GimpYancIent
Well-Known Member
Why? What? NO!
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Lightning Lane at Walt Disney World
- Thread starter wdwmagic
- Start date
Jeff4272
Well-Known Member
FP+ was 7 years old (debuted in 2013).........Genie+ wont make it half of that and nobody will ask for it back
disneygeek90
Well-Known Member
At least it was free.
Jeff4272
Well-Known Member
I wonder if all the FP+ haters would like to go back vs this?
I know they hated it, but they have to hate this more?
Disstevefan1
Well-Known Member
Guests want FP+ back, Shareholders want to keep Genie +
Villains0501
Well-Known Member
Oh, yes, absolutely, no question. And that is a change from how we previously vacationed. While early mornings at WDW are normal for us, rope dropping nearly every park, every day of the vacation was new. But we were able to accomplish our attraction goals. From reading reports on here and in the general fan community, I was prepared for the worst and believed that even with rope dropping, the balance toward Genie+ guests would put us at a disadvantage. But that was not the case, at least before 11 am generally.
However, we do now feel compelled to stay onsite moving forward, which reverses the trend of our last few trips of renting a VRBO offsite and driving/ride-sharing to the parks. That 30 minute morning advantage, while seemingly inconsequential, actually is a nice perk. But an extra hour each morning would be even better.
Additionally, as someone looking to potentially relocate permanently to the Orlando area, how Genie+/LL is impacting the daily experiences of local visitors is something I'm concerned about. I don't believe I really got a good feel for that this trip. One of the perks of being fortunate enough to visit WDW multiple times a year means that I can sort of experiment with my trips. Maybe on my next trip in Jan/Feb 2022, I'll go back to staying off-site and see how not rope dropping or having that early morning advantage impacts my enjoyment of the parks.
Villains0501
Well-Known Member
A one and done for us - and I still lose sleep about it some nights! What a waste! And now it's a signature prix fixe for lunch and dinner as well. I really hate the fact that the most elaborate representation of one of my favorite Disney films is kept behind such a mediocre paywall.
Jeff4272
Well-Known Member
I think opposite.....we feel compelled to stay offsite more than ever (if we were to even go again, which we wont unless Genie+/ILL changes)
no ME, no EMH, no night hours for us pee on moderate/value guests, have to pay for parking, no dining advantage...............we dont get up early on vacation (and most dont) so there is very little to no value in staying onsite..........even if we did get up early, 30 mins in the am wouldnt be enough for 3-4x the cost for a non resort hotel
hopemax
Well-Known Member
Is there an Insider @marni1971 @Magic Feather that can give us a tiny bit in insight into how TDO or higher is really thinking about this rollout?
Because if they are already selling out like this, they can’t sell more which is bad for future quarter earnings. I can’t imagine they are that happy it’s reached this point already. But who knows? So maybe we could get some emojis describing the current mood from inside? Different vibe for how ILLs are going vs Genie+?
Is anyone feeling like this guy from The Mummy?
disneygeek90
Well-Known Member
As a local, I went to AK at 4pm yesterday. Watched the Merry Menagerie then got a drink at the dawa bar. Single Rider on EE virtually a walk on. Stopped at the Kite Show on my way to Dinosaur and walked right into pre-show. Was back at my car by 6:20. Being a local definitely changes your perspective of the parks. You don't need or even want to do everything or even be there all day.
That said, I'm pretty meh on Genie+. Evenings are nice when the crowds aren't at peak wait times.
Jeff4272
Well-Known Member
This isn't true....only approximately 33% of people have bought Genie+....There is no limit to how many can buy....Theres plenty or room for growth
The only problem is, the parks cant handle it at 33%.............It will never go higher b theres not enough capacity
They should charge more and limit it to 20% usage so it at least works when you use it
and price increases are coming.........When ROTR sells out in 20 seconds for the day, i wouldnt be surprised if the first price hike is double the current one
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el_super
Well-Known Member
the limit being imposed would be one on general availability of Lightning Lane slots. The more people added to the system, the less availability there is, and the less value the overall purchase has. So they have to limit the number of people using Lightning Lane in order to preserve the value in the system, but there are other ways they can tweak it to still increase revenue over time. They could play around with the return windows to increase the number of available slots, and of course, raise the prices if demand is high.
Villains0501
Well-Known Member
We were able to make it work for us this trip without breaking the bank in terms of lodgings. We stayed at the Holiday Inn Disney Springs. Not fancy by any means, but it gets the job done and there's free coffee in the lobby each morning (which is more than you can say for even Disney's deluxe resorts, which seems like a very egregious omission to me for the price point).
There were only two of us, so a ride share from MCO to the hotel was easy enough and we didn't have to pay for parking. But I agree the loss of ME and free parking at Disney resorts is sad and petty.
We also did feel the pinch of shorter park hours for day, non-party/deluxe guests, especially in the evening at MK and the mornings at EPCOT.
If they eventually remove the early morning advantage for non-Disney resort/'Good Neighbor' hotels, then that will likely have a negative impact on our trip.
As I mentioned above, we might be heading back in early 2022 and will try staying offsite then to test how it impacts our park time. If we're seeing consistent, accurate hour long waits for HM and Pirates, for example, then we will probably be vacationing elsewhere in future. But the wait times were not to be believed this week. I clocked almost every attraction, and easily 75% came in at half the posted wait time!
Villains0501
Well-Known Member
That's the same perspective we tried to adopt this trip: "We're not going to go crazy trying to do everything because we will be back." But that might have been a pre-emptive coping mechanism in the fear that we might not get to do much of anything b/c of Genie+.
Your evening sounds heavenly, by the way, and exactly the type of experience we're looking for when we relocate! Just nice, easygoing evenings at WDW, people watching on Main Street and maybe hitting a few rides, here or there.
I did lament the lack of seating, however, especially in the MK. By the end of the trip, I thought I had the novel idea for future visits of bringing a compact folding stool with us each day, only to have my research show that it's one of the top prohibited items at Disney! I guess if everyone brought lawn chairs to MK, the park would soon become an unnavigable nightmare!
flynnibus
Premium Member
UNCgolf
Well-Known Member
I don't even think the interior is especially great.
It's not bad, but they built it like a giant cafeteria so it's all out of scale. I think the interiors of the Tokyo BatB ride are better, although they also have issues.
Cinderella's Royal Table is absurdly overpriced for the quality as well, but despite loving Beauty and the Beast, I find the interior there far more interesting than Be Our Guest and would probably pay to eat there again just for the setting. I can't imagine paying for Be Our Guest again.
Villains0501
Well-Known Member
Definitely agree about the interior. Way too loud and cacophonous for a supposedly 'signature' dining experience. Would have preferred an attraction only, or a restaurant/attraction combo. Would also have preferred longer ride experiences for both LM and Mine Train. Overall, not a fan of the FL expansion. A lot of missed potential.
Would love to dine at CRT again. Last time we ate there I was a toddler, so my memory of it is spotty. I just wish there were still a character-free dining option for dinner. I really don't relish the idea of making forced small talk with Snow White. The Evil Queen, on the other hand...
TalkingHead
Well-Known Member
Can only assume you mean because in 10 years’ time Disney will introduce something even worse to “improve” Genie+?
el_super
Well-Known Member
Of course. Because people always think the new system is worse than the old one. You can go back decades and find people making passionate pleas against Fastpass because it ruined the park experience. 20 years later and now people want to go back to it.