Lightning Lane at Walt Disney World

[Ayla]

Stay tuned.

The Genie will soon grant your wish.

Yep. Now that DLR increased their prices, there is no doubt WDW isn't far behind.

 

["El Gran Magnifico"]

Honest Question. And this may have been addressed in the 400+ previous pages but:

Why didn't they go with a Universal type system?

Say: 1 Day/1 Park LL pass for $100pp (With a multi-park option at a higher price point) - then maybe a 1 Park/after 3pm option for say $60? Single use, no reservations, no return times.

Could have been included with Deluxe resorts as an incentive (obviously built into the room rate), and maybe offered as a % off for moderates and values. Otherwise you stand in line.

Seems to me from a guest experience perspective that would have been the way to go. But I guess Disney is making more revenue doing it this convoluted way.

 

[DisneyDodo]

Honest Question. And this may have been addressed in the 400+ previous pages but:

Why didn't they go with a Universal type system?

Say: 1 Day/1 Park LL pass for $100pp (With a multi-park option at a higher price point) - then maybe a 1 Park/after 3pm option for say $60? Single use, no reservations, no return times.

Could have been included with Deluxe resorts as an incentive (obviously built into the room rate), and maybe offered as a % off for moderates and values. Otherwise you stand in line.

Seems to me from a guest experience perspective that would have been the way to go. But I guess Disney is making more revenue doing it this convoluted way.

Disney specifically designed G+ not to cannibalize VIP tour revenue. Nobody would cough up thousands for a VIP tour if they can skip all the lines for much cheaper.

 

[JakeAZ]

Disney specifically designed G+ not to cannibalize VIP tour revenue. Nobody would cough up thousands for a VIP tour if they can skip all the lines for much cheaper.

Yep and Genie+ is also a crowd control program. The return times are one of the things guests hate the most, but, just like park reservations, Disney loves them.

I don't ever see the time restrictions leaving, even though I'd be willing to pay for a G+ version that doesn't have them.

 

[UNCgolf]

Honest Question. And this may have been addressed in the 400+ previous pages but:

Why didn't they go with a Universal type system?

Say: 1 Day/1 Park LL pass for $100pp (With a multi-park option at a higher price point) - then maybe a 1 Park/after 3pm option for say $60? Single use, no reservations, no return times.

Could have been included with Deluxe resorts as an incentive (obviously built into the room rate), and maybe offered as a % off for moderates and values. Otherwise you stand in line.

Seems to me from a guest experience perspective that would have been the way to go. But I guess Disney is making more revenue doing it this convoluted way.

I think you'd have to charge a lot more than that to make it work at Disney. Disney's attendance is higher on average than Universal's and if you sell it to too many people it stops being a major benefit. You'll end up with a lot of customers angry that they paid for the pass and still waited in line 30-45 minutes for some rides.

 

[Lirael]

What boggles my mind the most is that G+ isn't just "paid FP+" but actively worse than FP+...and paid.

With FP+, you could plan out your trip 30, maybe 60, days in advance -or any other day before your trip- so when you got to the parks it was just, arrive, enjoy. Now for G+ you're forced to be on your phone constantly, and stressed out, trying to score the next ride.

And it's paid. Imagine paying so you can get faster lines on a busy day and... because it's so busy you fail to get G+ for the rides you wanted, so congrats, you just spent money and got nothing in return.

That blows my mind. Paying anything at all without the guarantee that I'm getting the rides I want. It's like gacha games gaming loot boxes/gambling. Imagine paying up, not enjoying your experience because you need to focus on trying to get what you wanted, and then finding out you're not getting that fast line. And again, can't do this from the comfort of your home before, you have to focus on this when you should be snorting pixie dust.

I honestly don't see the point of paying up. It's not an exorbitant fee -for now- but it's not worth it for a product that will make my experience worse, and might not even give me what I wanted at all.

 

["El Gran Magnifico"]

I think you'd have to charge a lot more than that to make it work at Disney. Disney's attendance is higher on average than Universal's and if you sell it to too many people it stops being a big benefit. You'll end up with a lot of angry customers that they paid for the pass and ended up still waiting in line for 30-45 minutes for some rides.

I agree with that at a high level. But if you put the price point at a certain level its going to dissuade the masses from purchasing. So you may be right that the price point would need to be higher.

In Uni’s model it’s over $100pp/day. So a family of 4 is shelling out $800 a day between the EP and regular admission. The real utilization comes from the guests staying at their Deluxes who get it as a perk but are subsidizing it through their room rate. And yes on occasion some will opt to straight out pay the $800.

Whatever the actual numbers are - they achieve a good balance. And while no doubt Disney’s crowds are bigger they also have more options and 4 parks vs 2.

Its all hypothetical but you get ~100k at the 4 parks daily. If you had a price point that say gave you 15-20% adoption (whether subsidized via the room rate or a straight out purchase). I think it would be a good balance spread out amongst the various parks.

 

[UNCgolf]

The real utilization comes from the guests staying at their Deluxes who get it as a perk but are subsidizing it through their room rate.

This is where it feels like an absolute steal. We stayed at the Royal Pacific, which was a very nice hotel, and paid less than half of what we'd have to pay to stay at a Disney deluxe -- and that included the Unlimited Express Pass.

I don't enjoy Universal nearly as much as WDW because I don't really like most of their rides, but I don't think Disney offers anything that's even remotely comparable to Universal's Deluxe rooms in overall value.

 

["El Gran Magnifico"]

This is where it feels like an absolute steal. We stayed at the Royal Pacific, which was a very nice hotel, and paid less than half of what we'd have to pay to stay at a Disney deluxe -- and that included the Unlimited Express Pass.

And that’s how we all should feel walking away after a vacation. Uni made their money - we felt we got value - everybody is happy. And we don’t feel Uni nickeled and dimed us.

I get the EP after 4pm daily with my AP. And when I visit part of me still is thinking “okay what’s the catch?”

 

[JakeAZ]

This is where it feels like an absolute steal. We stayed at the Royal Pacific, which was a very nice hotel, and paid less than half of what we'd have to pay to stay at a Disney deluxe -- and that included the Unlimited Express Pass.

100%!

I have two rooms booked there, for 9 people for 2 nights. We get 3 days of EP the weekend before Thanksgiving. Retail EP price for our 3 park days is currently at $527pp plus tax. So almost $5,000 for the 9 of us over 3 days. We got club rooms (to include snacks and breakfast) for $500 per night.

Even better, I was able to book both rooms with Chase UR points at an exchange rate of 1.5 cents per point.

 

["El Gran Magnifico"]

I don't enjoy Universal nearly as much as WDW because I don't really like most of their rides, but I don't think Disney offers anything that's even remotely comparable to Universal's Deluxe rooms in overall value.

Its funny and you make a very valid point.
There are some very good rides at Uni. Some.

With EP -in a few hours you ride the coasters and their E tickets - and by 4pm you’re thinking “Okay. What should we do now? I know. Let’s ride the coasters again.” Then after 3 Hulks, 4 Mummys, 3 Rips. You start thinking “screw it, let’s go get something to eat.”

 

[CntrlFlPete]

Honest Question. And this may have been addressed in the 400+ previous pages but:

Why didn't they go with a Universal type system?

Say: 1 Day/1 Park LL pass for $100pp (With a multi-park option at a higher price point) - then maybe a 1 Park/after 3pm option for say $60? Single use, no reservations, no return times.

Could have been included with Deluxe resorts as an incentive (obviously built into the room rate), and maybe offered as a % off for moderates and values. Otherwise you stand in line.

Seems to me from a guest experience perspective that would have been the way to go. But I guess Disney is making more revenue doing it this convoluted way.

to me, I feel like Disney is currently setting the price/perceived value of this new revenue stream. I am sure they will include Genie+ as part of a package deal as it will help them add that in when calculate the package savings compared to rack rates.

 

[UNCgolf]

Its funny and you make a very valid point.
There are some very good rides at Uni. Some.

With EP -in a few hours you ride the coasters and their E tickets - and by 4pm you’re thinking “Okay. What should we do now? I know. Let’s ride the coasters again.” Then after 3 Hulks, 4 Mummys, 3 Rips. You start thinking “screw it, let’s go get something to eat.”

The Hulk and Rip are two I have no desire to ride! I'm not really a coaster fan -- they need elaborate theming to interest me.

Mummy is very good. I love Jurassic Park River Adventure (probably my favorite ride at Universal), and E.T. is a great classic dark ride. Spiderman is excellent for what it is. Screens just don't do much for me, but it's probably as good as a heavily screen reliant ride can be. The other log flume and the rapids ride are probably fun, but they both looked like they get you soaked and it wasn't really a weather day for that when we were there. That's kind of it for rides I either really enjoyed or looked fun to me; almost everything else was either a meh or I just had no interest in riding.

Didn't ride Gringott's, but it doesn't look great to me and most comments about it are ambivalent. Hagrid's wasn't open yet when I was there, but it also doesn't look like something that would really impress me.

 

["El Gran Magnifico"]

The Hulk and Rip are two I have no desire to ride! I'm not really a coaster fan -- they need elaborate theming to interest me.

Mummy is very good. I love Jurassic Park River Adventure (probably my favorite ride at Universal), and E.T. is a great classic dark ride. Spiderman is excellent for what it is. Screens just don't do much for me, but it's probably as good as a heavily screen reliant ride can be. The other log flume and the rapids ride are probably fun, but they both looked like they get you soaked and it wasn't really a weather day for that when we were there. That's kind of it for rides I either really enjoyed or looked fun to me; almost everything else was either a meh or I just had no interest in riding.

When the screen is the ride it stinks. When the screen compliments the ride system it’s not bad.

 

[dirtnap101]

I think you'd have to charge a lot more than that to make it work at Disney. Disney's attendance is higher on average than Universal's and if you sell it to too many people it stops being a big benefit. You'll end up with a lot of angry customers that they paid for the pass and ended up still waiting in line for 30-45 minutes for some rides.

Wait, you mean the method of line skipping used by the company with 2 parks in the top 10 theme park attendance in 2019-2020 doesn't scale to the company with 5 parks in the top 10? (Also the one that hasn't build capacity over the last 20 years)? This is shocking...

 

[Touchdown]

Its funny and you make a very valid point.
There are some very good rides at Uni. Some.

With EP -in a few hours you ride the coasters and their E tickets - and by 4pm you’re thinking “Okay. What should we do now? I know. Let’s ride the coasters again.” Then after 3 Hulks, 4 Mummys, 3 Rips. You start thinking “screw it, let’s go get something to eat.”

You forgot Hagrids and Veliciocoaster, then throw in Spider-Man, MIB (try to max out the score I have, it’s by far the best shooter dark ride currently in existence,) the water rides, ET, Hogwarts Express and you’re getting closer to a full day. Then when you throw in the projection show at Hogwarts, the lagoon night show, catching the Blues Bros show or Diagon Alley shows, Bourne, or occasionally do some of the lesser rides, not to mention Volcano Bay and the seasonal entertainment Sept-Dec and you have a full day. Also most of the time those parks close by 9 (HHN being the exception) and that feels about right. As someone who will get a Universal AP and do multiple trips in a year I really think you’re wrong.

 

["El Gran Magnifico"]

You forgot Hagrids and Veliciocoaster, then throw in Spider-Man, MIB (try to max out the score I have, it’s by far the best shooter dark ride currently in existence,) the water rides, ET, Hogwarts Express and you’re getting closer to a full day. Then when you throw in the projection show at Hogwarts, the lagoon night show, catching the Blues Bros show or Diagon Alley shows, Bourne, or occasionally do some of the lesser rides, not to mention Volcano Bay and the seasonal entertainment Sept-Dec and you have a full day. Also most of the time those parks close by 9 (HHN being the exception) and that feels about right. As someone who will get a Universal AP and do multiple trips in a year I really think you’re wrong.

It was sarcasm. But that being said I have hit 4 rides an hour before - and within the 5 hour mark I’ve been on every ride in both parks that I wanted to go on - and that includes waiting in line on Hagrids and Veloci. It was fun. I like Uni.

 

[Todd H]

Geez…no mention of Forbidden Journey? It’s only one of the best rides on the planet.

 

[UNCgolf]

Geez…no mention of Forbidden Journey? It’s only one of the best rides on the planet.

If I was ranking every ride I've ever been on, it would be near the bottom. I realize that's a minority opinion, of course, but I found the actual content of the ride mediocre (the dragon was the only really good part) and the ride system horrendous. Incredibly unpleasant to ride and it gave me the worst motion sickness I've ever had.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Every time I think of universal, I look at their ticket prices and am immediately turned off. To be honest, we have cut our WDW trips from. 3-4 a year to 1 every couple years (and falling). First time since high school we bought cedar point passes, and honestly found it a lot more fun than any Disney trip we have done in the past 5 years.

Still…If ever our calendars line up…the bar tab is on me