Lightning Lane at Walt Disney World

[arich35]

We are leaving in 3 weeks and I have no idea what me and my wife are going to do besides buy FOP on our AK day.

 

[jpchambana]

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.

I, for one, would find it more acceptable if Disney introduced a $100+ express-style pass like Universal. I've never found the Standby particularly egregious at Universal and Express doesn't appear to slow the lines down in the same way there because it's not sold/distributed to the same extent (I may be wrong but the standby line definitely moves more). This current in-between system doesn't benefit anyone except Disney.

 

[Jeff4272]

I'm honestly surprised ROTR isn't 25+ for this weekend. Clearly they have plenty of room to increase the cost when they are selling out in minutes.

Minutes? Was gone in less than 30 second s

 

[disneygeek90]

Minutes? Was gone in less than 30 second s

Back to the boarding group days

 

[Jeff4272]

We are leaving in 3 weeks and I have no idea what me and my wife are going to do besides buy FOP on our AK day.

Good luck. We went on at 7:00:01 and it said our FOP that we were buying was for 8:20am return time and by the time I processed it, the return time was actually 5:40pm. We were park hoping to Epcot and had dinner reservations so could t keep it. We asked Disney to give us earlier time and they said no and refunded our money.

 

[Jeff4272]

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?

Yesterday only for SDD for 5:20pm return time at 7am and then got toy story at 11am and everything else was sold out. Not worth it. Getting up at 6:55am is the kicker. Total disaster. Hate genie+

 

[Jeff4272]

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.

Standby waits yesterday were a nightmare. 60-200 minute in HS

 

[Jeff4272]

7am, not picking return times, selling out in seconds, not enough inventory, expensive, not holding your selected time, cant replace (have to cancel and rebook).

To put it simply, genie+ blows

 

[sedati]

I, for one, would find it more acceptable if Disney introduced a $100+ express-style pass like Universal. I've never found the Standby particularly egregious at Universal and Express doesn't appear to slow the lines down in the same way there because it's not sold/distributed to the same extent (I may be wrong but the standby line definitely moves more). This current in-between system doesn't benefit anyone except Disney.

Yes, but you left off a zero.

 

[sedati]

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.

Then such parks need to be honest and state that park admission is just and only that- admission into the park. Rides may or may not happen by the will of the double-charged guests. What you want is something that would in fact have me calling it quits.

 

[Jrb1979]

Then such parks need to be honest and state that park admission is just and only that- admission into the park. Rides may or may not happen by the will of the double-charged guests. What you want is something that would in fact have me calling it quits.

They all state that. I buy skip the line almost all the time and I don't feel double charged. With it at most parks I am able to ride almost everything and not feel like I'm spending my day in queues.

 

[pdude81]

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.

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...

I think they are trying to fine tune it, but essentially give you 3 per day for 15 bucks without admitting its limited. For true express they'd need to go higher than 100.

 

[flynnibus]

think about it.. they aren't even giving out 3 at a time now and can't keep availability.. so no way they could do any sort of express pass unless it was sold at super premium prices.

My only interpretation is when people had multiple days to pick from at once (due to length of stay), they were distributing some of the individual attraction demand because people could switch days... So at any one 60 day start, people were booking say from 3-10 day windows.. where now everyone eligible is concentrated trying for the same day.

 

[RoadiJeff]

Minutes? Was gone in less than 30 second s

I thought he was talking about Disney possibly raising the price to $25+ for RotR ILL when the crowds are high, not 25+ minutes or seconds.

 

[arich35]

Good luck. We went on at 7:00:01 and it said our FOP that we were buying was for 8:20am return time and by the time I processed it, the return time was actually 5:40pm. We were park hoping to Epcot and had dinner reservations so could t keep it. We asked Disney to give us earlier time and they said no and refunded our money.

I thought for ILL picks you get to choose your time from a given set? The system automatically switched yours to 5:40?

 

[disneygeek90]

I thought for ILL picks you get to choose your time from a given set? The system automatically switched yours to 5:40?

Sort of. Due to the amount of people selecting at 7am, especially this week, you can potentially see one time on your display and by the time you click it it’s already unavailable and gives you a different time. Possibly several hours apart.

 

[bubbles1812]

think about it.. they aren't even giving out 3 at a time now and can't keep availability.. so no way they could do any sort of express pass unless it was sold at super premium prices.

My only interpretation is when people had multiple days to pick from at once (due to length of stay), they were distributing some of the individual attraction demand because people could switch days... So at any one 60 day start, people were booking say from 3-10 day windows.. where now everyone eligible is concentrated trying for the same day.

Definitely agree here. I like Universal’s Unlimited Express Pass a whole bunch but let’s not pretend that Universal and WDW are the same beast.

I imagine they could only sell quite a limited number of truly ultimate fast passes or access each line once fast passes. And the competition would be crazy. Disney just isn’t as casual as Universal.

I mean, the VIP tours, which really are the way to get unlimited immediate ride access, are 450+ per hour at their current base price with I think a minimum of 7 hours, last I looked? So you can do the math on what Disney might charge. It wouldn’t be an extra 100-150 dollars per day.

 

[Jeff4272]

I thought for ILL picks you get to choose your time from a given set? The system automatically switched yours to 5:40?

5:40 was earliest available at 7/00:01

 

[matt9112]

Disney could add a major 30 million dollar B&M to every park and they would eat up crowds and be great rides. That would be nothing for them compared to what they spend on most anything else.

I LOOOOVE B&M was my childhood dream job ya know. Sigh.

 

[Jeff4272]

had whole family up again to get ROTR. Had it all selected and went to pay and said something went wrong and got shut out again and they were all gone by 7:01 again. This system sucks.