Lightning Lane at Walt Disney World

[Jrb1979]

Now I remember why we never went there all that much.

You could avoid waiting in those long lines if you buy Fastlane. It's only starts at $120 a person. This season I seen go up to $180 on busy days.

 

[Chi84]

You could avoid waiting in those long lines if you buy Fastlane. It's only starts at $120 a person. This season I seen go up to $180 on busy days.

Another reason why we never went there all that much.

 

[Disstevefan1]

& what happens to stand by lines? Noone wants to answer this… do they magically disappear bc when you price out majority of Genie users where do they end up? Stand by lines. Again this is nothing more than a shell game they cant fix unless you add hours capacity & more things to do around the parks….

Just like universal you standby, single rider and express pass.

Universal already proved it can be done.

 

[John park hopper]

They have to know their pricing out middle income and lower income people so it that the plan.
Disney for the wealthy and upper middle class and with that a new song
MIC KEY MONEY

The new Mickey Money club Song

Who's the leader of the club
That's made for you and me
M-I-C-K-E-Y M-O_N_E_Y
Hey! there, Hi! there, Ho! there
You're welcome if you can pay the fee
M-I-C-K-E-Y M-O_N_E_Y
Mickey Money!
(Donald Bucks)
Mickey Money!
(Donald Bucks)
Forever let us hold our price
High! High! High! High!
Come along and pay the fee
And join the jamboree!
M-I-C-K-E-Y M_O_N_E_Y
Mickey Money club
Mickey Money club
M-I-C-K-E-Y M_O_N_E_Y
Hey! there, Hi! there, Ho! there
You're welcome if you can pay the fee
M-I-C-K-E-Y M-O_N_E_Y
Mickey Money!
(Donald BuckS)
Mickey Money!
(Donald Bucks)
Forever let us hold our prices high
High! High! High! High!
M-I-C-K-E-Y M-O-N-E-Y

 

[TQQQ]

I will still pay is so I guess I am those words you use ... We only have a few days so will spend the extra to increase our chances of maximizing our days

And we went to that park in Pigeon Forge this summer (where the skip the line was $60 or $80 per person depending on the level, fwiw) and while it was nice, we didn't find it came close to the experience of a Disney park ... Guess we are just those suckers being targeted

Yup. You are

 

[JD80]

Standby lines go faster without a massive amount of LL people.

 

[Casper Gutman]

How so?!? Standby lines will only be longer as less people would be using long lines. They simply dont have the capacity to deal with the crowds they have nowadays

If you eliminate line-skipping systems, standby will become both faster and, on average, shorter. If people have to stand in line physically they can only stand in one line. With a line-skipping system, one guest is waiting in multiple lines at the same time.

 

[Mark Dunne]

"Boy you said it chewie" i guess if i was just waking from a coma and had been to WDW in 2018,then woke up 2022, id be what the hell happened to WDW, its crazy in 4 years the amount of changes that have happened, im gonna say this genie plus is turd, we bought it this march, kept checking the phone all the time,still couldn't get on thunder mountain ( broke down 3 times in the day ) this now is not the magical experiance it used to be, how the heck a 4 person family can afford all these price hikes is beyond me, ''this will be a day long remembered, it has seen the last of disney magical express, and will soon be the end of happiness as we know it''

 

[Disstevefan1]

"Boy you said it chewie" i guess if i was just waking from a coma and had been to WDW in 2018,then woke up 2022, id be what the hell happened to WDW, its crazy in 4 years the amount of changes that have happened, im gonna say this genie plus is turd, we bought it this march, kept checking the phone all the time,still couldn't get on thunder mountain ( broke down 3 times in the day ) this now is not the magical experiance it used to be, how the heck a 4 person family can afford all these price hikes is beyond me, ''this will be a day long remembered, it has seen the last of disney magical express, and will soon be the end of happiness as we know it''

Break downs and other things like weather really destroys ( any alleged) advantage of Genie+ and ILL.

The joke is on the guest as they already paid their money.

 

[Patcheslee]

I think we're an "average family of 5" and we didn't spend anywhere close to $20K on our Disney trip in June. We're all young adults/adults; stayed in a suite at AoA (so more expensive than a room at a Moderate) for 8 nights; we had 8-day park hopper tickets; had Genie+ for 8 days; bought at least 1 ILL every day (some days we bought 2); bought all of our meals (full disclosure: we did not do any TS meals this trip but did eat at some of the higher priced QS restaurants), snacks, and drinks in the parks or at the resort (other than 5 breakfasts that we ate in the room); 4 of us drove the 1,000+ miles each way to and from Disney and spent 3 nights in hotels on the drive (we were all in one car); one person flew and used Uber to and from both airports; and we spent about $700 on souvenirs. Our total cost for *all* of that was a little under $14,000....and that included a 12-night stay at a kennel for our dog! It would take *a lot* of work for us to spend another $6,000....even on an 8 day trip. We didn't *try* to save money on this trip -- we ate what we wanted, when we wanted it and didn't worry about the price. We bought a lot of drinks and snacks in the parks each day. We bought the souvenirs we wanted. If we had done a few TS meals on this trip we might have added another $1000 to that total. And most people stay less than 8 nights (I think I've read that the average stay is 6 nights) so if we had a shorter stay, our costs would have been lower. We also could have saved some money by booking 2 rooms at a Value instead of the suite, but we weren't trying to save money...we were booking what works best for us. I think it's totally possible for a family of 5 to go to Disney for $10K (or less if you don't spend as much on food in the parks; don't spend a ton on souvenirs;, etc.). I'm not sure who's spending $20k to stay at a moderate resort...except maybe people who are coming from another country and staying for 2 weeks.

We're domestic 2 adult, 1 14yo staying 10 nights June 2023 CBR, 10 days tickets hopper +, 1 TS & 1 QS daily, rental car entire trip time, RT flight, Genie+, ILL daily, souvenirs, comes to $11,500 IF we buy the most expensive items on meals and have a drink each time, droid build for 2 and a Light Saber build. Average $3750/person over 11 days. So maybe see 5 people getting close to that, but there are many things that could be cut and still be enjoyable and cost much less.

 

[crazy4disney]

If you eliminate line-skipping systems, standby will become both faster and, on average, shorter. If people have to stand in line physically they can only stand in one line. With a line-skipping system, one guest is waiting in multiple lines at the same time.

Let everyone keep
Telling themselves that. I truly wish Disney would for 1 week. A couple of day. Heck 1 day where its crowded not Christmas crowded but 7-8 crowded just to put this to rest. Unfortunately itwould never happen. And please dont tell me to watch Defunctland for the umpteenth time. I know you are not saying lines will go away but you are implying they will which they will not… i was there late summer parks were far from crowded but also far from empty… Genie literally were ride after ride for 10-11 days straight and this coming from someone who hated it his 1st experience. Wait times were respectable but they were far from walk ons…

 

[Casper Gutman]

Let everyone keep
Telling themselves that. I truly wish Disney would for 1 week. A couple of day. Heck 1 day where its crowded not Christmas crowded but 7-8 crowded just to put this to rest. Unfortunately itwould never happen. And please dont tell me to watch Defunctland for the umpteenth time. I know you are not saying lines will go away but you are implying they will which they will not… i was there late summer parks were far from crowded but also far from empty… Genie literally were ride after ride for 10-11 days straight and this coming from someone who hated it his 1st experience. Wait times were respectable but they were far from walk ons…

No matter how much faith you have in line-skipping systems, the simple fact - the mathematical fact - is that they multiply the number of people in a park by creating virtual guests. The fewer people actively waiting in a line, the shorter the line. NO ONE has ever implied anything close to the idea that lines would go away. What they have factually STATED is that line-skipping makes lines slower and, on average, longer. That’s not opinion.

 

[crazy4disney]

No matter how much faith you have in line-skipping systems, the simple fact - the mathematical fact - is that they multiply the number of people in a park by creating virtual guests. The fewer people actively waiting in a line, the shorter the line. NO ONE has ever implied anything close to the idea that lines would go away. What they have factually STATED is that line-skipping makes lines slower and, on average, longer. That’s not opinion.

Come on. I have read here and other forums that these long lines are direct results of Fastpass & now Genie indirectly implying that they would basically go away if we had no skip the line system & to me thats just not fact. All these rides would still have long waits on busy days with NO ability to skip anything. People can say what they want but w FP & now Genie you still were able to get on rides w no wait at all. & that makes peoplehappy.

 

[Kman]

I agree that more ride and attraction capacity would help...with today's numbers. The reality is that more people than ever before can afford to go to WDW. That's a good thing if you look at it from a larger perspective- it's potentially an indicator that more people globally (or at least the countries from which people come to visit WDW) are doing better economically. The flip side is that the parks and the resort are much busier.

Suppose that Disney maxed out the capacity in the four parks to a point where they had ZERO space to expand further. Suppose further that they did it properly with attractions and rides that were true people eaters. Undoubtedly, it would positively impact everyone's experience in the parks- FP+ or not. It would also be short-term- eventually, numbers would meet supply again. It's impossible to say how much time they could buy (5 years? 10 years? 15 years?) before the numbers would overtake capacity again.

The above is not meant to excuse how they run the business today. There is no excuse for that from a guest satisfaction perspective other than to say that the parks are swamped, so I suppose it's "working." I am coming to a conclusion on a few things. I believe the golden age of Disney parks is gone and may never come back. If it does, because they actually invest effectively in the parks, it will be short-term. The world, in general, is getting wealthier and global travel is far more prevalent than at any other time in history. Those two components will mean the parks will probably always be busier than they were, and Disney, at some point, will run out of capacity even if they did everything "right." Unless Disney experiences a decline in their brand and people don't go because it isn't as appealing, they are no longer interested etc. I see this as a never-ending cycle.

All of this being said, we have decided that a "Disney only" vacation is no longer something we will do unless something changes. We are planning a trip to Florida this spring. We will spend a week on the beach and three nights at WDW and MAYBE go to one park. There is a reasonable chance that we will just enjoy our hotel, some meals and just hanging out. We are not interested in theme parks per se- we went to Disney because we loved the environment, and the parks were part of that.

I wish things could go back to how things used to be, but that is not reasonable or rational. The world has changed, and so has Disney- for better or worse. Disney as a corporation has also changed. They are a typical publicly traded behemoth only concerned about the bottom line and their shareholders. They would never do anything that is "risky," or that might cut into their profits but do wonders for their guests. I suspect they will cut and skimp and play it safe and successfully do it or until it no longer works. Then who knows?

It's disheartening as we have a ton of great memories associated with WDW, but it is also a "first-world problem." We have decided to accept it and move on. We will visit (or not) completely on our terms. We have a lot of vacation plans over the next several years, and Disney does not play into them at all other than perhaps this spring. Even that is not written in stone.

 

[allgiggles]

We're domestic 2 adult, 1 14yo staying 10 nights June 2023 CBR, 10 days tickets hopper +, 1 TS & 1 QS daily, rental car entire trip time, RT flight, Genie+, ILL daily, souvenirs, comes to $11,500 IF we buy the most expensive items on meals and have a drink each time, droid build for 2 and a Light Saber build. Average $3750/person over 11 days. So maybe see 5 people getting close to that, but there are many things that could be cut and still be enjoyable and cost much less.

But keep in mind that you're talking about an 11 day stay and the PP referenced a week. I don't doubt that if someone works at it they can spend $20K on a week-long stay at a moderate resort, but I think that's more the exception than the rule. And buying Genie+ and ILLs doesn't make the average stay cost $20K (just throwing that in there to stay on the topic of the thread. )

 

[TheMaxRebo]

We're domestic 2 adult, 1 14yo staying 10 nights June 2023 CBR, 10 days tickets hopper +, 1 TS & 1 QS daily, rental car entire trip time, RT flight, Genie+, ILL daily, souvenirs, comes to $11,500 IF we buy the most expensive items on meals and have a drink each time, droid build for 2 and a Light Saber build. Average $3750/person over 11 days. So maybe see 5 people getting close to that, but there are many things that could be cut and still be enjoyable and cost much less.

10 nights is pretty long too ... I would think the average family is staying more like 5 or 6 nights

Obviously still not a cheap vacation but hyperbole can be out there

 

[Patcheslee]

But keep in mind that you're talking about an 11 day stay and the PP referenced a week. I don't doubt that if someone works at it they can spend $20K on a week-long stay at a moderate resort, but I think that's more the exception than the rule. And buying Genie+ and ILLs doesn't make the average stay cost $20K (just throwing that in there to stay on the topic of the thread. )

The point was it took alot of extras and longer stay to rack up close to $20k. Genie and ILL accounts for $469/person if we do every day and everything at the $22 price point. Genie+/ILL only accounts for 12% of the spending.

 

[allgiggles]

The point was it took alot of extras and longer stay to rack up close to $20k. Genie and ILL accounts for $469/person if we do every day and everything at the $22 price point. Genie+/ILL only accounts for 12% of the spending.

Sorry, I should have worded my response better (it was a long day...). I was basically agreeing with your post -- that it would take a longer stay and a lot of extras to hit $20K for a family of 5 at a moderate resort. Now, if someone is staying club level at a Deluxe resort and eating 3 table service meals a day, it won't take long at all. But that's not the "average" family or stay. Genie+ and ILL accounted for a little less than 10% of the total cost of our visit in June.

In general, a vacation at Disney is privilege, not a right. It's never going to be "cheap". Disney is a business and they're going to make a profit (that's how businesses work!) so they will always be trying to get more money out of their guests....just like any other entertainment venue.

 

[bhg469]

We are locals and have been there many times in the past year. We used G+ for the first time this saturday because we had a family member visit. She has back and neck issues so we did not go on any rides where she would be uncomfortable. We also did not use a DAS pass for her.. This was our only experience with G+... I will say it worked for our advantage because of how few rides we actually went on.. Having said that, if we didn't have G+ that day, we would have never gone to the park. It looked like a miserable experience for anyone in standby. The only standby line we did go in was Pirates because at the time it was a 40 minute wait and we had an hour window before we could go to Haunted mansion for our LL.. Pirates queue was running as efficiently as I have ever seen it. The standby line was constantly moving which was nice to see.

 

[Casper Gutman]

I'm always amazed at how many people haven't gotten that memo and complain about not being able to afford a trip to Disney World...as if it's some guaranteed right -- that *everyone* should be able to afford a trip to Disney World (or any other vacation destination...but mostly Disney World) at least once in their lives....and they should be able to afford a 5,000+ sq. ft. home and a brand new car or two every year as well.

I mean, Disneyland was essentially intended to be accessible to a huge and growing middle class* - it was a key element of the cultural moment that informed its conception and that it in turn helped define. Modern Disney increasingly works to exclude huge portions of that already endangered middle class. So yeah, the change and its implications are definitely worthy of consideration.

*It must be remembered, of course, that bias excluded multiple groups from the contemporary understanding of the middle class population.