Lightning Lane at Walt Disney World

[drizgirl]

I am expecting more due to Disney being the so called leader. I have been to many parks across the US, and for the most part, buying a skip the line pass enables you to ride more and wait less. For some reason Disney thinks it should be ride less and pay more.

The leader would also offer $150/day guests more than 10% ride capacity.

 

[HoustonHorn]

I want to be clear - my folks and my daughter are having a blast (and my non-Disney-loving wife is thrilled to have the house to herself for 3 nights!). And I'm having fun, but the stress of making sure a 6-year old and two elderly parents who are likely on their last Disney trip are all having fun is crushing. Some of that is the pressure I put on myself, but dammit this was better when I could stress 180- and 60- days out, then just enjoy the trip (with some extra fastpass hunting tossed in). Constantly refreshing and looking at my screen stinks. And for some reason, the fact that it kept defaulting to AK today when I'm at MGM is like nails on a chalkboard.

Thank you all for letting me vent. I appreciate it.

PS I have had 3 absolutely incredible experiences with guest services level cast members. I feel bad for them, because they are on the front lines dealing with very angry people - people who aren't angry at them but are rightfully angry at Cheapek and his goon squad for instituting a ridiculous paid system that is worse than the sum of its parts.

PPS I feel bad for any sucker who follows regular Genie's selections. Every time I'm forced to check that side of the app I roll my eyes.

Now excuse me while I go back to riding ToT on a loop before heading to Oga's for a nightcap.

 

[mikejs78]

G+ people can still ride standby. I think people forget about how bad the DHS tiers were at the end of FP+ The only ride in tier 2 was star tours.

Not true. As of March, 2020, the DHS Tiers were:

Tier 1:
MFSR
MMRR
SDD

Tier 2:
AS2
BatB
Disney Junior Dance Party
Fantasmic
Frozen Sing-along
Indy
Muppets
RnRC
Star Tours
TSM
ToT
Mermaid

There was a period where almost everything was Tier 1 but they changed that as the new attractions started opening...

 

[HauntedPirate]

Every time I saw someone walk by in the FP lane, I thought “$15. $15. $15.” It’s sad.

 

[Patcheslee]

Every other park does it with their paid systems. I don't want to hear how Disney should be different cause they aren't.

We did Maverick, Steel Vengeance, Valvran, Millennium Force, had early lunch, drove the 4 hours to Kings Island, hit all the Fastlane roller coasters ate dinner, drove 2 more hours home, and still made it home before the parks would have closed. That's what I call a marathon and definitely not comparable to Genie+ lol

 

[Jrb1979]

We did Maverick, Steel Vengeance, Valvran, Millennium Force, had early lunch, drove the 4 hours to Kings Island, hit all the Fastlane roller coasters ate dinner, drove 2 more hours home, and still made it home before the parks would have closed. That's what I call a marathon and definitely not comparable to Genie+ lol

That's what Genie+ should be like. Instead Disney is trying to hard to balance standby and LL. IMO they are better off making those who paid more happy. The more I think about it the more I tend to think many don't ever buy skip the line at other parks much.

 

[RoadiJeff]

Doing that. Even the concierge couldn't get us on Rise at 7:02. Says she does this every day and has never seen this before.

Wasn't she around when RotR was virtual boarding groups and you were out of luck if you didn't snag one in the first 8 seconds of the 2 magical hours of each day? I had that routine down pretty well.

 

[jpchambana]

That's what Genie+ should be like. Instead Disney is trying to hard to balance standby and LL. IMO they are better off making those who paid more happy. The more I think about it the more I tend to think many don't ever buy skip the line at other parks much.

They don't buy it at other parks cos it costs more. Disney is trying to have their cake and eat it; $15 line skips are understandably resulting in very little availability but they will sell relatively well. An express pass at Universal would easily be around the $200 price point this week; but they won't sell in the same way.

 

[sedati]

That's what Genie+ should be like. Instead Disney is trying to hard to balance standby and LL. IMO they are better off making those who paid more happy. The more I think about it the more I tend to think many don't ever buy skip the line at other parks much.

They way "skip the line" is handled at other parks is handled is why I consider it a "skip the park" system. Six flags completely lost me as a customer. My last trip was on a slow off season day and we got on five rides. Standing by the load platform for forty minutes with less than a dozen people in front of you is robbery.

 

[WDWBryan]

I am surprised anybody would expect more than they got with FP+ for $15. A hot dog and fries costs $15 at WDW

I do wonder why they are even offering this when it's pretty useless. It's not a good service. I guess they figure most won't ask for a refund, even though I know there are a lot getting it refunded as they felt they didn't get anything out of it.

I am expecting more due to Disney being the so called leader. I have been to many parks across the US, and for the most part, buying a skip the line pass enables you to ride more and wait less. For some reason Disney thinks it should be ride less and pay more.

One would think Disney could make more offering a true express service and charge the $100 or more Universal Does and have better guest satisfaction...

 

[Chi84]

One would think Disney could make more offering a true express service and charge the $100 or more Universal Does and have better guest satisfaction...

That could be where Disney's headed with this. I agree that Genie+ as it stands is not a good product, but there are a lot of people on these boards acting as though $15 a day is outrageous - and it is when compared to the free FP+ service that other theme parks never offered. I don't know how a $100 express service would go over.

 

[bcoachable]

Just jumped back in this thread so pardon me if this has already been discussed-
With a busy week like what they are expecting during the holidays- and current crowds- do the “boots on the ground” currently at the parks feel as if Genie+ is the way to go? Or is it turning out that the waits in stand by do not justify the paid fast pass system?

 

[MagicHappens1971]

That could be where Disney's headed with this. I agree that Genie+ as it stands is not a good product, but there are a lot of people on these boards acting as though $15 a day is outrageous - and it is when compared to the free FP+ service that other theme parks never offered. I don't know how a $100 express service would go over.

They would have to cut LLs from the “fluff” attractions that don’t need it. The problem is that the business purpose of Genie+ isn’t trying to expedite the line for anyone, it’s trying to spread crowds amongst the underbuilt parks at WDW. Same guise as FP+/MM+ just a different beast and there’s a price tag

 

[UNCgolf]

Just jumped back in this thread so pardon me if this has already been discussed-
With a busy week like what they are expecting during the holidays- and current crowds- do the “boots on the ground” currently at the parks feel as if Genie+ is the way to go? Or is it turning out that the waits in stand by do not justify the paid fast pass system?

Based on what I've read, the standby waits are likely terrible, but that doesn't mean Genie+ is worth it on busy days -- mainly because it's hard to get more than a couple of Genie+ times because they run out pretty early for all the major attractions.

 

[Disstevefan1]

That could be where Disney's headed with this. I agree that Genie+ as it stands is not a good product, but there are a lot of people on these boards acting as though $15 a day is outrageous - and it is when compared to the free FP+ service that other theme parks never offered. I don't know how a $100 express service would go over.

It's totally true. Folks would totally go nuts if Disney went from free FastPass at $0 to an ExpressPass at $100 (like Universal)..

Now that both Disney and Universal are both charging for access, now it makes me rethink Universal Express Pass.

While the ExpressPass is very expensive, you just buy it and get in the express line of any attraction at any time, no return times to work around, no app, no staring at your phone.

When FastPass was free, you picked them and if you could not make your return time, it was no big deal, now you purchased passes and now you really don't want to miss your return time and tend to wait around for your return time.

Universal Express pass is much more expensive, but the system is easier and allows more freedom.

 

[DisneyDodo]

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 all true, though one caveat is that exactly 2 hours after park opening, a whole bunch of people will become eligible to book their second LLs, which can deplete the inventory. Therefore, it’s theoretically possible (though I’m not sure whether this would ever happen in practice) that a single LL booked at 10:55 could be more valuable than 2 booked at 11 and 11:05 combined.

 

[mikejs78]

FP+ was much better. Yes, you had to plan 30/60 days out, but if you were staying onsite you logged in once at 7 AM to get your FPs for your whole trip. And you got 3, you could pick the times you wanted, and were almost guarunteed a good slate at 60 days - with a couple of exceptions.

Waking up once at 7 when not on vacation and picking the times you want beats waking up at 7 every day of your vacation and getting whatever time is thrown at you - and paying $15/person for it.

 

[granfiesta]

It's totally true. Folks would totally go nuts if Disney went from free FastPass at $0 to an ExpressPass at $100 (like Universal)..

Now that both Disney and Universal are both charging for access, now it makes me rethink Universal Express Pass.

While the ExpressPass is very expensive, you just buy it and get in the express line of any attraction at any time, no return times to work around, no app, no staring at your phone.

When FastPass was free, you picked them and if you could not make your return time, it was no big deal, now you purchased passes and now you really don't want to miss your return time and tend to wait around for your return time.

Universal Express pass is much more expensive, but the system is easier and allows more freedom.

And the other thing to think about is that with a Premier (Deluxe) resort at Universal, Express Pass is included. The Universal resorts are pretty nice and much cheaper than Disney's deluxes. If things were comparable price-wise at Disney, I'd seriously consider deluxe just for that perk.

 

[HoustonHorn]

Update for anyone still reading me. My folks and daughter left at 4:15.

I did ToT 3x standby, had a beer and a photoshoot, had a bourbon and a nice chat by Indy, did Star Tours, now doing MF:SR, then headed to Oga's. Great end to a frustrating day.

 

[Jrb1979]

They way "skip the line" is handled at other parks is handled is why I consider it a "skip the park" system. Six flags completely lost me as a customer. My last trip was on a slow off season day and we got on five rides. Standing by the load platform for forty minutes with less than a dozen people in front of you is robbery.

That's the norm for the majority of parks with the skip the line system. That's how they are supposed to work. Its how Genie+ should work. Instead Disney believes the purpose is to spread the guests around.