Lightning Lane at Walt Disney World

Jrb1979

Jrb1979

Well-Known Member
Sirwalterraleigh said:
That is the problem…cause the wdw clientele is the least likely to reject an upcharge and the most likely to complain about it.

This isn’t LA or Paris
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I would add they are also likely to reject having to stand in any time of significant line.
disneyglimpses said:
Haha it’s not really even close either
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You laugh but some of the better regional parks would be up there in attendance if they were opened year round. My home park is the highest attended seasonal park in all of North America. It's why I laugh when I see complaints about waiting in long lines. The top rides are easily 90 minutes to 2 hours on average each day.

I don't understand why so many dismiss the regional parks so much.
 
Chi84

Chi84

Premium Member
Jrb1979 said:
I would add they are also likely to reject having to stand in any time of significant line.

You laugh but some of the better regional parks would be up there in attendance if they were opened year round. My home park is the highest attended seasonal park in all of North America. It's why I laugh when I see complaints about waiting in long lines. The top rides are easily 90 minutes to 2 hours on average each day.

I don't understand why so many dismiss the regional parks so much.
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Because they have to stand in line 90 minutes to 2 hours on average each day? 😉
 
Jrb1979

Jrb1979

Well-Known Member
Chi84 said:
Because they have to stand in line 90 minutes to 2 hours on average each day? 😉
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Lol
My point is that everywhere else people accept that's part of going to a park. Ever since FP came along guests won't accept standing in line and that to visit Disney you MUST have use skip the line passes.
 
lazyboy97o

lazyboy97o

Well-Known Member
Jenny72 said:
I don't mind standing in line for 90 minutes as much when I paid $50 to get in and drove 60 minutes to get there. Do people really think that visitors to Disney have the same expectations as when they go to a regional park? That just doesn't make sense.
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They’re not the same but they are similar. People will accept fewer attractions per guest per hour for grander experiences but not as few as Walt Disney World’s parks can offer. There’s no reason that for most of the year people aren’t able to experience somewhere around 15 attractions over a 10 hour day in a park, except that Walt Disney World instead spent billions to drive that number down and create more uniform crowding to alter expectations.
 
Chi84

Chi84

Premium Member
Jrb1979 said:
Lol
My point is that everywhere else people accept that's part of going to a park. Ever since FP came along guests won't accept standing in line and that to visit Disney you MUST have use skip the line passes.
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Disney is different. It draws a different crowd and there is so much more to do there than just going on rides. People don't want to stand in lines when they could be seeing shows, watching Epcot entertainment, going on boat rides, splitting the day with a water park, spending time at the resort pool, etc. These things don't exist - or not at least to the same extent - at regional theme parks. I guess that doesn't make sense to guests who enter MK at rope drop, want to ride every ride that same day and then close the park. But not everyone wants that type of vacation at Disney.
 
Animaniac93-98

Animaniac93-98

Well-Known Member
mikejs78 said:
No regional park comes anywhere close to Disney in terms of daily attendance.
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Canada's Wonderland had an average daily attendance of around 28,000 in 2018, with the park having approx 3.8 million visits that year spread out over 135 days, give or take.*

The same year, Hollywood Studios had around 30,000 a day being open every day of the year and attracting 11.2 million visits.

Wonderland is unique in being the highest attended seasonal park in NA, but I don't doubt that there are days at other regional parks that attract crowds, if not as large as Magic Kingdom, at least comparable to Disney's second gates.

*I don't know if attendance numbers include Halloween Haunt nights.
 
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DisneyHead123

Well-Known Member
Jrb1979 said:
Lol
My point is that everywhere else people accept that's part of going to a park. Ever since FP came along guests won't accept standing in line and that to visit Disney you MUST have use skip the line passes.
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I don’t know if that’s the case or it’s more that Disney expanded their market with FP. There may be a core group of park goers who would be ok with it either way - but since FP, elderly park goers, or those with maniac toddlers (raises hand) may have joined the ranks in a way that they wouldn’t have before. I don’t have the data to know for sure but given how much attendance has gone up since pre-FP days, certainly possible. There is absolutely no way I could get my little hurricane through a standby line. With LL or FP? On a wing and a prayer, maybe, and I’ll attempt it for his grandparents sake. So for us line skips are the difference between going to the parks at all vs saying no way to them.
 
Jrb1979

Jrb1979

Well-Known Member
disneyglimpses said:
Fair point re: year round. I don't see anyone dismissing them, really more just saying that what works for other parks wouldn't necessarily work for Disney.
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It could. Universal shows it does easily. It's not like they are that much different in offerings. Attendance wise it's lower
 
UNCgolf

UNCgolf

Well-Known Member
Animaniac93-98 said:
Canada's Wonderland had an average daily attendance of around 28,000 in 2018, with the park having approx 3.8 million visits that year spread out over 135 days, give or take.*

The same year, Hollywood Studios had around 30,000 a day being open every day of the year and attracting 11.2 million visits.

Wonderland is unique in being the highest attended seasonal park in NA, but I don't doubt that there are days at other regional parks that attract crowds, if not as large as Magic Kingdom, at least comparable to Disney's second gates.

*I don't know if attendance numbers include Halloween Haunt nights.
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Canada's Wonderland is in a suburb of one of the largest cities in North America, though, and everyone who wants to go knows they have to fit it in during that relatively small window. If it was open 365 days a year, average daily attendance would almost certainly decrease -- there's a reason they're only open seasonally. Admission is also half the price of WDW admission.

It's not a useless data point, but it's also far from a one to one comparison. There are too many other variables involved.
 
Jrb1979

Jrb1979

Well-Known Member
UNCgolf said:
Canada's Wonderland is in a suburb of one of the largest cities in North America, though, and everyone who wants to go knows they have to fit it in during that relatively small window. If it was open 365 days a year, average daily attendance would almost certainly decrease -- there's a reason they're only open seasonally. Admission is also half the price of WDW admission.

It's not a useless data point, but it's also far from a one to one comparison. There are too many other variables involved.
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First it's not a small window anymore with Winterfest added. They are pretty much open from May to the end of December now.

The whole point of this discussion is that Express Pass systems work at even some of the highest attended parks and could work at Disney Universal is close in attendance to Disney parks other then MK.

My point is yes it costs a lot but you don't need to buy it every day of your stay if you are there for a week. Buy it for the days you plan on doing headliners and the rest of the week ride the rides with lower wait times if you don't want to stand in long lines.
 
lazyboy97o

lazyboy97o

Well-Known Member
UNCgolf said:
Canada's Wonderland is in a suburb of one of the largest cities in North America, though, and everyone who wants to go knows they have to fit it in during that relatively small window. If it was open 365 days a year, average daily attendance would almost certainly decrease -- there's a reason they're only open seasonally. Admission is also half the price of WDW admission.

It's not a useless data point, but it's also far from a one to one comparison. There are too many other variables involved.
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A park’s capacity and operations are built around the hour and the day, so there’s a lot more commonality when discussing this sort of topic.
 
Jenny72

Jenny72

Well-Known Member
Doesn't anyone else find it depressing that we're looking at Canada's Wonderland, Cedar Point and Universal as models for what Disney should do next?

I miss when Disney used to think out of the box and innovate. I'm convinced that there are ways to make the theme park experience more pleasant while still retaining the unique Disney brand, but the thinking has gotten so narrow.
 
Jrb1979

Jrb1979

Well-Known Member
Jenny72 said:
Doesn't anyone else find it depressing that we're looking at Canada's Wonderland, Cedar Point and Universal as models for what Disney should do next?

I miss when Disney used to think out of the box and innovate. I'm convinced that there are ways to make the theme park experience more pleasant while still retaining the unique Disney brand, but the thinking has gotten so narrow.
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It's what happens when you put profits first. In all honesty ever since Covid they seem to be more focused on recouping losses
 

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