The Walt Disney Company is all about optimization and generating revenue. This is to please their shareholders and to grow. They continue to find creative ways to make money. Now we are seeing their boldest move to make money yet with the announcement that Disney will pay guests to not stand in lines.
You read that right. Disney is going to start paying their guests to not get in line for their rides. The theory seems crazy, but it might actually work. It follows a similar idea to the popular game show, Let’s Make a Deal. In the show, they offer contestants a cash alternative so they don’t take a potential prize. In many cases, Let’s Make a Deal wants contestants to take the money because the value is less than the prize.
Why Will Disney Pay Guests to Not Stand in Lines?
The old expression you need to spend money to make money has never been more relevant with Disney’s newest announcement. Disney knows that every minute someone is standing in line, they aren’t buying food or merchandise. Standing in lines is the least profitable activity for a guest inside a Disney theme park.
While Disney wants guests to have fun, they also want to maximize the revenue per guest. If you’re stuck in line for Space Mountain for 90 minutes, that’s 90 minutes you aren’t spending money. Disney offers the Genie service, to help “optimize” your day when in reality, it’s the optimal day for Disney, not you. This is also why they are actively working on a new mind-controlling patent we reported on here.
However, this is interesting because we published a massive investigative report here a few weeks ago showing that Disney paid guests to stand in line. However, this was to encourage people to adopt Lightning Lane and Genie+. Now that they have forced those apps into the mainstream, they are undoing what they just did. Now they want to pay guests to not stand in lines. This way, the lines are shorter. That means people can spend more time shopping and buying food and drinks.
How Much Money Can Guests Make at Disney World?
Guests can make up to $10 for each line they don’t stand in. However, the payout will fluctuate based on the popularity and wait time of the rides. We expect guests to only make around $1-3 per ride they skip. Even though it’s only a few dollars, if you’re a party of 4 and you all make $3 to not get in line for small world, your group made $12. You can almost buy lunch for one person!
In order to get paid to not stand in a line, you’ll need to be in a line first. The My Disney Experience app, combined with your MagicBand location tracking, will see you’re in line. Then, select guests will get a pop-up notification asking them if they want to be paid to get out of line. If you get this offer and accept it, once My Disney Experience notices you are out of line, payment will be made.
Disney will allow guests to make up to $50 per day, skipping rides. However, you will only be able to skip a maximum of one line per hour. This prevents guests from abusing the system and returning to the same line to make more money. We don’t know when this will launch in My Disney Experience, but we expect it to show up in the next few months.
What do you think of Disney paying guests to not stand in line? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!
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