Lightning Lane at Walt Disney World

[diogenes]

So, I’ll preface this by saying I’m an extreme outlier: I love it the way it is. I have unpredictable availability for time off, which means I haven’t booked a trip to WDW more than a week in advance in, I think, five years. Day-of booking is the only way I can get these LLs. Really, I haven’t enjoyed the parks this much for ages because of the current system. I’ve seen it as a return to the flexibility of original FastPass minus having to schlep around to kiosks.

I’m not being sarcastic at all when I say this: I’m happy for everyone for whom advance booking is a good thing. Genuinely, I’m glad it’ll work better for you. But I really wish they’d announced this before they put the passes back on sale. I could’ve saved $1400.

I know myself too well to believe that this’ll actually stop me from going entirely. That being said, while I’m sure people in situations like mine are a rounding error to TDO… I drop quite a lot of money on these long weekends at on-site resorts, and they just made it *way* less likely that I’ll continue to do that at anywhere near the same frequency.

 

[Krandor]

I may have to dig deeper, but I skimmed the first couple weeks of the when the ride originally opened. Regular BGs would run out in about 45 mins, with backup BGs lasting for another hour or two. I was there Christmas week and BGs for sure lasted for around an hour. I was late one day and got there an hour after opening and got a backup BG. It was never called (short by 2 BGs), but the Guest Service CMs were kind enough to give me a free fastpass to FoP and Mine Train the next day after expressing my distraught.

This was also the time when Disney went above and beyond and gave guests a free 1 day park hoppers ticket if their regular BG wasn't called. Good times lol.

Another board tracked that a lot and BGs were on many days done within minutes. I wish I still had some of that info but that was all pre-covid so years ago and would have to look to find that data again now.

 

[StarshipDisney]

This was also the time when Disney went above and beyond and gave guests a free 1 day park hoppers ticket if their regular BG wasn't called. Good times lol.

Yep. Oh, the good old days when Disney, just a few years ago, was easily twice the vacation destination that it is now.

 

[HauntedPirate]

Big dub for DVC if true.

Bob does love building DVC.

 

[CAV]

Yeah that's generally how I remember it too. The only difference might be that, since it's a paid service, there is less competition now?

It might also allow them to charge more for "tiers" of Genie+ that allow availability to open up in specific date windows over a specific time period.

You arent thinking Disney enough! Genie+ Tier pricing!

• Day of selection = $22.
• 30 days out selection = $32.
• 60 day out selection = $37.
• 90 days out selection = $42

 

[Joel]

Big dub for DVC if true.

Current Year Disney giving away a free perk to their most captive audience? Good one.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

Current Year Disney giving away a free perk to their most captive audience? Good one.

Everyone had the same conspiracy theory when the Deluxe Evening Hours were announced and they were wrong then too. DVC members have always been entitled to any benefits that Deluxe resort guests get and I don't see that changing.

 

[Fido Chuckwagon]

Everyone had the same conspiracy theory when the Deluxe Evening Hours were announced and they were wrong then too. DVC members have always been entitled to any benefits that Deluxe resort guests get and I don't see that changing.

There’s a difference between benefits tied to staying at a resort and benefits tied to a resort package. If every resort gets 3 free fastpasses again, DVC will get them, contractually. If Disney runs a frequent special: “Book a room and ticket/genie package and we’ll throw in 3 advance reservations” then dvc will not get them.

 

[Dranth]

I think a lot of people are assuming the early selection is going to be like the old FP+ system but I'm not so sure. One of the main complaints seems to be getting up early to purchase and/or make your first selection. Allowing you to buy sometime in the afternoon the day before and make your first reservation will alleviate that particular problem while avoiding the excessive planning ahead that Disney claimed they were trying to get away from.

 

[Chi84]

There’s a difference between benefits tied to staying at a resort and benefits tied to a resort package. If every resort gets 3 free fastpasses again, DVC will get them, contractually. If Disney runs a frequent special: “Book a room and ticket/genie package and we’ll throw in 3 advance reservations” then dvc will not get them.

Disney is not going to go out of its way to disadvantage DVC members. They want people to buy in.

 

[GhostHost1000]

I think a lot of people are assuming the early selection is going to be like the old FP+ system but I'm not so sure. One of the main complaints seems to be getting up early to purchase and/or make your first selection. Allowing you to buy sometime in the afternoon the day before and make your first reservation will alleviate that particular problem while avoiding the excessive planning ahead that Disney claimed they were trying to get away from.

there are so many ways they could do this... I'm very curious to see what happens here... and if they make things worse

 

[Jrb1979]

there are so many ways they could do this... I'm very curious to see what happens here... and if they make things worse

I just don't see how they keep it a paid system and go back to FP+. It would be hard to change the daily price. I still think it will that you can pre-book your first LL the day before.

 

[pdude81]

Of course @CaptainAmerica takes me literally

 

[dreday3]

I don't know why my brain is not understanding this - if they allow some sort of pre-booking, we can still book rides day of, right? I know we may have been lucky, but we got so many rides just this past trip using it.

 

[bmr1591]

So, I’ll preface this by saying I’m an extreme outlier: I love it the way it is. I have unpredictable availability for time off, which means I haven’t booked a trip to WDW more than a week in advance in, I think, five years. Day-of booking is the only way I can get these LLs. Really, I haven’t enjoyed the parks this much for ages because of the current system. I’ve seen it as a return to the flexibility of original FastPass minus having to schlep around to kiosks.

I’m not being sarcastic at all when I say this: I’m happy for everyone for whom advance booking is a good thing. Genuinely, I’m glad it’ll work better for you. But I really wish they’d announced this before they put the passes back on sale. I could’ve saved $1400.

I know myself too well to believe that this’ll actually stop me from going entirely. That being said, while I’m sure people in situations like mine are a rounding error to TDO… I drop quite a lot of money on these long weekends at on-site resorts, and they just made it *way* less likely that I’ll continue to do that at anywhere near the same frequency.

I hear your frustration, but let’s see what they announce before making a decision. I enjoy day-of as well, so I’m interested to see if this change will make it much worse. I’m also not a technologically illiterate person who doesn’t know how to navigate an app and blames Genie+ for my cell phone addiction at the parks.

 

[Jenny72]

What's notable in these responses is that everyone wants something different. Some people like day-of, some people like pre-planned, some the day before and some longer. Some think we should have to wait until we're in the park. None of these strike me as good solutions because the whole premise is flawed. The whole thing is a bad idea. It's just rearranging the details now.

 

[Chi84]

What's notable in these responses is that everyone wants something different. Some people like day-of, some people like pre-planned, some the day before and some longer. Some think we should have to wait until we're in the park. None of these strike me as good solutions because the whole premise is flawed. The whole thing is a bad idea. It's just rearranging the details now.

Disney operated a FastPass system for over 23 years. It started because a major complaint from guests was long lines for attractions.

 

[Jenny72]

Hey, I *loved* Fastpass, and I never even stayed on site. But other people don't love it. And I agree that long lines are a problem that needs to be dealt with. I just don't think that Genie+ or whatever permutation we end up with actually "solves" the problem of long lines.

 

[Disstevefan1]

Hey, I *loved* Fastpass, and I never even stayed on site. But other people don't love it. And I agree that long lines are a problem that needs to be dealt with. I just don't think that Genie+ or whatever permutation we end up with actually "solves" the problem of long lines.

Agreed, the long lines problem can only be solved by adding attractions. We know how that goes.

 

[Ayla]

Hey, I *loved* Fastpass, and I never even stayed on site. But other people don't love it. And I agree that long lines are a problem that needs to be dealt with. I just don't think that Genie+ or whatever permutation we end up with actually "solves" the problem of long lines.

Genie+ is a major contributor to long lines. I went the last few years when there was no Fastpass/Genie+ and it was great.