Lightning Lane at Walt Disney World

[DisneyDreamer08]

Randomly checked DHS at 1:55pm and everything was available except for Rise. Slinky and ToT were available at 2pm. Only RnRC was several hours out. It makes sense, if a LL moves faster than expected, I’m sure they can release more on an as needed basis.

 

[ConfettiCupcake]

For what it’s worth, day of availability looks way better today.

In less than a minute of my time I have seen everything pop up that I would consider worthwhile use of a LL at both Epcot and DHS (yes, even Slinky) except for Frozen at varying times of day. Many are close to immediate entries, especially at DHS.

 

[ConfettiCupcake]

Randomly checked DHS at 1:55pm and everything was available except for Rise. Slinky and ToT were available at 2pm. Only RnRC was several hours out. It makes sense, if a LL moves faster than expected, I’m sure they can release more on an as needed basis.

Lol we were doing nearly the same thing at the same time!

 

[Vegas Disney Fan]

I didn't like the 7am scramble the morning of, but the modify feature they later added imo was a huge improvement...allowing me to pretty much find what I wanted whenever I wanted if you tried hard enough. If they would have just changed it to 1 prebook each day of your trip I would have been ok with that. No system is ever going to work well with some many rules and so few selections to choose from

The risk with only 1 prebook is there’d still be experienced users getting a half dozen rides while inexperienced users only got 1.

Purely (jaded) speculation but I think the sole reason behind the 3 prebooks is so buyers feel they “get their moneys worth”. I don’t think modern Disney cares at all about their guests experience anymore but they do care that those guests don’t ask for a refund, the 3 prebooks should accomplish that goal.

 

[ConfettiCupcake]

Sorry for the multiple posts, MK still looks not great compared to what I think availability there should look like early afternoon on a slow day - wait times look decent.

Most notably in my opinion, those in demand tier 2 rides are pretty far out/entirely sold out. I wonder if MK hurts the most without the meet and greets and the like added in. Plus PP being off the system right now. Not to mention, it’s the park that didn’t used to be tiered at all.

 

[Purduevian]

Sorry for the multiple posts, MK still looks not great compared to what I think availability there should look like early afternoon on a slow day - wait times look decent.

Most notably in my opinion, those in demand tier 2 rides are pretty far out. I wonder if MK hurts the most without the meet and greets and the like added in. Plus PP being off the system right now. Not to mention, it’s the park that didn’t used to be tiered at all.

Remember when your are looking at availabity, everyone using the system has 2-3LLs currently booked that are better than what you are seeing.

 

[ConfettiCupcake]

Remember when your are looking at availabity, everyone using the system has 2-3LLs currently booked that are better than what you are seeing.

Totally. I’m just looking at it from the perspective of a user who does expect more out of the system than the initial 3, and doesn’t see much value in a system that I can’t get additional useful LLs from.

I’m basically comparing it to what I could do with FP+ after using the prebooked 3. That’s my personal baseline in judging this system.

 

[Chip Chipperson]

You are trying to imply that you are in some sort of majority, when it reality, it is not that certain.

Sure, only a small portion of guests rope drop (As it is a resort only perk, that only some will use) but I don't think that a majority of day guests are arriving to MK after 12:00. Most daily guests will arrive within an hour of official park open with few trickling in after that. Local AP holders have their own touring agenda, but if a family bought Disney tickets, they are going to use those tickets most of the day.

Also, many people rope drop to avoid spending money on G+/LLMP.

 

[GoofGoof]

Sorry for the multiple posts, MK still looks not great compared to what I think availability there should look like early afternoon on a slow day - wait times look decent.

Most notably in my opinion, those in demand tier 2 rides are pretty far out/entirely sold out. I wonder if MK hurts the most without the meet and greets and the like added in. Plus PP being off the system right now. Not to mention, it’s the park that didn’t used to be tiered at all.

It’s almost certainly the park with the most sales too, and priced that way. Some (possibly many) people will skip buying this product at AK and maybe even EP on less crowded days. I think MK and DHS will sell much better and therefore always have more availability issues.

 

[Purduevian]

Sorry for the multiple posts, MK still looks not great compared to what I think availability there should look like early afternoon on a slow day - wait times look decent.

Most notably in my opinion, those in demand tier 2 rides are pretty far out/entirely sold out. I wonder if MK hurts the most without the meet and greets and the like added in. Plus PP being off the system right now. Not to mention, it’s the park that didn’t used to be tiered at all.

Because its fun with a new system lets see what I can pull with 5 attempts at 2:25PM
1-3 and 5: Nothing Great
4:5:30pm JC

I wonder if standby skipper works on this new system. It could be even more powerful now with 3 tracks to work with.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

I agree with what you are saying.
Reality is the system isn't designed for power users and Disney isn't trying to accommodate that touring style. They only expect you to get 3 to 5 or 6 rides out of it.

Yup, even with G+ Disney said you can expect to get 2-3 uses out of it. Now we're there some power users that got 8+ regularly? Sure and those are the folks that will find LLMP a negative change, but for the average guest they will be happy to get 3 booked ag ad of time, maybe a couple more and mix in some short standby and have a great day

Even when paper fast pass started it was just to enable skipping a couple of very long lines. None of Disney's systems are designed for skipping *all* lines - it isn't express pass, and why it is much cheaper

 

[TheMaxRebo]

If you think about it, the availability just shifted up.

How many LLs does the average user have booked	When did this happen on G+	When does this happen now?
0	6:59am	21 days out
1	7:00am	Never
2	~2hours after park open	Never
3	~4 hours after park open	Park Open
4	~6 hours after park open	~2-3 hours after park open? (users have only used 1 LL)
5	~8 hours after park open	~3-4 hours after park open? (users have used 2 LLs)
6	Probably never actually happened where they average guest was on their 6th LL	4-5 hours after park open? (users have used 3 LLs)

Exactly - while the availability day of by 1pm may be bad, that is for people selecting their 4th, 5th, maybe even 6th .... Under G+ it was maybe their 3rd so of course a lot more will be gone

The majority of G+ users never even got to a 5th or 6th (some power users definitely did - it was an efficient system if you were willing to work it)

 

[easyrowrdw]

You're ignoring/forgetting that those first-hour guests had an advantage with G+, too, since they weren't bound by the 2-hour rule if they used their first LL early - so they were on pick #2 before the people arriving later had the chance to stack their 2nd. The same goes for picks 3, 4, etc. If they used them then their next opportunity to pick another LL was immediate. There is no system that won't provide some additional benefit to rope-droppers unless that system has a hard cap on the number of LLs you can pick in a day.

The biggest difference for us, as guests, was with FP and FP+ we were disappointed if we couldn’t get a ride we wanted, with Genie+ we felt completely ripped off when we didn’t get the ride we paid extra for, we also felt completely ripped off when we arrived at a LL line and it was a block long.

I agree. One thing that differs for me in the monetized system compared to the others is my desire to do more rides in LL as opposed to just more rides. Riding things in standby now kind of feels like I'm wasting my money. Before, if I got a short wait without a FP, that was just a bonus. I know it's just a mental thing for me because a short wait is a short wait, but I can't break the mindset. (Also, in order to get more LL rides you're incentivized to use them earlier in the day.)

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Just checked for MK and if I bought LLMP right now I could select Jungle Cruise as my Tier 1 and Pirates and Space Ranger Spin for my Tier 2s (quite a bit of options for tier 2 other than HM)

The posted wait times for those 3 are 40mins, 25, and 25

That's not terrible for someone who didn't bother to prebook. And if they decide not worth it, don't buy it. Standby times really aren't bad right now - longest is Mine Train at 55 mins

 

[GhostHost1000]

Just checked for MK and if I bought LLMP right now I could select Jungle Cruise as my Tier 1 and Pirates and Space Ranger Spin for my Tier 2s (quite a bit of options for tier 2 other than HM)

The posted wait times for those 3 are 40mins, 25, and 25

That's not terrible for someone who didn't bother to prebook. And if they decide not worth it, don't buy it. Standby times really aren't bad right now - longest is Mine Train at 55 mins

the parks being less crowded certainly helps this too

curious to see how this system plays out during more crowded times in the future

 

[GoofGoof]

Yup, even with G+ Disney said you can expect to get 2-3 uses out of it. Now we're there some power users that got 8+ regularly? Sure and those are the folks that will find LLMP a negative change, but for the average guest they will be happy to get 3 booked ag ad of time, maybe a couple more and mix in some short standby and have a great day

Even when paper fast pass started it was just to enable skipping a couple of very long lines. None of Disney's systems are designed for skipping *all* lines - it isn't express pass, and why it is much cheaper

Exactly this. It seems odd to me when people talk about this system limiting users to 3 rides a day. It’s at least 3 line skips plus as many rides or attractions as you want to wait for. There are many rides and attractions with waits under 20 mins most days.

Keep in mind too that one of biggest reasons Disney wanted to offer FP was to get guests out of those really long lines and into restaurants and shops spending money . It’s not surprising they are unconcerned with the new system not allowing a small group of users to stack reservations for the evening. They want you in the parks spending money while you wait for your return time.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

One thing that differs for me in the monetized system compared to the others is my desire to do more rides in LL as opposed to just more rides. Riding things in standby now kind of feels like I'm wasting my money. Before, if I got a short wait without a FP, that was just a bonus. I know it's just a mental thing for me because a short wait is a short wait, but I can't break the mindset. (Also, in order to get more LL rides you're incentivized to use them earlier in the day.)

I definitely get that and certainly have similar mindset and want to maximize the value if I am spending

But if you figure an hour in MK costs about $12 (ticket price/total park hours), if LLMP is $29 you need to save like 2.5 hours of wait time to break even - more than that is bonus

 

[TheMaxRebo]

the parks being less crowded certainly helps this too

curious to see how this system plays out during more crowded times in the future

I think things will get more extreme with this new system, that the crowded days you will be very limited, not much beyond your prebooked 3 and then slow days you will be able to get a bunch

But we shall see - maybe they really push up the price on peak crowd days to try to reduce use

 

[GhostHost1000]

I think things will get more extreme with this new system, that the crowded days you will be very limited, not much beyond your prebooked 3 and then slow days you will be able to get a bunch

But we shall see - maybe they really push up the price on peak crowd days to try to reduce use

if they'd just build a lot more things in each park to select from, it would be more valuable... but then less people would probably buy it... so it's a line Disney is walking... they can't build too much where people spread out and not buy this money making machine for ol Bobby

 

[GoofGoof]

I think things will get more extreme with this new system, that the crowded days you will be very limited, not much beyond your prebooked 3 and then slow days you will be able to get a bunch

But we shall see - maybe they really push up the price on peak crowd days to try to reduce use

I think this is almost guaranteed to happen. We will find out in November with Thanksgiving crowds.

It’s hard to judge right now too because there were not 7 day pre-books for today. The earliest you could have bought and booked is yesterday. It’s possible people half way through a trip don’t see the value if they rode a bunch of stuff earlier in the trip. Some guests may not have even realized it changed over. In a few weeks we should have a good idea if the availability continues or not.