Disney Mulls Making Lightning Lanes Less Complex
Disney guests who are the “designated scroller” tasked with managing Lightning Lane reservations aren’t having as much fun as their families, according to a new piece in the Wall Street Journal.
The article, titled Disney Is the Happiest Place on Earth, Unless You’re the Designated Scroller, is premised on how “one person in every party has to manically book and revise ride reservations on their phone” in order “to avoid endless lines.” The author spoke with a handful of guests who aired their grievances about Lightning Lane Multi-Pass.
Frankly, most of it is uninteresting. If you’ve been in the fan community for the last few years, you’ve already encountered (almost) everything discussed there…and a whole lot more! It’s just a series of anecdotes, and reads as if the author visited Disneyland for the 70th, “discovered” Lightning Lanes, and is reporting on this new-to-him thing as if it’s new to everyone.
In fairness, Lightning Lanes probably are new to the more mainstream audience of the WSJ. They’re not immersed in this stuff, and any chance to repackage the tried-and-true “Disney is too complicated” or “Disney is too expensive” narratives are opportunities on which generalist publications will pounce.
These articles resonate with that readership, who can then look down their noses at people who visit theme parks, as opposed to real places, as chumps. Those infamous Childless Disney Adults are at it again! Mainstream media knows that it can spoon-feed its oh-so-sophisticated audience what it wants to hear to make them feel better about their superior tastes and spending. Confirmation bias is a helluva drug! But I digress.
Buried in the anecdotes about a guest who was the Lightning Lane manager for a group of 19 family members having a lot to juggle (gee, ya think?!) was one worthwhile tidbit. Disney Experiences Chair Thomas Mazloum said about the complexity of Lightning Lane: “This is something we are looking at as we consider ways to simplify the guest experience.”
This is new and potentially notable, and worthy of dissection.
Our Commentary on Complexity Complaints
For starters, I want to acknowledge that my, ahem, slightly cynical commentary about mainstream media reporting on Walt Disney World and Disneyland isn’t because they’re wrong. They’re not wrong, just condescending.
Walt Disney World and Disneyland absolutely have problems with complexity. We’ve covered this in countless posts, most notably the Top 10 Guest Complaints About Walt Disney World. Until last year, we had been receiving negative reader feedback at a historically high rate for the previous 5 years. Complaints remain common, but are below all-time highs. It would seem that things are turning a corner.
Nevertheless, the #4 entry on last year’s version of the biggest complaints list was “too much screen time.” Refreshing for better Lightning Lanes. Mobile Order for counter service restaurants and Walk-up Waitlist for new table service availability. Looking at wait times and showtimes. And so on and so forth.
On top of that, the #8 entry was “death of spontaneity” and the #1 entry was “it didn’t feel like a vacation.” Those are both essentially variations on Walt Disney World being too complicated, feeling more like MCU-style homework than a relaxing vacation, due to all of the screen time, technology, and everything you need to know or do over the course of the trip.
Given that list and its entries, it should be abundantly clear where we stand on all of this. Don’t misconstrue any of the above or below as a defense of Disney. The complaints are absolutely valid, which is why we could see new Disney Parks Chair Thomas Mazloum doing more to address these concerns. It seems like simplicity actually is important to him.
Against that backdrop, my perception is that complaints have cooled because things have improved in the last couple of years. From my personal perspective, elements of the guest experience have gotten better and, critically, easier.
Lightning Lane Multi-Pass replaced Genie+ two years ago. Once the details were digested by fans, and the initial confusion and concerns that accompany any major change were addressed, it has largely been smooth sailing. LLMP is not simple, but it’s simpler than its predecessor.
Genie went from being a top “issue” to barely registering on the laundry list of fan complaints. To the extent that Lightning Lanes still come up, it’s usually a matter of (understandable!) fan frustration that free FastPass now costs money. And often, a lot of money.
What Disney Leadership Has Said Previously
During a media briefing we attended at the start of summer, leadership from the Walt Disney World Product Management, Guest Experience, and Commercial Strategy departments discussed many of these topics. They also offered us a sneak peek of the upcoming app changes and website changes to further simplify the guest experience.
Walt Disney World shared with us that they’ve seen measurable improvements in guest satisfaction as a result of the changes that they’ve already made. For example, combining “Today’s Plans” and “Future Plans” into the cohesive “My Plans” flow on MDX improved ease of use by 8%. Streamlining the ADR booking flow and search improved guest satisfaction by 5%.
More to the point, switching from Genie+ to Lightning Lanes coupled with the shift from day-of booking to pre-arrival reservations led to double-digit gains in both ease of use and overall experience. I’m not surprised by this in the least. We knew that GSAT scores were a big driver behind the switch from Genie+ to Lightning Lane Multi-Pass and Single Pass, even if a vocal minority of power users (us included!) preferred the same-day system.
There was nothing we were shown during this presentation that suggested any meaningful overhaul of Lightning Lanes was on the horizon. To the contrary, the implicit framing was that the switch to pre-arrival Lightning Lanes was the first piece of a puzzle that paved the way for other upcoming updates.
Similar sentiment is also reflected in our post: Is Lightning Lane Multi Pass Worth It at Disney World?
As shared there, I personally would not purchase Lightning Lane Multi-Pass right now, and in fact, I have not in any of my park days in the last two months. This isn’t because the system has become more difficult to use. To the contrary, I feel it’s gotten easier across the board.
Instead, it’s because fewer guests are skipping the line, and are instead in the regular line. Standby lines are moving more fluidly and wait times are lower, both because attendance is down and due to fewer guests in the Lightning Lanes, being prioritized and pulled in front of standby lines. Even as Lightning Lanes are “non-negotiable” for many fans, they don’t need to be. You can have the best guest experience in ~5 years by simply opting out of Lightning Lanes completely.
The big problem among fans is that the FOMO/FUD factor makes it difficult to opt-out of line-skipping. And then once you’ve purchased Lightning Lane Multi-Pass, there’s that compulsion to check the My Disney Experience app regularly, playing the refresh game.
Of course, all of that is about Walt Disney World. The WSJ piece seems to revolve around Disneyland. And the Lightning Lane Multi-Pass system there is just Genie+ but with a new name. It’s also mostly the same as MaxPass before that.
Earlier this year, we attended a different event with (then) Disneyland President Thomas Mazloum. Resort leadership shared plans for the future, and changes they’ve made over the last year to improve the guest experience. We’ve covered that in multiple posts:
- Disney’s Positive New Changes Aimed at Attracting More Middle Class Families
- Disney Addresses Third Biggest Guest Complaint, Decreasing Downtime for 1.5 Million More Rides!
- All-Day Park Hopping Returning to Disneyland
- Disney’s Ongoing Guest Service Recovery After 60% of Cast Members Hired for Reopening
One of the throughlines of that roundtable was simplicity. Mazloum hit on a desire to simplify the guest experience, removing as much friction as possible. This would seem to support his Lightning Lane quote. However, he also drilled on demographics, distinguishing Disneyland from Walt Disney World on multiple occasions (also addressed in The Writing Is On The Wall for MagicBands).
Suffice to say, my read from that was not to expect any Lightning Lane changes at Disneyland. Given that they’re still using essentially the same system that predates COVID, it’s difficult to envision any changes. Pre-arrival Lightning Lane selections at Disneyland strikes me as an absolute non-starter, and it certainly wouldn’t reduce complexity.
Why Would Disney Change Lightning Lanes Again?
So what, if anything, has changed since these media briefings? The most straightforward explanation is that the WSJ reached out to Disney for comment and, not wanting a negative article to go unanswered, Disney opted to offer a vaguely reassuring “we’re listening” line. In other words, it is meaningless.
That’s always a possibility in situations like this, but I’m skeptical. As we’ve pointed out elsewhere, CEO Josh D’Amaro and Parks Chair Thomas Mazloum have now been in their new jobs for over 100 days. It wouldn’t be controversial to say that it’s been an uneventful few months from the perspective of the guest experience.
Admittedly, we were hoping for more. Walt Disney World and Disneyland made measurable improvements shortly after Bob Iger returned as CEO, replacing Bob Chapek. Iger was reportedly “alarmed” by price increases at Walt Disney World and concerned that Chapek was “killing the soul” of Disney.
He acted accordingly, making several changes one month later to improve the guest experience at both Walt Disney World and Disneyland, like bringing back free overnight self-parking at on-site resort hotels, adding on-ride photos to the Lightning Lane service, relaxing reservations rules, and more. An additional round of guest-friendly changes were announced several months later that undid more of the damage.
Although there isn’t really the same degree of “damage” to undo, our hope was to see something similar at the start of the D’Amaro/Mazloum regime change. We’ve been expecting a similar package of guest friendly changes as D’Amaro seeks to win over fans and set the tone for his tenure as CEO. (See 11 Great Changes Josh D’Amaro Could Make for Big Wins as New CEO, which covers Walt Disney World.)
My gut is that some of this is still to come. That Disney has some surprises that are being saved for the 2026 D23 Expo and beyond. The types of things that will be wins with theme park fans, keeping the honeymoon with the new leadership going strong.
How Walt Disney World Could Simplify Lightning Lanes
In the case of simplifying Lightning Lanes, it’s the “and beyond” portion that’s probably pertinent. Short of bringing back free FastPass (yeah right!), that’s simply not a D23 Expo-caliber announcement.
However, positive Lightning Lane changes are often announced around the time of the annual price increase in mid-October as an offset, of sorts. Whatever happens then, if anything, will probably be better characterized as a tweak or streamlining. That makes more sense to me for cutting complexity in the Lightning Lane systems than does another top-to-bottom overhaul. Everything I’ve heard suggests Disney is now pleased with the overarching systems, making an outright replacement unlikely.
So what is more realistic? One of the big possibilities we’ve already discussed in Magic Kingdom Needs to Lighten Lightning Lane Lineup is rebalancing the Group A selections or eliminating tiers at Magic Kingdom entirely. In that, we speculated that the reason Walt Disney World might not do that is if lengthy refurbishments to Tiana’s Bayou Adventure and/or Space Mountain were on the horizon.
Even if they are, tiers are still unnecessary at Magic Kingdom. Honestly, I might be convinced that tiers have outlived their usefulness, period. EPCOT’s Lightning Lane lineup has gotten better. Ditto Disney’s Hollywood Studios. It’s now the case that all three parks have Tier 2 selections that are more popular than Tier 1! (DAK doesn’t have tiers.)
Most importantly, power-users have fully figured out how to hack Lightning Lane Multi-Pass. They are increasingly adept at booking Tier 2 “burners” to unlock superior same-day selections and playing the refresh game or slots or whatever it’s called.
The argument could be made that the guests who are now disadvantaged by tiers are the inexperienced ones, who tiers were ostensibly designed to ‘protect’ in the first place. Few things would simplify Lightning Lane Multi-Pass within the bounds of the current system as much as eliminating tiers.
I’m not completely convinced there would be no unintended consequences to this when it comes to EPCOT and DHS, but I am for Magic Kingdom. And if Walt Disney World wanted to make a bigger swing for the sake of positive guest experience changes, eliminating tiers across the board strikes me as the most attention-grabbing one.
It would be received favorably by fans, garnering positive headlines and (critically) more Lightning Lane Multi-Pass sales. Not only that, but it would create yet another incentive to stay on-site. The clear consensus on it would be positive even if there are some potential nagging negatives.
Ultimately, my gut is that this quote from Disney Parks Chair Thomas Mazloum about considering ways to simplify Lightning Lanes will result in a partial or complete elimination of Multi-Pass tiers around mid-October 2026. It seems like a no-brainer at Magic Kingdom regardless of whether the Space Mountain rumors are true, and a change worth considering at EPCOT and DHS.
Perhaps the statement was pure fluff in response to the negative mainstream article, but hopefully not. Lightning Lane Multi-Pass tiers have outlived their usefulness, and if there’s one little but impactful way to make things less complicated, it’s that. Of course, there are plenty of other ways. If Mazloum or D’Amaro are seriously concerned with reducing friction and improving the guest experience, we have full lists (plural) of recommendations for them–free of charge, like a figurative FastPass to cutting complexity!
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Your Thoughts
Thoughts on Walt Disney World or Disneyland simplifying Lightning Lane Multi-Pass? Would you like to see pre-arrival ride reservations at DLR, or do you prefer the same-day approach? What about eliminating LLMP tiers at Magic Kingdom, EPCOT or DHS? Do you agree or disagree with our assessment? Any questions we can help you answer? Hearing your feedback–even when you disagree with us–is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!
I’m the “designated scroller” for a small family containing one person who qualifies for (and needs) DAS in order to experience the parks.
My enjoyment of the parks dramatically increased when we set some ground rules around checking and reserving rides (only do it while stopped and relaxing/not while walking or trying to do something else, set a watch timer once a booking has been made so I don’t need to keep checking, etc.). Most importantly, we agreed as a family that the purpose of our trip is to enjoy ourselves, relax, and not feel like we need to schedule every minute with militaristic rigor. After that, we’ve enjoyed the parks a lot more and discovered countless details and areas we’d never noticed.
I’m a firm believer that a Disney vacation (or any other facet of life, for that matter) only has you glued to your smartphone if you choose for it to be that way.
I like how wdw makes it complicated. Can game the system that way.
make it less complicated by getting rid of lightning lane and bring back fast passes!
Bring back paper passes! Give guests a choice: digital or analog.
We just need to go back to ADRs and paper fastpasses. All problems would be solved. You don’t have to reinvent the wheel every year. If things work let them work. Crowd wise I know there are things that simply won’t work from how they were a magical time ago…but honestly…people hated having to preplan everything so they added more walkup/waitlist options and now people are mad about having to be on screens too much to book stuff at the time of. If you don’t want to preplan then fine, hop on the app and look at available ADRs. I’ve not had to do LL for myself but have helped others and it’s annoying. We do DAS for our son and I love it for accessibility reasons and I know it works in the same way and if I were paying for it and it wasn’t a complimentary service it would be annoying for the screen time issue.
Some of us enjoy your digressionspart of what makes me want to read is your personal tone/voice and the “meandering”
is part of the charm
What if they just did away with BOOKING Lightning Lanes entirely, and treated it like another standby line?
You buy LLMP for the day, and then you can scan into each Lightning Lane once…any time you want.
Sure, it would probably mean longer Lightning Lane wait times for a lot of rides. There may be a ~45 minute Lightning Lane wait for Slinky Dog most of the day…but it will still be faster than Standby.
Then the selling point for LLPP (because we’re stuck with THAT, too), is that you get to go to the front of the Lightning Lane.
No idea if that would be BETTER…but it would be SIMPLER.
I don’t think it would be better or simply, honestly.
Without return times, you’d have a far higher concentration of guests using the Lightning Lanes midday, with fewer at the end and beginning. It’d be almost as long as the standby line at times. And retaining LLPP but letting them skip to the front of the Lightning Lane adds a layer of complexity (that wouldn’t even be possible at most attractions).
I agree with you James. There should be a 3 to 1 ratio in favor of standby lines. If the stand by is 45 minutes and the LL is 20 minutes you can choose if now is the right time to use it or not. They could also sell 3 or 4 any ride any time LLs instead of an unlimited number. That makes the LL line shorter over all.
Yeah, I don’t know what the ideal “line skipping” solution is. But I’d take a 30-45 minute “Lightning Lane” wait for Slinky Dog Dash if the alternative is not being able to get one all because it’s always booked up!
I also keep coming back to “LLMP, but when you buy it, you automatically get a time slot for EVERY ride offered.” Don’t like your slot? Too bad. Don’t want to ride everything? Don’t. Keep parties together, obviously. Give everybody longer slots around lunch and dinner. Give everybody one make-up slot later in the day, in case they missed something or something breaks down. Put the slots in an order that minimizes walking distance, if possible. And then just hope there are enough people who won’t go on EVERY ride, so it keeps the LL waits short enough. (That last part is probably the sticking point.)
Every time I see a condescending article on Disney adults I remind myself that millions of people “waste” money on things I place no value on (e.g., sports) and in some cases things that are downright harmful. For example, I saw an article a few days ago that said over 25% of US adults have a daily gambling habit, 42% of gamblers have spent more than they could afford, and a majority of men from 18 to 49 have an active account with an online sportsbook. Therefore, I will continue to enjoy my trips to Disney that I can a) afford and b) enjoy planning.
The proliferation of sports betting still boggles my mind as someone who has been a fan for a while, and remembers the “old days” (less than a decade ago) before it was normalized. I can’t believe the complete 180 the leagues have done on it.
I’d like to think there will be a correction on that, as we as a society realize the harm it’s inflicting. But realistically, the revenue being generated makes it highly unlikely that we’ll ever be able to put the genie back in the bottle. Kind of like going back from paid Lightning Lanes to free FastPass!
Wouldn’t eliminating lightening lane single pass simply things even more?
Yes, that’s one route they could go–but I don’t see that happening given the revenue it generates, and the fact that LLSP has become how they’re “selling” blockbuster new attractions internally. I personally dislike LLSP, but I like the fruits of it, so I’ve mostly shut up about that.
Please spend less time in your articles rambling & more time getting to the point. You seem to always back track & anyone who follows you regularly doesn’t need the back storyline. Most of the time you grab me with your titles but then I keep reading & it drags on & on. I appreciate your efforts but you’ve gotten too lengthy with your writing.
Lol
I appreciate the feedback. In hindsight, I could’ve tightened this one by a few paragraphs by cutting out the WSJ meta-commentary. I actually have been trying to be more concisely lately. Doesn’t always happen, but I am making the effort.
Background is necessary with a lot of articles because many readers have not read past pieces that provide context.
ETA: Just went back and trimmed 150 words out of the post and added three subheadings in the second half. Still might be overly long, but should ramble less!
Please don’t cut the digressions and meanders. Those are very often the best part of your articles, and those who want less probably aren’t the target market for your writing anyway. Plenty of AI-slop options for those who want facts without commentary.
I think they call it “the Disney slots” because YouTubers/podcasters Ear Scouts, who are interviewed in the piece, call the act of refreshing to get better LL times “playing the slots.”
Ah, that makes sense–thanks!
Plus it feels like playing the one armed bandit (dopamine hit included), you pull down and pray and hope to see 7 7 7 (in this case availability for the ride your kids really want to do in the next 2 hours.