It switches over in the middle of our trip 😅. I miss the old school walk up to the fast pass ticket machine, it prints out a ticket with a return time, and then you go along your merry way.
Same. It was easy. Didn't have to look at my phone at all. Just get your ticket enjoy another ride then come back. Why change what wasn't broken? They need to stop having ppl on their phone the whole day just to ride rides. It's ridiculous and stressful. Also need to stop charging to ride a ride.
@@cathinieto39 well not a single other amusement park gives that free… and Disney is much less than those. In addition, choosing fast passes early really isn’t that big a deal. If you don’t want to do it, don’t. Free, in park, fast passes have been gone for years. Time to get over it and get with the times
Why am I the only one who hates the idea of pre booking rides? I’m going to have to wake up at 4 am pacific time and decide a week in advance what rides I’m going to want to ride at which park and at what time for my entire week stay. That’s not how I roll. I just want to go with the flow and see where the day takes me. Sure, I could just wait, but I’d be afraid that all the good lightning lanes would be gone. I don’t even know which days I’ll be in the parks. I’m there seven days, but I only bought a four day park hopper ticket so I could take a rest day whenever I needed. I really hate this need to plan everything at Disney World. This will be my first trip and it’s just so much more complicated than going to Disneyland.
You don't have to pre book but you do have to be prepared to wait in some potentially very long lines. If you don't like it, go to Universal Studios and purchase an Express Pass. No pre booking, no efforts, no getting up a 4:30 am. Just walk in the park and tap your Express Pass as you get in line. Why Universal can make this so easy and Disney can't is unfathomable. They claim their parks are too busy but I am not buying that excuse.
@@HobbitHobbitI’ll be going to Universal next year for Epic Universe so I decided to visit Disney World this year before they remove Dinoland. I’m a huge Universal Hollywood fan and I love their Express Pass! ❤
This almost forces people to buy Lightning Lanes in advance for the rides with virtual queues. Right now, you can try for a virtual queue, and if you don't get it, you can buy a Lightning Lane, and still ride. Now all the Lightning Lanes will be sold out in advance, so if you don't get a virtual queue, you can't ride.
Yah I think that was a business decision. But we will have to see if thr single pass lightning lanes do end up selling out or there is availability left day of. Until then I guess we just weigh our priorities.
@@IIEX007IIand yet! Still a lower price tag than the other amusement parks for the same service! Everyone is complaining… but nothing is free. And NO amusement park gives you this for free. Time to get over it. You aren’t required to buy it
Visiting DisneyWorld in January, staying in a deluxe Disney Hotel for 2 weeks, spending £9,000+. It’s incredibly unfair that visitors from the UK and overseas can’t book lighting lanes until we arrive in the USA. If Disney are saying it’s because of cross border rules that’s nonsense. We were able to book fast passes for years whilst still in the UK!
If you check the App you are able to mobile order, you can select the food, the card you would like to pay with and you can see the purchase button. So I don't think it is a legal problem.
Internation guest here - I'm devastated about this news! We've saved for 6 years for this once in a lifetime trip, and the possibility of missing out on big attractions because of this new system is terrible. It also seems like poor planning on Disney's part, and international visitors tend to stay longer and therefore spend more on Disney property, so disadvantaging us seems ill advised. Just an idea, has anyone tried using a VPN with the Disney website? Perhaps there's a way around the system...
Even if they don't fix it, you will still be far ahead of most US guests since I assume your trip is longer than just a few days. Start booking for the end of your trip first and you should be fine.
Please make sure when you do your first day test you also test how it is for someone staying off property and show the ride choice options/difference between on property guest vs off property guest.
Thank you so much to the dfb team for working so hard on these videos that you guys post literally every single day! We love you so much and appreciate all your hard work!!
I’m in the U.K. and have a trip planned for October. Am seriously considering cancelling now. I don’t see we can work around this. I’ll wait to see once it goes live if people are able to use a VPN to do this, but if not, I’ll probably cancel.
I love spending a dozen hours learning how and when to book rides only to find out I have to forget all that and play it by ear since I start my trip on the first day of the change. 🤣
Defunctland did a fantastic breakdown on exactly how and why this system stunk. Disney basically going back to the Fastpass+ system is going to make standby lines much worse, just in time for peak season. I dont like it.
Ya only you cant compare any of them. The flaw in comparison is Fastpass everyone had for FREE. Pay to win came in and the new fastpass system doenst include A level rides. Also it isnt free.
Just want to thank you for these videos. You also recommended small world travel agents and she had been an amazing help in getting our trip booked and answered any other questions we had. I haven't been to Disney in over 30 years and so much has changed but excited to go in a few months
@@dfbbreea because we just booked I haven't heard mentioned in any videos but starting in 2025 (we arrive January 2) people staying at Disney resorts geta in free to one of the water parks on the day of their arrival.
Man, disney trips have always been expensive, but arguably worth it in the past when they had free fast passes, airport transportation if you were staying on site, and overall focused on truly making it a a magical experience. I feel like in the last 5-10 years that has all gone away.
If you are an international guest I would suggest raising a complaint with guest services as soon as possible. Maybe if enough people complain they will change the unfair policy.
I'm going literally the day this comes out haha so it could be worse lol I love the plan ahead feature but idk if I will get it because it's the day it starts.
What are they thinking?? They must literally be brainstorming ways to extort as much money as possible from people. NO-ONE can genuinely think this is better for guest experiences than the pre-Genie+ system.
International Australian here. Never been to WDW - going in Oct Thank you DFB for all the help & videos massively appreciated I have complained to Disney about the International issue. I would like to see a few scenario's tested 1. Book 2 returns times late in the day - if available & then just use the 1 ride to keep using & rebooking 2. Should you have 1 morning, 1 midday, 1 evening - interested to see whats available 3. How crowd numbers in the morning are then impacted - given potentially ppl will turn up earlier now they can't stack LL 4. If all 3 rides have to booked in the morning- granted wait to see whats available - is that better than the above options 5. Interested to see if Disney release a new set of LL 3 days out and then day of or would the rides just get booked out 6. Park hopping - this video did seem yo coverv it - as in you can change but subject to availability & potentially cost involved. Just as Disney gets rid of reservation - this comes in. DAS has also changed as of 20th May - no longer can book preselection and this seems to be why. That and a heap of ppl are no longer being approved for DAS. 7. The cost will be interesting. While Disney seem to be cheaper than Unicersal express - when you add it all up - LL & ILL not much difference. 8. Why are character meet & greets no longer on the lists - trying to tell a young kid to just keep waiting 40min plus for 1 character and then potentially multiple times - is just not fair. Are character dining the best way now? 9. Shows - again where are Disney trying to direct the traffic. Why take away shows? 10. Parades - how bigbof a deal is not having parades as an option for selected areas? Thank you for the extremely helpful videos. When its your 1st visit and you want to make it as easy as possible and have a fun day - learning these things is a massive help.
Good luck. You need to watch alot of youtube videos before you go. Check out Earscouts, he is excellent at explaining step by step instructions. I hope you have a magical stay! Just fyi, if you decide to go to Universal at some point you get free express for everyone in your room if you stay at one of their premier resorts. You dont have to be on your phone at all, just get in the express line. It's way less stressful.
It's not fair for internacional guess to not have the possibility of this service before arriving to Disney. We usually pay for airplane tickets, so our vacasions are already more expensive. I hope this change soon
I understand why people like this system, but I think I’m in the minority here. When they had this system years ago, all the fastpasses for popular rides were sold out, so when you went to get another fastpass, the only available options were ones that did not necessarily need one (shows, character interactions, etc). I will say, one of the silver linings of genie+ was that popular rides didn’t sell out as quickly, if at all. Maybe that will change now that you have to pay for it.
That is my worry too. My hope is that disney withholds a certain number of lightning lanes for the 3 day booking. It would be worst practice to have hotel guests take all the lightning lanes with none left over for the rest of the guests.
The update I needed! We check into our resort on July 24th and our first park day is July 25th...I feel like the guinea pig here getting the trial and error 😂
@@dfbbreea will do! Hopefully it is a smooth transition...I feel like the first few days are always a learning experience and the apps are not up to speed enough for the changes. Good luck!
@@MrMaxRebos I'm not concerned about not getting rides, I'm more concerned about the apps ability to be ready for the changes and incumbent issues. Also specifically for Magic Kingdom, Peter Pan will be getting refurbished and Tiana's will be virtual queue so I am thinking the other options will book fast. I did love FastPass though so some of the transitions are definitely welcomed. I just hate being the first one to learn the new system when changes like this happen lol. Your statement is true though, the non-resort guests will be the ones who struggle the days following once this is released.
The International rule makes me switch my next travel to a Universal Orlando Vacation. *runs to watch rhe DFB videos about Express Pass and Epic Universe* 😂
The real issue is going to be once your 7 day window opens what times will be available? If people are logging on and seeing times in the afternoon over busy days and your first LL doesn't start until 1pm or later that will not be ideal.
Never been to Disney before and already booked a non-resort hotel for Sept/October. As in in the UK I now can’t book until 3 days before (resort guest will have already booked everything 7 days before for their entire trip), and I won’t be in USA until Monday as I wanted tickets to MK on the Wednesday. So now I’m going to have to waste weds and Thursday in Orlando because I won’t get on any rides without multi pass or single pass both of which will be already booked 🤷🏻♀️🤷🏻♀️ Already wishing I hadn’t bothered.
Hi DFB team. Have been following your updates and videos since the past 3/4 months in preparation of visit to WDW with my family. We just finished the 4 parks a few days back and thanks to your tips, we had a very memorable experience including riding Tiana’s Bayou adventure on opening day. Thank you again and keep up the good work.
For those outside of the USA and wanting to book your lightning lanes beforehand, you should either be able to use a VPN or you can get a free address spoofer (on android, not sure about iphone) to change your location to inside of the USA. I doubt they will be able to detect you are doing that, they certainly didn't when I used a spoofer to order food at a quick service for later in the day via the app while in another park a couple of years ago.
@@penelopepitstop762 the paper fast pass was the most fair system to all guests and it actually helped improve guest satisfaction this looks like fast pass+ but paid and fast pass+ was not a fair system to a lot of the guests. Even worse since international guests can't book
@@penelopepitstop762 they could try to make updated version with phones but it being a choice on the moment for EVERYBODY when they are at the park helped the system to actually work and be more fair
Came here for all the information, but then AJ helped me remember a word I’ve been trying to think of for two days now. The word fruition! My ADHD brain dropped that word from my dictionary apparently and I’ve been trying to remember it for days. Been describing it animatedly and everything. So, thank you AJ! I can now move on with my life!! 😂😅
I have another question for when Disney makes things clearer. If I book my three multi-pass rides in advance and can’t book another one until I use one of them, if my first ride of the day is from tier-two (meaning my remaining two pre-booked rides include one from tier-one and the other from tier-two) does that mean the next ride I would be able to book has to also be from tier-two or will it fully open the available rides for the day regardless of the tier? Can I only hold on to one ride from tier-one at any given time and wouldn’t be able to book another tier-one ride until I physically use the pre-booked tier-one ride, even if that ride isn’t until 7:00 at night if that’s the earliest ride time I wanted was available in advance?
Very unfair system and not equal opportunity for international travellers. We’re going August and feel like we’re now shoved to the back of the queue/line. 😳
If the system does not work fairly for all of their guests then Disney should not have changed it. More than happy to take thousands of our hard earned pounds to book holidays at their resorts though. Very disappointed for our upcoming trip (from UK), it will still be the same charge for us when we land in the US but as a service with less options and availability, so unfair. Instead of looking forward to our trip I’m dreading it. Wished we’d booked at Universal now
The fact that disney is making a not terribly popular free system now a paid system shows how little this company now cares about its customer. Thank you dfb for helping any planning i may have to do for what will probably be my last disney trip for the foreseeable future be much less stressful and managable you all rock!
I really hope they can work this out for international guests soon. My grandparents are visiting in October from the UK and it will most likely be their last time so I was hoping to pre book and plan everything for them ahead of time since they're not quite as savvy with the MDE app :(
Most of all I’m happy about the name change. Trying to explain Genie, Genie+, Virtual Queue, Individual Lightning Lane to family/coworkers who don’t follow this like I do was a nightmare.
Lots of hate on the new system for sure, but i am sure once its understood more it will be fine. It makes sense that they would allow resort guests to book first over non-resort guests. As they took away some perks for resort guests, its nice to give some perks back to those who are staying on disney property. Although that does cause some stress for those that arent resort guests. I am sure it will make more sense once its out though because its just a lot of speculation at this point. Also, it doesnt matter what the change is, people are always going to complain. Thanks for explaining everything you know so far in this video!
Booked for early December from the UK, clearly another money grab to capitalise on FOMO. I was super excited when I booked and got into all my planning. It seems so much has changed. Perhaps I'll stick with EuroDisney and Orlando can be a Universal only visit in future
What I find bizarre is that the general consensus over the last few years was that most people hated the park reservations requirements. I saw so many complaints that it took the spontaneity out of it. They rejoiced when it was removed. Now lets be real - this new version of fast pass is just park reservations dressed up as Genie with rides as the side dish. By prebooking your rides in advance, you are committing to a park. Yes, they can be amended. But so could reservations. I know I will be on the minority, but I actually liked Genie. It was fair for everyone, we were all at the same starting line.
Thank you so much for the video! We are arriving on July 27th and it is our very first trip. We are coming from British Columbia, Canada and picked the Polynesian Resort- Club Level. Super excited and also wanted to thank the DFB team for all the videos and information. Question: how far apart should you book your first 3 rides?
Genie+ had a one-hour return window, so you might count on that. Shouldn't be an issue if you can ravel from one ride to the next (providing you're timely for the first ride). I personally would do 15 minutes (oe more) between rides.
We'll need to test out if you can overlap the bookings like you could with Genie+ or if you'll need to space them out a bit more like you did with FastPass+. We'd suggest, whichever ends up being true, that you book as early as possible if you want to be able to make the most ride selections in a single day
Remember, you must also pay for those seven days when you book!! Disney is hoping people get so excited they can book in advance that they pay for the whole week for everyone in your party!! 💰💰💰💰💰
Pfff…. I love genie +, much more than fast pass+. (Well, I like the price of fast pass+, of course) I feel like the multi pass will be simpler than fast pass+. But international travelers will be so disadvantaged by this. I live in Canada and I was relieved when Disney annnonced that Canadians could prebook , cause I was seeing my self crossing the border to sit on the us side of custom to prebook. I feel like the custom agent would have many questions for me.
Disney Lynx PawPass. Saw this update on your video and got very excited… my daughter and I are doing, 36 hrs in Disney and we thought it would be a great opportunity to try it out. Exited the airport, found the bus terminal, got on the bus to only find out there are about 60 or so different bus routes!!!! If you want to use this service make sure you take the 56 bus or the 311…. Luckily our bus driver was so sweet and helped us out!
I know it will be a learning curve and people are saying how confusing it is, BUT thanks to DFB and other resources including Disney travel agents, if you do enough research and prep, it’s not too bad and will be WELL worth it. They make it complicated for a reason, so you can basically walk right onto a ride. Have you ever been to universal with a fast pass you pay extra for? Nothings complicated about it, but when you go to use the line, you have to wait almost 20+ minutes.
Yes, Universal does not schedule return times, so if everybody wants to ride the same time the line backs up (and the standby line especially). Disney spreads he returns out to alleviate this.
I use Universal Express all the time and I love it. Usually it is a walk on or a 10 min wait. It could be up to 20 min during peak times but I am 100% ok with that.
I am wondering if the attractions will sell out as fast as Genie +. We are only going for one day. However, if people can book up to two weeks in advance of their trip, there might not be anything left by the time I can book at 7 AM. I am interested to see how it works in real time.
This is going to be the big question. At least Genie+ "restarted" every day, seemingly with this your 7 days window opens but but people have been already booking LL's that arrived before you so I'm interested to see what times will show when people start arriving during busy days.
Its just disappointing because I've gone on two vacations with a friend using Genie Plus. They were both perfect vacations because we got on so many rides whilst being able to just enjoy ourselves in the parks.
This happens in the middle of my trip. My first full day will be on the 23rd, so I am definitely concerned the service will break or I’ll mess it up, lol/oh noes.
Thank you DFB for all your hard work and the support and help you offer everyone with your videos, But this really sucks, if Disney wasn’t already being super greedy and having guest pay for what was once a free, when it doesn’t actually cost them anything, but it is being extremely unfair to international guests who can’t book until they land in the US!
These are my thoughts in no particular order: Early mornings will occur because to get on more rides, rope drop would be necessary I will miss stacking 5 rides for evening
I still think a decent mobile vpn will make this work, im in universal for 7 days before my disney trip this year, so not going to be the big issue for us
I’m curious how pre-booking will work with split stays. I really hope I won’t have to wake up multiple days at 4am to book rides before my trip. I have to do that now or call for dining reservations.
I’m going to Disney with my family in 3 weeks. We can only use the new system for the last two days of our trip I wish it was free like the old fast passes.
I feel like I preferred the genie plus. I just came back from Disney a few weeks ago and we were able to hit all of the top tier rides in one day. Making that 9 to 10 rides out of the whole day, not including brakes and shows. I really hate having to relearn all of this all over again
Ok so I’m guessing if you pre-purchase Multipass you have to have it for each day of your trip? I liked Genie+ and would purchase on a day by day basis, we’re doing a 3 day park hopper pass this trip (short trip, only 4 days) and have MNSSHP tickets for that missing day…I think I may wait and see how the chaos unfolds before planning on this, but I do love the thought of booking our fancy rides in advance!! Thanks for the great info!
So confused!!!! The thing I’m most confused about is the Lightning Lane single pass. Single to me means you can only buy it one time. But you can buy it twice? Could I buy two magic kingdom rides on it? Or does it have to be different parks. Also, Cosmic Rewind is my favorite ride. It looks like it’s only offered on Single pass and not Multi? Does that mean I can only ride this ride once per day? I was hoping I could ride it multiple times in a day. It still doesn’t have a standby line. Help!
Curious to see how this goes. On the one hand, I’m glad that if I get back from the parks early I won’t have to stay up until midnight to purchase Genie+. On the other hand, this makes me anxious that other people will book all the popular rides before I get the chance to book at all. Rip to all the non-Disney-hotel guests having to wait until three days before. Sucks. But my next trip won’t happen until next March at the earliest, so at least I won’t be a guinea pig. Also, that’s a serious shame about international park guests. Hopefully they can and will change that, that’s not very fair.
Assuming this will only be available for one ride per day. By that, I mean I couldn’t book Big Thunder in advance for my first day and then later that day see that it has availability and book it again.
We just got back from doing WDW and Universal. I think WDW is way behind in technology and are only interested in making money and not providing service (it’s a a corporation and is supposed to make money but it is supposed to provide service also). Our whole family agreed that Universal will be our go to place now! Tron was a complete disappointment. Once Universal’s new park opens, I think WDW will be in big trouble.
I’m curious what the price point is going to be. Right now there’s a different price for each Park unless you do the multi park. I’m not sure how they’re going to sort that out when this new system goes live so I’m curious how the pricing tears are going to work
I thought the Universal "Unlimited Rides" was overpriced, but I didn't have to micromanage my 2 days in the park waaaay ahead of time. See a ride you like? Ride it pretty much straight away. I'd just hate to see what Disney thinks they could charge if they ever implemented it.
God I can't imagine trying to plan a trip to Disney anymore, I try to keep updated on rules and such bc my parents love Disney but jfc this is all so convoluted. Feels like you need a law degree just to go over the rules of lightning lanes.
My 4 year old niece wants to go so badly, so I have to plan a trip. I don't even want to do this, and I was a huge disney fan! I took my kids every year. This sucks.
When you book a ride with the new system, do all members of your party have to be included, or can you select just a few members of your party. For example: only 2 of our 4 want to ride Tron. I saw on a different VLOG that you can't subdivide your ride party.
You can divide your party up with those who want to ride and those who don't -- you don't need to select Lightning Lanes for those who don't want to ride
I’d love to know the reason for not being able to purchase and use Disney Multi Pass from outside the US. Next year it’s going to write off the first 3 days of our trip as we won’t be able to anything until we land.
Ok, I’m not clear on the 7 day thing. Is it 7 day from your hotel reservation, or 7 days from your first park day? That would put people who don’t want to go to the parks right away at a clear disadvantage.
Any speculation as to why Character Meet & Greets have been excluded? I know there weren’t many but it was so helpful especially in MK. Thanks for all that you do!!
It switches over in the middle of our trip 😅. I miss the old school walk up to the fast pass ticket machine, it prints out a ticket with a return time, and then you go along your merry way.
Wasn’t the fun!!! 🤗
Sameee 😭
Same. It was easy. Didn't have to look at my phone at all. Just get your ticket enjoy another ride then come back. Why change what wasn't broken? They need to stop having ppl on their phone the whole day just to ride rides. It's ridiculous and stressful. Also need to stop charging to ride a ride.
Same here! It switches over for us on our last park day at HS
My favorite memories are of my hubby running to get everyone’s fp tickets! Vintage is better 😂
They need to bring back classic fastpass and add new rides and attractions asap 😅
They are bringing it back! Just virtually instead of paper
@CD-sj7oj Classic fastpass was not picked days in advance, and it was free.
@@cathinieto39 well not a single other amusement park gives that free… and Disney is much less than those.
In addition, choosing fast passes early really isn’t that big a deal. If you don’t want to do it, don’t.
Free, in park, fast passes have been gone for years. Time to get over it and get with the times
@@CD-sj7oj i was simply pointing out your mistake when you said the new lightening lane is the same as classic fastpass. It isn't.
@@cathinieto39 I mean it pretty much is. If you wanna get that obsessive and technical fine… but it’s really not that different
Why am I the only one who hates the idea of pre booking rides? I’m going to have to wake up at 4 am pacific time and decide a week in advance what rides I’m going to want to ride at which park and at what time for my entire week stay. That’s not how I roll. I just want to go with the flow and see where the day takes me. Sure, I could just wait, but I’d be afraid that all the good lightning lanes would be gone. I don’t even know which days I’ll be in the parks. I’m there seven days, but I only bought a four day park hopper ticket so I could take a rest day whenever I needed. I really hate this need to plan everything at Disney World. This will be my first trip and it’s just so much more complicated than going to Disneyland.
You don't have to pre book but you do have to be prepared to wait in some potentially very long lines. If you don't like it, go to Universal Studios and purchase an Express Pass. No pre booking, no efforts, no getting up a 4:30 am. Just walk in the park and tap your Express Pass as you get in line.
Why Universal can make this so easy and Disney can't is unfathomable. They claim their parks are too busy but I am not buying that excuse.
Universal Resort's Express Pass is what you want for a stress-free vacation!
@@HobbitHobbitI’ll be going to Universal next year for Epic Universe so I decided to visit Disney World this year before they remove Dinoland. I’m a huge Universal Hollywood fan and I love their Express Pass! ❤
@@mike9147Next year! Can’t wait for Epic Universe! 🥳
I agree 100%. This stinks
This almost forces people to buy Lightning Lanes in advance for the rides with virtual queues. Right now, you can try for a virtual queue, and if you don't get it, you can buy a Lightning Lane, and still ride. Now all the Lightning Lanes will be sold out in advance, so if you don't get a virtual queue, you can't ride.
Exactly. Just a money grab.
Yah I think that was a business decision. But we will have to see if thr single pass lightning lanes do end up selling out or there is availability left day of. Until then I guess we just weigh our priorities.
I still doubt the single pass LL’s will sell out prior to the VQ’s being gobbled up. Free will always be better than not.
@@IIEX007IIand yet! Still a lower price tag than the other amusement parks for the same service!
Everyone is complaining… but nothing is free. And NO amusement park gives you this for free. Time to get over it.
You aren’t required to buy it
Then don’t buy it. You aren’t required to.
Every amusement park charges for this. And most charge way more
Visiting DisneyWorld in January, staying in a deluxe Disney Hotel for 2 weeks, spending £9,000+. It’s incredibly unfair that visitors from the UK and overseas can’t book lighting lanes until we arrive in the USA. If Disney are saying it’s because of cross border rules that’s nonsense. We were able to book fast passes for years whilst still in the UK!
I live here in the states, but I agree that Disney needs to fix this for their international visitors.
If you check the App you are able to mobile order, you can select the food, the card you would like to pay with and you can see the purchase button. So I don't think it is a legal problem.
Would a VPN work?
I agree and apparently a VPN won't work because it's in the app
Maybe they want to work out any issues then offer it all guests 🤷♀️
I remember wh3nwe used to print the fastpast tickets at thr parks FREE😢
Right , so now we have to paid a lot of money by ticket about 185-195 plus 20-25 by person for a ride and parking 30 plus food about 15-25 Crazy
And it was the system that actually works the most to improve the experience of guests
Certainly seems like they want to make it hard to hit all the Tier 1 rides in one day, especially via the LL
Internation guest here - I'm devastated about this news! We've saved for 6 years for this once in a lifetime trip, and the possibility of missing out on big attractions because of this new system is terrible. It also seems like poor planning on Disney's part, and international visitors tend to stay longer and therefore spend more on Disney property, so disadvantaging us seems ill advised.
Just an idea, has anyone tried using a VPN with the Disney website? Perhaps there's a way around the system...
Even if they don't fix it, you will still be far ahead of most US guests since I assume your trip is longer than just a few days. Start booking for the end of your trip first and you should be fine.
Please make sure when you do your first day test you also test how it is for someone staying off property and show the ride choice options/difference between on property guest vs off property guest.
And for international visitors same day availability please.
Thank you so much to the dfb team for working so hard on these videos that you guys post literally every single day! We love you so much and appreciate all your hard work!!
Thank YOU!
@@DFBGuide 💗
Really hope that international rule changes....worried UK person here
We are in Australia and going late Jan/early feb 25 so hoping that international thing changes
American here rooting for you! It seems unfair to me.
If this rule stay in place.... I will switch Disney for Universal in 2025.
I’m in the U.K. and have a trip planned for October. Am seriously considering cancelling now. I don’t see we can work around this. I’ll wait to see once it goes live if people are able to use a VPN to do this, but if not, I’ll probably cancel.
I love spending a dozen hours learning how and when to book rides only to find out I have to forget all that and play it by ear since I start my trip on the first day of the change. 🤣
So basically, it’s like Fast Pass except with a big charge and instead of 60 days out, only one week out.
It's basically still Genie+, you can just get it earlier.
Defunctland did a fantastic breakdown on exactly how and why this system stunk.
Disney basically going back to the Fastpass+ system is going to make standby lines much worse, just in time for peak season.
I dont like it.
This
It was a GREAT documentary! It did a fantastic job of explaining the problems with the previous FastPass + system.
Ya only you cant compare any of them. The flaw in comparison is Fastpass everyone had for FREE. Pay to win came in and the new fastpass system doenst include A level rides. Also it isnt free.
Just want to thank you for these videos. You also recommended small world travel agents and she had been an amazing help in getting our trip booked and answered any other questions we had. I haven't been to Disney in over 30 years and so much has changed but excited to go in a few months
We LOVE Small World Vacations! So happy to hear you do, too!!
@@dfbbreea because we just booked I haven't heard mentioned in any videos but starting in 2025 (we arrive January 2) people staying at Disney resorts geta in free to one of the water parks on the day of their arrival.
Man, disney trips have always been expensive, but arguably worth it in the past when they had free fast passes, airport transportation if you were staying on site, and overall focused on truly making it a a magical experience. I feel like in the last 5-10 years that has all gone away.
If you are an international guest I would suggest raising a complaint with guest services as soon as possible. Maybe if enough people complain they will change the unfair policy.
Thank you for keeping us up to date as the situation changes!
I’m going to Disney the weekend this rolls out and I am WORRIED
I'm going literally the day this comes out haha so it could be worse lol I love the plan ahead feature but idk if I will get it because it's the day it starts.
What are they thinking?? They must literally be brainstorming ways to extort as much money as possible from people. NO-ONE can genuinely think this is better for guest experiences than the pre-Genie+ system.
International Australian here. Never been to WDW - going in Oct
Thank you DFB for all the help & videos massively appreciated
I have complained to Disney about the International issue.
I would like to see a few scenario's tested
1. Book 2 returns times late in the day - if available & then just use the 1 ride to keep using & rebooking
2. Should you have 1 morning, 1 midday, 1 evening - interested to see whats available
3. How crowd numbers in the morning are then impacted - given potentially ppl will turn up earlier now they can't stack LL
4. If all 3 rides have to booked in the morning- granted wait to see whats available - is that better than the above options
5. Interested to see if Disney release a new set of LL 3 days out and then day of or would the rides just get booked out
6. Park hopping - this video did seem yo coverv it - as in you can change but subject to availability & potentially cost involved.
Just as Disney gets rid of reservation - this comes in.
DAS has also changed as of 20th May - no longer can book preselection and this seems to be why.
That and a heap of ppl are no longer being approved for DAS.
7. The cost will be interesting. While Disney seem to be cheaper than Unicersal express - when you add it all up - LL & ILL not much difference.
8. Why are character meet & greets no longer on the lists - trying to tell a young kid to just keep waiting 40min plus for 1 character and then potentially multiple times - is just not fair.
Are character dining the best way now?
9. Shows - again where are Disney trying to direct the traffic. Why take away shows?
10. Parades - how bigbof a deal is not having parades as an option for selected areas?
Thank you for the extremely helpful videos.
When its your 1st visit and you want to make it as easy as possible and have a fun day - learning these things is a massive help.
Good luck. You need to watch alot of youtube videos before you go. Check out Earscouts, he is excellent at explaining step by step instructions. I hope you have a magical stay! Just fyi, if you decide to go to Universal at some point you get free express for everyone in your room if you stay at one of their premier resorts. You dont have to be on your phone at all, just get in the express line. It's way less stressful.
It's not fair for internacional guess to not have the possibility of this service before arriving to Disney. We usually pay for airplane tickets, so our vacasions are already more expensive. I hope this change soon
I understand why people like this system, but I think I’m in the minority here. When they had this system years ago, all the fastpasses for popular rides were sold out, so when you went to get another fastpass, the only available options were ones that did not necessarily need one (shows, character interactions, etc). I will say, one of the silver linings of genie+ was that popular rides didn’t sell out as quickly, if at all. Maybe that will change now that you have to pay for it.
I’m definitely staying ~cautiously~ optimistic. Here’s to hoping it all works out once it launches 🤞
That is my worry too. My hope is that disney withholds a certain number of lightning lanes for the 3 day booking. It would be worst practice to have hotel guests take all the lightning lanes with none left over for the rest of the guests.
Omg these people are so good at researching they are so good at this
Appreciate you!!
The update I needed! We check into our resort on July 24th and our first park day is July 25th...I feel like the guinea pig here getting the trial and error 😂
You’ll have to report back to us, too! We’ll all gather intel and help each other out! Haha
You will get your rides. People booking after you will find most if not all the good rides sold out by people who can book days before them
@@dfbbreea will do! Hopefully it is a smooth transition...I feel like the first few days are always a learning experience and the apps are not up to speed enough for the changes. Good luck!
@@MrMaxRebos I'm not concerned about not getting rides, I'm more concerned about the apps ability to be ready for the changes and incumbent issues. Also specifically for Magic Kingdom, Peter Pan will be getting refurbished and Tiana's will be virtual queue so I am thinking the other options will book fast. I did love FastPass though so some of the transitions are definitely welcomed. I just hate being the first one to learn the new system when changes like this happen lol. Your statement is true though, the non-resort guests will be the ones who struggle the days following once this is released.
Exact same here and really worried there will be glitches. Already confirmed I can't use the 7 days in advance.
The International rule makes me switch my next travel to a Universal Orlando Vacation.
*runs to watch rhe DFB videos about Express Pass and Epic Universe* 😂
The real issue is going to be once your 7 day window opens what times will be available?
If people are logging on and seeing times in the afternoon over busy days and your first LL doesn't start until 1pm or later that will not be ideal.
I love your voice, AJ.
And thanks for the tips.
Never been to Disney before and already booked a non-resort hotel for Sept/October. As in in the UK I now can’t book until 3 days before (resort guest will have already booked everything 7 days before for their entire trip), and I won’t be in USA until Monday as I wanted tickets to MK on the Wednesday. So now I’m going to have to waste weds and Thursday in Orlando because I won’t get on any rides without multi pass or single pass both of which will be already booked 🤷🏻♀️🤷🏻♀️
Already wishing I hadn’t bothered.
Very clear explanation not only on this channel but all over social media...no need to overwhelm WDW phone queues with questions
We just got back from Disney. Your Genie + information was very helpful. We used Genie for Magic Kingdom and Hollywood Studios.
Glad it was helpful!
Hi DFB team. Have been following your updates and videos since the past 3/4 months in preparation of visit to WDW with my family. We just finished the 4 parks a few days back and thanks to your tips, we had a very memorable experience including riding Tiana’s Bayou adventure on opening day. Thank you again and keep up the good work.
That’s SO awesome! Glad you had a wonderful time!
For those outside of the USA and wanting to book your lightning lanes beforehand, you should either be able to use a VPN or you can get a free address spoofer (on android, not sure about iphone) to change your location to inside of the USA. I doubt they will be able to detect you are doing that, they certainly didn't when I used a spoofer to order food at a quick service for later in the day via the app while in another park a couple of years ago.
Good chance the rides you want will already be sold out in advance for your park days
They should bring back the classic paper fast pass system
I still have my old paper FastPasses lingering at the bottom of some of my purses haha
No, I like doing it ahead of time on my phone, but I DO miss it being FREE.
@@penelopepitstop762 the paper fast pass was the most fair system to all guests and it actually helped improve guest satisfaction this looks like fast pass+ but paid and fast pass+ was not a fair system to a lot of the guests. Even worse since international guests can't book
@@penelopepitstop762 they could try to make updated version with phones but it being a choice on the moment for EVERYBODY when they are at the park helped the system to actually work and be more fair
I used to love Disney, but aging and tacked on costs have changed my appreciation for the parks. I hope the rest of you have a wonderful time.
This whole business makes me not want to go to Disney anytime soon. I wish folks would also stop going to stop rewarding this behavior.
lightning lane releases on my birthday!!
Bring back Fastpass!!
Came here for all the information, but then AJ helped me remember a word I’ve been trying to think of for two days now. The word fruition! My ADHD brain dropped that word from my dictionary apparently and I’ve been trying to remember it for days. Been describing it animatedly and everything. So, thank you AJ! I can now move on with my life!! 😂😅
I have another question for when Disney makes things clearer. If I book my three multi-pass rides in advance and can’t book another one until I use one of them, if my first ride of the day is from tier-two (meaning my remaining two pre-booked rides include one from tier-one and the other from tier-two) does that mean the next ride I would be able to book has to also be from tier-two or will it fully open the available rides for the day regardless of the tier? Can I only hold on to one ride from tier-one at any given time and wouldn’t be able to book another tier-one ride until I physically use the pre-booked tier-one ride, even if that ride isn’t until 7:00 at night if that’s the earliest ride time I wanted was available in advance?
Very unfair system and not equal opportunity for international travellers. We’re going August and feel like we’re now shoved to the back of the queue/line. 😳
If the system does not work fairly for all of their guests then Disney should not have changed it. More than happy to take thousands of our hard earned pounds to book holidays at their resorts though. Very disappointed for our upcoming trip (from UK), it will still be the same charge for us when we land in the US but as a service with less options and availability, so unfair. Instead of looking forward to our trip I’m dreading it. Wished we’d booked at Universal now
Any current DAS navigation tips would be great.
We’ve gone to Disney four times since 2022 and never has finest genie plus not changed. 😭. Hope this is the last time for our September trip 🫶🏽
The fact that disney is making a not terribly popular free system now a paid system shows how little this company now cares about its customer. Thank you dfb for helping any planning i may have to do for what will probably be my last disney trip for the foreseeable future be much less stressful and managable you all rock!
I really hope they can work this out for international guests soon. My grandparents are visiting in October from the UK and it will most likely be their last time so I was hoping to pre book and plan everything for them ahead of time since they're not quite as savvy with the MDE app :(
The Bob Iger Company really does hate its customers doesnt it?
Most of all I’m happy about the name change. Trying to explain Genie, Genie+, Virtual Queue, Individual Lightning Lane to family/coworkers who don’t follow this like I do was a nightmare.
RIGHT?? This DFB scriptwriter is VERY thankful for that 😅😅😅
Lots of hate on the new system for sure, but i am sure once its understood more it will be fine. It makes sense that they would allow resort guests to book first over non-resort guests. As they took away some perks for resort guests, its nice to give some perks back to those who are staying on disney property. Although that does cause some stress for those that arent resort guests. I am sure it will make more sense once its out though because its just a lot of speculation at this point. Also, it doesnt matter what the change is, people are always going to complain.
Thanks for explaining everything you know so far in this video!
Love it guys!!! I’ve commented on almost all of your recent videos LOL You good bring so much light into my day!! TY Aj and the crew ❤❤
Booked for early December from the UK, clearly another money grab to capitalise on FOMO. I was super excited when I booked and got into all my planning. It seems so much has changed. Perhaps I'll stick with EuroDisney and Orlando can be a Universal only visit in future
I’ll be in the parks too as the 24th falls smack dab in the middle of our trip. If you see me crying in a corner somewhere, please send help!
What I find bizarre is that the general consensus over the last few years was that most people hated the park reservations requirements. I saw so many complaints that it took the spontaneity out of it. They rejoiced when it was removed.
Now lets be real - this new version of fast pass is just park reservations dressed up as Genie with rides as the side dish. By prebooking your rides in advance, you are committing to a park.
Yes, they can be amended. But so could reservations.
I know I will be on the minority, but I actually liked Genie. It was fair for everyone, we were all at the same starting line.
I am really happy that as a Canadian, I can book in advance.
I’m so sad my husband and I loved genie + and used it on our trip to get everything we wanted done and more!!
Thank you so much for the video! We are arriving on July 27th and it is our very first trip. We are coming from British Columbia, Canada and picked the Polynesian Resort- Club Level. Super excited and also wanted to thank the DFB team for all the videos and information.
Question: how far apart should you book your first 3 rides?
Genie+ had a one-hour return window, so you might count on that. Shouldn't be an issue if you can ravel from one ride to the next (providing you're timely for the first ride). I personally would do 15 minutes (oe more) between rides.
We'll need to test out if you can overlap the bookings like you could with Genie+ or if you'll need to space them out a bit more like you did with FastPass+. We'd suggest, whichever ends up being true, that you book as early as possible if you want to be able to make the most ride selections in a single day
Awesome info! Can I book 2 individual lightning lanes before hand or just 1?
You'll be able to book 2 Single Pass Lightning Lanes per day in advance
Thanks for clearing up the park hopper question. I was confused about that.
Remember, you must also pay for those seven days when you book!! Disney is hoping people get so excited they can book in advance that they pay for the whole week for everyone in your party!! 💰💰💰💰💰
What's the point if paying for tickets to the parks when you have to pay for rides, this is ridiculous
Also, is it 3 passes total? Or 3 passes for each park day for early booking
Just bringing back the Fastpass+ feature of several time options makes me happy.
Pfff…. I love genie +, much more than fast pass+. (Well, I like the price of fast pass+, of course) I feel like the multi pass will be simpler than fast pass+. But international travelers will be so disadvantaged by this. I live in Canada and I was relieved when Disney annnonced that Canadians could prebook , cause I was seeing my self crossing the border to sit on the us side of custom to prebook. I feel like the custom agent would have many questions for me.
Between this and the DAS changes in so glad I don’t have a Disney trip planned anytime soon.
Disney Lynx PawPass. Saw this update on your video and got very excited… my daughter and I are doing, 36 hrs in Disney and we thought it would be a great opportunity to try it out. Exited the airport, found the bus terminal, got on the bus to only find out there are about 60 or so different bus routes!!!!
If you want to use this service make sure you take the 56 bus or the 311…. Luckily our bus driver was so sweet and helped us out!
I know it will be a learning curve and people are saying how confusing it is, BUT thanks to DFB and other resources including Disney travel agents, if you do enough research and prep, it’s not too bad and will be WELL worth it. They make it complicated for a reason, so you can basically walk right onto a ride. Have you ever been to universal with a fast pass you pay extra for? Nothings complicated about it, but when you go to use the line, you have to wait almost 20+ minutes.
Yes, Universal does not schedule return times, so if everybody wants to ride the same time the line backs up (and the standby line especially). Disney spreads he returns out to alleviate this.
I use Universal Express all the time and I love it. Usually it is a walk on or a 10 min wait. It could be up to 20 min during peak times but I am 100% ok with that.
I need to know what days are the extended evening for November
At Universal if you stay in one of their top resorts Fast Pass is FREE.
I am wondering if the attractions will sell out as fast as Genie +. We are only going for one day. However, if people can book up to two weeks in advance of their trip, there might not be anything left by the time I can book at 7 AM. I am interested to see how it works in real time.
This is going to be the big question. At least Genie+ "restarted" every day, seemingly with this your 7 days window opens but but people have been already booking LL's that arrived before you so I'm interested to see what times will show when people start arriving during busy days.
How many passes will be left when you’re not arriving in the USA until the day before your first park day ?
Still requires a smartphone. We do our vacations phone free! We use radios & cameras!!!
Once you get the hang of one system and you’re ok with it, it changes. 😩 I can’t remember, did the “system” change so frequently before covid?
Its just disappointing because I've gone on two vacations with a friend using Genie Plus. They were both perfect vacations because we got on so many rides whilst being able to just enjoy ourselves in the parks.
This happens in the middle of my trip. My first full day will be on the 23rd, so I am definitely concerned the service will break or I’ll mess it up, lol/oh noes.
Thank you DFB for all your hard work and the support and help you offer everyone with your videos, But this really sucks, if Disney wasn’t already being super greedy and having guest pay for what was once a free, when it doesn’t actually cost them anything, but it is being extremely unfair to international guests who can’t book until they land in the US!
These are my thoughts in no particular order:
Early mornings will occur because to get on more rides, rope drop would be necessary
I will miss stacking 5 rides for evening
I still think a decent mobile vpn will make this work, im in universal for 7 days before my disney trip this year, so not going to be the big issue for us
I’m curious how pre-booking will work with split stays. I really hope I won’t have to wake up multiple days at 4am to book rides before my trip. I have to do that now or call for dining reservations.
I’m going to Disney with my family in 3 weeks. We can only use the new system for the last two days of our trip I wish it was free like the old fast passes.
I feel like I preferred the genie plus. I just came back from Disney a few weeks ago and we were able to hit all of the top tier rides in one day. Making that 9 to 10 rides out of the whole day, not including brakes and shows. I really hate having to relearn all of this all over again
Ok so I’m guessing if you pre-purchase Multipass you have to have it for each day of your trip? I liked Genie+ and would purchase on a day by day basis, we’re doing a 3 day park hopper pass this trip (short trip, only 4 days) and have MNSSHP tickets for that missing day…I think I may wait and see how the chaos unfolds before planning on this, but I do love the thought of booking our fancy rides in advance!! Thanks for the great info!
So confused!!!! The thing I’m most confused about is the Lightning Lane single pass. Single to me means you can only buy it one time. But you can buy it twice? Could I buy two magic kingdom rides on it? Or does it have to be different parks. Also, Cosmic Rewind is my favorite ride. It looks like it’s only offered on Single pass and not Multi? Does that mean I can only ride this ride once per day? I was hoping I could ride it multiple times in a day. It still doesn’t have a standby line. Help!
Even though I don't like Disney I still love Disney. They really need to pay their cast members more!
Man I’m going literally the week before this change happens!
Curious to see how this goes. On the one hand, I’m glad that if I get back from the parks early I won’t have to stay up until midnight to purchase Genie+. On the other hand, this makes me anxious that other people will book all the popular rides before I get the chance to book at all. Rip to all the non-Disney-hotel guests having to wait until three days before. Sucks. But my next trip won’t happen until next March at the earliest, so at least I won’t be a guinea pig.
Also, that’s a serious shame about international park guests. Hopefully they can and will change that, that’s not very fair.
Is there still a max of 2 single passes per day?
Assuming this will only be available for one ride per day. By that, I mean I couldn’t book Big Thunder in advance for my first day and then later that day see that it has availability and book it again.
Are they getting rid of virtual queues with this new system?
We just got back from doing WDW and Universal. I think WDW is way behind in technology and are only interested in making money and not providing service (it’s a a corporation and is supposed to make money but it is supposed to provide service also). Our whole family agreed that Universal will be our go to place now! Tron was a complete disappointment. Once Universal’s new park opens, I think WDW will be in big trouble.
See ya, glad to have your Tron bike, thanks!
Mt family agrees, Universal is much better for a fun family vaca!
Stoppp the switch is literally on the first day of my trip!! 😂
So many availability questions. Thank goodness I have some time before my trip.
We’re definitely entering into another learning curve era!
I’m curious what the price point is going to be. Right now there’s a different price for each Park unless you do the multi park. I’m not sure how they’re going to sort that out when this new system goes live so I’m curious how the pricing tears are going to work
I thought the Universal "Unlimited Rides" was overpriced, but I didn't have to micromanage my 2 days in the park waaaay ahead of time. See a ride you like? Ride it pretty much straight away. I'd just hate to see what Disney thinks they could charge if they ever implemented it.
God I can't imagine trying to plan a trip to Disney anymore, I try to keep updated on rules and such bc my parents love Disney but jfc this is all so convoluted. Feels like you need a law degree just to go over the rules of lightning lanes.
My 4 year old niece wants to go so badly, so I have to plan a trip. I don't even want to do this, and I was a huge disney fan! I took my kids every year. This sucks.
When you book a ride with the new system, do all members of your party have to be included, or can you select just a few members of your party. For example: only 2 of our 4 want to ride Tron. I saw on a different VLOG that you can't subdivide your ride party.
You can divide your party up with those who want to ride and those who don't -- you don't need to select Lightning Lanes for those who don't want to ride
This summary sounds like it's really just Genie++.
Not to polish the brass on the Titanic, but couldn't they make the Lightning Lane logo at least have some semblance to Lightning McQueen?
I’d love to know the reason for not being able to purchase and use Disney Multi Pass from outside the US. Next year it’s going to write off the first 3 days of our trip as we won’t be able to anything until we land.
It seems to be something in the design of the new system & they are hopefully working to make it accessible outside of the US before the launch
you got to sign in with US vpn
Ok, I’m not clear on the 7 day thing. Is it 7 day from your hotel reservation, or 7 days from your first park day? That would put people who don’t want to go to the parks right away at a clear disadvantage.
You can book starting 7 days in advance of your check-in day!
@@DFBGuide Yeah!!!!!! Thank you!!
Any speculation as to why Character Meet & Greets have been excluded? I know there weren’t many but it was so helpful especially in MK. Thanks for all that you do!!
Wondering if you can hold only 2 single pass lighting lane per day like it currently is?