LIGHTNING LANE SUCKS

[LittleBuford]

Oh, it will! If this works the profit target for Disney will grow and grow. For now call it a prediction.

Perhaps it will in the future, but the current situation is very far indeed from what you suggested.

 

[wdwjmp239]

I hate the name
I hate paid fastpass
I hate genie plus

bring back fp+ or better yet no fastpass gimmick at all
Jafar Chapek hates his guests and cast members
Don’t buy genie or the lightning toll.
fire chapek

Well, we all know how he feels. The other option is.... don't go? Just a guess.

 

[Chi84]

You might be right, but I remember the single line before any incarnation of FP even showed up. Yes, the lines were long looking but they moved continuously. It was a leisurely way to vacation. We met people in the multiple switchbacks, we joked around, we laughed, we even bitched about the line length, but we were never angry. We were all in the same line as it should be as we all paid the same amount to get in the park and the park promised unlimited things to do for that one payment. When we got to the front of the line WE WERE NEXT. No group of grinning yahoo's made us stop and watch them legally cut the line in front of us.

It was not a contest it was a recreational, fun, creative and pleasantly memorable experience that made most of us, myself deeply included go back again and again, in my case for almost 40 years. We were all in the same equal situation that was a theme park and part of the experience. During that time FP came along. I stood in the standby line and was shocked by the anger and frustration that now was palpable. If you are standing in that line in 95 degree, 110% humidity weather that Florida is so fond of presenting and you had spent more time than you should have in that line while person after person walks up and goes ahead of you, you lose you cheery disposition. If you don't believe it just think about how competitive it was just to get a FP and now how expensive it is ultimately going to be to see things that are worth seeing. It just is no longer worth it for me. Maybe it is because I am older now, but I truly feel that if it had been this way on my first trip the following 47 trips would never have happened. Fortunately, it didn't get this bad before now and I had the inclination and almost giddy desire to go to my favorite place called WDW. In the lyrics of that song, "I've lost that loving feeling".

At this time in our life, we probably would decide not to go to WDW if we had to stand in long lines in the 95 degree/100% humidity. We loved FP+ but the current paid system is preferable to the old standby lines. So they lose one person and gain another.

 

[DfromATX]

I was at WDW in late August before all this Genie stuff started during a very low crowd period and got to experience what you are describing and it was fantastic. It helped that we didn‘t wait more than 15 mins for any ride during 10 park days which isn’t typical, but I didn’t miss fast pass at all. The only negative I saw vs the FP+ days was getting up earlier for some park days. While FP+ was in place I didn’t feel the need to get to certain parks for rope drop. Specifically AK if I already had a FP for FoP then I was in no rush to get to the park. Getting to AK at rope drop got me on FoP as a walk on while waiting until later in the day meant a 30 min wait but in busier times that’s 60+ mins.

As far as the new setup goes, I’m not opposed to the genie+ part of the plan. When I visited DLR in 2019 I bought max pass each day (even though paper FP existed and was free) and I felt it was worth the price ($20 vs the $15 for genie+). The biggest negative to genie+ is they stripped the top 2 rides out at each park and put them into lightning lane. That really reduces the value of genie+. Max Pass also allowed a new reservation every 90 mins instead of 2 hours allowing several more potential uses in a day.

We went in February (only MK and HS). It was great! Most rides were walk on - even Big Thunder, Space, etc. Just a few had long waits like 45 minutes - Splash, Mine Train, and Slinky Dog Dash. We only did the 2 parks because we just wanted to take a quick trip to take advantage of the low crowds (and we left our 18 year old son at home so we didn't want to be gone too long lol). I have a feeling we will never get to experience that ever again though. We rope dropped and stayed all day (but they had shorter hours then so it wasn't tiring). The weather was fantastic (shorts in February)! I don't think I will ever go in summertime again. It really lifted our spirits!

 

[Diamond Dot]

I hate the name
I hate paid fastpass
I hate genie plus

bring back fp+ or better yet no fastpass gimmick at all
Jafar Chapek hates his guests and cast members
Don’t buy genie or the lightning toll.
fire chapek

Not a fan then

 

[Jrb1979]

Get rid of fast pass -get rid of Genie + ---everyone pays admission to the parks everyone has an equal chance of getting on an attraction

Tell that to all the other parks then. They all do it. I have no issue with it. Mainly cause I use them.

 

[jpchambana]

Having been here all week and getting to experience it, I have very mixed feelings. It’s allowed me to do some things that I otherwise would not have done. But it also prevented me from doing things I used to do. Plan to do a write up after we return home tomorrow.

I think at the end of the day, it really depends on how much money you’re willing to spend, which is what Disney is banking on. We had Genie+ for two people every day… an extra $210. We also purchased two LL per day… an extra probably $300ish for the week.

I didn’t really care about the cost relative to what we spent here this week (it meant we axed a dinner reservation or two) but I know there are many who would/will. I’m sure if I had a bigger group I would definitely care.

I just admittedly do not like to wait for rides and so, it ended up being a price I was willing to pay. YOLO?

You raise an interesting point here. You cut a couple of dinner reservations to pay for G+. It will be interesting to say how much it will increase per guest spending because my theory is that a lot of people who end up buying G+ will then not be spending as much on food or merchandise. Obviously G+ costs Disney less but if merch sales per guest drop because of G+ that's also less than ideal. We have a trip in December coming up. Usually we have a restaurant reservation every other day, we've cut it to one every 3 days (it's a week long trip) so only 2 reservations and may consider putting the savings towards a day of G+ in MK and HS (we're very on the fence about it though).

 

[Goofyernmost]

Perhaps it will in the future, but the current situation is very far indeed from what you suggested.

If you look at it as one person then sure, it will be $160 dollars a day, including admission, but what if you are part of a family with 3 to 4 people. That is part of your expense and if you happen to want to ride one or two of the special ones "up to $24 dollars per ride per person with just two choices you can easily pay a hell of a lot more the the $15 and the $24 twice. With four people it could easily cost you $250 per day plus around $400 admission per day. So that could add up to $650 per day and we haven't even talked about hotel, transportation to Orlando or food. Yea, great deal if you are a millionaire. I actually agree that for a solo traveler it is an easily doable thing, however, for a family of more then two it starts to get a lot higher and it is, as I was predicting, a success then the sky is the limit according to the mission statement of The Disney Company.

 

[LittleBuford]

If you look at it as one person then sure, it will be $160 dollars a day, including admission, but what if you are part of a family with 3 to 4 people. That is part of your expense and if you happen to want to ride one or two of the special ones "up to $24 dollars per ride per person with just two choices you can easily pay a hell of a lot more the the $15 and the $24 twice. With four people it could easily cost you $250 per day plus around $400 admission per day. So that could add up to $650 per day and we haven't even talked about hotel, transportation to Orlando or food. Yea, great deal if you are a millionaire. I actually agree that for a solo traveler it is an easily doable thing, however, for a family of more then two it starts to get a lot higher and it is, as I was predicting, a success then the sky is the limit according to the mission statement of The Disney Company.

I thought we were talking about the cost per person. In any case, I was just offering a factual correction about the pricing as it currently stands.

 

[Goofyernmost]

I thought we were talking about the cost per person. In any case, I was just offering a factual correction about the pricing as it currently stands.

Yes, I understood that, but as I said it was speculation on my part, but it really all boils down to what it currently is going to be and how that affects families which were once the life blood of the Disney parks. I complain about it and am not going to spend that extra because I have been there so many times that I can afford to skip the lower end attractions even if it takes all day to go to the few (1or2) at $24 per ride in standby. Attractions that last how long? 10 min., 15 min. or more each ride. and then do the $15 and you have made it to $63 per day per person, that isn't all that far away from the $100 I stated. All they are going to need to do is bump the number up to 3 or 4 special priced rides and they will be scaring the hell out of that C note.

 

[Chi84]

I don’t think Disney expects or even wants everyone to buy Genie+. If that happened they would have the same issues that existed with FP+. This isn’t about making all line skips affordable. They’re trying to hit a spot where the people who find value in it - and can afford it - buy it (fewer than used FP+), getting them out of the standby lines and making those lines shorter.

If it works as it should, the people who don’t mind standby lines should get back to the kind of waits they had pre-FastPass.

As for the people in the LLs, don’t think of them as rich people or cheaters. Just think of them as stupid people spending their money on something they don’t need to because the standby lines are now manageable.

 

[Mark48]

Me no lika Da Chapek

 

[Goofyernmost]

Me no lika Da Chapek

Blame him if it makes you feel good. He makes enough money to shoulder that burden of your displeasure, but if you really think that he has the final say in anything then you really don't understand how businesses that size function or I'd like to know what you've been smoking.

He is in place as the scape goat. The face and shiny head of the company. The one that all the blame is going to land on when he probably doesn't have the ability to do a thing without his strings being pull by the BoD. If you want to blame the reality, it is still Iger and the rest of the board. He is also on the board, but his influence is measured by his one vote on whatever they are discussing. He has input, but if they have to decide who's advice they are going to take, you have to understand that they are still going to go with Iger. And why not? Igor's leadership has made billions for TWDC, Chapek has done squat. There is plenty of blame to go around, but it doesn't fall on one person no matter how much we don't like him.

 

[Stellajack]

I'm not sure that Lightning Lane is seeing as many guests usage as the old FP method. My DH and I were in the parks Oct. 28-Nov 2 and it seemed as if the LL's were virtual empty zones unless there was a breakdown of a nearby attraction. Splash broke down and sent folks over to BTMRR with free paper FP's. We were actually on Splash when there was a major interruption of the attraction and all logs on the track had to be evacuated. We did early entry each day, taking a calculated risk on the 1st park day to NOT purchase Genie+. We rode RnRC back to back 3 times and ToT x2 before standby lines formed for either. Depending on the crowds, which were moderate for our stay, I'm not sure I would pay the $$ required for certain attractions, especially if you have experienced them in the past. We did RotR in March 2020 in a virtual queue, and have previously done FoP multiple times.

 

[DfromATX]

I'm not sure that Lightning Lane is seeing as many guests usage as the old FP method. My DH and I were in the parks Oct. 28-Nov 2 and it seemed as if the LL's were virtual empty zones unless there was a breakdown of a nearby attraction. Splash broke down and sent folks over to BTMRR with free paper FP's. We were actually on Splash when there was a major interruption of the attraction and all logs on the track had to be evacuated. We did early entry each day, taking a calculated risk on the 1st park day to NOT purchase Genie+. We rode RnRC back to back 3 times and ToT x2 before standby lines formed for either. Depending on the crowds, which were moderate for our stay, I'm not sure I would pay the $$ required for certain attractions, especially if you have experienced them in the past. We did RotR in March 2020 in a virtual queue, and have previously done FoP multiple times.

I wonder if during school times it won't be needed. We went last February and it was great as far as wait times go (but of course that was mid pandemic time). Do you think they inflated wait times to make it look worse than it actually was? Do you think a lot of people may not know about it yet? The real test will be when all the international guests start coming back - and summer and holiday times.

 

[Tom Morrow]

I haven't used it firsthand yet other than a one time Ratatouille pass, so I don't have much input on it or its impact on the parks. But naming the service "Genie" and placing that in the existing WDW app, naming the new Fastpass service "Genie+", and naming the physical queue that you use "Lightning Lane" is the dumbest possible naming scheme they could have done.

The service AND physical queues should just be called "Lightning Lane" and accessed as a main tab in the WDW app the way Fastpass+ was. "Genie" should just be an additional separate tab called "Plan My Day" or something. I truly can't fathom their decision to make this as confusing as possible when half the guests never even got a full grasp on Fastpass+.

 

[MickeyLuv'r]

Yes, I understood that, but as I said it was speculation on my part, but it really all boils down to what it currently is going to be and how that affects families which were once the life blood of the Disney parks. I complain about it and am not going to spend that extra because I have been there so many times that I can afford to skip the lower end attractions even if it takes all day to go to the few (1or2) at $24 per ride in standby. Attractions that last how long? 10 min., 15 min. or more each ride. and then do the $15 and you have made it to $63 per day per person, that isn't all that far away from the $100 I stated. All they are going to need to do is bump the number up to 3 or 4 special priced rides and they will be scaring the hell out of that C note.

RnRc is 90 seconds. Space Mtn is 2 min35seconds. EE and 7DMT are both 2min 50 seconds.

If LL costs $15, then the extra cost would be over $5 per minute of ride time(SM $5.80 and EE $5.29). Except EE has been selling for what, $7? So just under $2.50/minute.

7DMT at $12 is $4.23/minute of ride time.

I think Frozen is about 5min long, if so, that a little better deal/minute.

Rise is about 18, I think. comparatively, Rise is a better deal at least at $15; at $15, the extra cost is less than $1/minute of ride experience. (though i suppose it depends a little if we consider the pre-shows part of the 'ride.' if so, $15 for 18min = $.83/min)

It is probably good they didn't make RnRC one of the IA$. At $15, you'd be paying $10/minute.

Of course this doesn't take into account how much wait time LL saves, but You still have to ask if a 3minute ride is worth the extra $. Personally, I might be inclined to skip some of the IA$ attractions, at least some of the time over paying or a long wait.

If we look at the amount of ride time you get per $, Genie+ is a better 'deal.'

 

[JusticeDisney]

I was an advocate of paid FP, but that is not what I was thinking about. It was a higher price, one fee fastpass that was good for all specific FP attractions (which would be most) and include the new ones as well as some of the older ones. Not floating "plus charges" for some that they felt were worth more, because those are always objective and unfair to many. Just a higher rate like $100.00 per day per person per park (not transferable to park hop with) That would cut down on the fastpass usage and speed up the Standby lines considerably. This just gives them more money in the bank and doesn't server the guests other then to make it more confusing and expensive. Good plan if the goal is the just suck the customer dry, but not to have them leave with a good feeling and desire to return.

So in other words, you wanted Universal’s Express Pass? I would have been totally fine with that as well.

 

[JusticeDisney]

I haven't used it firsthand yet other than a one time Ratatouille pass, so I don't have much input on it or its impact on the parks. But naming the service "Genie" and placing that in the existing WDW app, the "Fastpass" service "Genie+", and the physical queue that you use "Lightning Lane" is the dumbest possible naming scheme they could have done.

The service should just be called Lightning Lane and accessed as a main tab in the WDW app the way Fastpass+ was. "Genie" should just be an additional separate tab called "Plan My Day" or something. I truly can't fathom their decision to make this as confusing as possible when half the guests never even got a full grasp on Fastpass+.

You’re not wrong.

 

[Goofyernmost]

So in other words, you wanted Universal’s Express Pass? I would have been totally fine with that as well.

Yes, if there had to be a FP like setup, I think Universals was the right path. They charged for it, it cut down on the time in Standby lines, it was good for every attraction when you wanted to see it, not some specific time and everyone was a lot happier. I know we are conditioned to believe that Disney is the best at a lot of things. To me Fastpass was and still is their biggest failure. Free at one point, but one way or the other the guest pays a price in time and now money.