LL Premier Pass is here!

[FuzzyPeach]

Disney has never really been sympathetic to guests who are stuck in their transition periods. Im guessing the unique dilemma the small group of guests who (1) intend to purchase the premier pass, and (2) are going in the small window before the advance purchase window kicks in fully, is probably irrelevant to them and easily brushed off by calling this a pilot test.

 

[hoffse]

Regarding comparing this to VIP tours, I actually prefer this Premier Pass a lot more.

I just don't like the idea of some random person (as nice as they may be) involved in our family time all day. It's just not our style. Making small talk, being paraded around, figuring how much of a gratuity they deserve at the end...

With this Premier Pass, it's a set price and a known benefit that we can do at our own pace and schedule. We're park veterans and have our own touring style and don't need to be led around.

Do I ever see us purchasing this? No, but I like the concept more than VIP.

I’m so glad somebody else feels this way.

The last time I went to Disney I was planning a trip with my 5YO son. We used Genie+ and it was fine, but I hated all the back and forth.

I was dreaming of VIP so we could just walk on when we wanted. And now I am planning a trip with a kid who will be 4 (and my son will be barely 8), and this option seems even better than VIP to me.

I don’t think my then-4YO could hang in a 7 hour tour, as much as I might romanticize it in my head. It’s too long with pressure to go go go and not take breaks for rest. She would be miserable by the end of it, and that means everybody else on the tour would be miserable too. And I’m with you, I also don’t want to spend our family time with some other person leading me around. This option lets us spread out some of the benefits of VIP over a few days instead of cramming it into one while being “guided.” The only downside is an inability to re-ride, but that’s a fairly limited trade-off IMO. The last time we were there my son didn’t care about riding things again, other than slinky. He just wanted to go on the next one as soon as he was off whatever ride he had just been on. He wanted to see everything because he had no real “favorites” yet.

The thing holding me back from VIP is the compact nature of it and forced socialization. It’s not the cost because we might go every 3-4 years and need to be efficient with our time. After our last trip I had all but decided to budget for VIP because I absolutely hated criss-crossing the parks and being on my phone all day. Husband and I will only go to Disney for the kids, not for us, and with limited vacation time we will slot it in as a 3-4 day trip. The time we spend there is very limited.

I am realizing that I am 100% the target audience for this: I have young kids, limited time, trips every 3-4 years, and the ability to budget for things like this with just a little notice.

 

[StarCruzer]

I’m so glad somebody else feels this way.

The last time I went to Disney I was planning a trip with my 5YO son. We used Genie+ and it was fine, but I hated all the back and forth.

I was dreaming of VIP so we could just walk on when we wanted. And now I am planning a trip with a kid who will be 4 (and my son will be barely 8), and this option seems even better than VIP to me.

I don’t think my then-4YO could hang in a 7 hour tour, as much as I might romanticize it in my head. It’s too long with pressure to go go go and not take breaks for rest. She would be miserable by the end of it, and that means everybody else on the tour would be miserable too. And I’m with you, I also don’t want to spend our family time with some other person leading me around. This option lets us spread out some of the benefits of VIP over a few days instead of cramming it into one while being “guided.” The only downside is an inability to re-ride, but that’s a fairly limited trade-off IMO. The last time we were there my son didn’t care about riding things again, other than slinky. He just wanted to go on the next one as soon as he was off whatever ride he had just been on. He wanted to see everything because he had no real “favorites” yet.

The thing holding me back from VIP is the compact nature of it and forced socialization. It’s not the cost because we might go every 3-4 years and need to be efficient with our time. After our last trip I had all but decided to budget for VIP because I absolutely hated criss-crossing the parks and being on my phone all day. Husband and I will only go to Disney for the kids, not for us, and with limited vacation time we will slot it in as a 3-4 day trip. The time we spend there is very limited.

I am realizing that I am 100% the target audience for this: I have young kids, limited time, trips every 3-4 years, and the ability to budget for things like this with just a little notice.

I love a good use case! I'm sure this will be a very valuable tool to a subset of people. It costs Disney pretty much nothing (just whatever the development costs were on the tech side) and will brin gin more cash flow.

I have no problems with Disney making money--I just want to see the increased revenue reinvested in the parks. Could be anywhere--pay raises for long term CMs, better quality food offerings, more live/wandering entertainment, etc. A long shot, I know

 

[lanejudy]

he thing that stinks about Premier Passes going on sale AND starting on 10/30 is that 1) Premier Passes will be very limited, so it's possible that not everyone who wants one will get one; 2) We know how launch days go, so there's really no guarantee that it will be loaded right away on 10/30, that it will work the way it's supposed to, etc.

There is someone on the DLR forum posting about having purchased LLPP this morning. That poster indicated there was no problem buying the LLMP so either "limited" is a relative term or very few people are willing to purchase. Now I know WDW and DLR are different animals, so maybe it will be different at WDW.

LLPP would just be a bonus on 10/30 and 99% chance that they could be refunded for any LLMP and/or LLSP selections.

I've seen reports that DLR did not refund LLMP/LLSP for those purchasing LLPP today. But those can be used for additional re-rides of some attractions.

 

[mickeyluv'r]

Reporting? I’m not a newscaster, lol. I’m just saying if you go back and look at any of those changes people said that was their deal breaker, that attendance would surely suffer.

Disney itself has reported that the number of theme parks guests is soft.

As a long-time forum member, I can say 100% that many forum members have left this forum.

This past summer was particularly soft in Orlando. In response, WDW is now trying to increase per visitor spending with offerings like this one, and drastically cutting back on DAS. A number of forum members who do remain, have reported that they no longer visit, don't visit nearly as often as they once did. or they have drastically changed their visits. It is concerning that this new upcharge is coming so close in time to the drastic cutback to DAS.

 

[mickeyluv'r]

Because it’s not coming back. That’s what people need to get over. Some people seem to think if they hold out Disney will bring back FP…. People dont need to buy anything Disney is selling, but they also need to let go of the past.

Are you asking me to answer for everyone who has posted on the internet about this subject?

If so, that's rather a tall order.

 

[Minnie1222]

Disney itself has reported that the number of theme parks guests is soft.

Exactly how "soft" are we talking about? How much money have they lost from the attendance decline?

 

[Willow Ufgood]

Exactly how "soft" are we talking about? How much money have they lost from the attendance decline?

The Q4 earnings report comes out on 11/14. It will include July, August and September earnings by division and then give a breakdown concerning the parks. The data for attendance will be buried deep within the report but people who enjoy diving deeply into such reports will glean the info over the hours following the earnings call. For what it's worth Disney execs projected flat attendance numbers for the next several quarters.

 

[jennab]

Are you asking me to answer for everyone who has posted on the internet about this subject?

If so, that's rather a tall order.

I didn’t ask a question, I was responding to your question of “why”.

 

[scrappinginontario]

This thread is about LLPP. Please move the DAS discussion to the disABILITIES board where there are many active discussions.

Furure posts may be deleted.

Thank you.

 

[Minnie1222]

Speaking of LLPP, there's already a Diser posting his experience today at Disneyland. It really sounds fantastic.

 

[Tri-Delta4Life]

I’m so glad somebody else feels this way.

The last time I went to Disney I was planning a trip with my 5YO son. We used Genie+ and it was fine, but I hated all the back and forth.

I was dreaming of VIP so we could just walk on when we wanted. And now I am planning a trip with a kid who will be 4 (and my son will be barely 8), and this option seems even better than VIP to me.

Add me to this list too! We've done 3 VIP tours since 2021 and have another booked for 11/9. I've long said that if I could just get the line access without the time pressure of feeling like I'm "on the clock" and wasting money when a kid just wants to stop & play for a while or we want a break for lunch. I'm SOOO excited for LLPP to be available for our upcoming trip. Our 1 tour day is usually MY vacation day from being the family vacation cruise director for the rest of the week. I'm happy to spread this out for the whole week now for not all that much more!

 

[raidermatt]

Yes, but keep in mind that only deluxe resort and DVC guests can even qualify to purchase it. This article doesn’t good job of explaining.

https://www.wdwinfo.com/walt-disney-world/disneys-new-lightning-lane-premier-pass-isnt-that-bad/

The article is a nice, optimistic view using surface level analysis. And it's par for this site.

But the reality is NOBODY knows how this will shake out. I don't, and the author doesn't either. But we do know Disney's endgame involves making as much $'s as they possibly can.

This is a pilot program at this point. Which is significant, because Disney rarely rolls anything out and calls it a pilot program. So what usually happens with pilot programs rolled out to limited numbers of customers? It eventually gets rolled out to a wider audience. The only thing that would keep that from happening is if Disney is getting the number of buys it wants from just the deluxe guests.

The one thing we can know for sure is that Disney did not roll this out and take the publicity hit for a program that would just make them a few extra bucks. They are looking for this to be a huge money-maker. Hence the problem with saying its "only" the deluxe guests and a very small number of guests will buy it.

That may be true at the beginning of this process. But we can be sure that is not Disney's endgame.

 

[Grim Grinning Ghostie]

My husband and I will be trying out the LLPP when we go to Disney for our usual December trip.

I'll post a trip report afterward for anyone curious and will write down my thoughts as to how it compares to the standard LL offerings from a value perspective.

 

[Hubalorian]

I am hoping LLPP replaces the other two lightning lanes, so we are left with only the LLPP

 

[scrappinginontario]

I am hoping LLPP replaces the other two lightning lanes, so we are left with only the LLPP

Why?

 

[Hubalorian]

Why?

He explains it much better than I could at 8:31 mark. It’s basically the idea of the less people skipping the line, the more efficiently the regular queue moves reducing the wait time in the regular queue. Which in turns make the average customer more satisfied with their park ticket

 

[scrappinginontario]

He explains it much better than I could at 8:31 mark. It’s basically the idea of the less people skipping the line, the more efficiently the regular queue moves reducing the wait time in the regular queue. Which in turns make the average customer more satisfied with their park ticket

I'm going to agree to disagree on this one - and that's okay. We all have opinions on what we'd like and that's okay.

I like the option for all to be able to purchase a 'perk' should they choose, not just those in a high economic bracket.

We were at Disney for 8 days this year and only purchased LLMP once, and no LLSP but I still like to have the option.

I would like to think it might 'fix' the standby lines and they move better but even for the period when there was only standby and no LL's people found the lines did not move as well as they had hoped.

I think ultimately Disney has 100% control over how fast/slow the lines move. They can speed up/slow down some attractions, add vehicles, remove vehicles, staffing, etc. I'm not personally convinced that LL will make or break the standby queues.

 

[HopperFan]

I'm going to agree to disagree on this one - and that's okay. We all have opinions on what we'd like and that's okay.

I like the option for all to be able to purchase a 'perk' should they choose, not just those in a high economic bracket.

Agree. Lightning Lane drives income for Disney, and for guests it now offers an optional menu that one can choose based on their vacation budget. Bottom line for Disney ~ guests standing in line are not spending money and they depend on those dollars. A guest willing to purchase any of the LL options is giving them LL money and potential spending while not in line. For Disney it is win/win. For guests, you have the option to tour how you want.

I would like to think it might 'fix' the standby lines and they move better but even for the period when there was only standby and no LL's people found the lines did not move as well as they had hoped.

YUP and during that time the parks were at a more limited capacity. Adding in the current capacities will only make that worse.

 

[DisneyFive]

Exactly how "soft" are we talking about? How much money have they lost from the attendance decline?

What's happening is that guest attendance is down, but per guest spending is up due to things like LLMP, MMSP, this new LLPP and price increases across the board. So "money" or "revenue" doesn't 100% reflect attendance numbers because Disney is squeezing more out of each guest. Disney themselves have said attendance is down but they are making it up with per guest spending. Bottom line, WDW is becoming more and more unobtainable for the general public. This is Disney's decision. The benefit is lower crowds. The drawback is how much more we as guests have to pay now.

If guest attendance continues to decline pretty soon Disney will have to offer incentives (they already are starting to) to get guest back in the park or else they will see both attendance AND revenue drop.

The article is a nice, optimistic view using surface level analysis. And it's par for this site.

But the reality is NOBODY knows how this will shake out. I don't, and the author doesn't either. But we do know Disney's endgame involves making as much $'s as they possibly can.

This is a pilot program at this point. Which is significant, because Disney rarely rolls anything out and calls it a pilot program. So what usually happens with pilot programs rolled out to limited numbers of customers? It eventually gets rolled out to a wider audience. The only thing that would keep that from happening is if Disney is getting the number of buys it wants from just the deluxe guests.

The one thing we can know for sure is that Disney did not roll this out and take the publicity hit for a program that would just make them a few extra bucks. They are looking for this to be a huge money-maker. Hence the problem with saying its "only" the deluxe guests and a very small number of guests will buy it.

That may be true at the beginning of this process. But we can be sure that is not Disney's endgame.

No arguments here. Even if they roll this out on a broad basis I don't mind. I'm confident that those purchasing LMPP would have been purchasing LLMP and LLSP's anyway and the increase in potential daily rides between LLPP and a combined LLMP and LLSP doesn't bother me. But hey, that's me. Like you say, we'll see. FP+ used to be available to 100% of guests and it still worked great for us. Now supposedly 50% are purchasing LLMP, not 100%. I'm guessing there is room for LLPP without a significant hit to regular guests.