Lightning Lane at Walt Disney World

[Ayla]

Wait times were inflated on every single ride we rode this week at Epcot and MK, sometimes up to 50% of the actual wait. The only time they weren't inflated was the extended evening hours.

 

[FeelsSoGoodToBeBad]

I believe "What's" on second....

Ah hell.... I don't know....

 

[natatomic]

Goes to Disney world. Complains there are too many children

when I was a CP at splash 15 years ago, I had 2 grown men that refused to board any log with children on it. They waited off to the side for a good 6-8 minutes until it was possible to be on an all-adult log.

 

[mab7689]

Being from the UK this is just adding to the already spiralling costs. FP+ was great and really enhanced my last two trips. As I am a teacher I was stuck to our school holidays so they were great during a peak period for no added cost. I feel I am over a barrel and will have no choice to pay going forward. I hope they come to a compromise and add Genie+ for UK Ultimate Tickets. Unless they do something like that I can see international visitor numbers dropping because of this, once Covid has settled and we're allowed in that is.

So I thought I'd give an update. Firstly in November last year I left teaching and made a career change. I'm now no longer stuck to UK school holidays so I've booked for February 2023. Still pricey, but not as pricey. It will be my first ever low season visit so looking forward to seeing the difference. Secondly they did make a UK ultimate ticket with Genie+ included so I bought that.

 

[James J]

So I thought I'd give an update. Firstly in November last year I left teaching and made a career change. I'm now no longer stuck to UK school holidays so I've booked for February 2023. Still pricey, but not as pricey. It will be my first ever low season visit so looking forward to seeing the difference. Secondly they did make a UK ultimate ticket with Genie+ included so I bought that.

Did you mean the 14 day Magic Ticket? I wouldn't say that Genie + is included, you still have to check a box to add it on. It's just at a discounted rate of £6.99 per day. We did the same thing for our trip next week, so can't wait for the fun and games with that to begin.

Congrats on the career change though!

 

[mab7689]

Did you mean the 14 day Magic Ticket? I wouldn't say that Genie + is included, you still have to check a box to add it on. It's just at a discounted rate of £6.99 per day. We did the same thing for our trip next week, so can't wait for the fun and games with that to begin.

Congrats on the career change though!

Probably, must have changed the name and I'd not noticed haha. The ticket I bought said Genie+ included for an extra £60.

 

[Thepuma]

Wait times were inflated on every single ride we rode this week at Epcot and MK, sometimes up to 50% of the actual wait. The only time they weren't inflated was the extended evening hours.

Yep...they do it on purpose to con people into buying Genie+

We have been to multiple Disney parks almost every day for 7 days and we never had a single queue wait that was anywhere near why they quoted on the board.

The worst one was Mickey & Mineys Runaway Railway which said 85 minutes, but we were on in 10!!

 

[pdude81]

So I thought I'd give an update. Firstly in November last year I left teaching and made a career change. I'm now no longer stuck to UK school holidays so I've booked for February 2023. Still pricey, but not as pricey. It will be my first ever low season visit so looking forward to seeing the difference. Secondly they did make a UK ultimate ticket with Genie+ included so I bought that.

I'm sorry to inform you that February is not exactly low season anymore. Between President's Day weekend and Princess Half Weekend you end up with a ton of people planning trips. Sometimes you do well but just be warned.

 

[G00fyDad]

Yep...they do it on purpose to con people into buying Genie+

We have been to multiple Disney parks almost every day for 7 days and we never had a single queue wait that was anywhere near why they quoted on the board.

The worst one was Mickey & Mineys Runaway Railway which said 85 minutes, but we were on in 10!!

They did this before Genie+. A lot.

 

[Thepuma]

I'm sorry to inform you that February is not exactly low season anymore. Between President's Day weekend and Princess Half Weekend you end up with a ton of people planning trips. Sometimes you do well but just be warned.

We have been in all seasons, all months and id say without doubt the time we went in January was easily the quietest we have ever witnessed in Orlando parks.

 

[pdude81]

We have been in all seasons, all months and id say without doubt the time we went in January was easily the quietest we have ever witnessed in Orlando parks.

Late January, about a week after the marathon, is usually a good time to appear. Also early May and early september. I think at this point those are the only "slow" times, and each only lasts about two weeks. Now even late August costs the same number of DVC points as July does.

 

[Thepuma]

Late January, about a week after the marathon, is usually a good time to appear. Also early May and early september. I think at this point those are the only "slow" times, and each only lasts about two weeks. Now even late August costs the same number of DVC points as July does.

Early May? We've been in Orlando this last week and it's certainly not quiet....almost on a par with December last year.

 

[G00fyDad]

What always makes me smile is talking to people and asking about vacation tiles etc....its almost like the kids are hardly ever in school.

We went late November for 2 weeks and it was really busy...we were told the Americans start to wind down for Xmas late November and not always in school...so that's a months gone....then told spring break can be anything between March and May..another 3 months gone...then summer breaks start June to September....another 3 or 4 months ....its like....do American kids actually go to school, seems like they are off almost all year bar October,Jan

A ton of parents just take their kids out of school for Trips to Disney. A lot more than most people think about. It is just that we have so many doing it spread out throughout the school year (August to May) that it just seems like American kids are never in school. We also have a lot of breaks as well. Summer, Fall, Spring, and all the three or four day weekends all year (Presidents day, Thanksgiving, etc).

 

[pdude81]

Early May? We've been in Orlando this last week and it's certainly not quiet....almost on a par with December last year.

Post pandemic it always seems like a ton of people, but the actual ride waits that you and others have posted are much shorter than is typical during the year. Posted times are a crapshoot based on some exaggeration and the number of oustanding LL passes in a given window. December of last year would be hard to predict on crowds. It was a low covid time in Florida but just coming off the massive numbers in the summer when people normally do their trip planning. I assume you're talking about early December which used to be a low time back in the day.

 

[mab7689]

I'm sorry to inform you that February is not exactly low season anymore. Between President's Day weekend and Princess Half Weekend you end up with a ton of people planning trips. Sometimes you do well but just be warned.

Thanks for the heads up. I'm still comparatively expecting better than the August I've gotten used to though. I'm booked from the 7th to the 21st so will that have a bearing?

 

[dmw]

What always makes me smile is talking to people and asking about vacation times etc....its almost like the kids are hardly ever in school.

We went late November for 2 weeks and it was really busy...we were told the Americans start to wind down for Xmas late November and not always in school...so that's a months gone....then told spring break can be anything between March and May..another 3 months gone...then summer breaks start June to September....another 3 or 4 months ....its like....do American kids actually go to school, seems like they are off almost all year bar October,January and February.. lol

Bless your heart... trying to understand US schools, holidays, and homeschooling.

Our kids are long past school days, but now we are experience school calendars with our grandkids. They get so many breaks now, but the summer break is much shorter than it used to be. For our school system, school started on August 2, 2021, the first fall break was the week of Sept 20-24, then there was the week of November 22-26 for Thanksgiving, and the year ended with a two week break Dec 20-Jan 3 for Christmas/New Year. But, wait, there are more breaks! There was a week off February 21-25, then Spring Break April 4-8. The last day of school is May 27. June-July are summer break, and the new school year kicks off on August 1.

I should note that even within the same state there are separate public school systems that follow their own calendars and don't necessarily have breaks at the same time as a school literally 5 miles away.

 

[FromMaldonia]

We went late November for 2 weeks and it was really busy...we were told the Americans start to wind down for Xmas late November and not always in school...so that's a months gone....then told spring break can be anything between March and May..another 3 months gone...then summer breaks start June to September....another 3 or 4 months ....its like....do American kids actually go to school, seems like they are off almost all year bar October,Jan

A ton of parents just take their kids out of school for Trips to Disney. A lot more than most people think about. It is just that we have so many doing it spread out throughout the school year (August to May) that it just seems like American kids are never in school. We also have a lot of breaks as well. Summer, Fall, Spring, and all the three or four day weekends all year (Presidents day, Thanksgiving, etc).

There are certainly a lot of days off. And also every state and often each district within a state has different schedules. Spring Break often falls in a different month in California than in Illinois. Different schools within the same city (metropolitan area I suppose) may have breaks in different weeks. Add in that some schools actually organize Disney trips for band or other groups/activities and it's not hard to see how there can be loads of kids in any given week for at least half of the year.

I'm definitely a bit jealous of my friends that home school and can decide when to take there "breaks". But then I think about having to actually execute home school and I'm no longer jealous. I'm know there are many more benefits to it than just vacations, but it's not for my family.

 

[LittleBuford]

Homeschooling is currently at 12% or something like that.

I had no idea the number was so high. I’m very, very surprised.

 

[drizgirl]

I had no idea the number was so high. I’m very, very surprised.

It gained a lot of traction during Covid.

 

[pdude81]

Thanks for the heads up. I'm still comparatively expecting better than the August I've gotten used to though. I'm booked from the 7th to the 21st so will that have a bearing?

I think that's a good middle ground. You'll get some of the President's day crowds but that isn't always nuts, and wrap up just before Princess Half weekend. If going for 2 weeks in Feb that's about as good as you'll get.