Lightning Lane at Walt Disney World

[nickys]

This is what I'm not understanding. I thought we could book one every two hours, like in this example, but in posts above people seemed to be saying that you can only have two scheduled and outstanding at a time.

You can book another G+ ride at the earliest of:

- tapping into the ride
or
- 2 hrs after booking the ride

What you still have in the future doesn’t affect when you can book another. It is possible to have 3 or more G+ passes still to use. This is why it works so well in a park you are hopping to later.

 

[nickys]

We actually had quite a bit of success doing so, especially at MK and HS. Most times 3 rides were fine for us since we rarely spent an entire day in the parks, but if we wanted additional FastPasses we generally were able to get them for rides like HM, ToT and Dino. I should clarify that we don’t visit at the busiest times of the year.

I had success on Christmas Day and New Years Day. Didn’t try it on NYE though!

 

[Ayla]

I’m aware…

It never worked. As in I was there every month of the year except I think may…”packed times”…”slow times”…early arrivals…late arrivals

It gave you fastpasses for those things that never should have had them probably 90% of the time.

Now you could stalk them…stay on the app and search/refresh. But the funny thing about that is it did exactly what people swore it did better than fastpass 1.0…it made you hustle to get them. But instead of walking…you stood or sat and did it. Exercise is better for the chef Mickey crowd

It was barley passable…but it also was a harbinger of what was to come…standbys longer than pre fastpass and a logjam on cell phones because the capacity just isn’t enough.

And now you make a donation for it. Scary thought: what if attendance isn’t close to 2019 yet as Bob sells to Wall Street?

What cluster of a boondoggle is off the port bow, captain?

Watch the video. It’s either you want to be reality based or you can’t process “my Disney” and the truth. It will lead to better discussion and probably less patronizing/preaching.

And as far as “3 were enough”…yeah…us too. But that’s just why it didn’t work. It rewarded those that were there too much and didn’t require return on tickets…which forced everyone else in to logjams and allows Iger to sell more upsells and crank prices. It was bad for everyone.

It did work and I was there every month of the year using it. I think our best day with FP+ was 12 or 13 fastpasses. I'd get a different one as soon as we tapped in.

Genie+/ILL is nothing more than unmitigated greed and I refuse to use it.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

It did work and I was there every month of the year using it. I think our best day with FP+ was 12 or 13 fastpasses. I'd get a different one as soon as we tapped in.

Genie+/ILL is nothing more than unmitigated greed and I refuse to use it.

Were you a “take it or leave it” kinda local?…
Or a “been there, done that…nothing new DVC?”
(Like me)

It “worked” for us. That is exactly why it was a bad system. It couldn’t flex to serve both baskets of customers. The numbers.

I find myself…in a rare occurrence…agreeing 100% with Disney cane on this. “It’s the capacity, stupid”. They failed…so any attempt to systematically hide it will fail too. Cause the numbers.

So we can tie all this up. Any system is going to degrade without capacity and it’s 15 years behind…minimum.
And they aren’t trying to “reduce attendance” because the stock market will not tolerate that. More at a higher price…welcome to America.
So that will mean you get the Dutch door for both sides.

It all is what it is.

 

[DisneyCane]

Just did sold out magic kingdom yesterday. Was able to LL Space, buzz, Pooh, tea cups, mermaid, pan, haunted mansion, big thunder, pirates, and jungle cruise in my 12.5 hours there. Averaged a FP redemption every 75 minutes. Also had time to ride standby on people mover, monsters Inc, tea cups, big thunder, splash, pirates, and watched fireworks!

No early entry. I would say G+ was for sure worth it for my family, longest wait of the day other than fireworks was 30 mins for splash. Hit the 120 min rule only twice!

What would your average wait time for those same attractions have been on standby without paying $15. If you averaged a redemption every 1:15, it's only really the time above that for average standby wait that you saved for $15. You avoided standing in the line but you still waited quite a while in the virtual queue.

 

[Ayla]

Were you a “take it or leave it” kinda local?…
Or a “been there, done that…nothing new DVC?”
(Like me)

It “worked” for us. That is exactly why it was a bad system. It couldn’t flex to serve both baskets of customers. The numbers.

I find myself…in a rare occurrence…agreeing 100% with Disney cane on this. “It’s the capacity, stupid”. They failed…so any attempt to systematically hide it will fail too. Cause the numbers.

So we can tie all this up. Any system is going to degrade without capacity and it’s 15 years behind…minimum.
And they aren’t trying to “reduce attendance” because the stock market will not tolerate that. More at a higher price…welcome to America.
So that will mean you get the Dutch door for both sides.

It all is what it is.

I'm neither a DVC owner nor a local. I live in WI, with plenty of free time and disposable income.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

I'm neither a DVC owner nor a local. I live in WI, with plenty of free time and disposable income.

You are a Disney addict then..which means you are an easy sell to them and fall into pretty much the same category as DVC…which I bet you should have bought long ago

 

[Purduevian]

What would your average wait time for those same attractions have been on standby without paying $15. If you averaged a redemption every 1:15, it's only really the time above that for average standby wait that you saved for $15. You avoided standing in the line but you still waited quite a while in the virtual queue.

Not sure. I was in line for other rides, shopping, or eating a turkey leg between rides. My $15 allowed me to have a way better day than I did in October before G+ was active. Obviously I preferred it to be free, but I feel like I got my money's worth

 

[Chi84]

I’m aware…

It never worked. As in I was there every month of the year except I think may…”packed times”…”slow times”…early arrivals…late arrivals

It gave you fastpasses for those things that never should have had them probably 90% of the time.

Now you could stalk them…stay on the app and search/refresh. But the funny thing about that is it did exactly what people swore it did better than fastpass 1.0…it made you hustle to get them. But instead of walking…you stood or sat and did it. Exercise is better for the chef Mickey crowd

It was barley passable…but it also was a harbinger of what was to come…standbys longer than pre fastpass and a logjam on cell phones because the capacity just isn’t enough.

And now you make a donation for it. Scary thought: what if attendance isn’t close to 2019 yet as Bob sells to Wall Street?

What cluster of a boondoggle is off the port bow, captain?

Watch the video. It’s either you want to be reality based or you can’t process “my Disney” and the truth. It will lead to better discussion and probably less patronizing/preaching.

And as far as “3 were enough”…yeah…us too. But that’s just why it didn’t work. It rewarded those that were there too much and didn’t require return on tickets…which forced everyone else in to logjams and allows Iger to sell more upsells and crank prices. It was bad for everyone.

I watched the video, but I'm not sure to what effect. Disney already decided FP+ was not working and abandoned it. The video did reaffirm why it worked well for me - we like to spend a good part of our vacation in the water parks, resort-hopping, dining, watching the entertainment, taking boat rides, seeing fireworks and parades and all the other things that separate WDW from the average theme park. FP+ allowed us to go on the rides we wanted at times when it fit into our schedule.

My version of the perfect WDW vacation is no less deserving than the version of someone who wants to ride every ride at MK in a single day with optimal wait times. I understand that I'm not in the majority, but a system that benefits solely the majority is not necessarily the best or fairest one. The best systems are designed to take into consideration competing interests and differences among people and effect some sort of accommodation.

I get that FP+ failed because it did not work well enough for enough guests and that it had to change. Or if you prefer, it broke everything at Disney beyond all repair. Either way, it's me who has to change the way I vacation at WDW and I understand that perfectly. I tried Genie+ and found that it had some annoying features, but we made it work. We'll see how it goes with the family in April.

 

[Disstevefan1]

I watched the video, but I'm not sure to what effect. Disney already decided FP+ was not working and abandoned it. The video did reaffirm why it worked well for me - we like to spend a good part of our vacation in the water parks, resort-hopping, dining, watching the entertainment, taking boat rides, seeing fireworks and parades and all the other things that separate WDW from the average theme park. FP+ allowed us to go on the rides we wanted at times when it fit into our schedule.

My version of the perfect WDW vacation is no less deserving than the version of someone who wants to ride every ride at MK in a single day with optimal wait times. I understand that I'm not in the majority, but a system that benefits solely the majority is not necessarily the best or fairest one. The best systems are designed to take into consideration competing interests and differences among people and effect some sort of accommodation.

I get that FP+ failed because it did not work well enough for enough guests and that it had to change. Or if you prefer, it broke everything at Disney beyond all repair. Either way, it's me who has to change the way I vacation at WDW and I understand that perfectly. I tried Genie+ and found that it had some annoying features, but we made it work. We'll see how it goes with the family in April.

Disney did not abandon FastPass+ they just put it behind a paywall….

 

[Chi84]

Disney did not abandon FastPass+ they just put it behind a paywall….

I wish. I would have been more willing to pay for FP+. Genie+ is very different.

 

[Ayla]

You are a Disney addict then..which means you are an easy sell to them and fall into pretty much the same category as DVC…which I bet you should have bought long ago

LOL Not a chance. Fifteen years ago, maybe, but not now.

I am exactly the type of customer Disney wants - but I'm done and out.

 

[doctornick]

People forget that the 2-hour rule existed way back during paper FastPasses. Genie+ just has a wider internet audience picking it apart and figuring out how to use the rules to their advantage.

-Rob

I don’t really understand this. The fastpass printed tickets literally said “you are eligible to get your next fastpass at x o’clock”

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

I don’t really understand this. The fastpass printed tickets literally said “you are eligible to get your next fastpass at x o’clock”

You could do it after 2 hours…there was never a need to advertise it

 

[casplas]

for those that got lighting lane before these changes, good luck with your refunds. 6 months at the bare minimum. our ap took over 8 months to get a refund of the unused portions. and about 500 minutes of waiting with guest
"services?" on the phone to see what was happening with our rather substantial refunds. but remeber folks, your smart phone is your pass to the magic now.

 

[Disstevefan1]

I wish. I would have been more willing to pay for FP+. Genie+ is very different.

They made some tweaks, but G+ is a form of FP+ but now you must pay…

 

[mikejs78]

for those that got lighting lane before these changes, good luck with your refunds. 6 months at the bare minimum. our ap took over 8 months to get a refund of the unused portions. and about 500 minutes of waiting with guest
"services?" on the phone to see what was happening with our rather substantial refunds. but remeber folks, your smart phone is your pass to the magic now.

Why would you get a refund?

 

[mikejs78]

They made some tweaks, but G+ is a form of FP+ but now you must pay…

It's not even close to FP+. More akin to the original FastPass.

 

[Disstevefan1]

It's not even close to FP+. More akin to the original FastPass.

Yes the current system is more like the original FastPass plus, only no running to get on line to get your paper fast pass and hope the machine doesnt break or they run out of Fastpasses before its your turn.

There are folks who mastered the 60 day out FastPass+ system and they loved it. I initially thought this new system would “level the playing field” since everyone now has a chance to get a fast pass day of, and they now are not gobbled up by all the 60 day out folks, but I see since everyone all at once can get on their phones all at the same moment, getting a fast pass today is more like trying to get a boarding group, also the 60 day out folks are now replaced by the on site guests that gobble up all the fast passes anyway with the early access.

I think we agree, the new system also sucks AND NOW we must pay to use it..

 

[Jeff4272]

Yes the current system is more like the original FastPass plus, only no running to get on line to get your paper fast pass and hope the machine doesnt break or they run out of Fastpasses before its your turn.

There are folks who mastered the 60 day out FastPass+ system and they loved it. I initially thought this new system would “level the playing field” since everyone now has a chance to get a fast pass day of, and they now are not gobbled up by all the 60 day out folks, but I see since everyone all at once can get on their phones all at the same moment, getting a fast pass today is more like trying to get a boarding group, also the 60 day out folks are now replaced by the on site guests that gobble up all the fast passes anyway with the early access.

I think we agree, the new system also sucks AND NOW we must pay to use it..

Couldn't agree more...........

The new system SUCKS bad AND it costs you a lot of money

But people keep paying it.............

And that's why i get angry about it........Because it ruined our experience and it wasn't a vacation for us, it was an exhausting rat race and we want to go back but wont the way it is.........It's AWFUL