Lightning Lane at Walt Disney World

[Jeff4272]

October is not slow, usually.

October was busy in recent years due to free dining promotion. Without free dining, it’s al lot slower this year. Also there’s litttle to no international travel

 

[ImperfectPixie]

October was busy in recent years due to free dining promotion. Without free dining, it’s al lot slower this year. Also there’s litttle to no international travel

Free dining has been more and more limited with fewer and fewer days in October over the last 5+ years. If memory serves, 2018-2019 had none in October (or very close to none, and only within the first few days of the start of the month).

 

[Casper Gutman]

“Locked down” is, as far as I can tell, their internal term.

And monorail and walking are pretty tricky if you can’t park anywhere to board. So the only option is a bus, and at the point you park, go through security, and walk to the bus, it’s not really casual resort hopping anymore.

 

[Jeff4272]

It's simple IMO. October got crowded because of Not So Scary at Disney and HHN at Uni. Disney isn't having Not So Scary this year and Boo Bash just doesn't draw in the crowds.

Boo Bash sold out every single night

 

[Casper Gutman]

There's lots of conflicting reports and seems to basically be up to the parking guard. I would think with a reservation you should be okay. I've been reading through this thread (hyperlinked for some colorful choice of words). This experience seems ridiculous.

I ran into a lot of trouble even with a reservation, and it took me about 40 mins to get it straightened out, but I’m not sure if that incident was a mistake or not.

 

[Casper Gutman]

Honestly, I wouldn’t stress about it if you have a dining reservation. I suppose anything can happen, but I wonder about the circumstances surrounding some of these reports.

So it’s out of bounds for anyone to question the validity of your personal experience of WDW, but you are free to question the reality of anyone else’s if they clash with yours?

 

[dreday3]

I ran into a lot of trouble even with a reservation, and it took me about 40 mins to get it straightened out, but I’m not sure if that incident was a mistake or not.

But what happened? What took 40 minutes? Did the guard ignore the fact you had a reservation in MDE?

 

[Casper Gutman]

But what happened? What took 40 minutes? Did the guard ignore the fact you had a reservation in MDE?

I honestly don’t know what was the problem. It seemed to be confusion with the guard regarding my photo ID, but I was later told by another guard that the ID shouldn’t have even been an issue since I had a reservation.

I came away with the impression that, officially, you can visit with a dining reservation, but as a general policy they are errring very heavily on the side of not letting folks in and that can cause confusion.

 

[Chi84]

So it’s out of bounds for anyone to question the validity of your personal experience of WDW, but you are free to question the reality of anyone else’s if they clash with yours?

No I was referring specifically to being allowed into resorts with a dining reservation as opposed to just going to look around. I haven’t seen reports of people with dining reservations being turned away. It’s their policy to let you in so I don’t think it’s worth stressing about whether the odd mistake might be made.

 

[SteveAZee]

I really hope the new system works well for us all. It’ll take some getting used to, but perhaps we’ll grow to like it.

Me too. It looks to be the hand we've been dealt. I'm not planning on going until later in 2023, so I hope y'all don't mind me drafting off your experiences.

 

[MickeyLuv'r]

Hopefully, those details will be clarified soon. I think they're trying not to overwhelm people with details before the system is even implemented, but that makes it difficult for someone (especially someone visiting soon) to know what to expect.

WDW has always required a good deal of research and planning. I remember buying both the official and unofficial guides before our first trip to Epcot in 1984. As it's grown, it has become increasingly unwieldy. Disney initially tried to alleviate the problem with systems that were "all-inclusive," like park-hoppers that let you pay upfront and then make decisions as you go.

But as @MisterPenguin pointed out, it's become a victim of its own success. This has led to rationing in the form of ADR's being made 180 days out, line-skip systems and now park reservations. From what I understand, FP+ wasn't working because too many people were using the free system, making standby lines too long. As a paid system, Genie+ will likely have fewer people using it and should have less of an impact on standby lines. Also, many people hated having to make ride selections 60 or 30 days in advance. Genie+ allows for very little scheduling.

I hate to condemn any new system before it's even been implemented, but Genie+ combined with the need to make park reservations may be challenging for the way my family vacations. I don't think we'll be the only ones. I would hate to be a CM trying to explain to someone that they can't use the park hopper they bought because they decided last minute to go to a water park in the morning and didn't scan into the park they reserved. Also, I'm not too crazy about making ride reservations at 7 a.m. if that turns out to be necessary.

We're keeping an open mind for now, but if it gets to the point that WDW is too much to handle, we'll have to start looking into other vacation options. If enough people do this and attendance drops, Disney will have to make changes if it wants to keep the parks operating. Market forces will work to change Disney; posters telling each other how to vacation will not.

Not necessarily. If you wanted to buy the planning book, it was an option, but not at all 'required.' My family did not do any research/planning when WDW was just MK. The only 'planning' we did was to watch the World of Disney, and a quick phone call to get the price of tickets + hotel rooms. Oh, and we used a paper road map to find WDW!

Park tickets were bought at the TTC. We stayed at offsite hotels that were never booked in advance. We just looked for a VACANCY sign.

When Epcot first opened, we still didn't plan, except to add 1 day and through television ads we knew price of park tickets.

I agree with much of your post, except you aren't accounting for how much WDW's customers have changed, and how much WDW customers demanded the ability to pre-plan and pre-book WDW. Travelers have become much more risk averse than they once were, or perhaps fewer risk-averse people traveled - I'm not sure.

 

[MickeyLuv'r]

An ILL/IA$ is a purchase. And like most purchases, is ordinarily considered final. If you spent two hours in the park and then left because you started to feel ill, should you get a refund for your day-ticket? How about a partial refund after 5 hours in the park?

Mostly yes. I don't want someone sick with COVID going to MK.


If you spend $700+ on a 7 day ticket, and you feel ill on day 1, then days 2-7 should not expire if you don't use them.


Go to MK sick with COVID or lose your $600, is a horrible choice nobody should have to make!

 

[mikejs78]

Boo Bash sold out every single night

With much, much lower capacity than Not So Scary.

 

[Chi84]

I agree with much of your post, except you aren't accounting for how much WDW's customers have changed, and how much WDW customers demanded the ability to pre-plan and pre-book WDW. Travelers have become much more risk averse than they once were,

I’m one of those people. No issues with planning dining 6 months in advance and absolutely loved FP+.

To a large extent, I think people may be risk adverse and demand the ability to preplan because WDW vacations have become so expensive. When you’re investing that much money, you want to be sure you have the opportunity to schedule the experiences most important to you.

I don’t mind spending what it costs to visit WDW. But if the new systems Disney is putting into place result in our not getting the dinner reservations we want or missing out on our favorite rides or the latest attractions, we’ll have to reassess whether it’s worth it for us.

 

[MickeyLuv'r]

I'm thinking it's twofold. First, Disney is continuing the trend of taking something free away and then charging for it (or its replacement). Second, Genie+ is only $15 which puts its pricing where everyone will potentially think about buying it. If Genie+ was $50/pp/day, I'd bet there'd still be grumbling, but less of it since people would emotionally feel most guests wouldn't pay it and thus most guests wouldn't have LL access. The guests without Genie+ wouldn't feel like they need to buy it for a decent experience. As things stand, people are feeling they either have to pay for Genie+, miss out on attractions, or wait all day in lines since the price point seems so affordable for one.

For a time, I worked at a shop that sold 3 sizes of coffee. I was not required to do an upsell.
Initially, if the customer didn't specify what size coffee they wanted, I asked, "What size coffee would you like?" and it baffled most customers. They just couldn't decide what size to buy.

Then I tried the upsell, "Would you like a large coffee?" but this too baffled many customers. Many would actually mumble their thought process out loud as they tried to decide. I'd smile as I thought to myself, "Argh! Just pick one!" (Price difference was $.50)

My next option proved to be the most efficient option, "Would you like a medium coffee?" If I offered the middle choice, it worked like magic. They could immediately say if medium was enough, too much, or too little.


I am somewhat inclined to think, in the case of Genie+/IA$, the $15 option seems less atrocious when multiple price points are offered. the thought may be, "$15 sucks, but at least it isn't $45."

 

[networkpro]

Mostly yes. I don't want someone sick with COVID going to MK.


If you spend $700+ on a 7 day ticket, and you feel ill on day 1, then days 2-7 should not expire if you don't use them.


Go to MK sick with COVID or lose your $600, is a horrible choice nobody should have to make!

That's an equivalent choice that people have been making for a few decades... go to a theme park sick and spread their contagion or FOMO. I've enjoyed the masks and increased hygiene in the parks as its drastically reduced the transmission of the typical Disney crud.

 

[Rich Brownn]

Study Predicts Cost Of Disney Tickets In 10 Years (You Won’t Believe The Prices)

A report reveals the staggering cost of going on a Disney vacation in the future (along with some helpful money-saving tips)

www.forbes.com

Of course that $3.50 admission in 1971 included almost no rides. You needed to buy a coupon book. And extra's when those "E"'s ran out In today's dollars an E ticket would cost about $5

 

[JoeCamel]

Of course that $3.50 admission in 1971 included almost no rides. You needed to buy a coupon book. And extra's when those "E"'s ran out In today's dollars an E ticket would cost about $5

Dad said it was time to go when that happened (book ran out). He walked around with mom but he brought the kids to an amusement park so he wasn't riding.
After he died I found several books left over - he was holding out on me!

 

[homerdance]

I agree, corporations have a goal to make as much money as possible. Nothing benevolent about it.

Yep. Which is the point of the original post I made. These guys are not going to keep prices down to be nice. It will be raised o we and over again.

 

[UNCgolf]

visit Tokyo. You’ll NEVER look at Orlando the same again.

And before you say that costs a ton more…. It doesn’t. Not with less effort than it takes to schedule and pay for a WDW trip.

the reality is…. For a vast majority of Disney fans, they believe the swamps are the only place they can go to or afford.

While I would love to visit both Tokyo Disney and Disneyland Paris, the reality (for me) is that if/when I go to those places, going to a Disney park will be very low on my to-do list. While I don't know if I'll ever make it to Japan, I've already been to Paris -- but I could probably go back three or four more times and still not feel like I had the time to make it to DLP. There are just too many other things that I want to see/do.

I also live close enough to WDW to drive there in about half a day, though, and I've only been twice in the past decade. I'm not really the kind of person you're talking about.