Lightning Lane at Walt Disney World

[Jeff4272]

Not really.

The BEST rides are now ILL...which means resort guests get first dibs hours before the non resort guests...which means, by the time the park opens and non resort guests get to book ILL, they are either completely sold out or at best, late return times.

During FP+ days...I never had a problem getting FP+ 30 days out for most rides....the only exception being FOP and SDMT....of which I just rope dropped when that park wasn't magic hours day...so basically got on those in 10 minutes...so like a fre fast pass.

Agree 100%.........

 

[drizgirl]

Its like with the parking fees that were so “controversial” could have easily added $10-30 acrossboard based on category & allocate that directly to parking line item. Would have generated more $ and less negative feedback.

But they planned on raising room prices across the board already. Now they have 2 levers they can adjust over time.

 

[Jrb1979]

Not really.

The BEST rides are now ILL...which means resort guests get first dibs hours before the non resort guests...which means, by the time the park opens and non resort guests get to book ILL, they are either completely sold out or at best, late return times.

During FP+ days...I never had a problem getting FP+ 30 days out for most rides....the only exception being FOP, SDD and sometimes SDMT....of which I just rope dropped when that park wasn't magic hours day...so basically got on those in 10 minutes...so like a free fast pass.

Again FP+ works for those you take a vacation at Disney. Last time I went I took a day trip to MK while on a Universal vacation. FP+ was terrible. All the good rides were gone and what was left were either meet and greets or rides that had short waits already.

 

[Touchdown]

Again FP+ works for those you take a vacation at Disney. Last time I went I took a day trip to MK while on a Universal vacation. FP+ was terrible. All the good rides were gone and what was left were either meet and greets or rides that had short waits already.

Which guests do you think Disney wants more?
Which guests are more profitable?
Doesn’t it make sense to incentivize the group more profitable?

 

[mikejs78]

Again FP+ works for those you take a vacation at Disney. Last time I went I took a day trip to MK while on a Universal vacation. FP+ was terrible. All the good rides were gone and what was left were either meet and greets or rides that had short waits already.

At MK? Come on. If you were talking DHS I might have seen your point, but I could regularly get multiple FPs easily for almost every ride at MK day of (except 7DMT). I'm pretty sure that was the experience of most people, with the exception of during Christmas week.

I will say the *two* good things about G+ over FP+ are the ability to stack and the ability for LLs to overlap. I hope whatever system they move to retains those things.

 

[Disstevefan1]

A TYPICAL MORNING AT A WDW RESORT:
Little Johnny runs to Dad to wake him.
JOHNNY: "Dad, it's time to get out Lighting Lane selections"
DAD: "Ok, ok, lets see.... Hmm the earliest I see is 6:30PM! What time is it?"
JOHNNY: "9:03AM"
DAD: "Darn, I forgot to set my alarm!! OK well I made them. Johnny, its really hot out and our first Lighting Lane isn't till 6:30PM , lets see whats on Disney +"

 

[Jrb1979]

At MK? Come on. If you were talking DHS I might have seen your point, but I could regularly get multiple FPs easily for almost every ride at MK day of (except 7DMT). I'm pretty sure that was the experience of most people, with the exception of during Christmas week.

I will say the *two* good things about G+ over FP+ are the ability to stack and the ability for LLs to overlap. I hope whatever system they move to retains those things.

I guess the reason I hate both FP+ and Genie+ is the return time stuff.

 

[Thepuma]

A TYPICAL MORNING AT A WDW RESORT:
Little Johnny runs to Dad to wake him.
JOHNNY: "Dad, it's time to get out Lighting Lane selections"
DAD: "Ok, ok, lets see.... Hmm the earliest I see is 6:30PM! What time is it?"
JOHNNY: "9:03AM"
DAD: "Darn, I forgot to set my alarm!! OK well I made them. Johnny, its really hot out and our first Lighting Lane isn't till 6:30PM , lets see whats on Disney +"

Never has this saying been more apt...

"You snooze you lose"

Gone are the days when you can have a relaxing day at a Disney park....its a 6.30am till 11pm slog fest....glued to your phone and walking into others doing the same like zombies in the park.

Quite sad really, but that is what you have to do..and be dedicated to...to get the most out of a Disney trip.

You wanna wake up at 9am on your holiday? - forget going to a Disney park, it just won't work.

 

[crazy4disney]

Wasn’t the parking decision less of a money maker and more of a car volume reducer? I could be wrong on that.

i have no idea on that... didnt deter me from renting a car and honestly the parking lots were just as crowded since the inception of said fee's from what i was able to see

 

[crazy4disney]

For anyone that did not stay on property, or book long duration trips, Genie + is a better option than FP+. All of the better FP selections were gone 60 days out prior to off site guests ever getting a shot at them.

For anyone booking last minute trips Genie+ is way way better than FP as any high demand FP that might Have been left over from on property guests would be gone 30 days out. You just on average don’t see those type of people on message boards or complaining about it.

i would not deny that resort guests were benefitting from FP+ but wouldnt that be a "perk" Disney would want to be able to still "sell or promote" as i stated earlier staying on property should have incentives vs off and this definitely was one of them. In regards to "last minute" trips Im pretty sure Disney is not the only place where booking last minute loses "perks" or doesnt get you the best deals or options. Just look at airlines. my flight has more than doubled close to tripled and im still 3 months out from my trip should we feel bad for not booking earlier?

 

[crazy4disney]

Again FP+ works for those you take a vacation at Disney. Last time I went I took a day trip to MK while on a Universal vacation. FP+ was terrible. All the good rides were gone and what was left were either meet and greets or rides that had short waits already.

So Disney should cater to a day guest vs someone (majority) taking a weeklong trip and adjust a entire system? im not denying your experience but ive been able to pick up some really good FP's during the day on all my vacations in each park.

 

[Disney Glimpses]

I am in the camp that sees Disney as a business and those who spend more of their money with that business should get more in return. Resort perks simply make sense.

 

[Chip Chipperson]

I guess the reason I hate both FP+ and Genie+ is the return time stuff.

I found the return time options with FP+ to be great. If you know how you like to spend your day at a particular park then being able to pick a return time is a useful option. If FP+ didn't have return windows then you'd run the risk of getting in the FP+ line during a rush and wind up waiting longer than you would with a return window, which defeats the point. I'm guessing that Universal doesn't run into that issue very often due to the limited use of their line-skip system, but I'm not sure such a limited system would go over well with Disney's guests.

 

[crazy4disney]

I am in the camp that sees Disney as a business and those who spend more of their money with that business should get more in return. Resort perks simply make sense.

Totally agree & as a business at some point when you keep removing them and making said guest feel unwanted it loses its magic so to say... and again as expensive as Disney is i still think they are in line with other destinations if not a better value/experience but its the reducing of hours and lack of maintenance at spots the long waits to build an attraction/ride closures that never reopen (im looking at you Stitch) is what is imo is where they are completely dropping the ball

 

[FromMaldonia]

I'm reading a lot of posts that say, "Genie+ forces me to wake up early" and then also posts that say, "FP+ was great because I always got the rides I wanted...except for the ones I couldn't get but I would just wake up early and rope drop them." Often by the same people.

And also posts that say, "Genie+ forces me to be on my phone all day" and then also posts that say, "I could always get so much done with FP+ because I could refresh the app a lot and continue to get more fastpasses throughout the day" or "once you knew what you were doing, you could use tricks to get the most out of FP+."

 

[Jrb1979]

I am in the camp that sees Disney as a business and those who spend more of their money with that business should get more in return. Resort perks simply make sense.

I get it from that point of view. At the same time I don't believe in using the parks to fill resorts. I'm starting to understand why they aren't big on AP holders. If they could they would make Disney a gates community and only let those staying on property in. That to me is wrong on so many levels. Like I said before at one time Disney was everyone.

 

[Thepuma]

I am in the camp that sees Disney as a business and those who spend more of their money with that business should get more in return. Resort perks simply make sense.

I often think this is overlooked but getting into ANY Disney park 30 minutes early is a HUGE perk.

Remember, the extra magic hours perk used to be just 1 park on a rota around the 4 parks. So if you wanted to get in early, the park for that day was dictated to you.

30 minutes early to ANY park is huge, it allows you to rope drop the big ride at each park and it be almost walk on.

For me that is worth a LOT more than the old EMH.

 

[Thepuma]

I'm reading a lot of posts that say, "Genie+ forces me to wake up early" and then also posts that say, "FP+ was great because I always got the rides I wanted...except for the ones I couldn't get but I would just wake up early and rope drop them." Often by the same people.

And also posts that say, "Genie+ forces me to be on my phone all day" and then also posts that say, "I could always get so much done with FP+ because I could refresh the app a lot and continue to get more fastpasses throughout the day" or "once you knew what you were doing, you could use tricks to get the most out of FP+."

I think you've missed the point a bit - with FP+ you could book 3 FP+ and rope drop the biggie you couldn't get that FP for...so the morning/early afternoon was pretty much all done and dusted...youd only need to look at your phone again till after you used your 3rd FP+...maybe mid afternoon...and it was only from then, once you've tapped in, that you'd need to look on the app......with G+ you're on it for big chunks of the day, starting at 7am and finishing on the evening.

So a lot of the hassle is planned out in advanced so it was less stress on the day...now it takes a bit of organising to get your first 3 G+

There's a big difference.

 

[crazy4disney]

I'm reading a lot of posts that say, "Genie+ forces me to wake up early" and then also posts that say, "FP+ was great because I always got the rides I wanted...except for the ones I couldn't get but I would just wake up early and rope drop them." Often by the same people.

And also posts that say, "Genie+ forces me to be on my phone all day" and then also posts that say, "I could always get so much done with FP+ because I could refresh the app a lot and continue to get more fastpasses throughout the day" or "once you knew what you were doing, you could use tricks to get the most out of FP+."

Genie+ you MUST get up early every day of your vacation vs FP where you would have to that ONLY once or not even at all and just do it at your convenience when your window opens up and for myself im at work by 7am so it was a non event as im sure im not only one in that boat. FP+ while yes you needed your phone was simple a couple quick refreshes and you saw what was available and just choose it. genie+ does NOT allow that because you must cancel and then hope what you saw is still available. FP+ literally gave you 3 options prior to getting there to book at basically ANY time you want Genie gives you a potluck chance to get a Top Tier ride to 1 attraction. the 2 systems are night and day again lets not even take into account we are now paying for an inferior product.

 

[JMcMahonEsq]

i would not deny that resort guests were benefitting from FP+ but wouldnt that be a "perk" Disney would want to be able to still "sell or promote" as i stated earlier staying on property should have incentives vs off and this definitely was one of them. In regards to "last minute" trips Im pretty sure Disney is not the only place where booking last minute loses "perks" or doesnt get you the best deals or options. Just look at airlines. my flight has more than doubled close to tripled and im still 3 months out from my trip should we feel bad for not booking earlier?

You could call being able to book FP early a perk of staying on property. in fact since it wasn’t a direct charge I would absolutely call it a perk. But Disney doesn’t think it needs those perks to drive on site property bookings now and/or wants to turn the system not into a perk, but into a revenue generating stream. As such 1) it’s not going to be free and 2) they want to market it to as broad a client base as possible to generate more sales. Which means each consumer gets the same thing for the same cost.

Now Disney could have just limited sales to on site guests to give them a paid for benifit but they apparently didn’t think the revenue stream would have been big enough.

OR they purposefully open the market to everyone to take advantage of the wider consumer pool. Then after a certain period of time you have a built in transition to make some changes to “give back” to on site property stayers if you see demand starting to soften. Maybe genie+ will become part of your booking when you get a room and ticket package, and they can then do PR that they are adding value to on site property stayers…after Genie plus has been established.

But in either case people have to stop complaining that genie plus doesn’t do what FP did. It wasn’t designed to do the same thing and it’s purpose isn’t the same. So it would be broken if it had the same results as FP.