Lightning Lane at Walt Disney World

[GhostHost1000]

So here's the big difference between FP+ and Genie+ (intended Genie+ that is):

If you walked into MK at 11am with your family and opened FP+, you were getting very little without significant effort. Genie+ was designed to allow guests to walk in at 11am, pay, and then have the pick of the litter.

Obviously it's easy to say FP+ is better. That's a no brainer at this point. But I still think Genie+ can be fixed to offer same day LLs without hassle.

But unfortunately the way I’ve heard to fix this is the limit it’s use which means a lot of people will be upset not having access to it and having the mad dash to purchase at a set time

I just think they tried to fix a problem and created 5

 

[Disney Glimpses]

It is hard to have a good faith discussion when that happens, but you keep raising good points.

"Good faith discussion" cmon.

So @GhostHost1000 are you saying you refreshed once or twice and secured a Flight of Passage reservation for 4 at 30 days out? And not only that but you routinely did this with other E-tickets as well?

No, of course you didn't. You refreshed over and over. Let's be honest here.

 

[MickeyLuv'r]

So here's the big difference between FP+ and Genie+ (intended Genie+ that is):

If you walked into MK at 11am with your family and opened FP+, you were getting very little without significant effort. Genie+ was designed to allow guests to walk in at 11am, pay, and then have the pick of the litter.

Obviously it's easy to say FP+ is better. That's a no brainer at this point. But I still think Genie+ can be fixed to offer same day LLs without hassle.

PLEASE stop talking down to us.
Good grief.

 

[crazy4disney]

FWIW, in some recent trip reports, I am seeing much more success with Genie+. I don't know if it's advance sales or just lower crowds but its a step in the right direction. They still have a long ways to go though.

My cousin just got back about 3 weeks ago and was there in November with me said it was just as bad and he is an experienced visitor... another fiend was there using it for the 1st time and could not believe how awful it was... i warned him but when he experienced it himself was in disbelief how they changed systems the way they did... again only my direct experiences with people i know who have recently gone. A coworker was there about 2 months ago and said the same so...

 

[Disney Glimpses]

PLEASE stop talking down to us.
Good grief.

How was I remotely talking down to you in that post?

 

[nickys]

I am not saying you are lying but I spend something like 30 nights at these parks every year and I have never been able to secure E-tickets for large groups. Heck, I could barely find 2 that open at the same time. Sure I may get 1 or 2 here and there at 6:40PM but then another at 2:20PM. Having 6-10 line up for overlapping time slots, never.

You say nights…. So you were trying this in the evening?

There was a very small group of guests who knew the tricks of how to pick up FoP on the day for their group. There were drops of FPs at certain times for most of the major rides. FoP might have been at 11:03am and 3:03pm, for example, whilst Everest might have been 10:33am, 2:23pm and 5:52pm. The forums at Touring Plans and quite probably other sites had those drops documented, and those “in the know” were ready on the app to refresh right on those times. It didn’t require constant refreshing, it just needed you to have those drop times stored. And of course it wasn’t guaranteed.

So when people say they were able to pick up FP+ for headline rides, chances are that’s why. Everyone else was left scrambling and constantly refreshing.

 

[GhostHost1000]

FWIW, in some recent trip reports, I am seeing much more success with Genie+. I don't know if it's advance sales or just lower crowds but its a step in the right direction. They still have a long ways to go though.

I just got back from a 12 day trip where i used Genie+ and ILLs for 10 of those days. I used it to my full capability and I consider myself to be a techy guy and I wouldn’t call my experience a success at all. I did what I could and was stressed and frustrated most of the time

 

[crazy4disney]

"Good faith discussion" cmon.

So @GhostHost1000 are you saying you refreshed once or twice and secured a Flight of Passage reservation for 4 at 30 days out? And not only that but you routinely did this with other E-tickets as well?

No, of course you didn't. You refreshed over and over. Let's be honest here.

You keep harping on 30 days out.... Resort guests deserve a "perk" and i can assure you YES on every trip i was able to get FoP for each day i was at AK and times were 1230 or earlier each FP as a resort guests..., same with SDD.... so again maybe i was lucky but lets face it with all those slots open there has to be people who are getting them so the idea that noone was able to snag them as a resort guest just doesnt add up....

 

[Disney Glimpses]

You say nights…. So you were trying this in the evening?

There was a very small group of guests who knew the tricks of how to pick up FoP on the day for their group. There were drops of FPs at certain times for most of the major rides. FoP might have been at 11:03am and 3:03pm, for example, whilst Everest might have been 10:33am, 2:23pm and 5:52pm. The forums at Touring Plans and quite probably other sites had those drops documented, and those “in the know” were ready on the app to refresh right on those times. It didn’t require constant refreshing, it just needed you to have those drop times stored. And of course it wasn’t guaranteed.

So when people say they were able to pick up FP+ for headline rides, chances are that’s why. Everyone else was left scrambling and constantly refreshing.

Re: drops that is a fair point. But that's not a FP+ benefit, that's just a known insider caveat.

 

[Disney Glimpses]

You keep harping on 30 days out.... Resort guests deserve a "perk" and i can assure you YES on every trip i was able to get FoP for each day i was at AK and times were 1230 or earlier each FP as a resort guests..., same with SDD.... so again maybe i was lucky but lets face it with all those slots open there has to be people who are getting them so the idea that noone was able to snag them as a resort guest just doesnt add up....

I agree they deserve a perk. I am saying that Disney wanted to balance the scales. I am pointing out the flaws in FP+ for non-resort guests for this purpose. If it were up to me, resort guests and only resort guests would get FP.

 

[GhostHost1000]

"Good faith discussion" cmon.

So @GhostHost1000 are you saying you refreshed once or twice and secured a Flight of Passage reservation for 4 at 30 days out? And not only that but you routinely did this with other E-tickets as well?

No, of course you didn't. You refreshed over and over. Let's be honest here.

No that’s not what I said. I said I modified attractions and time slots sometimes on the day of and could find a FoP time open. Now it wasn’t every time of course but it did happen on multiple occasions. Because people could and were modifying things as I was

 

[crazy4disney]

You say nights…. So you were trying this in the evening?

There was a very small group of guests who knew the tricks of how to pick up FoP on the day for their group. There were drops of FPs at certain times for most of the major rides. FoP might have been at 11:03am and 3:03pm, for example, whilst Everest might have been 10:33am, 2:23pm and 5:52pm. The forums at Touring Plans and quite probably other sites had those drops documented, and those “in the know” were ready on the app to refresh right on those times. It didn’t require constant refreshing, it just needed you to have those drop times stored. And of course it wasn’t guaranteed.

So when people say they were able to pick up FP+ for headline rides, chances are that’s why. Everyone else was left scrambling and constantly refreshing.

Sadly i was unaware of these dumps and wish i knew them when FP was around guess my day of pulls were pure luck lol... any idea of when the genie dumps are for certain rides? will gladly love to make note so i know for my August trip...

 

[Disney Glimpses]

No that’s not what I said. I said I modified attractions and time slots sometimes on the day of and could find a FoP time open. Now it wasn’t every time of course but it did happen on multiple occasions. Because people could and were modifying things as I was

Right, so by modifying, you were refreshing. It took work and as you admit, it was not routine. That's a problem that most didn't complain about because it was free. Both FP+ and Genie+ take way too much work to skip lines.

 

[crazy4disney]

I agree they deserve a perk. I am saying that Disney wanted to balance the scales. I am pointing out the flaws in FP+ for non-resort guests for this purpose. If it were up to me, resort guests and only resort guests would get FP.

But you are saying noone had a chance as a non resort guest which is simply NOT true and you are ignoring the fact that day of was possible as well for everyone in the parks and honestly most likely grabbed by people who did not have them to start with even tho im sure plenty tried to re ride myself included if possible

 

[Disstevefan1]

FWIW, in some recent trip reports, I am seeing much more success with Genie+. I don't know if it's advance sales or just lower crowds but its a step in the right direction. They still have a long ways to go though.

I think the crowd levels have a huge influence on how well (or how poor) Genie + works..

 

[Disney Glimpses]

But you are saying noone had a chance as a non resort guest which is simply NOT true and you are ignoring the fact that day of was possible as well for everyone in the parks and honestly most likely grabbed by people who did not have them to start with even tho im sure plenty tried to re ride myself included if possible

The inventory for non-resort guests, especially during busy times, was absolutely dismal. I don't know how you can say otherwise. It was absolutely horrible unless you were alone or with one other person. And it's not just non-resort guests. Plenty of resort guests (DVC members especially) who booked trips inside of 60 days felt this pain too.

I am not saying Genie+ adequately corrects this, to be clear. It doesn't.

 

[DisneyHead123]

so long story short the replacement system you agree is awful as well?

Well yes, ha ha, but I think it's worth some analysis as to why. I am of the opinion that a day-of lottery style system is just never going to be the solution for a park as big as Magic Kingdom. The amount of availability you would need for that work, to a satisfactory level, would need to be very close to Universal Express Pass levels. Maybe not exactly but ballpark close. (Otherwise you still have frustrated park goers saying "Ok, well, this ride conflicts with dinner, this ride is across the park, this ride has a short line anyways...") For that level of availability to happen with a $15 system? At Magic Kingdom? That is a pipe dream beyond pipe dreams, to my mind. Yes, we'd all love that, but I won't believe it's possible until I see it.

The alternative is pre-made reservations, because then Disney guests, in exchange for the lower price, take on the work of making whatever reservations they get work. They plan their day around the reservations, the reservations don't fit into whatever day they decide to have. That is a tradeoff, sure. But there has to be a tradeoff somewhere - either in price (well above Express Pass levels) or planning.

 

[crazy4disney]

Right, so by modifying, you were refreshing. It took work and as you admit, it was not routine. That's a problem that most didn't complain about because it was free. Both FP+ and Genie+ take way too much work to skip lines.

honestly tho and yes on vacation you really dont want to be on your phone but lets face it nowadays that people are taking pics all day long with their phones it takes seconds at most a minute or 2 to grab the next FP.... while waiting in line or walking off a ride it really wasnt that difficult to do... i can assure you i was on my phone WAY more than i have been in years using genie

 

[Disney Glimpses]

honestly tho and yes on vacation you really dont want to be on your phone but lets face it nowadays that people are taking pics all day long with their phones it takes seconds at most a minute or 2 to grab the next FP.... while waiting in line or walking off a ride it really wasnt that difficult to do... i can assure you i was on my phone WAY more than i have been in years using genie

Completely agree. The system worked because at 60 days you had your E-tickets and then you would use your extras for D-tickets and beyond. Personally, I absolutely loved it.

 

[MickeyLuv'r]

so yet another miracle guest at Disney that was able to get FP's as a non resort guest... Magical!

WDW has a long history of changing park hours. They release tentative park hours month in advance, but later tweak them.

When people booked FP though, they tended to book them at 60 days, or 30 days, and then that was it.

Park hours changes = an additional opportunity to get FP and ADR's that most ignored.

Thanks to this forum though, I knew that was a good time to look for FP. Disney forums used to be about helping each other.

sigh.