Lightning Lane Premier Pass

[JD80]

I still think it’s being overlooked that Disney themselves are calling this a pilot rollout with the deluxe resorts.

That indicates (to me) that they have intention to expand this to a wider audience should it go well. There is nowhere to grab capacity from for this besides from the main LLMP/SP pools as well as standby. This is why it matters to the wider guest experience, even if you believe this is going to be sold in such low numbers initially that other guests won’t feel the impact.

I think they may attempt to strike a balance between LLMP/SP guests being satisfied enough to keep spending, while being able to sell off their ability to get that 4th, 5th or whatever LL of the day and beyond to the Premier Pass guests. I think in hindsight this may have been a driver for having LLMP guests lock themselves into 3 in advance.

I think it's conceivable this becomes available to anyone, but starting at just deluxe allows them limited system exposure to overload.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

I don't get why people care about this one way or another.

Do you care about VIP tours? If not then you shouldn't care about this.

The corporate created “slippery slope”

 

[MrPromey]

They want to milk every drop they can. Fie to the guest experience.

I think we're on the same page, unfortunately.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

I think it's conceivable this becomes available to anyone, but starting at just deluxe allows them limited system exposure to overload.

There’s no way to “support” other than a few with this anyway.

This “starting with” stuff is naive and ignores the problem:

It’s a capacity problem. It’s severely depleted and they will not catch up. You think all that parks panel nonsense…even if they build it…will fix this?

It will not.

 

[MrPromey]

Disney has ~11 years of digital skip the line service. There have already been many people that essentially get LLMP and they have data on them. Golden Oak, Club 33, and VIP tours were never subject to the same rules.

For example, I would assume there is a spike in the anytime LL/FP+ users going to HM and Peter pan immediately after a parade. Disney has enough data to tell them to reduce LLMP output more for the 2:30-3:30 times than any other time.

While the LLPP people can not be controlled like LLMP, they can be studied, predicted, and accounted for. Habits and patterns are already studied and will get better the more people use the service.

Which brings us back to "the capacity has to come from somewhere".

So how do they manage this?

Do they reduce the pool of regular LL return times in these periods, thus reducing the overall pool of return times available in any given day while also pushing those people to the more extreme return times for this lesser service they're paying a premium for?

... or do they just dip more into the standby ratio to offset it?

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

I think theres value, but I think the value found in the parties and especially in the unthemed after hours events is directly because they’ve found a way to sell off what used to be part of the base experience. I find this to be similar. To really be a valuable product they’ve got to further erode the base experience.

%

That’s been the game all along

 

[MickeyLuv'r]

My pet peeve is that the lightning lane situation has essentially become gambling. Give them the money up front and you might be able to get lightning lanes for rides you want. Could be 1 ride, could be 7, fate will decide. They might as well hand out lotto tickets telling you what you can do that day because it’s a crapshoot.

Another alternative is that people pay for this only to discover most attractions have very short standby waits. How happy will people be if they paid an extra $150+ for empty queues?

 

[Splash4eva]

Be more efficient/effective with spending (looking at you Epcot spine).
Drop the current LL system
Replace with premier but add in a couple other options like park-to-park use and unlimited attractions.
Allow all guests to purchase but give it as an included perk for select deluxe resorts.

So drop the cheapest option for the average guest? We have countless pages of people complaining they are pricing people out which may i add they arent here. They are simply giving people who can afford it another option. With that ideology you are in the running for CEO next

 

[Andrew C]

So drop the cheapest option for the average guest?

The cheapest option is standby. Which LL ruins in many cases.

 

[DisneyCane]

How cool would it be if you could walk up to a LL entrance, tap your magic band, assuming your account is linked to a payment method, BOOM you are charged, the light turns green and you are IN!

The idea I have posted in past LL discussions is that I would suggest something like the tolled express lanes added to highways. The LL for each attraction would be dynamically priced based on the length of the standby line and the length of the LL line.

You walk up to the attraction, see the standby line and the cost per person for LL and decide if you want to pay to enter the LL. You tap your magic band, get charged and go. It could be limited to once per day per ride per ticket. The cost increasing as more people are in the LL will prevent too many in the LL. There would also have to be a hard limit that, if hit, would temporarily close the LL.

 

[ConfettiCupcake]

Im curious. Again NOT defending Disney fully but what would everyone here do in regards to matter? Yes i agree they need capacity but im wondering if you were CEO would you really let a cash cow like this disappear?!? And not to get into another topic but everyone wanted to raise wages etc for CMs etc. Where did you all think that money was gonna come from?

They let a cash cow like this disappear for years. Decades. From the days when ticket books were phased out all the way up to the introduction of Genie+, Disney operated without directly monetizing access to the attractions. From 1999 to the introduction of Genie+ a few years ago they even had a line skip system they were not directly monetizing. Somehow they managed to keep the lights on lol.

It was understood at one point in time with this company that happy guests spend money, and that was the route to long term success.

 

[nickys]

The idea I have posted in past LL discussions is that I would suggest something like the tolled express lanes added to highways. The LL for each attraction would be dynamically priced based on the length of the standby line and the length of the LL line.

You walk up to the attraction, see the standby line and the cost per person for LL and decide if you want to pay to enter the LL. You tap your magic band, get charged and go. It could be limited to once per day per ride per ticket. The cost increasing as more people are in the LL will prevent too many in the LL. There would also have to be a hard limit that, if hit, would temporarily close the LL.

Why the need for dynamic pricing through the day? Other than making more money for them I guess.

DLP does just this, except the price is the same for the day. I believe it does change at different times of the year, how often I don’t know.

If the return time is too far in the future they pause it.

 

[mysto]

so using the new LL Premiere Pass would cost an extra $1600.00 per day for a family of 4...plus the $500 for the day park tickets...about $2100.00/day to visit the Magic Kingdom excluding food, hotel, merch, etc. So a 3 day trip to Disney with hotel for 3 nights at the mid range hotels would be about $7200.00 if no one eats or drinks anything but courtesy cup water... Now cruises are looking cheap.... Heck fly to Japan and go to Tokyo Disneyland would be about the same cost.....lol

Just sell off the kids. Your expenses are cut in half as a family of 2, plus the sale proceeds subsidizes the trip.

Sell off the wife too and you can come out ahead on this. Disney is really helping you out here.

You may not get great prices on the sales though as the market is saturated. Like trying to sell magazine subscriptions door to door. Plant seeds.

 

[Purduevian]

So drop the cheapest option for the average guest? We have countless pages of people complaining they are pricing people out which may i add they arent here. They are simply giving people who can afford it another option. With that ideology you are in the running for CEO next

I think there is a large fear that they will lose a ton of business without some sort of affordable skip the line service... I know they would lose me for a few years.

I'm currently planning to take my 21 month old to Disney next month and with his current attention span we have already decided we are only riding/watching things where we have to stand in line less than 10-15 mins. With LLMP, that is feasible for what we want to ride with him. We are already planning to skip some of the longer attractions (SSE, the land, ect) for fear he will want to leave ~5mins into the ride. (I'm currently nervous about Safari, pirates, and HM)

Other resort destinations get away with the lack of an affordable skip the line service, because the attractions there don't appeal to a family with kids under 3. I also know that people did it before FP was a thing, but capacity to crowds were so much more manageable back then.

 

[Splash4eva]

The cheapest option is standby. Which LL ruins in many cases.

I find it funny people truly think standby lines are gonna magically disappear. And yes i watcher the Doc on it….

 

[MickeyLuv'r]

Right, and you should take into account that there have been multiple attraction breakdowns, which would aggravate the situation.

Good point. How happy will people be if they spend $150+ then a long storm closes down all the outdoor/animal/water attractions at AK?
Storm closures: EE, all animal attractions, and Kali. That leaves: FoP, Dino, FotLK, Bug, and Na'vi.

If the storm hits mid-day, and the people buying this have already used a few passes, say FoP and Na'vi. They'd kinda be stuck waiting out the storm with little to do, except maybe spend more money.

Storms also close down a good chunk of MK: Astro, Barnstorm, BTMRR, Dumbo, JC, Aladdin, 7D, Speedway, and Tiana's.

 

[Splash4eva]

They let a cash cow like this disappear for years. Decades. From the days when ticket books were phased out all the way up to the introduction of Genie+, Disney operated without directly monetizing access to the attractions. From 1999 to the introduction of Genie+ a few years ago they even had a line skip system they were not directly monetizing. Somehow they managed to keep the lights on lol.

It was understood at one point in time with this company that happy guests spend money, and that was the route to long term success.

The game has changed and realized they are leaving way too much on the table. Mistake they made was that they for some reason feel or are afraid that if they build more attractions and capacity people will stop paying for this service. If we know one thing people will pay for convenience and they would still pay for this. Heck people are still paying to ride 7D’s

 

[ConfettiCupcake]

Good point. How happy will people be if they spend $150+ then a long storm closes down all the outdoor/animal/water attractions at AK?
Storm closures: EE, all animal attractions, and Kali. That leaves: FoP, Dino, FotLK, Bug, and Na'vi.

If the storm hits mid-day, and the people buying this have already used a few passes, say FoP and Na'vi. They'd kinda be stuck waiting out the storm with little to do, except maybe spend more money.

Storms also close down a good chunk of MK: Astro, Barnstorm, BTMRR, Dumbo, JC, Aladdin, 7D, Speedway, and Tiana's.

I suspect they will complain and Disney will unofficially bend from their no refunds, subject to availability standard lines like they do now under the right circumstances.

For better or worse I think they opened the door to these kind of complaints as soon as they monetized FP and they must have loads of experience at this point dealing with people who feel ripped off lol.

 

[MickeyLuv'r]

Disney has ~11 years of digital skip the line service. There have already been many people that essentially get LLMP and they have data on them. Golden Oak, Club 33, and VIP tours were never subject to the same rules.

For example, I would assume there is a spike in the anytime LL/FP+ users going to HM and Peter pan immediately after a parade. Disney has enough data to tell them to reduce LLMP output more for the 2:30-3:30 times than any other time.

While the LLPP people can not be controlled like LLMP, they can be studied, predicted, and accounted for. Habits and patterns are already studied and will get better the more people use the service.

Plus DAS users.

 

[Andrew C]

I find it funny people truly think standby lines are gonna magically disappear. And yes i watcher the Doc on it….

I don’t think that. I would just prefer that they be a better experience.