Guest Stunned as Lightning Lane Stretches Through Multiple Lands

In 1999, Disney introduced a new line system that completely changed how guests experienced their vacation at places like Walt Disney World Resort and Disneyland. That beloved system, as you might remember, was the FastPass system. It was completely free and gave all guests equal opportunity to get a FastPass, which let them wait in a shorter line. This system was incredibly popular, and guests loved that they could get on some of their favorite rides without having to wait hours in line. FastPass saved time, cost nothing, and greatly improved the guest experience.

Related: How Disney’s FastPass System Went From Free to $400

In 2021, guests were devastated when Disney announced that Disneyland and Walt Disney World would be getting rid of the FastPass system and implementing a new system called Disney Genie+. Disney Genie+ would allow guests to book their Lightning Lane (new name for the shorter line) reservations from their phone, but it would not be free. Guests would be required to pay for Disney Genie+, and the price varied based on the time of the year and the day of the week.

For some reason, Disney Genie+ did not last very long and was soon replaced by Disney’s Lightning Lane Single Pass and Lightning Lane Multi Pass.

Many guests were upset that a once-free system could now cost as much as $39 per day per person. However, the hope was that the Lightning Lane waits would be negligible.

Related: Magic Kingdom’s Lightning Lane Will Absolutely Skyrocket, May Hit $500+ Per Guest

Unfortunately, that has not been the case, and guests have had to wait in some of the longest lines we have seen. Some Lightning Lane lines have even stretched through entire lands.

Reddit user Urbanstix recently visited Disneyland Resort and paid for Lightning Lane. He was shocked to see the “shorter” line that he had paid extra to wait in at Disney California Adventure.

The OP (Original Poster) shared a photo of the Lightning Lane for Incredicoaster, which is located at the back of Pixar Pier. In a startling image, the Lightning Lane can be seen starting past the bridge to enter Pixar Pier — almost a quarter of a mile away from the ride entrance!

Terrible day at DCA. This is where the back of the lightning lane was for Incredicoaster. Also closed every time I had a genie: monsters inc, grizzly, Incredicoaster, cars, Ariel.
byu/UrbanStix inDisneyland

To make things worse, the OP stated that multiple rides went down that they also had Lightning Lane reservations for, including Monsters, Inc. Mike and Sulley to the Rescue!, Grizzly River Run, Radiator Springs Racers, and The Little Mermaid – Ariel’s Undersea Adventure.

According to the comments, the OP was not the only guest to have such an experience. Multiple Redditors said they had a similar experience during their trip to The Happiest Place on Earth.

I was there as well. The problem was incredicoaster was down for several hours (at least 1030am to 2pm) but they were still issuing LLs for it. Soarin and Guardians sold out of LL quick. So people were desperate to cash in LLs and all showed up when incredicoaster reopened.

We saw similarly crazy LL lines for Soarin. Even Cars had a big LL backup when we were in the single rider line.

They really need to boost capacity or sell less LLMP. DCA can become a mess real quick particularly when people shift over in the afternoon to start drinking.

Related: Guest Blames Disney For “Purposeful” Lightning Lane Exclusion

It should be noted that the Disneyland Resort website does state that “subject to limited availability and are not guaranteed,” and Disney has also stated that guests will typically be able to use the Lightning Lane Multi Pass to ride an average of three or four attractions per day.

Guests have been critical of Disney’s Lightning Lane since it was put into action, but that does not stop them from paying for the service. On busier days, Lighting Lane has been known to sell out. While this might indicate that guests like the service, surveys have shown that guests feel they need to purchase Lightning Lane in order to experience all the rides they want to.

Do you think that Disney needs to change their Lightning Lane system? Are the Lightning Lane lines too long to justify the cost? Should Disney consider going back to its old FastPass system? Share your thoughts on this guest’s experience and Disney’s Lightning Lane system with us in the comments!