LL Premier Pass

[jennab]

$400 + tax on top of the park admission price per person? Gee whiz. Many would pretty much have to win the lottery jackpot to afford that. That is an insane boatload of money.

Hence why it probably won’t have an impact on your park experience. It’s priced to make it extremely limited.

 

[CAPSLOCK]

And how fast are universals queues? They say it will be half the wait right? So if a line is 1.5hrs expect 45min?

They say to allow for that, but in reality the EP queues are generally much shorter than that. Probably 15-20min EP for a 90min standby wait is closer to average.

 

[jennab]

They say to allow for that, but in reality the EP queues are generally much shorter than that. Probably 15-20min EP for a 90min standby wait is closer to average.

Wonder if their EP lines will be longer with all the people saying they are going to go to universal instead of Disney due to DAS changes. Guess we will see if universal makes a change too. Otherwise I’m thinking how are previous DAS people waiting in EP lines that could also be more than 20min for their bigger rides.

 

[Angel Ariel]

And how fast are universals queues? They say it will be half the wait right? So if a line is 1.5hrs expect 45min? A lot of people have DAS because they can’t do longer than 20min, so how would that work? I also think universal has a different clientele over Disney. Many people who use DAS are not going to be able to go on a lot of universals rides as they have mostly thrill rides.

It’s interesting people don’t think it was overuse of DAS causing the LL backups, but since they switched the program in May I’ve only heard how much quicker the LL and standby lines are…. Guess we will tell this fall during busy season if that holds true though.

We haven't been in the fall in years, so I can't directly compare. But our trip a few weeks ago, LLs were pretty similar overall to what we've been experiencing when we've gone at the end of January (which was never more than 10 mins or so then). We probably waited longer for Thunder at the accessible entrance than we usually do (with LL, they still send you there for accessible entry). That was closer to 20 mins both times. Given the fall is busier, that could indicate improvement in the LLs from last fall, I just can't make that comparison.

The one significant difference is obviously the character meets, which no longer use LL at all (fairytale hall, Mickey, Ariel) but the LL is still available for those who use DAS. Buzz was also different as they've changed the accessible entrance there also (used to go through LL, now they send you around the side to the back to board at the exit of the ride).

 

[Evita_W]

Possibly, but they were getting so many complaints with the paid system prior to the DAS change as well. I don’t think this new option will have much of an impact on the lines though (standby or LL).

I disagree, I think it will have a major impact, there will be those who will indeed buy it. I think the prices points are too low, except at Magic Kingdom to keep people from buying it. I also think it is going to change how people do the parks.

Even the $400 for Disneyland may be too low of a price point.

I think what you will find is people who already do more than one day per park are going to split their park days into a ride heavy day where they purchase this and a day where they focus on the low wait rides, shows, atmosphere, etc.

 

[jennab]

I disagree, I think it will have a major impact, there will be those who will indeed buy it. I think the prices points are too low, except at Magic Kingdom to keep people from buying it. I also think it is going to change how people do the parks.

Even the $400 for Disneyland may be too low of a price point.

I think what you will find is people who already do more than one day per park are going to split their park days into a ride heavy day where they purchase this and a day where they focus on the low wait rides, shows, atmosphere, etc.

But again, those people would have also bought LLMP/LLSP, so already been in the LL. So i don't expect much difference. I guess we will see!

 

[jennab]

We haven't been in the fall in years, so I can't directly compare. But our trip a few weeks ago, LLs were pretty similar overall to what we've been experiencing when we've gone at the end of January (which was never more than 10 mins or so then). We probably waited longer for Thunder at the accessible entrance than we usually do (with LL, they still send you there for accessible entry). That was closer to 20 mins both times. Given the fall is busier, that could indicate improvement in the LLs from last fall, I just can't make that comparison.

That’s good! Last time we went a lot of the LLs were out the queue so this sounds promising. I’ve also heard standby waits were going quicker with less people in the LLs.

 

[only hope]

But again, those people would have also bought LLMP/LLSP, so already been in the LL. So i don't expect much difference. I guess we will see!

Whether it makes a difference depends on whether they reduce LLMP/LLSP to account for this new pass. If they don’t, it could mean additional people in LL’s.

 

[jennab]

Whether it makes a difference depends on whether they reduce LLMP/LLSP to account for this new pass. If they don’t, it could mean additional people in LL’s.

The current LLMP aren’t selling out are they? Or do you mean individual ride availability? Maybe, but that still wouldn’t have an impact of the amount of people in the LL, it would then remain the same right (assume the people buying premier would have bought LLMP instead).

 

[theMoreDisneytheBetter]

We don’t know for sure. Probably will make a marginal impact on the tier 1 rides but not nearly enough to be noticeable, especially because it’s pretty easy to throttle capacity on the LLMP while still selling the same number of passes.

 

[theMoreDisneytheBetter]

We don’t know for sure. Probably will make a marginal impact on the tier 1 rides but not nearly enough to be noticeable, especially because it’s pretty easy to throttle capacity on the LLMP while still selling the same number of passes.

I.e. if the capacity for a ride is 200 through the LL they might only make 175 slots available at any given time so it will sell out faster, and then some number of people will go through at any time.

 

[only hope]

The current LLMP aren’t selling out are they? Or do you mean individual ride availability? Maybe, but that still wouldn’t have an impact of the amount of people in the LL, it would then remain the same right (assume the people buying premier would have bought LLMP instead).

It depends on whether they decrease the amount of ll’s available for each particular time slot at each attraction. If they don’t, then they have just increased ll capacity. I think slots continue to sell out yes, even though the product as a whole isn’t selling out?

 

[OurBigTrip]

It depends on whether they decrease the amount of ll’s available for each particular time slot at each attraction. If they don’t, then they have just increased ll capacity. I think slots continue to sell out yes, even though the product as a whole isn’t selling out?

Cutting back on DAS use the way they have will definitely have opened up some capacity, although I'd be surprised if Disney takes all of the previous DAS numbers and adds to LL.

What I'm guessing (and just a guess) is that they will have done some sort of analysis and come up with an estimate of how many of the current LLMP buyers will switch to LLP instead, and perhaps increase the total LLs available by a relatively small number. Since the LLMP buyers and the LLP buyers will be competing for open slots 7 days out, the key will be how Disney allocates those slots.

Will they be in a single group and when the slots are gone they're gone? I'm guessing not, since Disney will not want to leave money on the table because LLP buyers couldn't get what they want. Will they allocate a fixed number to LLP, and if they don't sell, open them to LLMP? Perhaps.

It will be interesting to watch it unfold...I can't imagine that we would buy the LLP, but I have no doubt there is a market for it. The question is really how big of a market.

 

[Grim Grinning Ghostie]

I disagree, I think it will have a major impact, there will be those who will indeed buy it. I think the prices points are too low, except at Magic Kingdom to keep people from buying it. I also think it is going to change how people do the parks.

Even the $400 for Disneyland may be too low of a price point.

I think what you will find is people who already do more than one day per park are going to split their park days into a ride heavy day where they purchase this and a day where they focus on the low wait rides, shows, atmosphere, etc.

I don't know if it will make such a big impact, since the only difference between this and the multi-pass appears to be that you have more control over your return time. You can still only use it once per attraction, and the people buying this would absolutely have been buying LLs anyway.

At WDW, it's also restricted to people in the most expensive hotels, which will likewise throttle the number of people buying it in comparison to the standard LL offerings.

 

[SirDuff]

Exactly correct. That is exactly why I believe Lightning Lane Premier is a horrible idea.

Except that you literally just suggested that front of line access should be expanded beyond MAW

 

[Kayakc]

We were in WDW from 20 Dec to 30 Dec and was able to get Lightning Lane Premier passes for all four parks for 21-24 Dec. However, after Christmas to New Year it was sold out. It's not cheap. But I do like that you can get to a park at any time and get on the rides. I hope they keep it.

 

[theMoreDisneytheBetter]

That it sells out during holiday weeks unfortunately means that it is underpriced.

I agree that it is a fantastic product, especially at MK. I don’t love some of the thrill rides at HS but my kids do, so we have used it there as well. I don’t think it is worthwhile at Epcot while TT is down or AK at all.

 

[jennab]

We were in WDW from 20 Dec to 30 Dec and was able to get Lightning Lane Premier passes for all four parks for 21-24 Dec. However, after Christmas to New Year it was sold out. It's not cheap. But I do like that you can get to a park at any time and get on the rides. I hope they keep it.

How were the LLs? Short waits?

 

[Kayakc]

How were the LLs? Short waits?

The LLs were all reasonable across the parks (before Christmas day). We didn't get frustrated and covered the rides we wanted in a 3–4-hour period. Rise of the Resistance was about 15 minutes to get through the ride. Same for Guardian in Epcot.

 

[jennab]

The LLs were all reasonable across the parks (before Christmas day). We didn't get frustrated and covered the rides we wanted in a 3–4-hour period. Rise of the Resistance was about 15 minutes to get through the ride. Same for Guardian in Epcot.

Seems reasonable and like LLPP isn’t overwhelming the LLs as some people thought it would. But that was also a holiday, so peak time.