Chi84
Premium Member
I hope you emailed guest services about your bad experience with Genie+. Disney needs to hear from everyone who is unhappy about this new system with details about what they don't like.
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Lightning Lane at Walt Disney World
- Thread starter wdwmagic
- Start date
Sirwalterraleigh
Premium Member
…it’s monetized. So what does it matter?
This is like trying to defend the Alamo after Santa Ana is through the door.
The best hope is that it’s quickly overrun and a very expensive express pass is the only option.
But that’s not the goal. This one is easy…
Everyone buys at $15…then $25…then $40…
And chapek retires and throws the hot potato in the air.
In 2021 did 3 trips to WDW and took a 4 night DCL cruise. (You know I don't cheap out on my trips) While I love going to WDW, each progression showed that Disney didn't want me as a customer. I think the dam broke when I did the Boo Bash and felt dirty afterwards.…that’s what I like to hear…
Crown and anchor society welcomes you
Not to complain (here it comes)…but the chapek slapp-o policies are far more than making wdw unattractive…my “every other year” approach is now untenable.
So we are just moving forward with a two weeker including 9 nights on celebrity out of Spain in June 2023…why not?
And strongly heading towards AB parks for the regional/Florida fix…or universal but that’s more limiting.
Life is short. Anyone want to rent points?!?
I did a trip at the beginning of February, with my first real Genie+ experience and it really cemented my feelings about Disney Parks as a whole. Add to the this the disgusting new AP's and I felt cheapened by the experience. I understand Disney was always about extracting revenue from guests, but it never was this obvious. I may go again in the Fall, for a short trip, but I have little desire to go for a Spring or Summer trip like I always do.
So congrats Bob Chapek, you were successful in extracting as much revenue from as you could, but it cost you a loyal guest. I guess they figure someone else will take my place...or that that there won't be any others who discover a world outside of Disney.
Chi84
Premium Member
I don't mind paying, but I would prefer not to pay for what I experienced in October. FP+ worked great for us, so I wouldn't mind paying for that - I would be much less happy with an expensive express pass. Who knows, some people may actually like Genie+. My point is that people should be specific in letting Disney know what works or doesn't work for them with the systems they put in place.
Sirwalterraleigh
Premium Member
You should watch that video…it’s the best thing I’ve ever seen put together about line management and is indisputable truth why fastpass+ didn’t actually work.
But it worked more for people such as us…which is why we no longer get to have nice things
I was never fooled by +…it exposed how bad their capacity was for the crowd levels and only massive reinvestment would ease that. That’s seats…A-E level. Ten years later and they’ve done nothing of the sort…replacements with low capacity due to budget overruns/cuts and nothing being built that will add any capacity for the next 5+ years.
It’s why the genie will suck…you just pay for the suck now. So what if it goes south? Build some stuff? Hell no! Just charge more for the genie.
I was shot on the battlefield at Waterloo years ago (at the Dis)…while many trampled over the body to line up to watch HEA during MVMCP.
a list of what bob the beancounter has taken from the "guests". magical express, now called find your own damn way to the magic from MCO. blue cards from dvc members. now called, get your own smart phone and keep your head in it all day long if you want to experience the magic. fast passes now referred to as pay out the wazoo passes after you pay out the wazoo for the raised ticket and annual passes. i mean seriously, if you get genie plus for a family of four for a week, that is another 420 bucks. after paying well over that amount just for the tickets. then throw in the price of parking into it. feel free to add to the list.
we all have to face the fact that the dark side of the force is strong with bob the bean counter.I have to use my phone an extraordinary amount of time due to work and I go on vacation so I don’t have to look at it all day.
Sirwalterraleigh
Premium Member
Nothing is inaccurate.
The problem is the customers. There are people on the threads right now making excuses for these blatant cuts/cash grabs…and they exploited a viral outbreak and at one point laid off 3/4 of their employees to do it.
All so they get a week every year…or every 3 to gin up in their minds. How bad must home suck? …Is the thought I can’t shake.
It’s not even leisure anymore…there’s too much stress and the prices are thrust into your face at all time. Relentless assault for Wall Street.
gorillaball
Well-Known Member
I don't think it would ever have turned to 3, I think Guardians would have replaced either Rat or Frozen. But now they are back to 1 anyway, still in test and adjust with ILL/Genie+ obviously.
Chi84
Premium Member
You can blame the customers all you want. I get it; it's comforting to think that if people would just do a, b or c, Disney would be brought to its knees and forced to change. And theoretically, that would work.
The problem is in practice. People who love WDW with a passion and give it a central place in their world make up a minuscule part of the total number of people who visit each year. Most people who go there just want to have a good time and a good portion of them are willing to spend what it takes and work with whatever system Disney puts in place. If it's no longer fun, they won't go back and they'll tell others to stay away. These guests, who comprise an overwhelming majority, don't know what went wrong and therefore don't take any responsibility for it or feel that it's their obligation to change it.
Disney chose the trajectory it's currently on, and Disney is the only entity that can effectively change it. Absent some type of well-organized economic boycott of Disney (unlikely), the only thing that will change Disney is enough people deciding that it's not worth it. I hold out very little hope of that happening anytime soon. A handful of people denying themselves on their WDW vacation sure isn't going to do it.
The best we can hope for is that the guests experiencing what's going on now contact Disney and tell them what they don't like. A free system that doesn't deliver is one thing; a paid system that sucks is an entirely different animal.
Sirwalterraleigh
Premium Member
So don’t blame the customers…magic and ether has no price?
Most are first timers/rarely go (incorrect)…the free market conquers all (again…incorrect especially in Orlando…where the place was designed for Disney’s advantage since 1964)
I got it…you got it…we know where to find each other…
And the likers too…of course
Artemicon
Member
Is this true? Can people staying off site still get in with the 30 minute early entry that is advertised as a perk to people staying on-site?
Sirwalterraleigh
Premium Member
The 30 minutes does exactly what it was gonna do: gets you one thing.
There was a lot of thought around parts such as these that it would disperse the crowds and offset the need to buy the upsells last fall. Which was just longterm travelers trying to make themselves feel better.
But who really bought that? Why would an unskilled twit like chapek introduce a fee program that people didn’t need?
People underestimated how bad the management is.
Two, outside of an attraction going 101 I have never failed to do one ride and be in line for another prior to opening. Ergo, I got priority access to two rides.
I personally don't like this new move as a resort guest who was willing to pay for the 2 lightening lanes with Genie Plus. I've got such low expectations for my trip coming up in May. There is no point in staying on site at the moment and this will be my last year on site. Coming from the UK going to Disney World is a huge deal, something you look forward to all year if not more. Friends who also usually stay on site are now staying in villas or universal instead. Think we'll end up spending the holiday around the pool at this rate.
Sirwalterraleigh
Premium Member
In exchange for huge increase in tickets, a paid line service the rest of the day, doubling and/or suspension of annual passes…and you still need a really overpriced room or high timeshare cost to qualify for the 1-2 ride…providing no one has to pee.
Fair trade off, no?
aladdin2007
Well-Known Member
this!!
Wendy Pleakley
Well-Known Member
Genie+ worked well when I used it at Disneyland recently.
On a relatively quiet weekday I could easily get each attraction on the list, and usually with an almost immediate return time.
On a busier weekend it was good as well. Return times were generally an hour or so. Between less guests using it and limiting it to once per attraction, the days of Space Mountain selling out early in the day appear to be gone.
This is how it has always been. Fastpass works well at parks with a good number of attractions and reasonable crowds.
I know it's stating the obvious, but it doesn't work as well at Disney Studios for example because the park just doesn't have sufficient capacity. The claim that the reservation system would be used to keep crowds at a manageable level does not appear to be true, based on seeing some recent wait times.
On a relatively quiet weekday I could easily get each attraction on the list, and usually with an almost immediate return time.
On a busier weekend it was good as well. Return times were generally an hour or so. Between less guests using it and limiting it to once per attraction, the days of Space Mountain selling out early in the day appear to be gone.
This is how it has always been. Fastpass works well at parks with a good number of attractions and reasonable crowds.
I know it's stating the obvious, but it doesn't work as well at Disney Studios for example because the park just doesn't have sufficient capacity. The claim that the reservation system would be used to keep crowds at a manageable level does not appear to be true, based on seeing some recent wait times.
nickys
Premium Member
Depending on the park, offsite guests may be able to get into the park early. But they will not be able to ride anything during the onsite early entry period. Usually they’ll be held somewhere in the park, like at the Hub in MK. If they can get to a ride they will not get onto the ride itself.