“Frustrating” & “Awful”: More issues with Lightning Lane at Disney World

Despite Disney’s report about the Genie+ and Lightning Lane, more guests are sharing issues they faced while using the service.

There’s nothing like a Walt Disney World vacation. Whether it’s parks like Disney’s Animal Kingdom and Magic Kingdom Park in Disney World, people from all over the world flock to many a Disney Park just to get their fill of the Disney experience we all know and love, be that Walt Disney World Resort of Disneyland Resort.

But the experience of being at the parks is informed by the services Disney provides, and one particular one has seen a lot of complaints lately.

The Disney Genie suite and the Lightning Lane system have been controversial since their introduction. But recently, guests have taken to particularly sharing their concerns and frustrations with this.

After a series of price hikes in the past couple of years, and Disney’s introduction of the variable Disney Genie+ prices, it seems that Disney is doing a lot to make up for its pandemic losses.

Despite this, it appears guests are flocking to the parks, as we’ve reported recently, but per guest reports, the parks don’t seem to be equipped to deal with it. And even Disney’s services aren’t of help.

It wasn’t too long ago that many guests described the theme park as a “literal hellscape.” They shared their frustrations over many a closed attraction and ride, multiple instances of a Lightning Lane reservation being booked-out, complete with big crowds, all while having paid for that expensive Disney park ticket.

Reddit user and Disney guest u/bdmott wrote:

On a Disney trip for the week and lightning lane has not been a problem at [Animal Kingdom] or [Magic Kingdom.] However at Hollywood Studios it has been awful!  Anyone else have similar experiences? Frustrating day for sure.

Another guest, u/nellyann, corroborated this with their own experience, writing,

We had a horrible time there this past January. Couldn’t even pay to get on ROTR and it was down most of the day anyway. Got two LL for the evening as our first two then everything we wanted to do was sold out. Rope dropped ToT and rockin rollercoaster. Then had an hour long wait for toy story mania. Everything had 90+ minute waits and my kids are too young for that so we just sat around and wandered for several hours after lunch waiting for our evening LLs. Genie does not work well at that park at all.

What’s interesting about this situation is that when Disney executives give their report of the parks, they often report that the Disney Genie Lightning Lane service is “performing phenomenally well.”

Here’s looking to these issues being fixed sooner rather than later, with the Lightning Lane reservation helping them have the Disney experience they came for, and guests finding that Disney magic they love so much at the theme park.

Have you ever used the Genie suite and Lightning Lane offerings while visiting Walt Disney World? Tell us about your experience in the comments below!