20Small world. 5:25 Philhar, 5:30 Speedway)

12) After that you should pretty much be able to use the Pirates and Buzz LL to ride Dumbo, Monsters Inc, Aladdin, and Barstormer at some point in the last few hours.

Basically my question is. Will the system really allow you to hold 8 LL at once if you played it perfectly?

Pretty sure the cool down timer resets with any activity (booking or using a LL) not each ride having it's own. So it's good for a while but steps 4, 6, 8 wouldn't be feasible because each time your cool down wouldn't be done yet. The multiple cool downs in steps 8/9 wouldn't happen.

The only way you could stack that many at once is to not actually be using any of them until later in the day. Given park hours you could probably only hit 5 or 6 at once and it would take being really lucky with return times too.

 

[dirtnap101]

According to TP, no park reservations available at all 4 parks starting tomorrow through Nov 26...G+/ILL about to get tested as never before

 

[G00fyDad]

G$/ILL system next week...

 

[A.D.D. Boy]

G$/ILL system next week...

I leave for The World in the morning and feel like this guy…

 

[JoeCamel]

Honestly just trying to figure out the best "use" of the system. It seems to me the WORST thing you can do with a LL is book something and ride it in just under 2 hours. The goal for both the pre-park opening LL and maybe the first new LL should be to tap in just after the cool down period is over.
Compare the two plans:

Wake up at 7am and book a 10:30 JC LL	Wake up at 7am and wait for a 10:30 JC LL
Ride JC at 10:30 and book 2nd LL of the day	Don't ride JC at 10:30 but at 11 book 2nd LL of the day
Use your LL as you would normally using it on the ride you most think is worth it (start at 10:30am)	At 11:01 tap into JC and book another LL
	Use your 2 LL as you normally would using it on the rides you most think are worth it (start a 11 and 11:01am)

So for sacrificing a half hour, you can basically get double the LL for the rest of the day. You can take this to the extreme as shown in the example above.

Personally I would probably plan to ride JC just after 11am and use 1 of the 2 LL for a Peter Pan ride just after 1pm. Once I ride Peter Pan, I now have 3 LL to play with for the next 8ish hours

Wow, I couldn't imagine paying to do any of this unless I like the thrill of perfect planning. Bye felica (WDW)

 

[dirtnap101]

Wow...weird stuff. I suspected this from my personal experience checking SDD in the 7-8am hour, but here it is in black and white

Fluctuation in Lightning Lane Return Times

 

[Jeff4272]

My friend makes good money and could afford to pay for deluxe resorts and ligtning lane but he still finds it a poor value for planning that is still required vs working overtime. He would rather pay for Tokyo or Europe than do vip so that is a non factor. I'm not even sure Lowe level rich people like this system.

Is this “friend” really you?

 

[RSoxNo1]

Wow...weird stuff. I suspected this from my personal experience checking SDD in the 7-8am hour, but here it is in black and white

Fluctuation in Lightning Lane Return Times

It's pretty simple. If you cancel your Lightning Lane reservation and the window hasn't opened it's returned to the group of available Lightning Lanes. That's my understanding of what's happening.

 

[dirtnap101]

It's pretty simple. If you cancel your Lightning Lane reservation and the window hasn't opened it's returned to the group of available Lightning Lanes. That's my understanding of what's happening.

So 18 seconds into the G+ window, the first return time seen is 12:20pm. And 19 seconds later it's suddenly 3:35pm, when you're checking before 7:01am and the window started at 7:00am? Is demand really that insane on Nov 4th 2021, a day rated a crowd level 3 by Touring Plans, that 18 seconds in you can't get a time before noon?

I understand the probable theory that people cancel or release the time they were looking at (and it seems like G+ may save them up and release them again not immediately but in 10 min increments), but for someone refreshing every 20-30 seconds to not see a time before noon until 11 minutes in is crazy. To refresh from 7:00am until 7:20am every 20-30 seconds and only be offered 3 times in the morning seems not right to me.

 

[Matthew]

Saw another interesting one… apparently on-site guests can book from 3am… this is the only time I have seen this said..

 

[wutisgood]

Is this “friend” really you?

Nah I don't have that kind of stupid cash to blow. I help him out on cost whenever I can for vacations or plans.

I think his recent upcoming trip his mom planned mostly and they are staying at a poor value but it's kind of a last trip thing as his parents are older.

 

[arich35]

Saw another interesting one… apparently on-site guests can book from 3am… this is the only time I have seen this said..View attachment 601895

Would like someone to actually test this, find it hard to believe to be true though.

 

[Chi84]

Would like someone to actually test this, find it hard to believe to be true though.

It wasn't true in late October. I had to wait until 7 am to book ILLs and Genie+. I started checking a few minutes before then and had to wait until 7.

 

[Waters Back Side]

It wasn't true in late October. I had to wait until 7 am to book ILLs and Genie+. I started checking a few minutes before then and had to wait until 7.

That and also it says offsite guests cannot book until 9am which is not true! Genie + choices begin at 7am for everyone on and off site. Unless they were referring to the individual attractions cannot which be purchased until 9am for off site guests.