Lightning Lane at Walt Disney World

[Jeff4272]

A lot of people write things on here that are not realistic......Lets look at the facts that I think we can almost all agree on

- Paid line skip is here to stay......they will never go back to stand by only or free FP

- Park Pass is here to stay........you have to make Park Pass Reservations in advance so you know what park you are in MONTHS in advance

- you have to make dining reservations months in advance (meaning if you want to eat anything other than crap food)

- Why wouldn't you want to make your ride reservations in advance? Would you rather leave it to chance the morning of? This makes ZERO sense to me......Can anyone explain to me the reasoning why they wouldn't WANT to make thier ride reservations in advance knowing all of these other factors?

You can avoid overlapping w dining and park hopping reservations, you can avoid zig zagging the park....you can assure you're getting to ride what you want............you don't have to wake up EVERY day before 7am


SOMEONE PLEASE TELL ME WHAT THE DRAWBACK IS TO THIS?

 

[Jrb1979]

If i cannot pre book, i wouldnt go......and im their target audience.....stay in deluxe hotels and eat every meal there.....

Their audience IS the hotel guest.....

It will bite them in the butt, its def coming

I do get the resort guest is important. Why can't there be a balance between regular guests and the resort guest?

I think that they are planning another major revamp of the system and they are trying to limit the damage in-between the two systems transition. But first they have to figure out how to suck as much money from their customers as they can without losing any of the revenue they have come to expect and love from this system.

It's not so much trying to suck as much money out of guests but more that they have pre sold Genie+ til the end of the year. They don't want to refund that many people. From what's been said major changes are coming. I just whatever they release it has a middle ground. So those that want to fill out spreadsheets can be happy and those that want to go with the flow will be happy too.

 

[Jrb1979]

A lot of people write things on here that are not realistic......Lets look at the facts that I think we can almost all agree on

- Paid line skip is here to stay......they will never go back to stand by only or free FP

- Park Pass is here to stay........you have to make Park Pass Reservations in advance so you know what park you are in MONTHS in advance

- you have to make dining reservations in advance (meaning if you want to eat anything other than crap food)

- Why wouldn't you want to make your ride reservations in advance? Would you rather leave it to chance the morning of? This makes ZERO sense to me......Can anyone explain to me the reasoning why they wouldn't WANT to make thier ride reservations in advance knowing all of these other factors?

You can avoid overlapping w dining and park hopping reservations, you can avoid zig zagging the park....you can assure you're getting to ride what you want............you don't have to wake up EVERY day before 7am


SOMEONE PLEASE TELL ME WHAT THE DRAWBACK IS TO THIS?

THE DRAWBACK IS MY FAMILY HATES HATES HATES ALL PLANNING REQUIRED TO VISIT A THEME PARK.

Personally I wish they went to Universal route. Get rid of return times and cap sales.

 

[Jeff4272]

THE DRAWBACK IS MY FAMILY HATES HATES HATES ALL PLANNING REQUIRED TO VISIT A THEME PARK.

Personally I wish they went to Universal route. Get rid of return times and cap sales.

OMG....no sht sherlock.......I think we all do.........Did you not read the post?

The first sentience of my post was that there are some things they will not change no matter what..........so assuming those factors, then what?

Paid line skipping, park pass reservations and dining reservations are here to stay forever


so why not book rides in advance if you already have to do the other things that arent going anywhere


What is the drawback?

 

[TheMaxRebo]

A lot of people write things on here that are not realistic......Lets look at the facts that I think we can almost all agree on

- Paid line skip is here to stay......they will never go back to stand by only or free FP

- Park Pass is here to stay........you have to make Park Pass Reservations in advance so you know what park you are in MONTHS in advance

- you have to make dining reservations months in advance (meaning if you want to eat anything other than crap food)

- Why wouldn't you want to make your ride reservations in advance? Would you rather leave it to chance the morning of? This makes ZERO sense to me......Can anyone explain to me the reasoning why they wouldn't WANT to make thier ride reservations in advance knowing all of these other factors?

You can avoid overlapping w dining and park hopping reservations, you can avoid zig zagging the park....you can assure you're getting to ride what you want............you don't have to wake up EVERY day before 7am


SOMEONE PLEASE TELL ME WHAT THE DRAWBACK IS TO THIS?

I know lots of people who never did any of that planning. They would not decide on anything until maybe the day before and think about what Park to do, maybe check where to eat, possible book a FP+ then, etc

So the preplanning element was a negative to people. The G+ day of would work if only 20% of people were getting it but way more people are buying it than they expected and it is "breaking" the system

 

[Jeff4272]

I know lots of people who never did any of that planning. They would not decide on anything until maybe the day before and think about what Park to do, maybe check where to eat, possible book a FP+ then, etc

So the preplanning element was a negative to people. The G+ day of would work if only 20% of people were getting it but way more people are buying it than they expected and it is "breaking" the system

BUT, you didnt read the post.......you HAVE to plan now and its not going anywhere

 

[Jeff4272]

THE DRAWBACK IS MY FAMILY HATES HATES HATES ALL PLANNING REQUIRED TO VISIT A THEME PARK.

Personally I wish they went to Universal route. Get rid of return times and cap sales.

and fwiw, I 1,000,000% wish they went to Express Pass too..........I think it could work in WDW

 

[Jeff4272]

OMG....no sht sherlock.......I think we all do.........Did you not read the post?

The first sentience of my post was that there are some things they will not change no matter what..........so assuming those factors, then what?

Paid line skipping, park pass reservations and dining reservations are here to stay forever


so why not book rides in advance if you already have to do the other things that arent going anywhere


What is the drawback?

I will buy anyone a dole whip if they give me one valid reason to not WANT pre booking rides

 

[GhostHost1000]

A lot of people write things on here that are not realistic......Lets look at the facts that I think we can almost all agree on

- Paid line skip is here to stay......they will never go back to stand by only or free FP

- Park Pass is here to stay........you have to make Park Pass Reservations in advance so you know what park you are in MONTHS in advance

- you have to make dining reservations months in advance (meaning if you want to eat anything other than crap food)

- Why wouldn't you want to make your ride reservations in advance? Would you rather leave it to chance the morning of? This makes ZERO sense to me......Can anyone explain to me the reasoning why they wouldn't WANT to make thier ride reservations in advance knowing all of these other factors?

You can avoid overlapping w dining and park hopping reservations, you can avoid zig zagging the park....you can assure you're getting to ride what you want............you don't have to wake up EVERY day before 7am


SOMEONE PLEASE TELL ME WHAT THE DRAWBACK IS TO THIS?

Completely agree. I hear it was because some people didn’t like the preplanning part but then they add park reservations so it’s just trading one for another

I have SO MUCH to say about my 11 day experience with genie+ when I get time. It’s bad. Really really bad. It was literally the most stressful and frustrating Disney vacation I’ve ever been on.

Usually when I get back I’m ready to start planning the next trip but I’m not this time. I don’t have that same feeling

 

[bhg469]

A lot of people write things on here that are not realistic......Lets look at the facts that I think we can almost all agree on

- Paid line skip is here to stay......they will never go back to stand by only or free FP

- Park Pass is here to stay........you have to make Park Pass Reservations in advance so you know what park you are in MONTHS in advance

- you have to make dining reservations months in advance (meaning if you want to eat anything other than crap food)

- Why wouldn't you want to make your ride reservations in advance? Would you rather leave it to chance the morning of? This makes ZERO sense to me......Can anyone explain to me the reasoning why they wouldn't WANT to make thier ride reservations in advance knowing all of these other factors?

You can avoid overlapping w dining and park hopping reservations, you can avoid zig zagging the park....you can assure you're getting to ride what you want............you don't have to wake up EVERY day before 7am


SOMEONE PLEASE TELL ME WHAT THE DRAWBACK IS TO THIS?

You stared with facts then you went off.. I am a local now but every time I have planned a trip, I had a fantastic time just winging it. The drawback is the fact you can't show up and have a good time when that was exactly what you could do in the past. Pre booking rides is great in theory but when you have to tie in park reservations and dining reservations it begins to lock you in to a trip that feels like work.. Maybe you like having a rigid schedule but when I'm on vacation I like to relax.

 

[Chi84]

Completely agree. I hear it was because some people didn’t like the preplanning part but then they add park reservations so it’s just trading one for another

I have SO MUCH to say about my 11 day experience with genie+ when I get time. It’s bad. Really really bad. It was literally the most stressful and frustrating Disney vacation I’ve ever been on.

Usually when I get back I’m ready to start planning the next trip but I’m not this time. I don’t have that same feeling

Same here with our late April WDW vacation. They sent me a survey afterward and I gave everything related to Genie+ the poorest rating possible - then explained why in detail when they asked for more information.

 

[G00fyDad]

You stared with facts then you went off.. I am a local now but every time I have planned a trip, I had a fantastic time just winging it. The drawback is the fact you can't show up and have a good time when that was exactly what you could do in the past. Pre booking rides is great in theory but when you have to tie in park reservations and dining reservations it begins to lock you in to a trip that feels like work.. Maybe you like having a rigid schedule but when I'm on vacation I like to relax.

I have no idea what he was talking about but I loved planning out my ADR's, (3) rides, and other stuff months in advance. Did that mean I was locked into the plan? No. Heck, most of the time those well laid plans were blown to h*** and back. And we still had fun and did everything we wanted. This new system is too restrictive but we will find a way to make it work and we will still have fun. No "rigid schedules" here.

 

[mmascari]

To the bolded - my guess is that things will trend in the exact opposite direction. The equal and opposing solution to no reservations is that everyone has a reservation for everything. And given trends - increased attendance, increased desire from Disney to be able to plan things out in terms of workforce / resources, increased desire from guests to lock in their rides and have low waits, increased use of technology for pre-orders - I think that is the more efficient if ever-so-slightly slightly dystopian future we are trending towards. In 30 years I think "AAR" might stand for "Advance Attraction Reservation" and you might just make them for most things.

That is a truly dystopian vacation. I'm one of those that disliked the 60 day planning. At least in the context of planning everything. For those that counter with "what about dining", how many ADR do you make for a trip? We're going for 6 nights and have just 2 dining reservations, plus 1 activity. That's 3 reservations across 6 days. Reserving 3 rides ahead of time per day would be 18 additional reservations. Making 21 instead of 3 defined tasks. To us, that starts to feel less like a vacation and more like executing a spreadsheet of tasks. If we had 6 ADR (or 12) and 18 rides, 24 to 30 hard defined tasks that we had to hit at specific times at specific parks all defined 2 months in advance it would drive us nuts. What if the weather changes, what if we want to hit the water park one day (with the right weather), what if want to go back to see something again, what if we just want to explore some, what if they change maintenance and close/open rides. That level of scheduling doesn't feel like a vacation.

I'm not suggesting that Genie+ works as is, but a change back to reserving everything months in advance isn't really better for lots of people. For those that like that, it clearly is better, there's no denying that.

Something in the middle that allows some pre planning, but doesn't lock up everything months in advance would be a nicer middle ground.

Likewise, for those that say they would never go if it was only standby. Making standby better should be a goal. All of the reservation/skip the line, whatever systems will never support everyone. There will always be stand by riders. Making the parks better for them too should be a goal.

In that same planning thought, they eliminated the ride reservation but added the park pass problem. They just traded one reservation for another. They've simultaneously made it worse for both people who like to plan and those that do not. For the planners, they still have to plan a park but cannot plan activities, clearly a disappointment. For the more flexible, they're still forced (perhaps even more) into planning. We have the park hopper too, but the dual requirements to tap in at the reserved park first and limit hopping to 2:00 create significant restrictions that cannot just be ignored.

 

[Jeff4272]

You stared with facts then you went off.. I am a local now but every time I have planned a trip, I had a fantastic time just winging it. The drawback is the fact you can't show up and have a good time when that was exactly what you could do in the past. Pre booking rides is great in theory but when you have to tie in park reservations and dining reservations it begins to lock you in to a trip that feels like work.. Maybe you like having a rigid schedule but when I'm on vacation I like to relax.

No....No I dont.......I dont want to have to do anything

But i have to because its going nowhere so if thats the case, might as well pre book rides too....get it?

 

[Chi84]

This new system is too restrictive but we will find a way to make it work and we will still have fun. No "rigid schedules" here.

Have you used the new system yet? Because you sound exactly like me before our April trip lol. In fairness, we did have a large group with some kids and older folks who were more dependent on having some sort of plan for things to work.

 

[Jeff4272]

I have no idea what he was talking about but I loved planning out my ADR's, (3) rides, and other stuff months in advance. Did that mean I was locked into the plan? No. Heck, most of the time those well laid plans were blown to h*** and back. And we still had fun and did everything we wanted. This new system is too restrictive but we will find a way to make it work and we will still have fun. No "rigid schedules" here.

It doesnt work.....you will HAVE to have a rigid schedule

you have to get up before 7am EVERY day....thats THE DEFINITION of a rigid schedule

 

[mmascari]

I will buy anyone a dole whip if they give me one valid reason to not WANT pre booking rides

Rain and lighting.
Unscheduled downtime and inability to adjust.
Someone feeling bad and wanting to take a day easy, make up for it the next day.

At least for definitions of "pre booking" that are large enough to be unable to consider those factors.

 

[mikejs78]

I do get the resort guest is important. Why can't there be a balance between regular guests and the resort guest?


It's not so much trying to suck as much money out of guests but more that they have pre sold Genie+ til the end of the year. They don't want to refund that many people. From what's been said major changes are coming. I just whatever they release it has a middle ground. So those that want to fill out spreadsheets can be happy and those that want to go with the flow will be happy too.

You stared with facts then you went off.. I am a local now but every time I have planned a trip, I had a fantastic time just winging it. The drawback is the fact you can't show up and have a good time when that was exactly what you could do in the past. Pre booking rides is great in theory but when you have to tie in park reservations and dining reservations it begins to lock you in to a trip that feels like work.. Maybe you like having a rigid schedule but when I'm on vacation I like to relax.

Sure, but Genie+ also locks you into a schedule. You have to book every day at 7, you have no ability to select your return time, so you're subject to the whim of whatever the system gives you.

Rain and lighting.
Unscheduled downtime and inability to adjust.
Someone feeling bad and wanting to take a day easy, make up for it the next day.

At least for definitions of "pre booking" that are large enough to be unable to consider those factors.

* Rain and Lightning/unscheduled donwtime - I think those are worse with Genie+ than FPP. At least with FPP you could try to update your return time. If you try to get SDD at 7 AM and get a 2 PM return time, and then there's rain and lightning then, how is that any better than if you selected that time 60 days in advance?

As far as someone feeling bad and wanting to take an easy day, park pass reservations kind of negate that one. If that was your only Epcot day or DHS day, you're SOL.

 

[Jeff4272]

Rain and lighting.
Unscheduled downtime and inability to adjust.
Someone feeling bad and wanting to take a day easy, make up for it the next day.

At least for definitions of "pre booking" that are large enough to be unable to consider those factors.

you cant predict rain and lightening day of either so = thats out

unscheduled downtime? this is the exact reason to WANT to pre book......the current system makes you take whatever they give you....there's no "unscheduled downtime" in that = that's out

you cant take an easy day by booking same day like it is now.....you have to be up before 7am and you cannot pick your park for the next day because park passes = thats out

 

[G00fyDad]

Have you used the new system yet? Because you sound exactly like me before our April trip lol. In fairness, we did have a large group with some kids and older folks who were more dependent on having some sort of plan for things to work.

Yeah, but we only have four adults going.