Lightning Lane at Walt Disney World

[Notes from Neverland]

The entire Genie+ situation is fascinating. It has so many hoops and problems that it's wild to think it made through the approval process. I look forward to the Defunctland documentary on it.

 

[Disney Glimpses]

They could stop ROFRing them at disgustingly high prices and more would sell on the resale side, but perhaps they think that will tank sales of the VGF hotel room points.

And upcoming poly sales. Honestly, this may be unavoidable at some point.

 

[Jrb1979]

FP+ is a million times better system.

However ...this G+ is even more dangerous...at rope drop there is the normal stampede to the biggest ride...now we don't only have to join the stampede....we have to do it while staring at our phones frantically looking to get a LL+ and getting it paid...inevitably the system sating there's been a problem..and then try again, at a time 3 hours later than you first booked.....not only you, but half the people in the stampede.

G+ is just a poorly made, poorly designed and poorly implemented system.

I think both systems are garbage TBH. I know they don't want to hurt their precious VIP sales but I think there is a middle ground to have a system like Universal's and also keep it to only once per ride.

 

[Thepuma]

I’d like to just point out that this is a good change. Everyone here will have the ability to purchase Genie+ the night before; it’s not going to sell out that quickly. The issue was too many people purchasing it in advance and people purchasing it late morning after arriving to the parks. If the limits they set are reasonable, this has a real shot of being a great experience.

So err...if its available to ALL regardless of how many sell, what difference does it have to having everyone buy it on the day?....other than inconveniencing more people?

 

[Disney Glimpses]

So err...if its available to ALL regardless of how many sell, what difference does it have to having everyone buy it on the day?....other than inconveniencing more people?

It won't be available to all. It will sell out.

 

[GhostHost1000]

It won't be available to all. It will sell out.

and then guests will be even more frustrated based on their previous visits and experiences with FP+

 

[Thepuma]

Unless that midnight timing moves.

Well, it can't move any earlier as that won't be the same day as they have now advertised.

 

[Vacationeer]

To ease demand they could’ve gone a different route. Could’ve made it length of ticket with pricing on a scale like they do with hoppers. Short trips much more expensive per day. Long trips cheaper per day but still end up a large investment.

ETA- APs would get the choice to add it to their entire pass or not.

 

[ChrisM]

No offense to @disneyglimpses (we all appreciate any info you can share), buuuuuuuut....

"...this has a real shot of being a great experience."

That seems to be the line being fed in the boardroom these days. And it hasn't exactly been working out.

 

[Disney Glimpses]

and then guests will be even more frustrated based on their previous visits and experiences with FP+

How so? I can see guests walking in late and being upset that it's gone, but I don't think people like us who will be purchasing it at midnight or very early in the morning will be having an issue. At the end of the day though, they care about guest satisfaction for products that they are paying for. Complaints about Genie+ being sold out I imagine won't have that much of an impact.

 

[pdude81]

It won't be available to all. It will sell out.

I'll say that if I'm a paying resort guest, deluxe/dvc even, and I can't purchase G+ if/when I want it, then I will be livid. My guess is that they will open to resort guests earlier than off site but still it's crazy to just cut the availability like that. I would sooner expect them to increase the LL allocation before reducing the number of G+ purchases.

 

[Disney Glimpses]

No offense to @disneyglimpses (we all appreciate any info you can share), buuuuuuuut....

"...this has a real shot of being a great experience."

That seems to be the line being fed in the boardroom these days. And it hasn't exactly been working out.

Which is why I said a "shot." Consider the After Hours events. It all hinged on inventory. It could be great if they actually limit sales appropriately based on the price. Same applies here. It really depends on what the inventory looks like and what they consider to be an acceptable Genie+ experience.

 

[crazy4disney]

As far as the future version of this goes, nothing has been determined yet. Everything is on the table but they can't make these changes until Jan 1.

thank you so my summer trip i will need to purchase daily for my mom's AP

 

[Thepuma]

That isn't how this is going to work. There is always going to be a rat race at 7am for the popular attractions. The issue is that people who entered the park at 9, 10, 11 are purchasing it and eating up all the other attractions too and then by the time you're ready to book your next attraction, there is nothing left. There won't be issues purchasing Genie+ the night before.

This also isn't the only change that is coming. This is really just to alleviate the horrible experience that is Genie+ right now. The more significant changes are going to be surveyed to guests first and then implemented early next year.

You'll have to explain this to me, I'm clearly low in IQ.

How does forcing 10,000 people to pay for G+ on before the park opens make any difference to 5,000 buying it the day before and 5,000 buying it in the morning of the visit.....BOTH mean 10,000 have bought it when getting into the park...I really dont see how forcing the same amount of people to buy it on the day makes any difference whatsoever to anything?

 

[kalel8145]

Well, it can't move any earlier as that won't be the same day as they have now advertised.

It will be tiered:
Deluxe and DVC available at midnight
Moderate at 2am
Value at 4 am
AP 7am
Offsite noon

 

[ChrisM]

Which is why I said a "shot." Consider the After Hours events. It all hinged on inventory. It could be great if they actually limit sales appropriately based on the price. Same applies here. It really depends on what the inventory looks like and what they consider to be an acceptable Genie+ experience.

I will say that the actual line waiting part of my G+ experience was exemplary. As in pretty much zero wait in any attraction once entering the LL.

Which is why I wonder if they could have realistically increased G+ capacity.

 

[Disney Glimpses]

You'll have to explain this to me, I'm clearly low in IQ.

How does forcing 10,000 people to pay for G+ on before the park opens make any difference to 5,000 buying it the day before and 5,000 buying it in the morning of the visit.....BOTH mean 10,000 have bought it when getting into the park...I really dont see how forcing the same amount of people to buy it on the day makes any difference whatsoever to anything?

You're looking at this the wrong way. That is only one piece of it. Using the numbers in your example, 10,000 people may want to purchase Genie+ but only 5,000 people will be able to - as it will sell out after 5,000 sales (made up numbers, again). The less people using it, the better the inventory will be.

 

[Demarke]

Tried Genie+, it was awful and not worth the money. Been back twice since and did not purchase it either trip. If they brought back FastPass+ and charged me Genie+ prices, I'd probably buy it. It was simple: I get to pick 3 guaranteed rides for the day. None of this crap of sitting on my phone and realizing I can't actually ride anything worthwhile unless I book something 6 hours from now.

That and, probably the biggest issue for me, Fastpass wouldn't change your return time to something that might conflict with another reservation in the seconds between selecting it and confirming.

"Hey look, there's a lightning lane for ToT at 11:30AM, we can do that before we hop to MK for our 2PM paid LL for 7 Dwarfs!"

Disney 3 seconds later: "You're confirmed ToT return time is 3:30PM, thanks for using Genie+ and have a magical day!"

 

[kalel8145]

That and, probably the biggest issue for me, Fastpass wouldn't change your return time to something that might conflict with another reservation in the seconds between selecting it and confirming.

"Hey look, there's a lightning lane for ToT at 11:30AM, we can do that before we hop to MK for our 2PM paid LL for 7 Dwarfs!"

Disney 3 seconds later: "You're confirmed ToT return time is 3:30PM, thanks for using Genie+ and have a magical day!"

Gotta be faster

 

[GhostHost1000]

Complaints about Genie+ being sold out I imagine won't have that much of an impact.

as a regular AP holder, a DVC member, and a frequent visitor for over 20 years, if I was unable to get Genie+ for whatever reason and have to use standby lines all day, the Disney park experience is now much less value to me based on my previous experiences.