Guest ‘hacks’ Lightning Lane system to avoid paying fees to bypass the standby queue

Walt Disney World introduced and implemented its completely revamped ride reservation system last fall, and not everyone is feeling the love for it.

That’s because the new services replace the old FastPass and FastPass+ systems at Disney World, both of which were free to Guests and only required making a reservation for a time to enjoy a particular attraction, and then returning to experience the attraction.

Now, Guests must pay for the once-free option of making a reservation to ride. Guests don’t have to use the service; they can, instead, wait in the stand-by queue instead of paying to walk through the Lightning Lane on selected attractions. Guests can opt for the Genie+ option, which will cost them $15 per person in their traveling parties, per day. But there are 2 attractions at each theme park that aren’t included in the $15 per person, per day fee.

Rather, if Guests want to enjoy Seven Dwarfs Mine Train or Space Mountain at Magic Kingdom, Frozen Ever After or Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure at EPCOT, Tower of Terror or Rise of the Resistance at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, or Avatar: Flight of Passage or Expedition Everest at Disney’s Animal Kingdom, they will have to pay an additional per person, per attraction fee if they don’t want to use the standby queue.

But one Disney fan has apparently been very observant since the system first debuted, and she, like other fans, has noticed, that there are times when the Lightning Lane option is counter-productive: Guests pay to access the attraction without a huge wait, but then the Lightning Lane wait time is longer than the expected wait time in the standby queue, or, in other cases, the posted times in the stand-by queue are much longer than actual wait times. It has happened with the Rise of the Resistance attraction at Disney’s Hollywood Studios multiple times.

At least she has some humor about it.

Pssst. Don't pay $15 for Rise of the Resistance. Just get in line at the end of the night.

Posted wait: 90 minutes
Actual wait: 27 minutes pic.twitter.com/wnfJX9xzyC

— The Redhead (@TheWickedWench) October 26, 2021

So, she’s found a “hack” to use in response to this issue, and it’s probably the easiest hack you’ll ever employ: simply wait till the end of the evening to enjoy the Rise of the Resistance attraction at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, and don’t pay for Lightning Lane. She doesn’t think you’ll need it.

Disney fans have taken to social media to air their opinions about the new Genie+ and Lightning Lane systems, and the majority of those opinions are not of the positive persuasion.

RELATED: Some Disney fans’ online comments are extremely toxic, becoming angrier lately

@BlozzS says the new system is the “end of the world.”

Lightning lane is the end of the world for disney fans lol

— TMZ (@TMZofficiall) October 25, 2021

In this tweet, a user responds to another tweet by @DisneyParksNews, touting the new Disney Genie as a magical itinerary-making phenomenon.

pic.twitter.com/rFZ8N5grMc

— Jimmy Farrington (@jimmy_farring) October 11, 2021

Some Disney fans, like @JulieaMankin, simply entreat Disney World to bring back their beloved FastPasses.

Disney Vacations have gone from barely affordable to outrageous and then add in Genie+, and Lightning Lane fees to boot!!! Bring back Fast Passes!

— Julie Mankin (@JulieaMankin) October 24, 2021

At this time, regardless of the way Guests feel, it looks like Genie+ and Lightning Lane are here for the long haul.