Lightning Lane at Walt Disney World

[monothingie]

Genie+ was available for a little while longer today, but has now sold out for the second day in a row.

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I don't buy this being a legit sell out. Even though this is a holiday weekend, the wait times in the parks are far less than were over Christmas and Thanksgiving. Which to my knowledge did not have any Genie+ sellouts.

I think they got slammed for over the top wait times CAUSED by Genie+ during the Holiday periods last year which were caused as a direct result of too many Genie+ purchases being sold. By lowering the availability of Genie+ this weekend they could better balance the ratio of standby to LL guests and lower the wait times correspondingly.

 

[Touchdown]

If they decreased the amount of slots for G+ that’s a win. It means more slots for standby.

 

[monothingie]

If they decreased the amount of slots for G+ that’s a win. It means more slots for standby.

I think it's an admission of defeat. Genie+ and ILL was supposed to balance this problem out and improve guest satisfaction, instead it created an environment that only lead to MORE guest dissatisfaction.

Guests are still complaining about long wait times and crowding, and 'now' complaining about lack of Genie+ availability, which only seem to reinforce the fact that the parks are overcrowded AND in desperate need of additional capacity.

 

[MisterPenguin]

 

[jlhwdw]

I'd honestly be happy to pay double Universal/Cedar Fair/Six Flags queue skipping prices for a one day unlimited G+. Heck, make it triple. You'd have the usual folks crying "greed" but you would also have people that found value in it that would do it. But not enough to affect capacity in standby lines like now.

My biggest issue with the current system is the same as it was for FP+. C and D ticket rides with enormous hourly capacity (think Spaceship Earth, Pirates, Haunted Mansion, etc) would still have respectably short wait times on the busiest days. And on slow to moderate days they were always guaranteed walk on or a 15 minute wait. The current system creates artificial demand for rides that were designed to have lines that never stopped moving.

 

[monothingie]

Memo to Scott: Of course they expected it to sell out. If they intentionally adjusted the available quantity down.

 

[LittleBuford]

Memo to Scott: Of course they expected it to sell out. If they intentionally adjusted the available quantity down.

I’m not sure how this changes the point. Even it’s because they’ve adjusted the inventory (which is no bad thing if they were selling too many before), it has sold out.

 

[monothingie]

I’m not sure how this changes the point. Even it’s because they’ve adjusted the inventory (which is no bad thing if they were selling too many before), it has sold out.

I think it's significant because if it holds up, it's a stunning change in tactics for Disney and an admission of defeat. Wait times were seen as a measure of success and more Genie+ sales were icing on the cake.

 

[MrPromey]

I have to laugh the pages and pages of folks complaining about the "greed" that is Disney charging for queue skipping.

Universal has been doing it for close to two decades. And it costs more. Cedar Fair and Six Flags parks will charge more per person for queue skipping than a ticket to get in. Cedar Point on a peak Saturday last year was $229 per person. $29 at WDW is a steal compared to that.

Call it greed. But it's a company (Disney, Universal, Cedar Fair, etc) selling/supplying a product the customers (guests) are asking for and paying for. It's just not something you agree with.

Can't speak to Cedar Fair and Six Flags but if you've really read all these pages and pages, you'd know that what Universal offers is a much different product/service than what Disney's offering (and is also included complementary for all guests of their deluxe resorts which are closer in price to Disney's moderates).

As for what you get, the level of access is closer to that of Disney's VIP tours which is priced at $450-$900 an hour in addition to park admission with a minimum of 7 continuous hours booked so... yeah.

Universal doesn't really offer a program where you pay to be given a limited number of specific times for a limited number of specific attractions based on availability where you can go stand in a much shorter line for that attraction and still end up spending most of your day standing in line for everything else you couldn't use that paid system for.

Also, I can say, having been to Universal more than half a dozen times in the last six months, the impact of the people using their system to guests waiting in the regular line is pretty minimal because there really isn't even a line for that side, basically, ever.

Compare that to Disney where they don't even call the regular line the line anymore but the standby line.

Usually, when you hear standby, it's in context to things like airline or Broadway tickets where someone is standing there hoping someone who already has a spot doesn't show so they can fill in the gap - the idea that Disney adopted this term for people who didn't have a fastpass+ or G+ spot but did pay full park admission has always rubbed me the wrong way but given how much these systems do impact regular lines, I guess it's fitting.

 

[Jrb1979]

I think it's significant because if it holds up, it's a stunning change in tactics for Disney and an admission of defeat. Wait times were seen as a measure of success and more Genie+ sales were icing on the cake.

I agree it's possibly an admission of defeat, I don't think it changes much. They aren't going to start adding more capacity any time soon to change it.

 

[monothingie]

I agree it's possibly an admission of defeat, I don't think it changes much. They aren't going to start adding more capacity any time soon to change it.

Not a chance they add capacity. But I do think it will serve as a motivator to usher in Genie+ 2.0 asap.

 

[Jrb1979]

Not a chance they add capacity. But I do think it will serve as a motivator to usher in Genie+ 2.0 asap.

What changes would that be? Go back to advanced booking?

 

[Tha Realest]

I don't buy this being a legit sell out. Even though this is a holiday weekend, the wait times in the parks are far less than were over Christmas and Thanksgiving. Which to my knowledge did not have any Genie+ sellouts.

I think they got slammed for over the top wait times CAUSED by Genie+ during the Holiday periods last year which were caused as a direct result of too many Genie+ purchases being sold. By lowering the availability of Genie+ this weekend they could better balance the ratio of standby to LL guests and lower the wait times correspondingly.

I think it’s there to create preemptive panic for the folks planning on being there over Spring Break

 

[MrPromey]

Can't speak to Cedar Fair and Six Flags but if you've really read all these pages and pages, you'd know that what Universal offers is a much different product/service than what Disney's offering (and is also included complementary for all guests of their deluxe resorts which are closer in price to Disney's moderates).

As for what you get, the level of access is closer to that of Disney's VIP tours which is priced at $450-$900 an hour in addition to park admission with a minimum of 7 continuous hours booked so... yeah.

Universal doesn't really offer a program where you pay to be given a limited number of specific times for a limited number of specific attractions based on availability where you can go stand in a much shorter line for that attraction and still end up spending most of your day standing in line for everything else you couldn't use that paid system for.

Also, I can say, having been to Universal more than half a dozen times in the last six months, the impact of the people using their system to guests waiting in the regular line is pretty minimal because there really isn't even a line for that side, basically, ever.

Compare that to Disney where they don't even call the regular line the line anymore but the standby line.

Usually, when you hear standby, it's in context to things like airline or Broadway tickets where someone is standing there hoping someone who already has a spot doesn't show so they can fill in the gap - the idea that Disney adopted this term for people who didn't have a fastpass+ or G+ spot but did pay full park admission has always rubbed me the wrong way but given how much these systems do impact regular lines, I guess it's fitting.

Also (I know I'm quoting myself but I didn't want to add this to my original), in the case of something like Hagrid's where Universal knows demand far outstrips capacity, they exclude it from their ride skip programs so as not to kill the experience for guests who "only" paid park admission to get in.

Disney's solution to that same situation with their newest and most popular attractions is to charge an extra $20 in ILL just for that one attraction and make the people that were already going to have to wait, wait even longer or possibly not even get the chance to wait (and just miss out) so they can make a fast buck.

 

[pdude81]

I don't buy this being a legit sell out. Even though this is a holiday weekend, the wait times in the parks are far less than were over Christmas and Thanksgiving. Which to my knowledge did not have any Genie+ sellouts.

I think they got slammed for over the top wait times CAUSED by Genie+ during the Holiday periods last year which were caused as a direct result of too many Genie+ purchases being sold. By lowering the availability of Genie+ this weekend they could better balance the ratio of standby to LL guests and lower the wait times correspondingly.

I thought @Disney Glimpses may have said something late last year about the code being ready to limit purchases, but they hadn't really turned the restriction on yet. That might speak a bit to why the prior holidays were more mobbed.

Also the CEO changed just before Christmas, and I assume Iger needed every dollar possible ahead of this past earnings call and (potential) proxy fight.

 

[monothingie]

What changes would that be? Go back to advanced booking?

That and some additional carrots to boost guest satisfaction with the product.

 

[Jrb1979]

That and some additional carrots to boost guest satisfaction with the product.

Going back to advanced bookings doesn't change anything. They don't have enough capacity to make it work for one and two if they did that say goodbye to daily price changes.

 

[jpeden]

That and some additional carrots to boost guest satisfaction with the product.

I wouldn’t be nearly as salty about G+ if it allowed re-rides like FP+. I still don’t understand how a free system that everyone had access to allowed it and had the capacity but G+ which everyone does not use does not have the capacity for re-rides.

It is a worse, paid version of FP+. Nothing more, nothing less.

 

[LittleBuford]

I'm somewhat surprised by the negative reactions. I thought most people here wanted Disney to limit how much Genie+ inventory they were selling.

 

[Touchdown]

I’m happy