Lightning Lane at Walt Disney World

[fngoofy]

If Disney needed more money why don't they start selling booze at MK like all the other parks

From your lips to Bob's ears. I'd like 1/3 the attention that goes into cupcakes to be directed at rum drinks. Bring back El Pirate y el Perico and make it 21+ rum bar.

 

[fngoofy]

Boarding groups and virtual queues were developed for the same reason as anything else: $$$$. With a virtual queue from the beginning, the building doesn’t have to be as large, so save on construction costs. Additionally, if you’re physically waiting in line, you aren’t spending money at shops and restaurants. It’s more profitable for Disney if you’re killing time grabbing a bite to eat or browsing a store.

Yes, and the look of a 5hr line snaking through the park was bad show.

 

[MrPromey]

I'm in interested on what the push back will be like when say Rise has missing effects, and a family of four has just paid $80 for Lightning Lane access. They get off, and then express that they aren't happy to have paid $80 and have missing effects. Obviously Disney doesn't guarantee show quality, but that still doesn't stop then subsequent guest recovery that will be needed.

They'll pay 1HAPPYGHOSTHOST to be on site and ready to be deployed to the exit of the ride in his Mayor McCheese costume so he can bark at everyone as they leave in a very harsh voice "YOU DESERVE NOTHING!".

 

[wedenterprises]

Lightning Lane is like a Lightning Round. It's fast paced (fast pass...hmm). It is universally understood for English speakers.

Genie, however, will be replaced eventually, while LL could remain.

Signage is a lot more expensive than coding.

that's a good point.
eventually Genie and Genie+ could just be part of the overall app and the name fades out? i like it

 

[JAB]

Looks like, no.

View attachment 580865

Everything is next available time (even if that available time is much later in the day).




LL$ purchases can only happen the day of.

Having a park reservation is a requirement currently for a BG ride, but nothing has been said it is needed for the rest of the Top Eight.

The 7 AM LL$ is only for those staying at a Disney Resort. If you haven't checked in yet, you might not be able to get it. OR, Disney knows you'll be checking in and they'll let you do it... we don't know yet which one they'll opt for.

I don't think that's correct. According to the Disney PR release, Genie+ passes are indeed "next available time," but the individual, pay-per-ride passes are "schedule a time to arrive."

If you notice in the screenshot you posted, Dumbo simply lists "9:55 AM" where Space Mountain lists "Starting at 10:55 AM" - i.e no scheduled times available earlier than 10:55 AM.

 

[RobbinsDad]

We wanted to know more. Boy do we. I don't really have a gut reaction other than, this is complicated and I have a trip coming later this year and I'm busy at work and I can't even begin to process whether to purchase the Genie+ in advance or just wait to see how things go for us with Early/Evening Hours and do I want to give my teenage daughter IA purchase privileges if she and her friend are in another section of the park than us... *barfing*

 

[fngoofy]

Disney isn’t dumb. They’re not going to add a flat rate pass because they know that “customer sees higher flat rate price versus lower ala carte = not going to buy higher option.”

Here is an example and I am loathe to use it.

You walk into Dave and Busters. You see a high amount of tokens or even unlimited for x amount, versus a lower amount for x price. Even though price per token your probably getting a better value on the higher option, you see the lower option and reason it’s cheaper and you will be fine, you don’t need to play that many games. So you get lower options. Then you find those few games you’re just having fun with and want that price so you keep going to reload that card. And in the end….you’ve spent the same amount or even higher then if you had just bought the higher tier upfront.

So sure, WDW could offer an all in one all inclusive unlimited pass like cedar fair or universal for say, 175 a head. But they realize that if you’re going ala carte as you go, there will be those guests who want that second re-ride, short lines all day, and so on. And without thinking, they impulsively hit that purchase icon in Genie, and the end of the day you spent an extra 200 bucks per person without realizing the overall cost.

When people go shopping, they are subconsciously induced to buy the 2.99 box of Cocoa Puffs vs the 4.99 box. Not realizing that per ounce, the 4.99 is way better value and they didn’t really “save” money in the long run.

It is more than that from a scheduling point of view.
They are trying to provide the best to the most.
If there is an "unlimited" option that messes with the scheduling. One tour group with a Space Mountain obsession could nix the experience for hundreds of other guests.

 

[aliceismad]

Lightning Lane

View attachment 580877

Kachow-ing

 

[UNCgolf]

So, our plan for DAK is to rope drop FoP, lightning Na'vi River and then buy Safari for when the lions are awake.

...and single rider EE.

If a single rider line still exists. I could see them wanting to eliminate that option to get more people to use the upcharge service.

 

[JAB]

I decided to throw together a quick overview graphic to hopefully make all of this a bit less confusing.

 

[ᗩLᘿᑕ ✨ ᗩζᗩᗰ]

So this is probably a terrible idea and not sure on FL's gambling laws and if it would nix this hypothetical idea but here goes anyway:

What if the Genie App was part smartphone game that provided an opportunity for guests to get a free "wish" by rubbing Genie's lamp?
The "wish" would be your choice of a free beverage, pretzel, discount at gift shop, etc. Completely random of course.

 

[MisterPenguin]

View attachment 580875

Note that for the second bullet point, "attraction selections" isn't capitalized. It's like they're describing the service without giving it a name. Later in the paragraph they refer to is as "this option." That's helpful.

In their graphic art they use:

• INDIVIDUAL ATTRACTION SELECTIONS
• INDIVIDUAL ATTRACTIONS
• Lightning Lane SELECT EXPERIENCES

It's like the graphic of a ride vehicle is a placeholder for a name.

Disney uses Disney Genie and Disney Genie+. That could be abbreviated DG and DG+, though I like to add a dollar sign to DG+$ to show it's a paid service.

Lightning Lane is both the name of the queue and the service for skipping the line by getting into a LL.

And there's two means of accessing LL: DG+$ and the Individual Attractions Selections for Lighting Lane Select Experiences, or, IASLLSE.

I've just been calling the individual ones: LL$.

Lightning Lane = FP Entrance

There are two ways to enter Lightning Lanes. It is based on the type of attraction:

• Tier 1 rides - Buy an Individual Attraction Selection
• Tier 2 rides - Buy Genie+

This might be confusing if the "Tier 1" rides change. So a "Tier 1" v. "Tier 2" nomenclature could get messy.

 

[DCLcruiser]

Not sure on FL's gambling laws and if it would apply in this hypothetical idea but here goes anyway:

What if the Genie App was part smartphone game that provided an opportunity for guests to get a free "wish" by rubbing Genie's lamp.
The "wish" would be your choice of a free beverage, pretzel, discount at gift shop, etc.

This missing function is mind boggling. Wishes are the whole point of a Genie.

 

[dreday3]

This missing function is mind boggling. Wishes are the whole point of a Genie.

Well, a lot of people are "wishing" it didn't even exist.

 

[fngoofy]

My family of 5 would never ride the same ride twice anyway if it cost money. This might affect someone solo or a couple more.

So far the only park for my upcoming trip I will not purchase an individual ride for LL access is MK. I've been on Space Mountain so many times I can live without paying almost or more than 100 dollars. and SDMT is too short and overrated for my money. All 3 other parks Ill have to. Of course the best luck would be scoring a BG for Remy and Rise. Then all id need to buy is Slinky and FOP of the individual non Genie+ rides. If I do not land a BG ill probably buy all 4.

A year and a half ago I could book a FP 60 days in advance and ride FOP for free. Those were some fun times.

Back in the day you MIGHT have been able to score a FP for FOP.
It took us 3yrs to ride Midway Mania. Line was always hours long within 10 min of opening and the FPs were out to the end of the day.

The good old days were nasty, brutish, and short.

 

[corran horn]

The continued spreadsheet-ification of taking vacation trips for pleasure has been sadly fascinating to me. I remember when you only had to worry about dining reservations...

 

[fngoofy]

i did not read every response so sorry if this was answered before; if i get a LL return at 11am and at 1015am i see the line is short and i go on the ride, do i still have my LL pass to ride again or will they know i went on and cancel the LL pass? i know that is something we did with the paper fast passes. youd ride after your time and go right back on again.

From what I read and heard you would not lose it. The only limit is in the number of LLs you can get in a day. They said "1 or 2 per day."

 

[GhostHost1000]

I wish they could make a Disney vacation experience more complicated

Oh wait

 

[MisterPenguin]

I decided to throw together a quick overview graphic to hopefully make all of this a bit less confusing.

View attachment 580898

Hope you don't mind, I'm gonna put that in my Info/FAQ post and credit you!

 

[fngoofy]

The continued spreadsheet-ification of taking vacation trips for pleasure has been sadly fascinating to me. I remember when you only had to worry about dining reservations...

I've been doing spreadsheets for over 20yrs. Mainly to make sure we balanced our time at the different parks, but also to keep track of FP times, dinner reservations, etc.

This change means I don't need to plan out FPs 3 months out, back to the old FP process of same day.
I hope they keep the dining reservation window at 2 months, that is way more sane than 6 months out.