Big Changes Are Coming to Disney's Paid Genie+ Service - Inside the Magic

Comments for Big Changes Are Coming to Disney’s Paid Genie+ Service

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47 Comments

  1. 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.

  2. 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.

  3. 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.

    1. 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?

    2. 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!

  4. 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.

    1. Bill

      I think most of the comments are about Disney World.

      1. Kathy

        Oh no Bill, Disneyland CA is just as bad (due to local pass holders) and MORE expensive for Genie+ etc.

  5. 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.

    1. Evelyn Landmesser

      I agree 100%. No magic.

  6. 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.

  7. 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.

  8. 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.

  9. 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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