Lightning Lane at Walt Disney World

Sirwalterraleigh

Premium Member
I agree. We’re talking about discretionary spending at an expensive vacation venue. When someone refers to what works for most people, they often mean what works for people who do things the “right” way, i.e., their way.
…oh…there is a “right” and “wrong” way around these parts these days. I strongly advise everyone even thinking of traveling to consider the line fees as a part of the price. It’s a tiered system and you don’t want to be outside the top tier. No points for second place.
 

Sirwalterraleigh

Premium Member
I thought FP+ worked well but I’d have to see customer satisfaction data to know for sure. I’d actually be really curious what that looked like.
Mathematically, fastpass+ didn’t work at all. The problem is the psychological effects masked how bad of a system it really was. It SHOULD have been incredibly unpopular based on the reality of it. But it was a weird Igerian “crossroad” where people just weren’t complaining as they may have at other points in time.
 

crazy4disney

Well-Known Member
In the Parks
No
Yeah I think that’s what it comes down to. I feel like there’s no point in discussing this in moralistic terms, as if some park goers are selfish for wanting a different product than other park goers. Maybe I want McDonald’s to make health food, or Old Navy to sell more turtlenecks, or whatever the case may be. Whatever, we’re all free to have those preferences. Consumer preferences are supposed to be the driver here - appeal to the most customers possible. And clearly that hasn’t happened with G+.
Exactly. Hence why i dk why they just dont bring FP back and call it a day. Especially if the claim was planning. You literally are planning everything else anyways so.
 

Vegas Disney Fan

Well-Known Member
It's not a matter of falling on deaf ears. I started going to WDW in 1984 as an adult and have visited just about every year since (often twice a year). When someone glorifies the idea of all-standby, I know what those days were like. Sure - you could get on the less popular rides without as long a wait, but the lines for the headliners were prohibitive. That's fine for people who don't mind standing in lines that are "constantly moving" for 60 to 90 minutes. But thank goodness there are enough of us who actually remember what it was like who don't want to go back to those days. And yes, when it comes to a vacation at a very expensive theme park, people are allowed to do what's best for themselves without feeling guilty about it.

You don’t even have to go back that far, just go back to threads here in 2020, most people hated it when FP was gone, it was a common joke that all the people who had been calling for an end to FP instantly wanted it back after experiencing the parks without it.
 

Chi84

Premium Member
Exactly. Hence why i dk why they just dont bring FP back and call it a day. Especially if the claim was planning. You literally are planning everything else anyways so.
This is true. FP+ worked very well for a certain type of guest. I understand that it wasn't good for guests who did things differently, so I was more than willing to be flexible enough to try a new system even if it didn't work as well for me. But Genie+ doesn't work for anyone, according to the reported guest (dis)satisfaction scores. Planning has always been part of WDW - I remember the thick official and unofficial guides in the 80's telling people how to avoid the long standby lines that people are now saying didn't exist.
 

Sirwalterraleigh

Premium Member
It's not a matter of falling on deaf ears. I started going to WDW in 1984 as an adult and have visited just about every year since (often twice a year). When someone glorifies the idea of all-standby, I know what those days were like. Sure - you could get on the less popular rides without as long a wait, but the lines for the headliners were prohibitive. That's fine for people who don't mind standing in lines that are "constantly moving" for 60 to 90 minutes. But thank goodness there are enough of us who actually remember what it was like who don't want to go back to those days. And yes, when it comes to a vacation at a very expensive theme park, people are allowed to do what's best for themselves without feeling guilty about it.
It’s really not a fight amongst travelers or a feeling of “guilt” between them IMHO.

It’s about Disney deliberate move away from handling crowds. That’s 100% on the Bobs. They bled a property with adequate capacity in the year 2000 into one with nothing close by 2020. No growth when the crowd has grown by 25%. They only place that can definitively handle more crowds now than then is downtown/springs. Because it’s a straight up net add. Animal kingdom a little bit. The others not at all.

That’s why there’s bickering. It’s the situation they allowed to develop.
 
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lazyboy97o

Well-Known Member
The answer is not to go from a system that worked very well for a good number of guests to one that has resulted in the lowest guest satisfaction scores in WDW history. The product has been so poorly received that it's widely reported WDW is changing it.
FastPass+ did not work for a good number. Operations knew it would be a problem during its planning and doing away with it was not just some sudden occurrence. Genie and Genie+ were supposed to fix FastPass+. Literally billions of dollars spent because parks “have to” have some sort of scheme.
 

drizgirl

Well-Known Member
FastPass+ did not work for a good number. Operations knew it would be a problem during its planning and doing away with it was not just some sudden occurrence. Genie and Genie+ were supposed to fix FastPass+. Literally billions of dollars spent because parks “have to” have some sort of scheme.
Billions were not spent to give a better system. Billions were spent in the name of big data designed to maximize operational savings in the parks.
 

lazyboy97o

Well-Known Member
Billions were not spent to give a better system. Billions were spent in the name of big data designed to maximize operational savings in the parks.
I didn’t say better. But this attitude that they had to have a system and it was not worthwhile to invest incapacity is the root problem, and we have people saying Disney needs to further commit to this path of effectively reducing capacity as if it will somehow one day increase capacity. It didn’t with FastPass, FastPass+, Tapu Tapu or the Genies because it never will.
 

Chi84

Premium Member
I didn’t say better. But this attitude that they had to have a system and it was not worthwhile to invest incapacity is the root problem, and we have people saying Disney needs to further commit to this path of effectively reducing capacity as if it will somehow one day increase capacity. It didn’t with FastPass, FastPass+, Tapu Tapu or the Genies because it never will.
You’re tying together two unrelated concepts. From what I’m seeing, people are saying Disney has to both “have a system” and invest in increasing attraction capacity.
 

crazy4disney

Well-Known Member
In the Parks
No
FastPass+ did not work for a good number. Operations knew it would be a problem during its planning and doing away with it was not just some sudden occurrence. Genie and Genie+ were supposed to fix FastPass+. Literally billions of dollars spent because parks “have to” have some sort of scheme.
They wanted to charge for a skip the line system which I have issue with & for some reason was worried about bad pr for now charging for something that was once free. Let’s call it the way it is & in doing so created this debacle.
 

lazyboy97o

Well-Known Member
They wanted to charge for a skip the line system which I have issue with & for some reason was worried about bad pr for now charging for something that was once free. Let’s call it the way it is & in doing so created this debacle.
Recognizing that FastPass+ had lots of issues is calling it as it is. FastPass+ was not a line skipping system and Disney could have just added one as an additional charge if that is all they wanted.
 

solidyne

Well-Known Member
You don’t even have to go back that far, just go back to threads here in 2020, most people hated it when FP was gone, it was a common joke that all the people who had been calling for an end to FP instantly wanted it back after experiencing the parks without it.
Actually, weren't folks around here raving about the 2020/21 all-standby experience? My 2021 pre-G+ trip was fantastic. (And the crowds were back.)

Maybe there were mixed responses...
 

crazy4disney

Well-Known Member
In the Parks
No
Recognizing that FastPass+ had lots of issues is calling it as it is. FastPass+ was not a line skipping system and Disney could have just added one as an additional charge if that is all they wanted.
Not sure what issues it had be as a resort guest it worked like a charm every time ive used it and countless others on these boards and people I know.
 

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