WDW LL Worth?

[OldeSkuller]

I have to say that I hate the new LL rules. The seven days in advance for staying at their special hotels is lame. Their hotels are just not great in comparison to Universal’s, but..

Is LL even worth it now, if you do not stay at their overpriced hotels? Like will all the good rides time slots at WDW theme parks be taken by those who booked 7 days prior, thus making a purchase of LL(whatever the old Genie+ is called now), pointless if I don’t want to stay in one park all day. I have the park hopper and so I want to ride a few rides I like and bounce to another park.

 

[sam_gordon]

I also don't like LL. I don't like trying to plan a week (or even days) in advance. I'd prefer going back to the original FastPass... show up in a park, go to a ride, the standby wait is too long, get a FastPass to return later.

That being said...
1) Of course Disney (any business) is going to try to make money wherever they can. As long as people are paying for it, they're doing something "right".
2) And it's definitely a perk of staying on property, which gives Disney more money. That also makes sense.
3) Yes, you can park hop with LL. My understanding is the first three rides you book must be in a single park. But once you tap into your first ride (don't even have to ride), then you can modify/book rides in other parks. So maybe it's worth getting a "throw away" booking early in your first park which then allows you to book elsewhere the remainder of the day.

 

[gottalovepluto]

Worth is entirely subjective. Not worth it to you who dislikes their hotels, worth it to others who have different travel opinions and enjoy their on-site hotels. Many settle at LL is worth it for certain days/rides but not others.

No, it is not lame that on-site hotels get early access to LL. It’s one of those perks you benefit from by paying for their “overpriced” hotels.

The good part about LL is you get to see what’s available before you buy for your first 3 LLs. If the rides you want aren’t available, no reason to buy it.

LL isn’t for everyone. Plenty of people stay on-site and don’t use it. Every person has to look at their trip, availability and prices to determine if it will be worth it. If you’re debating an on-site hotel just for LL access watch LL availability for a while on thrill data to get a feel for what might be available.

 

[team bradfield]

We love it

 

[_19disnA]

LL seems to be Disney's latest attempt to solve the ride capacity issue. When there are too many people in the park for all of the rides to handle, there will certainly be issues with long lines. Fast/Pass, Genie and now LL seem to be an effort to solve that problem using various approaches. I don't think any of them solve the underlying problem.

Disney hotels/parks are already expensive enough. I can't see the point of spending more on LL just because Disney has a ride capacity issue.

 

[Minnie1222]

Totally worth it for us. I don't like waiting in line if I don’t have to. I think the iLLs are even better.

 

[stinkpickle]

I might get it for one day at MK and HS, but probably not for EP or AK.

 

[Nimbus]

I have to say that I hate the new LL rules. The seven days in advance for staying at their special hotels is lame. Their hotels are just not great in comparison to Universal’s, but..

Is LL even worth it now, if you do not stay at their overpriced hotels? Like will all the good rides time slots at WDW theme parks be taken by those who booked 7 days prior, thus making a purchase of LL(whatever the old Genie+ is called now), pointless if I don’t want to stay in one park all day. I have the park hopper and so I want to ride a few rides I like and bounce to another park.

I would check out Ear Scouts' videos on YouTube. He shows it is very much possible to get a lot done using LL, even if you don't purchase until the day of. There are a number of strategies that can be utilized and he typically will park hop and still ride many, many rides using the system. The trade off, of course, is that you are going to have to take the time to learn the system and specific strategies in order to make the most of the product.

But if your question is "Is it possible to get a lot out of LL even when you don't get to start booking rides 7 days out?" The answer is yes, you absolutely can.

 

[Genie+]

There is not a huge disadvantage to offsite because of the tier system that’s at HS, EP and MK. Plus the fact that after checking into your first LL of any tier day of, all of your LLs may now be modified into tier 1s, and at that point onsite/offsite no longer matters.

I’ve been onsite and waited to buy LL the day before and don’t think it made a big difference. SDD is always going to be a pain in the butt unless you are onsite booking 4th day or more into a trip. But there’s still decent inventory of good rides at HS so LL is still worthwhile no matter if you book 3 or 7 days out.

 

[creamhearts]

Totally worth it. While I miss free FastPass, I was not a fan of Genie+. I think LL is the happy medium (minus being an extra charge).

It's really nice to be able to stack burner LL early in the day and being able to book any tier ride after that at any park (pending having a park hopper). I just found the whole process much smoother and was able to ride a ton my last trip Nov 2024, more than my trip Oct 2022 with Genie+.

 

[OldeSkuller]

Totally worth it. While I miss free FastPass, I was not a fan of Genie+. I think LL is the happy medium (minus being an extra charge).

It's really nice to be able to stack burner LL early in the day and being able to book any tier ride after that at any park (pending having a park hopper). I just found the whole process much smoother and was able to ride a ton my last trip Nov 2024, more than my trip Oct 2022 with Genie+.

That’s funny. I was also there in Nov, ‘24. But I stayed at one of the “fancy hotels” for a day just to capitalize on 7day advance LL booking. The hotel was lame though, which is why I do not want to do that again, hence why I asked the op question. I just wanted to know if without the hotel if it’s still good to purchase.

Thank you for answering.

 

[OldeSkuller]

I would check out Ear Scouts' videos on YouTube. He shows it is very much possible to get a lot done using LL, even if you don't purchase until the day of. There are a number of strategies that can be utilized and he typically will park hop and still ride many, many rides using the system. The trade off, of course, is that you are going to have to take the time to learn the system and specific strategies in order to make the most of the product.

But if your question is "Is it possible to get a lot out of LL even when you don't get to start booking rides 7 days out?" The answer is yes, you absolutely can.

Thanks, I’ll check out Ear Scouts’ videos.