No the Magic isn’t gone but it’s at 25%

[leiaorgana]

The amount of people on here rallying for an Express Pass type system at WDW clearly aren’t grasping how many international visitors come to Disney World every year for longer stretches of time than the average US visitor does and have already spent a considerable amount of money on airfare and tickets just to even get to Orlando and into the parks in the first place.

What are you going to tell them? You’ve already spent thousands of pounds/euros etc on tickets but if you actually want to enjoy your trip and ride the rides you want to without wasting all day in line you’re going to have to spend hundreds of dollars more a day per person for the next 14-21 days? It just isn’t feasible at WDW and they’ll lose even more international custom if they start playing those kind of silly games.

Express pass works at Universal because there’s currently only 2 parks and people generally spend less days there as a whole during their trips so they don’t mind paying a little extra or booking a one night stay at one of the hotels that include it if it means they can get it all done. It’s a whole different ball game at Disney.

 

[mercuryvenus]

The amount of people on here rallying for an Express Pass type system at WDW clearly aren’t grasping how many international visitors come to Disney World every year for longer stretches of time than the average US visitor does and have already spent a considerable amount of money on airfare and tickets just to even get to Orlando and into the parks in the first place.

What are you going to tell them? You’ve already spent thousands of pounds/euros etc on tickets but if you actually want to enjoy your trip and ride the rides you want to without wasting all day in line you’re going to have to spend hundreds of dollars more a day per person for the next 14-21 days? It just isn’t feasible at WDW and they’ll lose even more international custom if they start playing those kind of silly games.

Express pass works at Universal because there’s currently only 2 parks and people generally spend less days there as a whole during their trips so they don’t mind paying a little extra or booking a one night stay at one of the hotels that include it if it means they can get it all done. It’s a whole different ball game at Disney.

100%
According to this site, the average WDW stay is 6 days long (https://www.westgateresorts.com/blog/how-much-disney-vacation-cost/). The notion that Disney should be expecting people to add $600/person on average to avoid the standby lines is absolutely asinine.

Universal’s lower visitor numbers and shorter average time spent in the parks means they can get away with charging stupidly high prices for Express Pass and not needing to spread crowds out with return times.

WDW is really not comparable to any other theme park in the world. The top 5 theme parks by attendance in North America in 2019 were all Disney properties, and the individual WDW parks occupied spots 1, 3, 4, and 5. Disneyland was number 2 and California Adventure was number 8.

 

[2goofykiddos]

We had 9-12 people, including several people in their late 60s who needed to walk more slowly/not that far.

We had 22 and we could never add or move people around without losing a time or schedule things together. This was never a problem in the past.

 

[Smugpugmug]

The amount of people on here rallying for an Express Pass type system at WDW clearly aren’t grasping how many international visitors come to Disney World every year for longer stretches of time than the average US visitor does and have already spent a considerable amount of money on airfare and tickets just to even get to Orlando and into the parks in the first place.

What are you going to tell them? You’ve already spent thousands of pounds/euros etc on tickets but if you actually want to enjoy your trip and ride the rides you want to without wasting all day in line you’re going to have to spend hundreds of dollars more a day per person for the next 14-21 days? It just isn’t feasible at WDW and they’ll lose even more international custom if they start playing those kind of silly games.

Express pass works at Universal because there’s currently only 2 parks and people generally spend less days there as a whole during their trips so they don’t mind paying a little extra or booking a one night stay at one of the hotels that include it if it means they can get it all done. It’s a whole different ball game at Disney.

I agree that I don't think Disney will ever implement an Express Pass system for the reasons you state, as much as any of us say that we would want that or not. I would argue that Disney gives better ticket/package deals to UK citizens to get them to come to Orlando than they do to people in the US because they stay longer and spend more money.

I do believe changes are going to come to Genie+ in the near future. Disney has stopped people from buying Genie+ in advance and added "subject to availability" on the description page of the service. I have a feeling that a price increase is coming soon.

 

[MomOTwins]

So let me be clear: Let’s say you’re going to Disney for a week. You would pay $700 per person to skip the line, on top of everything else?

If I had bought after hours event tickets for my family of five, that's more than $700 right there. I don't, because it's more than I'm willing to spend given my kids don't stay up late easily, but the fact that thousands of people do spend that amount to skip lines on selected rides at just one theme parks for just a couple of hours late at night should tell you that plenty of people can and do spend that kind of money to skip lines at Disney, even setting aside G+.

You probably should read a lot of threads because that PP's experience is a common one with LL.

Also one commonly reported by numerous professional bloggers, who are well versed in tapping quickly through virtual queue click screens as fast as possible and so it is not just a problem for beginners/slow folks.

 

[leiaorgana]

I agree that I don't think Disney will ever implement an Express Pass system for the reasons you state, as much as any of us say that we would want that or not. I would argue that Disney gives better ticket/package deals to UK citizens to get them to come to Orlando than they do to people in the US because they stay longer and spend more money.

I agree we get slightly better tickets deals in the UK but they’re starting to put an end to that too now. Last year they took away our 21 day ultimate ticket and are now trying to force people to buy a 14 day and a 7 day ticket (which isn’t much cheaper than the 14) if they want to go for that same length of time now so I’ll be spending one last week at Disney on this upcoming trip because of that and invested the money into Universal APs instead.

 

[Jrb1979]

I agree that I don't think Disney will ever implement an Express Pass system for the reasons you state, as much as any of us say that we would want that or not. I would argue that Disney gives better ticket/package deals to UK citizens to get them to come to Orlando than they do to people in the US because they stay longer and spend more money.

I do believe changes are going to come to Genie+ in the near future. Disney has stopped people from buying Genie+ in advance and added "subject to availability" on the description page of the service. I have a feeling that a price increase is coming soon.

As well as capping sales will mean that not everyone will be able to buy it anymore thus making no different then every other park out there.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Attendance numbers mean nothing anymore. They just don't. Anything 2020 and after is compromised by one thing or another. We have to move on from listing attendance numbers as a way to look at scale differences. We all know that WDW can command more attendance than Universal..what we don't know these days is the actual figures in order to compare.

I have no idea what Universal will do with Epic Universe and they may choose to just go cray cray into a way different level to which you may here me complaining then lol but we can spout all day long "Disney is just different" but that's also looking at it through a skewed view just as much as saying people aren't grasping differences with WDW. Disney just seems different because their product is priced at a point where many use it and before they had a product that was included in park admission even if people didn't realize it. With Universal it's priced high enough where people are more selective with purchasing it and it's been this way for a while. This aspect does not rely on park attendance, nor 2 parks vs 4, it relies on the fact that it's seen as a premium product meant for fewer to opt to purchase.

I did this observation on another thread a few weeks ago when someone was talking about how Universal felt so small compared to WDW:

Islands of Adventure is 101 acres and Studios is 108 acres. But did you know that in comparison Magic Kingdom is 107? DHS is 135 acres, Epcot is 305 acres and AK is 580 acres. So you're absolutely right it is small but only if you're looking at Epcot and AK. It's right at the same amount of acreage as MK and just a bit shy relatively speaking as DHS. Put MK and DHS together and bam you've got pretty darn close to Studios and Islands of Adventure. It may just seem small because WDW has two other parks to tour and those two other parks are quite a bit larger.

Even if Universal had the same amount of attendance as MK with the size being very close in size Universal would likely price their product to account for that to ensure it is still seen as a premium product. I think Disney wants their product to seem premium but they lack the ability to truly make it that way. Again who know Epic Universe comes out Universal may try to reinvent the wheel they have no need to do so (like Disney did with Genie+/ILL) but this is as it stands now.

 

[Smugpugmug]

As well as capping sales will mean that not everyone will be able to buy it anymore thus making no different then every other park out there.

We'll see what Disney does. You can no longer prepurchase Genie+ after June 8th so after that I'm curious as to how Disney will retool Genie+. They see how many people are willing to buy it and will most likely up the price. But I don't work for Disney so I have no idea what's going on behind the scenes lol

 

[mercuryvenus]

Attendance numbers mean nothing anymore. They just don't. Anything 2020 and after is compromised by one thing or another. We have to move on from listing attendance numbers as a way to look at scale differences. We all know that WDW can command more attendance than Universal..what we don't know these days is the actual figures in order to compare.

I have no idea what Universal will do with Epic Universe and they may choose to just go cray cray into a way different level to which you may here me complaining then lol but we can spout all day long "Disney is just different" but that's also looking at it through a skewed view just as much as saying people aren't grasping differences with WDW. Disney just seems different because their product is priced at a point where many use it and before they had a product that was included in park admission even if people didn't realize it. With Universal it's priced high enough where people are more selective with purchasing it and it's been this way for a while. This aspect does not rely on park attendance, nor 2 parks vs 4, it relies on the fact that it's seen as a premium product meant for fewer to opt to purchase.

I did this observation on another thread a few weeks ago when someone was talking about how Universal felt so small compared to WDW:


Even if Universal had the same amount of attendance as MK with the size being very close in size Universal would likely price their product to account for that to ensure it is still seen as a premium product. I think Disney wants their product to seem premium but they lack the ability to truly make it that way. Again who know Epic Universe comes out Universal may try to reinvent the wheel they have no need to do so (like Disney did with Genie+/ILL) but this is as it stands now.

Two things:

1. I purposefully used 2019 numbers so that they would not be impacted by events.

2. I spent a day at Universal this past week to go to Harry Potter World. Frankly, there is absolutely no comparison between the product Universal is putting out and Disney. Harry Potter World was terrific and I thought my daughter would have enjoyed the Dr Seuss area, but the rest of it was honestly depressing, IMO. It looked random, like IP had just been vomited onto a theme park without any regard for flow, or cohesion. The signage was unimaginative, the employees didn’t seem into it at all …

I went back to Disney with a renewed appreciation for the high quality of the product they put forth.

 

[Jrb1979]

We'll see what Disney does. You can no longer prepurchase Genie+ after June 8th so after that I'm curious as to how Disney will retool Genie+. They see how many people are willing to buy it and will most likely up the price. But I don't work for Disney so I have no idea what's going on behind the scenes lol

From things I have heard you won't see much change outside of capping sales due to many having pre-purchased Genie+.

 

[Jrb1979]

Two things:

1. I purposefully used 2019 numbers so that they would not be impacted by events.

2. I spent a day at Universal this past week to go to Harry Potter World. Frankly, there is absolutely no comparison between the product Universal is putting out and Disney. Harry Potter World was terrific and I thought my daughter would have enjoyed the Dr Seuss area, but the rest of it was honestly depressing, IMO. It looked random, like IP had just been vomited onto a theme park without any regard for flow, or cohesion. The signage was unimaginative, the employees didn’t seem into it at all …

I went back to Disney with a renewed appreciation for the high quality of the product they put forth.

For my family we feel the exact opposite. Disney is tops in regards to theming, we feel they lack in thrills. We fell Universal does a better job of balancing that. IMO theming is great for rides but for my family we also need the physical side of a ride. Velicoaster is a good example. Has the theming part but also is an amazing ride with lots of thrills.

 

[mercuryvenus]

For my family we feel the exact opposite. Disney is tops in regards to theming, we feel they lack in thrills. We fell Universal does a better job of balancing that. IMO theming is great for rides but for my family we also need the physical side of a ride. Velicoaster is a good example. Has the theming part but also is an amazing ride with lots of thrills.

Have you been to Disney recently? Guardians of the Galaxy is an amazing, thrilling ride. With Tron, they’ll be adding another thrill ride. Smuggler’s Run and Rise of the Resistance are thrilling in their own ways. Same with Tower of Terror and Rock n Rollercoaster.

But more broadly speaking, I actually like that Disney has a wider variety. Walt’s vision was a theme park that everyone can enjoy, and that’s exactly what WDW is. We just got back from a trip with a group of people ranging in age from 5-69. Some people loved thrill rides, while others couldn’t go on them. Disney had something for absolutely everyone. My mother in law loves small world.

My husband’s uncle—who is very picky when it comes to wine—went into the wine shop in Epcot France and came out raving about the wine. He went into it thinking they wouldn’t even have authentic French wine (I knew different, of course).

Universal doesn’t have anything like that.

If I purely want thrill after thrill, I’ll go to Cedar Point.

 

[john7994]

For my family we feel the exact opposite. Disney is tops in regards to theming, we feel they lack in thrills. We fell Universal does a better job of balancing that. IMO theming is great for rides but for my family we also need the physical side of a ride. Velicoaster is a good example. Has the theming part but also is an amazing ride with lots of thrills.

In this very regard is why I have always felt that Disney / Universal have done a good job to co-exist with each other - which incidentally is in both of their best interests.

 

[Jennasis]

I guess we’re just lucky, then, because we’ve used it constantly over two separate weeklong trips and it’s happened to us maybe once.

In December it happened to us every single time we booked either a G+ or an iLL$.

In May we didn't use G+ at all. I booked ONE iLL$ for Rise and managed to keep the time I chose, however the guy in line behind me at the tapstile was booking his Rise iLL$ at the same time and was just as fast as I was and his chosen time got moved from 10am to 3:55. I had warned him that could happen while we were all waiting to book before the park opened. I suggested he try the blue umbrella folks to see if they could help.

When we used it, there were literally garbage rides available after we booked our first good one. Muppets. Star Tours. Small World. My soul died a little when we booked one for Barnstormer because that was all there was.

If G+ would allow you to choose a time (not the next available), and modify it when needed AND not move your time after the selection, I would have a more favorable opinion of it. Basically they should have just left FP+ as it was and charged for it. All they keep doing is moving the start of the rat race. First it was rope drop...then 60 days out...now it's 7am on the day of your vacation.

 

[mercuryvenus]

In this very regard is why I have always felt that Disney / Universal have done a good job to co-exist with each other - which incidentally is in both of their best interests.

If you look at Disney’s latest attractions, though, they are working on cutting into Universal’s edge on the thrill rides.

They’ve added family attractions (Remy, MMRR), but have also added a lot of thrill rides (RotR, Smuggler’s Run, Guardians, and the upcoming Tron ride). IMO, their latest thrill rides blow anything Universal has to offer out of the water, except for Hagrid’s, which I think stands up to Disney’s rides.

 

[mercuryvenus]

In December it happened to us every single time we booked either a G+ or an iLL$.

In May we didn't use G+ at all. I booked ONE iLL$ for Rise and managed to keep the time I chose, however the guy in line behind me at the tapstile was booking his Rise iLL$ at the same time and was just as fast as I was and his chosen time got moved from 10am to 3:55. I had warned him that could happen while we were all waiting to book before the park opened. I suggested he try the blue umbrella folks to see if they could help.

When we used it, there were literally garbage rides available after we booked our first good one. Muppets. Star Tours. Small World. My soul died a little when we booked one for Barnstormer because that was all there was.

If G+ would allow you to choose a time (not the next available), and modify it when needed AND not move your time after the selection, I would have a more favorable opinion of it. Basically they should have just left FP+ as it was and charged for it. All they keep doing is moving the start of the rat race. First it was rope drop...then 60 days out...now it's 7am on the day of your vacation.

If I don’t like the G+ time that’s available, I just refresh the tip board until it gets closer to what I want. Then I just book it. It worked like a charm.

 

[Smugpugmug]

Have you been to Disney recently? Guardians of the Galaxy is an amazing, thrilling ride. With Tron, they’ll be adding another thrill ride. Smuggler’s Run and Rise of the Resistance are thrilling in their own ways. Same with Tower of Terror and Rock n Rollercoaster.

But more broadly speaking, I actually like that Disney has a wider variety. Walt’s vision was a theme park that everyone can enjoy, and that’s exactly what WDW is. We just got back from a trip with a group of people ranging in age from 5-69. Some people loved thrill rides, while others couldn’t go on them. Disney had something for absolutely everyone. My mother in law loves small world.

My husband’s uncle—who is very picky when it comes to wine—went into the wine shop in Epcot France and came out raving about the wine. He went into it thinking they wouldn’t even have authentic French wine (I knew different, of course).

Universal doesn’t have anything like that.

If I purely want thrill after thrill, I’ll go to Cedar Point.

I agree that Disney has a better balance of thrill rides and rides for the entire family. That is something I love about Disney in that aspect and is why I keep coming back.

However, I also agree with Jrb. There is absolutely nothing at Disney that is on the same level as Velocicoaster, Rip Ride Rocket and the Hulk at Universal thrill wise. This is my opinion only and not a fact, but I think Hagrid's Magical Motorbike Adventure is a better coaster than any coaster Disney has made, Guardians included.

 

[mercuryvenus]

I agree that Disney has a better balance of thrill rides and rides for the entire family. That is something I love about Disney in that aspect and is why I keep coming back.

However, I also agree with Jrb. There is absolutely nothing at Disney that is on the same level as Velocicoaster, Rip Ride Rocket and the Hulk at Universal thrill wise. This is my opinion only and not a fact, but I think Hagrid's Magical Motorbike Adventure is a better coaster than any coaster Disney has made, Guardians included.

I do love Hagrid’s and think it stands up to anything Disney has made when it comes to coasters. I don’t think Universal has touched Disney on immersive theming during rides, though. Rise of the Resistance is the most impressive theming I’ve personally ever seen.

Harry Potter World is the only Universal world that seems like something Disney would put up. Everything else at Universal I don’t think would ever pass muster at Disney, from a theming perspective.

 

[Minnie1222]

I'm here at WDW. Sorry to hear that some people are not having a great time, but honestly this has been one of the best trips for us. Genie+ works well with our schedule and we've been able to go on far more rides than before. LL lines are also much shorter than the previous FP lines. I keep reading about huge crowd size on this board, but I don't think it's any more than pre-Covid.