Plan Ahead with Lightning Lane Entry at Walt Disney World Starting July 24

[DisneyFive]

I also think they could do it. If they were able to have control under the free FP+, there's no reason why they can't do it with a paid system where there would be fewer users.

The only way I knew how to "get around" the FP+ restriction was to buy the additional passes offered to club guests. Totally legit. But that program had ended with the pandemic.

I feel like I was pretty well-versed in the old FP+ system and I don’t remember any workaround to the tiers either

 

[jgadway11]

We should know on July 24th when guests that have multiple Split Stays start trying to book for their "length of stay".

My view is that it really comes down to this quote from the Disney information page and how Disney defines "Resort stay" and "lenght of stay".



We know how Disney chooses to define these terms as they relate to eligibility for ADR scheduling. Disney does not recognize the concept of "Split Stay". Back to back resort stays at the same resort or different resorts count as 2 separate stays with 2 distinct ADR eligibility dates.

Dave

I did speak again to cast member via Disney's website and you are correct. My trip is 8/2-8/6/24. I am staying at three different resorts and will need to book my lightning lane selections seven days before each resort stay.
This was their response: As of right now, that is the plan. It could always update to better accommodate multiple Resort stays. I would recommend keeping an eye out on our website for the most up to date information.

 

[scrappinginontario]

I don't think there's been an official written announcement, but:

• Screenshots of the checkout process show pricing that is consistent with Genie+
• Scott Gustin said so on Twitter, and while he isn't a Disney employee, he's clearly briefed directly by Disney for these types of announcements. e.g. he posted the announcement on Twitter several minutes before the Disney Parks account, and an hour before Disney's landing page went live. He included a detailed explanations, not just interpreting and regurgitating an official announcement, using official Disney resources/collateral that hadn't yet been published, some of which I have never seen elsewhere. He's basically is to Disney what Woj is to the NBA.

They could always surprise us, but Scott is a super highly credible source, and combined with the screenshots that Disney used, I think it's very reasonable to expect pricing to be consistent with Genie+ in the near term. (Though, I'm sure that if demand is high, price will go up accordingly.)

Thank you! Yes, I agree, Scott Gustin is a very reliable source. I feel much better knowing he announced it. Thank you for posting the link to his announcement!

 

[gottalovepluto]

I find it odd to think they'll restrict guests booking days ahead with LLMP to one tier 1 attraction initially, but then open up day-of purchasing guests to more than one…

Wasn’t that how the old system worked? It seems they’re just rolling out the old system with an added paywall, minus some popular rides and replacing every reference to FP with LLMP…

 

[Maxwell42]

Forgive me if this has already been asked - I've only read about 10 pages of this thread and didn't see it.

With the new LLMP system, we will be able to book UP TO 3 LL's in advance, and then we can book additional ones (without regard to tiering or park) after using the first one, so you can always hold up to 3 at a time.

My question is this - if I only book ONE LL in advance, then after I tap in for it, can I then book 3 more without regard to tiering? If so, then that might be a hack to quickly book more Group A rides in the morning (based on availability, of course). Let's say I book Tiana's for 9:00 and don't have any other advance bookings. Then as soon as I tap into that at 9, I can grab BTMRR, Jungle Cruise, and Space Mountain right away. Has anyone seen anything to indicate whether that will work?

 

[Upcharge]

Forgive me if this has already been asked - I've only read about 10 pages of this thread and didn't see it.

With the new LLMP system, we will be able to book UP TO 3 LL's in advance, and then we can book additional ones (without regard to tiering or park) after using the first one, so you can always hold up the 3 at a time.

My question is this - if I only book ONE LL in advance, then after I tap in for it, can I then book 3 more without regard to tiering? If so, then that might be a hack to quickly book more Group A rides in the morning (based on availability, of course). Let's say I book Tiana's for 9:00 and don't have any other advance bookings. Then as soon as I tap into that at 9, I can grab BTMRR, Jungle Cruise, and Space Mountain right away. Has anyone seen anything to indicate whether that will work?

You will make your selections and then you will check out and pay. I suspect you will have to choose all 3 selections in order to complete the check out process.

 

[pangyal]

Forgive me if this has already been asked - I've only read about 10 pages of this thread and didn't see it.

With the new LLMP system, we will be able to book UP TO 3 LL's in advance, and then we can book additional ones (without regard to tiering or park) after using the first one, so you can always hold up the 3 at a time.

My question is this - if I only book ONE LL in advance, then after I tap in for it, can I then book 3 more without regard to tiering? If so, then that might be a hack to quickly book more Group A rides in the morning (based on availability, of course). Let's say I book Tiana's for 9:00 and don't have any other advance bookings. Then as soon as I tap into that at 9, I can grab BTMRR, Jungle Cruise, and Space Mountain right away. Has anyone seen anything to indicate whether that will work?

It’s a clever idea, but I don’t think that you will see a definitive answer until the system is live.

 

[Maxwell42]

You will make your selections and then you will check out and pay. I suspect you will have to choose all 3 selections in order to complete the check out process.

Thanks for your reply, but I'm not sure that's the case. Disney's web site clearly states that you'll be able to "choose up to 3 multi pass experiences and arrival windows in a theme park." They're generally very careful with their wording, so I take that to mean that you'll have the option of booking fewer than 3 LL's in advance. The cost should still be the same, but I can see a possible advantage to NOT using all of your allotted Group B choices in advance. After all, the Group B attractions theoretically should have ample availability during the day, if my memory of FP+ is any indication.

 

[Maxwell42]

It’s a clever idea, but I don’t think that you will see a definitive answer until the system is live.

You're probably right, and I'll be paying close attention as I have trip booked in late September.

I hesitated to ask the question lest I give too many people the same idea. But once it goes live, it'll take about 15 minutes for people to figure out how to use the system to their maximum advantage - I'm just thinking ahead.

 

[Tom_E_D]

You're probably right, and I'll be paying close attention as I have trip booked in late September.

I hesitated to ask the question lest I give too many people the same idea. But once it goes live, it'll take about 15 minutes for people to figure out how to use the system to their maximum advantage - I'm just thinking ahead.

You're not the first person to suggest it. And it might work. But if you were going on the first day and decided to try it, you would be taking the risk that the day-of rule might be use-one-book-one (to replace it). In that case, if you chose to pre-book only one, you might be stuck with only one at a time all day long.

EDIT: From the Disneyworld website: "Lightning Lane Multi Pass selections can only be made one at a time. On the day of your park visit, once you redeem a selection, you can use the My Disney Experience app to check availability for another Lightning Lane Multi Pass experience—and add to your plans." (emphasis added)

That can be interpreted as use-one-book-one.

 

[TeamSy]

So are character meet and greets officially out with this new system or have they just not been announced yet?

 

[HyperspaceMountainPilot]

Yep, about to post exactly this. I spoke to a CM on the phone last week who "confirmed" only the LLMPs have to be pre-booked in one park, meaning you can book a LLSP/VQ for a different park (if you have park hopper) for later that same day, or first thing if you're booking the LLMPs in the afternoon.

Hope that makes sense.

Did the CM (or anybody else) confirm whether an AP can use LLMP at DHS if your first park reservation is at Epcot? I believe you still need Epcot to be your first park if you want to try for the 7AM GotG VQ, but I don’t find the Epcot LLMP options to be very compelling.

 

[Cabius]

So are character meet and greets officially out with this new system or have they just not been announced yet?

As of right now, character meet-and-greets are not included in LLMP. It looks like that is a deliberate change that Disney briefed media about, not just an oversight in the announcement.



It's always possible that Disney will change course as they observe buying patterns and wait times. But as of right now, I don't expect to see any character meet-and-greets available on July 24th.

I'm genuinely a bit curious about why they're doing this. Were they just not popular enough with Genie+? Are they trying to improve standby capacity given how low-capacity meet-and-greets are? Something about optimizing for particular segments (e.g. parents of preschoolers are most likely to do meet-and-greets but least likely to buy Genie+ or something)? I don't totally get the rationale, but we'll see how it works in practice.

 

[spewey]

Did the CM (or anybody else) confirm whether an AP can use LLMP at DHS if your first park reservation is at Epcot? I believe you still need Epcot to be your first park if you want to try for the 7AM GotG VQ, but I don’t find the Epcot LLMP options to be very compelling.

That I did not ask. We have park-hoppers for each of our days so my questions were specific to our situation. Sorry!

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Are they trying to improve standby capacity given how low-capacity meet-and-greets are?

Purely my opinion but part of it could be to attempt to help standby lines outside of meet and greets because those who are really wanting a meet and greet will then be waiting in those lines instead of other attractions.

On the other hand I could see that reducing the availability of other attractions connected to LL with a reduction in types of things you can use it for. Then again if someone used Genie+ a lot for meet and greets maybe they wouldn't purchase LL multi-pass without those being included.

 

[Mamiamjo]

Is there a reason that this thread isn't pinned to the top?

 

[TeamSy]

As of right now, character meet-and-greets are not included in LLMP. It looks like that is a deliberate change that Disney briefed media about, not just an oversight in the announcement.

View attachment 874606

It's always possible that Disney will change course as they observe buying patterns and wait times. But as of right now, I don't expect to see any character meet-and-greets available on July 24th.

I'm genuinely a bit curious about why they're doing this. Were they just not popular enough with Genie+? Are they trying to improve standby capacity given how low-capacity meet-and-greets are? Something about optimizing for particular segments (e.g. parents of preschoolers are most likely to do meet-and-greets but least likely to buy Genie+ or something)? I don't totally get the rationale, but we'll see how it works in practice.

Yeah this is a huge bummer to us (as parents of a young elementary school child and preschooler) who are HUGE on meet and greets and ALWAYS purchased genie+. One of the biggest benefits of it to us were the little to no wait times for these meet and greets. So disappointing .

 

[TeamSy]

As of right now, character meet-and-greets are not included in LLMP. It looks like that is a deliberate change that Disney briefed media about, not just an oversight in the announcement.

View attachment 874606

It's always possible that Disney will change course as they observe buying patterns and wait times. But as of right now, I don't expect to see any character meet-and-greets available on July 24th.

I'm genuinely a bit curious about why they're doing this. Were they just not popular enough with Genie+? Are they trying to improve standby capacity given how low-capacity meet-and-greets are? Something about optimizing for particular segments (e.g. parents of preschoolers are most likely to do meet-and-greets but least likely to buy Genie+ or something)? I don't totally get the rationale, but we'll see how it works in practice.

Also surprising because Ariel’s grotto (at least when we were there) sold out a lot of the time.

 

[princesswahooey]

Is there a reason that this thread isn't pinned to the top?

I don't know, but there should definitely be a pinned thread (either this or a new one...not sure what the mods prefer) where we can share real-time use experience for those of us who are guinea pigs and booking on the 24th/in the parks the first week.

 

[DisneyFive]

Is there a reason that this thread isn't pinned to the top?

Well, it's pretty much staying there anyway. Problem is, I completely look passed all the pinned topics. I wouldn't be surprised if there was an "official" thread of this topic pinned by a moderator soon.