Lightning Lane at Walt Disney World

[dirtnap101]

Epcot is my favorite park, so I watch a lot of streams from Epcot. I sometime think, during evening streams, even in low crowd times, "gosh, World Showcase is crowded", and then I remind myself that the majority of guests don't have hoppers, have been in Epcot all day, and by the evening everyone has done TT, Soarin', TWTL, Seas, Mission: Space and SE. So the majority of people in the park are circling World Showcase, checking out the pavilions and waiting for the nighttime show.

A perfect example of why G+ is not worth it for Epcot...WallCot is for real, and unless it's a heavy attendance day it's hard to see how Epcot needs G+.

 

[Casper Gutman]

Correct, they are balancing additional revenue against unbearable standby. Maximize revenue while trying to avoid unbearable standby.

They do not care about unbearable standby. Unbearable standby will push more people to purchase G+.

 

[Chi84]

They do not care about unbearable standby. Unbearable standby will push more people to purchase G+.

They absolutely care about unbearable standby. Any business cares about the product it’s selling and their customers’ experience.

 

[Casper Gutman]

They absolutely care about unbearable standby. Any business cares about the product it’s selling and their customers’ experience.

They aren’t running parking lot trams, which is so cartoonishly evil they are being mocked on nationally broadcast late night shows and excoriated by NPR. They cancelled every parade. Their guest service line usually has a 90 minute or more wait. They are charging full price for EPCOT, a massive mess of a construction zone. They are exploiting the pandemic for advantage wherever they can. They raised ticket prices 40% in four years. And this thread is about how, on top of that, they’re charging for a line-management service that used to be free that was put into place to avoid having to build rides.

Some executives and a lot of CMs care about the product offered guests. WDW as a whole cares about what they can get away with.

 

[Chi84]

They aren’t running parking lot trams, which is so cartoonishly evil they are being mocked on nationally broadcast late night shows and excoriated by NPR. They cancelled every parade. Their guest service line usually has a 90 minute or more wait. They are charging full price for EPCOT, a massive mess of a construction zone. They are exploiting the pandemic for advantage wherever they can. They raised ticket prices 40% in four years. And this thread is about how, on top of that, they’re charging for a line-management service that used to be free that was put into place to avoid having to build rides.

Some executives and a lot of CMs care about the product offered guests. WDW as a whole cares about what they can get away with.

Good lord stay away from that evil place!

 

[lazyboy97o]

They absolutely care about unbearable standby. Any business cares about the product it’s selling and their customers’ experience.

Then why has capacity not been expanded? Why does the world’s busiest theme park have less dining capacity today than 30 years ago?

 

[Casper Gutman]

Good lord stay away from that evil place!

As you know, I mostly do. But there’s enough good left over and the place means enough to me emotionally and intellectually I’m not giving up on it. Thanks for your feigned concern, though.

 

[matt9112]

Oh yeah, we never even looked at that.

But that's free, so no problem, just don't use it.

That justifys its crappyness eh? Strange times.

 

[Chi84]

As you know, I mostly do. But there’s enough good left over and the place means enough to me emotionally and intellectually I’m not giving up on it. Thanks for your feigned concern, though.

It was a general comment for people to stay away from such an uncaring place. Not you personally. I know you continue to go even though there’s nothing you currently like about the place.

 

[Casper Gutman]

It was a general comment for people to stay away from such an uncaring place. Not you personally. I know you continue to go even though there’s nothing you currently like about the place.

And from previous discussions you know that’s not true, either - being critical (or, from my perspective, honest) about the current direction of the parks and the changes taking place there doesn’t mean there’s nothing I like about the place.

But getting back to Disney’s regard for guests-which elements that I listed reflects their preoccupation with the guest experience? As Lazy points out, If they care about standby lines and crowding, why have they done so little to address capacity in the last couple decades?

 

[Thepuma]

Pre pandemic me and the missus visited Orlando 3 times a year, we love it.

We are visiting in Novemver for 2 weeks but must say this Genie+ thing has really spoilt the whole experience for us. Disney is expensive as it is and being faced with another $100 dollars a day expense, just to get what we had for nothing before, is a bitter pill to swallow.

Our biggest problem is that being from the UK, every time we make a purchase in dollars the bank will charge $6 foreign transaction fee....so when we buy Genie+ we will both incur $6 fee. We book 2 Lightning Lane plus? Another $6 for each one, oer person....I can't see any other way round than paying by our bank cards and getting hit constantly with bank charges.

We have both decided that this November trip will now be our last..and instead we will be touring Europe and the rest of the worlds theme parks instead.

We will have a blast for 2 weeks...it will cost us an arm and a leg, but that will be it for Orlando - Disney Parks were always a big part of our trips but I couldn't stomach the way Disney are heading, charging MORE for a much lesser service.

Such a shame, but it is what it is.

 

[GhostHost1000]

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.

So it’s best to try and get a LL as early as possible (before 11) so you could book another one correct?

 

[Waters Back Side]

So it’s best to try and get a LL as early as possible (before 11) so you could book another one correct?

Whether you pick your first LL at 7am or 8am or even 9am you still have to wait until 11 for your next one unless you redeem it before that time. If your first ride is at 9 when the park opens and you redeem it 9:05 then you can get a 2nd one sooner. Obviously the earlier you choose your first LL the better available time and the more chance of availability overall is the main reason.

 

[dirtnap101]

So it’s best to try and get a LL as early as possible (before 11) so you could book another one correct?

If you mean get a return time as early as possible so you can book another one, then yes, you are correct. If you're trying to use G+ on as many rides as possible (and you don't care so much about which rides, or the rides you prefer are not that popular on G+), the best strategy is to get a return time in the 9am hour for your first one, and then just keep booking ones that are available soonest until you can't anymore.

 

[Lirael]

Reading about the 7am thing here really bothers me. Supposedly I can't plan my fast lines days out to help the experience of those that don't like to plan every detail ahead, but just come in the park and see what's happening... but those people aren't going to know (or want) that they need to wake up on their relaxing vacation day at a ridiculously early time just to snag a LL, are they?

So the pre planners get shafted, the "arrive and see what's up" crowd also gets shafted.

 

[Chi84]

We tried Genie+ for a week and - besides having to pay for it - it didn't work as well for us as the old FP+ system. There were a few glitches. I wanted to schedule the Safari ride in AK for a time that worked for us - 10:30 to 11:30. So I went through the process of booking it and got a confirmation for 9:10 to 10:10. I canceled it, waited a few minutes and finally got what we wanted. The same thing happened with another ride in another park.

Because of the way the system is set up now, we did standby for EE and MMRR. The wait for EE wasn't bad, but with the old system we wouldn't have had to wait (or pay) at all. MMRR was a disaster, with a 95 minute standby wait. At the time we entered the line, the wait posted by Touringplans was 35 minutes and Disney had the wait at 55 minutes. There were no announcements that anything was wrong with the ride, and the CM we asked while we were in line said she didn't ordinarily work that ride and had no idea what may have happened. Anyway, we got to try out the grace period on ToT, and they let us in almost 15 minutes past our window.

We're not concerned about getting on a lot of rides, so the new system will probably work better for those who want to ride as many as possible. There were two fairly recent improvements at WDW that did work well and saved us a good deal of time - mobile ordering and the Skyliner. The push toward mobile ordering made it much easier to find a table at counter service locations, and the Skyliner was quick and efficient.

 

[po1998]

Going to be in Orlando for two months this winter. Was planning on going to the parks 4 or 5 times during this period, but between the price increases and this Genie nonsense, I’m considering just skipping the parks. It shouldn’t be this difficult. I don’t want to be planning on my phone all day, and I also don’t want to stare at massive standby lines.
What a mess they have made…an expensive one at that.

 

[lazyboy97o]

Reading about the 7am thing here really bothers me. Supposedly I can't plan my fast lines days out to help the experience of those that don't like to plan every detail ahead, but just come in the park and see what's happening... but those people aren't going to know (or want) that they need to wake up on their relaxing vacation day at a ridiculously early time just to snag a LL, are they?

So the pre planners get shafted, the "arrive and see what's up" crowd also gets shafted.

Of course adequate capacity would work well for everyone as there wouldn’t be so much volatility.

 

["El Gran Magnifico"]

Going to be in Orlando for two months this winter. Was planning on going to the parks 4 or 5 times during this period, but between the price increases and this Genie nonsense, I’m considering just skipping the parks. It shouldn’t be this difficult. I don’t want to be planning on my phone all day, and I also don’t want to stare at massive standby lines.
What a mess they have made…an expensive one at that.

A lot of things you can do without the aggravation and for very minimal to no cost

Resort Hop and see all the decorations. Get an ADR at a resort. Go to Springs. Catch the water parade. View the fireworks from Poly or Dahlia. Breakfast or a cup of coffee and sit out at one of the public areas at AKL and overlook the savannah.

 

[Chi84]

It seems to me that it's unrealistic to expect Disney to keep adding capacity until everyone who wants to go to WDW can comfortably fit in there. They'll settle on the capacity they want and the overflow will go to competitors like Universal. Complaining about specific experiences at WDW is one thing, but "add capacity" is a bottomless pit.