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Lightning Lane at Walt Disney World
- Thread starter wdwmagic
- Start date
Casper Gutman
Well-Known Member
The focus on Disney+ is logical to some extent. Streaming is the future. But it also feels a lot like Wall Streets myopic obsession with China, driven as much by collective belief as by sober evaluation.
And Disney+‘s main selling point, it’s advantage over Peacock or Apple or what have you, is that Disney name. And that Disney name means primarily two things - animation and theme parks. Ultimately, that’s the brand. And that’s what Wall Street doesn’t get - they think it can be Star Wars and Marvel, or that it’s just a name like Paramount or Universal.
On another note, I love Marvel and Star Wars, but that can’t be the extent of their content if they want to be Netflix. They’re going to have move way out of their comfort zone, expand beyond family only content. And they’re going to need to fix the Marvel stuff - I’ve enjoyed Loki, WV, and Hawkeye, but other then possibly the first six episodes of Wanda, they haven’t cracked the streaming model the way they’ve cracked film. They don’t feel as tight or polished.
They also feel cheaper, despite big stars and promises of spending equivalent to the films.
Waters Back Side
Well-Known Member
Who knows what to believe anymore. I have not seen that. But I swear I am NOT defending Genie + at all but... people on here have said they could not get the ride they wanted at 7:02 am. When every day this week at 7:10 there was availability for SDD and Rise. So magically it was available for some on the Genie + and and not on others? The fact any ride is sold out even on the first 20 minutes is ridiculous in it's own right, but I do not buy for a second that people could not even get ONE ride at 7:02 am. Unless Genie + was having issues itself, sorry, I dont believe it. Its either user error, or they are lying.
Even if FP+ was much better I'll still be able to get the ride I choose first on my HS day in Christmas week. Whether its Rise (ILL), SDD (Genie +) or even both in the first 10 minutes. I also saw today at after 11am AND 1pm RNRC still had availability (8:05 pm). So my 2nd Genie + would have been fine also. It is not just on this forum. Other chats and posts on social media I see people could also say not ride even 1 of their top choices when they tried at 7am while others got the tides with no issue.
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jpchambana
Member
Interestingly looking at wait times just now (so 8pm ET on Thanksgiving) in MK there were several attractions which are walk-on; HM, POTC, Buzz Lightyear, Small World. Jungle Cruise is down to 30 mins which is the shortest I’ve seen in a long time. Epcot is a similar story with only Soarin’, Test Track and Frozen not posting 5-10 minute waits. This reminds me of patterns in the FP (not plus days) when evenings had manageable waits. It may just be a one off though. Are they not distributing LL in the same way in the evening?
jpchambana
Member
Scratch that - 14 rides/attractions (not meet and greets) are 5-10 minute waits right now in MK. This definitely suggests that LL is not being used in the evenings to the same extent.
JoeCamel
Well-Known Member
Thanksgiving is usually light, many do family rather than go to a park in the afternoon/night so all you get are onsite with many of those fighting for a meal in DS
jpchambana
Member
Interesting. I assumed it would be like Christmas in which Christmas Day at MK is usually rammed.
SourcererMark79
Well-Known Member
- In the Parks
- No
It was not light at MK mid day - every SB queue I walked (balked) by hardly moved. Every GET had longer lines than a 7.25 pretzel wagon.
Waters Back Side
Well-Known Member
This morning SDD had intermittent availability up until 8:20 am. It took some refreshing but at 8:10 am there was availability for 2:40pm. At 7:23am there was availability for 10:20 am. At 7:12am it showed 3:30pm return time.
Same with Rise at 7:15am after times before it were much later, there was a 2:05 pm slot. At 7:23am it showed 4:10p. Rise also at 7:12 am showed 1:55pm. So if you stick with it (AGAIN I agree we should not have to do this) on your HS day for the an hour or so you'll get a slot. This assumes the Genie+ does not error out or tell you it's no longer available once you select it.
Same with Rise at 7:15am after times before it were much later, there was a 2:05 pm slot. At 7:23am it showed 4:10p. Rise also at 7:12 am showed 1:55pm. So if you stick with it (AGAIN I agree we should not have to do this) on your HS day for the an hour or so you'll get a slot. This assumes the Genie+ does not error out or tell you it's no longer available once you select it.
At 8:20 am 7DMT was showing 6:25 pm return time for $12.
By 8:40 RoTR is gone and so is SDD
Meant to post this am hour ago and my phone rang then I forgot.
Not sure exactly what time RoTR amd SDD "sold out" but not exactly good for off site guests to.get a chance to ride.
By 8:40 RoTR is gone and so is SDD
Meant to post this am hour ago and my phone rang then I forgot.
Not sure exactly what time RoTR amd SDD "sold out" but not exactly good for off site guests to.get a chance to ride.
When is the last time you were there on Thanksgiving?
Jeff4272
Well-Known Member
I was there Sunday through yesterday and ROTR and FOP were both sold out in 30 seconds.....we had app problems (required email code) and missed out both times.........we tried booking SDD on Monday 11/22 at 7:00:01 and got 5:40pm return time and it was sold out 1 minutes later
Thats the truth........
Jeff4272
Well-Known Member
Here's what I just emailed Disney
Trip Feedback
To whom it may concern
I just returned from a “last minute” 4 days trip from Sunday 11/21 through Thursday 11/25. I am a DVC member but we paid cash for this trip since we used all of our points previously and this was a last minute getaway. I was on the trip with my wife and my three children 16, 14 and 13. I wanted to pass along our feedback on Genie, Genie+ and ILL in particular.
This was the most stressful and exhausting trip we have ever experienced. We have been to Disney dozens of times and this was our worst trip we have ever had. The problems with the function of the new Genie+/ILL system showed up before we even arrived and happened to be a sign of the things to come. My first day we were flying and in the air without WiFi when we were eligible to book our second Genie+ selection on Sunday 11/21 at 10am in Magic Kingdom and by the time we landed a lot of the preferred times were taken.
Having to wake up before 7am every morning to book our day was exhausting. We had to have 3 family members up in order to book what we wanted due to several rides “selling out” so quickly. We experienced multiple MDE glitches and we were not able to secure Rise of the Resistance ILL or Flight of Passage ILL on 2 of the mornings, defeating the purpose of getting up so early. The app constantly asked us to log back in and use an email code.
Two of our 4 days we were planning on park hopping (and had dining reservations set up in the second park). I tried to reserve my first Genie+ selection at 7am, had a return time window of 9:50am but when I actually finished booking, the ride return time was 5:40pm. Why can’t the system allow me time to book that reservation instead of pushing me out? This ruined our park hopping plans. I also had another Genie+ selection booked on Tower of Terror for the same time we had dinner booked at Via Napoli. When a more desirable time came up, I cancelled and tried to book the other time and by the time I did it was gone and I lost my Genie+ selection. Why can’t you have a modify button where it holds the reservation while trying to switch?
One of the biggest drawbacks of Genie+ is having to be on my phone all day long. My son kept telling me to put down my phone during our ride on Safari but I had to be refreshing my phone all day in order to try and book a return time that worked for us later in the day when we were park hopping to Epcot.
We love Disney because it’s an escape and relaxing for my family but having to do all the things required to have a good trip made this the most stressful and exhausting trip we have ever been on. I understand that Genie+/ILL is new and things could change but I wanted to make sure you got my feedback that we do not like any aspect the new system to the point where unfortunately, we will not return unless things change. This defeats the purpose of us going.
Trip Feedback
To whom it may concern
I just returned from a “last minute” 4 days trip from Sunday 11/21 through Thursday 11/25. I am a DVC member but we paid cash for this trip since we used all of our points previously and this was a last minute getaway. I was on the trip with my wife and my three children 16, 14 and 13. I wanted to pass along our feedback on Genie, Genie+ and ILL in particular.
This was the most stressful and exhausting trip we have ever experienced. We have been to Disney dozens of times and this was our worst trip we have ever had. The problems with the function of the new Genie+/ILL system showed up before we even arrived and happened to be a sign of the things to come. My first day we were flying and in the air without WiFi when we were eligible to book our second Genie+ selection on Sunday 11/21 at 10am in Magic Kingdom and by the time we landed a lot of the preferred times were taken.
Having to wake up before 7am every morning to book our day was exhausting. We had to have 3 family members up in order to book what we wanted due to several rides “selling out” so quickly. We experienced multiple MDE glitches and we were not able to secure Rise of the Resistance ILL or Flight of Passage ILL on 2 of the mornings, defeating the purpose of getting up so early. The app constantly asked us to log back in and use an email code.
Two of our 4 days we were planning on park hopping (and had dining reservations set up in the second park). I tried to reserve my first Genie+ selection at 7am, had a return time window of 9:50am but when I actually finished booking, the ride return time was 5:40pm. Why can’t the system allow me time to book that reservation instead of pushing me out? This ruined our park hopping plans. I also had another Genie+ selection booked on Tower of Terror for the same time we had dinner booked at Via Napoli. When a more desirable time came up, I cancelled and tried to book the other time and by the time I did it was gone and I lost my Genie+ selection. Why can’t you have a modify button where it holds the reservation while trying to switch?
One of the biggest drawbacks of Genie+ is having to be on my phone all day long. My son kept telling me to put down my phone during our ride on Safari but I had to be refreshing my phone all day in order to try and book a return time that worked for us later in the day when we were park hopping to Epcot.
We love Disney because it’s an escape and relaxing for my family but having to do all the things required to have a good trip made this the most stressful and exhausting trip we have ever been on. I understand that Genie+/ILL is new and things could change but I wanted to make sure you got my feedback that we do not like any aspect the new system to the point where unfortunately, we will not return unless things change. This defeats the purpose of us going.
CaptainAmerica
Premium Member
Your son was right. Listen to the boy.
CaptainAmerica
Premium Member
I'm guessing never.
Jeff4272
Well-Known Member
He was right........But he also was mad when he had to wait 70 minutes to ride TT
CaptainAmerica
Premium Member
I hear you. And I'm very eager to see how Genie+ functions with normal crowd levels, normal staffing levels, and a full portfolio of open attractions. I just think we're not getting representative data points on a holiday week during the tail end of a pandemic.
Jrb1979
Well-Known Member
I don't think much changes. Most attractions are open. There just isn't enough attractions outside of MK for this to work.
Jeff4272
Well-Known Member
I think that no matter how it plays out, when its busy its not going to be worth it and when its slow, you arent going to need it
Jrb1979
Well-Known Member
The only way to fix that is either cap how many people can buy Genie+ or up the price so that most don't buy it. They need less people using it for it to work properly.