Lightning Lane at Walt Disney World

[Demarke]

It would be interesting to see how much guest attendance has increased vs new attractions and shows (subtracting any they have closed and not counting any they’ve just redone/replaced in the same spot)

and oh yeah park hour decreases as well. I remember when MK was open well into the AM hours at times

I’m sure it would be very interesting, particularly if you don’t just go by ride count, but by total capacity of riders per hour per park (since so many of the things ended up with 1000+ less capacity/hour than the rides they replaced), plus factor the reduction in ride lengths that keeps people in the pathways and queues rather than in the buildings longer (many replacements being 25% or less in the length than their predecessors and even considering things like figment which closed its second story and took a substantial amount of track out to REDUCE the length of its existing ride and make it worse for some reason)

 

[Ldno]

In the case of DLR vs. WDW, DLR has roughly the same number of attractions in two parks that WDW has spread across four.

When you're spending a day in a park, that leaves a LOT more options open to DLR guests than those at WDW... and that's not even considering how many more guests WDW sees in a day vs DLR.

It's more people spread across more space with actually far less to do per park.

That's the problem in a nutshell - WDW is dramatically under-built when it comes to desirable capacity vs. guest count and their emphasis on replacing rather than expanding when they have room to do both in all parks* only makes things worse when most replacements have shorter ride-times than what they were replacing.


*The only one where that is a bit tricky is Hollywood Studios - you know, the one where they most recently built an expansive land with only two attractions - and even there, they have options.

Maxpass is similar to how Fastpass 1.0 was in WDW, in turn it was possible to ride all rides better than FP+, it worked, too good I think.

Going from FP 1.0 to Maxpass was glorious IMHO, I could stack passes and ride other rides in between but for sure this is why I love DLR, all those rides in a short amount of space versus WDW .

I don’t know, I get more bang for my buck that way, this is was I low key hated FP+

 

[DCBaker]

"While the location has not reopened since the COVID-19 closures, the standby sign remains in place and it’s possible that the Lightning Lane sign is being updated to match the look of the standby sign before the location reopens."

 

[GhostHost1000]

Interesting. Removing LL from meet and greets now

 

[DCBaker]

Interesting. Removing LL from meet and greets now

This one hasn't even reopened yet. They did remove one Character Meet and Greet from Genie+ in DHS a couple weeks ago.

 

[GhostHost1000]

Disney can’t build anything new within 3 years to help capacity. Meanwhile another theme park down the road is building a completely new gate in that time.

that’ll help Disney crowds if they keep this track record up

 

[SpectroMagician]

I am astonished Disney still has this terrible system of forcing guests to get up at 7am in place.

 

[GhostHost1000]

I am astonished Disney still has this terrible system of forcing guests to get up at 7am in place.

Just another sign of how little they think of the guests and how those making the decisions never have or will have to use it

 

[Vacationeer]

I noticed that leading up to Halloween there are 5 MNSSHP that week. Only 2 days with regular hours and fireworks. How is Genie going to work with that? Everybody packing in Wed and Sat and wanting Genie+ just those 2 days with hours past 6pm. I can smell the disappointment already.

 

[wdwmagic]

I noticed that leading up to Halloween there are 5 MNSSHP that week. Only 2 days with regular hours and fireworks. How is Genie going to work with that? Everybody packing in Wed and Sat and wanting Genie+ just those 2 days with hours past 6pm. I can smell the disappointment already.

Yep it is going to be a problem, but then expectations set by Disney are for Genie+ buyers to get 2 - 3 rides using the system - the bar is pretty low.

 

[MrPromey]

Yep it is going to be a problem, but then expectations set by Disney are for Genie+ buyers to get 2 - 3 rides using the system - the bar is pretty low.

So equal to or less than the amount free* FP+ guaranteed.

I was not a fan of FP+ but they actually managed to make this worse in pretty much every conceivable way and are charging money for it.


*included with admission - I think everything "free" with Disney needs an asterisk

 

[WDW Pro]

Equal to or less than free* FP+.

I was not a fan of FP+ but they actually managed to make this worse in pretty much every conceivable way and are charging money for it.


*included with admission - I think everything "free" with Disney needs an asterisk

And now the whole thing is built upon the naivete of wealthy international guests flooding WDW to make sure they get their child the Disney vacation they missed during the pandemic. Once that influx passes, this thing will drive negative perception way up.

 

[curry767]

So now that there is going to be significantly more people logging and purchasing Genie+ between 630 and 700, I wonder if the server will get an upgrade to handle the extra traffic?

I’d love to see the historical data of when Genie+ for each day is bought, i.e. how many buy it before the day and a breakdown of purchase hours on the day.

 

[Ldno]

And now the whole thing is built upon the naivete of wealthy international guests flooding WDW to make sure they get their child the Disney vacation they missed during the pandemic. Once that influx passes, this thing will drive negative perception way up.

especially Guests who can barely use international cellphones, stateside

 

[DisneyDreamer08]

So now that there is going to be significantly more people logging and purchasing Genie+ between 630 and 700, I wonder if the server will get an upgrade to handle the extra traffic?

I’d love to see the historical data of when Genie+ for each day is bought, i.e. how many buy it before the day and a breakdown of purchase hours on the day.

This was the biggest problem I had when I used it a few months ago. The amount of glitching that happened at 7am. One day it took me a full 30 minutes to get an ILL for FoP. I would click all the way through and once it got to the page where you pay, it would spin and spin and eventually say “your booking has been released, please try again”. I had a similar experience the day I booked RotR. Luckily that day, it only took 20 minutes instead of 30. I was solo but if I was there with my kids, trying to get everyone ready for rope drop, there’s no way I could have spent that much time messing with the system.

 

[GhostHost1000]

So now that there is going to be significantly more people logging and purchasing Genie+ between 630 and 700, I wonder if the server will get an upgrade to handle the extra traffic?

I’d love to see the historical data of when Genie+ for each day is bought, i.e. how many buy it before the day and a breakdown of purchase hours on the day.

oh yeah... like Disney knows how to architect any IT related website or app. It should be absolutely embarrassing a company of their size and the lack of knowledge and planning when it comes to this. I work in IT for a large fortune 500 company... it really isn't that difficult to scale when needed these days

 

[mattpeto]

My Genie+ (with park hopping) experience earlier this week:

Monday:

Disney Hollywood Studios (from 1-5 pm)
Millennium Falcon: Smuggler’s Run
Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railroad (LL2)
Slinky Dog Dash (LL1)
Toy Story Mania (LL3)
Rock n’ Rollercoaster (LL4)
Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance (ILL)

Epcot: (6 pm-11 pm)
Soarin’
Living with the Land
Frozen Ever After (LL5)
Spaceship Earth (extended evening hours)
Test Track (single rider and eeh)
Grand Fiesta Tour (eeh)
Remy’s Ratatouille’s Adventure (eeh)

Tuesday:

Magic Kingdom (8:30-3 pm)

Space Mountain
Splash Mountain
Big Thunder Mountain (LL1)
House of Presidents
Mickey Philharmagic (cancelled)
Haunted Mansion (LL2)
PeopleMover
Barnstormer
Seven Dwarfs Mine Train (ILL1)
Mickey Philharmagic
Splash Mountain (was Pirates was down- LL3)

Animal Kingdom (3:30-7)

Kilimanjaro Safaris (LL5)
Expedition Everest (LL6)
Kali River Rapids
Avatar: Flight of Passage (ILL2)
Navi River Journey (LL4)

Genie+ has flaws (costs, getting up at 7 am) but the negative issues that has plagued most has not been my experience through two trips. (Dec 2021-4 days no PH and May 2022-2 days of PH).

I have waited in a long lines only twice (60 mins) for both trips. (TOT-Dec, MFSR-May)

I’ll add the caveat that the crowds were 6ish-7ish from Touring Plans for both trips.

 

[Waters Back Side]

My Genie+ (with park hopping) experience earlier this week:

Monday:

Disney Hollywood Studios (from 1-5 pm)
Millennium Falcon: Smuggler’s Run
Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railroad (LL2)
Slinky Dog Dash (LL1)
Toy Story Mania (LL3)
Rock n’ Rollercoaster (LL4)
Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance (ILL)

Epcot: (6 pm-11 pm)
Soarin’
Living with the Land
Frozen Ever After (LL5)
Spaceship Earth (extended evening hours)
Test Track (single rider and eeh)
Grand Fiesta Tour (eeh)
Remy’s Ratatouille’s Adventure (eeh)

Tuesday:

Magic Kingdom (8:30-3 pm)

Space Mountain
Splash Mountain
Big Thunder Mountain (LL1)
House of Presidents
Mickey Philharmagic (cancelled)
Haunted Mansion (LL2)
PeopleMover
Barnstormer
Seven Dwarfs Mine Train (ILL1)
Mickey Philharmagic
Splash Mountain (was Pirates was down- LL3)

Animal Kingdom (3:30-7)

Kilimanjaro Safaris (LL5)
Expedition Everest (LL6)
Kali River Rapids
Avatar: Flight of Passage (ILL2)
Navi River Journey (LL4)

Genie+ has flaws (costs, getting up at 7 am) but the negative issues that has plagued most has not been my experience through two trips. (Dec 2021-4 days no PH and May 2022-2 days of PH).

I have waited in a long lines only twice (60 mins) for both trips. (TOT-Dec, MFSR-May)

I’ll add the caveat that the crowds were 6ish-7ish from Touring Plans for both trips.

Despite the recent change which I hate also, my experience with Genie + was also a good one. But that is because I became familiar with it from this forum and other social media sites on how to use it. I was able to do things I had never ever once been able to do in other trips, like go on multiple rides that were considered tier 1 FP + rides each day. I was never in a situation where a ride was unavailable since I prioritized. But for someone who goes to WDW with no familiarity and trying to wing it with Genie + without knowing the rules etc., the experience would not be a good one.

The biggest issues in my opinion are not being able to switch, modify or change rides without cancelling one and hoping the one you want is still available. Being able to choose a time would be better also. I would still prefer FP + because of the 3 rides going in, the fact it's free and the option existed to grab one at a time after that.

 

[floydbeatle]

My Genie+ (with park hopping) experience earlier this week:

Thanks for the info. I am hoping for a similar experience later next month with Genie+ although without any ILL purchases so I will have to account for that and any effects GOTG and Rat going to Genie+ have on EPCOT.

 

[mattpeto]

Thanks for the info. I am hoping for a similar experience later next month with Genie+ although without any ILL purchases so I will have to account for that and any effects GOTG and Rat going to Genie+ have on EPCOT.

The key is you have to scout hard. Check return time one week prior and then the few days prior up until your visit. If you have PH, the value for Genie+ is to open with another park and roll and then “stack” afternoon/evening at AK. For instance, Navi was generally a +4 hours so I knew I had to plan to grab that around 1-2 pm for it work for us.

Stacking at DHS is always good.

I think efficient Genie+/ILL usage eliminates the need to rope drop. Now if they just figure out how I can start sleeping in would be nice.