As the process of building Universal Studios Great Britain is on hold until the United Kingdom government responds to the proposal, Parliament is not committing to responding before summer.

Universal Studios Great Britain Update

British politician Lucy Frazer KC MP, who serves as the Secretary of State for Culture, Media, and Sport, has avoided committing to responding to the proposal set forth to build a Universal Studios Great Britain theme park in Bedford, England.

According to the Bedford Independent, Frazer, a Member of Parliament, was asked by fellow member North Bedfordshire MP Richard Fuller if the government would be responding to the proposal before Parliament’s summer recess, which is currently scheduled to begin July 23. Frazer did not give a firm yes or no, instead stating the following:

My honorable friend [Fuller] it’s right to raise this very exciting opportunity in Bedfordshire, and it’s a matter I am very pleased to have discussed with him. As I have said, I think it’s an opportunity for the area. We are liaising closely with the Treasury, and I am happy also to continue liaising with him.

Lucy Frazer KC MP

The response Fuller is inquiring about is necessary before any next steps can begin between the Universal Studios team and UK government officials. Because of this, having the response come before the summer recess could prevent any delays in the process.

Universal Studios Great Britain

In December of last year, Universal Destinations & Experiences confirmed that they were considering building a theme park in the Bedford area after public records indicated that they had acquired land there. NBCUniversal has also registered the URLs “universalstudiosgreatbritain.com” and “universalgreatbritain.com,” offering more hints that a theme park could be coming.

For more Universal Studios news from around the world, follow Universal Parks News Today on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. For Disney Parks news, visit WDWNT.

The post UK Government Not Committed to Responding to Universal Studios Great Britain Proposal Before Summer appeared first on WDW News Today.

If you’re looking for Disney tips and tricks, you’ve come to the right place!

Whether you’re looking for specific theme park hacks or just general Disney advice, we’ve got you covered. If you’ve ever wondered about Disney World ride hacks — and how they’ll affect your wallet — we’ve got the answers to that as well!

When it comes to Disney World or any vacation, time is money. And, on the surface, it’s safe to say you will spend a lot of time waiting in Disney World, whether that be for rides, transportation, restaurants — you name it. But do you have to wait? Not necessarily. Let us explain…

VIP Tours

The Disney Parks offer several different kinds of tours, such as the Walt Disney World Private VIP Tour! These tours offer guests the opportunity to skip to the front of the line on most park attractions in addition to being accompanied by a personal Guest Services Cast Member on a customizable trip around the parks full of fun facts and insider knowledge. These tours even allow up to a party of 10.

The perks of a Private VIP Tour include:

• Pre-arrival planning including a start time chosen by the guest
• The ability to visit more than one theme park (in one day or more)
• Front-of-the-line attraction access
• Information shared by your personal VIP Tour Guide
• Private transportation

Does the prospect of skipping all the ride lines make you ready to sign up for a tour? Hold your horses! You should only use this ride hack if you’re really, truly desperate. Let us explain.

A Disney World trip is already likely to set you back thousands upon thousands of dollars depending on the length of your stay and itinerary. But a tour is a whole other beast. Private VIP Tours are expensive. Like, crazy expensive.

Tours are booked at a 7-hour minimum and range from $450 to $900 per hour depending on the date. That means the cheapest you’ll ever pay is a whopping $3,150. That doesn’t even include park admission, which is also required and not included in the price of the tour.

So when do Private VIP Tours make sense? A couple of scenarios come to mind.

The first is obviously if you have the budget. If you’ve come to Disney World with the intention to spend and spend big, then these tours are likely to be enriching and a fun expenditure. After all, a private tour guide, the VIP treatment, and front-of-the-line access to attractions that can have multiple-hour waits do sound like a fantastic time.

Another time signing up for a VIP tour makes sense is if you’re really pressed for time, more so than the average guest. If you’re already spending money on a Disney World vacation but time is making it impossible to really enjoy the parks, a VIP tour will undoubtedly save you hours and could make your trip worthwhile. Booking is available for dates 60 days out, but you can still get pricing information for future months outside the booking window.

Another good excuse to spend on a Private VIP Tour is if you are part of a large party and can divide the cost effectively to minimize expenses. Dividing a few thousand dollars among 10 participants doesn’t sound as scary as the alternative!

You can learn more about Walt Disney World Private VIP Tours HERE

If the price still scares you off (and we definitely don’t blame you if that’s the case), there are cheaper alternative hacks that will save you time when it comes to riding rides!

Genie+ / Lightning Lanes

If you’re put off by the VIP tours’ prices but are still willing to drop some cash if that means you can skip the ride waits, look no further than Genie+ or Lightning Lanes!

An Individual Lightning Lane is a paid FastPass that lets you skip the general queue. This pay-per-ride service’s price fluctuates based on demand for each ride and covers each rider individually, not the party as a whole.

Genie+ may be a cheaper alternative, ultimately. While it usually doesn’t cover each park’s most popular attraction, this service includes most Lightning Lanes for a price of about $15 to $40 per person, per day depending on surge pricing. You’re still at the whim of hangups like booking windows, demand cutting off Lightning Lanes, and the inability to use a Lightning Lane more than once, but it is still very wallet-friendly and time-saving.

To learn more about Genie+ and Lightning Lanes, CLICK HERE

Don’t want to spend any extra money? Follow this next piece of advice!

Rope Drop

Rope dropping is the process of showing up to the park early and being one of the first people inside when it does open.

A lot of Disney Adults swear rope drop is the best and cheapest way to guarantee you’ll get to ride your favorite rides. Generally, you can beat the afternoon crowds and if, you’re lucky, be the first in line at a major E-ticket attraction.

However, rope dropping isn’t much of a secret anymore, and now the issue of everyone running to the same ride (such as Avatar Flight of Passage at Disney’s Animal Kingdom) is prevalent. There’s still a chance you’ll be waiting a long time, the only difference is you’ll be waiting early in the morning.

Still, there’s no harm in rope dropping as it won’t cost you anything extra, just like our next tip…

Single rider lines

What’s the next best thing to Lightning Lanes? Single rider lines, of course!

If you’re traveling solo, you’re the only person in your party who wants to ride an attraction, or you don’t mind splitting the party up if it means saving time, single-rider lines may be the best option for you! These lines are used to fill empty seats so you will ride with a stranger, but it’s free and could save you from a long wait.

The downside is that these lines aren’t always guaranteed to be faster. You’re at the mercy of numbers — how many parties have even and odd numbers, the number of seats per ride vehicle, how many vehicles get loaded per minute, etc. If you’re looking for something more concrete, we recommend the next tip…

Visit during the cheapest times of the year

Disney World may not have true offseasons (The Most Magical Place on Earth is pretty popular — who woulda thunk?), but that doesn’t mean all days at Disney World are equal.

Some parts of the year are cheaper when it comes to visiting Disney World and can indicate lower crowd levels. Times like back-to-school season, when park hours are cut short due to special events, and some weekdays, are ones to circle. They might not only make regular park visits cheaper but can minimize wait times as well.

You can see the best times to visit Disney World in 2024 by CLICKING HERE!

Planning a Disney World trip can be stressful, regardless of budget or time. That’s why we’re here to help! Follow us here at DFB for more Disney World Parks tips as well as all the latest Disney World news, reviews, and more!

4 Disney World Tips That Are Either BRILLIANT or BONKERS

What are some of your favorite Disney World ride hacks? Let us know in the comments!

The post Only Use This Extreme Disney World Ride Hack if You’re Really, Truly Desperate first appeared on the disney food blog.

When you visit Disney World, you probably want to ride as many rides as possible!

With new attractions like Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind in EPCOT and TRON Lightcycle / Run in Magic Kingdom, there are so many attractions that you probably want to ride! Unfortunately, there is that annoying thing called lines, and trust us, you don’t want to have to be stuck waiting all day. We have a trick that we use to get on more rides, and it involves Genie+.

For those who might not know, Genie+ is Disney’s paid skip-the-line service, available in the My Disney Experience app. It is kind of like FastPass+, except you can’t make your reservations in advance, and it is no longer free. This is not to be confused with Disney’s FREE Genie service, which creates personalized itineraries and gives you recommendations. 

Click Here to Learn the Difference Between Genie and Genie+

You and your party can purchase Genie+. Genie+ does not have a standard price, as it varies on demand, it currently averages between $20 and $35, but we’ve seen it go as high as $39 during holiday periods. You also have the option of choosing an individual park to use Genie+ in, or you can choose the multi-park option. This service allows you to pick attractions and times to enter the ride through Lightning Lanes (previously the FastPass+ line), and skip over the normal stand-by queue for a shorter wait!

Disney states that people who use this service, on average, can skip the line for two to three attractions. However, in our experience, we have used Genie+ and Lightning Lane on more than just three rides! We will say that this is different for each party.

Click Here to Learn More About Genie+

There are also Individual Lightning Lanes that you and your party can purchase as a la carte rides. Certain attractions are not included with the Genie+ base price and must be purchased per person if you want to skip the line. Rides that are not included in Genie+ and require an individual Lightning Lane are:

• TRON Lightcycle / RUN (free Virtual Queue is an option)
• Seven Dwarfs Mine Train
• Guardians of the Galaxy Cosmic Rewind (free Virtual Queue is an option)
• Rise of the Resistance
• Flight of Passage

Click Here to Learn More About Virtual Queue

Individual Lightning Lanes can only be bought twice a day, meaning you can only ride two of the rides listed above using Lightning Lane. But fear not—you can also wait in line for these attractions, use a virtual queue for attractions like TRON Lightcycle / RUN and Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind, or purchase Individual Lightning Lane the next day.

Just like Genie+, you need to pay per person who is riding the ride. Prices fluctuate, but on average, it will cost between $12 and $25 per person to ride attractions using Individual Lightning Lane.

Now that we got some background out of the way, let’s talk about how you can ride more rides in your day!

In order to use this hack, you must purchase Genie+. Genie+ has certain rules that you need to understand when booking attraction’s Lightning Lanes. Once you book a Lightning Lane, in order to book another, you must:

1. Use the first Lightning Lane that you booked
2. Be past your return time (this is if you missed it)
3. 120 minutes must have passed between booking your next selection

In the past, Genie+ rules allowed you to make your first selections at 7 AM (this still holds true). If the park opened at 9 AM, your two-hour window was up, and you could make another selection, meaning you could have two Lightning Lanes booked before even entering the park. 

Now, the two-hour timer no longer starts at 7 AM. Instead, it starts when the park opens. So if you were to grab a Lightning Lane right at 7 AM and the park opens at 9 AM, your two-hour timer would start at 9 AM, meaning you can book another Lightning Lane at 11 AM. If you ride an attraction before 11 AM, you can book another Lightning Lane, according to the rules we previously discussed.

While this rule has changed, you can still stack Lightning Lanes! Remember in order to book another Lightning Lane, you must do one of the following:

1. Use the first Lightning Lane that you booked
2. Be past your return time (this is if you missed it)
3. 120 minutes must have passed between booking your next selection

This means that you can continuously STACK Lightning Lanes throughout the day as long as you follow the 120-minute rule. Genie+ will let you book another Lightning Lane 120- minutes (2 hours) after reserving a previous Lightning Lane if the return time for the first Lightning Lane is more than 2 hours away.

For example, we will say that our imaginary guest books a Lightning Lane at 9 AM for Pirates of the Caribbean with a return time of 1 PM. This imaginary guest does NOT have to wait until 1 PM to book their next selection. Instead, they can book a selection at 11 AM (following the 120-minute rule.) At 11 AM, our imaginary guest books a Lightning Lane reservation for Haunted Mansion at 3 PM, meaning that they currently hold Lightning Lanes for two attractions at the same time! And at 1 PM, two hours after their 11 AM selection, they can book another Lightning Lane selection.

To sum things up, use the 120-minute rule to your advantage! You do not have to wait until your return time to book another selection! By stacking Lightning Lanes, you can enjoy other parts of the park or ride attractions that don’t offer a Lightning Lane, then, when your return time rolls around, you have a stack of Lightning Lanes ready to go!

We know that this can get confusing, but we have plenty of resources to help you navigate Genie+. Of course, we will continue to go to the parks, perfect our Genie+ methods, and update you!

Click Here for More Genie+ Hacks!

Have you stacked Lightning Lanes before? Let us know in the comments!

The post The Weird Thing I Do Every Day in Disney World to Get On More Rides first appeared on the disney food blog.

The official names and opening time frame have been announced for the new “Fast & Furious” roller coaster coming to Universal Studios Hollywood.

Fast & Furious Roller Coaster Opening Date

The coaster will officially be called Fast & Furious Hollywood Drift. It is scheduled to open in 2026. Universal Studios Hollywood announced the news via their social media channels, including X. The coaster is set to include “groundbreaking technology [and] breathtaking immersion.” Earlier this month, we caught up on the construction progress of the attraction. In the announcement, Universal shared the following:

Prepare for high-speed thrills! Fast & Furious: Hollywood Drift arrives at Universal Studios Hollywood in 2026. From groundbreaking technology to breathtaking immersion, this is a roller coaster like no other.

For more Universal Studios news from around the world, follow Universal Parks News Today on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. For Disney Parks news, visit WDWNT.

The post Official Name and Opening Year Announced for ‘Fast & Furious’ Roller Coaster in Universal Studios Hollywood appeared first on WDW News Today.