I just listened to the Dis Unplugged podcast discussing what we know now, and what they are predicting based on their own experience. They'll discuss more on Tuesday's show as well.
1. Virtual queues will still be in play, correct? We’ll still have the ability to get a boarding pass for ROTR (and Remy, and potentially other attractions in the future, like Tron), and not pay?
2. See #1; if we aren’t able to get a boarding pass for one of the VQ attractions, will we have the opportunity to purchase Lightening Lane for them?
3. Will we be able to purchase Genie+ for singular days and for individual people, or is it all or nothing?
4. Do you have to purchase Genie+ to be able to access Lightening Lane?
5. Will this create a scenario where additional attractions won’t have an opportunity for a standby line? (I understand virtual queue attractions already don’t have standby.)
1 & 2: I think this has been clarified now but yes, anyone will still have the option to join the virtual queue. If you're not able to get a timeslot, you'll have the option to purchase them as a Individual Attraction Selection. You can book two IAS per day, from what I understand.
3. Individual and single days seem to be what it is currently. Remains to be seen if they'll have a length of stay/ticket flat price like Max Pass at DL used to have.
4. My understanding is that you will need to have either purchased Genie+ or an IAS, or both. But, yes, only access to LL if you've paid.
5. I doubt that very much. There will be more in the standby lines now than before because presumably fewer people will be using this service than they did the free FP+ one.
8. Which attractions will be G+ attractions and which will be LL attractions? How much will LL cost for each attraction (just having a range for prices would be helpful)?
I would assume the former "Tier 1" attractions under FP+ will translate to IAS attractions. I presume that's what you mean... the rides with the up-charge. Lightning Lane is just the name of the queue that you'll enter whether you're riding a ride under Genie+ or an IAS attraction.
Also wondering if you just lose your money if you pay for a lightning line ride and can’t make your slot- traveling with kiddos the unexpected happens- we’ve had to pay charges when we couldn’t make dining reservations due to weather/kiddos being sick, one more thing we may lose money on due to unforeseen circumstances!
Great point. Another example could be purchasing at 7am (and getting a return time of say 3pm) for ROTR, but whomp whomp, it goes down at 2:30 for the rest of the day.. I'm guessing in this scenario they will refund you, but just another potential hassle.
Good questions. In the past when a ride would go down under FP+, you were offered the option to ride any other ride at your convenience. Perhaps they'll offer the same. I know with other for-cost "fast pass" type services (EP at Universal or MaxPass at DL), if you didn't get your money's worth for whatever reason, that was just the risk you took with the purchase.
The most important question to me right now is: When will this start?
The Dis Unplugged folks were split on this... some thought it made sense to roll out in time for the 50th on October 1st. Others thought it would be way too risky to roll out this new program during one of the busiest times. Especially with the learning curve and potential glitches. I tend to agree with the latter and would guess late October/early November - the lull between the 50th and the holiday season.
