Disney Genie/Genie+ On Their Way to Anaheim

[TP2000]

I blame it on MBA culture.

You're probably on to something. It's a problem with people with that mindset.

But you would think that people who claim to be so educated and smart would know how to use language to speak with frustrated customers. Or even just customers in general. Or even just other humans in general.

TDA has at its disposal a once-vaunted training department known as Disney University (they used to brag about that outfit all the time). TDA has at its disposal several floors of cubicles full of white collar profesionals to support and maintain that corporate culture and training. TDA has at its disposal an army of Dockers-clad managers to manage and inspect the training results in the field in real-time, in order to maintain standards and practices.

But the whole system seems to be breaking down before our eyes, if it hasn't already broken down into a steaming pile and we're just now figuring it out by being told with a straight face that "resort partners" will help Disney Genie+ Lightning Lane "take your day to the next level".

Honestly, these people are clueless idiots.

 

[TP2000]

My mistake...

Genie++ Lightning Show Viewing Ticket Pass: the a la carte experience!!! (TM)

That's perfect. And I love how it just ripples off the tongue.

 

[Sailor310]

I thought you could set up the free Genie to provide suggestions for organizing your day. I ASSUMED you could input your preferences ahead of your trip so the app could make better suggestions. But NOOOO! It looks like you can't log in to Genie without a reservation. AM I missing something?


(FYI. The "number four/dollar sign" key on my five year old Toshiba has quit. I will be typing out "dollars" instead of using the dollar sign)

 

[CaptinEO]

T

You're probably on to something. It's a problem with people with that mindset.

But you would think that people who claim to be so educated and smart would know how to use language to speak with frustrated customers. Or even just customers in general. Or even just other humans in general.

TDA has at its disposal a once-vaunted training department known as Disney University (they used to brag about that outfit all the time). TDA has at its disposal several floors of cubicles full of white collar profesionals to support and maintain that corporate culture and training. TDA has at its disposal an army of Dockers-clad managers to manage and inspect the training results in the field in real-time, in order to maintain standards and practices.

But the whole system seems to be breaking down before our eyes, if it hasn't already broken down into a steaming pile and we're just now figuring it out by being told with a straight face that "resort partners" will help Disney Genie+ Lightning Lane "take your day to the next level".

Honestly, these people are clueless idiots.

View attachment 606518

These people have clearly never attended a themepark, let alone a Disney themepark.

Paid skip the line passes are fine in Universal and Six Flags because their wording is clear on what it is.

Disney just makes messes that require a PHD.

The next Disney product will be 800 dollars for a Disney personal planner who can explain their products and trip planning to you. Oh and there will be 3 different tiers of planners to make it more confusing, all with names that make no sense.

 

[aaronml]

Another observation…. it’s possible that it’s just b/c it only launched recently, but it appears you can get a near-immediate LL selection for most attractions throughout the day. Perhaps the “one LL per attraction per day” limit could/should be removed or increased for DLR?

 

[PiratesMansion]

Another observation…. it’s possible that it’s just b/c it only launched recently, but it appears you can get a near-immediate LL selection for most attractions throughout the day. Perhaps the “one LL per attraction per day” limit could/should be removed or increased for DLR?

Frankly, they should remove ANY sort of limitation on your use of the system. I've bought upcharge line skip systems from Universal, Six Flags, Cedar Fair, you name it. I've paid hundreds for these systems in other parks, and compared to all of them, this system is nonsense, even if it ends up being significantly cheaper than many I've purchased.

I get that there may reach a point when an attraction no longer offers return times, but the fact that you are limited to one go-around per attraction is absurd.

On any competent line-skip system, you are essentially unrestricted from accessing the attractions you are paying a premium to experience, EVEN IF you can only book one thing at a time. That's my main issue with GenieLightningUpchargeMagicPlus Lane.

AND THEY USED TO ALLOW IT WITH MAXPASS AND FASTPASS! I don't understand why they insist on these limitations that make their system less appealing to buy and use. It's not like the park was broken in the FP/MaxPass days (if anything made the park less user friendly during that period it was their insistence on continually adding FP to nonsense like Monsters Inc rather than the functioning of the system itself).

At least allow an extra tier where that's allowed. I would pay for it, even! But these arbitrary limitations serve no one. You want to restrict access to ROTR? I get it, that's not unprecedented to restrict or access to new attractions even for people using these systems. But there's no good reason to restrict me to one ride on Mansion if I paid for upcharge access and that's how I want to use the system AND there's past precedent for allowing me to do so. Nonsense.

 

[DrAlice]

Frankly, they should remove ANY sort of limitation on your use of the system. I've bought upcharge line skip systems from Universal, Six Flags, Cedar Fair, you name it. I've paid hundreds for these systems in other parks, and compared to all of them, this system is nonsense, even if it ends up being significantly cheaper than many I've purchased.

I get that there may reach a point when an attraction no longer offers return times, but the fact that you are limited to one go-around per attraction is absurd.

On any competent line-skip system, you are essentially unrestricted from accessing the attractions you are paying a premium to experience, EVEN IF you can only book one thing at a time. That's my main issue with GenieLightningUpchargeMagicPlus Lane.

AND THEY USED TO ALLOW IT WITH MAXPASS AND FASTPASS! I don't understand why they insist on these limitations that make their system less appealing to buy and use. It's not like the park was broken in the FP/MaxPass days (if anything made the park less user friendly during that period it was their insistence on continually adding FP to nonsense like Monsters Inc rather than the functioning of the system itself).

At least allow an extra tier where that's allowed. I would pay for it, even! But these arbitrary limitations serve no one. You want to restrict access to ROTR? I get it, that's not unprecedented to restrict or access to new attractions even for people using these systems. But there's no good reason to restrict me to one ride on Mansion if I paid for upcharge access and that's how I want to use the system AND there's past precedent for allowing me to do so. Nonsense.

Maybe they will and that was the plan all along.

In other words....
Step 1: Offer less service for the same price as before.
Step 2: Wait long enough that the customer forgets how it used to be and new price/service becomes normalized. (i.e. frog, meet pot)
Step 3: Market the heck out of a "new and improved" upgraded option (essentially the same thing you had before, but costs more money)
Step 4: Profit!

Wow, I'm cynical. How did I get here?

 

[waltography]

Frankly, they should remove ANY sort of limitation on your use of the system. I've bought upcharge line skip systems from Universal, Six Flags, Cedar Fair, you name it. I've paid hundreds for these systems in other parks, and compared to all of them, this system is nonsense, even if it ends up being significantly cheaper than many I've purchased.

Slight note to add that at USH, the Express pass is a one-time per attraction system too. Nevertheless, it comes free after 3pm with the highest tier AP there, which itself is cheaper than the top 3 Magic Key tiers (ridiculous).

I honestly just want the AP add-on option again; the $99 MaxPass add-on in the old system was so truly so nice and the system worked beautifully.

 

[THE 1HAPPY HAUNT]

Disney knew exactly what they were doing when they decided that refunds wouldn’t be an option. By giving guests Disney gift cards, Disney will have lost no money whatsoever. The money spent for Genie will be distributed elsewhere in the form of a Mickey plush, Disneyland corn dog, or anything else under the Disney umbrella. This was a deliberate decision. They’re not dumb.

It’s giving Mr. Krabs from SpongeBob.

Welcome back Raven

 

[aaronml]

Slight note to add that at USH, the Express pass is a one-time per attraction system too. Nevertheless, it comes free after 3pm with the highest tier AP there, which itself is cheaper than the top 3 Magic Key tiers (ridiculous).

I honestly just want the AP add-on option again; the $99 MaxPass add-on in the old system was so truly so nice and the system worked beautifully.

Sadly I don’t see them adding an AP add-on unless Genie+ sales are weaker than they’d like. Having seen the Defunctland video on FP, the point it makes is valid about how FP favored the experienced / frequent guests and APs over the “once in a lifetime” guests who often didn’t take the time to reserve / understand FP before their visit, but tend to spend more money.

With Genie+ and ILL, Disney is trying to optimize more for the infrequent / once in a lifetime guest that typically is willing to spend more money at the parks in a given day than an AP.

 

[mickEblu]

Space Mountain currently 110 minutes

Big Thunder Mountain 75 minutes

Thanks Genie +. This will have much more of an impact than the reservation system on the decision to renew our keys.

 

[SuddenStorm]

Space Mountain currently 110 minutes

Big Thunder Mountain 75 minutes

Thanks Genie +. This will have much more of an impact than the reservation system on the decision to renew our keys.

I just love that Indiana Jones Adventure is currently an 85 minute wait, yet Rise is 75. I would have expected the newest ride in the park that hasn't even had a year of total operating time to have way longer lines than the 26 year old Indy ride.

It's interesting how long all the E ticket waits are- but right now Snow White is 25 minutes, Pinocchio 15, Toad is 5. I feel like these are normally longer when the park is full- which means Genie/Lightning Lane or whatever is really messing with Standby times.

 

[Ne'er-Do-Well Cad]

Wait times on the app have been wildly inaccurate all day. Earlier today Rise’s posted standby wait was 70 minutes and I waited 120.

 

[mickEblu]

I just love that Indiana Jones Adventure is currently an 85 minute wait, yet Rise is 75. I would have expected the newest ride in the park that hasn't even had a year of total operating time to have way longer lines than the 26 year old Indy ride.

It's interesting how long all the E ticket waits are- but right now Snow White is 25 minutes, Pinocchio 15, Toad is 5. I feel like these are normally longer when the park is full- which means Genie/Lightning Lane or whatever is really messing with Standby times.
L

Yeah this isn’t a good sign. Today is probably the first decent day to judge it’s effect on standby times. Weather is nice. It’s a Saturday. The system is actually working. Of course too soon to tell but I’d imagine it can only get worse as more people buy it to avoid the 110 minute waits.

 

[SuddenStorm]

Yeah this isn’t a good sign. Today is probably the first decent day to judge it’s effect on standby times. Weather is nice. It’s a Saturday. The system is actually working. Of course too soon to tell but I’d imagine it can only get worse as more people buy it to avoid the 110 minute waits.

The more I look at it, the more I find these wait times fascinating. Every ride that isn't lightning lane has normal wait times that you'd expect on a day that isn't super crowded.

But every ride with it is some of the worst wait times I've seen.

 

[mickEblu]

The more I look at it, the more I find these wait times fascinating. Every ride that isn't lightning lane has normal wait times that you'd expect on a day that isn't super crowded.

But every ride with it is some of the worst wait times I've seen.

No way I’m renewing Believe Keys for the family if this holds up. At best I move down to Imagine keys, go 6-8 times a year and buy Genie + every time.

 

[SuddenStorm]

No way I’m renewing Believe Keys for the family if this holds up. At best I move down to Imagine keys, go 6-8 times a year and buy Genie + every time.

Between the ridiculous changes we've gotten over the last couple years and this kind of stuff it really feels like TDA is trying to 'break' Disneyland.

I just can't imagine someone going for the first time today having the same affection for the place someone who went in the '80s or '90s does.

 

[mickEblu]

Between the ridiculous changes we've gotten over the last couple years and this kind of stuff it really feels like TDA is trying to 'break' Disneyland.

I just can't imagine someone going for the first time today having the same affection for the place someone who went in the '80s or '90s does.

Very true. They need a major shakeup in Burbank ASAP. This is why I will continue to “work” the system. I gotta get my “value” somehow.

 

[waltography]

Sadly I don’t see them adding an AP add-on unless Genie+ sales are weaker than they’d like. Having seen the Defunctland video on FP, the point it makes is valid about how FP favored the experienced / frequent guests and APs over the “once in a lifetime” guests who often didn’t take the time to reserve / understand FP before their visit, but tend to spend more money.

With Genie+ and ILL, Disney is trying to optimize more for the infrequent / once in a lifetime guest that typically is willing to spend more money at the parks in a given day than an AP.

It's important to note that the Defunctland video is approaching the debate from WDW's angle and not DL's. I agree in the long run that Genie+ is probably a better system for WDW, but it's because it's simply undoing FastPass+'s worst sins.

Especially at Disneyland, I really disagree Genie+ is really optimizing for the the infrequent guest anymore than MaxPass did since they're in essence the exact same system. If anything, the Genie/Genie+/ILL family simply complicates the MaxPass system further. If out of towers weren't willing to learn the ropes for MaxPass, they certainly won't for Genie+.

 

[mickEblu]

They should have just made all the Genie + rides individual lightning lanes and price accordingly. That way people on vacation etc are ensured a ride and stress free day and everybody else has decent wait times as less people would be compelled to buy on the average visit or would buy just a couple select rides. But that would require a mega corporation to not be greedy and really care about the customer experience.