Best and Worst Lightning Lanes (timing)

[FallsChurchDad]

A topic I have not seen: what are the best and worst lightning lanes, from a time-saving perspective only -- i.e., in terms of how long the LL line itself typically is, and how long the line for the ride is after the merge? We have seen lots of mentions that waits can still be long for Tron and Guardians, even with VQ, but not anything comprehensive about LL wait times.

Back in the WDW Fastpass days, for example, the fastpass made Mine Train practically a walk-on, while we'd still always have bad luck and end up waiting 20+ minutes for Soarin' with a FP. Is that still the case with Genie+/LL, and which rides should we expect to still possibly wait awhile, even using a LL?

Also, at Universal, wait times with EP were always much higher when the standby wait times were higher (it was more like you save 60-75% of the posted time), whereas WDW seemed to target a certain FP wait time regardless of standby wait. So Peter Pan would take 7-10 minutes total as a FP return, regardless of whether standby wait was 45 or 100 minutes. Is that the case these days?

We've got our first WDW trip in the Genie+ world coming up soon, so there is a lot to learn/un-learn/re-learn. Thanks!

 

[Smugpugmug]

I've waited 25-30 minutes in LL line for Flight of Passage. That ride is low capacity and has a slow load/unload so that definitely contributes to the wait in both lines. The standby wait is usually 80+ minutes so 25 is not that big of a deal.

The wait also doesn't include the time spent in the two preshows as those occur after the merge point.

 

[jimmymc]

The lines are the same, so it will be a similar experience to FP+ days.

While these aren't objective, here are my favorite LLs:

• Big Thunder, Mine Train, Space Mountain, Peter Pan
• Frozen, Guardians in Epcot
• Runaway Railway and Rock n Roller Coaster in Studios
• Everest and Safari in AK

Least favorite

• Haunted Mansion
• Soarin in Epcot
• Tower of Terror and Smuggler's run in Studios
• No bad ones in AK

 

[Tom_E_D]

A topic I have not seen: what are the best and worst lightning lanes, from a time-saving perspective only -- i.e., in terms of how long the LL line itself typically is, and how long the line for the ride is after the merge? We have seen lots of mentions that waits can still be long for Tron and Guardians, even with VQ, but not anything comprehensive about LL wait times.

Back in the WDW Fastpass days, for example, the fastpass made Mine Train practically a walk-on, while we'd still always have bad luck and end up waiting 20+ minutes for Soarin' with a FP. Is that still the case with Genie+/LL, and which rides should we expect to still possibly wait awhile, even using a LL?

Also, at Universal, wait times with EP were always much higher when the standby wait times were higher (it was more like you save 60-75% of the posted time), whereas WDW seemed to target a certain FP wait time regardless of standby wait. So Peter Pan would take 7-10 minutes total as a FP return, regardless of whether standby wait was 45 or 100 minutes. Is that the case these days?

We've got our first WDW trip in the Genie+ world coming up soon, so there is a lot to learn/un-learn/re-learn. Thanks!

The VQ lines at Guardians and Tron are not the same as the LL lines at those rides. A long VQ wait does not equate to a long LL wait.

Here's an article discussing how much time you save with a Genie+ LL: https://touringplans.com/blog/how-much-wait-time-will-i-save-with-genie/

 

[scrappinginontario]

I don't believe the wait times past the merge are any different now from the FP+ days so I would anticipate similar waits to what you experienced in the past.

For VQ attractions it really depends what time your BG is called. The later the BG is called (especially with Tron), the longer our wait time has been. Our average wait for GotG (rode 6 or 7 times) was about 20-25mins to reach the first pre-show room.

 

[FallsChurchDad]

The VQ lines at Guardians and Tron are not the same as the LL lines at those rides. A long VQ wait does not equate to a long LL wait.

Here's an article discussing how much time you save with a Genie+ LL: https://touringplans.com/blog/how-much-wait-time-will-i-save-with-genie/

Of course there was a Touring Plans article from only 6 weeks ago that was exactly what I was looking for! Thank you! Their color-coded table is particularly great.