Just got back from 2 days in Anaheim, 1 day at Disneyland, the other at CA. A bit of backstory, I grew up going to Disney yearly, loved it, great memories, some of the best. My family and I have been to California Disney and Florida Disney in the last calendar year. I told my wife while we were there, the Disney I grew up with is no longer around, I’ve been trying to find it for the past couple of years, but this trip was it, we decided as a family that we are done, the lines are horrendous, the park is ALWAYS packed, and we just got back from a February trip, supposedly the off-season, not anymore. The prices are sky high and just keep climbing. IMO, Disney no longer targets the large, family groups. It was expensive enough to go without all the extra add ons, LL, genie +, etc. For 1 or 2 people, it’s probably manageable, but multiply that by 5, 6, or 7, ouch, it gets expensive fast. Not to mention the annoyance of always needing to stare at your phone to make sure you get the next pass or whatever. Also, what’s up with the rides breaking down ALL THE TIME!! That never used to happen, it just keeps getting worse. The Disney magic is hard to find, it feels more like a county fair now. If that’s what you enjoy, more power to you, but we’ve had enough, we’re done. For many of you, I’m sure that’s good news, because the less people that keep coming back, the better, which is probably true. I truly hope those of you that continue to go will find the magic and enjoyment that I remember, it’s just not for us anymore.
Sadly, i agree. Bought into the DVC in 1993. It worked out great. Fast forward to 2022. Needed to use points so we were able to get into the Grand Californian Hotel before our points expired.
If it weren’t for our son and daughter-in-law, we would still be wandering around. At this point in our lives we do not live and die on our phones, not tech literate.
The Disney we and our family grew up with is no longer. If you’re Star Wars fans, you’re good to go. Not much interest for us. The “magic” is gone. We will probably give our points to the kids and grandkids before points expire next year. Sad to say, not much for us seniors any more.
Something they do not tell you is they only allow a certain amount of LL passes per ride. We were at Disneyworld, purchased the Genie+ and when we go to book the LL for a ride there were no times available. We had to keep watching our phones to see if something would open up. We went the entire day without a time slot opening, so you pay the extra $15 per person and can’t use it on the rides they state are available. There were also several times during the day that the app was down and the “wait times were unavailable”. It was very discouraging.
I honestly don’t know what’s going on at Disney. While it’s true that their enhanced price gouging strategy will improve profits short term , we believe it’s going to backfire eventually as the repeat guests , like us , are going to pull the plug before long. We are 20+ year DVC members and used to love our spontaneous vacations at WDW. Those days are over as now every move you make is tied to your phone like an albatross. The magic is being replaced by greed and we’re already thinking of selling our DVC membership as the frustration they’ve added is what we go on vacation to avoid.
Ok this is simple math Disney. Every time you increase admission price just decrease maximum park capacity. That way in a few years a ticket to get in will be $100,000 but there will only be 6 guests in the park. Look at how much you could save on staffing! You would only need 6 staff members that were trained on EVERYTHING and they could just follow the 6 people around turning on the rides or making hot dogs. This is so simple!
Not my family. We’ve been visiting Walt Disney World since ’71 have the E-tickets to prove it & recently enjoyed our 50th Anniversary experience immensely.
Getting up at 7am to book our Lightning Lane rides like Ratatouille, Star Wars, or Runaway Railway then to schedule our first Genie+ like 7 Dwarfs Mine Train & Avatar & Rockin’ Rollercoaster just added to our excitement before breakfast. Apps & bands are SO MUCH FASTER than standing in Mickey Mouse Velcro strapped lines all day
Yes, the parks are packed, more than ever before. But Disney is pandemic & recession proof.
Also, despite the WAIT Times displayed on the App, we hit the Peter Pan’s Flight, It’s a Small World, PhilharMagic early evening after the li’l ones are tired & camped out awaiting parades and breezed thru in < 15 minutes when wait times showed 60-90 minutes each.
Genie+ pays for itself on Jungle Cruise, Ratatouille, or Rise of the Resistance alone. Even if SciFi is not your genre, Rise of the Resistance & Avatar are good, newer rides worth a short wait.
Also, scooter rentals are $50/day and take your older family members right to the front of the line on many rides like Avatar.
Glad you had a good time. But for a lot of long time Disney fans like us it’s just not worth it. I’ve been going to Disneynland since 1957. I wasn’t even a year old.
Attraction lines are horrendously long, whether it’s stand-by or Lightning lane. If guests are standing in ride lines, they aren’t spending their money in gift shops or restaurants. How is Disney making any money?
Rhetorical sarcasm….
The whole system is trash. If people would stop paying for it they would have to get rid of it. You pay extra money to stand in a 40 minute line instead of the 60 minute standby line….
We went in February. We’ve successfully navigated FastPass+ in the past. The new GeniePass+ needs work. I think we were able to use it for about 3 rides in 2 days. They block you from scheduling the next ride until you are within 20 minutes of your window. When you are finally able to access the next ride, if one is actually available, it’s about 4 hours away. So frustrating.
We went to WDW at the end of January. We stayed at a deluxe resort at purchased Genie+. There were only two of us. I have to say, we had a fabulous time, but I am a meticulous planner. All ADRs were booked, all parks mapped out and all ride visits planned out. It was amazingly busy, more so than I have ever seen. We didn’t care too much about the super popular rides (we did a few, but not Remy or RTR), but we did do tons of things we had never done before, like the animation experience at AK, which was great fun. Our resort, WL, was amazing as always. We spent a lot of time exploring and relaxing at the resort. We used monorail, boat and bus transportation and didn’t have any issues. Lyft was a nice option late at night or first thing in the morning. Mobile ordering worked well, for us, but again, I planned meticulously with a spreadsheet. I agree that the crowds and lines are overwhelming, and that the push towards monetizing everything seems counter to the Disney legacy. Having to have a cell phone out and charged at all times is not good. I feel like Disney could find a way to make things more easy to plan without a constant phone in your hand. To start, change Genie+ so you can pick three rides a day60 days in advance like you could with fast pass. Get rid of the individual lightning lanes. Those are just greedy. Cut park capacity until they get enough staff to operate smoothly at capacity….
Well, LMfean71 most people don’t want to have to use a spreadsheet to plans a fun day at Disney. That’s gone way to far to have to do that to have a good day.
That’s really odd, because we went the first week of February and didn’t wait more than 5-10 minutes for any of our Genie+ or LL rides. Once I figured out how to use the system it was really easy and I didn’t spend the day staring at my screen.
We were able to ride almost everything we wanted to and didn’t wait in any line (even stand by) more than 20 minutes. I would advise any newbies to the system to be ready (if resort guests) at exactly 7am and go for the most popular picks first because they disappear within a minute or two.
We were upset at the price-gouging and decided we won’t go back, but then we got excited about the upcoming Tron ride and the new rides and remodel of Epcot and decided we will return in a few years. That will probably be our last trip though. They will continue to raise prices and grab every last dime, and we would rather spend our money having new experiences.
Already planning a trip to their competitor in the Orlando area which will cost significantly less and is reportedly a terrific group of parks! Now that our son is older and into thrill rides it makes more sense as our destination theme park.
We just got back from WDW where we hit all 4 parks and it was a mess. The parks were packed to capacity, rides broke down at every park, etc.. We feel like all Genie/LL does is make people keep their heads in the phones all day trying to score a LL so you don’t have to waste 2-3 hours in line for something like Rise of the Resistance. We were constantly checking our phones to see what LL’s opened up that weren’t available earlier. Also like others, we ran into issues with the app not showing wait times.
Speaking of the app, it’s borderline horrible just to use and navigate.
This was our 3rd trip with our kids and it gets harder and more expensive every time. Every time we’ve gone we’ve stayed at a deluxe resort but after this trip, we don’t see the point in spending the money on a deluxe resort because the benefits are few if any. We barely used WDW transportation this time. Most travel between parks was via Uber because it was worth $20 to not spend 45+ minutes on a bus or having the monorail break down.
If we go back, we’ll stay at one of the cheaper resorts and just Uber everywhere again.
Oh and just to pile on some more, my wife and kids used magic bands which worked fine. I figured I have an iPhone and Apple watch, why mess with another band. Well, while it worked fine to access our room and the parks, I couldn’t use my devices to access other guest areas like the pools. So if I went to pick up food by myself and forgot someone else’s band, I had to walk the long way to our room because I couldn’t open the pool area to cut through.
The magic is gone! Replaced by greed and profits! Go back to the old system of fast pass, Magic Express and forget the Genie for profit! Because it sure doesn’t help the lines! After 34 wonderful trips and lasting memories were are done with Disney! They have doubled prices on everything in just 10 year period. Was planning our 50th wedding anniversary next January because we love Disney, but enough is enough! We will spend our money at Universal now since booking a trip there is less than half of the price of a Disney trip! Thanks for the memories Disney!
Walt your legacy is being trashed for $$ “on the bottom line”.
Your fans are being cut from your club by $$ “on the bottom line”.
Your fans will only have memories of “what it use to be”. Or will the executives start charging us $$$ for our memories??? Oh, is that possible??
Genie + is a bust, been coming to WDW for over 30 years now and this is the worst I’ve ever seen. I’m at the park now, on Genie + at 7am, by 7:02am got a LL ride that said 9:25am, booked it and it and actual ride time was 625pm, now I’m pretty much done for the day using LL. And using the mobile Order to order food is a joke, ordered, pickup time 1:30, show up on time and don’t get order until 2:05, worse everyone who ordered was in same boat, so all tables jammed full of families not eatting waiting for food, people sitting or standing anywhere they could, using trash cans for tables or whatever. Disney Genie is tail wagging the dog, great for Disney management data collection wise, but a horror for the user.
Oh dear, I’m curious because I have heard several people mention trouble with mobile ordering. Is it something that you HAVE to do at Disney currently? Can you still just go get in line and order as in the past? I’m hoping so, because I’d like to minimize the amount of time I have to keep dealing with my phone. It is a vacation after all.
You can still order in person but you have to ask where to go. My aunt doesn’t have a smart phone and we were all sick of having our heads in our stupid phones all day.
Sad to hear about the bad experiences. We were there right before COVID shut that world down. We had lots of breakdowns then. I was hoping once they reopened, the rides would all be fixed. Sad. I also heard there is new
Management and people are not happy with him.
Sad to hear about the bad experiences. We were there right before COVID shut that world down. We had lots of breakdowns then. I was hoping once they reopened, the rides would all be fixed. Sad. I also heard there is new
Management and people are not happy with him.
We were just at Disney in January. Worst experience in the last 30 years. We are ap and dvc and go to Disney about 4-5 times a year. Dropped our passes to pixie and added photos to one pass. Also got ap to universal. Will be spending lots more time at universal till Disney gets this genie+ stuff figured out. I loved the old paper fp and got used to the new fp system. Absolutely hate genie+ and got refunded after the debacle I experienced in January. Seriously, who wants to wake up at 7 am every day of their vacation to pay extra and get mostly headaches. I wish people would just stop so we can move on from this horrible system.
I can’t believe I sat and read is BS. we just got back from our girls trip at disney… and I’m waiting patiently for them to send out a survey asking about my experience…. I believe they k ow it was TRASH! that’s why we haven’t got one yet. This don’t make no sense! Disney has definitely LOST its magic! And I can’t wait to start a campaign to boycott. As sad as it makes me feel to say this .. they are robbing hard working families of an experience of a lifetime so they can keep their bonuses and it’s sickening. Not only do we now have to pay MORE for less… but we now have to pay for things that use to be free! Nothing was wrong with walking up to a ride and pulling a ticket with a designated time to come back. Absolutely nothing. Now not only can you only choose ONE ride at a time, but now you have to pay. Not just pay one time but pay additional for popular rides. It’s disgusting. Not only that but even though you are paying. You can ONLY GET MAX EXPERIENCES especially if your first one isn’t until way later in the day bc or capacity. Our whole experience was a waste of money and did I mention there was NO ABSOLUTELY ZERO MAGIC! and this is only one issue. I wouldn’t advise anyone go to that place until they start doing right by those of us who spend out life savings trying to get our kids this experience
Disney dumpster fire = family is done after 30 years. Have 3 different week long trips planned to different places all for less than our last disastrous and magicless Disney trip.
Currently at Disney world and agree with all the above comments. Genie+ and LL are a must if you don’t want to stand in line 2-3 hours. But you pay the money and are lucky to use it 2-3 times a day if you can get a time slot. Bus transportation from resorts also an issue. Disney Parks no longer have the Magic they did in years past. Universal was much more enjoyable last October.
The issue is Genie+ isn’t getting to make ride reservations ahead of time but paying for the POSSIBILITY to get reservations ahead of time. We got back Tuesday, Feb 22. During our trip, when you were able to make your second LL at 11am sometimes half of the LLs we’re gone for the entire day and one may be available that you rode standby during the first two hours the park was open. It was not worth it for Epcot and we had our best luck at MK. If I am paying for it, it should be limited in number of subscriptions. So that when the 11a and 1p and I would argue the 3p reservation slots become available, all rides should be available for me to choose from. But it is oversold which increases Disney $$ but weakens the value of the offering.
We were at WDW in early Feb for a week, with our grown children. We are not frequent Disney guests, but had been planning this trip since pre-Covid due to Galaxy’s Edge (Star Wars fans!). I, too, am a meticulous planner with a spreadsheet. We did not use Genie+ or ILL’s at all – refused to pay for it. Made use of the morning early entry benefits, which basically get you on 1 popular ride before general park opening each day. And, because we were staying at a deluxe resort, also had extended evening hours, which were fantastic and a great way to get on a bunch of rides.
The parks were very crowded during our week, especially MK which reached capacity on 2 of the days. But, with planning and strategy, we felt we did ok with seeing and doing all we wanted, without spending the extra $ for Genie+. Definitely was not needed at Epcot or AK. *However, as many others have mentioned, rides were often shut down or had issues/got stopped while we were riding.
We had no problems with mobile ordering – in fact, we loved it! We’re always able to order when we wanted, from the restaurant we wanted, and didn’t have to wait for our food.
But, all that said, it will probably be several years until we go back. Too crowded, too expensive, and Disney needs to get things working better.
Why was there even a need to change something that worked in the pass. Fast passes and max pass were ever so simpler and worked like a champ. This genie is a sad broken function that is only ruining the experience for many.
I don’t like the idea of paying for a maybe and having to glue myself to a phone constantly searching for an available lighting lane at a time that is actually convenient. They need a system of charging for 3 or 4 anytime lightening lanes per day. No scheduling. Just walk up and use it. Once you use your 3 or 4 LLs your done. They also need to adjust it so that the stand by lane gets an equal amount on to the ride so that it moves faster.
I feel like if all the people complaining about, (including myself) the new genie+ and LL and raised prices and crowds, and lack of Disney magic, would boycott the parks, maybe it would make a difference. So many people complain, but keep going and keep paying. Nothing will change. There has to be a point we all reach, where we just won’t do it anymore. Then maybe if there is enough of us that stop going, maybe it could make a difference. Prove a point with action instead of just lip service.
EXACTLY!! I hate coming to these comment sections to see everyone “being done with Disney” and will “move to Universal instead”, but I also keep reading stories about the parks being more packed than ever! What am I missing then?
I had the Disney Visa card and racked up over $3,000 in Disney Rewards. We were going to use them for a DCL cruise (can’t do that now because of vaccine requirements) and we certainly will never visit the parks again. Disney’s Genie+ is 100% a cash grab, just like paying to park at their hotels and paying to park at their parks. You see, they went out and sold DVC to all of these people. So, in order to accommodate them and continue to generate revenue, they’ve made meals $50 per person and made the adult age like 11-years-old. So, even if you use your DVC points to go to the parks, you have to pay an arm and a leg for everything else. Up-sell up-sell up-sell! And it has affected those who aren’t on the DVC. Now they have to pay high hotel fees (for less service), high park ticket fees, higher prices for food (with smaller portions), photos, lightning lanes, you name it. It’s all designed to strip you our of your hard earned cash. Bye Disney!
After reading the comments and seeing the overwhelming number of negative comments, I am puzzled as to how it is that I had a different experience and impression? Last week my wife and I took three of our grandsons (one six years old and the other two seven) to Disneyland. We did two days at Disneyland and bought Genie + both days. I have to say that it was pretty spendy, but sure made going on rides super easy. As soon as we scanned our tickets and were in the queue for the ride, I found another ride and booked while waiting. None of our wait times were very long and made it easy to keep three young boys engaged.
We went on every ride we wanted to go on and then concentrated on second rides on the ones the boys liked the most. Our grandsons had a blast and Genie + had something to do with it. I wish it weren’t so expensive, but it kept the crew happy and moving.
I believe the main problem, and no one is reporting this, is that Disney offered thousands of low priced annual passes for Floridians, and our dear Florida friends bought them up. The large majority of the crowd is, hence, locals. The out of state Disney lovers were offered no low price option but rather a way too expensive option only. So, Disney World seemed like more of a hang out to me when I was there in November than it did a vacation place. EPCOT had more of an atmosphere of a party than it did a family vacation. Poor decisions on Disney management’s part. I cancelled my March vacation there. The Magic was gone. And the genie system was horrible. I agree with the comments about it.
Yeah, they do actually – “With Ben Grimm, Lee and Kirby were using a superhero as a metaphor for Jews, African-Americans, and other minorities.” From Jews İn Comic Books. Ppl in the comments, than you for revealing so much about yourselves.
They say crowds are down? No way. We went during “off” time. It was crowded, and lines were longer than I’ve ever seen. Genie+, and lightning lane are cumbersome, and expensive. Disney has become just another business with over inflated prices. It is in no way an affordable family experience that it was designed to be. I read they are raising prices to cater to a certain class of people. I’m sure this was not Walt Disney’s vision! It breaks my heart. What was once the most magical place on earth is now overpriced, and under delivered.
I agree with all of the comments, an issues here. My wife and I have been CA annual pass holders since the late 80s. Our first annual pass was $75.00. Shortly after WDW opened After the “pandemic”we made a trip there with my wife, daughter and her husband. Some of the shower and attractions were not going yet. But there were no lightning lanes. And no fast passes. And it was AWSOME! 45 min was the longest wait we had ANYWHERE in the 4 parks. The lines moved quickly, no watching 20 people go to the 5 in stand by. I ACTUALY enjoyed not having to keep track of times, having to plan meals, and other rides around specific return times. It was very liberating. Lighting Lanes are thr ABSOLUTE WORST thing I have seen disney do. Not only is it “Pay to Play”. It slowest everything down. End lightning lanes, end fast passes. Guests will self regulate to even out wait times.
Just got back yesterday. We did magic kingdom, animal kingdom and epcot. We were able to get on every ride we wanted (including the most popular) and waited no more than 5 minutes for each lightening lane. The parks were nearly or totally sold out and we were a party of 6. I didn’t love how busy it was but genie+ worked for us. I researched the best way to use it in advance and I didn’t mind paying for individual lightening lanes. I didn’t love that I had to constantly be on my phone scheduling though. The system is a little stressful but it worked for us in the end. We didn’t wait more than 15 minutes for a ride our entire trip, it just took a bit of planning. I do know some people there were stacking their lightening lane reservations for later in the day. You can pick a new one every 2 hours so they paid for the individual ones in the morning and picked a later in the day slot for another big ride at 7:00 am. Then they sat by the pool and picked a new reservation every 2 hours until they went to the park. If you do this and then go to the park around 4:00, you could have about 5 rides stacked in the afternoon and evening hours (just be sure to pick the quickest to sell out first). It is ok if the times overlap.
Comments for Big Changes Are Coming to Disney’s Paid Genie+ Service
Cec28007
Just got back from 2 days in Anaheim, 1 day at Disneyland, the other at CA. A bit of backstory, I grew up going to Disney yearly, loved it, great memories, some of the best. My family and I have been to California Disney and Florida Disney in the last calendar year. I told my wife while we were there, the Disney I grew up with is no longer around, I’ve been trying to find it for the past couple of years, but this trip was it, we decided as a family that we are done, the lines are horrendous, the park is ALWAYS packed, and we just got back from a February trip, supposedly the off-season, not anymore. The prices are sky high and just keep climbing. IMO, Disney no longer targets the large, family groups. It was expensive enough to go without all the extra add ons, LL, genie +, etc. For 1 or 2 people, it’s probably manageable, but multiply that by 5, 6, or 7, ouch, it gets expensive fast. Not to mention the annoyance of always needing to stare at your phone to make sure you get the next pass or whatever. Also, what’s up with the rides breaking down ALL THE TIME!! That never used to happen, it just keeps getting worse. The Disney magic is hard to find, it feels more like a county fair now. If that’s what you enjoy, more power to you, but we’ve had enough, we’re done. For many of you, I’m sure that’s good news, because the less people that keep coming back, the better, which is probably true. I truly hope those of you that continue to go will find the magic and enjoyment that I remember, it’s just not for us anymore.
Lawrence Lewis
I have to agree. I went at the end of Nov after Thanksgiving, usually slow, not this time the place was packed. I really didn’t have a good time.
Chris Wood
This is all about making money with Disney. If they really cared about the visitors, they’d just go back to skip the line pass or band.
Beefrasc
Sadly, i agree. Bought into the DVC in 1993. It worked out great. Fast forward to 2022. Needed to use points so we were able to get into the Grand Californian Hotel before our points expired.
If it weren’t for our son and daughter-in-law, we would still be wandering around. At this point in our lives we do not live and die on our phones, not tech literate.
The Disney we and our family grew up with is no longer. If you’re Star Wars fans, you’re good to go. Not much interest for us. The “magic” is gone. We will probably give our points to the kids and grandkids before points expire next year. Sad to say, not much for us seniors any more.
Venus E
Something they do not tell you is they only allow a certain amount of LL passes per ride. We were at Disneyworld, purchased the Genie+ and when we go to book the LL for a ride there were no times available. We had to keep watching our phones to see if something would open up. We went the entire day without a time slot opening, so you pay the extra $15 per person and can’t use it on the rides they state are available. There were also several times during the day that the app was down and the “wait times were unavailable”. It was very discouraging.
DonB
I honestly don’t know what’s going on at Disney. While it’s true that their enhanced price gouging strategy will improve profits short term , we believe it’s going to backfire eventually as the repeat guests , like us , are going to pull the plug before long. We are 20+ year DVC members and used to love our spontaneous vacations at WDW. Those days are over as now every move you make is tied to your phone like an albatross. The magic is being replaced by greed and we’re already thinking of selling our DVC membership as the frustration they’ve added is what we go on vacation to avoid.
Bob cheapric
Ok this is simple math Disney. Every time you increase admission price just decrease maximum park capacity. That way in a few years a ticket to get in will be $100,000 but there will only be 6 guests in the park. Look at how much you could save on staffing! You would only need 6 staff members that were trained on EVERYTHING and they could just follow the 6 people around turning on the rides or making hot dogs. This is so simple!
RC
Some people just like to complain.
Not my family. We’ve been visiting Walt Disney World since ’71 have the E-tickets to prove it & recently enjoyed our 50th Anniversary experience immensely.
Getting up at 7am to book our Lightning Lane rides like Ratatouille, Star Wars, or Runaway Railway then to schedule our first Genie+ like 7 Dwarfs Mine Train & Avatar & Rockin’ Rollercoaster just added to our excitement before breakfast. Apps & bands are SO MUCH FASTER than standing in Mickey Mouse Velcro strapped lines all day
Yes, the parks are packed, more than ever before. But Disney is pandemic & recession proof.
Also, despite the WAIT Times displayed on the App, we hit the Peter Pan’s Flight, It’s a Small World, PhilharMagic early evening after the li’l ones are tired & camped out awaiting parades and breezed thru in < 15 minutes when wait times showed 60-90 minutes each.
Genie+ pays for itself on Jungle Cruise, Ratatouille, or Rise of the Resistance alone. Even if SciFi is not your genre, Rise of the Resistance & Avatar are good, newer rides worth a short wait.
Also, scooter rentals are $50/day and take your older family members right to the front of the line on many rides like Avatar.
Kathy
Glad you had a good time. But for a lot of long time Disney fans like us it’s just not worth it. I’ve been going to Disneynland since 1957. I wasn’t even a year old.
Kathy
Love it! 😆😆😆😆
mickeymouse3
Attraction lines are horrendously long, whether it’s stand-by or Lightning lane. If guests are standing in ride lines, they aren’t spending their money in gift shops or restaurants. How is Disney making any money?
Rhetorical sarcasm….
Walt
The whole system is trash. If people would stop paying for it they would have to get rid of it. You pay extra money to stand in a 40 minute line instead of the 60 minute standby line….
Disney M
We went in February. We’ve successfully navigated FastPass+ in the past. The new GeniePass+ needs work. I think we were able to use it for about 3 rides in 2 days. They block you from scheduling the next ride until you are within 20 minutes of your window. When you are finally able to access the next ride, if one is actually available, it’s about 4 hours away. So frustrating.
LMDEAN71
We went to WDW at the end of January. We stayed at a deluxe resort at purchased Genie+. There were only two of us. I have to say, we had a fabulous time, but I am a meticulous planner. All ADRs were booked, all parks mapped out and all ride visits planned out. It was amazingly busy, more so than I have ever seen. We didn’t care too much about the super popular rides (we did a few, but not Remy or RTR), but we did do tons of things we had never done before, like the animation experience at AK, which was great fun. Our resort, WL, was amazing as always. We spent a lot of time exploring and relaxing at the resort. We used monorail, boat and bus transportation and didn’t have any issues. Lyft was a nice option late at night or first thing in the morning. Mobile ordering worked well, for us, but again, I planned meticulously with a spreadsheet. I agree that the crowds and lines are overwhelming, and that the push towards monetizing everything seems counter to the Disney legacy. Having to have a cell phone out and charged at all times is not good. I feel like Disney could find a way to make things more easy to plan without a constant phone in your hand. To start, change Genie+ so you can pick three rides a day60 days in advance like you could with fast pass. Get rid of the individual lightning lanes. Those are just greedy. Cut park capacity until they get enough staff to operate smoothly at capacity….
Kathy
Well, LMfean71 most people don’t want to have to use a spreadsheet to plans a fun day at Disney. That’s gone way to far to have to do that to have a good day.
JenG
That’s really odd, because we went the first week of February and didn’t wait more than 5-10 minutes for any of our Genie+ or LL rides. Once I figured out how to use the system it was really easy and I didn’t spend the day staring at my screen.
We were able to ride almost everything we wanted to and didn’t wait in any line (even stand by) more than 20 minutes. I would advise any newbies to the system to be ready (if resort guests) at exactly 7am and go for the most popular picks first because they disappear within a minute or two.
We were upset at the price-gouging and decided we won’t go back, but then we got excited about the upcoming Tron ride and the new rides and remodel of Epcot and decided we will return in a few years. That will probably be our last trip though. They will continue to raise prices and grab every last dime, and we would rather spend our money having new experiences.
Already planning a trip to their competitor in the Orlando area which will cost significantly less and is reportedly a terrific group of parks! Now that our son is older and into thrill rides it makes more sense as our destination theme park.
Jim
We just got back from WDW where we hit all 4 parks and it was a mess. The parks were packed to capacity, rides broke down at every park, etc.. We feel like all Genie/LL does is make people keep their heads in the phones all day trying to score a LL so you don’t have to waste 2-3 hours in line for something like Rise of the Resistance. We were constantly checking our phones to see what LL’s opened up that weren’t available earlier. Also like others, we ran into issues with the app not showing wait times.
Speaking of the app, it’s borderline horrible just to use and navigate.
This was our 3rd trip with our kids and it gets harder and more expensive every time. Every time we’ve gone we’ve stayed at a deluxe resort but after this trip, we don’t see the point in spending the money on a deluxe resort because the benefits are few if any. We barely used WDW transportation this time. Most travel between parks was via Uber because it was worth $20 to not spend 45+ minutes on a bus or having the monorail break down.
If we go back, we’ll stay at one of the cheaper resorts and just Uber everywhere again.
Oh and just to pile on some more, my wife and kids used magic bands which worked fine. I figured I have an iPhone and Apple watch, why mess with another band. Well, while it worked fine to access our room and the parks, I couldn’t use my devices to access other guest areas like the pools. So if I went to pick up food by myself and forgot someone else’s band, I had to walk the long way to our room because I couldn’t open the pool area to cut through.
PoppaJ
The magic is gone! Replaced by greed and profits! Go back to the old system of fast pass, Magic Express and forget the Genie for profit! Because it sure doesn’t help the lines! After 34 wonderful trips and lasting memories were are done with Disney! They have doubled prices on everything in just 10 year period. Was planning our 50th wedding anniversary next January because we love Disney, but enough is enough! We will spend our money at Universal now since booking a trip there is less than half of the price of a Disney trip! Thanks for the memories Disney!
Kelly
Honestly I would be willing to pay for the old fast pass system. This new garbage had me in tears several times on our last trip!
Rose
Walt your legacy is being trashed for $$ “on the bottom line”.
Your fans are being cut from your club by $$ “on the bottom line”.
Your fans will only have memories of “what it use to be”. Or will the executives start charging us $$$ for our memories??? Oh, is that possible??
papa z
Genie + is a bust, been coming to WDW for over 30 years now and this is the worst I’ve ever seen. I’m at the park now, on Genie + at 7am, by 7:02am got a LL ride that said 9:25am, booked it and it and actual ride time was 625pm, now I’m pretty much done for the day using LL. And using the mobile Order to order food is a joke, ordered, pickup time 1:30, show up on time and don’t get order until 2:05, worse everyone who ordered was in same boat, so all tables jammed full of families not eatting waiting for food, people sitting or standing anywhere they could, using trash cans for tables or whatever. Disney Genie is tail wagging the dog, great for Disney management data collection wise, but a horror for the user.
J.
Oh dear, I’m curious because I have heard several people mention trouble with mobile ordering. Is it something that you HAVE to do at Disney currently? Can you still just go get in line and order as in the past? I’m hoping so, because I’d like to minimize the amount of time I have to keep dealing with my phone. It is a vacation after all.
Linda
You can still order in person but you have to ask where to go. My aunt doesn’t have a smart phone and we were all sick of having our heads in our stupid phones all day.
JCM
Sad to hear about the bad experiences. We were there right before COVID shut that world down. We had lots of breakdowns then. I was hoping once they reopened, the rides would all be fixed. Sad. I also heard there is new
Management and people are not happy with him.
JCM
Sad to hear about the bad experiences. We were there right before COVID shut that world down. We had lots of breakdowns then. I was hoping once they reopened, the rides would all be fixed. Sad. I also heard there is new
Management and people are not happy with him.
Kelly
We were just at Disney in January. Worst experience in the last 30 years. We are ap and dvc and go to Disney about 4-5 times a year. Dropped our passes to pixie and added photos to one pass. Also got ap to universal. Will be spending lots more time at universal till Disney gets this genie+ stuff figured out. I loved the old paper fp and got used to the new fp system. Absolutely hate genie+ and got refunded after the debacle I experienced in January. Seriously, who wants to wake up at 7 am every day of their vacation to pay extra and get mostly headaches. I wish people would just stop so we can move on from this horrible system.
Zee
I can’t believe I sat and read is BS. we just got back from our girls trip at disney… and I’m waiting patiently for them to send out a survey asking about my experience…. I believe they k ow it was TRASH! that’s why we haven’t got one yet. This don’t make no sense! Disney has definitely LOST its magic! And I can’t wait to start a campaign to boycott. As sad as it makes me feel to say this .. they are robbing hard working families of an experience of a lifetime so they can keep their bonuses and it’s sickening. Not only do we now have to pay MORE for less… but we now have to pay for things that use to be free! Nothing was wrong with walking up to a ride and pulling a ticket with a designated time to come back. Absolutely nothing. Now not only can you only choose ONE ride at a time, but now you have to pay. Not just pay one time but pay additional for popular rides. It’s disgusting. Not only that but even though you are paying. You can ONLY GET MAX EXPERIENCES especially if your first one isn’t until way later in the day bc or capacity. Our whole experience was a waste of money and did I mention there was NO ABSOLUTELY ZERO MAGIC! and this is only one issue. I wouldn’t advise anyone go to that place until they start doing right by those of us who spend out life savings trying to get our kids this experience
Sherry
Pretty sure this would disgust Walt Disney!
Steve
Disney dumpster fire = family is done after 30 years. Have 3 different week long trips planned to different places all for less than our last disastrous and magicless Disney trip.
RK
Never again disney. Not until there is a leadership change.
Donna
Currently at Disney world and agree with all the above comments. Genie+ and LL are a must if you don’t want to stand in line 2-3 hours. But you pay the money and are lucky to use it 2-3 times a day if you can get a time slot. Bus transportation from resorts also an issue. Disney Parks no longer have the Magic they did in years past. Universal was much more enjoyable last October.
Adam
The issue is Genie+ isn’t getting to make ride reservations ahead of time but paying for the POSSIBILITY to get reservations ahead of time. We got back Tuesday, Feb 22. During our trip, when you were able to make your second LL at 11am sometimes half of the LLs we’re gone for the entire day and one may be available that you rode standby during the first two hours the park was open. It was not worth it for Epcot and we had our best luck at MK. If I am paying for it, it should be limited in number of subscriptions. So that when the 11a and 1p and I would argue the 3p reservation slots become available, all rides should be available for me to choose from. But it is oversold which increases Disney $$ but weakens the value of the offering.
Robin
We were at WDW in early Feb for a week, with our grown children. We are not frequent Disney guests, but had been planning this trip since pre-Covid due to Galaxy’s Edge (Star Wars fans!). I, too, am a meticulous planner with a spreadsheet. We did not use Genie+ or ILL’s at all – refused to pay for it. Made use of the morning early entry benefits, which basically get you on 1 popular ride before general park opening each day. And, because we were staying at a deluxe resort, also had extended evening hours, which were fantastic and a great way to get on a bunch of rides.
The parks were very crowded during our week, especially MK which reached capacity on 2 of the days. But, with planning and strategy, we felt we did ok with seeing and doing all we wanted, without spending the extra $ for Genie+. Definitely was not needed at Epcot or AK. *However, as many others have mentioned, rides were often shut down or had issues/got stopped while we were riding.
We had no problems with mobile ordering – in fact, we loved it! We’re always able to order when we wanted, from the restaurant we wanted, and didn’t have to wait for our food.
But, all that said, it will probably be several years until we go back. Too crowded, too expensive, and Disney needs to get things working better.
Larry G
Why was there even a need to change something that worked in the pass. Fast passes and max pass were ever so simpler and worked like a champ. This genie is a sad broken function that is only ruining the experience for many.
Kenr
I don’t like the idea of paying for a maybe and having to glue myself to a phone constantly searching for an available lighting lane at a time that is actually convenient. They need a system of charging for 3 or 4 anytime lightening lanes per day. No scheduling. Just walk up and use it. Once you use your 3 or 4 LLs your done. They also need to adjust it so that the stand by lane gets an equal amount on to the ride so that it moves faster.
Keri Brown
I feel like if all the people complaining about, (including myself) the new genie+ and LL and raised prices and crowds, and lack of Disney magic, would boycott the parks, maybe it would make a difference. So many people complain, but keep going and keep paying. Nothing will change. There has to be a point we all reach, where we just won’t do it anymore. Then maybe if there is enough of us that stop going, maybe it could make a difference. Prove a point with action instead of just lip service.
Vdog
EXACTLY!! I hate coming to these comment sections to see everyone “being done with Disney” and will “move to Universal instead”, but I also keep reading stories about the parks being more packed than ever! What am I missing then?
Chet
I had the Disney Visa card and racked up over $3,000 in Disney Rewards. We were going to use them for a DCL cruise (can’t do that now because of vaccine requirements) and we certainly will never visit the parks again. Disney’s Genie+ is 100% a cash grab, just like paying to park at their hotels and paying to park at their parks. You see, they went out and sold DVC to all of these people. So, in order to accommodate them and continue to generate revenue, they’ve made meals $50 per person and made the adult age like 11-years-old. So, even if you use your DVC points to go to the parks, you have to pay an arm and a leg for everything else. Up-sell up-sell up-sell! And it has affected those who aren’t on the DVC. Now they have to pay high hotel fees (for less service), high park ticket fees, higher prices for food (with smaller portions), photos, lightning lanes, you name it. It’s all designed to strip you our of your hard earned cash. Bye Disney!
Roger Moller
After reading the comments and seeing the overwhelming number of negative comments, I am puzzled as to how it is that I had a different experience and impression? Last week my wife and I took three of our grandsons (one six years old and the other two seven) to Disneyland. We did two days at Disneyland and bought Genie + both days. I have to say that it was pretty spendy, but sure made going on rides super easy. As soon as we scanned our tickets and were in the queue for the ride, I found another ride and booked while waiting. None of our wait times were very long and made it easy to keep three young boys engaged.
We went on every ride we wanted to go on and then concentrated on second rides on the ones the boys liked the most. Our grandsons had a blast and Genie + had something to do with it. I wish it weren’t so expensive, but it kept the crew happy and moving.
Bill
I think most of the comments are about Disney World.
Kathy
Oh no Bill, Disneyland CA is just as bad (due to local pass holders) and MORE expensive for Genie+ etc.
Bill
I believe the main problem, and no one is reporting this, is that Disney offered thousands of low priced annual passes for Floridians, and our dear Florida friends bought them up. The large majority of the crowd is, hence, locals. The out of state Disney lovers were offered no low price option but rather a way too expensive option only. So, Disney World seemed like more of a hang out to me when I was there in November than it did a vacation place. EPCOT had more of an atmosphere of a party than it did a family vacation. Poor decisions on Disney management’s part. I cancelled my March vacation there. The Magic was gone. And the genie system was horrible. I agree with the comments about it.
Evelyn Landmesser
I agree 100%. No magic.
Mkirk
Yeah, they do actually – “With Ben Grimm, Lee and Kirby were using a superhero as a metaphor for Jews, African-Americans, and other minorities.” From Jews İn Comic Books. Ppl in the comments, than you for revealing so much about yourselves.
Evelyn Landmesser
They say crowds are down? No way. We went during “off” time. It was crowded, and lines were longer than I’ve ever seen. Genie+, and lightning lane are cumbersome, and expensive. Disney has become just another business with over inflated prices. It is in no way an affordable family experience that it was designed to be. I read they are raising prices to cater to a certain class of people. I’m sure this was not Walt Disney’s vision! It breaks my heart. What was once the most magical place on earth is now overpriced, and under delivered.
Tim
I agree with all of the comments, an issues here. My wife and I have been CA annual pass holders since the late 80s. Our first annual pass was $75.00. Shortly after WDW opened After the “pandemic”we made a trip there with my wife, daughter and her husband. Some of the shower and attractions were not going yet. But there were no lightning lanes. And no fast passes. And it was AWSOME! 45 min was the longest wait we had ANYWHERE in the 4 parks. The lines moved quickly, no watching 20 people go to the 5 in stand by. I ACTUALY enjoyed not having to keep track of times, having to plan meals, and other rides around specific return times. It was very liberating. Lighting Lanes are thr ABSOLUTE WORST thing I have seen disney do. Not only is it “Pay to Play”. It slowest everything down. End lightning lanes, end fast passes. Guests will self regulate to even out wait times.
CK
Just got back yesterday. We did magic kingdom, animal kingdom and epcot. We were able to get on every ride we wanted (including the most popular) and waited no more than 5 minutes for each lightening lane. The parks were nearly or totally sold out and we were a party of 6. I didn’t love how busy it was but genie+ worked for us. I researched the best way to use it in advance and I didn’t mind paying for individual lightening lanes. I didn’t love that I had to constantly be on my phone scheduling though. The system is a little stressful but it worked for us in the end. We didn’t wait more than 15 minutes for a ride our entire trip, it just took a bit of planning. I do know some people there were stacking their lightening lane reservations for later in the day. You can pick a new one every 2 hours so they paid for the individual ones in the morning and picked a later in the day slot for another big ride at 7:00 am. Then they sat by the pool and picked a new reservation every 2 hours until they went to the park. If you do this and then go to the park around 4:00, you could have about 5 rides stacked in the afternoon and evening hours (just be sure to pick the quickest to sell out first). It is ok if the times overlap.
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