Lightning Lane at Walt Disney World

[JD80]

Based on comments in the past, I am not surprised that so many people think this is an improvement. I simply don't understand or agree. It seems a major component of this is "I don't want to have to get up at 7 to book lightning lanes." Well, first, you could only book 1 regular LL anyway. Second, you will still have to get up at 7 if you want to book any ILL/singlepass rides and to get in any virtual queues. Yes, you can choose not to do those, but you could also have chosen not to get up to book the one regular LL.

If you understood the paper FP system, it was pretty easy to get 5 or 6 a day (at MK) and that was when only a limited number of rides even offered it. This included multiple "top tier" rides. I'm sure that was different during busier times, but that was my experience going in August and January. You knew exactly when you could get your next FP because it was printed right on the ticket. The major downside was not knowing what the current distribution time was for a given ride without trekking across the park (except for the tip boards in Epcot, IIRC).

When they switched to FP+, now I am having to figure out where I am going to be months from now on a given day, do the math to figure out the actual day I can start booking, and I can only book 1 top tier ride. I can book a couple of other rides that I probably don't have to wait much in line for anyway at some random times that are more convenient for Disney than me. Then you couldn't even get another one until you used all 3, which might mean it was too late in the day to even get anything worthwhile. And, as I remember, you then had to go wait in a line to talk to a cast member to get any after that. I absolutely hated it and we waited in lines a lot more as a result of it. Making it even worse, they added FP to all kinds of rides that didn't need it, just to have something to show on the screen. I mean, is there anything more worthless than a FP for Mickey's Philharmagic?

The only flaw I found in Genie+ was that I had to pay for it. It was just like the paper system, except that I could see the return times for all the rides and book the LL without having to trek to the attraction itself. The return times would increment during the day, and you could see what they all are. So, you could easily see what the next LL you should get should be (always get the one of your choice that is going the fastest). The app itself kind of stunk, but if you setup BG1 that solved that problem. As with the paper FP, we got to skip the line once for almost everything we wanted to ride.

I understand that every one is different, but I cannot imagine a system that would make me more efficient than Genie+. If we were getting tired and wanted to take a mid-day break, then go ahead and book something for later in the evening. If I had pre-booked 2 months out for 2 PM, I guess I am not getting to do that without sacrificing one of my precious 3 reservations. I am just very frustrated at this development, even though I knew it was coming (from Len Testa's comments).

First - assuming you pre-book everything you want, the only thing at 7AM is VQ booking.

To your later point about "sacrificing" something. What do you mean? You can modify times.

 

[SteamboatJoe]

You’re right…but it wouldn’t play with the customer

He’s right…but it would never work

From an operations planning and budgeting perspective, I would think they want as many people using it as possible.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

From an operations planning and budgeting perspective, I would think they want as many people using it as possible.

That’s the bookkeepers perspective

And you’re 100% right

 

[Chi84]

Looks like a paid FP+ only 7 days instead of 60 and then buy the most recent/popular rides. Should have done this to begin with.

 

[DisDude33]

They then laughed maniacally while lightning and thunder struck in the background. It was a very odd email.

I can confirm that most conversations with Media Relations end this way.

 

[SteamboatJoe]

That’s the bookkeepers perspective

And you’re 100% right

I had a family member who worked for a chain style business and was promoted to "Labor Czar" at one point. His whole job was to build, refine, and run a matrix that basically told the company how to schedule as few people as possible while still maximing profit. To a degree it makes sense to want to be efficient, but its really easy to go too far with it and ignore the long-term negative consequences the service reduction (coupled with cheaper quality product) will have. That cow eventually stops giving milk but, hey, that's the next guys problem. This quarter looks great.

 

[Jobacca]

I never realized what Universals FastPass system was like compared to Disneys. HOLY ! Disneys looks like it was designed by the same people who design health insurance plans....Universals looks like...a theme park. I cannot understand how having to do 6 months of pre-planning and pre-booking and deciding which ride you want to ride months before you ever get there is an acceptable part of a vacation. Disney has lost their damn minds.

 

[the_rich]

I never realized what Universals FastPass system was like compared to Disneys. HOLY ! Disneys looks like it was designed by the same people who design health insurance plans....Universals looks like...a theme park. I cannot understand how having to do 6 months of pre-planning and pre-booking and deciding which ride you want to ride months before you ever get there is an acceptable part of a vacation. Disney has lost their damn minds.

Firstly its 7 days not months. Secondly, universals pass is between 90 and 320 dollars per person. Way fewer people are using it.

 

[acb27]

Why not simplify the process even more? 4 tiers of attractions for 2 of the parks, with the third having rotating tiers based on demand, and Animal Kingdom having just its one attraction. Regardless, I'm just glad I can give Disney more of my money before I arrive on property-gives you that magical feeling like you’re actually there spending money.

 

[RSoxNo1]

A few things that aren't being emphasized but appear to be big deals / need clarification:

• It looks like the 120 minute rule is gone. To offset this, it looks like you will have 3 rolling Lightning Lanes per day
• Resort guests can reserve 7 days out + up to 14 days depending on the length of their trip. Non-resort guests can only book 3 days out with no "length of trip" extension. That means that for guests staying offsite they're still going to have to do the 7 AM wakeup call multiple times and some of those times are going to be on your trip.

EDIT: Looks like I'm incorrect on the 3 days as long as you have a date based ticket.

 

[hopemax]

This is a fantastic change for power users.

You can book #1, #2, #3 at 7 days out. Pick all early return times if possible.

Then you essentially have three tracks of use/rebook. Assuming you can tinker with return times and refreshing.

Book SDD, ToT, Star Tours as early as possible (assuming you get there at park open). Rope drop something. Get into any attraction ASAP and attempt to book another Tier 1 attraction if available.

Catching up on this thread, so forgive me if I repeat what others have said...

When I first saw the news, I thought, "This will be great for the people who already know the tricks and don't really need any more help, and it will come at the expense of people who don't "get" Disney before they arrive and have a steep learning curve when they get here."

What I disliked about FP+ is it didn't allow people to make mistakes. Paper FP, and Genie+ if you really mess up your first day. Pick the wrong rides, or the wrong times, or nothing, you could talk with a Guest Services person, learn, and tomorrow was a new day. 3 or 7 days is an improvement over 60 days, but it's still if you mess up your Day 1, your Day 2 and Day 3 will still be unsuccessful because you would expect the Tier 1 rides to be long gone.

I'm sure frequent guests have been giving Disney an earful about missing the ability to pre-book, but Disney's problems also include converting new guests to repeat guests, and IMO, this makes it harder for the first timers, more casual (not commando types) Disney wants to come back.

 

[DCBaker]

A few things that aren't being emphasized but appear to be big deals / need clarification:

• Resort guests can reserve 7 days out + up to 14 days depending on the length of their trip. Non-resort guests can only book 3 days out with no "length of trip" extension. That means that for guests staying offsite they're still going to have to do the 7 AM wakeup call multiple times and some of those times are going to be on your trip.

Unless you have a date-based ticket:

• Guests with date-based theme park tickets (which require the Guest to choose a start date at the time of purchase) can purchase 3 days before the first day of their ticket, for the total number of valid admission days on their ticket.

 

[billem]

First - assuming you pre-book everything you want, the only thing at 7AM is VQ booking.

To your later point about "sacrificing" something. What do you mean? You can modify times.

You're right about the ILL being able to be done in advance--confused myself. As for the other, the modifying times function of FP+ was abysmal. It was just random times picked from pools. You could keep refreshing to try to get something to your liking, but I like being able to track availability throughout the day so that I can understand what is running out and what isn't. "Stacking" LLs was a thing that was very convenient and it was easy to understand how to maximize what you could get. It had more visibility to it.

 

[Disgruntled Walt]

For someone who desperately wants to return to 2013 Fastpass, this doesn’t sound like an improvement. Am I wrong?

 

[Waters Back Side]

Forgove me if asked already, What happens if the 3 rides you pick 7 days on advance are all for late in the day? Suppose 5pm, 6pm and 7pm. Based on the new system you can only select another after you redeem your first ride. So you can't pick another until after the 5pm ride is redeemed? Seems the best way to get a 4th ride and 4th etc and for that mattera more popular first tier one, you'd need to make your choices for earlier in day. No?

It almost seems as though even though you get 3 guaranteed choices, eliminating the 2 hour rule cna have some disadvantages

 

[Marionnette]

Wha happens if the 3 rides you pick 7 days on advance are all for late in the day? Suppose 5pm, 6pm and 7pm. Based on the new system you can only select another after you redeem your first ride. So you can't pick another until after the 5pm ride is redeemed? Seems the best way to get a 4th ride and 4th etc and for that mattera more popular first tier one, you'd need to make your choices for earlier in day. No?

That's my take away. Without the 120-minute rule, you cannot stack LL for later in the day. You can have 3 LL at any given time but can't get another until you use the first one.

 

[RSoxNo1]

Unless you have a date-based ticket:

• Guests with date-based theme park tickets (which require the Guest to choose a start date at the time of purchase) can purchase 3 days before the first day of their ticket, for the total number of valid admission days on their ticket.

Excellent, I didn't see that.

 

[SingleRider]

Excellent, I didn't see that.

Which basically further screws over APs who they relied on when the parks reopened. Now even offsite day tickets have an advantage over us for every day beyond their first one.

 

[Waters Back Side]

Not to mention even if you did not want to stack, the current way even though 1 at a time I can pick a ride for 8pm at 7am and still get a choice 2 hours after the park opens.

The new system would be fine of they still allowed the 2 hour rule with 3 pre selected.

 

[Dranth]

Wha happens if the 3 rides you pick 7 days on advance are all for late in the day? Suppose 5pm, 6pm and 7pm. Based on the new system you can only select another after you redeem your first ride. So you can't pick another until after the 5pm ride is redeemed? Seems the best way to get a 4th ride and 4th etc and for that mattera more popular first tier one, you'd need to make your choices for earlier in day. No?

Yep, unless some information hasn't been released yet. So, you either pick early to start getting new choices right away or pick late morning and take advantage of lower standby lines before your selections kick in. Both methods worked very well in the past and I see no reason they wouldn't again.

If you are stuck with or purposely pick later times you are just screwed as there is no mechanism to add another until you use an existing one at which point there is unlikely to be much inventory left.