Lightning Lane at Walt Disney World

[HauntedPirate]

Any scheme that involves paying more for rides once inside the parks is DOA for me. I am not a cow to be milked by Bob and Josh for the benefit of their large institutional shareholders (once they find enough free cashflow to reinstate dividends, of course).

 

[Disney Glimpses]

An Express Pass-like model is just not possible. For one, Disney has something like 10x the number of deluxe rooms, possibly more now. Secondly, people seem to be more willing to part with money at Disney, so the price would need to be insanely high.

 

[bhg469]

An Express Pass-like model is just not possible. For one, Disney has something like 10x the number of deluxe rooms, possibly more now. Secondly, people seem to be more willing to part with money at Disney, so the price would need to be insanely high.

I think that's the only answer though. Other than building attractions... But that's just silly

 

[mmascari]

Right now we're in a bit of a caveat period since 4 ILLs are included in Genie+. But come a few months, 8 of the top attractions will be unreservable via Genie+.

What I was alluding to is that say your park is Magic Kingdom. $29 or $49 or whatever it is would basically guarantee you a spot on either 7DMT or TRON. And then for the rest of the day, you could basically get anything you wanted with little friction.

Basically turn the ILL's into Tier 1s and let guests have 1 per day.

Again, I think there are better ways, but I do think that would be significantly better than the current.

That's not enough. If you buy G+ and ILL today, that's ALREADY $30. Assuming the change to 2 ILL per park instead of 1, someone buying both ILL and G+ would be spending $45 today, with no changes at all.

Moving the ILL into the G+ price and setting it at that same level as buying individually isn't going to drive down the usage at all. Certainly not by two thirds. Any price designed to low the number sold is going to need to be much higher than this.

Charging $45 and only giving you 1 of today's ILL and excluding you from the other might drive down usage. Because it would be a bad product.

With a guarantee for a tier 1 ride, what's the total capacity of 7DMT for the entire park day?
How many guests enter the MK for the entire day?
What percentage of those will buy it?

The entire 7DMT capacity could be consumed by people buying this with a guarantee. No stand by at all. It would function more like an ILL only ride that comes with bonus perks of line skipping on other rides.
Combine the total capacity of 7DMT and TRON, then when they sell that many passes nobody else gets to ride either one, and whichever you get is the only one the buyer gets to ride. Might not get to pick either if one is more popular than the other.

If they want to do that, the could pick 5 ride bundles sold for $50 that include 1 top tier and 2 regular and 2 why bother rides. Multiple bundles that don't overlap per park. So you could buy the 7DMT bundle or the TRON bundle, or buy both for $100. Even that could backfire and still not be expensive enough. They could consume all ride sales for everything in the bundle completely. They would effectively turn the park ticket into an access ticket but not a ride ticket.

A skip the line per ride fee may be where they end up. If it's cheap enough, it'll force out all the stand by users. Just think of it as a $250 park ticket.

 

[crazy4disney]

I know people who upgraded from moderate to deluxe for just this reason.

im sure people do it but i can see spending thousands for literally 2 extra hours can be justified as a sole reason... but im not one to judge or question how other people spend their money God Bless... i just can see how it makes sense

 

[Ayla]

This is very true. Late April this year was not a particularly busy time, but park reservations for all but Epcot were sold out on the days we visited. So if the weather had been bad on our MK day, we would not have been able to adjust. ToT is one of our favorite rides and it was down much of our HS day, so we missed it. We would have tried again the next day, but couldn't because it was not our reserved park. People who haven't used it yet and think the new system gives them much more flexibility may not be taking the effect of park reservations into account.

Another negative aspect of the park reservation system is how they roll out availability in dribs and drabs a couple weeks before. If I'm looking at booking a Disney trip and I see the parks I want to go to don't have availability, oh well, we'll plan a trip somewhere else that we don't have to worry about that. Oh, but wait! Two weeks before you wanted to go, suddenly, availability has opened up! Do we cancel our already planned and most-likely non-refundable trip to wherever to go to Disney? I sure hope people aren't doing that.

 

[Jeff4272]

I know there have been a lot of negative reviews on G+ on this forum, and I definitely do not like what I have read about the system (have not visited since 2019). But, here's a positive review from a friend who was there last week:

"The Guardians of the Galaxy ride was awesome. We had no problem joining the virtual queue at 7:00 am on the day we were going to epcot. We had paid the $15 for the new Genie Plus option and it worked really well for our group. We were able to get passes for the Remy ride, Soarin, Test Track, Mission Space, and Spaceship Earth. We paid for the Lightning Lane pass for 7D at Magic Kingdom ($12/person) and had the Genie plus option also. Throughout the day, we were able to get 6 genie passes (or whatever you call them!)"

Just another data point for consideration in the discussion...

I just dont think getting all those rides is even close to possible

Remy, test track and Frozen are gone before you can make your second selection most of the time, no way on your third


HS is even worse........Today for eg.......every ride other than Star Tours and TSMM has been gone for over an hour

 

[crazy4disney]

We are going for a short trip in December and one reason we booked deluxe (normally we do Moderate or off site) is we will be there through Tuesday so would have extra hours at Epcot on Monday (assuming the dates stay)

Not the only reason but it definitely factored in and impacted that we are doing Fri to Tuesday instead of Thurs to Monday

Fair ... factoring it in i can see but to me still not something to justify it but again everyone is different

 

[Ayla]

I did read the post, you do not *have* to plan. If going a busy time you really should get park reservations but that is about it.

I had two groups of friends who recently went - with only a couple of months booking out, and beyond park reservations (which for one they only set up a couple of weeks ahead of time) they didn't plan anything - no dining, etc. One used G+ on a few days the others didn't use it at all. They both had a great time

And there is a big difference with doing a park reservation and booking dining and specific attractions months in advance

I want to clarify the bolded. You HAVE to get a park reservation. You aren't let into any park without one.

 

[crazy4disney]

Right now we're in a bit of a caveat period since 4 ILLs are included in Genie+. But come a few months, 8 of the top attractions will be unreservable via Genie+.

What I was alluding to is that say your park is Magic Kingdom. $29 or $49 or whatever it is would basically guarantee you a spot on either 7DMT or TRON. And then for the rest of the day, you could basically get anything you wanted with little friction.

Basically turn the ILL's into Tier 1s and let guests have 1 per day.

Again, I think there are better ways, but I do think that would be significantly better than the current.

do you know from an insiders fact come August 7th they will go back to 2 paid per park? im going 8/26th and was wondering if they were gonna continue with only or go back to the 2...

 

[Disney Glimpses]

do you know from an insiders fact come August 7th they will go back to 2 paid per park? im going 8/26th and was wondering if they were gonna continue with only or go back to the 2...

Nope, haven't heard anything about this either way. 8/7 is when their slow season is forecast to begin. Seems like a fruitless/temporary effort as crowds will ramp back up quite quickly. It's possible they keep it one per park though, that wouldn't surprise me.

 

[dmw]

I just dont think getting all those rides is even close to possible

Remy, test track and Frozen are gone before you can make your second selection most of the time, no way on your third


HS is even worse........Today for eg.......every ride other than Star Tours and TSMM has been gone for over an hour

I get it... you don't like G+. Neither do I. But my friend has no reason to have lied about her experience last week. So, while Disney may be getting negative feedback from some guests, they are also getting positive feedback, even if you don't want to believe it.

 

[solidyne]

I know there have been a lot of negative reviews on G+ on this forum, and I definitely do not like what I have read about the system (have not visited since 2019). But, here's a positive review from a friend who was there last week:

"The Guardians of the Galaxy ride was awesome. We had no problem joining the virtual queue at 7:00 am on the day we were going to epcot. We had paid the $15 for the new Genie Plus option and it worked really well for our group. We were able to get passes for the Remy ride, Soarin, Test Track, Mission Space, and Spaceship Earth. We paid for the Lightning Lane pass for 7D at Magic Kingdom ($12/person) and had the Genie plus option also. Throughout the day, we were able to get 6 genie passes (or whatever you call them!)"

Just another data point for consideration in the discussion...

Thanks for sharing your friend's story! I had "success" with it, too, last week. However, it was a positive only when compared with the alternative at this time: doing all standby while 85% of everyone else has Genie+.

They throw Genie+ out there, and the only way someone can "compete" is to buy it. Then the users all feel like they "accomplished" something.

If the alternative were no one having Genie+, I'd definitely ditch Genie+.

In other words, so long as Genie+ exists I think it is worth the $15 (for me) when doing a ride-centric park day. However, I'd prefer that it didn't exist at all. Spring/summer 2021 was amazing in this regard! I experienced as much or more per day than in 2022 with G+.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

I want to clarify the bolded. You HAVE to get a park reservation. You aren't let into any park without one.

Well yes, I meant the park reservation is the one thing one really needs to considering significantly in advance. Prior you also had to do FP+ 30 or 60 days. Now just park reservations at some point

 

[UNCgolf]

An Express Pass-like model is just not possible. For one, Disney has something like 10x the number of deluxe rooms, possibly more now. Secondly, people seem to be more willing to part with money at Disney, so the price would need to be insanely high.

I think it would have to be limited to deluxe resort guests only as a perk. Even then I'm not sure it would work, although the fact they are spread out through 4 different parks would help.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

I get it... you don't like G+. Neither do I. But my friend has no reason to have lied about her experience last week. So, while Disney may be getting negative feedback from some guests, they are also getting positive feedback, even if you don't want to believe it.

I have definitely heard success stories - even folks having better experiences with it vs FP+ ... But it took a lot of effort and planning and time refreshing and setting alarms on their phones etc.

So it can definitely still provide a good experience and I definitely will have it our next trip b/c it will help us have a better trip than not having it given that it exists.

I just wish is was better and easier given it is an upcharge vs the prior included version.

 

[Disney Glimpses]

I think it would have to be limited to deluxe resort guests only as a perk. Even then I'm not sure it would work, although the fact they are spread out through 4 different parks would help.

They won't let go of the revenue, unfortunately. I don't see deluxe resort perks coming to Genie+

 

[UNCgolf]

They won't let go of the revenue, unfortunately. I don't see deluxe resort perks coming to Genie+

Oh I don't think there's any chance that happens. Just that's the only way I think an Express Pass type offering would work at Disney.

And that would also kill VIP tour sales, since deluxe resort guests are likely the people purchasing most of those tours.

 

[aaronml]

An Express Pass-like model is just not possible. For one, Disney has something like 10x the number of deluxe rooms, possibly more now. Secondly, people seem to be more willing to part with money at Disney, so the price would need to be insanely high.

Most certainly high enough to cannibalize VIP Tour sales. In short, TDO needs to provide a product that is “good, but not too good”. Reducing uptake of G+ (via capping sales and/or price increase) should help improve the experience. Right now, the current product is closer to “terrible” than “good”.

 

[Patcheslee]

It's definitely a perk - just might not be valuable to you or to many, but it is a perk, and one aimed at getting people to stay deluxe during the week

Some people never used DME, doesn't mean it wasn't an included perk.

While we could afford deluxe, the most convenient resorts for us are in the Epcot area, and the deluxes in that area don't appeal to us. I've thought about doing a split stay, but then again that makes high demand TS we want to try less likely of snagging. Sorta feels like we would have to compromise and lose what we like just to have EEH.