How Disney Makes You Wait

There is an estimated 85 minute standby wait to view this video description...
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7 Dwarfs Mine Train, LMGVids, • 7 Fwarfs Mine Train ri...

[@Waffle519]

Frankly, Defunctland's FastPass doc convinced me that it would be faster just doing standby only for everything and any lineskip programs only give the illusion of a shorter wait

[@BeingShari]

I saw that and thought the same until I bought genie+ a few times and man… especially during the holidays it does get you to the front faster. I got almost once a week to Disneyland, I don’t always pay, I see the difference. 😅

[@GlutzahnLP]

this video and defunctlands really fit wonderfully together

[@timogul]

Well, it's averages. FP does mean that _overall_ the line waits are longer, especially if you don't have an FP, but it is always faster to get on _that_ ride than to wait in the full line.

[@BrooksHolt]

Anyone who went to the parks in 2020-2021 when there was no skip-the-line system running understands how bad every version of Disney's system is vs just standby.

[@Mike__B]

Yeah but if it a choice between better guest experience and making more money we all know which one Disney is going to go with.

[@catalyst6313]

I was there on opening day for DLand and it was actually Magical! Don't forget though... the limited capacity reservations system had a lot to do with this.

[@GTNover]

​@sfsuphysics If a worse guest experience makes guests spend more money that's on us. I'm willing to spend more for a better experience. I enjoy lightning lanes. I went in 2021 and was disappointed none of these systems were in place.

[@shaneman121]

@@catalyst6313that’s what people seem to forget. The amount of people they were letting in was MUCH lower than it had been and lower than it is now

[@midnighttcircus]

Couldn’t agree more. Obviously limited capacities and whatnot, but anyone who’s seen defunctland’s documentary on the fastpass system knows that statistically lightning lanes and fast passes - excluding the paper fastpass system - resulted in a worse experience for nearly everyone, with wait times skyrocketing in some instances. I miss the paper system. I have such fond memories of those days!

[@glen7567]

Initially, the idea for fast pass was to make sure that instead of waiting in a line, guests would spend that time shopping or going to food establishments. That evolved into selling genie+/lightning lane. They could care less about how long you wait in line. In fact, they WANT you to wait in long lines so that you consider purchasing Genie+. Genie+/lightning lane has CREATED extremely long wait times...

[@Juicy-America]

Just last week we could really feel that on space mountain. It seemed like they didn’t want the standby line to go at all

[@johnjanssens8998]

@@Juicy-America Of course not. If people are stuck in lines they don't need to build new attractions. That's why you have themed lines and preshows. To entertain you while you do nothing.

[@zvvl3465]

@@Juicy-America how did it feel to not spend the 20 bucks?

[@johnmillsjr.4315]

The post-Covid “no special passes” era was the greatest time in the park. I never saw a Mine Train wait time posted past 45 minutes. I was upset when it was reintroduced. And I’m still bitter that a once-free service is now an additional micro-transaction. But alas. Thank you for the video, and happy Thanksgiving!

[@andrzejszpak688]

Was that because there was no fast pass system or because the park was depopulated because of Covid?

[@JustaGuy_Gaming]

The key thing to remember about other parks "Skip the line" passes, they cost more but then less people use them. You basically never wait in line and the standbye line is barely affected by a half dozen or so people skipping ahead of them compared to Disney's which back up so much the Lightening lane has a line, and they start doing a 100 to 1 ratio to catch up.

[@xXluluchanelXx]

I was going to say, isn't the logical conclusion that they get so many LLs that the 'poor people's line' utterly stops moving altogether? it's so grossly capitalistic

[@JustaGuy_Gaming]

@@xXluluchanelXx Yes Lightening Lanes or Genie Plus is expensive, but not Too expensive. Add to that they pad out the lanes to a pretty high standard with zero room for issues. The biggest issues with LL is when rides go down or other wise delayed. Then you start to get a line in the "skip the line" que, and people who pay money hate that. But when you let people pick their Fast pass type things 60 days in advance you can't really manage downed rides as much. Genie changed it a bit, but it's still bad as the ride most people wanted to ride for a long time, Rise of the Resistance, was breaking down constantly. What I was also saying though is other parks charge far more. I think Universal's pass is like $200 per person, so few people get it. But those that do have an amazing time and barely impact the standby line because so few get it.

[@mmartinez492]

Visiting the park after COVID with no skip the line system was so awesome. Every single line in the park was no longer than 30 minutes. Every posted wait time was way off because the system was constantly accounting for a fastpass system that wasn't active, and soon wouldn't exist anymore. Granted the park capacity was also being artificially reduced due to a capacity cap. However I would argue that even in a long 45+ minute line it moved faster because there was always just one single pool of guests to pull from to board the attraction. It was a simple get to attraction, wait in line, get on and enjoy. There's a great Defunctland episode on how Disney's crowd control systems have grown to become a monster of their own making.

[@jondbm]

In the 1990s before Fastpass it was always liked this and the parks were at full capacity.

[@Lawlzinator]

How they do it these days (based off of my last experience): -App says star tours is 20 minutes standby. "ok, not bad, we have an hour and 20 minutes till we have to be somewhere" -Get in line, 20 minutes turns into 60 minutes, then you see the staff are letting in a 10-1 ratio of lightning lane holders vs regular ticket holders. Ended up leaving the line since we didn't want to be late for a dining reservation. 1 hour standing in line for nothing. Sworn off their parks ever since. They ruined things.

[@slowazzd2165]

Holy crap is this comment whiny as hell

[@Juicy-America]

This is exactly how space mountain specifically was last week

[@1ronEntertainment]

We waited 90 minutes for FREAKING BUZZ LIGHTYEAR when it said 15. The ride didn’t break down, it just took that long. We recently got into universal/knotts since they are cheaper

[@ThePiplum]

That’s what happened to me and my mom. 25 minutes for star tours turned 90 minutes with lightning lanes was moving more than the stand by. It’s not fair. I can say I hated my time wasted when I only spent for a day ticket. 😒😠

[@holllyrhode]

Yes! It’s horrible

[@mushrooms8617]

i really think they should bring og fast pass back. it was effective and efficient for what it was. i don’t think you should have to pay anything for something that was free to all

[@sethstrattan7380]

Me too. Because this is ridiculous. Even my Tia was stressing out over genie plus

[@glen7567]

They don't care about you though. They're making a ton of money by charging for this now..

[@Marqrk]

Your assertion about the Peter Pan’s Flight was absolutely correct for me and my siblings, we saw the name and how massive the line was and thought must have been amazing, then we get on and it’s like “why was this so packed”

[@mikeshepherd598]

Back before fast pass was a thing, the lines for ANY ride weren’t bad. When fast pass started the “stand by” lines got longer but still not bad. When the physical ticket fast passes gave way to the app they got much longer. When genie came along they got longer. Now genie+ has made them… take a guess… longer!

[@jondbm]

DisinGenieous to say it’s better value than Universal’s. Express pass gives you a fast queue on every attraction, no need for a time slot, you just walk up, whereas Genie+ you still have to book a slot and the chances of getting a slot for every lightning lane ride in one day is slim. Universal pretty much guarantees you can get on everything.

[@DocsGreetingCards]

I disagree. I've been going since 1978. I can remember many 90+ minute wait times for Splash Mt, Space Mt, etc before FP.

[@YourWaywardDestiny]

80 minutes is too long for anything for me, tbh. But I'm so impatient and fidgety, I am not the average. I don't do well at amusement/theme parks, but my fascination for them is unending.

[@glen7567]

They ABOLUTELY manipulate wait times, particularly on the app, to sell genie+. I did my own independent study in which, in almost EVERY case, the posted standby would be, for example, 60 minutes for Indiana Jones and it was in fact 15 minutes. Same goes for almost every other lightning lane related ride. This is a terrible, manipulative, greedy tactic and SHOULD be illegal. Particularly when you can now only use lightning lane once for each lightning lane ride. Using the app, you're assuming that space mountain has a 90 minute wait so you grab your one, and ONLY, lightning lane for that ride. You get there and the standy is really only 20 minutes and now you've "wasted" that lightning lane... The constant manipulation and completely unethical (should be illegal) practices are the reason I no longer support Disney or Disney theme parks. And I am someone who used to be a die hard fan for 50 years....

[@jmchinch]

The late 70’s and early 80’s Pete Pan’s Flight was always a walk-on

[@notathoosie]

I’m so glad you experienced the Covid lines those were the best. We spent only 3 days at WDW and literally got on every major ride there within the first day and a half. Seven dwarfs mine train was like 20 minutes and everything else was a walk on… good times

[@catalyst6313]

Limiting park capacity was the reason for that.

[@notathoosie]

@@catalyst6313 it was still pretty busy, when we went to magic kingdom main street was full at opening. Just lines were shorter than posted.

[@angusmacdonald7187]

For most rides, I doubt I would wait over 45 minutes, and that is even a stretch, except for something like Rise. Overall, I am happy just to wander around and take in the sights and sounds of DL instead of directly waiting.

[@feline.equation]

i don’t think that’s a totally radical opinion. i’m a pretty patient person and i don’t usually go on anything longer than 45 mins, and my mom is the most patient person i know and she won’t wait either. we had annual passes pre-covid to disneyland and every now and then we’d decide we HAD to do this one ride and wait for it. but definitely not common. we only did it a handful of times in the 5 years we had annual passes. longest we ever waited was 65 mins for space mountain really late at night on a day we were REALLY feeling the magic.

[@wesleyrussell8386]

a year or two back me, my wife, and my sister-in-law went to disneyland for our anniversary or a birthday or something and my wife wanted to disneybound. So we were Smee, Hook, and Peter Pan respectively. We got in line for Peter Pan's Flight and a delightful cast member approached up and crooked a finger, like "come with me". She brought us through a side entrance and got us on the ride right away because she loved our costumes. Very nice experience!

[@daniel.909]

I would wait an hour for Tower of Terror at Studios, I think the queue and buildup is executed well enough that I would be willing to wait a decent amount of time for it

[@StarViewer68]

I feel the same way about Haunted Mansion in Disney World.

[@peepeechajarl]

Same with Smuggler’s Run

[@MikeWX447]

@@peepeechajarl at disneyland I had to wait 3 hours for that ride (2021)

[@weightlessfilms5651]

I'm no expert but anecdotally speaking, Universal's Express Pass has worked wonders. Passes are included if you stay in one of their premier hotels (which are way cheaper than Disneys) and you get into the park an hour early. In one day with a park-to-park pass I rode Escape from Gringots, Hogwarts Express (both directions), Revenge of the Mummy, Ripsaw Falls, Hagrid's Motorbike, the Forbidden Journey, Velocicoaster , Reign of Kong, the Bourne Stunt Show, and a meal at the Leaky Cauldron.

[@MysteryMii]

Same. I think the reason why Express cost more than Genie+ is due to the fact that unlike Lightning Lane/FastPass, Express doesn’t require any return times, you can just walk into the Express line whenever you want. That being said, the only downside is that on occasion, Universal will wait to add Express to a new attraction that is likely to be very high in demand (the most recent example of this being the Mario Kart ride at SNW at USH. It was built with an Express line, but it’s currently not included with Express (with the Express line currently only being used for those who bought the VIP pass). All Express currently does is grant you instant access to SNW whenever the Virtual Queue system is in place in order to enter SNW, which still requires you to wait in line once you get in to go on the Mario Kart ride (or you can just buy the early access pass that Universal conveniently sells for anywhere between $20-30 depending on the day that allows you to access SNW a half hour before the park opens and rope drop Mario Kart))

[@samvicario2304]

I was just in Disney World (Nov 8-14) and bought Genie+ every single day. At every park, we road almost every single ride through lightning lane. In my opinion, I am paying for Genie+ every single time. We go to Disney once a year and I am making the most of it. I've gotten pretty good at knowing what rides to get at what time so that I can use Genie+ for almost every ride. For example, at Epcot we used Genie+ for Test Track, Soarin', Remy, Frozen, Spaceship Earth, Figment, and Nemo. We purchased the extra Lightning Lane for Guardians and only did stand-by for Living with the Land. So for $18 a person for Genie+ and $15 for Guardians, it was a great investment. I will gladly pay an $66 for me and my husband to avoid most standby lines and make the most out of our day.

[@kaseythornton8155]

it's cool that you were able to afford that. it sounds like an amazing time. i love those rides.

[@CattyWompus.]

They made fastpass almost necessary and then put it behind a paywall. If you’re coming in from out of town and this is your once in a lifetime vacation, you’ll pay the extra to avoid sitting in lines all day. It feels really scummy

[@KittyKatz547]

I’m a cast member, and I have friends who work at Rise. They 100% inflate their wait times, because they know if they stay at 15-20 minutes… everyone will run for them. If it’s 30-40 minutes you can bet it’s actually shorter, they just won’t say so. In terms of what would make genie+ worth it for me, I would say they shouldn’t limit the amount of rides they let you choose! Just make it unlimited. In my perfect world we would all have free fastpass again, with max pass as the digital option you pay for. I don’t like what genie+ has done to the park, many guests buy tickets with it built in and they don’t know how to use it, until halfway through their day and it’s a waste. I think you shouldn’t be able to buy it beforehand, and you should need to go through a tutorial before buying it. It’s complex and people just don’t know how to use it. fastpass was easy and accessible! Thanks for the video, happy Thanksgiving ❤

[@JustaGuy_Gaming]

I think a big factor is how long you have to wait till you get to the que proper. Where the theming and pre-show stuff starts to happen. Though even the pre-show stuff gets old now with Genie Plus and Lightening lane users making the lines crawl to almost a stand still. Still I rather spend 40 minutes walking through the caves of Ride of the Resitance than stand in a switch back baking in the sun before you even get to the ride proper.

[@ProBreakers]

Yeah, max pass was the best. I was so bummed when I went to Florida Disney (I’m in CA and usually only hit Disneyland) that all the Florida only rides I missed due to the ride being closed or rain 😢. Only one we managed to get on was Tron.

[@Di3s3l.]

That’s why they need to add more interactive lines

[@linkster5564]

Man i just miss the old fast pass. I remember i would get a pass for the 7 dwarves mine train, then wait in the regular line, then by the time i got to the front and off thebride i could use my fast pass to ride it again lol. I felt like a big brain as a kid when i figured it out. Haha

[@JustaGuy_Gaming]

The problem also lies in that if the lines go down due to things like Fast Pass, they just let more people into the park. It also became a "perk" of staying in things like their Hotels. Meaning it was less and less about keeping guest happy or the park moving efficiently and just another way to get people to pay for a Disney Hotel.

[@sloppy8125]

Nothing over 55-65 minutes, unless its the last ride of the day or its a favorite of the entire group.

[@joshuacooper7629]

I will never wait over an hour for Indiana Jones because I always get worried it will breakdown while I’m in line.

[@andrewcirco4186]

I used the express pass at Universal Orlando. I never waited more than 5 minutes for any ride and I could go on each ride once. Yes its more expensive but you don't have to wait at all.

[@GLJosh]

Radiator Springs Racers, Columbus Day Weekend, we paid $20 a person for the "shorter" line. We waited roughly 60 minutes, standby was listed at 120 minutes, single rider was roughly 30 minutes. When we did Universal Pass the next day, wait time was under 5 minutes per ride and I didn't have to be on my phone as much. I have done Genie+ at both Disneyland and Disney World (over Christmas), $20-25 a person is the max that I would "want" to pay for Genie+. Unless you are really "skilled" at G+ you can get on 3~4 shorter line rides (depends on the rides you want to go on and the park). At Epcot on Christmas Day, we G+'d Frozen (1), Spaceship Earth (3), Living with the Land (4-ended our day with this one it was down ALOT), and Soarin' (2).

[@politiekhistorie]

Genie isn't a value deal at all. With the Universal pass you can halve every line right away, not hope that you can get one or two reservations for subpar attractions. No fair comparison at all. But I hate all skip the line add-ons.

[@JustaGuy_Gaming]

Best video ever on the subject imo was the one by the Defunctland channel. That said it's a few years old and I don't think Genie Plus was even fully out when it was made. Still it proved pretty easily that no fast passes at all is over all better for guest. For some people to have a better experience, others have a worse one. For every family that gets to ride 6-10 rides in one day with a Fast pass, some poor souls only ride 1-2 as they wait in line for 2-3 hours. This video touched nicely on some of the newer changes since Defunctland covered it.

[@xochitlmenjivar5855]

The Peter Pan ride was always a staple throughout my childhood going to Dlsneyland. I can never NOT ride it at least once whenever I visit the park, and I’m willing to wait an obscene amount of time just to ride it

[@mundanestuff]

I've always avoided it at the magic kingdom, five or so trips over 30 years as a young adult, adult, honeymoon trip, married man, family man with kids in tow etc I just thought it was not going to be worth any wait. Then I rode it and loved it. I'm an idiot. So now I don't judge any ride no matter the theme until I've ridden it. Like I'm a huge airplane fan, and rode Soarin' immediately upon arrival at Epcot, and found Soarin' to be Borin'... :-)

[@redtiger7268]

@@mundanestuff Peter Pan at Disneyland is way better than the WDW version IMO.

[@Julescasper]

I remember when my sister and I were kids we were in Disney World and it said that Splash Mountain as a 60 minute wait well we literally just walked right on. This was in 2008.

[@vincethebanana]

Been to Disneyland literally hundreds of times (family cast member) and truthfully the longest I've been in a line, and quite literally in the line for, was Space Mountain. The line was already over 2 hours long and the ride broke down. Got up to the window that allowed you to see the second story of the Starcade with the XWing and it all stopped. It added at least 30 maybe 40 minutes of waiting. I also ended up waiting a bit when we got to the ride cars because I wanted to ride in the back. It must have been a total of just over 3 hours of a wait. It was worth it to 10 year old me.

[@KeithGreenBiopic]

I love doing Davy Crockett canoes if it’s a 5 minute wait. (It always is)

[@Beexo_RL-by7lj]

Former Peter Pan Cast Member at WDW here. The unfortunate truth is that about 75-90% of the riders depending on the time of day are Lightning Lane guests. Combine this with an extremely low capacity ride and one prone to breakdown means that even with just 150ish people in standby, the line can be posted up to a 90 minute wait. We did inflate wait time, but we did that to try and factor in potential breakdown time or flux in LL guests.

[@TheWillMorris]

I noticed this year at Na’vi River Journey when I was near the front of the line that the ratio was about 80% lightning lane and 20% standby. Which couldn’t get mad at bc obviously they paid for it but I wasn’t oblivious to that big ratio.

[@expensivepink7]

your videos are a huge reason why i became so interested in going to the parks which has provided one of the biggest sources of happiness in my life during a hard time and i just want to say thank you

[@jonathanspray2362]

Got in line for flight of passage listed at 120 minutes, ended up being a five hour wait.

[@WarholaSoup]

I can hardly wait at a red light.

[@JUNGLEBOOKOFCARDS.2424]

One of my favorites is mr toad, but id only wait less than 20 minutes, at some point there needs to be a mental ratio between ride time and wait time, like waiting 70 minutes for a 3 minute ride vs. Waiting 70 minutes for a 18 minute ride

[@TankCop]

30 minutes or under not ever over no matter the ride. I could be doing so much more with my time like pin trading or going to a less crowded ride. I do use single rider for any and all rides that have it, it’s a blessing for Space Mountain and Big Thunder Mountain needs to get a single rider lane!

[@eastern0887]

I love the content so much!!! If you need a video idea, a Disney CEO teir list would be really cool!

[@BoneDrop92]

It is exactly the same for Peter Pan"s Flight at Disneyland Paris, from extra magic time till closing, it never dips below 45 minutes. But Crush's Coaster and Tower of Terror, are by far the worst wait times. Never under 60 minutes. The most we waited was at Crush's Coaster. 120 minutes, plus 3 or 4 breakdowns later, we made it. 11/10 would do it again, it is 100% worth it for both Tower and Crush, but not for Peter Pan.

[@HeartlandHunny]

I find that the people who complain most about Genie+ are the people who visit the parks often. But as someone who only gets to go to the parks every five years (or less often) and recently went with friends who were on their one and only Disney trip, being able to pay to wait in shorter lines and do more was totally worth it for us and enabled us to do a lot more than we would have otherwise. Especially as it was one of the absolute busiest weeks of the year. There’s no perfect solution to lines, but it’s good that Disney has an option available for people who can’t just come back in a couple months and ride what they didn’t have time to do on their last trip.

[@bravosierra2447]

I’m off to Tokyo Disneyland & Disneysea, so this has come at the right time.

[@Mouserocksnerd]

Thanks for this video! Max Pass was the absolute best option Disney created for the skip the line service, including photo pass and all. The fact that they limit you to one lightning lane per ride now seems arbitrary and mean, and no perks for passholders ... They had the answer in their hands and they said nah. I didn't like a lot about genie plus on my first trip in forever to wdw. I felt obligated to pay for it, because lines were crazy and i rarely get to go, but I dont think they understand that people want to ride things multiple times, and in particular kids want to ride things over and over, and are very particular about waits. My wait limit is usually around 45 minutes for a "big" ride (ie the mountains) and 15 for something like teacups.

[@carrie_white_]

Peter Pan never had a long line when I was a kid. It was always a walk-on, so we rode it every time we visited Disney World (which was often, seeing as my grandmother worked in Magic Kingdom). I haven't ridden it in 20 years because the wait time became ridiculous one visit and hasn't lessened since.

[@maisler1]

Next time you’re in Disneyland we need another Offhand Disney / Freshbaked crossover but this time is the deep dive into line wait times

[@platonymous]

Cast members hate lightning lane as much as guests. doing a 4:1 ratio is no fun when you have the same guests just staring at you.

[@JohnMatthewVO]

The key to beating the lines is to look for those random, unpredictable moments when a line is short or absent. Stay flexible and keep your eyes open. And dont forget to enjoy it, whatever's going on. Also, lines go down during parades and fireworks.

[@angelslaurie]

I went on a trip to magic kingdom this past week for my birthday. It was really fun overall but I’ve noticed over the years of going (17 times 😂) that the wait is getting more extreme for rides. Even with the DAS pass, the line was over 40 just to get into the line on Mine Train. Could barely get on anything this past Monday :(

[@L33tSkE3t]

I watched this just out of curiosity, I haven’t been to Disney World since 1997 for their 25th anniversary when I was 3. The fact that after the video, I still don’t know what is the best way to handle lines, means I’m probably never going back to Disney.

[@MissInformer]

I remember when fast pass was just the term for when employees and their families went in rides. There wasnt the fast pass kiosks or anything like that yet. I just showed my mom was working at the park and i got let in. Though i wasnt a butthole and i wouldnt go immediately next. Id let a whole ride party go before me and asked if it was okay if i went with the next group, which usually worked out great.

[@ray-sx4vn]

as someone with a disability, my experience in the parks is way different. i wait in short standby lines while i also wait in a virtual cue since i’m unable to wait in long lines

[@bdon_mt5056]

Disney World veteran here, and Tower of Terror is my favorite attraction. I would consider, similarly to how you described Haunted Mansion, that the ride starts in the library sequence. Through my 20+ years of traveling to the Florida parks, I have experienced every Fastpass iteration that has existed and how the line moves at ToT. Due to the high capacity that the cast member at the line split can disperse (I would say about 20-25 to a library), the line can feel very jarring depending on if you wait or use lightning lane. I have always noticed just how many more LL users the cast members let through compared to the standby, and if I had to guess, it would be somewhere around a 3:1 or 4:1 split. Theoretically, I feel that the line could move faster if there was only standby guests at the split instead of the LL ratio currently used simply by how the line naturally flows. Even though ToT is a very popular attraction, I feel the genius of the que and ride system was exemplified during the paper FP era, which allowed for nearly no wait at best and around a 20-40 minute wait depending on the crowd levels and time of day. With how the LL moves, the standby line has gotten worse as time moves on to the point of waiting 50+ minutes in standby. I feel that this exemplifies just how bad Genie+ exists as a "skip the line" system. My family and I broke each FP iteration down to a science to basically never wait in line for anything throughout our 2 decades of traveling to the WDW and we cannot stress enough how bad Genie+ truly is, at least for how we enjoy the parks. My family enjoyed the paper system the most as we could ride anything we wanted, whenever we wanted, and were only limited to how many times we wanted to ride something by the hour window or the park's closing. That is basically how we maximized our enjoyment at the parks and Genie+ laughs in our face while bleeding us dry. I feel like Disney skipped over a step when it comes the formula for a "skip the line" system. With the original paper FP system to the evolution of the final version of FP+, my family found a way to enjoy the parks how we wanted no matter the circumstances without paying a penny extra. With Genie+, it feels like Disney has forgotten about guest enjoyment and only found a way to get even more money out of us. Now we are forced on our phones to try and wrestle with stacking LL selections to maximize how many rides we can before wanting to park hop somewhere, and that left us with possibly our worst experience yet at WDW. We managed to make the most out of it, but the sheer amount of money necessary for a schedule like ours is appalling to say the least. I hope that a system similar to the paper system returns for free or make everything standby only. That is my rant.

[@em_is_theta]

If it’s more than 60 minutes I’ll usually wait until later to get in line. Unless it’s something like Rise of the Resistance.

[@justinlopezmedia2313]

Long lines and don't forget how many times the rides break down while you're waiting in line.

[@sentientcomet]

Checked the Disney World app while watching this video, and Peter Pan’s Flight is a 90 minute wait

[@hollywilliamson6702]

When I was on my DCP and regularly visited the parks (2-3 times a week) I would never wait over 45 minutes for basic attractions, or 60 minutes for E-Ticket attractions. Now I am visiting the parks as a guest and its a rarity, I am willing to wait that bit longer for rides I will enjoy

[@vivivix2963]

the only thing about “lighting lane” that I like is I have sensory issues and being in a traditional cue can make me have a breakdown so I really appreciate the new online cues for people with disability passes it’s made my time at Disney way better

[@hannahb1223]

While I haven't been to Disney in years, I can say that the universal express system is broken. This was probably about 2 years ago but my mom and I queued to ride spiderman as it had like a 30 minute wait. The line was moving quite nicely but as we got in one of the final waiting rooms, the line just stopped moving for a great amount of time except for the tiniest bit occasionally and everyone around assumed that it broke down or something. When we finally inched our way to the final loading room, we found out why we weren't moving. So there are 2 separate vehicles that hold 3 rows or 4(12 people per vehicle x 2 vehicles) that get loaded at the same time. They would not load anyone from the standby for a whole cycle and then load one single party and repeat. We witnessed them load a party of 2 from standby and fill the rest from express. Then no-one from standby at all the next load consistently. So out of 48 spots, standby was getting a single party and sometimes not even an entire row depending on the party size. I guess the queue was backed up for their express as everyone with it wanted to all ride Spiderman at the same time. We waited over an hour but to get to that second to last room only took like 20 minutes. This is one of the reasons that I let my universal pass expire as I just can never forget it.

[@katkaat]

As a Magic Key holder, my max wait for most rides is 30-45 minutes, MAYBE 1 hour for an E-ticket. && for what it's worth, Peter Pan is currently a 30 min wait at DLR on a Monday at noon.

[@genappithy]

Peter Pan’s Flight is the only Fantasyland ride that isn’t terrifying. That means there’s families who’s only choice is PPF because their kid won’t go on the other dark rides. When people have no choice that leads to inelastic demand. The more options you have the more price sensitive you are. When your options are any open attraction is becomes easier to baulk at long wait times. At this point there’s nothing I would wait more than 45min to ride, because the only thing I’d wait more than 45min for would be something I’ve never experienced before, ie the newest ride. And now there’s individual LL for that, for better or for worse.

[@rosemulet]

Fastpasses should be FREE!! No more than 30 minutes, 45 for a really good attraction. More than that and it’s rope drop, fast pass, or a skip.

[@jennierod81]

It has been my experience that we never wait nearly as long as the posted wait time unless there are issues with the ride. I can think of several instances where we only waited half of what was posted.

[@jakeclements219]

I will say PPF was posted at 45 minutes once and I waited 10 and that was the happiest I’ve ever been

[@lexi_ohboy]

my favorite ride is Indiana jones and our group decided 45 mins is fun because it ALWAYS feels like it goes faster than posted ! Must be the fun cue , I’m personally willing to wait 90 minutes tho it’s a must do when visiting

[@marylynn5672]

Long time watcher- first time commenter. I've waited 32 years to get on a Disney ride. What's another 70 minutes? ❤

[@mr.jeffinizor2713]

its actually pretty funny, if disney optimized passengers getting on trains just a tiny bit more and just decided to make the fastpass line a regular line with the same wait as the regular line, wait times may be cut to back when the line used to be like 50 minutes max days and possibly even become less, fast pass is just there so disney can secure more money while making wait times as long as possible without seeming like they purposefully do it to make disney less of a fun trip, and more of a milk your cash while you only get to experience half the park so you come later trip. However, im not too keen on removing fast pass entirely, just remove the jumbled mess that is the magic pass and just go back to booking fast passes.

[@peaceitsregan4164]

Going to the parks right when they reopened was truly unlike anything else. The no fast passes made it so easy and the lines just kept moving like they were meant to. Also, as a disneyland girl the longest I will wait for peter pan is 45 minutes just because I simply love that ride and peter pan in general.

[@frankiemoi]

I just got back from WDW and planned on buying Genie+ for MK & HS. That plan changed when it rained every day and the waits were close to walk-ons, including Flight of Passage & Rise of the Resistance, which I was shocked! The only individual Lightning Line we bought was for Guardians and that was just so we could ride it twice. Remys Ratatouille Adventure had a posted wait time of 70 mins, but we still jumped in line because we wanted to ride it. Surprisingly, our wait was ONLY 20 mins! This worked in our favor since we were planning to park hop over to HS. I had an annual pass in 2020-21 and went several times that year. Standard queue was the only thing available and the lines moved quickly since there was no Fastpass. I loved Fastpass when it was first introduced since a lot of people didn’t know about that option. I remember flying past people in line at Space Mountain at Disneyland and all the nasty stares we got. 😂 I am NOT a fan of Genie+ and won’t pay for it if I can help it. Now if Genie+ worked as efficiently as Universals Express pass, I might see the worth of buying it. That all being said, I don’t mind waiting in long lines if I have stuff to look at and the line is constantly moving. It’s when I’m standing in one place for ten minutes or so that I have issues. 😉

[@davidleanza1142]

You. Make. Me. Laugh!!!! And you’re right. I would wait for hours for the land boat ride

[@shay.exe.]

i live near a small park and have been going to it since i was a tiny little toddler. only during our hiatus years of going is when they started implementing the skip-the-line services. and BOY does it bog everything down when theres large crowds. i went a couple days ago and the park was at its most crowded record i've ever seen. the wait times weren't below 50 minutes anywhere. and surprise surprise, the skip-the-line lines were filled to the brim. however i went a couple of months ago when the crowds werent as bad, nobody was paying to skip the line, and there wasnt an attraction above 50 minutes to wait. had there been no skip the line a few days ago at park attendance peak, i bet the waits would have been high, but nothing compared to how they actually were. in conclusion, just get rid of skip-the-line services. it demolishes the ratio of boarding and keeps everyone moving way faster.

[@theokid2000]

A note on the universal fast pass, (i have only used the hotel benefits one some time ago so im not sure if it functions differently) but its pretty much unlimited and can be used on a lot but not all of the rides. I think that is where a lot of its value is. I will agree its still pretty pricey, tho as a hotel benefit its worth it imo to shell out for the fancier place for it.

[@cbnz2929]

I (finally) went to a Disney park for my very first time ever last week. It was the day before Thanksgiving which I assume is a busy day for the park and I was impressed with the amount of attractions I got to go on using both the lightning lane and standby lines. I didnt plan out the day in advance, we just made sure we visited the attractions we definitely wanted to see and then used the app to check nearby rides with shorter wait times accordingly. We only had one day in the park and I was impressed by how satisfied I was with the number of attractions I got to see. Compared to universal which I went to during spring break last year and only got to go on like, literally 2 rides thanks to poor planning and an obnoxious queue and wait times in Nintendo land.

[@jish55]

Honestly, line skips has made waiting in line unbearable, even back when it was just fastpass. To me, if I could, I'd get rid of all line skips, because less of a wait means people are far happier and would be more willing to spend money in the park as they're out of line far more often. Seriously, if you have people waiting 20-40 minutes, they'll be more inclined to go to shops between rides. If you have people waiting 80+ minutes on every ride because they didn't want to spend money on Genie +, then guess what, that means people less likely to go and shop and eat in the parks.

[@theventuracountyrailfan]

The $100 skip the line at magic mountain let’s you walk up the exit and choose whatever seat you want, while you essentially cut the standby people by taking their seat in front of their face. You have unlimited skips on every ride at any time

[@jelbecornelis3139]

Can confirm that the ‘Peter pans flight’ weirdness in always having a long queue is also happening in Disneyland Paris

[@jessiek694]

I’m gonna need those socks to come back in stock ASAP my friend!

[@arthurlejawka6392]

I usually do genie plus when I brought someone new to Disney and want to get on all the “must do” rides

[@manuelvelezsaldana2368]

I went to WDW twice this year. And I agree with your points. My example would be that my posted wait time for Rose of The Resistance was between 60 to 80 min but I got in at like 45 minutes. Loved it from beginning to end. Now Slinky Dog Dash had a posted 120 min wait time and about an hour in, I got out of the line because I thought the wait time wasn’t worth it. Granted, my mistake was getting in the line at 1 in the afternoon but still. For my next trip, I’m booking a LL or rope dropping immediately to Slinky.

[@MorgieStinky-sh4dm]

Dallin I can't wait for your video on the Adventureland Treehouse. I'm newly wheelchair-bound so may never get to experience it myself and I know you'll help me live vicariously

[@sarahgattis3964]

your hardly ever worth it rides are SO TRUE i’m always like who waits 70 for peter??

[@Jess-ls5lf]

big factor on waiting vs paying vs doing something else is definitely knowing when you can come back to the park. if this is a big once in a lifetime trip, ll/g+ is definitely worth it, but if you’re a local…just come back later. i definitely prefer the original fastpass but i like LL better than FP+ where you had to reserve 3 months in advance and could only do a few a day and the different attraction tiers. the preplanning is not my ideal vacation its like rope dropping but on my laptop at 7am in my own home

[@feline.equation]

i live in southern california, so i’ve never been to WDW but we do disneyland/DCA typically about 2 times a year. my mom and i had annual passes from 2015-2019 and we really miss the old fast passes. we liked how anybody could get them without paying extra. the whole system felt overall really fair, even if it wasn’t the most efficient or best solution to long wait times. we knew that eventually they’d go behind a paywall, and it still makes us pretty disappointed. about half of our trips we do pay extra, but we go on the cheaper days when it’s like $20 or $25 or something. though those are going up too, much to our disappointment. my dad and i are going in December, and our favorite rides are space mountain and rise of the resistance. we won’t wait more than an hour for each, and are probably still unlikely to get in line if either are over 45 mins. we try to get on them first thing in the morning when there’s less people. my mom and i also really liked doing single rider back in the day, typically in DCA. i do like being able to order food on my phone, but i don’t like the new feeling of being dependant on my phone the whole day to do anything in the parks. i just want to go to disney to disconnect and not have to look at my phone.

[@nataliemo24]

I’m a 40-45 mins max type of person, unless it’s Rise. I’ve waited 90 mins for her and would do it again if I wasn’t in the mood to purchase the ILL, which I’m usually not. I feel like the price for Genie+ is fair as it is! Edited to add: I live in Arizona and don’t go to the parks all the time, so I think that makes the price more worth it for me!

[@maddieonesti3284]

Former CM in the Land greenhouses (Biotech lab), I’m just here for all of the living with the land content, please never stop making it 🥺

[@glitterfulspace]

i know this video was 3 months ago, but at dlp (the closest park to me) peter pans flight usually has at least 2 hour wait, i think the minimum is like 45 mins which is quite a hard time to come by.

[@LostLifetimes]

The longest I'll wait for any ride is 1 hour, except for X2 at Six Flags because that's always 2hrs minimum unless you rope drop it. I'd never pay for Genie, I have payed for the every-ride fastpass thing Knotts did during Scary Farm to not have to wait surrounded by covid forever, and that was pricey but so worth it especially when you consider the price difference between Knotts and Disney base tickets

[@brookeg5979]

Peter Pan is my favorite ride in the park (followed by the train, Pirates and Haunted Mansion). I wait in whatever length line is happening for all of those, no matter what. The only thing that I consider before stepping into an hour long wait for PP is the angle of the sun. It's brutal in that line in the afternoon, but otherwise I'm happy to wait. I love the music and the art, and I even love how it wraps around itself so you are just soaking in humanity at it's absolute worst which is normally something I dread. Outside of those rides, I'm a 45-60 minute max waiter. I also go to the park by myself most of the time so i do single rider if available, and have only had a bad experience doing that once.

[@LizzyLoves91]

For me, a person who has been to Disneyland once and to WDW multiple times, I usually don’t mind waiting half an hour, maybe 40-45 minutes max. That said, it all depends on 1) if I have ever been on the ride and 2) how badly I want to go on the ride. If I have never experienced a ride and I honestly don’t know when I’m gonna be back, I can see myself waiting 1-1.5 hours in line. If it’s ride I have ridden before, but it’s a favorite (like Haunted Mansion), I might wait an hour, maybe. But usually, no more than 45 minutes. I can usually find something else to do in that time and I have no problem waiting for a shorter wait time.

[@ravenwolfe6806]

I work attractions at magic kingdom and I once had a guest so upset with me for having to wait 15 minutes 🤦‍♀️

[@Viewer-dj2qk]

I say the same thing about Peter Pan, every time we pass by it. Loudly. It’s a 30 mins tops from a passholder perspective.

[@NormanF.Rockwell]

when i worked attractions at a popular ride in disney, my favorite position was the merge position, mostly bc i love doing puzzles and also bc i was frankly pretty good at it. i never had my lines backed up (unless the ride went down but we hadn’t dumped yet) and if i was taking over for someone and they were backed up i would get the lines back on track. we had a 4-1 ratio, so for every singular person in stand by we had to let 4 people from the lighting lane line through but tbh i mostly ignored it. i think i only ever followed it when i had a coord, leader, or trainer behind my shoulder lol. so for each round i would let one family from stand by through and depending on how big that party was i might let another standby party through and then let however many lighting lanes through that felt right and then try and more standby parties through if i had space. idk it was part vibes and part math bc there was a counter of how many people we can let through at a time. i just didn’t like the concept of people paying for something that used to be free and available to every guest. and tbh as long as people in lighting lane got on the ride quicker than the posted standby wait time it was fine. lightning wasn’t an immediate slip the line situation, just a wait a little bit less situation

[@fredparker6836]

In the good old days at Disneyland wait times of 3 hours for the E ticket rides were common in the summer. For WDW the wait times seems to be made up to move people around the park. DLR uses a timed ticker that is regularly updated.

[@lotringsfan]

I live in AZ and a magic key holder for disneyland, so my bf, siblings, and I go about every other month for a good couple of days like 4 at the most. We tend not to wait for more than an hour for big rides we wanna do(radiator springs racers, maybe space, and haunted holiday) , Our general rule is, we rope drop early, leave after lunch for naps and then come back to parks around 5. If we don't get anything done we just wait to rope drop it next time.

[@FanThemePark]

Max pass was literally perfect. Paying an extra $10-15 for an electronic version of the paper fastpass with unlimited selections for rides was so worth it. Genie Plus dumbs that down and costs more which suck.

[@peaceitsregan4164]

I think the perfect price for a skip the line pass (if it was only available for purchase) would be around $15-$20. The fact that it used to be free for a good amount of time shows that disney doesn’t necessarily need to charge for it, so charging a large amount doesn’t look good on their end. $15-$20 would either just reach or slightly exceed about $100 for a bigger family of 5 or 6 and if it’s just one person paying for it then it’s not too big of a purchase for something that once was free. However I am firm believer that not every ride should have a fastpass. Some rides worked fine without them and then the wait times skyrocketed once it was implemented, looking at you matterhorn.