Lightning Lane dilemma

[GatorChris]

I'm totally with you. You plan, you budget, you prepare for a great trip. Then Disney introduces something that we all know will be "Magic Robbers". You can fork out more cash and take advantage, or you feel like that "bad" parent who won't let their kids skip a few lines here and there. The whole system is garbage. Do it like Disneyland did with MaxPass. Legacy FP is still free, but MaxPass is a pay system that gets you more FP and less running. But no, we have to pay more. I used to love how at Disney, not matter who you are, you're on equal footing in the park. Not any longer.

 

[Sha259]

For my trip in October, I'm thinking I will do Genie and Genie+ (on select days) for my party of 4. I might not focus on any headliners this trip at all, as I am taking my mom and grandmother. They are both older and not likely to want to ride tons.

I'm taking my son again just him and I in December. I'm likely to get both Genie+ and IAS for this trip because it will be very ride heavy. I'm not super happy about the changes, but I'm willing to pay the upcharge to get the most out of my APs until end 2022 and basically never visit Disney again. I was never loyal to Disney. Just wanted to give my little son and myself the Disney experience before he got too old. Now they have given me even more reason to continue vacationing elsewhere.

 

[Grumpy by Birth]

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 think it's almost a certainty that those who pay for IA$ access to ROTR will be directed to the Lightning Lane and get priority over those with a BG. As I stated in another thread, holding a BG doesn't guarantee that you will ride and the number of guests who pay for IA$ will impact how many BGs they get through that day. Guests with higher number BGs are already at risk of not getting to ride. If a lot of people pay for IA$ access to the LL, they will get through fewer BGs.

 

[mdmost]

Saw just now on Twitter that Lightning Lane and Virtual signs were added to Rise of the Resistance at HS today. So that answers the question of whether virtual would go away. So there is no standby line coming. People will still need to use the 7am and 1pm virtual boarding group queues.
Can't link to the site but here's a blurb.

Walt Disney World has begun adding “Lightning Lane” signage throughout the four parks ahead of the fall launch of Disney Genie. Signs at Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance in Disney’s Hollywood Studios have now been updated to read “Lightning Lane” and “Virtual”.

 

[1lilspark]

I wonder if with Ratatouille when they replace signage if they will remove or just cover up their single rider sign

 

[Jimmy Mouse]

I think they should have just left it as Fast Pass or picked a better name than "Lightning Lane". I can't even say it half the time. It does not roll off the tongue very well and forget saying it 3 times fast!

 

[Grumpy by Birth]

I think they should have just left it as Fast Pass or picked a better name than "Lightning Lane". I can't even say it half the time. It does not roll off the tongue very well and forget saying it 3 times fast!

Also, the name "Lightning Lane" creates an expectation of very minimal waits (i.e., "lightning" fast). People will be dissatisfied when they've paid to be in the "Lightning" Lane and still have to wait 20 minutes, making it feel more like the "Molasses" lane.

 

[mom2rtk]

Also, the name "Lightning Lane" creates an expectation of very minimal waits (i.e., "lightning" fast). People will be dissatisfied when they've paid to be in the "Lightning" Lane and still have to wait 20 minutes, making it feel more like the "Molasses" lane.

Exactly that.

It will indeed start as a lightning lane. But it won't take time for them to bloat the numbers and slow it down to something decidedly not "lightning"

 

[Goldilocks07]

The way I read it, you purchase Genie+ for $15 per person per day. You can make your first LL pass at 7:00am. After that you can keep making LL passes as you use them, holding only one at a time. No where does it say you will pay $15-20 per LL ride. There are also the 2 a la carte rides you can pay to ride but that's nothing to do with the LL rides you can book just by having Genie+.

Honestly I'm so tired of having to wake up at the crack of dawn after a crazy park day/night just to get priority on a ride. Disney has become EXHAUSTING.
Take me back to the 90s.

 

[Goldilocks07]

Also, the name "Lightning Lane" creates an expectation of very minimal waits (i.e., "lightning" fast). People will be dissatisfied when they've paid to be in the "Lightning" Lane and still have to wait 20 minutes, making it feel more like the "Molasses" lane.

I mean, isn't it going to be the same as Fast Pass? What is the difference in wait time? Looks to me as if the only difference is that it's an upsell ($15) and the single booking of a ride, one at a time. I would assume the wait/lines will be exactly the same.

 

[Disney mac]

Has there been any talk about how the “lightening lane” may cause a health issue in the regular “inside” queue. Standing indoors in proximity made longer by this?

 

[MakiraMarlena]

I believe they are anticipating relatively few guests paying for the Lightning Lane - much fewer than when everyone in the park had the potential for FastPass access. Yes they will probably allow the LL guests onto the attraction ahead of the standby line, or stop the standby line to allow LL guests in, like they did with FastPass. Use by Genie+ guests may also be staggered by their having to choose times to report. It may be time to see how it works soon.

I can't think you are going to "stand indoors in proximity" much longer than you would with no Lightning Lane at all. Plus, mask wearing is required in indoor lines.

There are two ways to access Lightning Lanes, by paying $15 per day for Genie+ or by paying per use for select attractions. Or both, since you can have Genie+ and also pay extra for the select attractions.

It's entirely possible that Rat will have a standby line after the novelty wears off, and they could have single riders. Or they may decide it's not worth it

I doubt I will use Genie but I might use LL to get my mom on a couple of things when she visits, assuming the virtual queue doesn't come through.

 

[btuftee]

I believe they are anticipating relatively few guests paying for the Lightning Lane

Eh, at $15/day per person, I don't know about that. It's not so outrageously priced, but I guess we will have to see how it goes. I think it'll have fairly decent adoption, at least to the point where the LL crowds look pretty similar to the old pre-2013 FP crowds. The line management will probably be more like FP+, so if a crush of people are in the LL line, the standby line will just pause until the backlog is relieved. My impression back in the FP days was that the Cast Members would try to keep the FP line and Standby line both moving to some degree, but I suppose that also depends on the fraction of hourly capacity that is given over to FP, FP+ or LL, as the case may be. Perhaps in the old days, they just allocated fewer FPs to each ride. FP+ changed that massively, since every single guest got to make three reservations. Here's to hoping it's a shift back to the FP days! By the time we go in January, hopefully there will be a sense of whether G+ is even worth it at slower times of year.

 

[igrsod]

The way I read it, you purchase Genie+ for $15 per person per day. You can make your first LL pass at 7:00am. After that you can keep making LL passes as you use them, holding only one at a time. No where does it say you will pay $15-20 per LL ride. There are also the 2 a la carte rides you can pay to ride but that's nothing to do with the LL rides you can book just by having Genie+.

That's what they are talking about... the additional 2 rides cost you more per person on top of Genie +

 

[chris4disney]

I haven't read any "fine print" but is it stated anywhere for the new Paid Options what would happen if you paid in the morning for one or both of the paid options, and then rides that you scheduled a return time for ends up closed during your time slot or the entire day? I can't image deciding to pay an extra say $20 per person for my group of 5 to just ride ROTR totaling $100 and then the ride breaks down all day. Do you get a refund? I hope Disney wouldn't substitute a different ride that maybe wouldn't be worth it to us to pay an extra $100 to get in the lightning lane.

 

[twincruisers]

After all the craziness of the past 6 weeks in new announcements I think I've made my call to bypass G+ and just get more days in the park. I get more time to enjoy what I want and I'll push to do rope drop, leave at 11am and come back at 3pm to finish the park.

I'll do IA$ if I don't get the Virtual Queues for Remy or RotR, but I anticipate to maybe use one of those.

I think this will give me the most flexibility with lower workload during my vacation. We'll see how it goes.

 

[The Sasquatch]

Yes there is definitely a higher ratio of people let in via the fastpass line vs stand by. Craig talks about the exact ratio on the podcast but I cant remember, i think its like 10:1

 

[shawthorne44]

That is the reason I'm not too worried about the more minor of the IA$$$ rides. If no one wants to ride the least popular of them, then it will be basically standby only. More or less how it is now, with standby and an occasional VIP tour coming through. Although, those might be the $4 rides and might get many takers. Then I'd be a little grumpy.