*Confirmed* G+ Changes to Advanced Lightning Lane

[Minnie1222]

Speaking of G+ and Club level, I don't think they'll ever give free G+ to these guests. More likely they'll give them an option to buy one or two extra iLL.

 

[Miffy]

What if you didn't get your preferred rides at the 60 day mark (onsite) or the 30 day mark (offsite)? I stayed offsite for the majority of the Fastpass+ era and was never able to get FOP or Slinky. I didn't get to ride Slinky until last year using Genie+ as I refused to wait in a 2+ hour line without any shade.

You had to know how to use FP+ to your advantage. I had a couple of last-minute trips during the FP+ era and was able to get everything I wanted, often sometimes the day of, by being persistent and using refresh, and I don't mean spending hours staring at my phone and hitting "refresh," i mean trying for maybe 5 minutes at a time, refreshing, and jumping on something the moment I saw it.

But I was just looking for 2 people. I'm not sure how this worked for people with large groups.

And, similarly, one also has to know how to use G+ to their advantage. Just like with FP+, many people do not know how to use G+ and make it work for them. Even though G+ is touted as being user-friendly, it actually is not obvious how to make it work for one's park touring style.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Speaking of G+ and Club level, I don't think they'll ever give free G+ to these guests. More likely they'll give them an option to buy one or two extra iLL.

That was never a literal question, it was strictly a hypothetical about how someone would feel if someone else got something they were excluded from so don't take it as a serious wondering.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

What if you didn't get your preferred rides at the 60 day mark (onsite) or the 30 day mark (offsite)? I stayed offsite for the majority of the Fastpass+ era and was never able to get FOP or Slinky. I didn't get to ride Slinky until last year using Genie+ as I refused to wait in a 2+ hour line without any shade.

I was similar with Toy Story Midway Mania in just the legacy FP era. The FPs were always gone by the time we got to the parks and the wait was always listed as 75mins so we bypassed it although I know it wasn't 75 mins all the time that was the posted wait time. We did ride it in 2017 and I was able to get a FP+ for it but then rode it additional times just because it was during the hurricane. In 2019 we rode it without a FP or a MP and just waited a bit, not 75 mins but it did get up there mostly because of how they chose to load which was letting about 4-5 standby line people in but then hoards in the FP line. Then we rode it with MP. We just got very frustrated touring without MP at DL after doing without it for 1 day.

With Slinky we rode that without Genie+ first thing in the morning with a posted 60 min wait that we ended up waiting 47mins.

While I completely understand how it felt to not get a FP for something most of people's frustrations (when you see what the crux of people's complaints end up being) lie in how Disney chooses to load their rides which is reflected in your wait time. No one wants to wait long and at Disney if you're in SB you may be waiting a lot longer just because of how they favor their get ahead of the line pass which in turn makes you feel you need this pass just to get some rides in. The circle just continues.

 

[Smugpugmug]

I was similar with Toy Story Midway Mania in just the legacy FP era. The FPs were always gone by the time we got to the parks and the wait was always listed as 75mins so we bypassed it although I know it wasn't 75 mins all the time that was the posted wait time. We did ride it in 2017 and I was able to get a FP+ for it but then rode it additional times just because it was during the hurricane. In 2019 we rode it without a FP or a MP and just waited a bit, not 75 mins but it did get up there mostly because of how they chose to load which was letting about 4-5 standby line people in but then hoards in the FP line. Then we rode it with MP. We just got very frustrated touring without MP at DL after doing without it for 1 day.

With Slinky we rode that without Genie+ first thing in the morning with a posted 60 min wait that we ended up waiting 47mins.

While I completely understand how it felt to not get a FP for something most of people's frustrations (when you see what the crux of people's complaints end up being) lie in how Disney chooses to load their rides which is reflected in your wait time. No one wants to wait long and at Disney if you're in SB you may be waiting a lot longer just because of how they favor their get ahead of the line pass which in turn makes you feel you need this pass just to get some rides in. The circle just continues.

Totally agree with your last paragraph. I have been in standby lines that didn't move for a solid 10 minutes due to the CMs continually letting the Lightning Lane guests through. Even when I last rode FOP, they let in one standby party and then cleared out the entire Lightning Lane.

 

[Smugpugmug]

You had to know how to use FP+ to your advantage. I had a couple of last-minute trips during the FP+ era and was able to get everything I wanted, often sometimes the day of, by being persistent and using refresh, and I don't mean spending hours staring at my phone and hitting "refresh," i mean trying for maybe 5 minutes at a time, refreshing, and jumping on something the moment I saw it.

But I was just looking for 2 people. I'm not sure how this worked for people with large groups.

And, similarly, one also has to know how to use G+ to their advantage. Just like with FP+, many people do not know how to use G+ and make it work for them. Even though G+ is touted as being user-friendly, it actually is not obvious how to make it work for one's park touring style.

Yes, that was what I was trying to say. Fastpass+ wasn't easy to use for everyone. You had to be a hardcore Disney park goer (i.e. people that use boards like this) to use it to your advantage. Many guests didn't even know you had to book rides in advance so day of, they're screwed.

When Disney released a 10 minute long video explaining how to use Genie+, that's when you know it was too confusing for the average guest.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Totally agree with your last paragraph. I have been in standby lines that didn't move for a solid 10 minutes due to the CMs continually letting the Lightning Lane guests through. Even when I last rode FOP, they let in one standby party and then cleared out the entire Lightning Lane.

oh yeah we were just walking through the standby line of FOP last year no problem doing really well...until suddenly we stopped and it was right where you could see the LL people especially for my tall husband lol. And we just stood still for forever and forever and forever. It was just for the LL people and it didn't even move even when there was no one coming up the LL lane. They did the same for Navi where I could physically see absolutely no one in the LL and they wouldn't budge on the Standby line and then when they would let people go through it was 1 or 2 people at a time (no joke) and then the line would soon get clogged up with LL people. That wait time was listed as 40mins when we entered the line but we actually waited 60mins all because of how they were doing the LL.

All of this is Disney's fault. People can talk all day long about how great xyz program is but it's only good because you feel that sigh of relief that you aren't waiting in that terrible line, but you're waiting in that terrible line because Disney sucks at ride distribution. They aren't ignorant they are doing it intentionally but I just wish people would understand that you're waiting in that long line just because Disney is choosing it that way not because the parks are so slammed so that's the reason, not because of this or that. Even on a slow day you're going to be able to see how the line distribution is affected by this. And I'm not saying that a get ahead of the line shouldn't get priority but clearly the way Disney does it leads to intense guest dissatisfaction unless you are using whatever program they have at this time. I think this got worse with FP+ but has ramped up to the Nth degree with Genie+. And to your comment you just made absolutely the complexity of it has added that layer in there.

 

[Moliphino]

Many guests didn't even know you had to book rides in advance so day of, they're screwed.

It's hard to sympathize when someone puts 0 effort into planning a vacation. The information has always been readily available to everyone. This doesn't just go for Disney, either, there are tons of museums and attractions where you need to book well in advance or risk missing out.

 

[Smugpugmug]

It's hard to sympathize when someone puts 0 effort into planning a vacation. The information has always been readily available to everyone. This doesn't just go for Disney, either, there are tons of museums and attractions where you need to book well in advance or risk missing out.

You're not wrong but you'd be surprised how many people don't plan for their trips. I see it daily on Disney FB groups. There are people that still don't know that you need a park reservation and have zero clue what Genie+ is.

 

[Miffy]

Yes, that was what I was trying to say. Fastpass+ wasn't easy to use for everyone. You had to be a hardcore Disney park goer (i.e. people that use boards like this) to use it to your advantage. Many guests didn't even know you had to book rides in advance so day of, they're screwed.

When Disney released a 10 minute long video explaining how to use Genie+, that's when you know it was too confusing for the average guest.

Truly. I cannot tell you how many people I told about FP+ back in the day. People had no idea they could use it, that it was free, or how to do it. But, you know, I've had a lot of conversations lately with people about G+--people who also have no idea that it's something other than Genie, that they can use it, that it costs $, or how to best work it.

It's like Disney wants to make these systems as convoluted as possible, but why why why? And now they're going to make changes to G+? It'll probably take me another 3 trips before I figure out how to best use it . . . and then they'll change it again!

 

[Moliphino]

You're not wrong but you'd be surprised how many people don't plan for their trips. I see it daily on Disney FB groups. There are people that still don't know that you need a park reservation and have zero clue what Genie+ is.

And the ones who think the Harry Potter stuff is at WDW.

 

[Miffy]

It's hard to sympathize when someone puts 0 effort into planning a vacation. The information has always been readily available to everyone. This doesn't just go for Disney, either, there are tons of museums and attractions where you need to book well in advance or risk missing out.

Speaking here as a hard-core planner, it took me several trips before I was able to figure out how best to use G+ for me and my sister. Perhaps you figured it out right away, but we didn't.

 

[Miffy]

And the ones who think the Harry Potter stuff is at WDW.

And the ones who think Hollywood Studios is part of Universal.

 

[Moliphino]

Speaking here as a hard-core planner, it took me several trips before I was able to figure out how best to use G+ for me and my sister. Perhaps you figured it out right away, but we didn't.

I haven't been since Genie+ and don't like the system on paper. I did love Fastpass+.

 

[SL6827]

You're not wrong but you'd be surprised how many people don't plan for their trips. I see it daily on Disney FB groups. There are people that still don't know that you need a park reservation and have zero clue what Genie+ is.

Yep.

 

[Miffy]

I haven't been since Genie+ and don't like the system on paper. I did love Fastpass+.

I loved FP+ as well, but I've learned to deal with G+. One thing I truly miss is that you can use it only once per ride per day. I understand why they did this, but, still, I miss being able to use it like that.

And, btw, we now stay Mod instead of Deluxe. That's how much the cost of G+ has bitten into our budget.

 

[Minnie1222]

That was never a literal question, it was strictly a hypothetical about how someone would feel if someone else got something they were excluded from so don't take it as a serious wondering.

Understood!

The iLL purchase was actually my thought on the possible "perks" that Club guests may receive.

 

[SL6827]

I did one years worth of research starting in 2004 for a 2005 trip.

 

[tseitel]

With the upcoming changes, I just would like to see some type of added benefit for on site stays, something not given to off sites

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

I haven't been since Genie+ and don't like the system on paper. I did love Fastpass+.

The interesting thing is MaxPass was very well received at DL. Genie+ seemingly works better at DL for a variety of reasons but one thing I think that helped the popularity of MP at DL was they still had paper FPs.

MP had the advantage of if someone cancelled that FP availability went back into the bucket so refreshing or just pulling up the app might show that time available whereas paper FP that did not happen. And of course MP was on the app so you didn't have to physically go to the attraction to pick up a FP for it.

Certainly MP itself wouldn't work exactly like it did at DL because they had gotten rid of paper FPs eventually once FP+ took off well but I do think the combination of paper FPs and mobile FP seemed to please more people. I still hated the loading issues they had with using MP but it did have less griping...well that is until MP would have issues for the day like it did one of the days were were there and they shut off the ability to purchase MP. Luckily my husband's phone worked and we could continue using it but my phone wouldn't work for MP only ADR reservations. And looking at complaints recently Genie+ has been suffering in app functionality so that doesn't help when you're app based and have app issues clearly!