Lightning Lane at Walt Disney World

[Disney Glimpses]

You keep saying this & altho i dont technically disagree with you it still doesnt add up. People claim some quoting you that 50% of people used FP yet Genie is below that & with Genie getting 3 worthy skips at optimal & preferred times is impossible. So again nothing adds up to me.

It's because of the crazy advantage resort guests used to have. 1/3 of guests are resort guests. Believe it or not, a significant portion of those guests did not make very many advance FP+ selections. Which means, if you wanted to, as a resort guest you could book 3 per day for your entire trip with little friction. By the time the day of visit arrived, inventory was not great. Not as bad as Genie+ but that's where the "getting my money's worth" stuff comes into play.

There's only so much inventory.

Another factor here: there isn't as much to do right now as there was during the FP+ era. A lot of stuff has reopened but there are still a lot of time eating activities closed which puts more stress on Genie+.

All of that being said, Genie+ availability right now vs 3 months ago is day and night, in my experience. I expect August/September will be much closer to the expected experience. The negative sentiment around Genie+ is also forcing sales down a bit which is helping too.

 

[Jrb1979]

Its like certain people are now here solely to defend Disney and try to constantly knock FP any chance the get. I truly dont see why or how. If lines magically disappearedand a better product was introduced i would 100% admit i was wrong. But it hasnt and before any suggest a Uni type system that is far from a similar system and forcing people to pay 150-200pp per day for a trip thats gonna be a week long is not a true comparison.

I'm not defending Disney at all or knocking FP. IMO both systems suck. There is no system that works for everyone.

 

[Disney Glimpses]

I'm not defending Disney at all or knocking FP. IMO both systems suck. There is no system that works for everyone.

I think a system where they cut inventory in half (to minimize the impact to the standby queues) that costs more money would work for everyone.

 

[Jrb1979]

I think a system where they cut inventory in half (to minimize the impact to the standby queues) that costs more money would work for everyone.

Agreed. It would work much better.

I know I will get the usual response of there is more then just rides to do at Disney so standing in long lines is not how Disney works. Disney created this issue going back to FP. They have got it into peoples heads that using FP or Genie+ is the only way to tour the parks. I know I say this a lot but what also doesn't help is that many Disney visitors don't visit other parks much. They don't know any different.

 

[Disney Glimpses]

Agreed. It would work much better.

I know I will get the usual response of there is more then just rides to do at Disney so standing in long lines is not how Disney works. Disney created this issue going back to FP. They have got it into peoples heads that using FP or Genie+ is the only way to tour the parks. I know I say this a lot but what also doesn't help is that many Disney visitors don't visit other parks much. They don't know any different.

Yeah, I unfortunately don't think they will reduce inventory in the queues themselves. As you said, it's baked into how people like to do Disney.

 

[Purduevian]

So goes back to what i said way back when. Let people either pre book within a better time frame or at least choose a return time but the mad scramble at 7am is a joke.

Shouldn't be able to book until you enter the park. Just like DLR. It works soooo much better there.

 

[crazy4disney]

It's because of the crazy advantage resort guests used to have. 1/3 of guests are resort guests. Believe it or not, a significant portion of those guests did not make very many advance FP+ selections. Which means, if you wanted to, as a resort guest you could book 3 per day for your entire trip with little friction. By the time the day of visit arrived, inventory was not great. Not as bad as Genie+ but that's where the "getting my money's worth" stuff comes into play.

There's only so much inventory.

Another factor here: there isn't as much to do right now as there was during the FP+ era. A lot of stuff has reopened but there are still a lot of time eating activities closed which puts more stress on Genie+.

All of that being said, Genie+ availability right now vs 3 months ago is day and night, in my experience. I expect August/September will be much closer to the expected experience. The negative sentiment around Genie+ is also forcing sales down a bit which is helping too.

So for starters let me get this straight. You are saying 1/3 of guests are resort guests and majority didnt use FP in advance yet for months all ive heard was FP+ was awful for non resort guests . Dk how those both can be true. People saying there was absolutely nothing available for them altho plenty have stayed otherwise. This was for everyone saying non resort guests were behind the 8 ball which no offense they should be…
As far as day guest goes again who cares. That goes for anything in life. Book something late or want to do something last minute its either gonna be limited or high priced not aure why Disney should be any different or why people feel that way.

Im going 8/26th to use it a 2nd time and im gonna truly keep a track as best as can be to see how it is this time. Eitherway again the fact you cant book 3 FP ahead is a huge loss. DAS will be helpful to offset that But end of day Genie is awful and i still havent spoken to anyone who has vacationed down there who preferred it over FP… and money is not a factor.

 

[crazy4disney]

Shouldn't be able to book until you enter the park. Just like DLR. It works soooo much better there.

Cant compare apples to oranges and its been insinuated thats what upper management tried to do with Genie and we see how that worked out.

 

[Jrb1979]

Yeah, I unfortunately don't think they will reduce inventory in the queues themselves. As you said, it's baked into how people like to do Disney.

They are suffering the consequences cause of it now. For a company that hailed themselves as the leader in the industry since Covid happened they have fallen behind. More and more Universal is taking the lead.

 

[crazy4disney]

I'm not defending Disney at all or knocking FP. IMO both systems suck. There is no system that works for everyone.

Agreed nothing works for everyone. Its impossible. Its just like the Splash debate or how society is now. You cant please everyone. Its that simple. Someone will always feel sighted or offended or what not. Such is life for better or worse. But genie stinks and imo fp didnt. Again my opinion.

 

[Purduevian]

Cant compare apples to oranges and its been insinuated thats what upper management tried to do with Genie and we see how that worked out.

I would say this is like comparing Gala to golden Golden Delicious. They are literally the 2 most similar things in the entire USA and possibly the world. This would also stop the 7am crunch.

Also I had a wonderful time using G+ on my WDW and DLR visits this year. I preferred FP+, but G+ was like 90% as good for me.

 

[Disney Glimpses]

Shouldn't be able to book until you enter the park. Just like DLR. It works soooo much better there.

There should be a cooldown of 15 minutes after entering the park. At WDW, that would result in crazy log jams after scans.

 

[Purduevian]

There should be a cooldown of 15 minutes after entering the park. At WDW, that would result in crazy log jams after scans.

Nah, it won't be the crazy mad dash of 20,000 people right at 7am. This will make it so 5-10 minutes won't make hours of differences in return times.

 

[Jrb1979]

Agreed nothing works for everyone. Its impossible. Its just like the Splash debate or how society is now. You cant please everyone. Its that simple. Someone will always feel sighted or offended or what not. Such is life for better or worse. But genie stinks and imo fp didnt. Again my opinion.

I'm saying they are both awful. IMO it's time they followed Universal's model and dump all reservations and use the Express pass model. Just have restaurants be booked ahead of time.

 

[mysto]

There should be a cooldown of 15 minutes after entering the park. At WDW, that would result in crazy log jams after scans.

I agree! Or at least have standing tables with cocktail service just inside the entrance so we can enjoy the chaos. Starbucks waiters/waitresses bringing carmel macciato?

Well it sounds like there will be a phone party just inside the tapstyles, but for off-site guests only, exclusive!

Previous post in closed thread.

 

[lazyboy97o]

I would say this is like comparing Gala to golden Golden Delicious. They are literally the 2 most similar things in the entire USA and possibly the world. This would also stop the 7am crunch.

Also I had a wonderful time using G+ on my WDW and DLR visits this year. I preferred FP+, but G+ was like 90% as good for me.

They’re not similar because of the significant disparity in capacity.

 

[Purduevian]

They’re not similar because of the significant disparity in capacity.

Outside of G+, DL absolutely blows MK out of the water. If we are just looking at G+ capacity... I'm pretty sure MK actually has more G+ ride capacity than Disneyland

Both parks have: Thunder, Splash, Space, buzz, HM, small world, speedway

On top of that MK also has G+ on: Jungle cruise, Pan, FoF, Pirates, Pooh, Mermaid, Dumbo, Barnstormer, Princess meeting, Meet Mickey, Mad Tea party, Aladdin, and Monsters Inc.

compared to DL: Indiana Jones, Matterhorn, MFSR, Roger Rabbit, and Star tours.

Also please explain to me how capacity differences would make G+ only on entering a park an issue?

 

[lazyboy97o]

Outside of G+, DL absolutely blows MK out of the water. If we are just looking at G+ capacity... I'm pretty sure MK actually has more G+ ride capacity than Disneyland

Both parks have: Thunder, Splash, Space, buzz, HM, small world, speedway

On top of that MK also has G+ on: Jungle cruise, Pan, FoF, Pirates, Pooh, Mermaid, Dumbo, Barnstormer, Princess meeting, Meet Mickey, Mad Tea party, Aladdin, and Monsters Inc.

compared to DL: Indiana Jones, Matterhorn, MFSR, Roger Rabbit, and Star tours

You can’t just look at Genie+ capacity because reservation and virtual queue systems require additional capacity outside of the system.

 

[drizgirl]

You can’t just look at Genie+ capacity because reservation and virtual queue systems require additional capacity outside of the system.

And I doubt it’s even close in total attraction capacity.

 

[Purduevian]

You can’t just look at Genie+ capacity because reservation and virtual queue systems require additional capacity outside of the system.

Sorry can you please explain what you mean by this? There are no VQs in MK or DL right now (EPCOT has guardians?) Also both coasts have a reservation system.

Even if capacity is different in both parks... why does that mean preventing people from booking their first G+ until they get into the park works for DLR but not WDW?