‘That’s Pretty Scammy,’ Leading Travel Website Calls Out Disney World’s Biggest Scam

It’s been nearly four years since COVID-19 shut down the Walt Disney World Resort and most of the world. During that shutdown, Disney CEO Bob Chapek got rid of the old Fast Pass system at Disney World, and guests were told that it would be replaced by something better.

But by “better,” what Chapek and Disney World meant was something guests would have to pay for. Enter Disney Genie Plus and the Lightning Lane system.

Since its inception, the Lightning Lane system has been derided by guests, who must wake up at seven in the morning to make their purchase and choose their first attraction for the day. Unlike the old Fast Pass system, which would let you book up to three rides months in advance.

But Disney World guests weren’t really sure how much of a “scam” Disney’s Lightning Lane was until now. Frommers, one of the world’s leading travel websites, took a deep dive into the system and concluded that it “may be the most miserable and customer-hostile thing the company has ever done. It worsens the very problem it purports to solve.”

Frommer writer Jason Cochran looked at how much the lightning lanes cost and how many people are allowed to pass before other paying guests enter an attraction. What he found was a bit shocking.

For starters, Walt Disney World does not release the number of lightning lane passes it sells per day. However, on the busier days, Disney’s Genie Plus will sell out for Magic Kingdom or Hollywood Studios.

Disney Greed On Full Display #disneyworld #fyp #shorts #youtubeshorts #disney #waltdisneyworld pic.twitter.com/Ng8rXQxpa0

— TheNobleWay (@TheNobleWays) October 16, 2023

Disney Parks also jack up the prices for Disney Genie Plus on those busier days. Customers could be paying up to $160 for a family of four to skip the line on a given day.

Jason Cochran found that a guest who waits in the standby line is likely to be passed by 50-85 customers who paid for the Lightning Lane pass for a given ride. Depending on the ride, this could add 20 minutes or more to the posted wait time or, in some cases, up to an hour.

But that’s not the worst of it. Guests also reported that the Lightning Lane line can be just as long, if not longer than the standby wait time. On busier days, guests say nearly an hour wait times in the Lightning Lane. So, they end up paying more to wait in line just as long as other guests.

The lightning Lane for radiator springs Racers is all the way back to cross street. And the entire cue is filled once you're past the scanners. Not signs of a broken system at all. pic.twitter.com/8tRTZ8Tv12

— RyanTheme Park (@Ryanthemepark) October 13, 2023

Cochran writes: 

If Disney is overselling Lightning Lane to such a degree that a majority of visitors are now paying for the service, then, numerically speaking, Disney has turned Lightning Lane into the busiest, de facto main queue. If that’s true, then Disney has tricked customers into paying another $30 a day just to wait in the main lines—something you could once do for free. What’s worse, Lightning Lane gives Disney a financial incentive to post longer wait times, because guests now believe that buying access will help them get onto rides faster. That’s pretty scammy. 

What makes the individual lightning lane system worse is if a ride happens to go down. So, if, say Seven Dwarfs Mine Train at Magic Kingdom goes down, anyone with a Disney Genie Plus individual lightning lane pass for any time that it was down can head to the ride.

That essentially closes down the standby line while cast members work to clear the lightning lane line. That, of course, makes it more desirable to the people waiting in that line to purchase Disney Genie Plus and make their own individual attraction selection.

This isn’t just a Walt Disney World Resort problem; it also happens at the Disneyland Resort too. And Disney has promised that changes are coming to Genie Plus, but like many other things, Disney has not offered any specifics.

But as Cochran notes, this has just become another reason for Disney fans to stay home.

Do you think Disney Genie Plus and Lightning Lanes are a scam? Let us know in the comments.