Note: The gondola counter is hardly 1 km from the taxi stand so you can walk on a cemented road if you wish to. Please refrain from visiting Gondola on a weekend or holiday else long and tiresome queue would turn your pleasant experience into a nightmare. Also, if you're visiting in summers (April - June), you don't really need snow boots even on Phase 2 and standing with that boots on for 3 hours in queue would numb your feet and then you have to stand barefoot in queue carrying those boots in hand.
As soon as taxi drops you off at a taxi stand, local guides and Horse ride owners would surround you from all sides and start from 10k for complete Gulmarg sightseeing per person. A little bargaining and they'll settle for 1500 rs per person. We almost had a deal but thanks to TripAdvisor, we realized that it's already 12pm and Gondola ride itself would take at least 4 hours so we might not have the margin to see other places and the Gondola counter isn't that far.
We rejected the deal and chose to walk instead. We asked local guides for a way to reach Gondola counter, but they misguided us on a wrong perhaps a longer route. We started walking on a muddy road made for horses then we asked a J&K policeman who guided us the right way on a cemented road and we reached the counter in 15 mins. On the way the horse ride prices dropped to 200rs and then 100 rs, and we knew we are heading on a right path.
Now the struggle starts standing on extremely long queues. Even on a working day and off season, it takes around 2 hours to actually catch the phase 1 Gondola. As soon as you reach phase 1, you realize that there's another long queue for Phase 2 as cable cars for Phase 2 are less compared to Phase 1. So you just can't take a break at Phase 1 and stand in queue for Phase 2 and we stood around 30 mins there. The ride to phase 2 is beyond words.
The view on reaching phase 2 is absolutely majestic. You can take some rest and enjoy the snow clad mountain or ride snow scooters. There are some maggi points on Phase 2 but they are pathetic. Instead, I'd suggest you to buy Bhelpuri for refreshments. We spent an hour on Phase 2 and there were again long queues for going back. As we expected we came back to taxi stand by 4:30 and there wasn't enough time for other sight seeing. So, if you want to do rest of the sight seeing in Gulmarg, either stay one night in Gulmarg or reach Gondola at most by 9 am with pre booked tickets.
Elderly people would find this place quite tiresome. But, if you like to enjoy high mountain ranges and snow clad mountains till the horizon, then this ride is worth the wait.

I with my friends and family had taken Gondola ride on 14th June 2022. While the first phase ride was smooth but for the 2nd phase ride we had to wait for more than 3 hours. The que was more than 700 tourists, to our surprise the so called local guides rather goons were hand in glove with the operators and charging Rs. 500/- per person for obtaining the ride out of que. This was horrible because both children and elderly people had to stand in the que. The local guides were very abusive to the tourist who did not hire them. Same was the case in destination above. Its surprising that there is nobody from J & K Tourism office in these places to monitor or look into these issues.

our visit was on 2nd June. First and foremost buy online tickets at least 15days earlier.
during May- June absolutely no snow in Phase 1. You must buy tickets for both the phases. Unfortunately we did not get the phase2 ticket. we went to Phase1. still there was no snow and had to take pony ride for about half an hour ( cost 700) and you get to see a water fall beneath there is a snow slide. Again it is not all over the ground. Still ok as you can do skiing, sledge ride ( additional cost). Lot of tents with maggie, coffee, tea and some snacks. worth the visit. enjoyable. Please hire gum boots at the parking.area ( 150) . better to keep rain coats or waterproof jackets. Also hand gloves.

Since it is online. well managed. if you are early, you will pass through the que by 15 mins. do not take help from any middle man. even you can up to the ticket counter ( less than 1 Km)
people who do not have online tickets can still take a pony ride, which is a different route ( 2 hrs.you should negotiate for the ride for price. 2K is ideal).
Best time to see snow in Phase 1 would be March / April