LL Premier Pass is here!

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

It sounds like the scheduling of activities has devalued the product then?

WDW has been a place of pre-scheduling since FP+ was introduced back in 2013/2014 where tiers first originated. The LLMP/LLSP is basically taking it back to FP+ with a few differences. So if you're talking about devaluing you'd have to go back 10 years for that. Granted Legacy FP did not have pre-scheduling but did have strategies people who used it probably employed.

 

[KatieCharlotte]

It sounds like the scheduling of activities has devalued the product then?

It has for me, and is one of the main reasons I have not been back since I was forced to schedule three FP+ (with no additions on the day of, during that fun pilot of FP+) and then started going to Universal, where you schedule nothing except maybe a dinner or two. Flexibility and spontaneity make vacations fun, and make it easier to adjust to everyone's needs at the moment. Now, the scheduling is too last-minute to even reduce any pretrip stress, and requires additional scheduling all day while you are supposed to be having fun at the park. Yes, we had general plans with paper FP, but they involved sending one person speed walking with all the passes, collecting and using FP long after the times, and spontaneous adjustments to the plans, which all just seemed more fun despite being pretty Type A.

But I acknowledge that the real problem is crowds versus capacity, and there is no perfect solution. Except possibly opening a new park and requiring people to buy tickets that will spread out the crowds to all the parks.

 

[JoJoGirl]

You still have to considerably slow down the standby queue if you allow a 25% reduction in LL through.

I don’t see how someone paying $400 a day will be happy standing in line with folk who only paid $30 to stand in the same line. I think Disney will have to decide which to offer

This week I have stood in LL lines with many parties who were with a Plaid. They were all paying a lot more than LLPP, and none of them seemed too upset to be standing in the same line as little old me. Been seeing a lot of Plaids around this week to be sure.

 

[angelmav]

Anybody else land one of these back in the day? We got ours when coming off the HM in MK. These just came to my mind with the discussion on P Pass.
View attachment 906684

The year of a million dreams! Our entire party scored those getting off Goofey’s Barnstormer. We got selected by the ‘Dream Team’! I was so excited I hugged the lady. We walked around the MK like royalty all day. That was the best!

 

[Jrb1979]

This week I have stood in LL lines with many parties who were with a Plaid. They were all paying a lot more than LLPP, and none of them seemed too upset to be standing in the same line as little old me. Been seeing a lot of Plaids around this week to be sure.

For my family, it's not about having to be in line with those who paid less. It's more that if we are paying the amount of money for the Premier pass we expect waits of 5-10 minutes.

By having these many versions of LL available it adds it my wait time.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

For my family, it's not about having to be in line with those who paid less. It's more that if we are paying the amount of money for the Premier pass we expect waits of 5-10 minutes.

By having these many versions of LL available it adds it my wait time.

That's why I was wondering if they would be doing a background adjustment on allotment of LL access, to keep the same numbers as they are now but expect enough sales for it to stay around long term means you would need to adjust to allow more fluidity in people showing up to use the LL line without pre-booking it.

I think everyone who is in the LL is expecting one way or another to get through quick enough. No matter what you paid if that expectation doesn't match, the interest in that product could decrease OR the grumbling about it increase.

 

[Hubalorian]

That's why I was wondering if they would be doing a background adjustment on allotment of LL access, to keep the same numbers as they are now but expect enough sales for it to stay around long term means you would need to adjust to allow more fluidity in people showing up to use the LL line without pre-booking it.

I think everyone who is in the LL is expecting one way or another to get through quick enough. No matter what you paid if that expectation doesn't match, the interest in that product could decrease OR the grumbling about it increase.

The problem still lies within the dissatisfaction with the average guest. Okay, awesome I got TB as my tier 1, now I have to wait 1+ hours for all other big name rides, because of the amount of LLMP & LLPP that are slowing the standby queue down. You are paying for a better ride experience for 1 Tier 1 attraction and paying the consequences on all others is what I am gathering.

 

[Dave006]

Anybody else land one of these back in the day? We got ours when coming off the HM in MK. These just came to my mind with the discussion on P Pass.

Yes we got those in August 2008 when we were at the MK for my daughter's birthday. We got off Winnie the Pooh and a CM was waiting with lanyards for our entire group.

Dave

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

The problem still lies within the dissatisfaction with the average guest. Okay, awesome I got TB as my tier 1, now I have to wait 1+ hours for all other big name rides, because of the amount of LLMP & LLPP that are slowing the standby queue down. You are paying for a better ride experience for 1 Tier 1 attraction and paying the consequences on all others is what I am gathering.

I'm more or less commenting on it with the idea that they are keeping both systems (LL Premier Pass and LLSP/LLMP) around., to me something has to give there to account for the unpredictableness of the LL lines with having a product that allows people to just show up but also having a system where people are on a fixed schedule. Trust me I would rather it be Universal's system of standby and one other system rather than the convolutedness that Disney prefers.

 

[Disturbia]

To be fair even the VIPs have to stand in the LL line. However over Jersey week the LL wait for Winnie the Pooh was wrapping around and SDMT was 40 mins.

At DL radiator springs was down all day per the report for LLPP but they used it on every other ride they wanted.

https://www.disneyfoodblog.com/2024...d-i-didnt-even-get-to-go-on-my-favorite-ride/

 

[DisneyFive]

The problem still lies within the dissatisfaction with the average guest. Okay, awesome I got TB as my tier 1, now I have to wait 1+ hours for all other big name rides, because of the amount of LLMP & LLPP that are slowing the standby queue down. You are paying for a better ride experience for 1 Tier 1 attraction and paying the consequences on all others is what I am gathering.

Not sure what you are saying here. Are you implying that you only get one good tier one out of LLMP? If so that goes against virtually everything I’m seeing from vloggers and folks on this site. If you have LLMP in our experience with the previous systems you continue to use that for almost all LL, especially those that typically have longer waits. You then fill in with attractions that have low standby waits regardless

 

[KatieCharlotte]

The year of a million dreams! Our entire party scored those getting off Goofey’s Barnstormer. We got selected by the ‘Dream Team’! I was so excited I hugged the lady. We walked around the MK like royalty all day. That was the best!

We got them at Epcot. The only.time we fastpassed Living with the Land, which my son loved when he was little. I felt guilty when we used the Soarin, because we'd already fastpassed it, the line was hours long, and the fastpasses were gone for the day.

 

[bookbabe626]

It sounds like the scheduling of activities has devalued the product then?

Yes, at least for people who don’t or can’t rope drop, and/or who hate the scheduling aspect.

If you get to the park first thing in the morning and are okay spending the time on your phone shuffling things, I think LLMP generally works well or at least okay for those people.

If you are like us and almost never hit the parks before late afternoon, it’s almost impossible to do more than one, maybe two if it’s slow, Tier 1 rides with LLMP. You have to decide ahead of time whether to ride Frozen or Rat on an Epcot day, because even when it’s slow the LL for the one you don’t pick will likely be gone by the time you get there, especially with Test Track closed. That wasn’t an issue with G+, since you were booking a new LL every two hours, even if you hadn’t arrived yet, so you could get better rides while they were still available early on in the day.

We are looking forward to LLPP, I think it will work much better for our touring style.

 

[bookbabe626]

Not sure what you are saying here. Are you implying that you only get one good tier one out of LLMP? If so that goes against virtually everything I’m seeing from vloggers and folks on this site. If you have LLMP in our experience with the previous systems you continue to use that for almost all LL, especially those that typically have longer waits. You then fill in with attractions that have low standby waits regardless

Yes, that’s been our experience because we don’t arrive until late afternoon. Most Tier 1 LL are gone or are right at park close by the time we tap into our first one.

At Epcot last week, for example, we prebooked Frozen and would have been able to get Soarin for 8-9pm but we didn’t want to stay that late. Rat was long gone. Yes, we could get Figment and Seas, but generally you don’t really need a LL for those, although skipping 15 min waits still adds up to a good time savings. The experience is much the same at DHS, a bit better at MK just due to the volume of rides, and a bit worse at AK because there’s so few rides.

Luckily, we are in a position where we can afford to buy LLMP even if it’s not getting us on all the rides we’d like to do, but I think LLPP is going to work much better for us since we will ride everything we want no matter what time we arrive at the park. Plus I won’t need to be messing around on my phone in queues trying to book another LL and I can just enjoy the experience and atmosphere.

 

[DisneyFive]

Yes, that’s been our experience because we don’t arrive until late afternoon. Most Tier 1 LL are gone or are right at park close by the time we tap into our first one.

At Epcot last week, for example, we prebooked Frozen and would have been able to get Soarin for 8-9pm but we didn’t want to stay that late. Rat was long gone. Yes, we could get Figment and Seas, but generally you don’t really need a LL for those, although skipping 15 min waits still adds up to a good time savings. The experience is much the same at DHS, a bit better at MK just due to the volume of rides, and a bit worse at AK because there’s so few rides.

Luckily, we are in a position where we can afford to buy LLMP even if it’s not getting us on all the rides we’d like to do, but I think LLPP is going to work much better for us since we will ride everything we want no matter what time we arrive at the park. Plus I won’t need to be messing around on my phone in queues trying to book another LL and I can just enjoy the experience and atmosphere.

Ah late afternoon arrival. That explains it. I guess that’s your choice though. Yeah the only system that worked well for that was G+.

So you arrived to Epcot late afternoon and you couldn’t stay till 8 or 9 PM?

I think your situation is fairly unique with late arrival and so few hours in the park.

Do what works for you though. I can see this premium pass being very useful with your style.

 

[skater]

I haven't posted for many years, though I occasionally read a few posts - I love to see various opinions on many topics. I've been waiting to take grandkids for a while and finally have a couple who will soon be preschool age. Honestly, as much as I can't believe I'm writing these thoughts, I will probably choose another type of vacation to give to the grandkids. The golden years where I took my kids every year (and sometimes twice) are gone. There are many young families today who don't realize how amazing it was when FP was free and easy to grab (and you didn't have to stare at a phone and agonize over your chances of getting your next pass). I wish that my son's family could have the opportunity to enjoy the magic and spontaneity that used to exist at WDW.

I've acclimated to most of the changes for myself (though even that is not as much fun these days), but it just doesn't seem fun to me to do this for grandkids and adult kids. And when I look at the cost to take the kids on an alternative and unique vacation vs. the cost at Disney (if you want to give them the experience minus crazy lines), it just doesn't make sense anymore. (Won't go into details, but we also have someone who used to qualify for DAS, so it would be hard for that person too). The only exception I can see is to take them in early September when crowds are not super crazy. That could work.

I understand that I could shell out the big bucks for something similar to the old magic, but at that point, I'm looking at an exotic vacation that would be even more amazing than Disney. I'm not lying when I say that an 8 night Disney World trip used to cost my family less than going to a semi-local beach (free dining time).

It's okay that there are different opinions out there and that you may not agree with me. These are my thoughts as of this moment. Who knows how I'll feel in the future.

 

[bookbabe626]

Ah late afternoon arrival. That explains it. I guess that’s your choice though. Yeah the only system that worked well for that was G+.

So you arrived to Epcot late afternoon and you couldn’t stay till 8 or 9 PM?

I think your situation is fairly unique with late arrival and so few hours in the park.

DH has a short tolerance for crowds and lines. I can get about 3-4 hours out of him, maybe a few more if the weather isn’t too hot/wet/cold. However, he makes up for it with frequency. We go at least monthly, and the budget is pretty flexible. So, yeah, I’m totally the target audience for the new LLPP. His previous solution for a better line skipping option was getting on the wait list for Club 33, so the cost of the PP looks cheap in comparison, and it’s actually buyable right away by mere mortals. ;-)

 

[jennab]

There are many young families today who don't realize how amazing it was when FP was free and easy to grab (and you didn't have to stare at a phone and agonize over your chances of getting your next pass). I wish that my son's family could have the opportunity to enjoy the magic and spontaneity that used to exist at WDW

Even in the FP days we all had to stare at our phones to try to grab the next FP we wanted and continually refresh. There still wasn’t “spontaneity” then either. I guess I don’t see how that is any better than LLMP? They seem very similar to me.

 

[DisneyFive]

Even in the FP days we all had to stare at our phones to try to grab the next FP we wanted and continually refresh. There still wasn’t “spontaneity” then either. I guess I don’t see how that is any better than LLMP? They seem very similar to me.

I think they are referring to the paper fastpass days pre 2014. I really liked those days too but honestly I think I’ve gotten more out of the versions that work on your phone. I agree that the negative trade off is that you are on your phone more than you would want to be

 

[Spoisal]

Even in the FP days we all had to stare at our phones to try to grab the next FP we wanted and continually refresh. There still wasn’t “spontaneity” then either. I guess I don’t see how that is any better than LLMP? They seem very similar to me.

I think the OP is referring to the original FP ....no phones with that one