We love Disney parks, and I never want to highlight something negative without offering potential solutions. While Genie+ can prove beneficial to individual guests, it has introduced new problems: inaccurate and inflated wait times, an increase in congestion, and increased guest frustration. There are several ways Disney could handle these issues, some of which would require fundamental reworking of Genie+ and others which might help take the sting out of the changes.
If Disney’s goal truly is to have a system that improves overall guest experience beyond what Fastpass+ could do, there is one logical solution: stop overselling Lightning Lane return times. Allocating 93% of ride capacity to a paid service is insane, and it smacks of greed.
There are two ways to restore some balance. The first is simply to not make as many return times available for high demand attractions. Lower the capacity allocated to Genie+ at least to a number lower than what Fastpass+ used to require. It seems highly unlikely Disney will do this unless they receive major blowback—there’s too much to lose financially now.
A more likely scenario is Disney may eventually choose to raise the price of Genie+ and Individual Lightning Lane access, putting both services in the category of a true upgrade rather than a “prod-‘em-with-FOMO-until-they-pay” upcharge. A higher price point will certainly be met by criticism, but it would potentially reduce the number of guests utilizing Genie+. The adjustment would mean Disney wouldn’t need to dedicate such high ride capacity to Lightning Lane users, and they could regain some benefits hoped for by ending Fastpass+.
It is possible—likely even—that Disney will not take either of these routes. With that in mind, there are some other things they can do to improve satisfaction among guests using standby queues only.
The most urgent issue is that times posted for rides need to be accurate. If Disney can no longer estimate queue times accurately, then they should continue the practice of inflating wait times. While this practice earned them some criticism in the media, it really is the smartest move — it is far better that guests know what they are getting into and are pleasantly surprised by a shorter queue than that they think a queue is 90 minutes and end up stuck for three hours.
I would much rather see a scary-high queue time and make an informed choice to purchase Genie+ than enter a queue that ends up being far longer than posted and make that decision out of raw frustration. The latter is not a good look for winning long-term guest loyalty.
The other shift would be more psychological in nature, and I am not sure if it is possible without adjusting capacity allocated to Genie+ users—let more than one party through the standby queue at a time. There are ways Disney can cleverly make the spread feel more even than the current system of allowing dozens of Lightning Lane users through before letting even one standby party through. I can’t imagine the stress this has put on families with small children who don’t understand what’s going on. Remember that guests who don’t purchase Genie+ are still of value.
Realistic expectations and improving overall guest satisfaction (not just among those who can purchase Genie+) could go a long way in soothing the long simmering criticism Disney has faced lately. In their eagerness to reclaim lost revenue, I fear Disney is currently driving away potential repeat visitors and burning out many longtime fans who have just had enough. These issues are fixable, but it will take a philosophical shift on Disney’s part and a return to the values that gave them their high reputation for excellence.
What has your experience been with Genie+? Let us know in the comments or on Facebook! Thanks for reading!
Comments
We had a pretty brutal experience at Disneyland a few days ago due to this new Genie+ pay to cut system. I'd not been to any of the parks since before covid, a few years ago, and at that time it was the fastpass system. Which was not perfect but at least it was fair since everyone had the same opportunity to pick rides to shortcut. Although I suspect there were some "special" fastpass tickets that had unlimited privileges and these cutters were able to hide among the rest of us.
Anyway, the new system is insane. We showed up with no idea anything had changed, including two adults, an 11 year old, and a 4 year old. The listed "standby" wait times for all rides were fairly tolerable, between 20 minutes and 75 minutes and it seemed like a cool upgrade to be able to view them on the app. But we quickly learned these times meant nothing. We watched as the line merge arbiters allowed 50+ people from the "lightning lane" and then 5 from the standby lane. Sometimes even worse. Predicted wait times routinely went from 40 to 90 minutes, or from 60 to 120 minutes. Pretty much always the riders were 75% to 90% lightning lane people so it was a pretty hopeless cause to be standby. We would stand without moving for 5-10 minutes with zero standby people being allowed in. No fun and terrible with young kids.
Another problem is that many of the rides are designed with beautiful elaborate line areas, rooms transitioning from one cool scene to another and these can often no longer be used because they are not wide enough to support multiple lines from start to finish, so the lines are pushed outside obstructing the park and the long winding rooms are kept empty to race through after the standby merges with lightning line.
Disney used to understand line psychology which is basically that you've got to keep people moving all the time, give them new interesting things to see, don't break their hope by allowing them to see how much line lies ahead, and give them confidence that the line is fair. They apparently forgot ALL of these things because the new system obliterates them all, wasting the cost and work put into building the existing line systems.
Personally I have a moral objection to paying to cut a line so I won't do it, not for $1 or $100. It's not about the cost, it's about the principal. So no more Disney for me until/unless this system is changed. Which makes me sad.
in an attempt to be different from Universal, Disney continues to convolute a fairly easy process, in which they have the financial and technological ability to undertake. But disney wanted people on their phones all the time because they knwo people are on their phones already for Social media posts. Having attended disney since i was young and now special queues to stand in, I waited in lines 2-3 hrs and sometimes rode everything I wanted other times we didnt, but ticket prices were low enough, that that's what a 2nd or 3rd days at the parks did.
Disney needs to eliminate this system, and just charge $50-75 per guest adult, and less for children to get the Genie pass. They will have their dedicated queue, and in rides with double loading capacity, multiple show rooms, or large vehicles. that queue takes up that entire area. This does allows for both lines (genie and standby) to move at the same time.. the paid line will just move faster since, you expect less people to be in it due to the price. For the genie, no reservations, just walk into the ride you want, whenever you want.
Other option is, for those that want to pay to create a tapo tapo system like volcano bay... that guest will receive a wearable device which allows them to sit in a queue virtually with a count down that says you can go to the ride in xxx amount of time.. it can adjust and fluxuate given current wait times. you can have up to 3-5 rides queued at once.. other option is disney should invest in building new rides, and eliminate all paid lines, and go back to just stand by queues
After decades with our kids we moved on to taking our grandkids a couple of years pre-pandemic. The ability to, after securing our reservation at Disney on-site (Grand Floridian), we were able to plan our park days, FastPass ride selections, Dinner reservations, Water Parks etc. We would drop off luggage at airport and find it in our room soon after arrival. With grandkids, no luggage handling was premier and Magical Express was relaxing. WE CAN DO NONE OF THAT NOW. We "are not going to WDW" until and unless the current system is changed. Our idea of each day early in the morning TRYING to get rides at a park 'that we've reserved' is a NO GO. Also, standing in line 1-3 hours are problems of the past that we will not allow to be experienced again. Disney spent decades and billions on hotels and non-theme park rides and attractions. Now there are too many customers chasing too few ride and attraction options. Saw it coming. Disney used to be ride and project construction wonders of the world and yet now it is so slow it is embarrassing. What a mess.
Yes, this is exactly what happened to me. I have been an annual passholder for 10 years and knew quite well how to use fastpasses as well as get around without them. I went a few weeks ago to Hollywood studios and decided not to pay for genie plus. We were completely screwed. The wait time for R&R coaster was 50 minutes and we got done in 60...not bad. We then went to smuggler's run, which showed a 60 minute wait. 2.5 hours later, we finally got on the ride, tired, pissed off, and frustrated. Having to stand for that long with a 11 year old just killed the day.
We decided to eat lunch and just left as the lines were long for everything else.
After that experience, we decided to give Genie + a try. Not really understanding the system my daughter wanted slinky dog really bad so I grabbed that. My first issue, the damn screen showed 10am when I clicked on it but after it returned to my screen it assigned me a 2pm booking. This locked up my ability to get another pass until 2 hours after the park opened. Knowing that you can get a pass every 2 hours, I should have grabbed something else quick and done the old search function over and over to get a better time for slinky. Additionally, for some damn reason, disney doesn't let you modify an existing pass to an earlier time. You have to cancel and then rebook which gives time for the better time to disappear and then you lose your reservation entirely.
for 15 dollar a person, I expected better but unfortunately, Genie plus is the only way to experience Magic Kingdom and Hollywood studios now. The others you can get by without it.
Having worked for several years in Epcot attractions, I can share that, although I agree with the statements and advice in the article, the real issue behind the problem is there not being enough attractions in each of the parks to absorb the number of guests attending. This is very true for DAK and an underlying reason for ToT and Flight wait times. Given the amount of rides in MK, it is less true of that park.