Lightning Lane at Walt Disney World

[pdude81]

No, he's just wrong. I just did it.

I have a reservation for January 18 at Magic Kingdom. I have top attraction of Jungle Cruise. I keep scrolling down, I told it I'm going to park hop to Hollywood Studios, and I have top attraction Alien Swirling Saucers.

This is the button to tell it you're park hopping.

View attachment 684144

That's a big improvement, even if it's a ty interface. It can be such a PITA trying to refresh for the second park after you hop

 

[HoustonHorn]

Lol so you're going to stay mad at it because it does exactly the function you wrongly claimed it didn't do.

Not mad. Ain't worth my anger. Annoyed with it for a host of reasons, and the primary is its lack of intuitiveness.

But the modify function is a huge improvement, even if I can't use it because there are no more FPs I want available. It would have helped the last few days.

 

[pdude81]

Not mad. Ain't worth my anger. Annoyed with it for a host of reasons, and the primary is its lack of intuitiveness.

But the modify function is a huge improvement, even if I can't use it because there are no more FPs I want available. It would have helped the last few days.

Well it's going to cause more of those problems, as before people didn't want to take the chance of losing what they had previously. We'll see how the availability mix moves going forward

 

[HoustonHorn]

Well it's going to cause more of those problems, as before people didn't want to take the chance of losing what they had previously. We'll see how the availability mix moves going forward

Seriously, @CaptainAmerica , thanks for pointing out where to add the hop - also a nice feature.

@pdude81, you're right. Some people (like me), would already grab a less-wanted G+ and be willing to risk the switch (and a polite begging at a blue tent if I screwed the pooch); others probably held off until one they wanted showed up. This eliminates the incentive to wait.

We shall see.

One good thing about this system vs FP+ - we had to take an unscheduled rest day. In the past, I would have lost all planning for that day. This time, I was able to pivot the park pass and have a great time without missing out on my only MGM rope drop day.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

One good thing about this system vs FP+ - we had to take an unscheduled rest day.

One other thing it does really well is how it handles large groups. Genie+ distributes one Lightning Lane reservation per group (up to 12 people) while FastPass+ distributed one reservation per person. Finding FP+ reservations for large parties was very difficult because there needed to be availability for that many people. With Genie+, if there's availability for one group, any size group can claim it.

 

[HoustonHorn]

One other thing it does really well is how it handles large groups. Genie+ distributes one Lightning Lane reservation per group (up to 12 people) while FastPass+ distributed one reservation per person. Finding FP+ reservations for large parties was very difficult because there needed to be availability for that many people. With Genie+, if there's availability for one group, any size group can claim it.

That is comforting. I will be lead for a 3-family party of 8 next Thanksgiving. Hope this is still the case.

 

[phillip9698]

You know, I don't know. Let me ask the SS developer if they know the return-time distributions for 7 am drops.

I just wanted to drop this since i actually did purchase and use the system this week.

Just got back from a week long trip and wanted to share a note on Genie+ and Standby Skipper.

We are not rope droppers, or mid day break people. We enter the parks around 10 and we stay until closing. During research on the best Genie+ strategies i came across a tool called Standby Skipper. Ive seen it mentioned here a couple times as well but there werent many hands on user reports. Also there isnt much activity on their socials so i was a bit leery at first using it especially since they need to be added as a friend on your MDE, but i decided what the heck, if anything bad happens ill just dispute the charge.

So the way this thing works is if you have Genie+ you can use the Standby Skipper to book LL passes for you. You just tell it a time frame for which to search (ASAP, Morning, Afternoon, Evening, Within 2 Hours) and its starts searching and if something pops up meeting your parameters then it books it for you.

So me being the type of person that likes to sleep in, i figured id use this tool to book a LL for mid morning while im still asleep at 7am. The previous night i purchased Genie+ and then told SS to book a pass for Peter Pan in the morning, figuring since the park opens at 9am id have until 10:10 to make it to Peter Pan if the thing worked that well. Guess what, i woke up to a booked LL for Peter Pan at 9am. It worked. I then told it to book a LL for SM ASAP. The tool knew the earliest i could book again was 11. When 11 rolled around i was in the middle of the HM ride, when i left the ride i checked my phone and the SM pass was sitting right there in my account. On another day i told the app i wanted a LL for SDD around 12, since my HS day was after my MVMCP night and i wanted to sleep in. Woke up at 9:30 am, and boom, saw a SDD LL for 12:35.

So SS does its job well, it books while you are asleep and while you are in the middle of a ride. But the absolute best thing about the app is that it still grabs LL passes when MDE says there arent any more available. I told SS to search for LL passes for the following rides for which MDE showed there was ZERO LL availability: BTMR, Jingle Cruise, MF:SR, Frozen, Test Track, and Space Mountain. It took a max of 20 minutes for the app to find each of those LL, even with MDE showing as unavailable. Sure you could have found them also with CONSTANT refreshing but thats not how i want to spend my vacation, let someone else do the dirty work for me.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

I just wanted to drop this since i actually did purchase and use the system this week.

Just got back from a week long trip and wanted to share a note on Genie+ and Standby Skipper.

We are not rope droppers, or mid day break people. We enter the parks around 10 and we stay until closing. During research on the best Genie+ strategies i came across a tool called Standby Skipper. Ive seen it mentioned here a couple times as well but there werent many hands on user reports. Also there isnt much activity on their socials so i was a bit leery at first using it especially since they need to be added as a friend on your MDE, but i decided what the heck, if anything bad happens ill just dispute the charge.

So the way this thing works is if you have Genie+ you can use the Standby Skipper to book LL passes for you. You just tell it a time frame for which to search (ASAP, Morning, Afternoon, Evening, Within 2 Hours) and its starts searching and if something pops up meeting your parameters then it books it for you.

So me being the type of person that likes to sleep in, i figured id use this tool to book a LL for mid morning while im still asleep at 7am. The previous night i purchased Genie+ and then told SS to book a pass for Peter Pan in the morning, figuring since the park opens at 9am id have until 10:10 to make it to Peter Pan if the thing worked that well. Guess what, i woke up to a booked LL for Peter Pan at 9am. It worked. I then told it to book a LL for SM ASAP. The tool knew the earliest i could book again was 11. When 11 rolled around i was in the middle of the HM ride, when i left the ride i checked my phone and the SM pass was sitting right there in my account. On another day i told the app i wanted a LL for SDD around 12, since my HS day was after my MVMCP night and i wanted to sleep in. Woke up at 9:30 am, and boom, saw a SDD LL for 12:35.

So SS does its job well, it books while you are asleep and while you are in the middle of a ride. But the absolute best thing about the app is that it still grabs LL passes when MDE says there arent any more available. I told SS to search for LL passes for the following rides for which MDE showed there was ZERO LL availability: BTMR, Jingle Cruise, MF:SR, Frozen, Test Track, and Space Mountain. It took a max of 20 minutes for the app to find each of those LL, even with MDE showing as unavailable. Sure you could have found them also with CONSTANT refreshing but thats not how i want to spend my vacation, let someone else do the dirty work for me.

Yeah Disney should absolutely crack down on that.

I don't blame you for doing it when it's allowed, but it shouldn't be.

 

[DisneyDreamer08]

I just wanted to drop this since i actually did purchase and use the system this week.

Just got back from a week long trip and wanted to share a note on Genie+ and Standby Skipper.

We are not rope droppers, or mid day break people. We enter the parks around 10 and we stay until closing. During research on the best Genie+ strategies i came across a tool called Standby Skipper. Ive seen it mentioned here a couple times as well but there werent many hands on user reports. Also there isnt much activity on their socials so i was a bit leery at first using it especially since they need to be added as a friend on your MDE, but i decided what the heck, if anything bad happens ill just dispute the charge.

So the way this thing works is if you have Genie+ you can use the Standby Skipper to book LL passes for you. You just tell it a time frame for which to search (ASAP, Morning, Afternoon, Evening, Within 2 Hours) and its starts searching and if something pops up meeting your parameters then it books it for you.

So me being the type of person that likes to sleep in, i figured id use this tool to book a LL for mid morning while im still asleep at 7am. The previous night i purchased Genie+ and then told SS to book a pass for Peter Pan in the morning, figuring since the park opens at 9am id have until 10:10 to make it to Peter Pan if the thing worked that well. Guess what, i woke up to a booked LL for Peter Pan at 9am. It worked. I then told it to book a LL for SM ASAP. The tool knew the earliest i could book again was 11. When 11 rolled around i was in the middle of the HM ride, when i left the ride i checked my phone and the SM pass was sitting right there in my account. On another day i told the app i wanted a LL for SDD around 12, since my HS day was after my MVMCP night and i wanted to sleep in. Woke up at 9:30 am, and boom, saw a SDD LL for 12:35.

So SS does its job well, it books while you are asleep and while you are in the middle of a ride. But the absolute best thing about the app is that it still grabs LL passes when MDE says there arent any more available. I told SS to search for LL passes for the following rides for which MDE showed there was ZERO LL availability: BTMR, Jingle Cruise, MF:SR, Frozen, Test Track, and Space Mountain. It took a max of 20 minutes for the app to find each of those LL, even with MDE showing as unavailable. Sure you could have found them also with CONSTANT refreshing but thats not how i want to spend my vacation, let someone else do the dirty work for me.

It’s certainly a cool concept. How much was it? Just out of curiosity.
Back in the day, my travel agent used to book our Fastpasses for us at our initial 60 day window. When Genie+ rolled out, I wondered if TAs would be willing to book every morning of your trip. I didn’t ask mine because it definitely seemed like too much to ask

 

[phillip9698]

It’s certainly a cool concept. How much was it? Just out of curiosity.
Back in the day, my travel agent used to book our Fastpasses for us at our initial 60 day window. When Genie+ rolled out, I wondered if TAs would be willing to book every morning of your trip. I didn’t ask mine because it definitely seemed like too much to ask

$45 for a week. I figured 7 bucks a day was worth me not having to wake up early and to snag "unavailable" LLs.

 

[Chi84]

Yeah Disney should absolutely crack down on that.

I don't blame you for doing it when it's allowed, but it shouldn't be.

Disney created a system that requires people to be on their phones all day starting at what some consider a very early hour. It was just a matter of time until people found a way around it.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

Disney created a system that requires people to be on their phones all day

They absolutely did not.

1) People were staring at their phones all day long before anyone ever heard of Genie+.

2) I've said this before, but I can make my next Lightning Lane with one hand while I pee if I wanted to. More often than not, I've booked my next Lightning Lane before boarding the ride vehicle after clicking into my preceding lightning lane.

There are a lot of valid complaints about Genie+ but I really feel like this one is entirely overblown.

 

[Chi84]

They absolutely did not.

1) People were staring at their phones all day long before anyone ever heard of Genie+.

2) I've said this before, but I can make my next Lightning Lane with one hand while I pee if I wanted to. More often than not, I've booked my next Lightning Lane before boarding the ride vehicle after clicking into my preceding lightning lane.

There are a lot of valid complaints about Genie+ but I really feel like this one is entirely overblown.

There are other people who aren’t like you. They’re the ones who have issues and complaints.

 

[phillip9698]

They absolutely did not.

1) People were staring at their phones all day long before anyone ever heard of Genie+.

2) I've said this before, but I can make my next Lightning Lane with one hand while I pee if I wanted to. More often than not, I've booked my next Lightning Lane before boarding the ride vehicle after clicking into my preceding lightning lane.

There are a lot of valid complaints about Genie+ but I really feel like this one is entirely overblown.

You certainly cant do that if MDE is showing the LL you want as unavailable.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

You certainly cant do that if MDE is showing the LL you want as unavailable.

It would be an inefficient use of Genie+ to select one and only one ILL as "the one you want" at any given time. Much more efficient to take the best available of what comes up.

 

[Chi84]

Things that work for some don’t work so well for others. There’s so much to do at WDW with varying degrees of interest and focus for different people.

Forums like these are valuable because they allow people to share all types of experiences. You can learn so much and then decide what works best for you and the way you like to spend your days there.

 

[aaronml]

I just wanted to drop this since i actually did purchase and use the system this week.

Just got back from a week long trip and wanted to share a note on Genie+ and Standby Skipper.

We are not rope droppers, or mid day break people. We enter the parks around 10 and we stay until closing. During research on the best Genie+ strategies i came across a tool called Standby Skipper. Ive seen it mentioned here a couple times as well but there werent many hands on user reports. Also there isnt much activity on their socials so i was a bit leery at first using it especially since they need to be added as a friend on your MDE, but i decided what the heck, if anything bad happens ill just dispute the charge.

So the way this thing works is if you have Genie+ you can use the Standby Skipper to book LL passes for you. You just tell it a time frame for which to search (ASAP, Morning, Afternoon, Evening, Within 2 Hours) and its starts searching and if something pops up meeting your parameters then it books it for you.

So me being the type of person that likes to sleep in, i figured id use this tool to book a LL for mid morning while im still asleep at 7am. The previous night i purchased Genie+ and then told SS to book a pass for Peter Pan in the morning, figuring since the park opens at 9am id have until 10:10 to make it to Peter Pan if the thing worked that well. Guess what, i woke up to a booked LL for Peter Pan at 9am. It worked. I then told it to book a LL for SM ASAP. The tool knew the earliest i could book again was 11. When 11 rolled around i was in the middle of the HM ride, when i left the ride i checked my phone and the SM pass was sitting right there in my account. On another day i told the app i wanted a LL for SDD around 12, since my HS day was after my MVMCP night and i wanted to sleep in. Woke up at 9:30 am, and boom, saw a SDD LL for 12:35.

So SS does its job well, it books while you are asleep and while you are in the middle of a ride. But the absolute best thing about the app is that it still grabs LL passes when MDE says there arent any more available. I told SS to search for LL passes for the following rides for which MDE showed there was ZERO LL availability: BTMR, Jingle Cruise, MF:SR, Frozen, Test Track, and Space Mountain. It took a max of 20 minutes for the app to find each of those LL, even with MDE showing as unavailable. Sure you could have found them also with CONSTANT refreshing but thats not how i want to spend my vacation, let someone else do the dirty work for me.

This seems like something that Disney will inevitably block, IMO.

I don’t think they care much about bots tracking availability, but bots actually booking LLs? That likely crosses a line.

 

[phillip9698]

It would be an inefficient use of Genie+ to select one and only one ILL as "the one you want" at any given time. Much more efficient to take the best available of what comes up.

Efficient comes into play when you are comparing rides of a similar caliber. You certainly wouldnt suggest someone ride Teacups, Dumbo, and Barnstormer instead of Space Mountain because its more efficient.

Jingle Cruise had a standby wait of 90 minutes and the MDE showed LL as unavailable. I told SS to look for a LL for that ride and in less than 20 minutes i had one. My family was able to skip a very long queue for a ride they really wanted to experience.

When guests really want to ride particular attractions on their vacations, riding something else because it was more efficient doesnt really hold much weight.

 

[nickys]

So has anyone tried modifying an LL yet?

Or indeed, whether you used that feature or not, did it seem to affect the G+ process much? Any difference in availability etc? I know we’ll likely have to wait a few days to see real analysis of the impact but first impressions are useful.

 

[Purduevian]

You certainly cant do that if MDE is showing the LL you want as unavailable.

Why not? I brought MMRR, ToT and RNRC back from the dead in about a 2 hour span. It certainly takes a lot more phone time though.