Lightning Lane at Walt Disney World

[Buried20KLeague]

Yeah, I used to like visiting other resorts and leisurely wandering around, maybe shopping a bit. They absolutely don’t let you do that anymore - the resorts are “locked down,” to quote them. And things like boating on Seven Seas, things that made WDW a complete resort, are gone. As for the resorts, they’ve gotten more and more expensive as service has declined.

But this conversation was about ticket prices at the theme parks, so that’s where I focused. It makes no sense to use things outside the parks to justify ticket prices.

yep.

 

[Buried20KLeague]

Laying out the alternatives is one thing; telling people they're being duped is quite another.


Mickey can scold me all he wants. I'm the one in control of how I spend my dollars at Disney.

And my opinion is that people might be being duped without knowing, I plan on telling them. Seems easy to me. You don’t agree. Feel free to have your own opinion.

 

[LittleBuford]

And you believe that since 2001, the yearly price increases are commensurate with the additional offerings you get at the parks?

I measure the value of my Disney holidays in relation to my other current outlays, not in terms of historical prices. And compared to what I spend on rent, groceries, cinema tickets, etc., I consider the ticket price at WDW to be amazing value. The amount of enjoyment I get out of a day at the Magic Kingdom is, to me, worth a great deal more than the money I pay for the experience. Others feel differently, which is absolutely their right, but I know what works for me and am not going to be convinced that I'm mistaken in my preferences.

 

[Buried20KLeague]

I measure the value of my Disney holidays in relation to my other current outlays, not in terms of historical prices. And compared to what I spend on rent, groceries, cinema tickets, etc., I consider the ticket price at WDW to be amazing value. The amount of enjoyment I get out of a day at the Magic Kingdom is, to me, worth a great deal more than the money I pay for the experience. Others feel differently, which is absolutely their right, but I know what works for me and am not going to be convinced that I'm mistaken in my preferences.

then why continue to reply with me? We’ll never agree.

 

[LittleBuford]

then why continue to reply with me? We’ll never agree.

It's a bad habit of mine. On this, you (and Elsa) are entirely correct: I should learn to let go. Have a good night!

 

[BrianLo]

you’re why this will continue.

And I’ve already changed my habits. Long ago.

and to be VERY clear…. I still get my Disney parks fix.

My favorite Disney ride on the planet is Sindbad’s in Tokyo.

The problem with Tokyo is that it too has escalated in price at a similar clip. It *fortunately* is starting from a much lower benchmark, with higher quality.

Tokyo also had a far less exciting previous decade than WDW. The prospects of Fantasy Springs aside. I'm not saying it justifies the price hike in WDW, but I hardly see justification in Tokyo's price hikes in the last decade either.

I personally see value in both resorts, both are nice to visit once every 5-7 years. The value in Tokyo is Japan though, not merely the parks. Most people aren't interested in the 'other', so there's no point arguing.

 

[Buried20KLeague]

The problem with Tokyo is that it too has escalated in price at a similar clip. It *fortunately* is starting from a much lower benchmark, with higher quality.

Tokyo also had a far less exciting previous decade than WDW. The prospects of Fantasy Springs aside. I'm not saying it justifies the price hike in WDW, but I hardly see justification in Tokyo's price hikes in the last decade either.

I personally see value in both resorts, both are nice to visit once every 5-7 years. The value in Tokyo is Japan though, not merely the parks. Most people aren't interested in the 'other', so there's no point arguing.

I think many don’t know what they’re missing with the Tokyo parks and Tokyo in general, because the idea of international travel is not mainstream.

 

[No Name]

So basically buying lightning lane for every ride in a park at least once will cost about $35-$40 a person, right? $15 for Genie+ plus around $10-15 each for the two additional rides? Honestly not a bad price and it’ll be interesting to see if it even works at that price point. Of course they should’ve just stuck with fastpass.

 

[homerdance]

I'm sorry but lets not pretend any unskilled labor job is the equivalent of someone qualified to be CEO of a multibillion dollar business.

Should everyone be paid the same in any company?

Yep. Exactly what was said. Everyone should make the same money for every job. Well done on deciphering my code.

But in reality, claiming that a CEO who will make tens of millions of dollars by extracting as much money as possible from its “guests,” is acting in some benevolent way is ludicrous.

 

[wutisgood]

I'm not really sure what I will do once my non expire disney passes run out. Flights from the northeast are cheap but disney hates us more than seemingly any group of travelers. Disney is definitely making other places more of a "value" every time they raise prices. Quite frankly disney is counting on by their own data people being either too stupid or lazy to plan alternate vacations that are a better value even within disney parks. On one hand they might be right, but on the other hand their influencers who drive a ton of sales are even starting to go to other places and I think they are underestimating the effect of someone like tim tracker going to dollywood.

For anyone who thinks they will just bring free dining back to bump attendance if needed, Chapek is like negotiating with terrorists or Vader.

Oh the limit is one per ride for genie plus. Maybe most people won't buy this? The local passholders wont. If you are on vacation you are going to have to buy this. Because on "slow" days they will stack cheap passholder reservations and make those stand by lines long enough that you are going to lose money not buying it.

Again for the person saying this is just the way things are like broadway tickets or other concert tickets. Not true. I saw a major show in good seats last week for $50. NYC in general will adjust prices down to fill all available space since that space always costs money. Disney owns all of the space at wdw so the comparison is more to a cartel where they set the rate and stick to it. The leverage disney has to set prices this way is almost unmatched in all of attractions and entertainment,

 

[MrPromey]

The irony of this is that Disney is going to lose money from a net perspective. People mentioned dropping a dining reservation l, picking a non-deluxe hotel, etc.

Here we are considering cancelling our VIP tour and just buying two a la carte options during our 4 day stay. That can’t be what they had in mind.

Yes and no.

A table service restaurant costs Disney money and many aren't run by Disney so they don't keep 100% of revenue. Those restaurants also have to be staffed and food must be purchased and with any luck, they'll get someone else to scoop up that dining ADR anyway since there already are never enough.

At least in theory, LL is free for Disney once rolled out - just pure profit. If they're going to take your money, they'd rather do it without having to actually do anything.

That said, we'll see in practice. Maybe whatever addtional guest relations staff needed will work out to be cheaper than cooks at the table service restaurants.

 

[nickys]

What happens if you do not purchase Genie+ for say, Haunted Mansion, do I walk to the regular line and wait as usual?

Also, has anyone else had the thought, "If I'm paying $15 more per tickets to ride those specific rides, shouldn't the ticket price be discounted by $15?" That would be another PERK to use the Genie+!

Not entirely sure what you’re asking. You buy Genie+ once per day. That allows you to book a pass for most of the rides. You don’t have to buy Genie+, and if you do you don’t have to use it to be able to ride. If you don’t have a pass then you just join the standby line.

Are people talking pre-pandemic? There are still a lot of people wary about traveling, especially to Florida which until recently had very high COVID numbers. Also, international visitors are not able to visit now. I don’t think this October can be compared to previous ones as far as attendance is concerned.

October is a huge month for U.K. visitors to Florida. Almost all schools have a whole week off at some point (it’s staggered, Scotland is always a week before England) so by taking kids out of school for 3 days families can have a 2 week break. None of them can travel this year.

According to Touring Plans, October 2019, the last October prior to the pandemic, had average crowd levels of 3.7 out of 10. This isn't a matter of opinion. You're statistically, mathematically incorrect.

October 2018 averaged 4.4 out of 10.

Touring Plans’ crowd levels reflect the wait times between 11am & 4pm. They are useful to a point but not necessarily indicative of actual numbers of people visiting. With the Halloween parties it’s entirely plausible that the wait times are depreciated by people taking mid-day breaks. Plus the beginning of the month will be very low crowd levels as it borders on the quietest month of the year.

So basically buying lightning lane for every ride in a park at least once will cost about $35-$40 a person, right? $15 for Genie+ plus around $10-15 each for the two additional rides? Honestly not a bad price and it’ll be interesting to see if it even works at that price point. Of course they should’ve just stuck with fastpass.

That’s per day, on top of your park ticket. Of course you’re not guaranteed to be able to get a pass for every ride either. I’d be interested to see what the average number of passes people get with Genie+

 

[mikejs78]

They absolutely don’t let you do that anymore - the resorts are “locked down,” to quote them.

Since when? They absolutely do let you do that.

 

[peter11435]

Since when? They absolutely do let you do that.

Since reopening they’ve enacted a policy where all resorts are only accessible via car to guests with confirmed reservations (hotel/dining/etc). It’s only selectively enforced depending on the guard but many people have been turned away. This was also the same time they changed the policy for golf cart rentals at FW to be restricted to guests with FW reservations only.

 

[nickys]

Yeah, I used to like visiting other resorts and leisurely wandering around, maybe shopping a bit. They absolutely don’t let you do that anymore - the resorts are “locked down,” to quote them. And things like boating on Seven Seas, things that made WDW a complete resort, are gone. As for the resorts, they’ve gotten more and more expensive as service has declined.

But this conversation was about ticket prices at the theme parks, so that’s where I focused. It makes no sense to use things outside the parks to justify ticket prices.

You can visit other resorts. If it’s near to the parks (monorail, WL, Epcot resorts) you might need to use Disney transport to do so. That’s half the fun.

The pontoon boats are back at Contemporary, GF and YC. A lot of things are back or will be soon, like YeeHa Bob at POR. Boardwalk entertainment is back, lounges are open.

 

[Patcheslee]

do you think international travel with a language barrier is something everyone takes lightly? Are you familiar with the statistics of Americans that travel abroad?

I can't personally stomach the long flight yet. Longest I've been on a flight is 4hrs, and by 3rd hr I was anxious to get out. Slowly getting more hours.

my daughter has $329 round trip tickets to Tokyo in January. From the Midwest. With one stop. With the lower cost tickets to the parks and cheap neighbor hotels, she’ll be going there for the same or less than what it costs at WDW for the same length. Especially adding in the additional cost that this thread is about.

that’s my point. With timing, the idea foreign parks on the other side of the planet are more expensive is a myth.

they’re also climbing mt Fuji. Not as cool as hitting up Shogun in Orlando, I know…

What Midwest airport? Lowest priced in January for us is $829 CVG to Japan, not every route is cheap.

I would love to go to Tokyo one day, not just to visit the Disney parks there, but also (and more so) to see Japan. However, travelling halfway around the world is obviously a far greater commitment than taking a short domestic flight down to Florida for a few days. I am saving my trip to Japan until I can set aside at least two whole weeks to explore the country properly. In other words, I have weighed up my options and am holidaying in a way that works for me and answers my own needs and preferences. Shocking, right?

Yes DD13 has a long list of overseas places she wants to visit. We have a separate savings account she doesn't know about for a graduation trip. Sure could financially take for to any one for a short week, including the flight so 3 days cut out there. Or we wait and go for longer. Japan in sort of a once in a lifetime thing IMO, I'd regret not having more days to explore.

 

[mikejs78]

Since reopening they’ve enacted a policy where all resorts are only accessible via car to guests with confirmed reservations (hotel/dining/etc). It’s only selectively enforced depending on the guard but many people have been turned away. This was also the same time they changed the policy for golf cart rentals at FW to be restricted to guests with FW reservations only.

Sure, but is anything stopping anyone from taking a monorail/bus/skyliner/walk/Uber to the resorts? Park at Springs and take a bus.

 

[peter11435]

Sure, but is anything stopping anyone from taking a monorail/bus/skyliner/walk/Uber to the resorts? Park at Springs and take a bus.

Not at all. That’s why I said “via car.”

The resorts are open to all via Disney transportation or walking where available.

 

[mikejs78]

Not at all. That’s why I said “via car.”

The resorts are open to all via Disney transportation or walking where available.

Sure, I was only responding to the person who commented that the resorts were "locked down" which makes it seem like they are checking magic bands at every corner.

 

[NelsonRD]

I would still prefer a pre-pay option at booking. I would be easier to accept paying say $5240 for a vacation package, and have 4 Individual attractions to select, opposed to $5000 and being hit up for $60 each morning.