LL Premier Pass is here!

[jennab]

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

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

Oh ok. I hated the paper FP. You had to run around and grab them, which was very annoying, and to me even worse than hitting refresh on the phone. At least with the electronic version you don’t have to run all over the park to secure your spot for later.

 

[Minnie1222]

Seriously? The only reason we had to manually grab the paper FP was because our phones did NOT have the technology to do the virtual grabbing like today.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Oh ok. I hated the paper FP. You had to run around and grab them, which was very annoying, and to me even worse than hitting refresh on the phone. At least with the electronic version you don’t have to run all over the park to secure your spot for later.

You don't have to physically go from place to place but depending on the times you get/are available you may be doing a lot of moving from one part of the park to the other when it's time to redeem those return time but some of this is due to someone's strategy.

If you're trying to get attractions that may have long waits that may mean selecting attractions that are not close to each other. I haven't used Genie+ as we chose not to in 2022 nor have I been back since LLMP/LLSP started but I criss-crossed with FP+, with MP, and recently last week with DPA and 40th anniversary and standby pass at TDR especially when it came to Fantasy Springs area which is quite a hike from most other stuff but you can't enter that land unless you have a standby pass or a DPA so you're really at the mercy of what you can get. One of the few selections we did that worked well was Beauty and the Beast, then Buzz Lightyear, then Baymax as they were all close together and so were their return times. But my experience is with trying to work in less waits at higher demand attractions you're probably doing a lot of walking around to accomplish this.

 

[Minnie1222]

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

Of course not! Apps were not invented at that time.

 

[jennab]

You don't have to physically go from place to place but depending on the times you get/are available you may be doing a lot of moving from one part of the park to the other when it's time to redeem those return time but some of this is due to someone's strategy.

If you're trying to get attractions that may have long waits that may mean selecting attractions that are not close to each other. I haven't used Genie+ as we chose not to in 2022 nor have I been back since LLMP/LLSP started but I criss-crossed with FP+, with MP, and recently last week with DPA and 40th anniversary and standby pass at TDR especially when it came to Fantasy Springs area which is quite a hike from most other stuff but you can't enter that land unless you have a standby pass or a DPA so you're really at the mercy of what you can get. One of the few selections we did that worked well was Beauty and the Beast, then Buzz Lightyear, then Baymax as they were all close together and so were their return times. But my experience is with trying to work in less waits at higher demand attractions you're probably doing a lot of walking around to accomplish this.

When we did FP and G+ I’d either schedule some that were close to one another, or schedule them apart so I could do some rides/attractions in one area before moving on. I didn’t have a ton of experience with the paper version, our son was a baby then, but I remember having to “run” to the machines to get a ticket with return times which was no fun!

 

[Dave006]

Oh ok. I hated the paper FP. You had to run around and grab them, which was very annoying, and to me even worse than hitting refresh on the phone. At least with the electronic version you don’t have to run all over the park to secure your spot for later.

Well when the original FP system started in 1999 there were no consumer Smartphones and no MDE app. There was no option but to run around to the kiosks.

Seriously? The only reason we had to manually grab the paper FP was because our phones did NOT have the technology to do the virtual grabbing like today.

Yes you made my day. Disney has always been an early technology but even they did not invent the Smartphone and some would argue that they are still figuring out how to use the Cloud and MDE today.

Dave

 

[jennab]

Seriously? The only reason we had to manually grab the paper FP was because our phones did NOT have the technology to do the virtual grabbing like today.

I prefer virtual grabbing versus running all over the park grabbing (same with DAS - was also a pain to have to go all the way to the ride to get a return time). Much easier to grab online then not head over to the areas until it’s time to ride.

 

[marmentrout85]

I'm just glad that LLPP didn't fully replace LLMP. Seems like a bad value compared to using LLMP + LLSP from a straight cost per ride perspective.

A ride on Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, for example, could be $11 using Lightning Lane Single Pass. But it turns into slightly over $18/ride if I'm buying Lightning Lane Premier on its cheapest day (dividing the cost of LLPP by the total number of LL experiences at MK), and that's not only for Seven Dwarfs Mine Train obviously. There's no way I would ever pay $18 to ride Winnie the Pooh, or Peter Pan, or Buzz Lightyear, etc. The only ride it does appear to give a little discount on is Tron.

Anyway, It's a very specific product for a very specific scenario and I'm not bothered by it. I will say that if I'm ever paying a price like that I would expect it would be an Unlimited type of pass, having zero restrictions on how many times you can ride/experience any given Lightning Lane attraction. I personally would probably just ride Cosmic Rewind all day long

 

[Spoisal]

Now, I wouldn't want to go back to the paper FP, but at the time we didn't know what we were missing. I remember it being fun getting those paper passes - maybe I am only remembering the good times LOL ...also, lots of times we would just send the kids to get them

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

When we did FP and G+ I’d either schedule some that were close to one another, or schedule them apart so I could do some rides/attractions in one area before moving on. I didn’t have a ton of experience with the paper version, our son was a baby then, but I remember having to “run” to the machines to get a ticket with return times which was no fun!

We didn't really use Legacy FP much at all, we didn't feel the need to, you just walked around to the attraction you wanted looked up to see if the wait time was okay and made a decision. I remember getting one for splash for sure. Thinking to attractions we missed out on TSMM is really the only one that comes to mind because Legacy FPs went out very fast for that but we were able to ride it in the last few mins of park operation times, in the Legacy FP days that attraction never dropped (according to Disney's posted wait time) below 75mins from what we saw on the trip in 2011. These days it's not quite as easy as walking up 5 mins before park close.

I liked MP at DLR, it wasn't that I liked the paid aspect (I hated that part on principle) but that they had BOTH Legacy FP (that's the paper ones) alongside digital ones so it had a bit more fairness to it and sometimes we pulled a paper FPs over using the digital. The first time we went in March 2019 Paint the Night FPs were not digital and you had to go to a particular kiosk to pick up a paper one. By September 2019 it was allowed to also be selected through MP on your phone.

Once they went to digital I think people forget that strategies become more complicated and more varied especially with WDW as it has 4 parks so park hopping takes on a different touring style often. It's pretty well understood with a paper, must get to the attraction kiosk, way the later you show up the less likely availability will be. But just because it went digital did not mean you weren't having to go far distances to redeem your attractions. The competition to get the times you want are IMO more fierce with digital as opposed to paper, you're competing with every person out there who has access to it. Though IMO I like how DL (and I'm assuming this is the case still) and TDR has maintained that you need to be tapped into the park before obtaining anything, that really makes it fairer, though at TDR it did mean we showed up at the park at 6:30am-7am for a 9am opening (that opened really 15-30mins before that).

 

[jennab]

Thinking to attractions we missed out on TSMM is really the only one that comes to mind because Legacy FPs went out very fast for that but we were able to ride it in the last few mins of park operation times, in the Legacy FP days that attraction never dropped (according to Disney's posted wait time) below 75mins from what we saw on the trip in 2011. These days it's not quite as easy as walking up 5 mins before park close.

This is my memory of the paper FPs . Rushing to TSMM, maybe that’s why I don’t have fond memories of it. Was like running with the masses.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

This is my memory of the paper FPs . Rushing to TSMM, maybe that’s why I don’t have fond memories of it. Was like running with the masses.

That seems to be the memory of many here on the boards

 

[jennab]

Now, I wouldn't want to go back to the paper FP, but at the time we didn't know what we were missing. I remember it being fun getting those paper passes - maybe I am only remembering the good times LOL ...also, lots of times we would just send the kids to get them

Maybe I would have felt differently if I wasn’t with a 1yr old and could send someone else. Haha