Lightning Lane at Walt Disney World

[larryz]

This is Genie Plus
This is Genie Plus

Pay more to go to your favorite place

This is Genie Plus
Everybody make a fuss

Bob takes all your money with elated grace

Now scream!

 

[larryz]

If you had told this board in 2016 that by 2021 tickets would not only be over $100 but would cost around $135, Fast Pass would be a pay service, parks would require reservations, it would take about 90 minutes to two hours to phone guest services, the slate of rides that would be announced in 2017 would still not be open, entertainment would be cut to the bone, every parade would be cancelled, the nighttime shows would be replaced with inferior versions, and the parking lot trams would be defunct, not a single person would believe it. Most would assume it was a parody that was too exaggerated to really hit home. Disney’s defenders would accuse you of arguing in bad faith and having a cartoonishly evil view of corporations.

...and you would have been perma-banned on certain DISney fan sites for "having an agenda"...

 

[DisneyDodo]

I still haven’t been able to get a clear answer to this question.

7am: Book 1pm LL for Ride A
11am: Book 12:30pm LL for Ride B
12:30pm: Redeem LL for Ride B

Can I now book another LL? And then could I book an additional one when I redeem my LL for Ride A, even though less than 2 hours has passed?

If the answer to those questions is yes, it would mean that once you’ve stacked X LLs, you would effectively be able to book X at a time for the rest of the day.

 

[dovetail65]

Funny, I was there the same years and my experience was nothing like yours (and neither were any of the multitudes of people there discussing how crowded it was).

Strange because I would not have taken my kids out of school the following three years at those exact times and I wouldn't pay for out of state AP's at over 7K a crack for my family and travel form Chicago 4 years in a row to stand in long lines.

You either have super bad luck on the days you were there or I have very good luck 4 years running.

Even all the way to Dec 18th or so those parks are hardly crowed. I had this conversation about about December being busy for some people too,, nope not for us. Christmas is super busy, but December has always been great for us right through Dec 17th or so and is another time we go every year. This year we are staying Dec 10th to Jan 10th, in the past that first week of our Dec trips we walked on nearly every ride. We will see if this year is a huge change due to Covid or not. A matter of fact I think the most empty day we ever saw was Dec 15th 2018(may 2019 I would have to check my pics) and I thought wow this is crazy, even better than the October trip we had hardly rested from that year.

 

[floydbeatle]

Funny, I was there the same years and my experience was nothing like yours (and neither were any of the multitudes of people there discussing how crowded it was).

Agreed. I mentioned this earlier and someone quoted me the TP average crowd level for October at below 5 or something similar. I figured I must have misremembered how hot and crowded it was and why we decided never to return in October. So here is the actual crowd levels for October 14-21, 2017 per TP.

Oct 14: MK (8), EPCOT (7), DHS (7), AK (7)
Oct 15: MK (5 also MNSSHP), EPCOT (6), DHS (8), AK (7)
Oct 16: MK (9), EPCOT (7), DHS (7), AK (8)
Oct 17: MK (4 also MNSSHP), EPCOT (8), DHS (7), AK (6)
Same for the next few days and then on the day we left:
OCT 21: MK (8), EPCOT (9), DHS (8), AK (7)

Normally, we go in August towards the end of the month and while we did not go that year in August I picked a random date we would normally go:
8/18/17: 6 across the board for all parks.

I won't say others experience are wrong, but OCT 14-21, 2017 was CROWDED! I have never returned in October.

 

[larryz]

Good luck getting a refund on your individual LL purchases when the ride goes down. Bought one for Rise and the ride went down. This was the only time the entire trip we had scheduled for HS with a 16 month old and a pregnant wife, so no rescheduling worked for me. Had to argue at guest relations for 15 minutes with the extremely rude cast member just consistently and condescendingly quoting the T’s and C’s at me (which she was wrong, nothing in the emailed T&C’s I got stated it would not be refundable).

When I pointed out that Disney had issued a statement to the Orlando Sentinel stating that they would give refunds in this case, she told me “it must not have been from a real Disney employee.” I’ve gotten better customer service from a mall hawker. So many people were in there getting Rise LL refunds it was a joke. A lot of folks complaining saying the company no longer cares and they’re not coming back.

I recognize cast have a hard job, and never in over a decade of coming here have I ever negatively reported a cast member by name. Today, I did. Her attitude and demeanor was that bad and that rude, especially when she said “are you sure you want me to refund this - you will not be able to ride Rise once it comes back up if I process this recovery action.” No, after I’ve had to argue with you for 15 minutes I’m not going to miraculously change my mind to help your metrics.

Also, since when do managers not come out when you ask to speak to them? The entire time I was at guest relations there was a stream of CM’s going back after a guest requested to speak to a manager, but not once did one come out to speak to a guest. That is pitiful and embarrassing for a company that once prided itself on customer service.

Your walk-off line should have been "Expect a charge-back and a blistering letter to Guest Relations."

 

[dovetail65]

Agreed. I mentioned this earlier and someone quoted me the TP average crowd level for October at below 5 or something similar. I figured I must have misremembered how hot and crowded it was and why we decided never to return in October. So here is the actual crowd levels for October 14-21, 2017 per TP.

Oct 14: MK (8), EPCOT (7), DHS (7), AK (7)
Oct 15: MK (5 also MNSSHP), EPCOT (6), DHS (8), AK (7)
Oct 16: MK (9), EPCOT (7), DHS (7), AK (8)
Oct 17: MK (4 also MNSSHP), EPCOT (8), DHS (7), AK (6)
Same for the next few days and then on the day we left:
OCT 21: MK (8), EPCOT (9), DHS (8), AK (7)

Normally, we go in August towards the end of the month and while we did not go that year in August I picked a random date we would normally go:
8/18/17: 6 across the board for all parks.

I won't say others experience are wrong, but OCT 14-21, 2017 was CROWDED! I have never returned in October.

Well in 2017 we were already back home by then, I just checked we went Oct 3 to 13th that year and it was that Dec 15th 2017 that was the least busy day we ever went, at MK anyhow. As I said as the later in the month toward Halloween the more busy it gets. We went Halloween Day once and it was really crowded, still first week of August or Spring break were worse for us. We will never go spring break or summer ever again.

Looking back at exact dates those 4 trips with the kids in October we never arrived back home after October 15th, so I'll preface it with early October for now on.

 

[dreday3]

Last night! We waited out storms and had a great night at DHS.

Good luck to all and enjoy all upcoming trips! I've said my thoughts on Genie +, we'll see what it looks like when I come back around 2023.

Goodbye Disney! See ya real soon!

 

[MrPromey]

Just throwing this out there for all those who feel Disney deserves some slack due to COVID causing fear among potential guests, travel restrictions, etc.:

Universal Orlando sees most profitable quarter ever amid pandemic

Universal Orlando’s last quarter was its most profitable ever, despite COVID-related travel restrictions limiting international visitors to the U.S., executives from parent company Comcast re…

www.orlandosentinel.com

 

[ImperfectPixie]

Just throwing this out there for all those who feel Disney deserves some slack due to COVID causing fear among potential guests, travel restrictions, etc.:

Universal Orlando sees most profitable quarter ever amid pandemic

Universal Orlando’s last quarter was its most profitable ever, despite COVID-related travel restrictions limiting international visitors to the U.S., executives from parent company Comcast re…

www.orlandosentinel.com

Did they cut back on/eliminate entertainment, cut perks that were previously included, or jack prices to ridiculous levels?

 

[MisterPenguin]

I still haven’t been able to get a clear answer to this question.

7am: Book 1pm LL for Ride A
11am: Book 12:30pm LL for Ride B
12:30pm: Redeem LL for Ride B

Can I now book another LL? And then could I book an additional one when I redeem my LL for Ride A, even though less than 2 hours has passed?

If the answer to those questions is yes, it would mean that once you’ve stacked X LLs, you would effectively be able to book X at a time for the rest of the day.

Yes, yes, and yes. As far as I understand it.

Every tap into a LL resets the clock and you can grab a new LL. And if you already have one, then you have two.

But, in the end, that doesn't give you an advantage compared to someone with one LL that they use first thing in the morning. That person can theoretically grab a new LL for their next ride that's scheduled in the next 10 minutes. And then when the tap into that ride, schedule another LL to happen in the next 10 minutes and so on.

Having an extra LL can't make that go faster. You still have to spend time on the attraction and get to the next tapstile to reset the clock and get a new LL whether you have another LL (or more) banked.

And the person who started that process with just one LL at a time first thing in the morning will always be ahead (presuming LLs are immediately available all day long).

The advantage of grabbing a later-day LL and winding up with stacked LLs is either you're going to the park later, or, your grabbing a LL that will run out later in the day.

 

[jpeden]

Your walk-off line should have been "Expect a charge-back and a blistering letter to Guest Relations."

I paid with a rewards redemption card so that wasn’t possible unfortunately but they did give me my money back eventually. My walkoff line was “I’m sorry you have to deal with this because I understand you didn’t make this decision, but Bob Chapek needs a few more million in his bonus this year and you’re bearing the real cost of that decision.”

I did write guest relations on Tuesday. Still haven’t received a response. Not even expecting one at this point.

I remember a few years ago we booked the Dine in the Sky experience and when they changed it so drastically that we cancelled and I wrote George Kalogridis about how disappointing the changes were and how we were cancelling. Not only did we get a call back, an offer to rebook the experience when they announced the cuts were being restored, but when we told the lady that we had made other plans but I appreciated it, she comped us four tickets to the Disney After Hours event that was going on in February of 2017 as a “I’m sorry for the inconvenience that we caused and for not meeting the standards we strive to meet for our guest” without me even asking for something. I just wanted to register my disappointment in the cuts they had made and explain why we weren’t going to pay for it.

In 2017 I got comped $600 in tickets for being disappointed in cuts made to a dining experience without even asking or expecting it.

In 2021 I had to argue for 15 minutes while my pregnant wife sat with a screaming 16 month old for a $15 refund that I was entitled to when the company couldn’t provide the service for which I paid. That story is everything you need to know about what has changed in TWDC.

 

[DisneyDodo]

Yes, yes, and yes. As far as I understand it.

Every tap into a LL resets the clock and you can grab a new LL. And if you already have one, then you have two.

But, in the end, that doesn't give you an advantage compared to someone with one LL that they use first thing in the morning. That person can theoretically grab a new LL for their next ride that's scheduled in the next 10 minutes. And then when the tap into that ride, schedule another LL to happen in the next 10 minutes and so on.

Having an extra LL can't make that go faster. You still have to spend time on the attraction and get to the next tapstile to reset the clock and get a new LL whether you have another LL (or more) banked.

And the person who started that process with just one LL at a time first thing in the morning will always be ahead (presuming LLs are immediately available all day long).

The advantage of grabbing a later-day LL and winding up with stacked LLs is either you're going to the park later, or, your grabbing a LL that will run out later in the day.

In theory, nothing would be more efficient than continuously booking LLs for immediate use and tapping into them. However, most attractions will not have that option available for most of the day, especially the more in-demand rides. This means you will have to book LLs for some point in the future and fill your time doing something else until your window opens. Being able to book 2 LLs at a time would represent a huge advantage here. It’s essentially like having 2 G+s linked to one user for the rest of the day, with the caveat that you still can’t book any ride more than once.

 

[Purduevian]

In theory, nothing would be more efficient than continuously booking LLs for immediate use and tapping into them. However, most attractions will not have that option available for most of the day, especially the more in-demand rides. This means you will have to book LLs for some point in the future and fill your time doing something else until your window opens. Being able to book 2 LLs at a time would represent a huge advantage here. It’s essentially like having 2 G+s linked to one user for the rest of the day, with the caveat that you still can’t book any ride more than once.

I do wonder if this is kind of the play though if you are looking for a mid afternoon break.
Rope drop either 7D or space.
Instant LL ride Buzz , Speedway, Tea Party, Pooh,, Dumbo, Barnstormer, Mermaid, small world all by 12ish
At that point JC should be around 3-4pm, so book it and head back to the resort for a break
@2pm Splash Mountain should be around 4-5pm
@4pm or when you tap into jungle cruise, Pirates probably has one about an hour out
When tapping into Splash, grab Big thunder
When taking into Pirates, grab HM
Get on either 7D or Space at close

Basically use Instant LL in the morning, then bounce between the bigger rides (JC, Pirates, Splash, Thunder, HM) while you can be juggling 2 of them constantly.

EDIT: Better plan: Rope drop 7D, First FP (booked early) for PP around 9am, then follow all the instant LL Would be a complete waste to have a small world FP at 9am.

 

[Andrew M]

I do wonder if this is kind of the play though if you are looking for a mid afternoon break.
Rope drop either 7D or space.
Instant LL ride Buzz , Speedway, Tea Party, Pooh,, Dumbo, Barnstormer, Mermaid, small world all by 12ish
At that point JC should be around 3-4pm, so book it and head back to the resort for a break
@2pm Splash Mountain should be around 4-5pm
@4pm or when you tap into jungle cruise, Pirates probably has one about an hour out
When tapping into Splash, grab Big thunder
When taking into Pirates, grab HM
Get on either 7D or Space at close

Basically use Instant LL in the morning, then bounce between the bigger rides (JC, Pirates, Splash, Thunder, HM) while you can be juggling 2 of them constantly.

In retrospect I think this is the way to do it. You do run the risk of JC or Splash running out by 3-4pm though, depending on how busy it is, but booking the in-demand ones first resulted in a lot of downtime waiting for my next window to open.

 

[jpinkc]

I saw this found it funny but sad, I think it sums up what we all feel about Chapek's Disney vs Walt Disney's ideals
Sorry dont know how I posted it twice LOL

 

[dirtnap101]

I saw this found it funny but sad, I think it sums up what we all feel about Chapek's Disney vs Walt Disney's ideals
Sorry dont know how I posted it twice LOL

enjoy the sentiment and great production values...except Walt's vaguely British accent??

 

[jpinkc]

enjoy the sentiment and great production values...except Walt's vaguely British accent??

Yeah nobody from Missouri has that accent, LOL. Trust me been here all my life.......................

 

[_mickey_]

Quick question for you lovely peeps - how alike is Genie+ is to FP+ flexibility wise? It used to be that if I got a FP for a ride at a later time, I could go back in and keep refreshing until I got a sooner/better time. Is this also the case with Genie+ (both individual LL and regular LL), or are you stuck with the initial time you get?

Also, you can only use LL 1 per ride per day, correct?

Thanks!

 

[JAB]

Quick question for you lovely peeps - how alike is Genie+ is to FP+ flexibility wise? It used to be that if I got a FP for a ride at a later time, I could go back in and keep refreshing until I got a sooner/better time. Is this also the case with Genie+ (both individual LL and regular LL), or are you stuck with the initial time you get?

Also, you can only use LL 1 per ride per day, correct?

Thanks!

You can change your time for Genie+, but it's not quite the same as FP+, and it's a bit riskier.

FP+ would let you simply modify an existing reservation, and would only change your existing reservation once you successfully booked the new timeslot. Unlike FP+, though, G+, does not have a "modify" option; instead, you have to cancel your existing LL reservation first and then book the new one, so there is the risk that the "better" timeslot you saw could already be gone by the time you cancel your existing timeslot and go back to book the new timeslot, meaning you've now lost your original timeslot, even though you didn't get the new one.

Individual Lightning Lane purchases (which are not part of Genie+ and can be purchased regardless of whether you purchase G+), however, cannot be changed or cancelled.

And yes; Lightning Lane access is allowed only once per ride per day.