Probably the most controversial modifications to line-skipping with Walt Disney World’s swap from Genie+ to Lightning Lane Multi-Cross is the elimination of all character meet & greets and different leisure choices in any respect 4 parks, with Magic Kingdom being hit particularly onerous. This publish discusses why characters have been minimize from paid FastPass and the chance that’ll change within the weeks to come back or 2025.
For starters, this seems like historical past repeating itself. When Genie+ first launched again in October 2021, it didn’t embody practically as many points of interest and different ‘line objects’ because it did when the system was retired in 2024. What was most notable about this was that there have been two a la carte Lightning Lanes (now Single Cross) per park.
These included Expedition Everest at Animal Kingdom, Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway at Hollywood Studios, Remy’s Ratatouille Journey and Frozen Ever After at EPCOT, and House Mountain at Magic Kingdom–a virtually 50-year previous curler coaster! Solely the primary two of these offered even reasonably effectively–however they have been all added to Genie+ on a “non permanent” foundation; first in late December 2021 after which once more in February 2022 (that grew to become everlasting by the top of summer season).
Alongside that, Walt Disney World started including leisure to the Genie+ service. This began with Mickey’s As soon as Upon A Christmastime Parade (every day ops model) across the peak weeks of Christmas and New Yr’s in 2021. It continued with Competition of Fantasy Parade upon its return.
Then got here character ‘sightings’ (bear in mind these?) in every park in early 2022. All of this was unsurprising, as these have been meet & greets that have been a part of FastPass+ previous to March 2020, and all of them have been purpose-built venues that have been created with FastPass+ queues in thoughts. After that, just a few extra venues have been added at Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom, and Disney’s Hollywood Studios–together with Crimson Carpet Desires, which was eliminated from Genie+ shortly after it was added.
As with virtually all modifications to Genie+ after it launched (except for these including clearly lacking options) the targets of those additions have been to load stability and improve capability. Merely put, there weren’t sufficient Lightning Lanes to offer friends with sufficient perceived worth for cash, which grew to become evident as quickly as there have been “actual” crowds round Thanksgiving (previous to that, the parks had been lifeless, so Genie+ had labored effectively!).
This background is supplied as a result of it might appear that historical past is at the least partially repeating itself. Listed below are the points of interest that have been minimize with the swap from Genie+ to Lightning Lane Multi-Cross:
Magic Kingdom
- Enchanted Tales with Belle
- Competition of Fantasy Parade
- Meet Ariel at Her Grotto
- Meet Cinderella and a Visiting Princess at Princess Fairytale Corridor
- Meet Mickey and Minnie at City Sq. Theater
- Meet Princess Tiana and a Visiting Princess at Princess Fairytale Corridor
Hollywood Studios
- Meet Olaf at Movie star Highlight
Animal Kingdom
- Meet Favourite Disney Friends at Adventurers Outpost
- The Animation Expertise at Conservation Station
EPCOT
- Mickey & Buddies Meet & Greet
As a fast apart, it’s completely hilarious to me that Mickey & Buddies debuted final month in CommuniCore Corridor at EPCOT with a Lightning Lane. One month later, it has been eradicated. Keep in mind that this modification to pre-arrival Lightning Lanes didn’t simply come out of the blue–it was introduced over a 12 months in the past throughout the early phases of CommuniCore Corridor’s building.
It’s sort of hilarious in a tragic type of manner that one hand didn’t know what the opposite was doing there and CommuniCore Corridor managed to in some way open in June with a Lightning Lane…solely to have it introduced 2 weeks later that it wouldn’t have one. An ideal encapsulation of CommuniCore Corridor as an entire. Simply the chef’s kiss on that complete undertaking.
Anyway, it’s my understanding that Walt Disney World made the willpower that character meet & greets and leisure shouldn’t have Lightning Lanes, so the choice was made to take away them from the pre-arrival service. When talking with the staff at Disney that was tasked with educating media about Lightning Lane Multi-Cross, I particularly requested about character meet & greets, and it was made clear that these have been purposefully being retired.
No rationalization was given, however I used to be not led to consider it was an oversight nor was the door left open for modifications down the street. (Typically, they use wiggle phrases like “presently,” “at present,” or “when __ launches,” suggesting issues will evolve–not so right here.)
In talking additional with credible sources, the language was even stronger: character meet & greets and different leisure wouldn’t ever be part of Lightning Lane Multi-Cross and that wasn’t going to alter.
I don’t consider this.
To be clear, I consider that folks inside Disney engaged on Lightning Lane Multi-Cross suppose this. I’m effectively conscious that line-skipping at character meet & greets and leisure is a headache for Operations, extra burdensome on standby strains, and creates different challenges.
It makes full sense that the undertaking staff and Forged Members at these areas wouldn’t need Lightning Lanes–particularly at areas not constructed for FastPass within the first place, like Adventurers Outpost. To not damage the phantasm, however these spots lack the capability of a few of the bigger meet & greet venues as a result of they’re single rooms.
Nonetheless, I additionally bear in mind the entire above enjoying out with Genie+ that first vacation season. I additionally bear in mind FastPass+ having a bunch of capability added over time. Most significantly, I do know that there are different “stakeholders” concerned with the decision-making processes, and as quickly as visitor satisfaction takes a success and there are complaints a few lack of availability, they’re going to scramble for options. It’s occurred earlier than; it’ll occur once more.
In fact, there are different conceivable options past bringing again the Lightning Lanes at character meet & greets, so it’s not a foregone conclusion that’ll be the result. They may shoehorn Lightning Lanes onto rides that traditionally haven’t had them for good purpose–this has been the method at Disney California Journey, and it’s been a reasonably terrible consequence.
They may change the rolling 3 rule to be extra just like the FastPass+ system the place you needed to redeem all three of your preliminary alternatives earlier than making subsequent picks. This might positively assist from a capability perspective in the event that they’re nervous about low-knowledge friends not shopping for Lightning Lane Multi Cross after seeing availability. Nonetheless, I feel it might end in a good larger hit to visitor satisfaction…and would actually ignite the “Lightning Lanes are paid FastPass+” criticism (because it’d be much more true than it’s now!).
They may add Lightning Lane viewing areas for Fantasmic, Luminous, and different new nighttime leisure as soon as that debuts. I’m truthfully stunned that I can nonetheless stroll as much as the very best viewing space for Luminous and stand in there for “free,” which was not doable with IllumiNations throughout the FastPass+ period. Ditto Fantasmic, which may have a complete part put aside for Lightning Lane. (Doing this in tandem with the above change would pressure friends to make a troublesome determination–as was the case with FastPass+.)
They may elevate costs for Lightning Lane Multi Cross. Realistically, that is going to occur regardless throughout busier occasions. I’m skeptical that Walt Disney World ends 2025 with $39 being the very best worth ever. However the issue right here is that when costs go up, so too do visitor expectations. In order that additionally doesn’t resolve that situation. (And as we’ve beforehand mentioned, there’s a sure about of worth inelasticity for Lightning Lanes, anyway.)
In my opinion, the trail of least resistance is solely restoring Lightning Lanes at some character meet & greets. That is the obvious choice, because it’s the factor they’ve accomplished earlier than. So I feel they’ll do it once more if there are ongoing points with Lightning Lane availability and visitor satisfaction.
It’s additionally not a foregone conclusion that there will likely be points with availability or satisfaction. To reiterate a degree emphasised in What We’ve Realized from Lightning Lane Multi Cross So Far at Walt Disney World, the system simply launched and Disney might be enjoying it conservatively with Lightning Lane allocations. Seeing Pirates of the Caribbean and Haunted Mansion ‘promote out’ so rapidly–as in comparison with late within the night below Genie–is a powerful sign of this. It’s totally doable that, two weeks from now, alternatives are significantly better as Disney finds the candy spot.
It’s additionally doable that received’t occur. That the swap to three pre-booked Lightning Lanes is de facto vital, and that energy customers like us have been underestimating simply how unhealthy the common visitor was with Genie+. I’m very skeptical that about this as a result of, once more, most Magic Kingdom Lightning Lanes beforehand had availability into late afternoon.
To that time, the obvious repair is bringing again just a few of the character meet & greet Lightning Lanes at Magic Kingdom. In my anecdotal expertise, it appears to be the park ‘hardest hit’ by the swap to Lightning Lane Multi Cross, and that’s in all probability at the least partly resulting from it shedding extra Lightning Lanes than the opposite 3 parks mixed!
(For no matter it’s price, I doubt any meet & greets exterior Magic Kingdom will get Lightning Lanes once more. I suppose possibly Mickey & Buddies at CommuniCore Corridor or Olaf at DHS? I’m skeptical of that, although. I feel solely the Magic Kingdom ones make sense and are wanted.)
Then there’s the timing when character meet & greets may doubtlessly have Lightning Lanes introduced again to Magic Kingdom.
Nicely, if we’re speaking about historical past repeating itself, it stands to purpose that the supply and satisfaction state of affairs goes to worsen. There was a ‘final hurrah’ of summer season journey boosting crowd ranges for the launch of Lightning Lane Multi Cross, however that is nonetheless nowhere practically as unhealthy because it’s going to be in October for fall break or in November for Veterans Day and Thanksgiving–to say nothing of Christmas and New Yr’s Eve. Having ‘fixes’ by October could be good.
I’m considerably skeptical that’ll be character meet & greets getting Lightning Lanes, although. Every of the final couple years, we’ve seen the Lightning Lane precedence rankings of Magic Kingdom character meet & greets skyrocket throughout Social gathering Season, which is a matter of staffing and capability/provide. Staffing continues to be a difficulty to some extent, and Disney may be very clearly reallocating some performers from every day ops to the onerous ticket occasions. Due to that, they’ve decreased the availability of Lightning Lanes for these character meet & greets.
On condition that, I’d think about Walt Disney World will actually need to keep away from bringing again meet & greet Lightning Lanes till after Social gathering Season is over. Even when they did carry them again earlier, the added Lightning Lane stock would in all probability be a drop within the bucket. Even when working at full capability, character meet & greets actually aren’t bringing that a lot to the desk.
Bear in mind, not all points of interest are equal by way of capability. I’d hazard a guess that Pirates of the Caribbean is succesful of a better provide of hourly Lightning Lanes than each meet & greet in Magic Kingdom mixed. (That is additionally why Tiana’s Bayou Journey is so onerous to ebook proper now. A part of that’s the recognition of something new. Extra vital is that it’s breaking down continuously, so Lightning Lane allocation is decrease than it ought to be as a result of every day capability for the attraction isn’t even near what Splash Mountain was hitting.)
Anyway, if I needed to guess as to the almost definitely dates for Lightning Lanes at character meet & greets being introduced again, I’d go along with one among two choices. The primary is December 21, 2024–that’s the date after MVMCP ends, which suggests each extra capability because of performer scheduling and extra demand resulting from larger crowds for the height weeks of the vacation season.
The second date is much less particular, merely someday in late January to mid-February. That’s clearly additionally after Social gathering Season, but it surely’s additionally after the ever-briefer winter low season and as crowds begin to improve for Presidents’ Day, Mardi Gras, and faculty breaks. Principally, proper as Walt Disney World realizes one thing’s gotta be accomplished, they’ve the performers to do it, and no different good concepts.
In the end, it bears emphasizing that these are merely predictions and there’s an excellent likelihood they’re unsuitable. Once more, I’ve been instructed that Lightning Lanes at character meet & greets won’t return. That this was not some foolish oversight–it was a deliberate determination. So I don’t know whether or not the above is optimistic within the sense that it defies that, or if it’s pessimistic within the sense that modifications to capability for Genie+ began occurring a lot earlier throughout its preliminary launch–proper after that notorious Thanksgiving meltdown. I suppose we’ll see how this performs out, however I feel it’s pretty protected to say the present Lightning Lane roster isn’t the ultimate one. We’ll virtually actually see modifications by Spring 2025. Keep tuned.
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YOUR THOUGHTS
What are your ideas on Walt Disney World bringing again Lightning Lanes for character meet & greets at Magic Kingdom? Hope extra leisure will likely be added to Genie+ or would you like first-come viewing areas? Do you agree or disagree with my evaluation? Any questions we will help you reply? Listening to your suggestions–even once you disagree with us–is each fascinating to us and useful to different readers, so please share your ideas under within the feedback!
