Disney Genie and Genie+ at Walt Disney World

[CastAStone]

Has anyone attempted to explain what the heck happened with Jungle Cruise where it's now considered an S-tier Magic Kingdom attraction again?

I don’t think it’s new. Touring Plans wait times by crowd level, which I believe are still based on pre-pandemic observations, have the line peaking at over an hour even on crowd level 3/10 days.

But then combine that with I think a capacity reduction - feels to me based on my experiences that there’s no way they’re running as many boats as they did 10 years ago - a movie that a lot of people saw, and a handful of new show elements / refreshening, and you have what we have now.

I believe the people who track this stuff say a G+ at JC will save you more time in line than any other MK attraction. Which in and of itself I think induces more demand, with the just in case crowd.

 

[Purduevian]

Has anyone attempted to explain what the heck happened with Jungle Cruise where it's now considered an S-tier Magic Kingdom attraction again?

Back in 2015 Touring Plans had it ranked as the seventh most used fp in their plans https://touringplans.com/blog/fastpass-priorities-magic-kingdom-2/

It's honestly strange to me as it does seem like it should be behind quite a few other rides.

 

[nickys]

believe the people who track this stuff say a G+ at JC will save you more time in line than any other MK attraction. Which in and of itself I think induces more demand, with the just in case crowd.

This ^^^^

All of the Touring Plans analysis since the introduction of the G+ has shown that it saves you more time than getting one for any other ride. That then becomes self-fulfilling.

 

[gerarar]

Disney should add LL availability/seating for the second showing of Fantasmic (not first showing, and when applicable). This will get guests to

1. Stay in the park until after close since second show is at park close.
2. Spread the demand from the first showing, it still regularly fills up.
3. Free up some HS LL supply for G+ for other rides in the park, albeit at the cost of those unfortunate guests that book it way too early in the day. Same happened with Fastpass+ back then.
4. Will make some guests happy by giving them an (essentially free) LL at the end of the day since there's pretty much an endless supply of LL they could give out, making guests round off their day with a fantastic spectacular with something they paid for.

Probably more pro's that I'm not thinking of yet lol, but it seems like an obvious move/thing for park ops to add at the moment..

 

[Disney Glimpses]

Disney should add LL availability/seating for the second showing of Fantasmic (not first showing, and when applicable). This will get guests to

1. Stay in the park until after close since second show is at park close.
2. Spread the demand from the first showing, it still regularly fills up.
3. Free up some HS LL supply for G+ for other rides in the park, albeit at the cost of those unfortunate guests that book it way too early in the day. Same happened with Fastpass+ back then.
4. Will make some guests happy by giving them an (essentially free) LL at the end of the day since there's pretty much an endless supply of LL they could give out, making guests round off their day with a fantastic spectacular with something they paid for.

Probably more pro's that I'm not thinking of yet lol, but it seems like an obvious move/thing for park ops to add at the moment..

AFAIK the concern is that people will purchase Genie+ for F! and then end up eating up inventory at other DHS attractions. When the F! hype dies down a bit, I expect it will be added.

 

[gerarar]

AFAIK the concern is that people will purchase Genie+ for F! and then end up eating up inventory at other DHS attractions. When the F! hype dies down a bit, I expect it will be added.

That's an interesting perspective. Didn't really think of people buying it just for F! But I would counter that with the demand for the second showing is pretty much zero. There's usually 3-4 entire sections empty now.

Example, this is from the other night

 

[Vacationeer]

This ^^^^

All of the Touring Plans analysis since the introduction of the G+ has shown that it saves you more time than getting one for any other ride. That then becomes self-fulfilling.

It’s like the Peter Pan effect. Back with FP+ Peter Pan was more challenging than Space Mtn, Splash or BTM. The ride became a priority just because it looked to be a priority for others, and that kind of snowballs. FOMO and feeling of accomplishment at play.

In HS it used to be funny watching people gravitate over to the long Olaf line. When the line stuck out into the main walkway it always attracted passersby. When we passed the area and the end of the line was hidden, nobody stopped. I guess there’s a psychological effect that a long line means it must be something worth waiting for.

 

[Disney Glimpses]

That's an interesting perspective. Didn't really think of people buying it just for F! But I would counter that with the demand for the second showing is pretty much zero. There's usually 3-4 entire sections empty now.

Example, this is from the other night
View attachment 681709

That's what I have heard. I agree that it would be a nice way to reduce strain on the attractions.

 

[lentesta]

This ^^^^

All of the Touring Plans analysis since the introduction of the G+ has shown that it saves you more time than getting one for any other ride. That then becomes self-fulfilling.

Heh. I'm pretty sure that fewer than 5% of park guests know about TP or the Unofficial Guide.

My guess - and it's a guess - is that the ride isn't running at pre-pandemic capacity. I'll see if I can get some counts this week.

 

[Disstevefan1]

That's an interesting perspective. Didn't really think of people buying it just for F! But I would counter that with the demand for the second showing is pretty much zero. There's usually 3-4 entire sections empty now.

Example, this is from the other night
View attachment 681709

You hear that sound? It's the accountants typing up the announcement that the 2nd show is cancelled

 

[dreday3]

Jungle Cruise easily had over 60 minutes waits throughout the day back in 2011, 2014 and 2017. It's been popular for a long time.

 

[nickys]

Heh. I'm pretty sure that fewer than 5% of park guests know about TP or the Unofficial Guide.

My guess - and it's a guess - is that the ride isn't running at pre-pandemic capacity. I'll see if I can get some counts this week.

Luckily for us Liners that’s probably true!

But when people see G+ times are already at 3pm they’re going to panic book that ride. Hence the catch 22 situation.

 

[TQQQ]

Disney should add LL availability/seating for the second showing of Fantasmic (not first showing, and when applicable). This will get guests to

1. Stay in the park until after close since second show is at park close.
2. Spread the demand from the first showing, it still regularly fills up.
3. Free up some HS LL supply for G+ for other rides in the park, albeit at the cost of those unfortunate guests that book it way too early in the day. Same happened with Fastpass+ back then.
4. Will make some guests happy by giving them an (essentially free) LL at the end of the day since there's pretty much an endless supply of LL they could give out, making guests round off their day with a fantastic spectacular with something they paid for.

Probably more pro's that I'm not thinking of yet lol, but it seems like an obvious move/thing for park ops to add at the moment..

Takes away paying for dinner package

 

[gerarar]

Takes away paying for dinner package

There were whole sections for dinner packages and F+ before. Also doubt the sales of dinner packages would be serverly affected, but good point anyways.

 

[JD80]

I don’t think it’s new. Touring Plans wait times by crowd level, which I believe are still based on pre-pandemic observations, have the line peaking at over an hour even on crowd level 3/10 days.

But then combine that with I think a capacity reduction - feels to me based on my experiences that there’s no way they’re running as many boats as they did 10 years ago - a movie that a lot of people saw, and a handful of new show elements / refreshening, and you have what we have now.

I believe the people who track this stuff say a G+ at JC will save you more time in line than any other MK attraction. Which in and of itself I think induces more demand, with the just in case crowd.

It's definitely operating at a lower capacity. I don't have a metric to measure that though.

 

[G00fyDad]

Jungle Cruise easily had over 60 minutes waits throughout the day back in 2011, 2014 and 2017. It's been popular for a long time.

We sailed through on this last trip with a G+ for JC and while heading to the boat one guy was about to be kicked out of the park if he got much more out of control. He was punching the posts and theme items in the queue screaming that he had been waiting for nearly 45 minutes and he's tired of lazy ***holes like me walking past him to get on the ride.

 

[matt9112]

They actually did that, it was called club level fast pass CLFP.

Tieing it to such a small number of guests was silly. Imho they should have cut it down the middle make FP two a day and than offer a premium experience that could cost significantly more than current genie with say 4 or 5 say 60 bucks PP per day and you get two more that’s 30 per but the optics would have been much better. As a bonus could toss out the tier system for people who paid for that. Sure it would make free fastpass crappier but it wouldn’t have been cold turkey like this junk.



Or or they could scale capacity with attendance bahahahaha.

 

[matt9112]

We sailed through on this last trip with a G+ for JC and while heading to the boat one guy was about to be kicked out of the park if he got much more out of control. He was punching the posts and theme items in the queue screaming that he had been waiting for nearly 45 minutes and he's tired of lazy ***holes like me walking past him to get on the ride.

Well I would be upset waiting more than 20 minutes for that ride….legitimately can’t remember the last time I was on it since I value my time. During FP days it was a waste and the standby was a….waste.

 

[pdude81]

Tieing it to such a small number of guests was silly. Imho they should have cut it down the middle make FP two a day and than offer a premium experience that could cost significantly more than current genie with say 4 or 5 say 60 bucks PP per day and you get two more that’s 30 per but the optics would have been much better. As a bonus could toss out the tier system for people who paid for that. Sure it would make free fastpass crappier but it wouldn’t have been cold turkey like this junk.



Or or they could scale capacity with attendance bahahahaha.

They had to find out if people were willing to pay for additional fastpasses in the first place, and if so, how much they should charge. Club Level guests are already a group who will pay extra for convenience. Since they had to be booked manually per guest and not able to overlap, they would need to start with a small group like that regardless before spending significant time and energy updating the reservation system.

 

[Disney Glimpses]