Disney Parks has been doing generally well for itself recently, introducing tons of new updates throughout the parks. But this week, it made a decision that hasn’t been so popular with fans, and it doesn’t look like that will be changed anytime soon.
For U.S. parkgoers at Disneyland and Walt Disney World, the FASTPASS, FastPass+ and Disney MaxPass are all going to be officially retired. But Disney will give guests a new way to skip the long lines at some of the attractions, and that’s by paying extra.
Through a new Disney Parks planning app called Disney Genie, guests will be able to choose from two options when it comes to reserving an express ticket for an attraction.
Disney’s new system explained
According to the Disney Parks Blog, the first way to skip the lines is via the Disney Genie+ service, which is available for a certain amount of rides. At Disney World, this will be $15 extra per ticket and $20 extra at Disneyland. With that, you can use this one at a time to select the ride you like to use the Lightning Lane for.
The other way you can gain access to the Lightning Lane is by paying per attraction. It sounds like for the rides not included in Genie+, you can still pay extra to access the lane. Though, the price will depend on which park you’re at, what ride it is, and even what date you are going. This works for up to two “highly demanded” attractions each day.
So, with all this, Star Wars fans may be curious to know if this affects any of the Star Wars-themed rides at Disney Parks. Here’s what we know.
Star Wars Lightning Lanes explained
In each of the parks, Star Wars has three rides: Star Tours, Smugglers Run and Rise of the Resistance.
Star Tours: Star Tours was not mentioned on the Disney Parks Blog. But knowing that the ride does have an express queue, it’s possible it may be one of the rides offered under the second plan — where you can select an in-demand ride to use the Lightning Lane for, so the price will vary.
Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run: The Millenium Falcon ride will be included in the Genie+ service. So if you find yourself at Galaxy’s Edge, you can pay the fixed rate to include that as one of your Lightning Lane rides for the day.
Rise of the Resistance: As for now, Disney Parks will continue its virtual queue system to ride Rise of the Resistance. This means you won’t have to pay extra to guarantee a spot on the ride, but you will still have to be diligent about entering the virtual lottery to secure your spots for the ride.
So, this is a controversial call for Disney Parks. But with prices so high already, Disney may consider changing the plan so that it’s more cost-effective for your average family if there is enough backlash against the change.