Lightning Lane dilemma

[lanejudy]

Anyone in the LL they'll let in right away. As soon as they see a LL enter the que, they'll put them right in ahead of the standby line. Disney is going to see them as paying customers and get them in and out as quickly as possible.

Except not everybody in the LL has paid. Rider swap, DAS, and guest recovery will all use the LL in addition to Genie+, IAS, Club 33 and VIP tours. There will be a fairly steady stream of people in the LL.

 

[1lilspark]

It is so confusing. But I don’t think you could try for Remy and ROTR on virtual group in the same day because you probably need a park reservation. The next question is paying for the LL. I would think you need to be in the park at least to buy the LL access since my guess would be that the times come quick. Or maybe you buy it and get to pick a time?

It is confusing

No you can’t try for both rides the same day unless Disney ever drops the no park hopping till after 2 rule

you can purchase your first ala carte lightning lane (with a valid park reservation) at 7am if on-site or at park open if off site

 

[bryanb]

My opinion:
Anyone in the LL they'll let in right away. As soon as they see a LL enter the que, they'll put them right in ahead of the standby line. Disney is going to see them as paying customers and get them in and out as quickly as possible. For 2 reason.
1) If they have no wait at all, the guest will think it's great and be more apt to pay for another LL. If they have to wait a little bit, they'll think "this isn't worth the money I paid."
2) It gets them out quicker. The faster you can get a guest who's willing to pay for a service in-and-out, the faster they'll become available to make another purchase.

I think your logic makes sense, but I don’t think this will actually happen. If they’re going to do this, they’ll do it on the handful of individual premium LL selections (Rise of the Resistance, etc.). But even there I have my doubts.

As annoyed as I am that they’re charging $15 ($20 at DL) per day for Genie+, is not SO expensive that anyone should expect to receive this level of VIP priority. If I could get the right to get on any attraction that quickly, $15 would be far too cheap. People are willing to pay $70+ for Express Pass at Universal.

At $15/day, I predict that there will be a LOT of people who are using the Lightning Lanes. Possibly close to the number of people who used the FP lanes on busier days. The way I see it, this is just a way of raising ticket prices without increasing them for everybody. People balked at Maxpass at DL for a bit, but it turned out to be a popular favorite, and they used similar rules of adjusting the ratio of people they take from each line.

 

[DisneyOma]

My opinion:
Anyone in the LL they'll let in right away. As soon as they see a LL enter the que, they'll put them right in ahead of the standby line. Disney is going to see them as paying customers and get them in and out as quickly as possible. For 2 reason.
1) If they have no wait at all, the guest will think it's great and be more apt to pay for another LL. If they have to wait a little bit, they'll think "this isn't worth the money I paid."
2) It gets them out quicker. The faster you can get a guest who's willing to pay for a service in-and-out, the faster they'll become available to make another purchase.

Not all guests using the Lightning Lane are paying to use that queue, as you forgot about DAS and rider swap.

 

[Disneylover99]

Except not everybody in the LL has paid. Rider swap, DAS, and guest recovery will all use the LL in addition to Genie+, IAS, Club 33 and VIP tours. There will be a fairly steady stream of people in the LL.

All the more reason to keep that LL moving as quickly as possible.

 

[gharter]

It is so confusing. But I don’t think you could try for Remy and ROTR on virtual group in the same day because you probably need a park reservation. The next question is paying for the LL. I would think you need to be in the park at least to buy the LL access since my guess would be that the times come quick. Or maybe you buy it and get to pick a time?

I would expect that you would need a park pass to either try for a Boarding Group for either ride (as you do currently) or to purchase a LL pass. Without an active park pass for that day, I doubt Genie will let you do either.

 

[mom2rtk]

My guess is that, like most things Disney, it will start out great and move very fast. Then over time, Disney will not be able to resist selling more, so it will inevitably slow down a lot, just like FP in all its previous incarnations.

An initial fast line will also cause those who buy it to come online and gush about it, encouraging others to also buy it.

 

[PaladinButters]

At $15/day, I predict that there will be a LOT of people who are using the Lightning Lanes. Possibly close to the number of people who used the FP lanes on busier days. The way I see it, this is just a way of raising ticket prices without increasing them for everybody. People balked at Maxpass at DL for a bit, but it turned out to be a popular favorite, and they used similar rules of adjusting the ratio of people they take from each line.

For regular LL sure, I expect almost everyone to have it and things to run pretty much like FP/Maxpass. For the extra special $$$$ pass on select rides...................

An initial fast line will also cause those who buy it to come online and gush about it, encouraging others to also buy it.

......this right here. I'm either going to here that it's totally worth the money or I'm going to here that people paid $X and still had to wait Y minutes and it isn't worth the price at all. If we are setting the base expectation at $15/day "regular" FP waits, then the premium product has to match the premium price.

 

[Marionnette]

My guess is that, like most things Disney, it will start out great and move very fast. Then over time, Disney will not be able to resist selling more, so it will inevitably slow down a lot, just like FP in all its previous incarnations.

An initial fast line will also cause those who buy it to come online and gush about it, encouraging others to also buy it.

And then they will raise the prices in an effort to fix the problem they created by overselling.

 

[Pyxie]

I would imagine it will work the same way FastPass+ did. Yes, it will slow down the standby line to a degree, but they can't just ignore the people in standby completely. They will let you in, but it may take a bit longer than what we're seeing currently.

 

[thanxfornoticin]

I would imagine it will work the same way FastPass+ did. Yes, it will slow down the standby line to a degree, but they can't just ignore the people in standby completely. They will let you in, but it may take a bit longer than what we're seeing currently.

Agreed - it's very likely to work the same as the FP+ lines do now. A large percentage of LL people will have priority, but standby will also move. I don't think they could ever just hold the standby line until there's a break in the LL line. From past experience, there's rarely a break in the FP line - there won't be breaks in LL either. I read somewhere that the percentages for FP+ (soon to be LL) and standby access to an attraction is about 80-20. For for every 10 people going into the attraction, 8 are FP/LL and 2 standby. I don't know how accurate the number is, but that ratio makes sense to me from what we've seen over the years when we were in line.

 

[Bibbobboo2u]

Disney has created yet another monster for itself because when guests pay to play with Genie+ or even more money for $LL rides, they will expect to board as quickly as possible. If Disney maintains the 80/20 split, LL waits probably won't be too long, but if those waits start dragging out, customers will complain because they have paid additional money for something that used to be included in the price of admission. They will want to get through rides as quickly as possible in order to be able to book the next one. I just hope that if this happens, people make their complaints to guest services and not take their frustration out on cast members working rides. Cause it is gonna happen......

 

[shh]

(Can I get a Facepalm for the idiot that decided that naming scheme?)

There is never one "idiot". There is a committee of idiots...this naming scheme was probably routed and reviewed 100x by 50-100+ "stakeholders" who all felt they needed to add their two cents by tweaking it to death until any creativity or life was long gone. This all shows their bosses they reviewed it. A.k.a. the mega corp way. lol

 

[thanxfornoticin]

I think I'd ask experienced MaxPass/Disneyland posters what they think. Seems like Genie+ at WDW is almost exactly like MaxPass was at DL. We've been to DL twice where we got to use MaxPass, and liked it better than FP+ (not the paying for it part, but the 'not having to lay out our entire park day 60 days in advance' part). So I'm optimistic that Disney has worked through some of the kinks already with MaxPass - unless I'm naive and MaxPass and G+ are more different than I'm reading.

Makes me wonder, though, how the BG/LL situation will work. Will the people paying a premium for ROTR be in the same line as the 'free' BG folks? Or will the BG line become the pseudo 'standby' line, and IAS/LL will have the priority there like G+ will for other attractions? Many things to work out, that's for sure. And for all the negative posts out there blasting something that's not even in use yet, there are also many positive posts willing to accept the change and see how it can even improve on the experience. I'm in the latter group, waiting to see how it works out. But I do reserve the right to be negative later, if necessary!!

 

[PaladinButters]

I think I'd ask experienced MaxPass/Disneyland posters what they think. Seems like Genie+ at WDW is almost exactly like MaxPass was at DL. We've been to DL twice where we got to use MaxPass, and liked it better than FP+ (not the paying for it part, but the 'not having to lay out our entire park day 60 days in advance' part).

Or just anyone who used the legacy FP before they went to the scheduled +. There's a point in the day when the "good" passes run out - you can go on Alien Swirling Saucers as many times as you like but good luck with the massive standby line for RNR because passes ran out while you were holding yours for MMRR. Technically there's *something* available so you are getting what you paid for, but the value of that purchase goes down heavily and quickly throughout the day. We just don't know yet what time that is yet with the new set up.

 

[OhDannyBoy]

Disney has created yet another monster for itself because when guests pay to play with Genie+ or even more money for $LL rides, they will expect to board as quickly as possible. If Disney maintains the 80/20 split, LL waits probably won't be too long, but if those waits start dragging out, customers will complain because they have paid additional money for something that used to be included in the price of admission.

I think that is part of why it is so cheap. to limit expectations. And there is going to be a lot of people who had no idea it was ever free.

They will want to get through rides as quickly as possible in order to be able to book the next one.

I doubt you'll have to actually RIDE the ride to open up your next selection. I'd guess once you scan your band or phone or whatever you'll be aloud to pick your next one. That's how the refresh thing worked with FP+ from what I remember. I remember scanning in, and if there was a bit of a line, I'd start hunting my next FP. So if you end up in a 1/2 hour wait in a LL G+ whatever line, that's your opportunity to land the next ride. I think anyways.

 

[thanxfornoticin]

Or just anyone who used the legacy FP before they went to the scheduled +. There's a point in the day when the "good" passes run out - you can go on Alien Swirling Saucers as many times as you like but good luck with the massive standby line for RNR because passes ran out while you were holding yours for MMRR. Technically there's *something* available so you are getting what you paid for, but the value of that purchase goes down heavily and quickly throughout the day. We just don't know yet what time that is yet with the new set up.

In some ways, it was the same even with FP+, where you could get only one top tier attraction and then 2 lower tier. After using the passes, you could get another, or perhaps trade something you booked for something else. But there's never been a system where you could just do all the high-end attractions via FP+ all day (with normal crowds), unless you paid for it - ie, if you could buy the 90-day Club Level passes or if you've invested a lot of money into Club 33 and get them as a major perk! Contrary to what some are saying, this is not the first time WDW is taking money to give out perks like FP+/G+/LL.

 

[mdmost]

I think I'd ask experienced MaxPass/Disneyland posters what they think. Seems like Genie+ at WDW is almost exactly like MaxPass was at DL. We've been to DL twice where we got to use MaxPass, and liked it better than FP+ (not the paying for it part, but the 'not having to lay out our entire park day 60 days in advance' part). So I'm optimistic that Disney has worked through some of the kinks already with MaxPass - unless I'm naive and MaxPass and G+ are more different than I'm reading.

Makes me wonder, though, how the BG/LL situation will work. Will the people paying a premium for ROTR be in the same line as the 'free' BG folks? Or will the BG line become the pseudo 'standby' line, and IAS/LL will have the priority there like G+ will for other attractions? Many things to work out, that's for sure. And for all the negative posts out there blasting something that's not even in use yet, there are also many positive posts willing to accept the change and see how it can even improve on the experience. I'm in the latter group, waiting to see how it works out. But I do reserve the right to be negative later, if necessary!!

I'm definitely a person who loved Maxpass at DLR. It worked so much better for us than FP+ 60 days in advance. If you like planning, you can set up a plan to bounce from ride to ride with little wait, utilizing the Maxpass for the rides you don't want to wait for, while going standby on rides with low waits in between your Maxpass times. If Genie+ is similar, I'd be all for it. I don't know how well that will work at WDW with so many more people each day. I definitely would've used it to bypass some long waits in the Florida heat this past weekend.

For ROTR, I think it would be standby for normal 7am and 1pm boarding group selections and LL for the Genie+ per ride pay people. I don't think I would take part in that unless we missed a 7 am queue. I doubt they can or will go back to non-virtual queue standby lines for a couple years on that ride. Not until another ride comes along to become that new E-Ticket ride that everyone flocks to.

We have a early summer 2022 DLR trip and I'm anxious to see if the normal lady we follow for all things DLR (Disneyland Daily) will have ironed out strategies to take advantage of Genie+ by then. She was great in helping us expertly navigate Maxpass for our previous trips.

 

[shawthorne44]

The general thought is that since Genie+ requires $, many won't use it. Whereas before everyone got at least 3 - 5 FPP. So, the FP-now-LL line will have less people in it than in FPP days, so standby should go faster than before.

 

[gottalovepluto]

I think I'd ask experienced MaxPass/Disneyland posters what they think...

I used MP multiple times at DLR (my "home" park being a Californian) and I loved it. But I despise the fact that the "best" rides are now off limits. MP with what no Space Mountain? No RSR? No Spider Man? No MFSR? No Indy? I don't know what the IAS list will be but if the list is that- screw that. The trade off to booking FP for the "big rides" under MP was you had to wait longer for your next FP, so the system worked the crowds well. If you wanted to ride something with a 3 hour wait, you'd be blocked out of FPs for two hours, if you booked something with less than a 2 hour wait you got your next FP as soon as you tapped in for your current one. What would I have paid for MP if none of the big headliner rides I mentioned above were in it? Lol. No.

I was thrilled when I first read about G+ as I thought they were finally bringing MP to WDW. And then I read about the IAS system and went from thrilled to angry. This is not MP.

The worst part of MP was when the system would die. That happened on multiple occasions in the first couple years. And Disney's response was "No refunds, the terms and conditions you agreed to said if the system died you don't get a refund." That went down bad. Should go down worse at WDW as they have more people to tick off lol.