Cast Member Reveals Disney Has Fired Employees Over This Lightning Lane Policy

A former Cast Member who recently moved on from Walt Disney World shared some shocking policies the Mouse House has for CMs.

Disney’s indeed tightening their purse strings. The Mouse House has been racking up prices for entry (though they recently announced a few complimentary services and perks for Guests), increasing food prices, and more, eventually leading to the cost of a Disney experience soaring. It’s clear that not everything is as smooth with the Walt Disney Company as one might like to think.

While many Guests have expressed their frustrations with this situation, one more fact has come to light about how the company has been approaching safeguarding their financial interests. This is in the form of the Disney Genie suite, which consists of the Genie+ service and the Lightning Lane (Individual Lightning Lane as well).

This surprising revelation came on the back of a former Cast Member, sydney—@squidbender on TikTok—sharing a story of a Guest who was being particularly frustrating in an interaction involving their booking a Lightning Lane.

Check it out:

@squidbender

i have 173859937 stories from this past year ?‍? #disney #disneyworld #castmember #waltdisneyworld #storytime #karen #karens #disneyland #hollywoodstudios #starwars

♬ Elevator Music – Bohoman

In the video, sydney plays out the interaction she had with the customer who wanted to be let into the Star Tours Lightning Lane rather than going to the Rise of Resistance Individual Lightning Lane they had purchased. The Guest seemed genuinely confused and didn’t know how to navigate the Parks, which many commenters noted, along with questioning why Guests didn’t “do their research” before heading to the Disney Theme Park.

However, one Guest mentioned to sydney that she could have just let the Guest in, to which sydney responded that Disney would consider that “stealing from the company.”

She responded in video form;

@squidbender

Replying to @jennwith2enz someone pls start a petition to bring free fast pass back #disney #disneyworld #castmember #disneycollegeprogram #dcp #storytime #disneyland #karen

♬ original sound – ☾ sydney ☽

As sydney explains, even though Cast Members have let Guests into the line as a treat or a magical surprise in the past, they are less willing to do that because Disney is more strict with its Genie+ policy. Considering FastPass was free, the company was less fussed if Cast Members let Guests in, but because the Genie service is a paid service, the company would lose money as those Guests who did not purchase the Genie suite are now benefiting from a service they would otherwise need to pay for.

Even more shocking is that sydney mentioned while she didn’t know anyone personally who had been fired from this, she “knew for a fact” that Cast Members had been fired for letting Guests who hadn’t purchased the Genie service into the Lightning Lane lines.

It is important to note that Disney has never made an official statement on the operations of Disney Genie except to constantly mention that it’s a popular product and that they believe in the product. In the latest news regarding this product, Walt Disney World Guests who purchase the Disney Genie service will also get complimentary PhotoPass services.

Read More: Attention Disney World Guests: Some of You Get Free PhotoPass Services

The Disney Genie service is currently available at both the Walt Disney World Resort and the Disneyland Resort. Guests can purchase a Lightning Lane for select attractions at Parks like Disneys Animal Kingdom or Disney’s Hollywood Studios in Disney World or Disneyland Park and Disney California Adventure in Disneyland, or pay for an Individual Lightning Lane attraction or ride like Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind, or Avatar Flight of Passage by purchasing an Individual Lightning Lane Pass.

Other Lightning Lane attractions included in the Genie+ service are Haunted Mansion, Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway, Slinky Dog Dash, Expedition Everest, Space Mountain, and more.

We at Disney Fanatic will continue to report on all Disney news.