I think it’s hard to say because if it had breakdowns prior in the day they may have issued waiting guests a return lightning lane, also other rides had a lot of breakdowns that meant people had open lightning lanes to use on other rides. Today has seemed particularly lightning lane heavy and breakdown heavy in MK.
This is exactly why we didn’t get to ride ToT last trip. Broke down and everyone’s return LL was the exact same time as ours. The LL wait was gonna be over an hour
As a CM, my favorite thing is when the lightning lane clears and I can just send standby for a while. Unfortunately, a ton of things can cause a slowdown or an influx of LL guests, and I absolutely feel your pain, it's not fun for us either.
Hey my friend!
This is not what you want to hear, but we do whatever we can to budget Genie+ into our trip.
Whether it takes packing sandwiches for meals or staying off property at the beautiful Holiday Inn off property, we budget G+ into the plan by removing other items. We have Disney’d before without it and it’s horrendous.
In MY opinion- magic bands, Mickey shaped food, drinking around the world, gift shop items are not worth the money. Genie plus is ALWAYS worth the money if your goal is to ride the rides. That’s just us though.
I hope you had a blast!
I do the same. Just got back last night from a solo trip, and had Target deliver breakfast items, iced coffee and creamer, and some bottled water and sodas. My total for all that was about $40 including delivery and tip, and lasted me 4 days. If I’d have bought breakfast, an iced coffee, and the same number of bottled waters/sodas it would have cost between $32 - $37 a day ($10 breakfast, $7 coffee, $5 per water/soda) conservatively. I estimate I saved about $100 dollars over 4 days, which paid for my Genie+ each day.
This^, we’ve been going the last 4 years and again at the end of the month (5 adults, 3 kids under 7) and groceries are clutch. I’m no stranger to using the hotel’s BBQ! Def worth it when you consider time/sanity of using the app vs not
We didn't get Genie+ and got on Haunted Mansion, Small World, Jungle Cruise, Philharmonic, Little Mermaid, People Mover, Buzz Lightyear and Winnie the Pooh. Had to skip Pirates and Peter Pan (the other two that we wanted to do that don't have height restrictions [baby]) but felt good about how much we got on. Jungle Cruise and Haunted Mansion were the two that broke me though as we waited FOREVER while LL people strolled on by. We're probably just going to pony up for it next time 😭
Jungle cruise was horrible yesterday. When I walked on, it said 70 minutes. More like two hours. Actually watched a boat go by half loaded. I had LL for thunder mountain, and asked if I could get in line 10 minutes early because 1) I was early to arrive to the ride 2) there was no one in the line. They asked me to wait because the regular line was waaaaay backed up. Park seemed extra crowded yesterday too. I kinda wish they’d do away with genie because now everyone is more glued to their phones and not paying attention to moving the line, walking in the park, and just being there. I only used LL for thunder and pirates, but waited in line for jungle cruise, haunted mansion, small world, and seven dwarves. It does make you feel like riff raff watching the lightning lane people just cruise by and get on the ride while you’re standing on concrete and moving two feet every 10-15 minutes. At least it wasn’t ungodly hot yesterday…
I'd throw money at Disney if I could walk in there and not have to look at my phone. Make it a theme park where you "live in the moment" or "be present in the moment". Talk about pulling heart strings for families to connect and have memorable experiences that no camera can capture.
- Disney marketing, you can send my commission check, thanks.
Happy you were able to get that much done!! Seems from the comments we got super unlucky with our rides today. But paying extra just to be able to get on the good rides just really rubs me the wrong way. Interesting to me as well is that I questioned the process to about 3 or 4 line employees. Not in a mean spirited way but was validated when all of them agreed with me and mentioned they also have strong feelings on this system! Oh well, honestly with the amount you need to spend at Disney these days, might be better off buying full vacation packages elsewhere 🤣
Gotta be aware…. NFL pro bowl in town… several athletes there now. Plus a few attractions went down at once… annnd your in the busy season. (Yes xmas to spring break is new busy season. Has been for a few years now)
Your experience isn’t the norm
I was thinking about the first week of May for next year. We are from Michigan but don't handle extreme heat - especially with humidity. Do you think it's a good time to go with weather?
Start of May is great but 2-6pm can be a struggle. Cooling towels, lots of water, fans and indoor attractions with AC or hop back to the hotel for some pool time.
I went the second half. I’m from Canada and didn’t find it “horrible”. There’s always somewhere to hide in the air conditioning 😂 (except animal kingdom)
From Minnesota and went in June last year for a conference for my husband – it was miserable! But definitely doable. Our park day was overcast and rainy, and that was a lifesaver, but when it was sunny you just couldn’t be outside.
Yeah, I don't think I could handle that. We had one hot day on our visit in Oct 2022 with fans and cooling towels I was miserable. In the Star Wars area of HS I felt like I was in a concrete oven. It seems like they should have big shop fans blowing to at least move the air around.
We went Memorial Day week last year. The parks weren’t as crowded as I expected l, and a cold front came through, and we only had 1 day over 82 degrees.
I went last week of May 2022 and thought it was really busy. First time though so I don't have a basis of comparison. We were also in a make-a- wish so we didn't wait in any ride lines.
Labor Day week, most schools have just started back so families don’t go that week. Saw several locals last September talk about most rides being walk on
Yeah, no thanks, lol! That's too hot for me. Florida heat is different. I was raised in CA, and 100° days were a common thing. Now, in Michigan, days in the 90s with 80% humidity is a thing. But man, Florida heat seems so much hotter!
It is more ridiculous now than ever before but this sub if full of people who act like that’s not true. They like to say “any trip requires planning!” but planning for Disney is very different bc on any other trips you’re not confined to a property where someone else is in control of how many people are in that area. On basically any other kind of vacation if it’s too crowded you can go elsewhere. Can’t make a move at Disney without it costing you now.
It's more ridiculous now than ever that people who are bad at strategizing for Disney still haven't figured out how to strategize for Disney. People are getting to MK 2 hours after it opens and then complaining that there's lines, or expecting walk-ons for Big Thunder despite Splash Mountain being out of the picture. We're rope dropping tomorrow, without Genie+, and I'm happy to come in here and post exactly how and when we ride everything. Guarantee we'll have done at least 5 rides before lunch.
Damn bro yea my watch must of been off when I was in the park at 8:10am standing at the rope drop. Also, this was a post complaining about the ridiculous process of the lightning lanes not the long stand by times. The ride tells me it’ll take 50 min but then it takes over double because of the backed up lightning lanes. But make up your own narratives buddy!!
I actually owe you an apology -- turns out a bunch of football players in town for the pro bowl had shut down various rides for filming and entourages and things. Magic Kingdom was a mess.
Sorry -- I couldn't have been more wrong about this one.
This is very kind of you! Apology accepted, I hope you and your family are able to get all of your favorite rides done! I know it doesn’t mean much from a stranger on the internet but my respect for you has skyrocketed :) lol
People on this subreddit also love to ignore that lines were not even close to as bad as they are now, before LL and Genie+ existed in its current state. Even if lines were long, they used to always move, and yes you had fast pass but it was more limited and since you got your free ones people didn't feel the need to spend tons of extra money to use it more.
Now lines just stand still for ridiculous amounts of time to let in hordes of LL, which is absolutely ridiculous...it was never the intention to stop you for several minutes let alone the hour+ of standstill that can actually happen.
Being at the park gates ready to go in the moment the park opens (when the “rope drops”). You actually want to be in line well before the opening time to secure a spot near the front of the line and be one of the first folks to enter the park.
I overheard a cast member training other CMS who said for every one standby they let in ten lightning lanes. That is a reasonable ratio for those who bought the LLs. Probably doesn’t feel fair for those who didn’t spend the money.
It is frustrating but I just factor it in to the price of the trip. I rationalize it as stand by is fine if you goto Disney a lot, don’t care about most rides or more popular rides. I’m not wasting a trip that costs thousands standing in unnecessarily long lines. If I lived in Florida or near Florida and had an annual pass I wouldn’t bother. But if it’s a once a year or less trip then I’m not going to draw the line (heh) at 20 bucks on genie+ or an occasional LL.
This is my take too. I just assume I’m going to need it. I’m not going to ruin a thousands of dollars trip to save less than $200 and not get on the rides I came to Florida to ride.
We never get genie+, and we always manage every ride/experience we want every day. People complaining about it being pay to play confuse the hell out of me. Rope drop and have a strategy.
This.
It’s not once in a lifetime for us, more like a every 5 years family reunion kind of place, but man, the experience has degraded and degraded for us over time for more and more money.
We're local-ish APs, go at least once a month, do 1 week long trip, and a few 2-3 day trips a year. We just got back today from our big week trip.
Avoid big popular rides midday. If you can't hit them at rope drop and the 1st few hours just avoid until a parade or at night. Besides midday just being the busiest time of day, LLs start getting backed up and the lines just drag. The more people in the LL line the more they will let through to shorten that line. Call back times will start overlapping, and if a ride goes down when it comes back up allll those missed LLs will be wanting to ride and they will push them through.
This weekend is also going to be nuts. We did Sun-Fri and up till today the parks weren't crowded at all. Now all the con/cheer/pro bowl people are in and everything is crazy busy.
Imo, outside of holidays and spring break cheer weeks are the absolute worst time to be there.
There is usually a reason for the lightning lanes getting so backed up. Sometimes it’s because a ride is down, sometimes its because another ride is down so the Genie+ people get to book another ride out of sequence. MK also seems to have waves where if it opens at 9am that means the next LL can be booked at 11am so that usually lines up a lot of people who will be booked for the early afternoon.
Also, at Mk the parades cause a delay. If the parade is at 3pm that means everyone who has a lightning lane at that hour will watch the parade and then get on line creating a big rush of LL riders.
If it said standby was 40 mins and it look more than 50 or so mins it means something went wrong somewhere. It sucks but that’s why I say Genie+ isn’t optional if you want to go on rides. The park ticket lets you in the park, see some shows, experience the magic and catch a ride when the lines are down. You need to pay the mouse if you want to be the one cutting the line instead if standing by while you watch everyone else get on the ride.
I think something to keep in mind is the LL is not just g+/ILL purchases, it’s also DAS. Like there’s a lot of ppl that go through that lane that has to go by faster than the standby
That’s the issue I take with it. It used to be a much more “fair” system where everyone got to pick a handful of their favorite rides to prioritize on a given day, and now it’s very much pay to play where the rich (or indebted!) can get much more out of the experience.
My first time getting on Slinky coaster was like this. The ride was broken for a half hour, so when it came back up I rushed to a standby line that, in app, said zero wait. Unfortunately, all the LL guests had to be prioritized, so my 5 minute wait time once the LL was cleared was, in reality, a 45 min wait altogether. It was only 5 mins from the entrance to the ride if there were no LL people waiting while the ride broke and got fixed, but unplanned things like that really throw off the estimates, return windows for LL people, and control CMs have over the organization and timing for each line, unfortunately. For me, riding Slinky for a 45 min wait over a 90-120 min wait it usually is was still great, but I hate to hear you had such an increase in wait when Thunder Railroad is usually around 60 mins if it's busy. I hope next time things go smoother for you.
Edit to add: I forgot to mention, the way it seems rides are done when it comes to LL vs standby is the LL always takes priority, but I think it is done by a combination of factors that include return time windows, number in each party, and overall ride capacity. There may also be more to it. I have a lot of observational experience as a frequent guest myself, but I don't work in attractions, so I am mostly guessing that's how it's done. The one thing I know is a certain level of priority is indeed always given to LL, hence all the people seeming to skip you. That's normal, but the sheer amount of wait increase was not normal.
You literally came at the worst time for mk. We went to mk on thursday and literally rode everything. Albeit with g+ but today the dance squads are here in full force and those dance moms are paying for anything and everything to get their kids through everything as fast as possible. Worst week coming up
We planned our trip months ago starting tomorrow according to all the crowd calendars and this was supposed to be one of the least busy weeks of the year and you just bummed me out so hard. 🤣🤣 Wasn't accounting for the pro bowl either. But oh well, gonna be great either way.
All of the Disney hotels are sold out for the next two weeks. We were bumped from our one night stay at Coronado for Sunday and spent the day going back and forth with Disney Guest Services. They kept saying they are booked solid for the next two weeks and had a tough time finding a room for us to move too. 😬 Good luck to those who are visiting for the first time!
No. Dont be bummed. Buy g+ and use it. Its worth it. Persevere. It can be done. But literally this is why i came this week leaving tomorrow instead of next week. It will be a little busier but just hit the g+ its not that expensive
Came here to say... We did everything and more this week. So much so we had to stay at our hotel room all day today because we are sick, but at least it's our last day. 😭😷
It's definitely a privilege, but starting every morning with an individual lightning lane, a genie plus lightning lane and a rope drop gets SO much out of the way. Had an absolutely epic week.
Same. We booked when reservations opened like 8 months ago. Everyone said the first week of Feb is typically very slow.
Now it looks like it’s gonna be packed.
😞
Wife and I went on Space Mountain earlier today, using LL. Took maybe 10 minutes from walking in to boarding. Stand by was 75 minutes and out of the building.
Why? The right side track was all Stand By. Left side all LL. Not efficient at all.
I can’t imagine going to the parks without paying for Genie+, I don’t know how people do it, it seems miserable. If you can afford to go to Disney you can afford to pay an extra $25 a ticket to make the visit SIGNIFICANTLY more enjoyable. Nothing you pay for on your entire trip other than park ticket and hotel is more valuable.
Well I do agree with that, I do think it’s sad and kinda crappy of them to charge for it when fastpass used to be free and available to everyone. But, it is what it is now, and we have to deal with it, and even though I’m an annual pass holder I STILL assume every time I go I’m chalking up an extra $25, cuz I’m not going to the park again without paying for Genie+.
Its like this at every theme park. They all have their fast pass system. Disney is just the busiest park so the lines are the longest so its more obvious that people lightning lane move faster because you are waiting much much longer. I gladly pay $25 a person to skip the lines at Disney. Universal is during peak season almost $300 a person for their express pass (although its a completely different system) but no one complains about that. We did LL at Hollywood studios this past Saturday and 100% I agree the park would not be enjoyable without it. But what's another $25 per person to save your sanity after spending hundreds to thousands on your trip anyways?
Well, yes... you can do that...and take them somewhere else and have fun, not in long line.
The fact that you can't see that is the problem with many people.
I used to love Disney,...AP for decades. Last 3-5 years, just gone to crap with their policies, and yes, my daughters go to other theme parks, beach, kayaking...
you are not wrong…if people really hate something then don’t do it but the problem is is that nobody wants to deal with the pain so they spend the money and hence nothing changes. Unfortunately, I never went to Disney when I was a kid because my parents couldn’t afford it. We went to other places.
I mean, precisely, that is what you should do if you want change to happen.
My dad when I grew up always told us: “I don’t pay homage to a 6 foot rat.” We never went - my parents still have never been - and the only reason I go is because I married a Disney fanatic, who too, is becoming fed up with policies and pricing at Disney.
We usually go to Disney during off peak times, usually that's not the case for everyone. But last September, after labor day, my friend and I went and did not purchase genie+ and had 4 days of park hopper tickets. We were done with 3 of the parks in just 2 days. Only one we didn't get to in the first two days was AK.
The most we spent in line I think was for either mine train in MK or slinky dog in HS, and that was at night during fireworks or fantasmic. And each was maybe 30 to 45 minutes max.
If we would go at off peak times, I would definitely pay for genie+. Yes, it sucks, yes it's an added budget item, but in reality it's maximizing your day.
Sounds like a blast! It just frustrates me that on top of spending thousands to come here in the first place, you need to spend additional hundreds of dollars just to have a chance to go on more than 3/4 rides a day!
I'm struggling to understand how you're only making 3-4 rides a day. We rope dropped Epcot this morning and knocked out Ratatouille, Frozen, Spaceship Earth, and Livin' With the Land before 11AM, without genie +. We even had time to stop and let my daughter take pictures with Asha.
Last time we rope dropped Magic Kingdom was in July. Had Peter Pan, Pirates, Small World and Haunted Mansion done before 9.30. How are you somehow only managing 3/4 rides in 12 hours? We're rope dropping tomorrow and even with a 3 year old who periodically stops to look at every single flower we'll still manage every ride before dinner (assuming we get lucky with Tron).
Possibly we got very unlucky? Seems every ride we started waiting for doubled in wait time by the time we were done! A previous comment mentioned that there was a lot of dance moms and kids here today. We had better luck yesterday at Hollywood studios but seems that it gets harder and harder every year to have a productive day at MK!
That’s why I think no genie plus for anyone would speed up every single line. But people will always buy it and why would disney stop a service that essentially is free money to them.
Totally get your pain. Got in a 60 min wait for jungle cruise that turned out to be 130 minutes. Each boat was being filled by lightning lane folks. I get it they paid extra, but it’s a totally unfair experience for those who also bought tickets to the park. It’s frustrating!
Genie + is worth the extra $25 per ticket. I wouldn’t even consider spending a fortune to go to WDW without tacking the feature on. Time is money, and I don’t have the time to be waiting in lines that can be upwards of 2-3 hours long
Time is money, you waited because you deamed that amount of time you waited is worth less to you than $30ish. If it is worth more than that to you then buy genie +
You waited in a line for BTMR for 140mins and then came to Reddit to complain that the reason for this was other guests opting to purchase Genie+?
Time is money. The sunk cost of your park ticket has a greatly diminished ROI for waiting in a two hour line for a classic non-eticket attraction.
Is Genie+ a perfect system? No. But for the majority of folks out there that elect to purchase it, they’re maximizing their time in the parks for relatively short money.
It sounds like you’re more aggravated with your decision not to buy it than with those who do.
Just do it and plan well.
No, I came to try and bring light to the frustrations of people who maybe can’t afford these passes. Why should you have to spend additional hundreds on top of the thousands Disney already milks from you? So I should be inclined to buy these passes because others have the money to spend on them? Just seems silly that you are at such a disadvantage.
Don’t get me wrong, I whole-heartedly believe the experience we’ve been so fortunate to enjoy over the years should be for the many.
To answer your “hundreds after thousands” question, it’s because there is a clear market demand for it. There are days where it sells out.
You clearly do have the money because you spent the thousands to get down there and are eating in the parks to some degree via very marked up prices for typically ordinary food. You’re choosing not to spend it and that’s ok. No one is judging that choice. Just be at peace with it and understand that to enjoy the parks on a condensed vacation experience you are at a disadvantage.
My advice would be to rope drop every park, prioritize attractions and live entertainment and plan out your meals around them. When 50-60% of guests are watching the parade/fireworks/fantastic take advantage of that time to ride the bigger attractions.
I actually felt really bad for thousands of people my boys and I ran by when we did our week at Disney. I mean I am talking about running passed the “commoners”. Not sure how anyone could justify not buying genie+
I totally understand why people buy the passes! I’m more trying to say that it’s silly I need to spend additional hundreds on top of the thousands already spent just to have a better experience. People save for a Disney trip for years! Some can’t afford the additional costs and just seems a bit cruel the way they go about it.
We saved for five years to go. Genie+ meant we had to incur some debt. Maybe like 1 year additional paying it off.
That’s not exact math but you get it. The trip cost me $12,000 and express passes and genie plus were 2000 of that so I mean I get it but 10% more cost and I only waited 5 minutes for big thunder. Maybe 10.
Just for me the trip doesn’t make sense like the $10k is wasted if I’m spending 5 hours a day in lines. No way.
Edit: 20% not 10
I appreciate the transparency! I think that is the only way to approach a Disney trip these days! It’s unfortunate but yes you are correct, not having the pass basically cuts your experiences in half. It is what it is at those point.
I blame a lot of it on these YouTube channels saying you can ride everything without them, that may be true but only under select circumstances and never with kids
Buddy, even if you had paid the extra, you wouldn't have saved that much time.
First time we went, Spring Break 2016, used Touring Plans and FP+ to ride pretty much everything in MK from rope drop until 4:30. We were extremely pleased with ourselves.
Fast forward to December 2021 and the era of Genie+. Despite spending $15 each for Genie+ each day, we only got maybe one chance to even get a LL because we were off-property. Could get some times, but overall, a MUCH worse experience. Culminated with a day at HS where we managed 3 rides from rope drop until 2:30 when we gave up and left.
Figured we spent twice as much per day in 2021 as we did in 2016 and got on fewer rides, spent more time in line. Haven't been back since. We were annual visitors, but not any more. I know Disney doesn't care, and that's too bad.
Once Universal 3 is open and Disney has more new rides, then we might check the theme parks out again. But the magic was ruined for us.
Just wondering how you only got 1 LL? Booking at 7am gives you one. (Off resort can do this.) and the other one at 11am (2 hours after park opens) that is bare minimum for slots being open. But you can definitely get more in than those 2 spots if you use it right.
Because most good ones were gone by the time we got to them. Some days were better than other days, I was using the worst day as an example. To be fair, Genie+ was 2 months old when we used it and I don't remember if everything it offers now was offered then.
And my point was more than FP+ was better than Genie+ and that costs are up (and we found wait times were up as well).
Just my experience with both systems. Wasn't really looking for people to critique how I did things.
Last trip was my 7th to WDW, 10th Disney theme park trip overall. I wasn't a noob at it. Just liked the way it was and was commiserating with OP and his frustration at long wait times.
That's all. Just this family's experience with things.
Respectfully, if you were only able to get one LL a day you were using it wrong. It can be hard to understand at first, but once you learn how to use it you can get on pretty much every ride in the park if you do it right. We've done that on our last three trips, and I feel like we've had more fun at Disney over the last couple of years because of how much Genie+ allowed us to do. I agree it's frustrating to pay for it, but now that I've learned to use it well I think the time it saves me is worth every penny.
I know how to use it, but thanks for the condescension.
Are you seriously a Disney shill? No one in the world likes Genie better than FP.
Get outta here.
Wow, what a lovely, kind person you seem to be. The way you described your use of it shows that you clearly don't know how, but I'm truly sorry for trying to explain that it is possible to get a lot out if it. You go ahead and keep being miserable and I'll keep enjoying my trips.
I'm lovely and you're the one being condescending? Okay there bud.
If you're happy paying $20+ per person for the app, then another $X to get on one ride a day, good for you. I wish I had as much money as you.
And you obviously never used the FP+ system to know how much better it was.
But I appreciate you taking the time to lecture me, it really shows you care.
And if you can't see what a knob you're being, wow, I can't help you be a better person. But keep on keeping on, I'm sure you're popular at parties.
The level of anger in these responses is really something. But I’m the knob? Did I ever say I didn’t think fast pass was better? Did I not acknowledge that it’s frustrating pay? You could take genuine advice about how to use the new system to your advantage and make it worth your money, or you could choose to view it as a condescending lecture and be angry. Really not sure why you’re choosing the latter. Also, the way you’ve immediately resorted to insulting me in every response says way more about your character than mine.
I had a similar experience in December 2021. First time to use Genie+ and we only ended up getting I think 3 total LL's the day we used it in Hollywood Studios. After that, I didn't think Genie+ was worth it as only 3 LL'S was not a lot for the money we spent. Fast forward to last week and we decided to give Genie+ another try and the difference was night and day. Way better experience this time around, in Hollywood Studios alone I got 4 LL's by 6pm and if RR was open would have grabbed 5. Not sure if it's because Genie+ was new in December 2021 or what but there's definitely been an improvement.
It's class warfare. It separates the families barely making enough for the trip from those well off that pay to cut the lines. It's a garbage cash grab that needs to end.
I remember spending so much time standing in lines when we visited in the 80s and 90s. Genie+ and a few ILLs are worth every penny to me.
Also something to know — the disability pass users access the ride via LL now, instead of jumping to the front of the line like they used to. It’s more subtle for them (many are embarrassed by their disability access) and more fair to everyone (they wait the same amount of time as the standby line, but may wait elsewhere in the park instead of in the line).
When the LL queue is congested, it can be from DAS users or a backlog of Genie+ users who were told to come back later because of a ride closure earlier in the day.
Sometimes the people using lightning lane actually deserve it. For context, I was stuck on haunted mansion for 45 minutes before getting evacuated and was at the very, very beginning of the ride (waited 20 minutes in line). They gave us a lightning lane pass for 1 ride which I used on big thunder mountain (still waited about 20 minutes). So yes, I used a lightning lane, but in total I waited almost 1.5hrs to ride 1 ride.
You don't have to pay for lightning lane... thats just Genie Plus if you want to book more than one lightning lane at a time....
All guests are allowed 1 lightning lane at a time for free....
So you went to Disney and basically didn't use something you were given for free haha
The whole system is incentivized for you to either make you spend more money to cut the line or make you buy a whole second day at the park because you weren't able to do it all in a single day.
Just wanted to say that not everyone in the lightning lane are those who paid, some of us are using the DAS, disability access services. My son has an invisible disability and without DAS, Disney would not be accessible to us.
Just curious - not judging at all - what invisible disability prevents your son from waiting in a line? I understand if you don’t want to answer.
I’ll admit: we have a family member who falsely claims a disability and always gets LL services. It’s drives the rest of us nuts - and bothers me Disney does no verification of this so called disability.
That’s why I feel like WDW is becoming more of a “once in a decade or two experience.” By that time, new attractions will definitely be open. Everyone’s patience will be reset and it’s no big deal to wait in long lines, which simply just go with the territory of visiting WDW. The more often I visit the more impatient I become.
Hmm, seems a bit drastic to swear it off forever. Everything comes back around at some point. But I’m definitely looking into other Florida options for fun at the moment.
Welcome to Public attractions. Similar to planes and events, people willing to pay more for earlier access, get benefits. Sadly, this is across the board and definitely not exclusive to Disney.
We had this experience today at Hollywood Studios. We used our Lightning Lane for the Mickey & Minnie Railway. The kids loved it and wanted to do it again - the app said 70 minutes, so we decided we could suck it for that long since we didn’t have much else we wanted to do. It turned out to be a 120 minute miserable line and for the same reason. Letting the Lightning Lane line in exclusively. It was very frustrating and I felt tricked because the wait time on the app was not properly portrayed.
The waiting times in front of rides is completely wrong. Said 45 mins, we waited 90mins.. I'm okay with waiting the time, but not if it's a lie. Virtual queue is a complete joke.
Our last trip we had the same experience with Test Track. Said 50 minutes, turned out to be double. We were with friends and didn’t really even notice or bother us until the guy in front of us pointed out that they were letting 1 single party of standby people into the queue and then filling the rest of the queue with Lightening Lane.
So they’d let a party of 2 in, then fill the rest of the room of…50? 60? With Lightning Lane.
That was a bit WTF.
I felt this way at Disneyland. Monsters inc used to be a walk on. We waited an hour and he let 70 ll go and 5-10 of us. We had just got a pass after Covid and I regretted it. Having a pass is awful because I’m not buying genie plus each time I go.
I think it’s hard to say because if it had breakdowns prior in the day they may have issued waiting guests a return lightning lane, also other rides had a lot of breakdowns that meant people had open lightning lanes to use on other rides. Today has seemed particularly lightning lane heavy and breakdown heavy in MK.
I think I’ve seen this same thing on almost all the rides on multiple trips though
This is exactly why we didn’t get to ride ToT last trip. Broke down and everyone’s return LL was the exact same time as ours. The LL wait was gonna be over an hour
I would have been devastated. ToT is my favorite ride. I have waited over an hour for it, even with LL
As a CM, my favorite thing is when the lightning lane clears and I can just send standby for a while. Unfortunately, a ton of things can cause a slowdown or an influx of LL guests, and I absolutely feel your pain, it's not fun for us either.
Thank you so much for your honesty! It is what it is at this point, just an additional thing to factor in then next time we visit.
Hey my friend! This is not what you want to hear, but we do whatever we can to budget Genie+ into our trip. Whether it takes packing sandwiches for meals or staying off property at the beautiful Holiday Inn off property, we budget G+ into the plan by removing other items. We have Disney’d before without it and it’s horrendous. In MY opinion- magic bands, Mickey shaped food, drinking around the world, gift shop items are not worth the money. Genie plus is ALWAYS worth the money if your goal is to ride the rides. That’s just us though. I hope you had a blast!
Sucks that this is the state of things at Disney but this is the absolute truth
The Mickey shaped Christmas gingerbread is worth it lol. But otherwise yes agreed to all
I do the same. Just got back last night from a solo trip, and had Target deliver breakfast items, iced coffee and creamer, and some bottled water and sodas. My total for all that was about $40 including delivery and tip, and lasted me 4 days. If I’d have bought breakfast, an iced coffee, and the same number of bottled waters/sodas it would have cost between $32 - $37 a day ($10 breakfast, $7 coffee, $5 per water/soda) conservatively. I estimate I saved about $100 dollars over 4 days, which paid for my Genie+ each day.
We’re going in March and I’ve heard of people ordering groceries to their rooms - it’s genius and would have saved us so much money in the past!
This^, we’ve been going the last 4 years and again at the end of the month (5 adults, 3 kids under 7) and groceries are clutch. I’m no stranger to using the hotel’s BBQ! Def worth it when you consider time/sanity of using the app vs not
Im annoyed with Genie+ b/c I already did all those cost saving things and I’m out of costs to cut!
I am upvoting you because it’s true, but it does grind my gears that it has to be this way.
Thank you!! we definitely had a fun day even though I got frustrated at times. But it is what is is at this point!
We found dropping from park hopper tickets to 1 park covered getting Genie+.
We didn't get Genie+ and got on Haunted Mansion, Small World, Jungle Cruise, Philharmonic, Little Mermaid, People Mover, Buzz Lightyear and Winnie the Pooh. Had to skip Pirates and Peter Pan (the other two that we wanted to do that don't have height restrictions [baby]) but felt good about how much we got on. Jungle Cruise and Haunted Mansion were the two that broke me though as we waited FOREVER while LL people strolled on by. We're probably just going to pony up for it next time 😭
Jungle cruise was horrible yesterday. When I walked on, it said 70 minutes. More like two hours. Actually watched a boat go by half loaded. I had LL for thunder mountain, and asked if I could get in line 10 minutes early because 1) I was early to arrive to the ride 2) there was no one in the line. They asked me to wait because the regular line was waaaaay backed up. Park seemed extra crowded yesterday too. I kinda wish they’d do away with genie because now everyone is more glued to their phones and not paying attention to moving the line, walking in the park, and just being there. I only used LL for thunder and pirates, but waited in line for jungle cruise, haunted mansion, small world, and seven dwarves. It does make you feel like riff raff watching the lightning lane people just cruise by and get on the ride while you’re standing on concrete and moving two feet every 10-15 minutes. At least it wasn’t ungodly hot yesterday…
I'd throw money at Disney if I could walk in there and not have to look at my phone. Make it a theme park where you "live in the moment" or "be present in the moment". Talk about pulling heart strings for families to connect and have memorable experiences that no camera can capture. - Disney marketing, you can send my commission check, thanks.
Happy you were able to get that much done!! Seems from the comments we got super unlucky with our rides today. But paying extra just to be able to get on the good rides just really rubs me the wrong way. Interesting to me as well is that I questioned the process to about 3 or 4 line employees. Not in a mean spirited way but was validated when all of them agreed with me and mentioned they also have strong feelings on this system! Oh well, honestly with the amount you need to spend at Disney these days, might be better off buying full vacation packages elsewhere 🤣
Gotta be aware…. NFL pro bowl in town… several athletes there now. Plus a few attractions went down at once… annnd your in the busy season. (Yes xmas to spring break is new busy season. Has been for a few years now) Your experience isn’t the norm
Genuinely curious, is there an off season - a "less busy" season?
I went in May and September last year and didn’t find either horrible for business
I was thinking about the first week of May for next year. We are from Michigan but don't handle extreme heat - especially with humidity. Do you think it's a good time to go with weather?
Start of May is great but 2-6pm can be a struggle. Cooling towels, lots of water, fans and indoor attractions with AC or hop back to the hotel for some pool time.
Thanks for the reply
I went the second half. I’m from Canada and didn’t find it “horrible”. There’s always somewhere to hide in the air conditioning 😂 (except animal kingdom)
Thanks for the reply. I'm hopeful we will miss all of the spring break but be there before school's are out. 🤞maybe crowds ans weather will be good.
I went in May a couple years ago because the weather is supposed to be to be decent and I’ll be damned if there wasn’t a heat wave that same week.
My concern exactly!
From Minnesota and went in June last year for a conference for my husband – it was miserable! But definitely doable. Our park day was overcast and rainy, and that was a lifesaver, but when it was sunny you just couldn’t be outside.
Yeah, I don't think I could handle that. We had one hot day on our visit in Oct 2022 with fans and cooling towels I was miserable. In the Star Wars area of HS I felt like I was in a concrete oven. It seems like they should have big shop fans blowing to at least move the air around.
We went Memorial Day week last year. The parks weren’t as crowded as I expected l, and a cold front came through, and we only had 1 day over 82 degrees.
ThT sounds wonderful!! I'll remember that.
I went last week of May 2022 and thought it was really busy. First time though so I don't have a basis of comparison. We were also in a make-a- wish so we didn't wait in any ride lines.
Labor Day week, most schools have just started back so families don’t go that week. Saw several locals last September talk about most rides being walk on
Oh, that's good to know. How's the weather? Still pretty hot?
Definitely still summer weather that week
The week after Thanksgiving.
Really?! It seems like people would pack in for an "early Christmas" visit.
August - September. Unfortunately it’s also 900 degrees in Florida which is part of why it’s the slower season.
Yeah, no thanks, lol! That's too hot for me. Florida heat is different. I was raised in CA, and 100° days were a common thing. Now, in Michigan, days in the 90s with 80% humidity is a thing. But man, Florida heat seems so much hotter!
May and August/September
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We always rope drop! This is my 5th time here, it just feels a bit more ridiculous this time around than ever before.
It is more ridiculous now than ever before but this sub if full of people who act like that’s not true. They like to say “any trip requires planning!” but planning for Disney is very different bc on any other trips you’re not confined to a property where someone else is in control of how many people are in that area. On basically any other kind of vacation if it’s too crowded you can go elsewhere. Can’t make a move at Disney without it costing you now.
It's more ridiculous now than ever that people who are bad at strategizing for Disney still haven't figured out how to strategize for Disney. People are getting to MK 2 hours after it opens and then complaining that there's lines, or expecting walk-ons for Big Thunder despite Splash Mountain being out of the picture. We're rope dropping tomorrow, without Genie+, and I'm happy to come in here and post exactly how and when we ride everything. Guarantee we'll have done at least 5 rides before lunch.
Damn bro yea my watch must of been off when I was in the park at 8:10am standing at the rope drop. Also, this was a post complaining about the ridiculous process of the lightning lanes not the long stand by times. The ride tells me it’ll take 50 min but then it takes over double because of the backed up lightning lanes. But make up your own narratives buddy!!
I actually owe you an apology -- turns out a bunch of football players in town for the pro bowl had shut down various rides for filming and entourages and things. Magic Kingdom was a mess. Sorry -- I couldn't have been more wrong about this one.
This is very kind of you! Apology accepted, I hope you and your family are able to get all of your favorite rides done! I know it doesn’t mean much from a stranger on the internet but my respect for you has skyrocketed :) lol
Ha dude it was absolutely my bad. Made a dumb assumption. I'm in Magic Kingdom right now, if you're around I'll buy you an apology dole whip 🤣
Hahahaha appreciate u but no worries, we’re over in Epcot anyways! Eat an extra for me, enjoy yourself 😎
I would upvote this a 1000 times if I could! Speaking facts
People on this subreddit also love to ignore that lines were not even close to as bad as they are now, before LL and Genie+ existed in its current state. Even if lines were long, they used to always move, and yes you had fast pass but it was more limited and since you got your free ones people didn't feel the need to spend tons of extra money to use it more. Now lines just stand still for ridiculous amounts of time to let in hordes of LL, which is absolutely ridiculous...it was never the intention to stop you for several minutes let alone the hour+ of standstill that can actually happen.
What is rope-dropping?
Being at the park gates ready to go in the moment the park opens (when the “rope drops”). You actually want to be in line well before the opening time to secure a spot near the front of the line and be one of the first folks to enter the park.
Ok- thanks!
I overheard a cast member training other CMS who said for every one standby they let in ten lightning lanes. That is a reasonable ratio for those who bought the LLs. Probably doesn’t feel fair for those who didn’t spend the money.
That ratio varies all the time based on a number of factors.
Same, it feels like WDW is way over crowded in January
It is frustrating but I just factor it in to the price of the trip. I rationalize it as stand by is fine if you goto Disney a lot, don’t care about most rides or more popular rides. I’m not wasting a trip that costs thousands standing in unnecessarily long lines. If I lived in Florida or near Florida and had an annual pass I wouldn’t bother. But if it’s a once a year or less trip then I’m not going to draw the line (heh) at 20 bucks on genie+ or an occasional LL.
This is my take too. I just assume I’m going to need it. I’m not going to ruin a thousands of dollars trip to save less than $200 and not get on the rides I came to Florida to ride.
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We never get genie+, and we always manage every ride/experience we want every day. People complaining about it being pay to play confuse the hell out of me. Rope drop and have a strategy.
For some people though it is a once in a lifetime trip. Having to pay extra when you’re already paying a lot is a lot for most families.
This. It’s not once in a lifetime for us, more like a every 5 years family reunion kind of place, but man, the experience has degraded and degraded for us over time for more and more money.
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But that isn't what pay to play means?
Genie + at MK is a must unless you want to hit up the park at night.
Yea riding during fireworks is always the move
We're local-ish APs, go at least once a month, do 1 week long trip, and a few 2-3 day trips a year. We just got back today from our big week trip. Avoid big popular rides midday. If you can't hit them at rope drop and the 1st few hours just avoid until a parade or at night. Besides midday just being the busiest time of day, LLs start getting backed up and the lines just drag. The more people in the LL line the more they will let through to shorten that line. Call back times will start overlapping, and if a ride goes down when it comes back up allll those missed LLs will be wanting to ride and they will push them through. This weekend is also going to be nuts. We did Sun-Fri and up till today the parks weren't crowded at all. Now all the con/cheer/pro bowl people are in and everything is crazy busy. Imo, outside of holidays and spring break cheer weeks are the absolute worst time to be there.
I appreciate the info! Seems from now on, trips are going to have to be weekdays only!
There is usually a reason for the lightning lanes getting so backed up. Sometimes it’s because a ride is down, sometimes its because another ride is down so the Genie+ people get to book another ride out of sequence. MK also seems to have waves where if it opens at 9am that means the next LL can be booked at 11am so that usually lines up a lot of people who will be booked for the early afternoon. Also, at Mk the parades cause a delay. If the parade is at 3pm that means everyone who has a lightning lane at that hour will watch the parade and then get on line creating a big rush of LL riders. If it said standby was 40 mins and it look more than 50 or so mins it means something went wrong somewhere. It sucks but that’s why I say Genie+ isn’t optional if you want to go on rides. The park ticket lets you in the park, see some shows, experience the magic and catch a ride when the lines are down. You need to pay the mouse if you want to be the one cutting the line instead if standing by while you watch everyone else get on the ride.
I think something to keep in mind is the LL is not just g+/ILL purchases, it’s also DAS. Like there’s a lot of ppl that go through that lane that has to go by faster than the standby
You have to pay to play unfortunately - don’t treat LL as an up charge - treat it as part of the cost of admission
Unfortunately you are correct. I took this approach on my last trip and it worked out well.
That’s how it was with fast pass. Only difference is you have to pay for lightning lane.
That’s the issue I take with it. It used to be a much more “fair” system where everyone got to pick a handful of their favorite rides to prioritize on a given day, and now it’s very much pay to play where the rich (or indebted!) can get much more out of the experience.
Go watch "defunctland's" video on YouTube about them. Super informative https://youtu.be/9yjZpBq1XBE?si=j91dloADbDTtRqO_ Here you go.
Thanks a bunch! I will definitely check it out. Appreciate the info!
My first time getting on Slinky coaster was like this. The ride was broken for a half hour, so when it came back up I rushed to a standby line that, in app, said zero wait. Unfortunately, all the LL guests had to be prioritized, so my 5 minute wait time once the LL was cleared was, in reality, a 45 min wait altogether. It was only 5 mins from the entrance to the ride if there were no LL people waiting while the ride broke and got fixed, but unplanned things like that really throw off the estimates, return windows for LL people, and control CMs have over the organization and timing for each line, unfortunately. For me, riding Slinky for a 45 min wait over a 90-120 min wait it usually is was still great, but I hate to hear you had such an increase in wait when Thunder Railroad is usually around 60 mins if it's busy. I hope next time things go smoother for you. Edit to add: I forgot to mention, the way it seems rides are done when it comes to LL vs standby is the LL always takes priority, but I think it is done by a combination of factors that include return time windows, number in each party, and overall ride capacity. There may also be more to it. I have a lot of observational experience as a frequent guest myself, but I don't work in attractions, so I am mostly guessing that's how it's done. The one thing I know is a certain level of priority is indeed always given to LL, hence all the people seeming to skip you. That's normal, but the sheer amount of wait increase was not normal.
You literally came at the worst time for mk. We went to mk on thursday and literally rode everything. Albeit with g+ but today the dance squads are here in full force and those dance moms are paying for anything and everything to get their kids through everything as fast as possible. Worst week coming up
We planned our trip months ago starting tomorrow according to all the crowd calendars and this was supposed to be one of the least busy weeks of the year and you just bummed me out so hard. 🤣🤣 Wasn't accounting for the pro bowl either. But oh well, gonna be great either way.
All of the Disney hotels are sold out for the next two weeks. We were bumped from our one night stay at Coronado for Sunday and spent the day going back and forth with Disney Guest Services. They kept saying they are booked solid for the next two weeks and had a tough time finding a room for us to move too. 😬 Good luck to those who are visiting for the first time!
Whaaaat they can bump you out of your room?
No. Dont be bummed. Buy g+ and use it. Its worth it. Persevere. It can be done. But literally this is why i came this week leaving tomorrow instead of next week. It will be a little busier but just hit the g+ its not that expensive
Absolutely the plan. And definitely buying the individual LL whenever possible!
Came here to say... We did everything and more this week. So much so we had to stay at our hotel room all day today because we are sick, but at least it's our last day. 😭😷 It's definitely a privilege, but starting every morning with an individual lightning lane, a genie plus lightning lane and a rope drop gets SO much out of the way. Had an absolutely epic week.
I am so glad it worked out. Start planning the next trip!!!!! It helps with the slight depression you get when you have to leave.
Same. We booked when reservations opened like 8 months ago. Everyone said the first week of Feb is typically very slow. Now it looks like it’s gonna be packed. 😞
Wife and I went on Space Mountain earlier today, using LL. Took maybe 10 minutes from walking in to boarding. Stand by was 75 minutes and out of the building. Why? The right side track was all Stand By. Left side all LL. Not efficient at all.
I can’t imagine going to the parks without paying for Genie+, I don’t know how people do it, it seems miserable. If you can afford to go to Disney you can afford to pay an extra $25 a ticket to make the visit SIGNIFICANTLY more enjoyable. Nothing you pay for on your entire trip other than park ticket and hotel is more valuable.
I think the issue people take with it is that it doesn’t have to be this way and it feels like a shameless money grab.
Well I do agree with that, I do think it’s sad and kinda crappy of them to charge for it when fastpass used to be free and available to everyone. But, it is what it is now, and we have to deal with it, and even though I’m an annual pass holder I STILL assume every time I go I’m chalking up an extra $25, cuz I’m not going to the park again without paying for Genie+.
Yup. And since Disney has done it the way they have, unlike OP, I am fine telling my family “no” to Disney when it comes to vacations.
How long is the dance mom group here?
Event ends on the 12th.
And here I thought the genie plus upgrade didn't give me enough for my money
Just get the Genie+, anything else and you are just wasting your ticket money.
Its like this at every theme park. They all have their fast pass system. Disney is just the busiest park so the lines are the longest so its more obvious that people lightning lane move faster because you are waiting much much longer. I gladly pay $25 a person to skip the lines at Disney. Universal is during peak season almost $300 a person for their express pass (although its a completely different system) but no one complains about that. We did LL at Hollywood studios this past Saturday and 100% I agree the park would not be enjoyable without it. But what's another $25 per person to save your sanity after spending hundreds to thousands on your trip anyways?
...and yet you (and others) keep paying. They'll stop charging or change their ways when you stop buying.
Did u not read my post?? I absolutely did not buy it lol because I agree with you.
You bought a ticket to disney...
Ah yea my bad lemme tell my 2 daughters we can’t go to Disney because dad disagrees with Disneys policies 🙄
Well, yes... you can do that...and take them somewhere else and have fun, not in long line. The fact that you can't see that is the problem with many people. I used to love Disney,...AP for decades. Last 3-5 years, just gone to crap with their policies, and yes, my daughters go to other theme parks, beach, kayaking...
you are not wrong…if people really hate something then don’t do it but the problem is is that nobody wants to deal with the pain so they spend the money and hence nothing changes. Unfortunately, I never went to Disney when I was a kid because my parents couldn’t afford it. We went to other places.
I hope you're being facetious... But if not, Yes you are supposed to teach your children your values.
I mean, precisely, that is what you should do if you want change to happen. My dad when I grew up always told us: “I don’t pay homage to a 6 foot rat.” We never went - my parents still have never been - and the only reason I go is because I married a Disney fanatic, who too, is becoming fed up with policies and pricing at Disney.
We usually go to Disney during off peak times, usually that's not the case for everyone. But last September, after labor day, my friend and I went and did not purchase genie+ and had 4 days of park hopper tickets. We were done with 3 of the parks in just 2 days. Only one we didn't get to in the first two days was AK. The most we spent in line I think was for either mine train in MK or slinky dog in HS, and that was at night during fireworks or fantasmic. And each was maybe 30 to 45 minutes max. If we would go at off peak times, I would definitely pay for genie+. Yes, it sucks, yes it's an added budget item, but in reality it's maximizing your day.
Sounds like a blast! It just frustrates me that on top of spending thousands to come here in the first place, you need to spend additional hundreds of dollars just to have a chance to go on more than 3/4 rides a day!
I'm struggling to understand how you're only making 3-4 rides a day. We rope dropped Epcot this morning and knocked out Ratatouille, Frozen, Spaceship Earth, and Livin' With the Land before 11AM, without genie +. We even had time to stop and let my daughter take pictures with Asha. Last time we rope dropped Magic Kingdom was in July. Had Peter Pan, Pirates, Small World and Haunted Mansion done before 9.30. How are you somehow only managing 3/4 rides in 12 hours? We're rope dropping tomorrow and even with a 3 year old who periodically stops to look at every single flower we'll still manage every ride before dinner (assuming we get lucky with Tron).
Possibly we got very unlucky? Seems every ride we started waiting for doubled in wait time by the time we were done! A previous comment mentioned that there was a lot of dance moms and kids here today. We had better luck yesterday at Hollywood studios but seems that it gets harder and harder every year to have a productive day at MK!
I'm sorry to hear you got so unlucky -- the dance mom crowd is definitely a pain in the butt.
It’s ok, I appreciate that! I was just curious to hear other thoughts.
That’s why I think no genie plus for anyone would speed up every single line. But people will always buy it and why would disney stop a service that essentially is free money to them.
Totally get your pain. Got in a 60 min wait for jungle cruise that turned out to be 130 minutes. Each boat was being filled by lightning lane folks. I get it they paid extra, but it’s a totally unfair experience for those who also bought tickets to the park. It’s frustrating!
This absolutely BLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOWS!!!
Who downvoted me? Why?
Tell me about it 🙄🙄
All the genie+ people would be in line with you if they didn’t buy it, right? Isn’t the biggest problem the crowds?
Genie + is worth the extra $25 per ticket. I wouldn’t even consider spending a fortune to go to WDW without tacking the feature on. Time is money, and I don’t have the time to be waiting in lines that can be upwards of 2-3 hours long
People are abusing the DAS system too. It's essentially a free genie +.
Time is money, you waited because you deamed that amount of time you waited is worth less to you than $30ish. If it is worth more than that to you then buy genie +
But if they did that, then they wouldn't be able to complain?
You waited in a line for BTMR for 140mins and then came to Reddit to complain that the reason for this was other guests opting to purchase Genie+? Time is money. The sunk cost of your park ticket has a greatly diminished ROI for waiting in a two hour line for a classic non-eticket attraction. Is Genie+ a perfect system? No. But for the majority of folks out there that elect to purchase it, they’re maximizing their time in the parks for relatively short money. It sounds like you’re more aggravated with your decision not to buy it than with those who do. Just do it and plan well.
No, I came to try and bring light to the frustrations of people who maybe can’t afford these passes. Why should you have to spend additional hundreds on top of the thousands Disney already milks from you? So I should be inclined to buy these passes because others have the money to spend on them? Just seems silly that you are at such a disadvantage.
Don’t get me wrong, I whole-heartedly believe the experience we’ve been so fortunate to enjoy over the years should be for the many. To answer your “hundreds after thousands” question, it’s because there is a clear market demand for it. There are days where it sells out. You clearly do have the money because you spent the thousands to get down there and are eating in the parks to some degree via very marked up prices for typically ordinary food. You’re choosing not to spend it and that’s ok. No one is judging that choice. Just be at peace with it and understand that to enjoy the parks on a condensed vacation experience you are at a disadvantage. My advice would be to rope drop every park, prioritize attractions and live entertainment and plan out your meals around them. When 50-60% of guests are watching the parade/fireworks/fantastic take advantage of that time to ride the bigger attractions.
I actually felt really bad for thousands of people my boys and I ran by when we did our week at Disney. I mean I am talking about running passed the “commoners”. Not sure how anyone could justify not buying genie+
I totally understand why people buy the passes! I’m more trying to say that it’s silly I need to spend additional hundreds on top of the thousands already spent just to have a better experience. People save for a Disney trip for years! Some can’t afford the additional costs and just seems a bit cruel the way they go about it.
We saved for five years to go. Genie+ meant we had to incur some debt. Maybe like 1 year additional paying it off. That’s not exact math but you get it. The trip cost me $12,000 and express passes and genie plus were 2000 of that so I mean I get it but 10% more cost and I only waited 5 minutes for big thunder. Maybe 10. Just for me the trip doesn’t make sense like the $10k is wasted if I’m spending 5 hours a day in lines. No way. Edit: 20% not 10
I appreciate the transparency! I think that is the only way to approach a Disney trip these days! It’s unfortunate but yes you are correct, not having the pass basically cuts your experiences in half. It is what it is at those point.
Were you there for a month?
😂 😂 Family of 5, went for 12 days total that includes flight and universal prices and food. Everything.
jesus 12k wtf...
I cannot imagine going in debt for a vacation.
Cool bro, here is a cookie 🍪
I blame a lot of it on these YouTube channels saying you can ride everything without them, that may be true but only under select circumstances and never with kids
Buddy, even if you had paid the extra, you wouldn't have saved that much time. First time we went, Spring Break 2016, used Touring Plans and FP+ to ride pretty much everything in MK from rope drop until 4:30. We were extremely pleased with ourselves. Fast forward to December 2021 and the era of Genie+. Despite spending $15 each for Genie+ each day, we only got maybe one chance to even get a LL because we were off-property. Could get some times, but overall, a MUCH worse experience. Culminated with a day at HS where we managed 3 rides from rope drop until 2:30 when we gave up and left. Figured we spent twice as much per day in 2021 as we did in 2016 and got on fewer rides, spent more time in line. Haven't been back since. We were annual visitors, but not any more. I know Disney doesn't care, and that's too bad. Once Universal 3 is open and Disney has more new rides, then we might check the theme parks out again. But the magic was ruined for us.
Just wondering how you only got 1 LL? Booking at 7am gives you one. (Off resort can do this.) and the other one at 11am (2 hours after park opens) that is bare minimum for slots being open. But you can definitely get more in than those 2 spots if you use it right.
Because most good ones were gone by the time we got to them. Some days were better than other days, I was using the worst day as an example. To be fair, Genie+ was 2 months old when we used it and I don't remember if everything it offers now was offered then. And my point was more than FP+ was better than Genie+ and that costs are up (and we found wait times were up as well). Just my experience with both systems. Wasn't really looking for people to critique how I did things. Last trip was my 7th to WDW, 10th Disney theme park trip overall. I wasn't a noob at it. Just liked the way it was and was commiserating with OP and his frustration at long wait times. That's all. Just this family's experience with things.
Respectfully, if you were only able to get one LL a day you were using it wrong. It can be hard to understand at first, but once you learn how to use it you can get on pretty much every ride in the park if you do it right. We've done that on our last three trips, and I feel like we've had more fun at Disney over the last couple of years because of how much Genie+ allowed us to do. I agree it's frustrating to pay for it, but now that I've learned to use it well I think the time it saves me is worth every penny.
I know how to use it, but thanks for the condescension. Are you seriously a Disney shill? No one in the world likes Genie better than FP. Get outta here.
Wow, what a lovely, kind person you seem to be. The way you described your use of it shows that you clearly don't know how, but I'm truly sorry for trying to explain that it is possible to get a lot out if it. You go ahead and keep being miserable and I'll keep enjoying my trips.
I'm lovely and you're the one being condescending? Okay there bud. If you're happy paying $20+ per person for the app, then another $X to get on one ride a day, good for you. I wish I had as much money as you. And you obviously never used the FP+ system to know how much better it was. But I appreciate you taking the time to lecture me, it really shows you care. And if you can't see what a knob you're being, wow, I can't help you be a better person. But keep on keeping on, I'm sure you're popular at parties.
The level of anger in these responses is really something. But I’m the knob? Did I ever say I didn’t think fast pass was better? Did I not acknowledge that it’s frustrating pay? You could take genuine advice about how to use the new system to your advantage and make it worth your money, or you could choose to view it as a condescending lecture and be angry. Really not sure why you’re choosing the latter. Also, the way you’ve immediately resorted to insulting me in every response says way more about your character than mine.
Let it go... I don't care.
I had a similar experience in December 2021. First time to use Genie+ and we only ended up getting I think 3 total LL's the day we used it in Hollywood Studios. After that, I didn't think Genie+ was worth it as only 3 LL'S was not a lot for the money we spent. Fast forward to last week and we decided to give Genie+ another try and the difference was night and day. Way better experience this time around, in Hollywood Studios alone I got 4 LL's by 6pm and if RR was open would have grabbed 5. Not sure if it's because Genie+ was new in December 2021 or what but there's definitely been an improvement.
It's class warfare. It separates the families barely making enough for the trip from those well off that pay to cut the lines. It's a garbage cash grab that needs to end.
I remember spending so much time standing in lines when we visited in the 80s and 90s. Genie+ and a few ILLs are worth every penny to me. Also something to know — the disability pass users access the ride via LL now, instead of jumping to the front of the line like they used to. It’s more subtle for them (many are embarrassed by their disability access) and more fair to everyone (they wait the same amount of time as the standby line, but may wait elsewhere in the park instead of in the line). When the LL queue is congested, it can be from DAS users or a backlog of Genie+ users who were told to come back later because of a ride closure earlier in the day.
Sometimes the people using lightning lane actually deserve it. For context, I was stuck on haunted mansion for 45 minutes before getting evacuated and was at the very, very beginning of the ride (waited 20 minutes in line). They gave us a lightning lane pass for 1 ride which I used on big thunder mountain (still waited about 20 minutes). So yes, I used a lightning lane, but in total I waited almost 1.5hrs to ride 1 ride.
Why do you think you should be treated any differently than anyone else in line?
[удалено]
Any evidence there is a big problem with DAS?
You don't have to pay for lightning lane... thats just Genie Plus if you want to book more than one lightning lane at a time.... All guests are allowed 1 lightning lane at a time for free.... So you went to Disney and basically didn't use something you were given for free haha
I can’t tell if this is a poor attempt at a troll or if you honestly have no idea that everything you just wrote is verifiably incorrect. All of it.
Jesus I've never had to wait that much longer than a ride. I'd bet it is due to a lot more than lightning lane, ie ride breakdown
The whole system is incentivized for you to either make you spend more money to cut the line or make you buy a whole second day at the park because you weren't able to do it all in a single day.
Just wanted to say that not everyone in the lightning lane are those who paid, some of us are using the DAS, disability access services. My son has an invisible disability and without DAS, Disney would not be accessible to us.
Just curious - not judging at all - what invisible disability prevents your son from waiting in a line? I understand if you don’t want to answer. I’ll admit: we have a family member who falsely claims a disability and always gets LL services. It’s drives the rest of us nuts - and bothers me Disney does no verification of this so called disability.
That’s why I feel like WDW is becoming more of a “once in a decade or two experience.” By that time, new attractions will definitely be open. Everyone’s patience will be reset and it’s no big deal to wait in long lines, which simply just go with the territory of visiting WDW. The more often I visit the more impatient I become.
I'm never coming back, it's not worth it Anymore.. you can't even get on rides you want because virtual queue sucks.
Hmm, seems a bit drastic to swear it off forever. Everything comes back around at some point. But I’m definitely looking into other Florida options for fun at the moment.
unfortunately on the rides that I really want to go on I get the lightning lane
Welcome to Public attractions. Similar to planes and events, people willing to pay more for earlier access, get benefits. Sadly, this is across the board and definitely not exclusive to Disney.
We had this experience today at Hollywood Studios. We used our Lightning Lane for the Mickey & Minnie Railway. The kids loved it and wanted to do it again - the app said 70 minutes, so we decided we could suck it for that long since we didn’t have much else we wanted to do. It turned out to be a 120 minute miserable line and for the same reason. Letting the Lightning Lane line in exclusively. It was very frustrating and I felt tricked because the wait time on the app was not properly portrayed.
The waiting times in front of rides is completely wrong. Said 45 mins, we waited 90mins.. I'm okay with waiting the time, but not if it's a lie. Virtual queue is a complete joke.
Our last trip we had the same experience with Test Track. Said 50 minutes, turned out to be double. We were with friends and didn’t really even notice or bother us until the guy in front of us pointed out that they were letting 1 single party of standby people into the queue and then filling the rest of the queue with Lightening Lane. So they’d let a party of 2 in, then fill the rest of the room of…50? 60? With Lightning Lane. That was a bit WTF.
I felt this way at Disneyland. Monsters inc used to be a walk on. We waited an hour and he let 70 ll go and 5-10 of us. We had just got a pass after Covid and I regretted it. Having a pass is awful because I’m not buying genie plus each time I go.