Lightning Lane at Walt Disney World

[Sirwalterraleigh]

I honestly had decent success with it. Got a decent number of LLs every day and had few issues. I just hate the logistics of it, especially the 7 AM scramble. IMO, having used all of them:

FP+ > FP > Genie+ > Standby only. For me personally.

I actually had good success with it. Don’t know if that will work longterm.

Plus was a bad idea…as indicated by history and numbers. Shouldn’t be on everything or prebooked like a hotel room. And it obviously was “costing” Disney money so they strangled it unceremoniously.

 

[Jrb1979]

The crowds have been re-engineered to depend on fastpass…so you can’t have everyone in standby and you can’t have everyone in an express program.

Because they don’t have the capacity to handle either.

Are you seriously suggesting a $49 fee did Peter Pan on 12/26?

There’s a “glass ceiling” on PR that even the mighty Disney can’t get through.

Bolded is exactly why they are having issues with Genie+. Guests have been told that you can't visit with out FP. Now they want to go the route of limited availability and guests are mad. FP should never have been free in the first place

 

[sullyinMT]

I don't see how you need to be on your phone as much as people say. You can only book 1 every 2 hours or after you used 1. The only way I see you having to be on your phone constantly is if you are trying to find optimal times.

We never spent much time with "extra" FP+'s, either. But there is the fear of looking for, say, 3 things, and trapping yourself into a "refresh loop," face down while the rest of your party enjoys whatever is actually happening around you. While waiting in the 10 min teacup line or in the lobby of Muppets? Not a big deal. Missing FoF parade if that's important to you because Johnny REALLY wants you to try and score that BTM LL within the hour? Could really dampen the day, or at least the next few hours. It's why we temper expectations with everything in life, but not every parent (or adult for themselves, tbh) does the same.

 

[ChrisM]

The crowds have been re-engineered to depend on fastpass…so you can’t have everyone in standby and you can’t have everyone in an express program.

Because they don’t have the capacity to handle either.

Are you seriously suggesting a $49 fee did Peter Pan on 12/26?

There’s a “glass ceiling” on PR that even the mighty Disney can’t get through.

It's not an either/or. And crowds can be "engineered" towards any sort of behavior, as we've witnessed in real time during the implementations of FP/FP+/Genie+.

I have to admit at being amused by the level of incredulity this proposal always elicits:

"Disney could never do that! It's operationally impossible!"

No, it's not.

"The public would never stand for it! And the PR hit would be too much!"

You've seen the absolute shovels full of they've been forcing their guests to swallow for years now, right? And this is a line too far? Hilarious.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

It's not an either/or. And crowds can be "engineered" towards any sort of behavior, as we've witnessed in real time during the implementations of FP/FP+/Genie+.

I have to admit at being amused by the level of incredulity this proposal always elicits:

"Disney could never do that! It's operationally impossible!"

No, it's not.

"The public would never stand for it! And the PR hit would be too much!"

You've seen the absolute shovels full of **** they've been forcing their guests to swallow for years now, right? And this is a line too far? Hilarious.

Oh I think they can do it…

It’s been proven with a few glaring examples. There would be a point where it’s too far…that’s what I always caution. I have no idea where that point is…but it does exist.

I think that we are already far closer to block pricing than people realize. That is the ultimate goal. 4 rounds of discovery cove a day. Orwellian.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Bolded is exactly why they are having issues with Genie+. Guests have been told that you can't visit with out FP. Now they want to go the route of limited availability and guests are mad. FP should never have been free in the first place

I don’t disagree In theory.

But it did work for quite a while and then Disney made 2 mistakes:

1. Not adding capacity in line with attendance increases.
2. Streamline merchandise and not adding enough food options - which is what fast pass was designed to get you to consume more of.

 

[G00fyDad]

I don’t disagree In theory.

But it did work for quite a while and then Disney made 2 mistakes:

1. Not adding capacity in line with attendance increases.
2. Streamline merchandise and not adding enough food options - which is what fast pass was designed to get you to consume more of.

This is one of my biggest issues (not the only one) with WDW today. These days if you walk into one WDW gift shop you have just walked into all of them. Yes, there are some shops that offer something different but for the most part they are all the same "Disney Parks" shops.

 

[Disney Glimpses]

FWIW, Genie+ has actually been pretty good over the last 2-4 weeks. It's no where near the poor experience over the Spring. I still think more significant changes are coming but in my opinion it's absolutely worth the 15 bucks.

At this moment, it's after 1PM and nearly every attraction still has availability (including Slinky and Frozen).

 

[Jrb1979]

I don’t disagree In theory.

But it did work for quite a while and then Disney made 2 mistakes:

1. Not adding capacity in line with attendance increases.
2. Streamline merchandise and not adding enough food options - which is what fast pass was designed to get you to consume more of.

Since that didn't happen, here we are. The solution now is to price people out of Genie+. The added capacity that's needed isn't coming anytime soon.

IMO they don't know how to run parks and haven't for a long time. There is a reason the best run Disney park isn't run by Disney. They should take some hints from Tokyo.

 

[Jrb1979]

FWIW, Genie+ has actually been pretty good over the last 2-4 weeks. It's no where near the poor experience over the Spring. I still think more significant changes are coming but in my opinion it's absolutely worth the 15 bucks.

My guess is there is less people in the parks now so less people are using Genie+.

 

[Disney Glimpses]

My guess is there is less people in the parks now so less people are using Genie+.

The parks are definitely less crowded but perplexingly have no availability for resort or day ticket guests. I think the lack of tickets pre-purchased with Genie+ is having an impact as well (along with 4 popular attractions being included, now possibly permanently).

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

This is one of my biggest issues (not the only one) with WDW today. These days if you walk into one WDW gift shop you have just walked into all of them. Yes, there are some shops that offer something different but for the most part they are all the same "Disney Parks" shops.

The net effect is it doesn’t draw people away for enough time. It’s an operational problem. They built them out deliberately in the 70s-00s deliberately. It’s not just what you’re spending…it’s where you are. It’s all supposed to balance it self out…like the waves/tides.

You see how lost they are in star wars land…instead of selling exclusive stuff to Gen Xers (who have only bought about $100,000,000,000 of that stuff since they were kids) en masse…they try to get 24 kids at a time to buy a lightsaber at $200 a pop. It’s a loss. Slaphead isn’t even good and what they claim he’s “good” at.

 

[Disney Glimpses]

FWIW, Genie+ has actually been pretty good over the last 2-4 weeks. It's no where near the poor experience over the Spring. I still think more significant changes are coming but in my opinion it's absolutely worth the 15 bucks.

At this moment, it's after 1PM and nearly every attraction still has availability (including Slinky and Frozen).

And there are a lot that are soon for quick redemption.

You could skip the following waits within the next half hour or so:

Haunted Mansion (45 min wait)
Soarin' (45 min wait)
Star Tours (40 min wait)
Toy Story Mania (95 min wait)
Tower of Terror (40 min wait)
Kilimanjaro Safari (75 min wait)

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

The parks are definitely less crowded but perplexingly have no availability for resort or day ticket guests. I think the lack of tickets pre-purchased with Genie+ is having an impact as well (along with 4 popular attractions being included, now possibly permanently).

That is definitely it.

They couldn’t continue to oversell it in advance…but it causes less day of sales. It’s their fault dating back to Bob

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

And there are a lot that are soon for quick redemption.

You could skip the following waits within the next half hour or so:

Haunted Mansion (45 min wait)
Soarin' (45 min wait)
Star Tours (40 min wait)
Toy Story Mania (95 min wait)
Tower of Terror (40 min wait)
Kilimanjaro Safari (75 min wait)

I bet the august/September crowds are the least likely to buy genie…just a hunch

 

[dreday3]

This is one of my biggest issues (not the only one) with WDW today. These days if you walk into one WDW gift shop you have just walked into all of them. Yes, there are some shops that offer something different but for the most part they are all the same "Disney Parks" shops.

I think the resort shops are getting better. Contemporary has some excellent resort only merch!

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

I think the resort shops are getting better. Contemporary has some excellent resort only merch!

I noticed it has increased some. The attraction/resort Christmas ornaments stand out to me.

The resort stuff is a no brainer to keep…but idiots like pressler and chapek couldn’t understand it

 

[Lou Filerman]

• You only can make one selection at a time.
• You have to make your first selection at 7 AM every day of your vacation
• You are at the mercy of the next return time. You can't select a specific return time (e.g. if you have a dining reservation)
• You can't modify an existing reservation. You have to cancel and rebook if you need to change times/see a better time.
• Capacity is diminished because one headliner attraction in each park is not part of Genie+
• It has the ability to have overlapping reservations and stacking reservations (positive)
• No tiers (positive)
• You can grab a return time and after you hit confirm, that return time can shift,.sometimes by hours.

Hi. Question. Can I book my second genie + for a time that is earlier than my first? Example. At 7am I book Test Track for 3pm. At 11am I can get soarin but soarin is at 1pm. Am I able to do that or does my second ride have to be after my first ride if I haven’t ridden it yet?

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Hi. Question. Can I book my second genie + for a time that is earlier than my first? Example. At 7am I book Test Track for 3pm. At 11am I can get soarin but soarin is at 1pm. Am I able to do that or does my second ride have to be after my first ride if I haven’t ridden it yet?

Yes…you can book at any time window in any park. The 90 minute lag between selections is the only thing that is rigid

 

[Andrew M]

I found the nights to be useful. The mornings less so.

Yeah, even if I rush everyone to get to the parks in time to take advantage of the early opening, that 30 minutes basically gets us on one ride, and maybe inline for the next one by the time the park opens.

Meanwhile at night you're already there and can gradually get more done as the park empties out