Lightning Lane at Walt Disney World

[CaptainAmerica]

We really need to start getting the nomenclature right, because it's contributing to a lot of people's confusion.

"Lightning Lane" does not mean "the rides that you purchase individually." "Lightning Lane" just means "the FastPass line." If you get a "FastPass" for Pirates using Genie+, that's still "Lightning Lane."

 

[btuftee]

People were already peeved when they thought fp+ was paid when it was free... All the dirty looks and "they get to cut like cuz they payed"... Welp.. now it's true.

Surprised that WDW held out this long - it seems every other amusement park has a paid option for shorter lines or reservations. Sadly it has become the industry norm.

WDW has never been a "cheap" vacation, but nothing shows any signs of slowing down the demand for higher and higher-priced options. The Boo Bash ticket prices are a sure sign of that!

 

[DisneyDreamer08]

Sent to me from a friend so I can’t take credit
And yes, I am the grandma

 

[Wendy Pleakley]

The enforcement of the return windows shouldn’t change from fastpass+. This should be the least of your concerns with the new system. Just speculating, but 5 minutes early, 15 minutes late is likely to continue.

Pity the poor cast members who have to enforce this rule when people are paying for it.

Missing a free FastPass is one thing, missing one when you're paying extra per day is another.

 

[Missing20K]

The enforcement of the return windows shouldn’t change from fastpass+. This should be the least of your concerns with the new system. Just speculating, but 5 minutes early, 15 minutes late is likely to continue.

Gotcha. I’ve just seen anecdotally that at wdw they were/are rarely enforced and the recent anecdotes about Rise BG times not being enforced, I question how strict they might be on the $LL (edit: individual attraction purchase) return times.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

We really need to start getting the nomenclature right, because it's contributing to a lot of people's confusion.

"Lightning Lane" does not mean "the rides that you purchase individually." "Lightning Lane" just means "the FastPass line." If you get a "FastPass" for Pirates using Genie+, that's still "Lightning Lane."

Gotcha. I’ve just seen anecdotally that at wdw they were/are rarely enforced and the recent anecdotes about Rise BG times not being enforced, I question how strict they might be on the $LL return times.

For example.

 

[SamusAranX]

Surprised that WDW held out this long - it seems every other amusement park has a paid option for shorter lines or reservations. Sadly it has become the industry norm.

WDW has never been a "cheap" vacation, but nothing shows any signs of slowing down the demand for higher and higher-priced options. The Boo Bash ticket prices are a sure sign of that!

Differences are:

1. The others charge one flat rate pass for an express on every ride (some for one ride each guest, others unlimited)
2. Other parks add more attractions at a faster rate to expand capacity, rather then try and shift it around
3. Many of those parks are seasonal and/or constrained in how much they can expand, unlike Disney which has tons of space in WDW

 

[AshaNeOmah]

No, you're not gonna "have to." You're gonna have the choice to. Or not. You can sleep until noon if you want and start making your reservations then.

Also, do people not remember what park hours were like when Galaxy's Edge, Toy Story Land, and Pandora opened? Those parks were opening at like 7am daily for a year plus. You're going to be waking up at 5 if you want to rope drop MK once Tron opens.

Semantics. You'll 'have to' to get the most value for your $15. Of course Disney isn't going to barge into your room and force you to make a LL reservation. What a strange and irrelevant point. You don't 'have to' go on the vacation at all.

And I remember getting to DHS at 5 AM. It sucked and was a terrible system. I suspect we'll have the same problem for Tron and for Guardians. (Rat is going to have the same walk-on line that Little Mermaid has after the first year or so, in my opinion.)

It's too bad Disney can't devise a better system for their guests.

 

[Missing20K]

We really need to start getting the nomenclature right, because it's contributing to a lot of people's confusion.

"Lightning Lane" does not mean "the rides that you purchase individually." "Lightning Lane" just means "the FastPass line." If you get a "FastPass" for Pirates using Genie+, that's still "Lightning Lane."

You’d think DIS would have figured all of that out prior to release. Instead here we are trying to settle in a common term we can all understand.

 

[Patcheslee]

World Showcase needs their entertainment back, too. I know Chapek doesn't like to pay for things that don't add a corresponding income line item, but it's things like this that made the waits tolerable at the actual attractions.

We spent a full day voluntarily at EP just enjoying the entertainment. DD12 loves anything that includes guest interaction. She spent probably a good 15 minutes speaking to a CM in Japan just wanting to learn more words in Japanese lol.

 

[GimpYancIent]

Pity the poor cast members who have to enforce this rule when people are paying for it.

Missing a free FastPass is one thing, missing one when you're paying extra per day is another.

Fair questions. Nothing has been clarified about if the attraction breaks down fouling up the access for people that chose Genie / Genie + or if for some reason guests miss their window? People paid for this "lightning" access what remedy does Disney have?

 

[Patcheslee]

After a few years on here, I've read plenty of complaints about IP attractions. What no one realized was IP stood for Individual Paid

 

[flynnibus]

1. The others charge one flat rate pass for an express on every ride (some for one ride each guest, others unlimited)
2. Other parks add more attractions at a faster rate to expand capacity, rather then try and shift it around
3. Many of those parks are seasonal and/or constrained in how much they can expand, unlike Disney which has tons of space in WDW

1 - No, the idea of tiered access is not unique here. Cedar Fair does this as well. Fast Lane vs Fast Lane Plus
2 - No - other parks do not infinitely expand, they to must balance how much they chose to operate simultaneously so often the old goes out when the new comes in
3 - Land-locked is not the excuse - many parks have the advantage of space around them like Disney parks do. The issue is you can't run bigger than you have the business to support or want to pay for operationally ....it's not just about having land or not.

Disney's approach here has some differences - but not the ones you tried to make into a 'add capacity' argument.

 

[LovePop]

For my family, I have it all figured out. In the past, we went to Disney parks once a year with 10 day pass. From now on, we are going once every 3 years. That way, we'll have plenty of money to pay for whatever upcharge Disney can dream up, and still save money.

We can't go to Disneyland or Universal or France or Japan or Dubai or anywhere else because only the WDW Disney Bubble is good enough for us. We are one of those people who will continue with WDW no matter how much Bob Chapek raise prices. We are stuck. However, I will manage my money so that our total Disney expense will stay the same as always. Old Bob won't be getting more money out of me or my family, though I'm sure he will squeeze more out of others.

 

[btuftee]

Pity the poor cast members who have to enforce this rule when people are paying for it.

Missing a free FastPass is one thing, missing one when you're paying extra per day is another.

One would hope the "Super-LL" (whatever we are calling it, where you pay extra) would have some leeway with late arrivals, like the old FP system used to have. For the regular LL (the base $15/day), I imagine it's tough luck. People will quickly start to consider this just another add-on like park hopping or the waterparks & more. We always buy parkhopper (and often get the waterparks & more option), but there occasionally we won't hop on one day of the trip (and don't use up the waterpark & more options).

I imagine wholesale adding of this in to the entire ticket length, versus opting in for certain days. Sort of like having Netflix and Hulu - some people judiciously manage their subscriptions by turning them on and off as new shows arrive - most people just keep the subscription because it's a hassle to activate and de-activate. Maybe it won't be that hard to do in the MDE app, but then Disney will probably discount Genie if you buy it for the whole trip (pay $15/day a la carte, or $12 if you add it to every day of your ticket).

 

[brettf22]

Pity the poor cast members who have to enforce this rule when people are paying for it.

Missing a free FastPass is one thing, missing one when you're paying extra per day is another.

Fair questions. Nothing has been clarified about if the attraction breaks down fouling up the access for people that chose Genie / Genie + or if for some reason guests miss their window? People paid for this "lightning" access what remedy does Disney have?

I believe MaxPass (similarly to FP+) would give you an "Anytime Pass" if your MaxPass selection ride was down during your window. I would assume Genie+ would automatically given you an Anytime LL pass for any attraction of the "Tier Two" attractions available through Genie+.

 

[flynnibus]

And I remember getting to DHS at 5 AM. It sucked and was a terrible system. I suspect we'll have the same problem for Tron and for Guardians. (Rat is going to have the same walk-on line that Little Mermaid has after the first year or so, in my opinion.) It's too bad Disney can't devise a better system for their guests.

uhh... they just did... they let you pay if you don't want to put in the effort.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

One would hope the "Super-LL" (whatever we are calling it, where you pay extra) would have some leeway with late arrivals, like the old FP system used to have.

I vote IA for "Individual Attractions."

 

[AshaNeOmah]

No, the idea of tiered access is not unique here. Cedar Fair does this as well. Fast Lane vs Fast Lane Plus

Tiered, yes. Charge per ride, no.

uhh... they just did... they let you pay if you don't want to put in the effort.

I guess 'better' is subjective, huh?

 

[aliceismad]

(Rat is going to have the same walk-on line that Little Mermaid has after the first year or so, in my opinion.)

But Little Mermaid is in MK, where there are all the rides for littles. Rat is in Epcot -- and in the happy drink-y parents part.