Lightning Lane at Walt Disney World

[G00fyDad]

Oh 100% its generating a boat load hence why i feel
They can go back to FP and charge for it increase price include all rides and call it a day…. Make it easier simpler and call it a day

I'd be happy with them doing that RIGHT NOW even though I've already purchased Genie+ for our trip.

 

[crazy4disney]

I'd be happy with them doing that RIGHT NOW even though I've already purchased Genie+ for our trip.

same here

 

[Vacationeer]

When I think of other line skipping systems at other parks, one major difference separates them. Take a park like your local Six Flags, Dollywood, Cedar, wherever…. Different demographics don’t all tour the park similarly. Teens, young child families, and adult only visitors doing their thing and probably over 50% of the attractions that each group has zero interest in. WDW intended to offer attractions families could enjoy together and that means alot of overlap. Most people can or want to do 80% of what’s available. It’s almost all overlapped.

 

[MickeyLuv'r]

There are also operating costs, development cost, etc. that would keep that number from being pure profit, although it probably has an excellent profit margin.

But is this a short-term gain or a long-term gain?

Maybe they are making $ in the short-term, but we know they are also alienating at least a portion of their customers in the process.

Are the daily $$$ enough to balance out the bad publicity?

 

[MickeyLuv'r]

My only point of discussion is that I'm baffled by peoples entitlements and expectations of a WDW vacation without some level of planning.

I think in these discussions we sometimes get caught up in the word 'planning'.

That means slightly different things to different people. Some find comfort in the word, while others associate the word with work or work aggravations.

Another person thinks vacation should = freedom from the annoyances of work.

Where I think maybe we would all find more common ground is predictability. Almost everyone likes predictability. A problem I have with G+ is that it is not predictable. I followed the rules, I woke up early, logged in at the correct time, and I still did not get a pass for the ride I wanted. I got a pass for a different ride, but not at a good time, and there was not an easy way to fix that.

I could work with rules, and I can work with not getting everything I want, but I want some predictability. What can I expect based on the level of effort I am willing to put forth? I think for most folks, prior options had greater predictability.

 

[UNCgolf]

But is this a short-term gain or a long-term gain?

Maybe they are making $ in the short-term, but we know they are also alienating at least a portion of their customers in the process.

Are the daily $$$ enough to balance out the bad publicity?

Why would the current management care about that?

It's been 15+ years of short-term decision making -- maximize profits now. They'll be gone (with a huge stack of cash) and it will be someone else's problem if their current strategies cause long-term problems.

I'm not saying I agree with that management style (I don't), but it's become the norm. Immediate growth is essentially all that matters.

 

[Patcheslee]

Everyone is acting like a refund would be such a bad thing to basically use a system for another 6-7 months when they can in theory say we are improving a product and give the option of a credit towards it or a refund…. Is someone is willing to pay for this awful system im confident people would be willing to pay for a better one… si to me the refund is nothing more than a lazy excuse. Can you imagine another company willingly serving a terrible product all in the name of not wanting to refund and have people repurchase. Im sure there is no law suit that could be had w all the fine print. Thats like a steak house serving an awful steak getting complaints daily but tells people we cant change it until end of year bc people already booked a reservation and that item must stay on the menu… to me it's moronic and again a sign of what Disney has become.

IF I had a vacation already booked with Genie+ included, I would be more pessimistic about prepuchasing whatever came next. That would be based solely on the poor overall performance Genie+ has.

 

[GhostHost1000]

I think in these discussions we sometimes get caught up in the word 'planning'.

That means slightly different things to different people. Some find comfort in the word, while others associate the word with work or work aggravations.

Another person thinks vacation should = freedom from the annoyances of work.

Where I think maybe we would all find more common ground is predictability. Almost everyone likes predictability. A problem I have with G+ is that it is not predictable. I followed the rules, I woke up early, logged in at the correct time, and I still did not get a pass for the ride I wanted. I got a pass for a different ride, but not at a good time, and there was not an easy way to fix that.

I could work with rules, and I can work with not getting everything I want, but I want some predictability. What can I expect based on the level of effort I am willing to put forth? I think for most folks, prior options had greater predictability.

Absolutely correct

 

[Disstevefan1]

I think in these discussions we sometimes get caught up in the word 'planning'.

That means slightly different things to different people. Some find comfort in the word, while others associate the word with work or work aggravations.

Another person thinks vacation should = freedom from the annoyances of work.

Where I think maybe we would all find more common ground is predictability. Almost everyone likes predictability. A problem I have with G+ is that it is not predictable. I followed the rules, I woke up early, logged in at the correct time, and I still did not get a pass for the ride I wanted. I got a pass for a different ride, but not at a good time, and there was not an easy way to fix that.

I could work with rules, and I can work with not getting everything I want, but I want some predictability. What can I expect based on the level of effort I am willing to put forth? I think for most folks, prior options had greater predictability.

It seems to me comparing FastPass + to Genie + there is still planning but the time you must plan has moved.

With FastPass +, you could plan 60 days out, it was still hit or miss as to what attractions you could get, but at least to could do all the planning from the comfort of your easy chair and all your FastPasses and your ADRs were done well in advance and there was two less things to worry about and you KNEW what attractions you were going to ride and you could go on vacation with a positive attitude.

With Genie + , you still must plan, but you must try to plan your day at 7AM every morning. Still hit or miss and in my mind, much more stressful, as you park day depends how good your selections come out. There is no sleeping late, there is no relaxing, YOU MUST GET THE LIGHTING LANES, you can't depend on there being stand by lines as we see they are closing them when they choose.

Want to ride Guardians? Hope you can get a boarding group.

Where are you going today? Hollywood Studios? You want to ride Rise, you get online at 7AM, YES.... Wait... 6PM!

 

[CuteAsMinnie]

Most agree Genie and Genie+ is a disaster.

I really don’t know why they just didn’t keep FP+, charge a fee and call it a day.

 

[JMcMahonEsq]

Why would the current management care about that?

It's been 15+ years of short-term decision making -- maximize profits now. They'll be gone (with a huge stack of cash) and it will be someone else's problem if their current strategies cause long-term problems.

I'm not saying I agree with that management style (I don't), but it's become the norm. Immediate growth is essentially all that matters.

If it's been going on successfully maximizing profits for 15+ years, I think your beyond short term decision making or short term profit maximization

 

[crazy4disney]

If it's been going on successfully maximizing profits for 15+ years, I think your beyond short term decision making or short term profit maximization

But you can argue the stock has underperformed i posted numbers recently. So i dk how “successful” you can call this company/stock. Not at work to look on bberg again but id argue the ST which i agree has been somewhat longer has not been as successful as people think.

Looked quickly. Stock is down 10% over last 6.5 years… call it flat for the last 8 years. Far from a Wall St success especially considering the bull market we have seen granted this year has been rough.

 

[Bastet]

Genie + worked ok for me on sunday at MK, stacked jungle cruise, thunder, splash, pirates for mid/late afternoon, then managed to ger haunred mansion and mermaid later. Not so good at studios on monday, got slinky at 7 for 5pm return, mickey & minnie, toy story mania, frozen show, and just missed a rock n roller coaster. I wasnt on my phone all day.

 

[Touchdown]

But you can argue the stock has underperformed i posted numbers recently. So i dk how “successful” you can call this company/stock. Not at work to look on bberg again but id argue the ST which i agree has been somewhat longer has not been as successful as people think.

Looked quickly. Stock is down 10% over last 6.5 years… call it flat for the last 8 years. Far from a Wall St success especially considering the bull market we have seen granted this year has been rough.

Disney is a big company, the question you have to ask is, are the parks causing that underperformance? In an effort to not get too off topic the answer to that is no (it’s television and streaming.)

 

[pdude81]

Genie + worked ok for me on sunday at MK, stacked jungle cruise, thunder, splash, pirates for mid/late afternoon, then managed to ger haunred mansion and mermaid later. Not so good at studios on monday, got slinky at 7 for 5pm return, mickey & minnie, toy story mania, frozen show, and just missed a rock n roller coaster. I wasnt on my phone all day.

That's not bad for DHS

 

[crazy4disney]

Disney is a big company, the question you have to ask is, are the parks causing that underperformance? In an effort to not get too off topic the answer to that is no (it’s television and streaming.)

and you can argue the reason why it ran up actually main reason why it made its run was because of Disney+ and its streaming potential when that market was the puppy of Wall St..... I do agree tho which i think alot of people forget is Disney is more than just P&R.

 

[JD80]

I think in these discussions we sometimes get caught up in the word 'planning'.

That means slightly different things to different people. Some find comfort in the word, while others associate the word with work or work aggravations.

Another person thinks vacation should = freedom from the annoyances of work.

Where I think maybe we would all find more common ground is predictability. Almost everyone likes predictability. A problem I have with G+ is that it is not predictable. I followed the rules, I woke up early, logged in at the correct time, and I still did not get a pass for the ride I wanted. I got a pass for a different ride, but not at a good time, and there was not an easy way to fix that.

I could work with rules, and I can work with not getting everything I want, but I want some predictability. What can I expect based on the level of effort I am willing to put forth? I think for most folks, prior options had greater predictability.

I mean, I'm with you with all of this. As a "planner" I enjoy doing all the work before hand so my vacation is predictable as you say. Genie+ is essentially the antithesis of that. I want the vacation @Jrb1979 wants but I realize I have to schedule parks/meals and previously rides prior to arriving and I don't mind doing that.

That is why I'm baffled. The "planning" isn't really that much work outside setting up some tentpoles for your vacation and working around them.

 

[JD80]

It seems to me comparing FastPass + to Genie + there is still planning but the time you must plan has moved.

With FastPass +, you could plan 60 days out, it was still hit or miss as to what attractions you could get, but at least to could do all the planning from the comfort of your easy chair and all your FastPasses and your ADRs were done well in advance and there was two less things to worry about and you KNEW what attractions you were going to ride and you could go on vacation with a positive attitude.

With Genie + , you still must plan, but you must try to plan your day at 7AM every morning. Still hit or miss and in my mind, much more stressful, as you park day depends how good your selections come out. There is no sleeping late, there is no relaxing, YOU MUST GET THE LIGHTING LANES, you can't depend on there being stand by lines as we see they are closing them when they choose.

Want to ride Guardians? Hope you can get a boarding group.

Where are you going today? Hollywood Studios? You want to ride Rise, you get online at 7AM, YES.... Wait... 6PM!

You can't even plan your day at 7am. You plan it at 7am, and then every 2 hours after park open unless you're at MK and are able to basically hop from LL to LL almost like refreshing back in the day. But the main difference (which we've all beat this dead horse) is that you can reschedule times when you refreshed with FP+ so it allowed you to tweak and be fluid.

 

[Jrb1979]

I mean, I'm with you with all of this. As a "planner" I enjoy doing all the work before hand so my vacation is predictable as you say. Genie+ is essentially the antithesis of that. I want the vacation @Jrb1979 wants but I realize I have to schedule parks/meals and previously rides prior to arriving and I don't mind doing that.

That is why I'm baffled. The "planning" isn't really that much work outside setting up some tentpoles for your vacation and working around them.

It has nothing to do with it being that much work it's more that I don't like having a set schedule on vacation. Its why we enjoy Universal more.

I don't necessarily want no planning but a middle ground would be better then what is in place now. I would fine if they kept ADRs for character meals but for everything else make it first come first serve.

Question for you. Do you do a lot of planning for all your vacations?

 

[Chip Chipperson]

It has nothing to do with it being that much work it's more that I don't like having a set schedule on vacation. Its why we enjoy Universal more.

I don't necessarily want no planning but a middle ground would be better then what is in place now. I would fine if they kept ADRs for character meals but for everything else make it first come first serve.

Question for you. Do you do a lot of planning for all your vacations?

No reservations for non-character TS restaurants would be a $#!^show. Imagine the line for Topolino's dinner, for example. You don't need ADRs to eat, you just need them for most TS restaurants. QS is still available at your leisure. Heck, you can probably even get a last-minute TS meal at Olivia's if you want to be waited on. Bit the more popular restaurants would be a mess.