“When will advance reserving of Lightning Lanes come to Genie+ at Walt Disney World?” has develop into a standard query, with trip planners questioning once they’ll be capable to make journey reservations earlier than their journeys. This publish we shares what we all know to date, what we’re anticipating to occur, and extra. (Up to date April 17, 2024.)
As you may recall, Walt Disney World first teased pre-planning capabilities coming to the Genie+ service and Lightning Lanes with the announcement of 2024 trip packages. That was on Could 8 of final 12 months and likewise included the return of the Disney Eating Plan and elimination of park reservations for many visitors. Subsequent to that, Disney introduced a return of all-day Park Hopping. All of these aforementioned adjustments took impact earlier this 12 months–besides Lightning Lane pre-booking.
Unsurprisingly, many Walt Disney World followers have been confused and assumed that advance-booking of Lightning Lanes was additionally debuting in early 2024. In any case, the unique bulletins occurred concurrently and there was ambiguity about when the pre-arrival journey reservations would roll out. Since pre-arrival Lightning Lanes have but to reach–and there haven’t even been any official updates since, we’ve began getting quite a lot of questions.
Walt Disney World has solely made the one announcement about pre-arrival journey reservations: “Now we have heard from visitors that they want methods to plan with Disney Genie+ service and particular person Lightning Lane picks earlier than the day of their park go to, and we would like you to know we’re engaged on methods visitors might do that for visits in 2024. Our objective is to provide the alternative to spend much less time planning within the park and extra time having fun with your go to with family and friends. Whereas we’re not but in a position to share particular particulars, we sit up for sharing extra info at a later date.”
Once more, that was final Could. The corporate has supplied quite a lot of updates on 2024 at Walt Disney World since that unique announcement. Once they introduced the return of all-day Park Hopping, they reiterated the opposite adjustments (Disney Eating Plan, park reservations, and so on.) on the horizon. Besides there was no point out of pre-arrival Lightning Lanes.
We’ve been doing this for some time, and usually, nebulous information adopted by months of radio silence from Walt Disney World means certainly one of two issues. The primary is that the plans had been by no means agency to start with, and the announcement was much less an precise announcement and extra a fishing expedition to gauge fan suggestions.
The second is {that a} determination was made out of on excessive and the announcement was fast-tracked for…causes unknown. The choice-makers moved with out regard for logistical impediments or hurdles, and people tasked with really doing the factor needed to scramble to determine how mentioned factor can be executed.
Should you’ve been a fan for some time, you may most likely consider cases of each occurrences. It’s typically apparent from the surface, even with out the good thing about inside data. Bulletins that merely appeared like a kind of two situations, with corresponding cancellations (often quiet!) or slow-moving adjustments that ‘evolve’ from announcement to roll-out as operational realities are found in real-time.
The excellent news is that this isn’t the primary state of affairs. Advance reserving of Lightning Lanes continues to be progressing by way of improvement–it hasn’t been quietly killed. The dangerous information is that, clearly, early 2024 got here and went with out pre-arrival Lightning Lanes being launched. Right here, it’s the second state of affairs at play.
For our half, we’ve heard credible rumors about pre-arrival Lightning Lanes during the last ~9 months. The diploma to which this data continues to be correct may be very unclear (it can not all be, since a few of it was conflicting), however the normal sentiment has been that Disney continues to be figuring it out. Should you’ve heard “rumors” concerning the specifics of Lightning Lane pre-bookings, there’s an excellent probability these are already improper.
With that in thoughts, what follows needs to be handled as speculative and isn’t based mostly upon any inside data. These are merely our greatest guesses based mostly upon previous precedent and cheap timelines. Should you aren’t significantly involved with what we expect may occur and solely care about official bulletins and information, it is best to most likely cease studying–we don’t wish to waste your time. You may subscribe to our free e mail e-newsletter for updates when Walt Disney World shares concrete dates & particulars about advance reserving of Lightning Lanes.
For now, listed below are our greatest guesses as to timelines and different related particulars…
When it comes to a launch date, we’ve been predicting for some time now that an overhaul to Incapacity Entry Service to additional crack down on abuse and misuse was a crucial prerequisite for the rollout of Lightning Lane advance bookings. That began final fall with tour teams, and as we mentioned on the time, it was a gap salvo and never the endgame. Our understanding was that extra DAS adjustments had been to return early this 12 months–months in the past.
Quick-forward to mid-April 2024, and the long-awaited announcement that Disney is as soon as once more redoing DAS at Walt Disney World and Disneyland due largely to abuse and proliferation of this system’s use. These adjustments take impact on Could 20, 2024 at Walt Disney World, and on June 18, 2024 at Disneyland Resort.
Despite the fact that there’s no indication that Disneyland goes to get Lightning Lane pre-booking, we point out its DAS rollout date as a result of it’s coming nearly a month after Walt Disney World. That’s potential that’s merely a matter of Disneyland needing extra time for the rollout for no matter motive. It’s additionally potential that Walt Disney World is fast-tracking DAS adjustments as a result of that should occur earlier than Lightning Lane advance bookings can debut.
In a roundabout method, we’ve already coated the “why” of that in our FAQ to Incapacity Entry Service Adjustments at Walt Disney World. In a nutshell, it’s as a result of the vast majority of Lightning Lane customers are DAS visitors, and there are inside considerations concerning the sufficiency of Lightning Lane stock with a pre-booking system. DAS adjustments must happen first to cut back abuse and misuse, and liberate Lightning Lane availability for paying visitors.
That background offers the earliest potential launch date for Lightning Lane pre-arrival bookings: Could 20, 2024. It will make sense to debut the brand new system round then, as that’s additionally one week earlier than Memorial Day, which is the unofficial begin of the summer season vacationer season at Walt Disney World. It’s additionally a few month earlier than Tiana’s Bayou Journey is predicted to open.
This presents a double-edged sword. One facet of that’s the need to launch the advance reserving of Lightning Lanes ASAP in an effort to seize income from these vacation-goers. Nevertheless it’s not simply concerning the cash (though that’s clearly paramount!), it’s additionally about bettering the visitor expertise and satisfaction, together with key metrics like intent to revisit or advocate. That is exactly why that is altering (once more) within the first place–not as a result of a vocal minority of diehard followers left imply YouTube feedback on the DisneyParks channel.
The opposite facet of rolling out in time for summer season is that it must be executed proper and with out hiccups, glitches, or bugs. Walt Disney World gained’t see visitor satisfaction advantages if the brand new system launches in the identical form as the unique Genie+ did again in October 2021.
Personally, I don’t assume a Could 20, 2024 launch is probably going for advance Lightning Lane journey reservations. For one factor, that might be completely atrocious optics. Disney is positioning these DAS adjustments as being aimed toward curbing abuse and misuse, which is 100% true.
Nevertheless, in the event that they launch the pre-booking of paid Lightning Lanes the very same day, there’s going to be quite a lot of cynicism and criticism about greed and Disney attempting to “pressure” disabled visitors to pay for line skipping. The timing of such a launch would, itself, give rise to additional abuse as visitors would deem DAS adjustments as having ulterior motives and would thus justify attempting to acquire DAS fraudulently.
That alone is motive sufficient to not roll out pre-arrival Lightning Lanes on or earlier than Could 20, 2024. However that isn’t the one motive! One other is that Disney must see the outcomes of the DAS adjustments and the way they influence Lightning Lanes earlier than finalizing these plans. Once more, the rumors we’ve heard about pre-arrival Lightning Lanes instructed they “couldn’t” occur till DAS modified.
Based mostly on the totality of that, we’ll supply a few totally different predictions for the launch of Lightning Lane advance reserving. The primary is an announcement in early to mid-Could 2024 with a launch in late June 2024. That might be savvy as a result of each the announcement and rollout are distanced from the DAS adjustments, avoiding that information cycle to no less than a point.
That is essentially the most logical timing if Walt Disney World is in a rush to debut pre-arrival Lightning Lanes and desires the system prepared by the summer season vacationer season. It will give Disney a while between announcement, implementation of DAS adjustments, and debut of Lightning Lane pre-bookings. It additionally means pre-booking can be obtainable for the debut of Tiana’s Bayou Journey in Magic Kingdom.
We’ll name this the “race in opposition to the clock” timeline. Up to now, Walt Disney World wished to keep away from a rushed rollout to attenuate issues, however which will now not be the case. In any case, the unique plan was to have the DAS adjustments take impact a number of months in the past and pre-arrival Lightning Lanes debut not lengthy afterwards. Walt Disney World is already months behind on that, and will search to make up for misplaced time by fast-tracking the announcement and roll-out schedule.
The second state of affairs for pre-arrival journey reservations rolling out is after the summer season season is over, someday between mid-August and September 2024. That is the extra measured strategy, permitting for Walt Disney World to research the outcomes of the DAS adjustments and doubtlessly make extra tweaks to this, and likewise the pre-arrival Lightning Lane reserving system.
If Walt Disney World deems the system not prepared for summer season and desires a good period of time to ‘tender launch’ Lightning Lane advance bookings earlier than the busier (and profitable) months of October by way of December arrive, that provides them about two full months of runway. It’s a timeframe that makes quite a lot of sense, and we may see different further ‘visitor expertise enhancements’ on or round that date, even when Lightning Lane pre-arrivals don’t begin then.
For my part, these two situations are the earliest and newest timeframes for the launch of pre-arrival Lightning Lanes. And actually, there’s an excellent probability of any dates in between being what really finally ends up taking place. For one factor, the summer season season is common with vacationers however not that busy, so it wouldn’t be a ‘trial by hearth’ kind of state of affairs–nothing like launching throughout Easter, Thanksgiving, or Christmas weeks. For one more factor, as talked about above, all of that is already months not on time. At this level, Walt Disney World may simply wish to get this over with, and can rush the rollout as quickly as they’re comfy that the brand new system goes to work.
As for after we’ll get an announcement, my expectation is that the announcement happens roughly 30-40 days upfront of the adjustments–most likely not a lot kind of. They should give adequate time for planners with journeys on the horizon to make their journey reservations, however we suspect that’ll be about all of the lead-time given.
Just about every little thing else can be unknown about advance reserving of Lightning Lanes, together with what number of days previous to arrival visitors will be capable to make journey reservations. Below FastPass+, it was a 60 day window for on-site and 30 day for off-site.
Our expectation is that it’ll be a a lot shorter timeframe than that, however far sufficient upfront that folks with weeklong journeys can e-book Lightning Lanes upfront. If we needed to guess, it’d be 7 days vs. 3 days or 14 days vs. 7 days. It’s potential that pre-booking will solely be obtainable to on-site visitors.
One large “clue” concerning the reserving window may come through Walt Disney World’s up to date cancellation coverage for subsequent 12 months. Starting January 1, 2025, visitors should cancel no less than 8 days earlier than the arrival date to obtain a full refund with no penalty, a rise from the present 5-day discover. This modification could possibly be unrelated, but it surely maybe not. It’d be a great way to shut a loophole and forestall visitors from making resort reservations for the Lightning Lane pre-booking benefit, solely to later cancel the resort.
As for the timing of the announcement, the debut of Genie+ is definitely considerably instructive right here. It would really feel like historical historical past now, however the unique same-day Lightning Lane system debuted on October 19, 2021. That date was revealed on October 8–just one week forward of time–after first being introduced on August 18, 2021.
The announcement and lack of particulars may sound considerably just like the state of affairs for advance reserving, besides on a extra drawn out timeline this go-round. It kind of is, however with one vital distinction (past the silence measured in months slightly than weeks): advance-booking of Lightning Lanes essentially requires extra lead-time between announcement and roll-out than same-day bookings.
There are quite a lot of classes that had been realized from Genie+ and issues that may be gleaned for its rocky rollout. The primary is pretty apparent, which is to not rush the launch of a product that isn’t prepared for primetime. Disney has taken this to coronary heart, and it undoubtedly helps that there’s as soon as once more management in Burbank that’s extra cautious and methodical.
One other is to not make a substantive announcement that’ll increase extra questions than it solutions…except you’re additionally able to reply these questions! Personally, I feel Walt Disney World ought to’ve shared a follow-up about advance reserving of Lightning Lanes by now, even when it was only a easy, “that is nonetheless coming later in 2024, keep tuned.” That might’ve put some minds comfy, and would’ve been the courteous factor to do.
However I can perceive the choice to not maintain teasing what the brand new program would entail. As soon as that rubicon is crossed, they should be prepared to clarify the way it’ll work in full and have solutions to each conceivable query. Genie+ was by no means going to be a fan-favorite just by advantage of going from free to paid–but it surely was additional doomed by that rocky rollout. Whilst Genie+ has markedly improved over the previous couple of years, it’s nonetheless extensively reviled.
Walt Disney World is aware of that something in need of going again to free FastPass goes to fall quick for some followers, but it surely’s nonetheless potential to win folks over on the brand new advance reserving Lightning Lane system if the launch is dealt with effectively. That’s gotta be the objective right here, with each step taken to make sure success. You solely get one probability at a primary impression, or so my grandma says.
You may discover that we’ve repeatedly referred to the advance reserving of Lightning Lanes as a “new system.” This isn’t by mistake. As mentioned in Walt Disney World May Repair the Visitor Expertise by Enhancing These Issues, we view the Genie “model” as irrevocably tainted.
Genie+ is a a poisonous identify on par with Monsanto, Philip Morris, Comcast, or Robert Chapek. Whereas it’s definitely potential that the advance reserving of Lightning Lanes will merely slot into the prevailing Genie+ system that might, frankly, be an terrible thought. Break from the previous and the entire badwill related to Genie, and make it one thing new totally. There’s gotta be one thing salvageable from the FastPass+ or MaxPass infrastructure that could possibly be recycled and function the inspiration for the what’s outdated is new once more (however now paid) system.
Lastly, we additionally count on there to be an on-site benefit and particular providing for Membership Stage visitors…ultimately. What’ll be attention-grabbing is whether or not that is supplied at launch, or rolls out later as soon as Walt Disney World realizes they should do extra to maneuver the needle on occupancy numbers.
In the end, there are quite a lot of different unknowns and Walt Disney World followers will undoubtedly have a ton of questions on advance reserving of Lightning Lanes. Clearly, we can not give definitive solutions to any of these. What we are able to say is that our expectation is that advance reserving of Lightning Lanes finally ends up wanting lots like FastPass+ however paid and with totally different guidelines (journey tiers, reserving timelines, and so on). So look again to FastPass+ should you’re wanting some semblance of certainty about the way forward for Lightning Lanes. Past that, we’ll maintain you posted and share specifics as quickly as we be taught extra, so keep tuned!
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YOUR THOUGHTS
What do you consider Lightning Lane pre-booking coming to Walt Disney World? Every other issues we did not keep in mind or particulars we missed/obtained improper? Will you buy a model of paid FastPass if it permits for pre-planning and making some picks forward of your journey? 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 attention-grabbing to us and useful to different readers, so please share your ideas beneath within the feedback!
