Waiting in lines

[kitkat4622]

So this may be a silly question but if I don't want to purchase Genie+ is there such a thing anymore of just waiting in line? And what rides that are new can you not just hop in line? TY

 

[gharter]

Any using the virtual queue. Tron, GoTG.

 

[loves to dive]

Yes, I don't purchase Genie+ and wait in lines. I don't mind it but I'm not focused on riding as many rides as I can or worrying about if I'm wasting money or time. I'm there to just enjoy being there.

 

[elvispursley]

All rides have stand-by queues, with the exception of Tron and Guardians.

 

[Mome Rath]

So this may be a silly question but if I don't want to purchase Genie+ is there such a thing anymore of just waiting in line? And what rides that are new can you not just hop in line? TY

As others have said, only Tron and Guardians don't, but you can try for virtual queues for them for free. This latest trip, we did a mix of buying G+, and standing in line. If latest trends hold, they still seem to inflate posted wait times in many instances (for example we stood in line for ToT and it had a posted 50 min wait, we were on in about 35).

 

[StageTek]

So this may be a silly question but if I don't want to purchase Genie+ is there such a thing anymore of just waiting in line? And what rides that are new can you not just hop in line? TY

Not a silly question. Disney is doing everything they can to make it seem the only way to get on rides these days is to purchase.

In the parks for one day? Not coming back for a couple of years? Buy it.
In the parks for several days? Don't. All but two rides you can just hop in line. The two; you can use the ap to get the virtual line for free.

And Mome Rath is so right - Disney is inflating the wait times - sometimes by 25% to even 50%. I hate to think the reason is to get their guests to purchase...

 

[thanxfornoticin]

And Mome Rath is so right - Disney is inflating the wait times - sometimes by 25% to even 50%. I hate to think the reason is to get their guests to purchase...

We were just there in March, and most of the time the wait times were pretty close to advertised on the attractions we did. I'm sure there's the occasional inflation (intentional or not), especially towards park closing. But it's not a universal thing guests can depend on. Twice, we also saw the wait time longer, mostly because of some temporary delays with the attraction while we were in line.

I still think your recommendation is a good one - if in the park for a day (even 2), just buy it and use it.

 

[Mome Rath]

We just returned this wed, so we were there during a small lull in spring break, so that probably makes a difference in inflated ride times posted. We never stood in a line as long as posted during the day. But, yes, that isn't a guarantee.

 

[mz-s]

I am sure it depends on the day, the guests (how quick they are at loading and unloading) and everything but in general I find the posted wait times to be fairly accurate, within 10% of the actual wait time. A 30 minute wait may sound like a lot but the lines generally are fairly continuously moving, and they have experiences to make the wait go by. You're not just staring at the backs of heads for 30 minutes.

In Magic Kingdom, stay after the fireworks and ride then. Generally many people go home after the fireworks so wait times are shorter in the evening towards park close. A good tip at Hollywood Studios is to ride during the first Fantasmic showing and watch the second showing. And if you're staying in a deluxe hotel, pay attention to the extended evening hours. And remember early entry if staying at any on-property hotel.

 

[_19disnA]

Actually a good question. Typically, Disney parks have LOTS of people trying to ride the most popular rides. Those tend to have the longest lines. It isn't required you buy any of those paid Genie options and some of the less popular rides may have a short (or even no) line. Last time we were at Disney, posted wait times at the ride entrances were all over the map. Some clearly too short while others obviously too long. Everyone has an opinion on how the posted times are determined, but am not sure anyone on here knows for sure. We gave up looking at those signs and decided for ourselves which rides were worth waiting for based on the size of the line and how fast it was moving.

Even if you pay for Genie, it doesn't let you ride every ride and there is a time limit on how frequently you get them. On days when parks are very crowded, you can waste a lot of time zig-zagging from one end of the park to another just because you think some ride has a shorter line.

 

[fla4fun]

I do not buy Genie+, as I still consider it to be a money grab. I visit often enough that I am okay with skipping an attraction if the line is too long, plus I am not into coasters and thrill rides, so many of the most popular rides would not be in my plans to begin with. I have made several trips, both short and long, since Genie came out, and have simply used standby lines. I do not feel my trips have suffered as a result, although I do realize that my ride priorities may be different compared to most people.

However, I do agree that if you have limited time and don’t visit often, or only visit during peak periods, it can be of some assistance in MK and HS. You don’t need it as much for AK and Epcot, due to the number and type of attractions. However, unlike FP+, you may not know how helpful it will be until after you have paid for it and then it’s too late. At least with standby lines I feel more in control of my time and my choices and I haven’t paid a thing. I would be very angry to pay for Genie and only gain access to two or three attractions with a shorter line.

 

[thanxfornoticin]

I would differ and say from our experience, G+ can still be quite useful in AK and EPCOT - we use it there more than we do HS. But it's really personal preference of attractions and interests.

A separate question for some of the experts - besides Wedway PeopleMover, are any other attractions at WDW just standby, without a LL option? Also, wouldn't it be interesting if perhaps once a month - like the first Tuesday every month, have a standby-line-only day without any Lightning Lanes? Might that be popular or just stupid?! It was eye-opening to some as they reopened during Covid to have many weeks without LL..... What a concept to get in line and wait in line for the attraction!

 

[Mome Rath]

A separate question for some of the experts - besides Wedway PeopleMover, are any other attractions at WDW just standby, without a LL option?

Yes, there are indeed several, am including "show" style attractions: Astro Orbiter, Country Bears, Hall of Presidents, Riverboat, Carrousel, Carousel of Progress, Tiki room, American Adventure, Gran Fiesta, Racing Academy...

I went during Covid-tide, and it was kind of nice just to stand in line whenever we wanted to go on something.

 

[maxiesmom]

I wouldn't visit the parks without buying Genie +. Yes, I hate that it exists. But I would rather pay the added fee and be able to do twice the rides in a day.

 

[sheilafri]

I do buy G+ for MK and HS as there are several rides at each that I like to ride but don’t want to wait in line, especially when it is hot. I have learned to not chase wait times or return times by crisscrossing the parks. I still walk around 8-9 miles a day. I also will use G+ to save smaller amounts of line time at a nearby ride which in turn gives me access to another G+ reservation in short order.

 

[Cherrychip]

I think you can have a very successful day without G+ if you utilize rope drop and park close/ ride during fireworks, especially if it is a longer trip. We went the first full week of March, which was a moderate crowds week, and did not use G+ at all and I felt like we rode around the same number of rides as we did on past trips during the same week when we had fast pass, which we did use to use heavily. We were a little slower this trip because we had to use Riderswitch with our toddler and everything with a toddler just takes a little longer! Disclaimer that we did do an AH event at Magic Kingdom which we used to ride all of the mountains multiple times and an AH event at HS rather than riding any rides there during the day -we planned to do shows only on our HS day ticket and rides during the AH event. We did buy ILL for Guardians at Epcot one day, but got the free virtual pass a second day.

Some examples of how our days went without G+:

One of ourMK days we rope dropped Fantasy Land and we rode everything in Fantasy Land except 7dwarves between 7:30 am early entry and our 10:30 am brunch at Crystal Palace. We arrived at the very back of the rope drop crowd since we weren’t trying to get on 7 dwarves. Everything was very short waits.

Our AK day with a 7:30 am early entry and rope dropping FOP near the front of the crowd, we rode everything except Kali River Rapids (and we used ride switch on FOP and Dinosaur) had QS lunch and watched the Nemo show and left for the day by 2:30 pm, so we had plenty of time to do more if we had chosen to stay longer or return in the evening.

We did Epcot on our arrival evening, we arrived around 6:30 pm, did Spaceship earth, GG with an ILL , got snacks at American Adventure pavilion, got in line for Remy around 20 minutes before the fireworks show and got off in time to see the end of the show as we speed walked back around World Showcase trying to beat the crowds getting out. We had a second Epcot day later so it was helpful to have knocked out both of the new rides this evening.


We generally went back to our resort during the afternoon but if we were in a park during the afternoon we would focus on shows and attractions during that time since ride lines are longest then.

 

[loves to dive]

I'll be there April 15-22, 7 nights with 7 day PHs. I will actually be doing 6 1/2 days in the parks since I'll be arriving between 1 -3 on the 15th. It's a split stay, 2 night ASMusic and 5 nights Dolphin. Going solo. I will be posting either in the Here Now thread or just doing a daily trip update, including F&G booths. I have only one ADR booked, a Fantasmic dinner at SciFi. I wouldn't normally book that but I haven't seen the new Fantastic and don't want to risk getting seats I can't see over people's heads. I will not be buying Genie+ or ILLs but will try for virtual ques for Guardians and Tron. Sat. and Sun. when I arrive are a run Disney weekend (I didn't know that when I booked) so I expect the parks to be a little crowded in the afternoons for that. Stay tuned how to do it without buying Genie+ or ILLs (or how not to).

 

[KateMW]

Oh you can wait in line. LOL We did it last week. As mentioned, the rides with virtual q's are the only ones you can't do a standby line for. Now if it's during Spring Break, the lines are soo very long. We hopped in Smuggler's Run (we had Genie+ but were waiting out one for later) line and it was quoted as 75 minutes and took 2 hours. It was such a bummer, especially once I got on the ride and it kinda stinks.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

We didn't purchase Genie+ or an ILL last May but we had also been multiple times before. There is such a thing as waiting in line of course! Aside from the mentioned rides that use VQ.

We saw a lot of people occupying their time in lines with games like Heads Up on the phone (just make sure to keep up with the party in front of you).

Just know that at times you may be chugging along just fine and then stopped for a bit while people in the LL are ushered through, sometimes you can see them sometimes they are behind barriers.

 

[kitkat4622]

Thanks everyone. I have been several times and will be back again in September. I have a solo trip in 27 days to celebrate retirement