Lightning Lane at Walt Disney World

[kalel8145]

Yikes, I agree this isn't the best look. I'm glad I was able to convince my group to splurge for Genie+ months ago for our upcoming trip in October. My future self getting an extra 10 minutes of sleep will be very happy with myself.

We have a brand new addition to Genie+ because you purchased it, we have automatically enrolled you in our complimentary 5am wake up call for $25. Let Disney magic help you make the most of your day.
Automatically charged. No take backs.

 

[uncle jimmy]

* Ability to pick a return time
* Ability to change your time

Those are the big two, in addition to the pre-planning.

It doesn't have to be 30/60 days out either - they could allow resort guests to prebook their first LL for the day a week before, to allow them to avoid the daily 7 AM mad dash, for example.

I'm not sure I want to go back to the preplanning like FP+ for my times months in advance.

I would like to pick what ILL I want each day to purchase in advance and what rides/attractions I must/want to LL in advance... the times I'd let Genie figure that out for me each day.

 

[DisneyHead123]

Wow, Disney is going all in on their “We’re the phone company!” approach.

 

[Disney Glimpses]

Scheduling 60/30 days out? Other than that what’s the main difference?

It's a tricky situation. It's one thing when something is free and then there's no availability. You kind of shrug and move on. But when you pay for something and then there's no availability...different story. There are a ton of ideas. Some are simple, some require significant software engineering work. But one thing is certain, added nuances/complexity is definitely not desired here.

 

[CaptinEO]

No, they do not have the capacity for this. WDW is unique amongst theme parks in that it probably has the worst ride capacity to admissions capacity ratio of any theme park in the world.

Yet it would still be better for capacity as it would exclude more people than the 20 dollar thing they are selling, I don't see your point.

 

[Waters Back Side]

You would think that if they are capping Genie + sales so that they do not run out of ride inventory so quick, itll mean the only scramble would be purchasing Genie + during the midnight rush and not worrying so much about ride availability since now everyone will be able to get rhe rides they want (other then maybe the 7am first choice helping with what time during the day you are given for the first ride. Some how though, I have a bad feeling that not only will Genie + sell out on busy days, but the people who were able to purchase it while available will still actually see thst some of the higher demand rides will still see out.

In other words, if they still sell Genie + to more guests then the amount of availability for the rides, it's a very bad problem. Then it becomes not only issues with Genie + availability, it will be problems with people who purchased it getting their ride choices. If I knew that purchasing Genie + while available before it sells out it will assure me getting any ride I want when I'm eligible to select it (even if it's more then 2 hours after) it would be only a worry at midnight and not 7 am.

 

[Fido Chuckwagon]

Yet it would still be better for capacity as it would exclude more people than the 20 dollar thing they are selling, I don't see your point.

No, selling essentially unlimited anytime fastpasses (even if you limit it to once per ride) would absolutely destroy their capacity in a way that a limited reservation system (genie+) does not. People have been proposing an express pass type system for disney for years and there is a reason they haven’t done it.

 

[zakattack99]

It's a tricky situation. It's one thing when something is free and then there's no availability. You kind of shrug and move on. But when you pay for something and then there's no availability...different story. There are a ton of ideas. Some are simple, some require significant software engineering work. But one thing is certain, added nuances/complexity is definitely not desired here.

The problem is Disney is already too complicated. Like I get anxiety when someone I know is going and I know they are rookies or noobs. Like I just want to be able to say it’s a lot pace yourself know your not going to see everything BUT your going to have a great time! Instead it’s Your trip is in three days? Did you make ADRs? you did not? oh you should look at that… your excited to ride GoG, let me give you some tips on how to get on at 7AM to try and ride that. No you can’t just show up early you need to do this hole thing with the phone. Disney Genie? Hold on this guy has a great 3 part YouTube series for you to watch while I break out the pro cons list chart to see if the price is worth it! No it’s not fast pass and yes they charge for it now. Like it’s too much.

 

[GhostHost1000]

The problem is Disney is already too complicated. Like I get anxiety when someone I know is going and I know they are rookies or noobs. Like I just want to be able to say it’s a lot pace yourself know your not going to see everything BUT your going to have a great time! Instead it’s Your trip is in three days? Did you make ADRs? you did not? oh you should look at that… your excited to ride GoG, let me give you some tips on how to get on at 7AM to try and ride that. No you can’t just show up early you need to do this hole thing with the phone. Disney Genie? Hold on this guy has a great 3 part YouTube series for you to watch while I break out the pro cons list chart to see if the price is worth it! No it’s not fast pass and yes they charge for it now. Like it’s too much.

Exactly right. Being able to enjoy Disney isn’t as easy as it used to be and especially for first time guests who some save up for years for that one big family trip only to find out it’s not fun with all the planning that is needed

 

[Animaniac93-98]

They will never admit they made a mistake - but they could just as easily bring back a number of elements of fast pass plus and call it new.

Genie++

 

[kalel8145]

The only logical progression with that, is make everything an ILL. (varying prices per ride)
Welcome back Ticket books....

Ticket books are the best idea. Back to the old days. Oh you can't afford E Ticket? Go ride If You Had Wings all day.

 

[Patcheslee]

Still the same estimates of what a person can do in a day at a Disney park. Is 5 attractions, 2 shows even possible now?

 

[crazy4disney]

Chapejk has publicly stated we are not profitable. There’s a reason they’re not selling AP’s right now. We’re just there in case of an emergency recession when they need our money to stay afloat.

Imo he was solely referencing Fla residents who are not booking extended hotel stays and spending money in the parks. My mom is a dual resident hence the AP but we always get 2 rooms and stay anywhere from 8-10 nights…. So i dont get why they refuse to allow someone with resort reservations to book prior even with an AP.

 

[JoeCamel]

go to Universal

4 yo? too soon

 

[RSoxNo1]

That means they couldn’t fix the AP issue. It might also mean less sales at certain parks. Throwing it out there, this may be a step in the right direction. Not how I thought they’d get there but still.

 

[RSoxNo1]

To be honest the biggest gripes I've heard is from lazy people who can't be bothered to plan ahead and spend 2 minutes of their time booking 3 x FP+ 30 days before their trip....

And then now these same people don't have too, they are now moaning that they don't want to have to get up at 7am...because, as we found out before with FP+, they don't want to put any effort in.

There is NOTHING better about G+ then FP+...its a huge backwards step as almost everything is with Disney since the pandemic began.

Don’t confuse laziness with a desire to not be locked into a certain time for a certain ride 2 months out. Not everyone is super Type A.

 

[RSoxNo1]

I still am perplexed how inventory for a paid FP service is worse than when it was free - even as an AP arriving on a random day. I just don't get it.

The percentage of a ride’s capacity available for Fastpass+ was higher than the percentage of a ride’s capacity for Genie+.

Also, there has been more attraction downtime since the inception of Genie+ relative to attraction downtime for Fastpass+.

 

[Jeff4272]

I'm not sure I want to go back to the preplanning like FP+ for my times months in advance.

I would like to pick what ILL I want each day to purchase in advance and what rides/attractions I must/want to LL in advance... the times I'd let Genie figure that out for me each day.

That’s the worst part of genie.

 

[RSoxNo1]

Exactly, I hate how their model seems to be "let's take away longer high capacity attractions and replace them with low capacity quick attractions but double attendance."

For example just looking at FutureWorld East at Epcot:
- Horizons (hourly capacity 2800; 14.5 minutes); replaced by Mission Space (1600/hour; 6 minutes)
- Universe of Energy (2432/hour; 45 minutes); replaced by GoG (similar theoretical capacity of about 2500/hour; 3 minutes)
- World of Motion (3240/hour; 14.5 minutes); replaced by Test Track (1200/hour; 5 minutes)
- Body Wars (estimating 1800/hour based on Star Tours numbers; 7 minutes); replaced by VACANT
- Cranium Command (guessing 600, based on 200 person theater and 17 minute show); replaced by VACANT
- Sum of all Thrills (200/hour); BULLDOZED

They've solved the problem of short wait times for lengthy attractions, by shutting down large areas for years and replacing them with long wait times for shorter attractions.

Don't get me wrong, I like many of the new attractions, they would have helped alleviate the rapidly increasing demand if they were ADDITIONS, but as replacements, they've only increased the problem.

Body wars only had 4 cabins to star tours’ 6

 

[Roy G. Dis]

So anyway, if you were already planning on using Genie+ on a trip later this year seems like you best go ahead and buy it now with your tickets, huh?