Lightning Lane at Walt Disney World

[dmw]

FP+ and G+ for shows like Lion King work by allocating certain sections to just those people, and others for "standby". It used to be one of my choices in the FP+ days, but even then I could tell it wasn't needed or necessary.

We used it a couple of times during busy periods so that we did not have to get in line as early. Same strategy for using FP+ for Nemo. And, that was only after using FP+ for other attractions (ie FOP, Navi, Everest).

 

[Chi84]

I loved FP and FP+
Genie+ is a failure and total waste of money
I'm at Disney now. Got G+ first day at MK. Didn't use it amd got my money back when we left park $105 for family of 7!) Didn't get it today at HS. Not getting it rest of trip

May I ask why you didn’t use it? We’re going next year with a group that size and I was trying to figure out what the issues are using Genie+ for a larger group.

 

[Thepuma]

Not one word of your comment is true

First of all, at 7am you have to book your first Genie+ and 2 ILL's. If my math is right, that's 3 selections vs. the 1 that you claim.......Are their any first grade math teachers that can verify if my math is correct and James math is wrong?


Next, you have to have a park pass and they were completely sold out before Thanksgiving week, Christmas week and any other busy time so you already have to know what park you are going to be in at least a month in advance

Finally, the weather is irrelevant. When I go on vacation with my family and do 7 nights and buy 6 day park hopper ticket, I have already paid and have to use my ticket or lose it...........

Well..that is IF you can get the LL+...theres been many times when I've logged on and can't get Remy LL+...or FOP..or SDMT...etc etc etc...

Also...off site you cannot get a LL+ till the park has opened...hence why most are sold out by then

 

[Thepuma]

Apologies, I’m not factoring in ILL because, personally, I will never use it. Perhaps I should have clarified that. But weather is most certainly relevant, especially with park hopper.

Problem there is..if you want to ride the best 2 rides at each park, you will be subjecting yourself to massive Queues taking up most of your day.

 

[Thepuma]

The garbage continues.

At Epcot first thing and tried to get either a LL+ or Virtual queue...no chance.

So was told to try at 1pm...which we did and it says 390 minutes return time.

Brilliant...so now we are to stay in the park till the evening? Wow....what a great system.

 

[dreday3]

The garbage continues.

At Epcot first thing and tried to get either a LL+ or Virtual queue...no chance.

So was told to try at 1pm...which we did and it says 390 minutes return time.

Brilliant...so now we are to stay in the park till the evening? Wow....what a great system.

So you got a boarding group but you don't like the return time. I don't have much sympathy for that complaint. That's how it's been before Genie +, especially with Rise.

You don't have to do anything. Leave and come back. Leave and don't come back but miss the ride. But you got a BG, that's a good thing.

 

[Virtual Toad]

There are so many hoops to jump through. I feel for those of you who are dealing with how to handle the system on their trips right now. You are either pioneers or test subjects or both. (Atomic clocks? I keep coming back to that as it sums up the absolute absurdity of it all.)

Hyper planning was necessary with FP+, but now hyper execution— first thing in the morning and every day of your “vacation”— is required as well.
I don’t see that working well first thing in the morning for families who are scrambling anyway to get their small kids dressed, fed and on their way to the parks for rope drop.

Add to that the built in higher expectations of paying for a “premium” service — and the comparisons folks will immediately make to the ease and overall value of Universal’s express pass — and you have a recipe for leaving a critical mass of your guests frustrated, exhausted, angry and unsatisfied.

A ton of people put an honest effort into trying to make this work on Disney’s end, but putting this sort of pressure and potential for disappointment on the guests is a misguided move.

Kudos to those who have figured out how to make it work but I have to wonder if you will end up being the exception.

 

[Chi84]

There are so many hoops to jump through. I feel for those of you who are dealing with how to handle the system on their trips right now. You are either pioneers or test subjects or both. (Atomic clocks? I keep coming back to that as it sums up the absolute absurdity of it all.)

Hyper planning was necessary with FP+, but now hyper execution— first thing in the morning and every day of your “vacation”— is required as well.
I don’t see that working well first thing in the morning for families who are scrambling anyway to get their small kids dressed, fed and on their way to the parks for rope drop.

Add to that the built in higher expectations of paying for a “premium” service — and the comparisons folks will immediately make to the ease and overall value of Universal’s express pass — and you have a recipe for leaving a critical mass of your guests frustrated, exhausted, angry and unsatisfied.

A ton of people put an honest effort into trying to make this work on Disney’s end, but putting this sort of pressure and potential for disappointment on the guests is a misguided move.

Kudos to those who have figured out how to make it work but I have to wonder if you will end up being the exception.

Well said.

 

[dreday3]

There are so many hoops to jump through. I feel for those of you who are dealing with how to handle the system on their trips right now. You are either pioneers or test subjects or both. (Atomic clocks? I keep coming back to that as it sums up the absolute absurdity of it all.)

Hyper planning was necessary with FP+, but now hyper execution— first thing in the morning and every day of your “vacation”— is required as well.
I don’t see that working well first thing in the morning for families who are scrambling anyway to get their small kids dressed, fed and on their way to the parks for rope drop.

Add to that the built in higher expectations of paying for a “premium” service — and the comparisons folks will immediately make to the ease and overall value of Universal’s express pass — and you have a recipe for leaving a critical mass of your guests frustrated, exhausted, angry and unsatisfied.

A ton of people put an honest effort into trying to make this work on Disney’s end, but putting this sort of pressure and potential for disappointment on the guests is a misguided move.

Kudos to those who have figured out how to make it work but I have to wonder if you will end up being the exception.

I agree with your post and the only reason we were able to make it work/liked it (4 adults total) is because we arrived the day after it started and I just don't think many people were using it yet. I'm reading people's complaints, but honestly I'd have to experience it again for myself to see how bad it is (or isn't).

I fully expect that when/if we return in 2023, it's going to look different in structure. Perhaps more perks thrown to resort guests (book early, free Genie +, etc.).

 

[Thepuma]

So you got a boarding group but you don't like the return time. I don't have much sympathy for that complaint. That's how it's been before Genie +, especially with Rise.

You don't have to do anything. Leave and come back. Leave and don't come back but miss the ride. But you got a BG, that's a good thing.

The annoyance is more that I refresh constantly and get in the queue within a second of the 1pm start time...yet even at that point I'm given 390 minutes return time? Like, how can that be? It just doesn't make sense to me....seeing as there is no walk in queue, the only way to get on is paid (which is always sold out within a second or 2) or a 390 minute virtual queue wait?

I've never heard anything like it.

 

[Thepuma]

So you got a boarding group but you don't like the return time. I don't have much sympathy for that complaint. That's how it's been before Genie +, especially with Rise.

You don't have to do anything. Leave and come back. Leave and don't come back but miss the ride. But you got a BG, that's a good thing.

Well, technically I didn't get it because I saw it was a 390 minutes return time so decided against it.

 

[dreday3]

The annoyance is more that I refresh constantly and get in the queue within a second of the 1pm start time...yet even at that point I'm given 390 minutes return time? Like, how can that be? It just doesn't make sense to me....seeing as there is no walk in queue, the only way to get on is paid (which is always sold out within a second or 2) or a 390 minute virtual queue wait?

I've never heard anything like it.

What do you mean by how can that be? There's a lot of people trying at one time for that 1pm boarding group. You were lucky enough to get one.

Yes, that's the only way to ride. VQ or pay for it. Rise was like that for the longest time, way before Genie + or Rat was open. Did you not know that?

 

[dreday3]

Well, technically I didn't get it because I saw it was a 390 minutes return time so decided against it.

Okay.

 

[UNCgolf]

Well, technically I didn't get it because I saw it was a 390 minutes return time so decided against it.

Why? If you wanted to ride, why did the return time matter (barring a dinner reservation or some other previously scheduled thing)? You could do anything in the interval.

 

[bruin086]

May I ask why you didn’t use it? We’re going next year with a group that size and I was trying to figure out what the issues are using Genie+ for a larger group.

Well first I did it wrong in the morning. I'm 35 byt I guess not tech savvy anymore.... I selected splash mountain for 1030am at 7am. After I selected it G+ asked me to pay so I paid. I got to park and at 9 I went to schedule my next LL. I noticed splash wasn't booked! No idea what I did wrong! At that point I expected to have 2 LL and get a refund. We never waited for any ride mote than 30 min amd saved $106. We did do ILL for seven dearves didn't. So I said forget about it and decided not to use any LL us

 

[RoadiJeff]

With all of the problems with Genie+ I don't see why Disney doesn't just copy what their competition a few miles away does. That place charges $130 to over $300 per day for an Express Pass, which does not include the cost of admission to the park. Those kinds of prices would certainly keep many people from buying it and it seems to be working for them. I did that back in October and I only bought an Express Pass because the people I was meeting at Universal for two days had them. Otherwise, I would have endured standing in lines.

Current Unlimited Express Pass price:

 

[flynnibus]

With all of the problems with Genie+ I don't see why Disney doesn't just copy what their competition a few miles away does

TL DR - Their situations are not the same.

 

[Virtual Toad]

TL DR - Their situations are not the same.

Can you elaborate? Genuinely interested. ETA: Logistical situation or financial situation? Because the price point from Disney seems to cram too many guests into the system at the expense of guest satisfaction in the interest of raising as much short term cash as possible.

 

[mightynine]

The annoyance is more that I refresh constantly and get in the queue within a second of the 1pm start time...yet even at that point I'm given 390 minutes return time? Like, how can that be? It just doesn't make sense to me....seeing as there is no walk in queue, the only way to get on is paid (which is always sold out within a second or 2) or a 390 minute virtual queue wait?

I've never heard anything like it.

That's the guess of how long it will be before your boarding group is called, and it's always that high before dropping as it moves through boarding groups, FYI.

I used the listing on the tip board page since it gave an estimated time (like 5:25 pm, for example) and possible wait in line.

Once you get in a boarding group, keep it and check in on it before you give it up next time would be my recommendation.

 

[flynnibus]

Can you elaborate? Genuinely interested. ETA: Logistical situation or financial situation? Because the price point from Disney seems to cram too many guests into the system at the expense of guest satisfaction in the interest of raising as much short term cash as possible.

A few basic principles..

Express Pass is not intended to be a 'for everyone' solution - It is by design intended to be used only by a limited subset of the attendance. Contrast this with Fastpass which was intended to be used by all of your guests. Genie+ is still an 'everyone' product - it's not priced nor limited to be a finite audience like EP.

Utilization/Crowd Levels - Disney parks have trended to be more loaded than Uni outside peak periods. This means there is a great demand for such a line-skip/reservation system and greater expectation 'something needs to be available' all the time at Disney. The majority of time, the majority of Uni guests don't have EP at all and are fine. Meanwhile, Disney crowds are in meltdown if there is no FP available.

ExpressPass does not exist solely as that premium priced service - They have a large userbase who is gifted access to the service via their hotel booking. So its more challenging to qualify how many are actually buying the adhoc packages. So 'what people pay' is kinda nebulous. Uni has clearly made enough money from the last minute buyers to make it worth keep marketing it. I see it as capitalizing on a small % of customers that are willing to basically 'pay anything' to bypass lines. I highly doubt you see many people buying adhoc EP for more than 2-3 days in a trip. Disney has far more hotel rooms than Uni.. so if you did a hotel bundle at Disney you couldn't just use the simple 'deluxe' tier distinction.

The number of days you are on property - Disney trips tend to be far longer on avg than Uni. If it's a product you expect people to use every day, you have to consider someone's total investment expected. A several hundred dollar price point per day is more approachable if you only need to do it 1-3 times.. if you generally expect to use it 5 or more days.. the price point becomes far more problematic.

So to sum up.. EP is designed and priced to be used only for a subset of your population. In addition, Uni can get by without NEEDING to give all their users a line-skip because of their park crowd levels in general. Obviously as Uni grows in popularity that dynamic changes a bit.. but hasn't reached that saturation yet where Uni is a 'Expresspass or don't go' experience.

The fundamental difference in how much capacity is needed to feed the line-skip machine is a huge part of why the systems aren't directly inter-changable.

Yes, Disney could just turn around and charge $200/person for a line-skip service and say "ok, its only going to be for 5% of our visitors". But if 95% of visitors are left out.. either due to capacity or or financial accessibility then you are abandoning the majority of your userbase.. and their need hasn't diminished.