Lightning Lane at Walt Disney World

[GhostHost1000]

I know, but it sounds like this won't fix that. It just adds an extra step before that happens. You could hit check availability, see 11:30, and then by the time you actually book it the time has still changed to a couple of hours later.

Unless, as I said, the new check availability button also gives you a period of time where you're locked in to that window.

It’s such a bad design all around.

 

[HoustonHorn]

This is an "enhancement" like a hole in the roof "enhances" your air conditioning in winter.

 

[DisneyDreamer08]

This is exactly where my confusion lies. Perhaps someone who gets it will clarify for us!

If I’m understanding it, it doesn’t change anything for the user as far as seeing a time and then securing that exact time. You simply don’t see a time to begin with. It’s basically Disney’s way of saying, this is available but you get what you get.

 

[gerarar]

Tempted to get this. I'm going to France/Paris in about a month with my family, and I'm planning to do a solo halfish-day at DLP (well from noon to close really).

This ultimate pass seems ideal since I'll be able to hit everything I want to do/that's available. Idk when I'll ever be able to go abroad to France again, so this may be my only one chance, so obviously I want to do everything right haha.

Unless it's possible to do majority of the stuff in DLP in standbys and whatnot.

Just an update on this.

Never actually purchased the Disney Premier Access Ultimate. I observed wait times leading up to my solo day trip at DLP/WDS on July 14, and the wait times weren't that bad. Also was going for 140 Euros, so had to make sure I really needed it.

On the day of, almost every attraction (all but TSPL) that I waited for in standby was less than 30 mins. The longest I did wait for was actually Cars Road Trip (aka the rethemed studio tram tour) for 35ish mins because our tram broke after boarding and maintenance had to be called in.

I only bought 1 premier access, and that was for Big Thunder Mountain because it had a wait of 50 mins. Return time was immediately. Actually, all rides but Crush Coaster had an immediate return time. That's telling enough that no one's really buying this one-for-one single paid FP thing over at DLP.

After entering the Premier Access line for BTMR, no one was in there with me. Immediately joined the regular line at the merge point and was on my way.

I also got a Premier Access for Mickey and the Magician because I wanted to make sure I had a good seat for that show, was so worth it imo.

All in all, I paid 36 Euros (18 for BTMR and 18 for Mickey). The park seemed really crowded, especially since it was Bastille Day, but lines were relatively short and quick. ToT hovered around 15-25 mins majority of the day, which is insane, and became walk on for last 2 hours of the day. Only Crush Coaster was the longest which hovered around 60-90 mins. It does help that many of the rides have single rider lines (which benefitted me being solo), like Rat, Hyperspace Mointain, Crush Coaster, etc.

Now comparing this to Genie+? I would say it's much less stressful. However the UI in the DLP app is kinda a mess. It loads a "browser" view window within the app and makes you log in/re-enter the same info every single time, which gets annoying. On the other hand the core functionality is pretty simple to understand.

However, charging 18 Euros/Dollars to ride Space or BTMR won't fly too well at WDW imo, given that Genie+ is currently less than that price. Does the higher price discourage guests at DLP from buying it? Maybe, who knows.

 

[gerarar]

I was at Disneyland Paris on a one park one day ticket yesterday, haven’t been for three years and first time using Premier Access. The park was busy as expected for a hot Sunday in summer vacation but it wasn't overly crowded. So it felt like there were a lot of people in the park, especially after 11 am, but waits weren’t too long. There also weren‘t that many people entering at 9.30 but resort guests already had access to the parks through early entry.

Once inside the park at just after 9.30 (it had been open to resort guests for an hour) we booked Big Thunder Mountain on Premier Access, slots were still available for 9.30 - 10.30 am. We paid €18 each. We actually rope dropped it (the ride was late opening and we were on the second train, then went to do Indiana Jones and Pinocchio and then came back to use our pass at 10.30.) When we entered the Premier Access entrance we didn’t see anyone returning with a reservation, we only saw a handful of people using the system throughout the day, and where we joined the line was just before the slope down to loading so only waited a couple of minutes. When we booked our reservation, I’m pretty sure all the other rides using Premier Access in the park (there are only a handful) also had an immediate return time available.

Most waits in the park were between 15 and 45 minutes throughout the day although Thunder Mountain did get up to about 70 iirc. I was with my 16 year old who loves WDW but she commented how nice it was to just chill out and choose what to ride next as the lines weren’t prohibitive and we weren’t having to follow booked reservations. In some ways it felt like when we go to Universal with Express Pass (although we generally wait less time at Uni than we did at DLP.) It was relaxing compared to our most recent experience at WDW in December. We didn’t wait longer than 15 minutes for anything yesterday so I think wait times were slightly overstated, but we did do most of our rides before about 2.30 pm.

At about 2 pm we checked Premier Access return times again, and again most rides had a return time beginning about 30 minutes later. We were able to book BTM (again!) for 3.05 - 4.05 pm. You’re able to buy three rides on each attraction. The furthest out retun time was 4.05 - 5.05 pm for Crush’s Coaster which I was surprised about because it‘s a low capacity attraction and one that has a big rush at rope drop because of how high waits get really quickly. So maybe in Paris people still don’t want to pay to avoid that wait. I must admit we didn’t check the wait time as we didn’t have access to Studios park but I’d assume it was at least 45+.

It felt to me that because very few people were using Premier Access, standby waits were reasonable in Disneyland Parc and it also feels like a park with decent capacity. In fact the longest waits were to meet Mickey Mouse (around 70 minutes during the peak of the day) and the princesses (around 70 - 120 minutes throughout the day) although I wonder if their character casting is an issue and they weren’t running at usual capacity. It’s also a beautiful park with lots to explore (Adventure Isle caves and rope bridge, Alice’s maze etc) and the walkways are wide with multiple paths between lands so it doesn’t get too bottlenecked.

It was lovely to experience a day like this in a castle park, we did ten rides (including the two Premier Access bookings at BTM) in seven hours with several breaks for food and snacks, and we weren’t rushing around or checking our phones, we were just wandering around taking in a really beautiful and well maintained park. My daughter also met Minnie with a five or ten minute wait.

Ten years ago this park felt in pretty bad shape and in need of quite a bit of visual maintenance but it felt to me like it‘s had a complete 180. I know it received a lot of love in terms of refurbishment for the 25th five years ago and that seems to have continued. I don’t know whether to feel hopeful that things could change at WDW (although a different beast and obviously under new management) or depressed that my beloved WDW may never be as relaxing and beautiful and fun again.

We‘re visiting WDW next month (second time since introduction of Genie+) and it may be we stick with DLP (closer, we’re in the UK) and try DLR, with our Florida trips sticking to just Uni for a while if we come away feeling dissatisfied like we did in December because of the stress of Genie+, constant planning, park hopping rules and the poor upkeep of the parks and rides etc.

Just saw your post, and as someone who was at DLP also recently last week, my experience mimics yours! (posted my experience just above this one)

No one was really using/buying Premier Access when I was there. Only bought one for BTMR and Mickey show. Wait times were low throughout the parks except for Crush. Return times for Premier Access were pretty much immediate when I checked periodically.

 

[HoustonHorn]

It seems that this is only a "positive" for folks who haven't used G+, as they will not face the frustration of seeing one time on the home screen just to get a new time when they click through.

On every other metric, this is dumb.

If you know exactly what G+ you want at 7, this is an extra click.

If you aren't doing the "popular ride mash" right at 7 and instead want to check several ride's availability, you now have to click through, then back, then through, then back.

All between 7-7:30 am.

Now I have to re-coach my friends going next week on the latest tomfoolery. Can't wait to see how this is working when I go in December.

 

[Touchdown]

Almost any change to g+ would improve it.

almost

G+ price had increased to $30. Now it’s better! You’re welcome

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Functionally identical but harder to complain about.

It was definitely frustrating when you would see a posted LL return time for SDD of 1:30 and then by the time you complete to process it had shifted to 4:45 - at least now you should have better idea of what you would actually get.

So definitely an improvement.... Now just like 97 more levels of improvement needed

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Am I the only one struggling to understand this? Can someone explain what this means for guests trying to pick specific return times?

You can't pick specific times for Genie+ - you get "next available" and what was happening is for popular rides (Slinky Dog, etc) when you refresh right at 7amnit will show the next available right then, which could be 11am, so you click on that but then it needs to check for next available when you click and that will be what you actually receive, which could be like 4pm.

Now from 7am to 7:30am you won't see that initial 11am in the above example you will see "check availability", when you click on that it will show the 4pm ... So you won't be "teased" with a time you won't actually get, but still requires an extra click

Personally I think it is better as I have been negatively impacted by the "switching times" which can really be frustrating if you have other plans (park hoping, etc)

 

[mikejs78]

That's far worse IMO

Agreed. This change makes Genie+ worse, not better.

I don't understand how they can keep building UX that gets more user hostile over time, not less.

 

[GhostHost1000]

Allow guests to buy Genie+ and book 3 attractions (3 tiers - one from each tier) 30 days in advance. Tiers could be most popular, secondary popularity, and shows/meet and greets/least popular.

Allow guests to select their time

Allow guests to modify their time

Raise price to $25/pp, include ILL in the mix (naming them LL and ILL is ridiculous, changing the name from fastpass wasn’t necessary either)

Ability to book 1 additional LL after using one


If we have to prebook our park(s) then why not prebook attractions like before.

 

[LittleBuford]

If I’m understanding it, it doesn’t change anything for the user as far as seeing a time and then securing that exact time. You simply don’t see a time to begin with. It’s basically Disney’s way of saying, this is available but you get what you get.

You can't pick specific times for Genie+ - you get "next available" and what was happening is for popular rides (Slinky Dog, etc) when you refresh right at 7amnit will show the next available right then, which could be 11am, so you click on that but then it needs to check for next available when you click and that will be what you actually receive, which could be like 4pm.

Now from 7am to 7:30am you won't see that initial 11am in the above example you will see "check availability", when you click on that it will show the 4pm ... So you won't be "teased" with a time you won't actually get, but still requires an extra click

Personally I think it is better as I have been negatively impacted by the "switching times" which can really be frustrating if you have other plans (park hoping, etc)

Thank you both! This is very helpful.

 

[Disney Glimpses]

Sheesh Disney, just let resort guests pick their first attraction and time when they purchase Genie+. Then we can all go to sleep and wake up in peace. There is literally zero logistical benefit to making guests wake at 7am rather than let them do it the night before.

 

[mysto]

G+ price had increased to $30. Now it’s better! You’re welcome

Less competition from other users, a clear improvement.

 

[Disney Glimpses]

Less competition from other users, a clear improvement.

I mean, that wouldn't solve the UI issues but it would probably mean guests would secure 5 or more LL a day; 7 if you include the ILL. To me, that's worth $30-50.

 

[GhostHost1000]

Sheesh Disney, just let resort guests pick their first attraction and time when they purchase Genie+. Then we can all go to sleep and wake up in peace. There is literally zero logistical benefit to making guests wake at 7am rather than let them do it the night before.

The night before just shifts the planning stress while on vacation

Needs to be pre-travel/arrival

 

[lazyboy97o]

I don't understand how they can keep building UX that gets more user hostile over time, not less.

Because the entire base premise for who they want to operate is user hostile and only becomes more hostile. This is just a reflection of the larger system in place intended to make guests just the right amount of miserable.

 

[matt9112]

Exactly. Basically on my first day before the park opened I booked Goofy's sky school for right at 8am. Once I got in line at radiator springs I opened the app and saw that Goofy's did open, but Soarin did not. I quickly canceled the Goofy LL and booked an 8:20am Soarin.
At 8:20am I got a notification that Soarin was closed and it gave me a multiple experience pass which I could use at any time on any ride except TSMM, Guardians, Webslingers, Radiator Springs, Hyperspace mountain, RotR, and Indiana Jones (I think). I later used it to skip an 85 minute wait at Grizzly River Run around 1pm.

Once I got the pass I actually booked an 8:45am Soarin, hoping the ride would remain closed. Unfortunately for me, Soarin opened at 8:40am. I canceled that pass and that's when I booked the Guardian's of the galaxy pass for 10:15am.

I posted this strategy on Reddit and someone said they found a time when Small world was closed and actively had LL for 5 minutes out constantly. They said in 20 minutes every member of their party had 4 multiple experience passes.

One more thing to note, multiple experience passes are tiered at both WDW and DLR so you can't "upgrade" too much. If you have a ride breakdown from one tier, your ME does not work on a ride in a better tier. I think the tiers are something like:

Park	Magic Kingdom	Epcot	DHS	AK	DL	CA
S tier	7 Dwarf	GotG	RotR	FOP	RotR	Web, RsR
A tier	Space, Pan, Jungle	Frozen, Remy, maybe TT?	Slinky, ToT, maybe MFSR?	Navi and Everest	Indy, Space	Guardians, TSMM

Charts to enjoy a theme park…working as intended.

 

[Disney Glimpses]

The night before just shifts the planning stress while on vacation

Needs to be pre-travel/arrival

Unfortunately, that is likely never to return. The best we can hope for is ability to reserve the night or day before. But I agree.

 

[JMcMahonEsq]

Unfortunately, that is likely never to return. The best we can hope for is ability to reserve the night or day before. But I agree.

Here’s the problem. People keep trying to take a line skip software, and say it doesn’t work as a way to pre-plan your trip. It’s not meant to do that! Genie + is meant for giving as many people as possible, a way to to skip as many lines as possible. It’s not meant to allow your to pre-book specific rides at specific times.


If people keep trying to use the software in manners it wasn’t designed for, they are going to be disappointed. I