Lightning Lane at Walt Disney World

[Jrb1979]

I was in meetings all day yesterday and took the family to see The Lion King last night.

A few notes.

They (rightfully) abandoned the Genie+ brand, as it was horrendously unpopular. Of course, people hated it because it was hard to use and cost extra - both true of the new system as well - but the double branding of the same system was always stupid. "No no, you have to *buy* Genie+™ to get into the LightningLanes™. Yes I know your phone says you already have Genie™, but that's different than Genie+™.

The longer window for onsite hotel guests - and yes this will absolutely be extended to Good Neighbor and "other great accommodations" who buy into participation - isn't just about a 4 day head start. It means that they are back to two "pools" of availability. They managed this pretty well in the FP+ days (given its limitations), and this should prove to a decent onsite benefit... even though you have to pay for it.

With this fixed, I do expect to the LightningLane option to be used as an inclusion in certain promotions going forward.

Removing the M&Gs from the system altogether will absolutely help balance those into "normal" paced lines. Welcome news.

I do get the reasoning behind the change as it can be confusing. To change it back to a system that didn't work before isn't the answer. I guess when you a desperate for on site guests this is what you end up with.

They don't have to capacity for this to work.

 

[Dranth]

The phycological impact is lessened because you made that decision 7+ days ago. You're not going to get a park full of power users all of the sudden.

No, but you don't need a full park of them. Disney has an absurd number of power users already. G+ was the most "fair" system they have used since the parks were standby only. The only requirement was being able to wake up and even then you were okay if you didn't get in the app first thing. It still needed some tweaking, but this shifts the advantage further into power user territory. While that could be great for all of us that know what we are doing, it isn't going to work well for everyone else.

The fact that it is limited to only those who are willing to pay (which I think will be a TON of people) and that no rerides are allowed could keep it from turning into the same mess that was FP+ for non-power users but I still think they are making it more complicated than it needed to be.

I don’t give a mouse’s behind what is terrible for Disney. It works better for me personally to book in advance. I don’t need to or intend to tour parks commando style where ride count is my top goal. I go for more days but spend less time in the parks each day any way.

We also go for a bit longer with less hours in the parks, a habit we picked up because we got sick of everyone with longer stays taking all the FP+ inventory before we could even make a selection. All they really needed was a simple tweak to G+ allowing you to pick your first ride and selecting the time a week out. That would solve the issue with waking up early during vacation with significantly less drain on available inventory before the park even opens.

 

[Dan Deesnee]

Sounds like Disney is trying to reinflate the Disney Bubble. Likely in response, in part, to Epic Universe.

Disney understands that Universal is about to become a full weeks vacation destination. This has never been the case before, generally, as stated by Universal themselves. The last thing Disney wants is people starting to more evenly split thei to vacation time between them and Universal or to have people skip Disney all together.

So this change is part of their response, and it's a good one. I expect more changes like this and other things to be announced this year.

 

[ToTBellHop]

You mean it will be an INCLUDED perk at times? I guess that's better than it was. But still paying extra...

And the Individual Lightning Lane for TRON, Guardians, etc. still exists.

Imagine getting free Lightning Lane Multi instead of Free Dining.

 

[monothingie]

With this fixed, I do expect to the LightningLane option to be used as an inclusion in certain promotions going forward.

Imagine getting free Lightning Lane Multi instead of Free Dining.

DVC members staying on points gonna be big mad about that.

 

[ToTBellHop]

DVC members staying on points gonna be big mad about that.

Nah cuz I don’t pay $700/night when I stay at Bay Lake.

 

[James J]

I have been using NordVPN for a few years now and recommend it.

Will give it a go, thank you!

 

[Disstevefan1]

Sounds like Disney is trying to reinflate the Disney Bubble. Likely in response, in part, to Epic Universe.

Disney understands that Universal is about to become a full weeks vacation destination. This has never been the case before, generally, as stated by Universal themselves. The last thing Disney wants is people starting to more evenly split thei to vacation time between them and Universal or to have people skip Disney all together.

So this change is part of their response, and it's a good one. I expect more changes like this and other things to be announced this year.

After 2025, I think Folks may be adding a day or two of Disney on to their USF/IOA/EPIC vacation.

 

[monothingie]

Nah cuz I don’t pay $700/night when I stay at Bay Lake.

You just think you're better than us because you have a refillable soda mug.

 

[Yodascousin]

I have been using NordVPN for a few years now and recommend it.

Will it work on iPhone? People from uk all saying it won’t work as it’s an in app purchase and the VPN can’t work around it apparently it’s the same issue if you were to try and buy genie plus from uk currently

 

[Yodascousin]

I’ve used both express and nord vpn before when booking location-locked things on the WDW app, from the UK. Both have worked well, so will likely be fine for this system too. I would just recommend getting whichever VPN offers the best introductory deal!

Will it work on iPhone? People from uk all saying it won’t work as it’s an in app purchase and the VPN can’t work around it apparently it’s the same issue if you were to try and buy genie plus from uk currently

 

[Dan Deesnee]

After 2025, I think Folks may be adding a day or two of Disney on to their UOR/IOA/EPIC vacation.

That is a definite possibility. I also think Universal will have another park under construction by 2030. May even be completed by around that time. IF they do build another park better or at least on the level of Epic Universe, Disney better have some major firepower ready to compete.

They've stripped so much away in the past 10 years, and got away with it. But not anymore.

Bringing fast passes back is a good start, but they need to do a lot more.

 

[Disstevefan1]

You just think you're better than us because you have a refillable soda mug.

Mugs that cost 21.99 or if you want fancy ones, 29.99

 

[LittleBuford]

Will it work on iPhone? People from uk all saying it won’t work as it’s an in app purchase and the VPN can’t work around it apparently it’s the same issue if you were to try and buy genie plus from uk currently

I’ve used it on my iPhone while in the UK to make purchases on Mercari, which won’t work properly without a US IP address. My guess is that it would also work for the Disney app—but it is just a guess.

If anyone wants a referral code, PM me.

 

[Disstevefan1]

That is a definite possibility. I also think Universal will have another park under construction by 2030. May even be completed by around that time. IF they do build another park better or at least on the level of Epic Universe, Disney better have some major firepower ready to compete.

They've stripped so much away in the past 10 years, and got away with it. But not anymore.

Bringing fast passes back is a good start, but they need to do a lot more.

As much as we want Disney do more at WDW right now, I think Disney thinks its cheaper for Disney to do nothing and as the defending champ, play "rope a dope" and hope Universal punches themselves out.

 

[Kylo Ken]

Stayed at Beach Club last week and chatted with first timers. Talked about Genie+ and LL (at the time) and how they felt they weren’t getting there $$s worth. Then talked to them about the old FP+ system and how it was complimentary.

I felt like a living meme when I saw the looks on their faces (think “sure grandma/grandpa let’s get you to bed).

I miss the days when the biggest controversy were the attraction tiers for FP+

 

[Fido Chuckwagon]

Will it work on iPhone? People from uk all saying it won’t work as it’s an in app purchase and the VPN can’t work around it apparently it’s the same issue if you were to try and buy genie plus from uk currently

There are going to be third party services that offer to book these for international guests, I guarantee it.

 

[ToTBellHop]

You just think you're better than us because you have a refillable soda mug.

I don’t think that. I know that.

 

[Andrew25]

As much as we want Disney do more at WDW right now, I think Disney thinks its cheaper for Disney to do nothing and as the defending champ, play "rope a dope" and hope Universal punches themselves out.

Epic Universe will be a creative masterpiece, and finally convince all the nay-sayers that Universal Creative can create anything Imagineering can.

Universal Operations team however will find a way to bungle everything with how they run the parks and cause the potential success of Epic Universe (and the overall resort package) to be not as great. Universal at the moment can barely keep their restaurants open late, tend to have inconsistent hours, keep the parks closed early, and while there's been a decline in CM training... Universal's training remains poor.

Staffing for UOR is also a major concern for me as the resort still feels very understaffed at its current state. How they plan on supporting 3 additional resort hotels and a massive theme park is beyond me. I'm sure they'll throw every body into EU and the newer hotels... but what happens at the current parks? Currently their doing a lot of operational changes that require less staffing and/or reduced hours.

I hope I'm proven wrong, but my biggest fear with Epic Universe is how the overall resort responds to increased demand/interest, not what WDW does.

 

[Disstevefan1]

There are going to be third party services that offer to book these for international guests, I guarantee it.

100 percent! THEY HAVE TO!!!! They very much need and value their international guests more than their domestic guests as international guests tend to stay longer and spend more money.