Lightning Lane at Walt Disney World

[bhg469]

Im a local who has done multiple visits as a non-DAS user, and many with an out-of-state AP holder who IS a DAS user.

I can say from first hand experience that the two cannot be compared, and yes, the DAS is a massive benefit. Once they monetized FP (via genie+), that really pushed it over the edge. I can’t afford $60 per visit for my family every single day to MAYBE get 2-3 lightning lanes (yeah, sorry, I’m one of those cheap locals Disney can’t wait to be rid of). So I don’t buy it and we’ll pretty much never see the inside of a lightning lane again when it’s just us. But when my friend comes down with her DAS, we do 2-4x the number of rides with her pass, and we do it without spending extra money. More rides AND free? Yes, huge benefit.

I'm a local now too... Got our passes in September and you're spot on.

 

[crazy4disney]

I'm a local now too... Got our passes in September and you're spot on.

Im not denying DAS helps..... my argument was the word Massive which is debatable but more the fact that My opinion doesnt hold much water anymore regarding my love & comments of FP because of the fact i have DAS as well.... FYI i didnt always have DAS when FP was around either way yes it helps but when FP+ was around i was able to do just fine and my trips would have not been drastically worse w/o DAS.

 

[Disstevefan1]

Again this makes no sense...how can people find FP+ too difficult and hard to get the hang of, yet are fine with a far far far more complex system with Genie..Genie+...Paid LL+...different times for resort and non resort etc etc etc.

FP+ was way way easier to use than G+

You are free to focus on which system was better.
Horizons was one of my favorite attractions but its long gone.

My point was Disney is going to do what Disney is going to do, we must just deal with it. Nothing we say here will make any difference.

And Disney will change this system at a drop of a hat too. They have learned they can instantly change stuff, it does not matter, folks will still mob the parks anyway.

 

[bhg469]

Im not denying DAS helps..... my argument was the word Massive which is debatable but more the fact that My opinion doesnt hold much water anymore regarding my love & comments of FP because of the fact i have DAS as well.... FYI i didnt always have DAS when FP was around either way yes it helps but when FP+ was around i was able to do just fine and my trips would have not been drastically worse w/o DAS.

I don't disagree that you probably could have had a comparable trip when FP+ was around. Now however? The system is definitely working against most guests, especially locals.. I don't know if its staffing or what but we find ourselves making a trip to do 2 rides at most.. We are just up Osceola a little bit so we can make multiple trips but we simply cannot afford to add lightning lane to our visits when we already spent so much on annual passes.

 

[Disstevefan1]

Not trying to defend the horrible Park Pass system but, this isn't true, right? You can look at the Park Pass availability calendar anytime. So you could look at your dates before committing to buying tickets.

Yes, you can look at the calendar. THEN you purchase a ticket. THEN you go back to (try) to make a park pass reservation for the park you want to go to.

This is counter intuitive to me at least.

I am sure it has happened where folks look at the calendar, then purchase a ticket, then go back to the calendar and the park they wanted to visit is full.

If I were to design the system, at the time of purchase, just before you click the complete purchase, you select the park you want to go to; if multi day, you must select each day.

If the purchase does not go through, the park pass reservations are voided.

In the end, it doesn't matter, Disney is gonna do what Disney is going to do.

 

[Kingoglow]

I had to explain to a friend (first time visitor to WDW) about park pass reservations and how you had to buy the ticket first and hope there is a reservation available for the park you want to go to.

I relate it to airline tickets. I have days that I want to travel, then I start shopping around different airline sites, looking at prices and flight times, in order to narrow in on the exact depart/return days, flight times and connections. Then I verify with my spouse that the days will work for all of us. Then I go back and buy the tickets.

Park passes is easier than that. Genie+ isn't though.

 

[Kingoglow]

And when you go to buy tickets, you are explicitly and clearly told to check park pass availability before purchasing:

Yes, yes... and we all read the T's & C's before hitting accept. Of course we do....
You can't believe that first time guests are clicking through and reading what all that is saying. I think most of us can speak from experience that navigating through that menu is a confusing user experience.

 

[Jrb1979]

Spreadsheet planning?

It took about 2 minutes to book 3 FP+ 4 weeks before your day...end of, nothing more to do. I just don't get how people are saying it was so time consuming or took more planning...it nonsense.

For my family it's not the way we tour parks. It wasn't just FP+ on its own, it was also pre-planning your meals and no adding reserving your park. Too much planning for how we tour parks. I know Universal isn't everyone's cup of tea but you have to admit it's much more laid back to visit then Disney is.

I also said Genie+ is garbage too. All it did was move FP+ from pre-planning to day of planning. I have always loved Express pass. Just about every other park uses that same system. No planning when you ride things.

 

[Disstevefan1]

I relate it to airline tickets. I have days that I want to travel, then I start shopping around different airline sites, looking at prices and flight times, in order to narrow in on the exact depart/return days, flight times and connections. Then I verify with my spouse that the days will work for all of us. Then I go back and buy the tickets.

Park passes is easier than that. Genie+ isn't though.

I am sure it happed for some folks, after discussing with their spouse then they go back into the system to buy the tickets, the seats are gone..

 

[Darstarr]

I am sure it happed for some folks, after discussing with their spouse then they go back into the system to buy the tickets, the seats are gone..

Been there…

 

[Patcheslee]

Spreadsheet planning?

It took about 2 minutes to book 3 FP+ 4 weeks before your day...end of, nothing more to do. I just don't get how people are saying it was so time consuming or took more planning...it nonsense.

I'll say for us it was a combination of syncing TS, FP+ we wanted to the same park, and avoiding early entry parks. Hard to get TS or FP+ meant about an hour of playing "which park" to increase the odds of getting the TS and FP+. All that was done prior to 180 days. Book TS, then adjust FP+ general plan so we weren't zig zagging in the park. But I'm a person that enjoys the planning. People who didn't want to plan could have a TA do it for them.

 

[dmw]

I relate it to airline tickets. I have days that I want to travel, then I start shopping around different airline sites, looking at prices and flight times, in order to narrow in on the exact depart/return days, flight times and connections. Then I verify with my spouse that the days will work for all of us. Then I go back and buy the tickets.

Park passes is easier than that. Genie+ isn't though.

I relate it to buying tickets to an MLB game, and buying parking tickets. This is done on the Ticketmaster site, linked from MLB.com. You first select the game tickets and seats. Next screen is an option to purchase parking ticket. If no parking is available, you have the option to continue with tickets only, or cancel altogether. Disney could modify their system to something like this, especially for guests booking rooms and tickets together.

Or, make it even simpler, like Dollywood did last year when they required park passes. Anyone staying on site automatically gets park passes for the length of stay. For WDW, just make it a generic park pass for any of the parks. I'm sure Disney has stats on what percentage of on-site guests visit each park on a given day and can easily use that for staffing plans.

 

[bhg469]

I relate it to buying tickets to an MLB game, and buying parking tickets. This is done on the Ticketmaster site, linked from MLB.com. You first select the game tickets and seats. Next screen is an option to purchase parking ticket. If no parking is available, you have the option to continue with tickets only, or cancel altogether. Disney could modify their system to something like this, especially for guests booking rooms and tickets together.

Or, make it even simpler, like Dollywood did last year when they required park passes. Anyone staying on site automatically gets park passes for the length of stay. For WDW, just make it a generic park pass for any of the parks. I'm sure Disney has stats on what percentage of on-site guests visit each park on a given day and can easily use that for staffing plans.

I relate it to buying tickets to an MLB game, and buying parking tickets. This is done on the Ticketmaster site, linked from MLB.com. You first select the game tickets and seats. Next screen is an option to purchase parking ticket. If no parking is available, you have the option to continue with tickets only, or cancel altogether. Disney could modify their system to something like this, especially for guests booking rooms and tickets together.

Or, make it even simpler, like Dollywood did last year when they required park passes. Anyone staying on site automatically gets park passes for the length of stay. For WDW, just make it a generic park pass for any of the parks. I'm sure Disney has stats on what percentage of on-site guests visit each park on a given day and can easily use that for staffing plans.

Funny you should mention MLB. That is actually tickets.com and they used to handle back end ticket infrastructure for Disney. Disney has definitely made their process unnecessarily complicated.

 

[Chi84]

I am sure it has happened where folks look at the calendar, then purchase a ticket, then go back to the calendar and the park they wanted to visit is full.

Have there been any reports of this happening?

 

[Touchdown]

FP+ only worked for us because we knew how to use it G+ has leveled the playing field so that all who are willing to pay to play are equal.

 

[Jrb1979]

FP+ only worked for us because we knew how to use it G+ has leveled the playing field so that all who are willing to pay to play are equal.

It still doesn't work as good as Fastlane does at Cedar Fair parks.

 

[Disstevefan1]

Have there been any reports of this happening?

I have no data, but I am guessing, in a peak time, they will take your money for the ticket, but there are no park pass reservations for MK for example?

 

[Kingoglow]

FP+ only worked for us because we knew how to use it G+ has leveled the playing field so that all who are willing to pay to play are equal.

If Disney's announcement is correct, that most guests are getting 2-3 LL's out of Genie+, then no, it has not leveled the playing field. It is just charging guests for what they would have gotten for free under FP+. Meanwhile, users like us know how best to get more for our money, even using Genie+.

 

[Chi84]

I have no data, but I am guessing, in a peak time, they will take your money for the ticket, but there are no park pass reservations for MK for example?

This is something I wouldn't worry about until there is some indication from a credible source that it has actually happened.

 

[crazy4disney]

FP+ only worked for us because we knew how to use it G+ has leveled the playing field so that all who are willing to pay to play are equal.

There was absolutely NO reason in 2019/2020 before Covid that the majority of guests would not know how to use it other than pure laziness or the mentality that everything should be served on a silver platter for them. The system was not difficult. They were willing to help you when your window opened up 60 days prior and while in the park you literally opened an app and just had to choose a ride. If that was too difficult Genie+ is going to be like taking the Bar and CPA exam in one when you think you have 1 time slot and thenend up with another for starters.