Winging it? Anyone NOT purchasing LLMP?

[Angelia'sthree]

We are headed to Disney in September, 22-28th.

Are any of you NOT planning to purchase LLMP during your trip and just get to the parks for EE and wait in stand by lines?

Thanks for your input.

 

[fla4fun]

Me.

I consider Genie+, and now LLMP, to be a cash grab by Disney that I will not participate in. I do have an AP and live close enough to do day trips, although I do resort trips as well, so I don’t have the need to fit as many rides in per visit.

I have been going to WDW since the first year they were open, and used standby lines up until FP+ (did not use paper FP). Lines aren’t particularly fun, but they aren’t the end of the world either.

 

[TinkAgainU]

... oops ... I gave the wrong info. When people just say "Disney" I don't always think WDW.

 

[gottalovepluto]

If you have EE (and Rope Drop the other park on other days) you might be fine without LLMP. It will depend a bit on how Haunted Mansion is set up at that time (Virtual Que?). You'll likely want to pay for Rise of the Resistance just to be sure you get on. Radiator Springs is almost always doable as Single Rider if the wait is too long.

If there are two of us, I have no problem buying the LLMP if I feel it's needed that day, with more family members it adds a lot of $ to the day. To get your money's worth, one of you Really needs to be clear on how to use it effectively ahead of time, and link everyone to you.

This is the WDW forum

 

[Marypoppins14]

For my upcoming trip next week, I did not purchase LLMP for our AK or Epcot days. In January, we successfully used EE and/or EEH, combined with effective touring plans, to experience all desired attractions with very limited wait times.
For our upcoming trip, we did purchase LLMP for our MK and HS days. And SP for GotC -- because we LOVE that ride -- and hope to ride it 3x with VQ 1x during the day and 1x during EEH (fingers crossed - we succeeded in January).

AK does not warrant LLMP (or SP for FoP) when using EE and a good touring plan.

Epcot does not offer any real value, with so few "rides " (IMO). EE/EEH offset any need for MP.

My two cents...

 

[TheDailyMoo]

A few years ago I was using Genie+ to really get as many rides as possible and it worked great but last few trips this pas year plus we haven't and it's worked out just fine between grabbing VQs and EE and just jumping onto lines when they're shorter. But then again these last few trips we've taken it a little slower and wanted to enjoy the resorts more so there is that. If you're looking to pack it in with minimal wait times then you may not have a choice. Just depends how you want to do Disney.

 

[Shelby Schroepfer]

We go every September and have used fast pass + when it was a thing and loved it (who didn't!?) but we've only tried genie+ twice and was always disappointed in what we could get and the times it was available. September 2022, and 2023 we did not use genie+ and consistently had lower than advertised wait times. We used the early entry for our must do ride, and fireworks/parade time to ride other longer wait rides. We typically watch HEA once or twice in a 10 day trip and then use that time to ride during other days. I subscribe to touring plans and I trust their data and they are showing wait times sometimes 15 min less than what Disney shows. This year we are there September 15th-24th and have ONE DAY set aside to use LL multipass just to guarantee a bunch of rides, but I am watching wait times and might change my mind when we get closer too. Other than that, we have no plans to use it. We adjust our expectations and let the kids (9 and 3) know that if you wanna ride this ride, there's gonna be a wait. We play games, bring toys, snacks if we can in line, and we do alright. It's just not financially feasible for us. We would rather be able to afford a 10 day trip every year than skip the lines.

 

[bullcat_02]

To me it depends how often you are able to vacation at WDW. For me, I could not imagine doing the parks without G+/LLMP at least once for MK and HS. I never know when my next trip will be. I didn't go for nine years between my last two trips. This time it will be three years. If I was able to go more often I might not feel like I had to do everything. I also refuse to stand in line for anything over 30 minutes. I'm also a rope drop to close person with no resort break.

Note: I'm also a single adult so I only have the cost of myself. If I had a spouse and kids it would be much harder for me to spend the money.

 

[stevelle]

My husband and I went last August and didn't use Genie+ or pay for anything extra and we had time to ride everything we wanted, but we generally don't mind waiting in line. When we went in March with the daughters, the one was a real Genie+ devotee so we had to get it. I can see the appeal as it generally worked out for riding lots of rides in a shorter time frame, but we also had it for one day in Epcot where it ended up being a total waste of money and we couldn't get the ride options we wanted and ended up leaving the park early as waiting around 5 hours for Ratatouille just wasn't in the plan. Heading back with my husband again in March and don't plan to pay for any extra LL costs. Waiting in line is our usual plan. Even when our kids were little (going back 10-15 years ago, it took three visits (over 8 years apart) before we finally rode Toy Story Mania because we could never get decent fast passes for it. Whether or not we ride a new ride has never been what makes the trip.

 

[Tbiafore]

We are leaning towards no and here is why...

If you purchase LLMP you only get one Tier 1 ride (at least initially). All the Tier 2 rides typically have a manageable low wait time, especially if you time it right. Too many people are reporting that the Tier 1 rides are gone quickly, or their return time is very late if any still are around.

So if its worth it to you to pay for 1 - Tier 1 ride, hoping you can grab a second (no guarntee), and a bunch of rides that typically dont have a tone of wait time, go for it.

Here is a report just posted today from a family that used it.

Absolutely no benefit. On our phones just as much, if not more. More stressful and had less options than with Genie+. Really locks you into plans - as far as what parks to start out. The key is to get your first rides as early as possible so you can continue booking. However, there is such little available and you constantly have to refresh and pray something shows up. I am not satisfied with just 3 rides for the price.

 

[scrappinginontario]

... oops ... I gave the wrong info. When people just say "Disney" I don't always think WDW.

All discussions in this forum are WDW Florida related. Discussions about Disneyland in California have their own forum.

 

[scrappinginontario]

We purchase for some days but not others. We will purchase for the last few days of our trip to fit in as many things as we can as our trip ends. At the beginning everything is fresh and new so we don't mind waiting in the lines.

 

[livih99]

I'm going in the second week of September with some friends and we aren't planning on getting it. The only park I would consider it for is MK, but we're planning on going on a party day for the low crowds, so we should be okay. We also have park hoppers so if crowds get to be too much at one park we can jump to another without it being that big of a deal.

 

[mi*vida*loca]

We will get it for part of our trip.

I only go with DD so I’m not paying for a family of 4 and we go every 2-4 years so we have more must dos than someone who goes several times a year.

 

[Mle8308]

Going September 17-28th and won't be buying any LL's. We have 14 day hoppers and EMH in the evenings (Epcot, MK, and DHS), so we should be good. It's not nearly our first visit, so not too worried about getting on everything. We have a few must do's, and most aren't tier 1 attractions. Plans could change, but I doubt we will be buying them. Just hoping no hurricanes decide to make their way to visit WDW, too!

 

[Angelia'sthree]

Thank you all for your responses. We have been blessed to visit the parks more often due to military tickets. We are now down to three of us, with a teen daughter. We still like to get our moneys worth by being at the parks from open to close.

 

[disneydreamer1980]

My problem is that my two older kids that are going with us won’t always be with us on our park days. Sometimes they just want to sleep in, or stay at the resort that day or leave the park early or whatever, but I’ll have to buy the Llmp for them too just in case they are there with us on those days. I don’t like the committing ahead of time.

 

[C.Witch]

If there's any month that's safe to try winging it, I'd say that's September due to crowd trends. Maybe compromise with Park Hopper so you can switch parks if one seems quieter on any given day.

 

[hes122]

I've been 3 times since Genie+ came into play:
Nov 23- only purchased one day because one my traveling companions had a hard time waiting in long lines.
Mar 24- height of spring break travel; we purchased it 3 days. We could've managed things a little differently and had better success getting what we wanted.
Jun 24- did not purchase for my single day in MK, although I did buy an ILL for GOTG once it became obvious I wasn't going to make it to Epcot in time for the 1:00 VQ drop.

We're going again in a few weeks and plan to purchase LLMP for one day (HS) and LLSP for GOTG (definitely), TRON (maybe, but we might not be able to), and ROTR (maybe, but doubtful).

 

[_19disnA]

I agree that whole thing seems like a money grab by Disney. We would not pay extra for any rides when we already paid admission that supposed includes all rides/shows. Rides tend to have shorter lines either early or late in the day so plan accordingly. The people there the minute the park opens have probably run out energy by later in the day, so that is partly why late afternoon/early evening would tend to have shorter lines.