WDW LL Worth?

[wendlle]

A Deluxe resort has nothing magical concerning LL availability. The system is fair for guests staying at all levels at WDW.


Could you expand on your "there was nothing left"?

Many of us have been using the system just fine since it launched last July. Is it perfect no but many Guests don't find it useless.

Dave

I’m saying that even paying deluxe prices doesn’t guarantee you a good experience with LL anymore than a value or offsite

And by nothing left is exactly what it means
All the rides we wanted were done / sold out so couldn’t be selected
The lower tier rides had late times so even when we scanned in for our first everything else was gone and couldn’t select anymore
It was a compete waste of money, I hated being on my phone trying to look for LL and it just made me angry and frustrated
The whole experience was crap!

 

[Rory607]

It’s definitely worth it to us. I miss the days of three free fast passes, but I am fine with LL and am happy they changed it back to booking ahead of time. I disliked having to do it that morning with Genie. I’m the trip planner, so it was extra work for me while on the trip every morning.

We will always stay on-site, so I guess I’m not the target audience for it being an extra perk for staying at their hotels. I have no desire to stay off-property, pay to rent a car and deal with traffic or pay to uber everyday. It’s just not for us. So when we go to Universal we stay at their resorts and when we’re at Disney we stay at a Disney resort.

 

[scrappinginontario]

Didn’t do it wrong there was nothing left

I’m saying that even paying deluxe prices doesn’t guarantee you a good experience with LL anymore than a value or offsite

And by nothing left is exactly what it means
All the rides we wanted were done / sold out so couldn’t be selected
The lower tier rides had late times so even when we scanned in for our first everything else was gone and couldn’t select anymore
It was a compete waste of money, I hated being on my phone trying to look for LL and it just made me angry and frustrated
The whole experience was crap!

Did you purchase it at 7 days out at 7AM? Your experience is not consistent with what the vast majority of guests experience.

Please share more details about:
- How many days in advance of your trip did you purchase?
- How many days were you purchasing for?

'All rides we wanted were done' is virtually an impossible statement if you purchased 7 days before you arrived. Please share more details to help us understand why your experience was what it was.

Thanks.

 

[neverlandsky]

We love LLSP over LLMP. We feel EE, EEH, & special events are a better fit for us over LLMP. A lot can be accomplished with EE in a short time span at all parks just as long as you don't hit a tier 1 / LLSP ride first.

 

[Dug720]

I'm confused.

Many are saying you can see what is available BEFORE you purchase, so if you don't like what's available you aren't out any money.

But @wendlle is implying that they paid for it before they saw what was available.

So...were they doing it wrong? Or can you NOT in fact see what options are before buying?

 

[thanxfornoticin]

I'm confused.

Many are saying you can see what is available BEFORE you purchase, so if you don't like what's available you aren't out any money.

But @wendlle is implying that they paid for it before they saw what was available.

So...were they doing it wrong? Or can you NOT in fact see what options are before buying?

You do see the available options before completing the purchase process for a given day. So if the attractions you want aren't available, you just cancel and not purchase.

 

[Brob2132]

I know we're traveling on a fairly low traffic day, but we were able to stack desired rides in the AM for our trip next week. Very few compromises or quibbles.

Got on at 7am 7 days out.

 

[sam_gordon]

Did you purchase it at 7 days out at 7AM? Your experience is not consistent with what the vast majority of guests experience.

Please share more details about:
- How many days in advance of your trip did you purchase?
- How many days were you purchasing for?

'All rides we wanted were done' is virtually an impossible statement if you purchased 7 days before you arrived. Please share more details to help us understand why your experience was what it was.

Thanks.

He stayed off property and didn't elect to purchase until same day (and possibly late same day) if I understood correctly.

 

[crazy Cat Lady]

We found it worked for us on our trip last October. Stayed off, off site, drove to the parks and hopped at least twice each day. I booked our initial rides the three days out and purchased some select $ILL. I was able to make changes day of and book extra LL rides day off without much trouble - the only issue we had was we couldn't secure LL for SDD, and given our lack of patience for standby lines, we didn't ride it.

Personally, I wouldn't stay onsite just for the 7 days out unless it was an incredibly busy time, and then I'd take the advice of a poster up thread and stay at Swan & Dolphin - Epcot and HS are big priorities for us, so being able to walk to these two parks would be a huge perk on its own.

All that said, it was just the two of us, and while budget wise, even with our ordinary exchange rate it was doable, I think a family of 4 or more would want to be very sure of what they wanted to achieve prior to purchase to get maximum value.

 

[OldeSkuller]

You might consider staying at the Swan, Dolphin, or Swan Reserve. They are priced in the Value to Moderate range of Disney hotels but they are On Property (right next to Boardwalk and Beach/Yacht Club), within walking distance to Epcot and Hollywood Studios, and they are considered a Disney Deluxe hotel category for the sake of receiving Disney Hotel perks even though they are technically Marriott hotels. This means you can book LL 7 days out and you'll get extra morning magic (or whatever it's called) and extended even hours on any nights where deluxe hotel guests get them.

Nah. I’ve been burned on Disney hotels. They are loud, messy, and their service is a bit subpar. The only one that’s great is the Waldorf Astoria on property, but sadly it is not part of the Disney Delux that gives you a 7 day advance on LL selections only early entry. It’s ridiculous.

I miss the Genie+ system SO much!!

 

[ShannyMcB]

Really depends on when you are traveling and how many people are in your party. We used it specifically to hop lines on rides with outdoor queues in August mid-day and it worked well. Some days/parks we used it more than others. But I think of all the rides that were must do’s for us last trip there were only two (remy’s and jungle cruise) we didn’t end up getting a pass for on the days/times we were interested in

 

[OldeSkuller]

So here is an update:

I purchased the LLMP this morning because it is 3 days from the first ticket day for non-Disney hotel resort. Mind you I have a park hopper, and do not plan on staying at one park all day. So I would have liked to use LLMP for one of the parks in the morning. It doesn’t even have to be an “E” ticket ride. Just something to use the LLMP on so I can add new selections. But……
None of the parks had any selections before 3:00pm. Which means I cannot even use the LL until the evening, yet I am paying full price for the LLMP service.

This is why the new system is worse than the Genie+. With Genie+ I could have at least found something available at any park in the morning despite not staying at their “deluxe” hotels. And then I could have “fiddlefaddled”, as Molly from Mammoth club would say, to pick up my next selection.

I’m telling you, Disney is losing it. *sigh*

At Universal, I can purchase their express pass and use it anytime I want for almost all of the rides now, minsu a couple of rides.

 

[Minnie1222]

At Universal, I can purchase their express pass and use it anytime I want for almost all of the rides now, minsu a couple of rides.

You can also buy the Premier Pass at Disney that can be used on all LL queues.

I also prefer Genie+, but I think the "majority" wanted the pre-book option.

 

[Princess Katelet]

I'm surprised at how few people complain about the inability to book the SAME ride as many times as you want. That I what I miss the very most about good old FP. :-(

 

[thanxfornoticin]

I'm surprised at how few people complain about the inability to book the SAME ride as many times as you want. That I what I miss the very most about good old FP. :-(

I actually prefer the once per day LL approach. It spreads out overall availability to others throughout the day. If we want to ride something twice, we'll do standby.

 

[scrappinginontario]

I'm surprised at how few people complain about the inability to book the SAME ride as many times as you want. That I what I miss the very most about good old FP. :-(

I think with the general info available online now compared to the old FP days, I don’t think that system would work the same now as it did in the past. When it was available you basically needed to ‘know someone’ to teach you how to maximize use.

In 2025 with the general Disney guest planning online, they also have access to places like this chat board, YouTube, FB, etc to help them plan their trip. While the info may not always be accurate, it’s much more readily available and people in general much more used to self-planning trips.

 

[sethschroeder]

Unless Thrill Data and TouringPlans are both wrong I am seeing morning ride availability for even tomorrow. The person booked at 3 days out on Saturday so possibly their first day was today but I can't imagine today was much different.

Additionally it seems the refresh method can work as well as Disney dropping extra availability the day off. I plan on getting LLMP quite a bit next month and it seems the complaints don't align with what I have read, watched, or looked at.

 

[dunkindonut]

I just returned from a 3 day trip and used PLL all 3 days and for me, I thought it was completely worth it. I wouldn't buy it everytime, but this is the only time I'm going to WDW this year. I was able to ride pretty much everything I wanted within like 6 hours. If you have park hopper, there's less value to PLL imo. But I was nice to clear a park so fast and just chill later in the evening.

For HS and MK I thought it was completely worth it, although I would probably not buy it for Epcot. Epcot just has so much less to do attraction wise and so spread apart that it felt like it wasn't nearly as good as a value. Although I was able to ride Ratatouille and Frozen which I normally won't since with MLL they are in the same tier so Frozen is almost always booked immediately.

 

[scrappinginontario]

I just returned from a 3 day trip and used PLL all 3 days and for me, I thought it was completely worth it. I wouldn't buy it everytime, but this is the only time I'm going to WDW this year. I was able to ride pretty much everything I wanted within like 6 hours. If you have park hopper, there's less value to PLL imo. But I was nice to clear a park so fast and just chill later in the evening.

For HS and MK I thought it was completely worth it, although I would probably not buy it for Epcot. Epcot just has so much less to do attraction wise and so spread apart that it felt like it wasn't nearly as good as a value. Although I was able to ride Ratatouille and Frozen which I normally won't since with MLL they are in the same tier so Frozen is almost always booked immediately.

I’m glad LLPP worked (and that’s the case for those who purchase it) but reality is, it’s not an option for most people. OP is asking about LLMP which is about 10% of the cost of LLPP. Is LLMP worth it was their original question.