All the fast pass stuff and now this genie thing – out of control. Doesn’t Disney cost enough as it is? And now they’re trying to squeeze out just $30/ day more from every guest! That’s just plain greedy!
It’s simple Econ 101. If something is too popular (and arguably Disney World is too popular considering the long lines), you either need to expand its capacity or you need to increase the price so you can reduce the demand back to a reasonable amount. Nobody is forcing anyone to go to Disney, nor does anyone have a “right” to go there at an affordable price. If it costs too much, people will choose to take their vacation dollars elsewhere.
Disney knows the die hard Disney guests are gullible and they’ll buy anything Disney throws at em. Most didnt even think about the cons of the program they just blindly went in and bought into it lol
They literally DON’T want everyone to pay for Genie+. That’s why there’s a cost. If they were truly greedy, they’d charge something far more in line with what the park average cost is for skip the lines services.
We love going to the WDW parks in FL, I don’t think that is fair. Why do we have to pay now for that, we are already paying to much for each park ticket, food prices are high, Disney merchandise too. People’s economy during 2020 and 2021 was impacted for so many reasons .Please WDW parks VISITORS DO NOT PAY FOR THIS NEW UNFAIR LIGHTNING LANE !!
This has always been the case because near the end of the night you have much fewer people using FP and once the actual line closes there is NO more FP to clog up the standby line so it moves at what should be the normal pace. And to he wait time posted is assuming a full FP/Genie queue.
Not only will I not be paying for Lightning Lanes, I won’t be visiting any Disney property again until the reverse this ridiculous, money-raping system. Walt Disney must be rolling over in his grave.
Reverse the decision? It could happen but not likely. Gift stores selling $40 T-Shirts, overpriced food and drinks, “Preferred parking” costing $40+ a day, elimination of Magical Express and MagicBands. AP’s increase for DVC members by 40% (for non blackout passes), elimination of 1000’s of cast members, cutbacks on services, hotel prices through the roof, converting hotels rooms to DVC which reduces hotel rooms further driving up rack rates for hotel rooms. Ripping off its customers is the Chapek way.
They didn’t get RID of MagicBands. You can still get them and resort guest still get discounted ones. Heck, they’re releasing a new line of MagicBand+ next year. But you can also, for free, turn your smart phone or smart watch into doing what MagicBands do.
Most of the things you complain about was restructuring they had to do due to a pandemic. They’re hiring back to the same levels of CMs. They’re restoring services.
But, those dessert parties are great. and i’ll be happy to book one, each time we vacation there. I go on vacation to have fun. i plan ahead and save accordingly. Life costs money. I’ll just bust my ass at work and go make more, so i can have fun with my family
Not a hack. Frequent park goers have been doing this for years. I have a theory that the wait times say longer on some of the popular rides to discourage people from getting in line last minute late at night. If you are in line when the park closes, they have to leave rides open until the last rider is done.
They post those wait times so the ride can close and cast members can go home. The amount of OT that goes into guests refusing to leave when the park closes is ridiculous. If you scoot into line at 9:59 and the park closes at ten, and the ride really is at a 90 minute wait everyone has to keep on working until not only the ride is empty but they have to wait for you to take your sweet time leaving the park 2 hours after it’s closed.
That’s why many parks close the line. Put a chain or sign or something across the start of the line as closing time nears, so that the last riders will be boarding right at park closing time.
I also have a “hack” – wait times are lower right when the park opens, too. OH and another – lines are lower during non-peak times of the year, too.
Sad day and age when common sense is treated like inside information. And shame on Disney for gouging their guests for even more money…and also shame on the people who have bought into this scam and perpetuate the price gouging. As long as guests continue to accept that they’re being taken advantage of and keep shelling out money for stuff like this, the more Disney will do it. Just STOP IT. They don’t need any more of your money.
Sounds like Disney is purposely posting longer than actual wait times, to persuade folks to pay for a “shorter” wait time. Did I read something about a petition?
I discovered this by accident a few years ago with Frozen Ever After at EPCOT a few years ago. It was when it was new and wait times were through the roof. It worked especially well there because park close was at 9 PM so Frozen’s line closed at 9 PM. But, Illinuminations didn’t start until 9 PM so people had been gathering for the fireworks show instead of queuing up for an attraction. Sort of like how the best time to ride was during parades in other parks. Even though the posted wait time was 60 minutes it really only took 20 minutes in standby. The rule has always been if you get IN LINE before park close, you rode. I joined the line at 8:57 PM just to be safe. I suspect no one bothers to change the wait time sign in the last hour just to discourage long lines at the end of the day. Don’t tell the Bob’s.
We are checking out today. I hate the genie+ system. It’s pure greed and adds more chaos and I think makes wait times longer. We went Memorial Weekend with no fast passes and it was so smooth. On top of 5 day tickets we purchased that we used this week, we ended up spending another $300 on genie because if not you wouldn’t have been able to ride a lot of things, not just the “special ones”. And since when is Space Mountain a special ride. It’s been here forever and now they are charging extra to ride it because it’s not available on the day pass? Crowds were stacked up in weird places at time too. Also, if you are going to make people pay for the lighting pass for the day, you should just be able to tap your band at the entry for one ride each without having to set it up in advance. But honestly, we spend enough money on everything else, hotel, food, tickets, souvenirs….this is greedy. I love Disney with all my heart, but this makes me angry. Not to mention, if you use the service to map out of the day, what’s the fun in that? After dining reservations, and park reservations making you plan ahead so much, this really sucks whatever remaining random fun you could have left. I hope it goes away.
It’s absolutely UNTRUE that you HAVE to buy Genie + for every day for every park or else you won’t be able to ride anything. There are so many Disney YouTubers who have shown this to be false it’s amazing you’re claiming it.
There’s no reason to get Genie + for Animal Kingdom or EPCOT right now. Out side of individual attraction for Rise of the Resistance, you can make the argument you can do HS right now without Genie+, too. You could have rode Space Mountain without paying extra. It’s called the standby line. And posted times for it have been under half an hour during most of the days since Genie + opened. It’s literally only a posted 20 minute wait as I write this, which means it’s practically a walk on after rope drop. You’re not paying to ride a ride. You’re paying to skip the lines.
It literally lets you make spontaneous decisions day of throughout your day. Used to you had to plan out your FP 60 days out. Also, you don’t HAVE to do what the free Genie app suggests for your day. It’s just that – its suggestions to maximize your time at the parks. You can ignore it entirely or tell Genie not to recommend something ever again that today or see alternate recommendations, too.
The article says that Genie is “selling out” on some of the attractions. Yet everything else I read says that genie is not selling anywhere near as well as expected and might actually be costing Disney money
I don’t know where you’re getting that last part, but it’s probably just wishful thinking on the haters part.
Genie+ probably wasn’t a huge capital cost to implement since most of the infrastructure for it already existed, so it’s hard to see how they could be “losing money” on it. Also, who would think they’d earn their money back within two weeks of something launched to skip the lines that was released during nonpeak season?
I can’t definitely say what you said is untrue, but for these reasons, I’m highly skeptical that Genie+ is losing them money given park levels right now.
A hack is when u monkey with a physical system not a timing issue. Plus Chapek and Disney can shove lighting genie where the sun don’t shine. The greed is truly anti magical.
Everyone in this comment section seems to have missed the point that the article author meant “hack” as a tongue in cheek statement. You can simply avoid paying for the lightning lane by waiting in line at the end of the night.
So having to stand in line for 20 minutes is a positive?? That’s what you’re hoping to achieve?? LMAO!! What an epic waste of time and money!! Can’t even imagine why anyone would waste either on a billion dollar corporation that doesn’t see you as anything more than a dollar sign to be milked for every penny they can get.
Paying hundreds if not thousands of dollars for a few minutes of fun dispersed between hours of misery. Touch grass people, save your money and your sanity…
I don’t get people who claim to hate Disney parks, want nothing to do with them, yet…. spend their time trolling Disney park sites all the time. If you’re truly disinterested in them… why are you reading articles on blogs dedicated to it and commenting on them?
I think fly fishing looks boring as hell, but you won’t see me trolling sites of people who are into it.
If, perchance, I ever get to go to WDW again I will not pay extra just to get on any of the rides faster. I’m not usually a patient person but there is no way I will pay more to get on the rides that I’ve already paid to ride when I bought my ticket to get into the park. Stick it up yours Chapek!
I once got to animal kingdom a bit after noon. Middle of the day. Avatar line was showing over 3 hour wait but the line itself definitely didnt seem long so we walked in. Walked straight up all the way to the point where the lightning lane merged. It was beautiful. Guess the 200+ minute posted wait time was scaring people from even trying.
It always gets high and then drops when park hopping starts. That’s a really smart strategy to ride Flight of Passage with minimal wait and without a LL.
I’m currently at Disney and haven’t used genie once. The longest wait I’ve had all trip was for an alcoholic beverage. I mean Halloween is this weekend and it’s did and wine. Frozen was the longest posted time I saw mid dayand we got on about 20ish mins under time. Don’t pay for genie not worth it. We watched people who signed up for soarin fast lane wait longer than we did in stand by line.
Thats as much a hack as saying the hack to avoid paying high food prices at Disney as saying eating at McDonalds off property before or after your visit will save you money. Smh
Not sure that getting at line at the end of the day when lines are low is a Genie “hack” or just something regular park goers have always known. I mean, the free Genie app is literally set up to help us with this kind of “hack.”
Comments for Disney Guest Figures Out Lightning Lane “Hack” to Avoid Paying Attraction Costs
Daniel
This isn’t a hack for lightning lane… it’s just timing strategy.
Theo
This isn’t new with Genie+. It was pretty well known before Genie+ that wait times are lower the closer to park close you get.
Melissa
All the fast pass stuff and now this genie thing – out of control. Doesn’t Disney cost enough as it is? And now they’re trying to squeeze out just $30/ day more from every guest! That’s just plain greedy!
Ryan R
It’s simple Econ 101. If something is too popular (and arguably Disney World is too popular considering the long lines), you either need to expand its capacity or you need to increase the price so you can reduce the demand back to a reasonable amount. Nobody is forcing anyone to go to Disney, nor does anyone have a “right” to go there at an affordable price. If it costs too much, people will choose to take their vacation dollars elsewhere.
Christopher B
Disney knows the die hard Disney guests are gullible and they’ll buy anything Disney throws at em. Most didnt even think about the cons of the program they just blindly went in and bought into it lol
Brian Hester
They literally DON’T want everyone to pay for Genie+. That’s why there’s a cost. If they were truly greedy, they’d charge something far more in line with what the park average cost is for skip the lines services.
Sleepums
Any park cast member could tell you this, if you ask.. It’s ALWAYS been this way.
At least the 32 years ice been there. HAHA!
Yolanda L Villalobos
We love going to the WDW parks in FL, I don’t think that is fair. Why do we have to pay now for that, we are already paying to much for each park ticket, food prices are high, Disney merchandise too. People’s economy during 2020 and 2021 was impacted for so many reasons .Please WDW parks VISITORS DO NOT PAY FOR THIS NEW UNFAIR LIGHTNING LANE !!
jack
this isnt a hack lol
Katie
This isn’t a hack and many of us already knew about this. We’ve been doing this for years.
Frank
The only hack I see is the ‘blogger’ that wrote the article.
Indy
This has always been the case because near the end of the night you have much fewer people using FP and once the actual line closes there is NO more FP to clog up the standby line so it moves at what should be the normal pace. And to he wait time posted is assuming a full FP/Genie queue.
Diane
Not only will I not be paying for Lightning Lanes, I won’t be visiting any Disney property again until the reverse this ridiculous, money-raping system. Walt Disney must be rolling over in his grave.
Greg
Reverse the decision? It could happen but not likely. Gift stores selling $40 T-Shirts, overpriced food and drinks, “Preferred parking” costing $40+ a day, elimination of Magical Express and MagicBands. AP’s increase for DVC members by 40% (for non blackout passes), elimination of 1000’s of cast members, cutbacks on services, hotel prices through the roof, converting hotels rooms to DVC which reduces hotel rooms further driving up rack rates for hotel rooms. Ripping off its customers is the Chapek way.
Brian Hester
They didn’t get RID of MagicBands. You can still get them and resort guest still get discounted ones. Heck, they’re releasing a new line of MagicBand+ next year. But you can also, for free, turn your smart phone or smart watch into doing what MagicBands do.
Most of the things you complain about was restructuring they had to do due to a pandemic. They’re hiring back to the same levels of CMs. They’re restoring services.
Brian Hester
Walt, who made you buy ticket books in addition to your park admission, which rationed which rides you could ride while at the parks. That Walt?
Genie+ and individual LL passes are entirely OPTIONAL. Just like you DON’T have to book a dessert party to enjoy the fireworks.
Rob
But, those dessert parties are great. and i’ll be happy to book one, each time we vacation there. I go on vacation to have fun. i plan ahead and save accordingly. Life costs money. I’ll just bust my ass at work and go make more, so i can have fun with my family
Rachel
Not a hack. Frequent park goers have been doing this for years. I have a theory that the wait times say longer on some of the popular rides to discourage people from getting in line last minute late at night. If you are in line when the park closes, they have to leave rides open until the last rider is done.
Joe
They post those wait times so the ride can close and cast members can go home. The amount of OT that goes into guests refusing to leave when the park closes is ridiculous. If you scoot into line at 9:59 and the park closes at ten, and the ride really is at a 90 minute wait everyone has to keep on working until not only the ride is empty but they have to wait for you to take your sweet time leaving the park 2 hours after it’s closed.
Marvin
Pretty sure they’re not stupid and have factored that in already.
K
That’s why many parks close the line. Put a chain or sign or something across the start of the line as closing time nears, so that the last riders will be boarding right at park closing time.
Disney Duh
I also have a “hack” – wait times are lower right when the park opens, too. OH and another – lines are lower during non-peak times of the year, too.
Sad day and age when common sense is treated like inside information. And shame on Disney for gouging their guests for even more money…and also shame on the people who have bought into this scam and perpetuate the price gouging. As long as guests continue to accept that they’re being taken advantage of and keep shelling out money for stuff like this, the more Disney will do it. Just STOP IT. They don’t need any more of your money.
NG Smith
Sounds like Disney is purposely posting longer than actual wait times, to persuade folks to pay for a “shorter” wait time. Did I read something about a petition?
Okay Dude
ILL for ROTR sold out 12 hrs earlier in the day. So how does your statement make sense?
Art
I discovered this by accident a few years ago with Frozen Ever After at EPCOT a few years ago. It was when it was new and wait times were through the roof. It worked especially well there because park close was at 9 PM so Frozen’s line closed at 9 PM. But, Illinuminations didn’t start until 9 PM so people had been gathering for the fireworks show instead of queuing up for an attraction. Sort of like how the best time to ride was during parades in other parks. Even though the posted wait time was 60 minutes it really only took 20 minutes in standby. The rule has always been if you get IN LINE before park close, you rode. I joined the line at 8:57 PM just to be safe. I suspect no one bothers to change the wait time sign in the last hour just to discourage long lines at the end of the day. Don’t tell the Bob’s.
Jamie Thigpen
We are checking out today. I hate the genie+ system. It’s pure greed and adds more chaos and I think makes wait times longer. We went Memorial Weekend with no fast passes and it was so smooth. On top of 5 day tickets we purchased that we used this week, we ended up spending another $300 on genie because if not you wouldn’t have been able to ride a lot of things, not just the “special ones”. And since when is Space Mountain a special ride. It’s been here forever and now they are charging extra to ride it because it’s not available on the day pass? Crowds were stacked up in weird places at time too. Also, if you are going to make people pay for the lighting pass for the day, you should just be able to tap your band at the entry for one ride each without having to set it up in advance. But honestly, we spend enough money on everything else, hotel, food, tickets, souvenirs….this is greedy. I love Disney with all my heart, but this makes me angry. Not to mention, if you use the service to map out of the day, what’s the fun in that? After dining reservations, and park reservations making you plan ahead so much, this really sucks whatever remaining random fun you could have left. I hope it goes away.
Okay Dude
Park attendance would have to be the same to compare times. Oct has been nuts since the 50th. Lots have changed since May.
Elle
Regular fastpass made the lines longer too
Brian Hester
It’s absolutely UNTRUE that you HAVE to buy Genie + for every day for every park or else you won’t be able to ride anything. There are so many Disney YouTubers who have shown this to be false it’s amazing you’re claiming it.
There’s no reason to get Genie + for Animal Kingdom or EPCOT right now. Out side of individual attraction for Rise of the Resistance, you can make the argument you can do HS right now without Genie+, too. You could have rode Space Mountain without paying extra. It’s called the standby line. And posted times for it have been under half an hour during most of the days since Genie + opened. It’s literally only a posted 20 minute wait as I write this, which means it’s practically a walk on after rope drop. You’re not paying to ride a ride. You’re paying to skip the lines.
It literally lets you make spontaneous decisions day of throughout your day. Used to you had to plan out your FP 60 days out. Also, you don’t HAVE to do what the free Genie app suggests for your day. It’s just that – its suggestions to maximize your time at the parks. You can ignore it entirely or tell Genie not to recommend something ever again that today or see alternate recommendations, too.
Rut barie
You read my mind.!🤨
Rick
The article says that Genie is “selling out” on some of the attractions. Yet everything else I read says that genie is not selling anywhere near as well as expected and might actually be costing Disney money
Brian Hester
I don’t know where you’re getting that last part, but it’s probably just wishful thinking on the haters part.
Genie+ probably wasn’t a huge capital cost to implement since most of the infrastructure for it already existed, so it’s hard to see how they could be “losing money” on it. Also, who would think they’d earn their money back within two weeks of something launched to skip the lines that was released during nonpeak season?
I can’t definitely say what you said is untrue, but for these reasons, I’m highly skeptical that Genie+ is losing them money given park levels right now.
Ronnyb
Well of course, everyone else is standing waiting for the fireworks display …duhhhh
Kieth Kayman
A hack is when u monkey with a physical system not a timing issue. Plus Chapek and Disney can shove lighting genie where the sun don’t shine. The greed is truly anti magical.
Elle
Y’all really scraping the bottom of the barrel with these articles
hectare
Nothing to see here…move along
This article is more of a hack than the posted subject. Here’s another Captain Obvious tip…hit the popular rides during the parades
Brian Hester
I hate this site doesn’t allow you to like comments. Well played.
COB
Everyone in this comment section seems to have missed the point that the article author meant “hack” as a tongue in cheek statement. You can simply avoid paying for the lightning lane by waiting in line at the end of the night.
Backcountry164
So having to stand in line for 20 minutes is a positive?? That’s what you’re hoping to achieve?? LMAO!! What an epic waste of time and money!! Can’t even imagine why anyone would waste either on a billion dollar corporation that doesn’t see you as anything more than a dollar sign to be milked for every penny they can get.
Paying hundreds if not thousands of dollars for a few minutes of fun dispersed between hours of misery. Touch grass people, save your money and your sanity…
Iammclovin
What do you want, zero wait time? They should clear everyone out when they see you coming? Should they roll out a red carpet just for you?
Brian Hester
I don’t get people who claim to hate Disney parks, want nothing to do with them, yet…. spend their time trolling Disney park sites all the time. If you’re truly disinterested in them… why are you reading articles on blogs dedicated to it and commenting on them?
I think fly fishing looks boring as hell, but you won’t see me trolling sites of people who are into it.
Sonny
Disney’s making fools of us. And we’re letting them.
Barb
If, perchance, I ever get to go to WDW again I will not pay extra just to get on any of the rides faster. I’m not usually a patient person but there is no way I will pay more to get on the rides that I’ve already paid to ride when I bought my ticket to get into the park. Stick it up yours Chapek!
Iammclovin
I once got to animal kingdom a bit after noon. Middle of the day. Avatar line was showing over 3 hour wait but the line itself definitely didnt seem long so we walked in. Walked straight up all the way to the point where the lightning lane merged. It was beautiful. Guess the 200+ minute posted wait time was scaring people from even trying.
Brian Hester
It always gets high and then drops when park hopping starts. That’s a really smart strategy to ride Flight of Passage with minimal wait and without a LL.
Braised
I’m currently at Disney and haven’t used genie once. The longest wait I’ve had all trip was for an alcoholic beverage. I mean Halloween is this weekend and it’s did and wine. Frozen was the longest posted time I saw mid dayand we got on about 20ish mins under time. Don’t pay for genie not worth it. We watched people who signed up for soarin fast lane wait longer than we did in stand by line.
Janice Cotoia
Been going to disney since the first week they opened. Had weekday pass. Will not pay anything extra. They are getting too greedy.
Greg
Thats as much a hack as saying the hack to avoid paying high food prices at Disney as saying eating at McDonalds off property before or after your visit will save you money. Smh
Brian Hester
Not sure that getting at line at the end of the day when lines are low is a Genie “hack” or just something regular park goers have always known. I mean, the free Genie app is literally set up to help us with this kind of “hack.”
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