Lightning Lane at Walt Disney World

[Jeff4272]

I can agree with the idea of being annoyed that you don't have some of the experiences locked in ahead of time, and it certainly was nice on the occasion that you could snag, say, Flight of Passage and know that it was one major experience checked off your list and more or less guaranteed barring unforeseen attraction downtime.

However, I think the ability to lock things in was already eroding even with FP+. You could only pick one "good" attraction for the day ahead of time, with the other two required to be in the lower tier of attractions that you don't have to wait very long for in the first place. Additionally, boarding groups were becoming a thing either way and are a large part of what I feel fuels frustration.

I think Boarding Groups are awful and I think wdw thinks they are too. My guess is boarding groups will be extinct for good shortly.

the FP+ tiers were not bad at all There were plenty of good rides in tier 2 at HS. AK was easy w only FOP and Navi in tier 1 and MK didn’t have them. Only one that was somewhat of an issue was Epcot b of the lineup.

I’d gladly go back to that

 

[Patcheslee]

Looks like mulitpass experiences for LL will now exclude Jungle Cruise according to Kenny the Pirate. Peter Pan was already excluded.

 

[Squishy]

 

[dreday3]

View attachment 607010

Um, is this supposed to be a quote from Walt Disney himself?

 

[Squishy]

Um, is this supposed to be a quote from Walt Disney himself?

Rumor is Walt said it during Bob Iger's farewell party

 

[Epcot82Guy]

But, if you're willing to pay $6,000 - we'll give you a case for it and call it a "holographic display device - totally not an iPhone".

And you can have a... cocktail...!

 

[Disstevefan1]

Currently wrapping up a weeklong stay at WDW. To our surprise, Genie+ was not the major hindrance we thought it would be.

We had mentally prepped ourselves for early morning rope dropping and long waits. I brought along a paperback, small fan, and headphones for catching up on my Audible book while in what I believe would be long line after long line.

But with consistent rope dropping, staying onsite at a Disney Springs-adjacent hotel to get that 30 minute morning advantage (we were priced out of Disney’s hotels years ago), and an easy going attitude (i.e. “We’re not going to see and do everything this trip, and that’s fine - we’ll be back.”), we were able to have a great time and accomplish most of what we set out to do - without Genie+ or LL.

We didn’t make it on Rise (which is fine with me, as I’m more of an OT fan) or Space Mountain (which feels unsafe to us), but we did hit Rat, Slinky, FOP, Seven Dwarfs, and pretty much every other major headliner. So I’m happy to say that it was still possible for us to have a satisfying trip, despite my initial reservations about this new system breaking the parks.

However, if this were our first trip, if we’d been a larger party, or if we were certain we would not be visiting WDW again for a long while and we wanted to see everything in each park, I imagine the current system would be a necessity. Fortunately, we didn’t feel that way, but the few folks we spoke to who had been using the Genie+ system were not fans.

I really think the consistent rope dropping is what really made the difference (as it has done historically) , not Genie +

 

[ToTBellHop]

I really think the consistent rope dropping is what really made the difference (as it has done historically) , not Genie +

Absolutely. You can avoid the G+/LL mess by staying on-site and coming early and returning late after a pool break. But I’m not convinced that was Disney’s plan—just how it has played out.

 

[el_super]

I've been flexible enough to work with Disney's systems throughout the years, but FP+ was the clear winner. It was so good for us and the way we vacation that I suspected it wouldn't last, and it didn't. I'm actually okay with trying a new system - even a paid one - if it benefits the people who had to suffer through years of a system that didn't work well for them. But as you point out, Genie+ and LL don't seem to work well for anyone.

I think it's safe to assume that most of the people posting on this board, are of the hyper-planning variety that want all information available as far in advance as possible. The group that Genie and Genie+ are meant to satisfy are the opposites: the people who did no research or planning ahead of time and just showed up. So if Genie is working well for some people, they wouldn't likely be the ones posting to this board proclaiming as such.

However, I think the ability to lock things in was already eroding even with FP+. You could only pick one "good" attraction for the day ahead of time, with the other two required to be in the lower tier of attractions that you don't have to wait very long for in the first place. Additionally, boarding groups were becoming a thing either way and are a large part of what I feel fuels frustration.

FastPass+ worked well for the hyper-planners, but even then only a small fraction of them were actually able to get the most coveted Fastpasses. If you were in the 1%, you were golden. I think you're right here: FP+ couldn't continue that way, and would have seen more and more restrictions as time went on. There was no benefit to Disney is catering to the 1% here, at the exclusion of everyone else.

 

[Jeff4272]

Absolutely. You can avoid the G+/LL mess by staying on-site and coming early and returning late after a pool break. But I’m not convinced that was Disney’s plan—just how it has played out.

The problem is, people keep paying so these offerings are going nowhere....

lLL's are selling out, over 1/3 of guests are purchasing Genie+ (higher than their predictions)

The $249 pp Christmas event is completely sold out (I think people need to have their heads examined if they pay this much for 4 hours in the park)....This is the biggest rip off in the history of WDW and theres a long list

But as long as people continue to pay it, then the guest satisfaction numbers wont matter

 

[Touchdown]

The problem is, people keep paying so these offerings are going nowhere....

lLL's are selling out, over 1/3 of guests are purchasing Genie+ (higher than their predictions)

The $249 pp Christmas event is completely sold out (I think people need to have their heads examined if they pay this much for 4 hours in the park)....This is the biggest rip off in the history of WDW and theres a long list

But as long as people continue to pay it, then the guest satisfaction numbers wont matter

It’s technically 6 and really 5 hours. Last night I did 13 attractions, saw the parade, show and both fireworks plus got snacks. I didn’t pay $249 but 249/(13 attractions+4 shows)=$14.69 per ride or show, less then most ILLs and that’s before factoring the food.

 

[Jeff4272]

It’s technically 6 and really 5 hours. Last night I did 13 attractions, saw the parade, show and both fireworks plus got snacks. I didn’t pay $249 but 249/(13 attractions+4 shows)=$14.69 per ride or show, less then most ILLs and that’s before factoring the food.

$1,300 for my family of 5 for 4 hours? no thanks.........I never would look at price per ride, thats irrelevant

I could pay less than half that for another full day in MK and get all that

 

[CaptainAmerica]

This is the biggest rip off in the history of WDW and theres a long list.

Ah, I see you've never been to Be Our Guest for breakfast.

 

[Touchdown]

$1,300 for my family of 5 for 4 hours? no thanks.........I never would look at price per ride, thats irrelevant

I could pay less than half that for another full day in MK and get all that

It’s not 4 hours. You get in at 7, regular guests are excluded from getting in line at 8, meaning the event essentially begins at 8. The only thing that starts at 9 is the party background music and treat stands.

 

[Jrb1979]

It’s technically 6 and really 5 hours. Last night I did 13 attractions, saw the parade, show and both fireworks plus got snacks. I didn’t pay $249 but 249/(13 attractions+4 shows)=$14.69 per ride or show, less then most ILLs and that’s before factoring the food.

It's pretty sad it's come to having to pay double the price of a day ticket just to ride things.

 

[Jeff4272]

It’s not 4 hours. You get in at 7, regular guests are excluded from getting in line at 8, meaning the event essentially begins at 8. The only thing that starts at 9 is the party background music and treat stands.

Is the party 9-12? thats 4 hours in my book and most others

 

[Jeff4272]

Ah, I see you've never been to Be Our Guest for breakfast.

and no i have not and never will


I know theres a lot of talk of it on here and some people dont really mean it but will not be back unless things change...

We hit our breaking point

going to bank my Dec '21, use Dec '22 and borrow Dec '23 and go to Aulani summer '23 and then sell my DVC......


we are done w WDW

 

[Jrb1979]

Ah, I see you've never been to Be Our Guest for breakfast.

Most food at Disney is overpriced and not very good. Much better options off site.

 

[arich35]

I was looking at LL selections at 7 this morning for HS. Slinky was at 7:30 PM within 15-20 seconds at 7 AM and sold out a couple seconds later. For the next 10 minutes a few here and there popped up with varying times. At 7:11 AM is when I saw more pop up starting in the morning and probably within 3-5 minutes they were sold out again.

 

[Jeff4272]

I was looking at LL selections at 7 this morning for HS. Slinky was at 7:30 PM within 15-20 seconds at 7 AM and sold out a couple seconds later. For the next 10 minutes a few here and there popped up with varying times. At 7:11 AM is when I saw more pop up starting in the morning and probably within 3-5 minutes they were sold out again.

Genie+/ILL is so flawed and so bad I dont think its even fixable.......I think they should scrap it entirely and start over

Wait until the Christmas/New Years people go on their trips.....


Going to be a complete disaster