Lightning Lane at Walt Disney World

[Vegas Disney Fan]

Those quotation marks around good are doing some heavy lifting there lol! For the most part the rides that are in tier 2 are rides you would have no problem snagging with Genie, even the least educated Genie guest.

Maybe, we wouldn’t know because we made the mistake of paying for Genie at HS and by the time the 2 hours had passed nothing else was available, it soured us so much on Genie we never used it again, it soured us so much we haven’t even been back to WDW since then (Jan 2023), and we are only going for 3 park days (no HS) when we do go before our cruise next year.

No matter how bad this ends up being I don’t think it’s going to leave people feeling so completely ripped off and like a fool for using it they don’t even want to return to the parks for 2 years.

 

[Saskdw]

I thought it was all but officially confirmed by Disney that DAS changes were needed in order to make the illusive Genie+ changes being talked about.

I was under that impression as well. I thought it was common knowledge on the forums.

 

[nickys]

I have an AP.

Re magic bands, I have also tried to buy them many times and you can’t even get close to try changing the shipping address - even under a VPN it says ‘guests cannot buy magicbands internationally’, never mind not just ship internationally.

Just to add to this, you need a VPN to manage DAS and you can still make and manage resort reservations with a VPN for now.

The magic band workaround was working as of May. My son did it and the bands were waiting for him when he arrived.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

There are no Groups/Tiers day of. They just have it for pre-planning.

Starting at 7am though?

 

[GoofGoof]

Starting at 7am though?

I assume the start time would be park open so likely 9am unless parks open earlier. I assume any change before open would be considered pre-planning and follow tiers. just my guess

 

[DisneyNittany]

The 7am thing is the worst of all systems though, I don't want to be up that early on holiday/vacation!

I'm an early bird, so the 7am didn't bother me in theory.

However, even though I'm up by 6am, I'm usually walking the grounds with a coffee after a little toke. Not trying to plan my family's perfect day.

 

[GhostHost1000]

I really wish they would open up adventureland at rope drop for resort guests instead of just fantasyland and tomorrowland.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

I really wish they would open up adventureland at rope drop for resort guests instead of just fantasyland and tomorrowland.

Yes.

With Tron on VQ, closing Adventureland means Jungle Cruise gobbles up an inordinate amount of LL demand and EVERYONE goes to Mine Train for rope drop. And Mine Train sucks butt at opening on time.

 

[ToTBellHop]

Yes.

With Tron on VQ, closing Adventureland means Jungle Cruise gobbles up an inordinate amount of LL demand and EVERYONE goes to Mine Train for rope drop. And Mine Train sucks butt at opening on time.

Not sure why MK remains the only park that only partially opens at 8:30. Space Mountain seldom runs on all cylinders at 8:30, as well.

 

[SamusAranX]

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.

It will be so incredibly ironic that Disney targeted a massive overhaul of DAS for misuse against their policies, that caused clogged lighting lanes; yet looks the other way if international guests take LL passes days in advance that fill lightning lanes despite being against policy.

Still doubt the DAS changes aren’t about the Benjamin’s and about “helping” the guest experience ?

 

[djlaosc]

The weird thing is, we, as international guests were able to make advance FP+ reservations, which means that between 2013-2021, the international Disney World websites were able to make the reservations.

So, unless the website designers have forgotten how to do this, then you would think that it is to do with paying in advance.

However, I've just checked, and I can pay for a Cinderella's Royal Table reservation in full now, which means that I am able to pay in advance from my international country.

So I have previously been able to book in advance, and I have the ability to pay in advance, so why not allow us to book LLMP/LLSP in advance?

Even if we were unable to do it on the app until we arrived, allow us to do it on the website!

 

[djlaosc]

Harrassing and 'badgering' are essentially the same thing to the call center agent.

I think you 'may' have hit on what is triggering the difference. The resort reservations are sold by The Walt Disney Travel Company, whereas LL would be sold by The Walt Disney World Company (separate legal entities) which is not authorized to complete those transactions outside the US.

We are able to book restaurant reservations in advance, and pay for those required (as far as I am aware - I've just made a fake Cinderella's Royal Table booking for August, and I can get to the checkout page, so unless I wouldn't be able to get past that page, then surely they would just have to run LLMP/LLSP like they do their dining reservations.

 

[Aschwenker]

Regarding the geo-locking of Lightning Lane purchases, my guess is this is meant to avoid abuse of the system and to protect Disney from consumer protection laws outside the US related to purchases and complaints about not getting what was expected.

There are enterprising people who have already hacked the Genie+ APIs to go so far as to automatically book attractions based on a preference list, the next available time slot, your location, and your calendar without any interaction on the day of visit. They work by adding the app to your friends and family list which allows the app's servers to interact with your account on your behalf. The servers for these apps are located outside the United States and their actions violate Disney's Terms of Service but their location makes it far harder to shut them down just like scam call centers.

Thus, limiting access to make purchases and interact with the (now) Lightning Lane APIs to only those within the US allows Disney to restrict access to users who are or will be subject to US law.

I agree it's not great, but if it reduces some of the abuse of the system and (hopefully) wait times across the board, I think it will be beneficial.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

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.

That is ABSOLUTELY not correct.

Hypothetical UK family stays 14 nights and spends $500 on souvenirs.

Hypothetical American family stays 7 nights and spends $300 on souvenirs.

At first glance, the UK family spends more than the American family. Except that in those same 14 nights you can fit TWO American families spending $300 each for a total of $600.

The UK family is also much, much more likely to get groceries delivered, visit Universal Studios for a few days, eat off property, etc. etc.

(Obviously my numbers are made up, but my point is directionally accurate.)

 

[Kenneth Davies]

As an International guest, I can pay for everything else except advance ride bookings??
This makes no sense.
Assuming using a VPN to relocate my phone will take care of that. But what a nuisance. The people that are not only travelling the largest distance but also spending the most to visit are left out in the cold. In other words, the ones that need it the most.

 

[Indy_UK]

Happy with the changes but not surprised that yet again Disney have messed it up again not allowing UK guests to take advantage.

 

[ToTBellHop]

I don’t think Disney has it out for international travelers but I do think they have a better understanding of the international commerce and consumer protection laws that influence these sales than we do.

We can immediately dismiss any claim that Disney is choosing to turn down money from these guests.

 

[easyrowrdw]

FP+ was only able to get someone more due to rerides, without that feature it is capped to the exact same limit as G+. Every ride that uses the system once a day.

Sure. But other than that Mrs. Lincoln, how was the play?

 

[Splash4eva]

I think it’s an indication of how horribly many viewed Genie, this is still a major downgrade from FP and FP+ but is being viewed as a major upgrade from Genie.

How is this an upgrade? I like the pre book part but to me everything else is “worse”

 

[Disstevefan1]

That is ABSOLUTELY not correct.

Hypothetical UK family stays 14 nights and spends $500 on souvenirs.

Hypothetical American family stays 7 nights and spends $300 on souvenirs.

At first glance, the UK family spends more than the American family. Except that in those same 14 nights you can fit TWO American families spending $300 each for a total of $600.

The UK family is also much, much more likely to get groceries delivered, visit Universal Studios for a few days, eat off property, etc. etc.

(Obviously my numbers are made up, but my point is directionally accurate.)

Thanks for the correction Captain.

Sorry international guests! It is what it is

BTW, it is, what it is, for everyone, its sometimes some folks get screwed less than other folks