Genie+ Finds Frustrating New Way to Start Day
Just when you thought the Genie+ UI couldn’t get any worse, Walt Disney World has said “hold my beer” and made more guest-unfriendly changes. This post runs through recent changes to the paid FastPass service, explaining how this will be a frustrating way to start the day for Lightning Lane power users.
In the last several months, Walt Disney World has been making a ton of tweaks to Genie+ in an effort to balance supply & demand, while also attempting to improve dismal guest satisfaction scores. The most recent of these was Eliminating the Genie+ Ticket Add- at Walt Disney World. That was met with a lot of doom and gloom and complaints, but Genie+ has yet to sell out anywhere or any day.
Walt Disney World has also added more entertainment and character meet & greets to Genie+ in an attempt to provide more capacity to the highly in-demand service. In some cases, those additions have been reverted–as happened with a trio of meet & greets at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. Still, those were positive, guest-friendly changes from Genie+ perspective.
There have also been a slew of changes that amount to lowering expectations or reducing complaints. To that end, Disney added a ‘warning’ that “on average, guests can enter 2 to 3 attractions or experiences per day using the Lightning Lane entrance if the first selection is made early in the day.” (Read more in Genie+ Really is Paid FastPass+ at Walt Disney World.)
Unfortunately, recent tweaks to Genie+ can be filed under “lowering expectations” rather than “positive, guest-friendly change.”
The latest change is that during the high-demand window from the time Genie+ goes live in the morning at 7 am up until 7:30 am, guests will not be able to see the Lightning Lane return window.
Instead, My Disney Experience displays a “Check Availability” message that requires an extra tap to see the return window. Same goes for Individual Lightning Lane with a “See Available Times” message.
This is undoubtedly being done to “address” a common complaint, which we covered in our recent Genie+ Wish List: 3 Big Improvements for Walt Disney World. In that, our #2 problem was times shifting. That expressed the frustration of being up early, seeing the perfect Genie+ return window, quickly clicking through and reviewing the confirmation screen, only to discover that your “perfect” 9:00 am return time has shifted a little bit…to 5:40 pm!
Our suggestion for fixing this was simple and reasonable: locking selection time windows once clicking an attraction. This proposed solution comes from…pretty much every other online reservation system in use everywhere else? Holding a selection time for 60 seconds, 5 minutes, or whatever is deemed appropriate to give guests adequate time to complete the process without any surprises would fix the issue and reduce guest headaches.
Walt Disney World’s approach can’t really be called a “fix” or even a “duct tape solution.” It doesn’t do anything to address the problem, it just hides it. I guess the thinking is that people won’t complain about shifting return times if they can’t see return times? But that doesn’t actively address anything, it just obfuscates.
The underlying guest-unfriendly issue still exists, it just isn’t as easy to articulate what’s wrong. So if the goal is simply avoiding specific guest complaints, not improving actual satisfaction with the paid FastPass service, mission accomplished?
If you’re making ride reservations right at 7:00:00 am using our Genie+ Speed Strategy, this change doesn’t really impact you.
At worst, it’s a lateral move. In that scenario, you weren’t relying on the accuracy of those return times but were clicking through as quickly as possible and relying on your fast fingers (and internet connection!) more than anything else. It’s a distinction without a difference–the return times were likely to be inaccurate anyway, and didn’t provide any better or worse information than the “Check Availability” message. Both are equally worthless and should be disregarded.
Unfortunately for other Walt Disney World visitors, this is actually going to be a negative change–not just a lateral one.
If you were holding off on booking and instead using the Ride Reservation Refill Rules at Walt Disney World to book between ~7:07 am and ~7:25 am, this throws a monkey wrench in that. No longer will you be able to refresh and see when the refill has occurred. Instead, you’ll have to click around a bit more. For Genie+ power users, it’s another layer of frustration in a system that’s already plenty frustrating.
For those who are unfamiliar with these reservation refills, the above screenshot illustrates one of them. Compare this to the previous set of screenshots and you’ll notice that the return times are earlier. That’s because Walt Disney World quietly refills ride reservation availability at various times throughout the day–and we caught one such instance of that.
Unfortunately, you now wouldn’t be able to observe this occurring from the Tip Board between 7:00 am and 7:30 am. It would require clicking on each individual attraction to “Check Availability,” which is quite tedious.
Our recommended approach for the 7 am sharp super strategists would be to book your first selection using the speed strategy without pausing to check times or review anything. Once you made your reservation, check the time to see if that conflicts with your schedule–or whether you think you can do better.
If so, cancel and wait for an anticipated refill time and book again then. This approach entails more risk and committing more time, so understand that before proceeding. For most people and attractions, simply booking at 7 am as speedily as possible is still going to be the best and most straightforward strategy.
With that said, we have to acknowledge that power users should not be the intended beneficiaries of Genie+ changes. One thing we’ve stressed since the original announcement of the whole Genie system was that its policies were formulated in response to complaints from Walt Disney World first-timers.
In particular, we’ve pointed to same-day selections, rather than those made 30 or 60 days in advance. While the latter is favored by many savvy planners and repeat visitors–disproportionately the readers of blogs like this one–it was not popular with park-goers as a whole. Unfortunately, many first-timers had no clue they could make ride reservations until arriving. By then, it was already too late.
Two of the guiding principles behind Genie were monetization and democratization–making it easier to use for more guests and making money in the process. It has been an unequivocal success at accomplishing one of those goals.
However, the Genie system went off the rails at some point during development. It launched as something convoluted and confusing to all (so I guess in a sense it did level the playing field…but not in the way intended!), rather than being an easier and more intuitive–albeit paid–system. In any case, this is mentioned because changes should be evaluated at this point based on whether their guest-friendly and positive for inexperienced users of the system, not seasoned pros.
This “Check Availability” change benefits no one. At best, it reduces confusion about why times shifted–but that’s really only in theory. It doesn’t even properly resolve that, as there’s still not any sort of time lock. All it really does is add an extra click, and one that doesn’t yield anything positive for anyone.
In the end, you could say this is the equivalent of a duct tape solution…if your phone had a cracked screen and you opted to fix it by covering the crack with duct tape. In other words, not much of a solution at all, in practical terms.
On a different note, we’re now less than two weeks away from several Genie+ headliners reverting to Individual Lightning Lane status. In case you missed it, Expedition Everest at Animal Kingdom, Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway at Hollywood Studios, Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure and Frozen Ever After at EPCOT, and Space Mountain at Magic Kingdom have been included in the flat-rate Genie+ service for spring and summer.
Way back on February 25, Walt Disney World moved one Individual Lightning Lane attraction per park to the Genie+ service. This was done in response to the system (yet again) coming close to collapsing under the weight of Presidents’ Day crowds/demand, just as had previously happened for the prior holiday season. At that time, the change was made effective through August 7, 2022–for a total of over 5 months.
From the beginning, we’ve written that this change would occur through “at least” August 7, 2022. Our assumption has been that, at some point, Walt Disney World would quietly remove the August 7, 2022 asterisk from its official site and make the change permanent. After all, this change debuted last year at Thanksgiving and will almost certainly be necessary then. If October returns to normal, the added Genie+ capacity might be necessary much sooner–possibly by Columbus Day.
It doesn’t make much sense to keep bouncing these attractions around, changing their status from Genie+ to Individual Lightning Lanes and back multiple times per year. The whole Genie system is already a morass of random rules and policies that seemingly change on a weekly basis with little rhyme or reason as to why. (Spoiler: more changes are coming later this year and in early 2023!) There’s no compelling justification for reverting these rides to Individual Lightning Lanes once the off-season starts.
Of course, there is a reason for it–capturing more revenue during the off-season when Genie+ doesn’t technically “need” the added bandwidth to function as intended. That’s not a good or compelling reason, unless you’re looking at it from Walt Disney World’s perspective.
If Disney makes this guest-unfriendly move, our advice would be to respond accordingly. First, don’t buy Individual Lightning Lanes for any of the aforementioned attractions. Second, don’t purchase Genie+ for EPCOT or Animal Kingdom. Now, we’re not suggesting this as some sort of “moral stand” that fans take.
Rather, you should do so as a rational consumer. If those attractions are removed from the Genie+ ride roster, the service is no longer worthwhile for EPCOT or Animal Kingdom. The value proposition changes, it’s as simple as that. Moreover, it’ll be the off-season when crowds and wait times are lower (decreased demand is what’s allowing Disney to make the change in the first place), so Genie+ won’t be as necessary or useful. Same deal with Individual Lightning Lanes on those attractions–it’ll be quite easy to avoid long lines at those attractions without paying extra.
Ultimately, we’re still hopeful that Walt Disney World will make the changes permanent between now and August 7, 2022. It’s the right thing to do, both logistically and in making things easier on visitors. As for the frustrating change with return times from 7:00 am until 7:30 am, we really hope that’s simply a temporary duct tape fix, as it’s not helpful or a real solution in any way whatsoever. It simply hides the problem which is not the same as actually addressing it.
If you have questions about the basics of using–or not using–the paid FastPass service, see our Guide to Genie+ at Walt Disney World & Lightning Lane FAQ for all of the foundational need-to-know info. This whole system is confusing and convoluted, so you might have a question or two-dozen. That answers all of the most common ones we’ve been receiving from readers.
Planning a Walt Disney World trip? Learn about hotels on our Walt Disney World Hotels Reviews page. For where to eat, read our Walt Disney World Restaurant Reviews. To save money on tickets or determine which type to buy, read our Tips for Saving Money on Walt Disney World Tickets post. Our What to Pack for Disney Trips post takes a unique look at clever items to take. For what to do and when to do it, our Walt Disney World Ride Guides will help. For comprehensive advice, the best place to start is our Walt Disney World Trip Planning Guide for everything you need to know!
YOUR THOUGHTS
Do these ride reservation refill rules make sense to you or is it too overwhelming? Will you use this strategy for scoring Genie+ or Individual Lightning Lane selections? Have you had success in getting Slinky Dog Dash during one of these refills? What about headliners in other parks? Thoughts on leveraging Genie+ refills versus other strategy? Do you agree or disagree with my assessment? Any questions we can help you answer? Hearing your feedback–even when you disagree with us–is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!
Tom said it best in his write-up: it’s hard to describe what’s wrong with the new reservation system[s]. Crap it all and start again. There are easier ways to sell “extra legroom”.
We just returned home from a trip that included a few days at Universal with Express Pass followed by several days at WDW with paid Genie+. I can’t even compare the ease and benefit of Universal’s system (although a big price point staying at their deluxe resorts). When we went to WDW, we purchased Genie+ and got our first pass of the day, and our biggest frustration was that we couldn’t select a time window — it spits out the next available slot. If I am paying for this, I would have preferred to at least select Morning, Afternoon or Evening times so I can plan our day. Instead, it forced me to keep trying every 2 hours and search out times for later day attractions and fingers crossed that they wouldn’t sell out for the day (we took a mid-day break and returned in the evening). It also let me book a pass when I already had another for the same exact time. (I had both Jungle and Haunted at 7:30 – 8:30 PM), and the system finally caught on and shifted one of them about an hour before our return time). The App also did not always block out LL that we already used, and made it appear that we could select the attraction again (only to be blocked at the next window). One day we used 2 passes at MK, one day we used 5. Not a good value for the money, but it was all about the timing and availability and how long we wanted to stay at the park. Not a fan, but with 2 teens combined with the hot and humid weather and huge (HUGE!) crowds, I felt we had to do it or be stuck in long lines all day. We did arrive for early entry for on-site guests, but 30 minutes at Hollywood doesn’t do much if Rise, Rollercoaster and Runaway Railway are ALL down upon arrival and having only 2 lands open for early entry at MK doesn’t help filter the crowds. I expected more for my money and wished the system was more user friendly.
We have been going to Walt Disney World since I was a kid growing up in Orlando in the early ‘70’s. We bought into DVC. and we’re regular AP holders. The idea of planning a vacation, and casually going into any park at any time was great. Since Covid Times, we missed our renewal window so now pay the regular day rate for park entry. Genie + was confusing, but we got the hang of it and just dealt with it. Now, when we visit WDW we have to pay the day rate just to walk around the parks. (If we get a park reservation for that park on that day.) I am not paying hundreds of dollars for the “privilege” off walking around a park where I may, or might not, be able to ride a ride. It’s really frustrating. Honestly, for the first time ever, we have booked a weeklong Universal vacation and are amazed at the intuitive simplicity of the process. I’m already at ease, looking forward to enjoying the parks there, and enjoying the pool, etc. without the anxiety inducing Genie+ , and Park Pass reservation system – AND not being able to get an AP.
I know they are targeting an ever wealthier demographic, but as a teacher, we just can’t afford this nonsense. We’re still Disney fans, and if they ever get their stuff together to prioritize the guest (all guests) then we will be visiting less and less. And that makes me sad.
You will love universal! Walk in, hop on a ride, walk back to your hotel, it’s amazing! Also the rides are awesome, the food is good and the hotel pools are very nice as well. We went the week of Xmas last year, slept till noon and still got everything done in the parks in 3 days! Very relaxing trip, enjoy! The only tricky thing at universal is Hagrids!
Want to “Fix Things” Chapek? Simple. Put things back the way they were before you decided to monetize everything but the toilets! There was nothing wrong with the Fast Pass System. . . .oh wait . . . Big silly me. Fast Passes were free!
I think the reason the “lock times” idea doesn’t work, at least for the full attraction list view, is because the only way to do this is to take out a temporary holding reservation for every attraction, and that would create friction for other users because every attraction would show a late return time in those first 1-2 minutes.
I’d just have stated “estimated time” instead (and locked it once selected from the main attraction list – I agree it’s crazy that it doesn’t do that).
Thank you Tom…blunt and truthful. Hurts me alot to watch this happening 🙁
Our family of 5 just spent a week at WDW. We did 2.5 days at MK, 2 days AK, 1 day at Hollywood and 1 day at Epcot and we had no issues booking attractions using Genie+ In fact we rode every ride at every single park every day we were there. At 7am each day I booked one regular lightning lane and one individual lightning lane (it’s hard on the wallet but I refuse to wait more than 45 mins for a ride) then I set a reminder to book my next one 2 hours after the park opened. Once I booked the next one I set another 2 hour timer so I could book another.
For Hollywood I would recommend booking Slinky Dog and Rise first because those will be the first rides to run out of lightning lanes for the day. At Epcot I would grab either Test Track or Ratatouille ( it wasn’t that great in my opinion) at 7am along with Guardians as a paid attraction. MK pay for Seven Dwarfs and snag either Jungle Cruise or Pan’s . At Ak book Flights and an early morning Kilmanjaro Safari because the animals are more active before 9-10am.
Also Pay attention to the return times when making selections, especially later in the day. The later the return time the more likely lightning lane will sell out for the day. That said if the lightning lanes disappear for a ride keep checking! We got test track and frozen after they had already sold out for the day.
Thanks for the great reporting and advice, Tom! I’m trying hard to remain optimistic about my August trip, and nothing I read about Genie+ makes that easy. I may just punt on ride strategies and split my days between singing along to the Country Bears and riding a golf cart around Fort Wilderness. How bad could it be?
Unbelievable. I now hate the system even more. Great article about it, Tom. Glad you give it to us honestly and haven’t drunk the Koolaid. Remember when you could book 3 FastPass+ and then manipulate the times (if possible) to make them work out for your schedule? Or even before that you’d get a time range for your 3, and you could still alter/adjust the times? It was all perfectly clear and easy (compared to now, anyway). I hate having to pay for this monstrosity, but I’d even pay for the old system if they brought it back. It worked!!
Been to Disney at least once a year for 42 years and i think it’s time to voluntarily end the streak. Just can’t tolerate the greed of Disney anymore. They used to provide value and special times, those days are gone.
Ugh, first trip since the pandemic coming in a few weeks. Every time I think I understand the new system and have a general plan in my head, they go and throw a wrench in it like this. They keep giving me more and more reasons NOT to buy it, lol.
I think this Genie poop is the worst form of punishment Disney has ever put on us! And taking away magical express and charging us a parking fee in their high priced resort hotels.Disney giveith and Disney taketh away! I wish some big shot trillionare with an imagination like Walt’s would come a long and put Disney right out of business with something new and better!
We are going to Disneyland next month. Is it the same there? I hope not. Last time I was in Disney world in November last year it was a nightmare!
I was in Disneyland and DCA a couple weeks ago on 9/10 and 10/10 crows days (according to Thrill Data). I was acting as the tour guide for a party of 9, and we had three generations in our party. We experienced all the headliners (except for ILL attractions both days) with ease.
Genie+ worked really well in Disneyland, and it was pretty easy to navigate. It was a little more frustrating in DCA, but still good. I had read all of Tom’s articles a bunch of times before I went.
One helpful thing I noticed was several/five days before the trip or so I could go on the Disneyland app and see the return times, etc. You could basically do everything but book the lightning lanes. That gave me a better sense for how it worked and how the return times booked up.
Good luck.
Our group of 8 is about to start day 3 here at Disneyland. We bought Genie+ ahead of time for the entire trip. I won’t say it’s easy, but compared to Genie+ at WDW, it’s a breeze. Admittedly, I have the system down so we’re getting maximum use from our Genie+ purchase. That said, so many DL guests are locals who seemingly don’t purchase Genie+, so having it has put our group at a significant advantage. Because of the ‘one-and-done’ rule of Genie+, we’re actually running out of options by end of day, even with taking afternoon breaks to enjoy the resort pool.
Again, it’s been a value here for our group, and value for us translates to getting what we want without us parents going over the edge with stress. The latter being WDW in a nutshell nowadays
Reading about Genie+ just makes it less and less likely we will return to Disney. Our last trip was just preCovid and everything worked well with Fast Pass. I am getting too old and cranky to learn all these crazy ins and outs (75 years old). I dont want to spend my mornings clicking and recicking and trying to schedule on the go. I am well versed in using computers and iphone. But for some people a trip to Disney would be impossible. My 82 year old husband refuses to use a cell phone except as a phone.
Agree with you . Go back to fast pass! They are making this not enjoyable anymore. I hear all you see is people looking at their phones. That is what Disney is about! You have ruined so much and so much complaining. We are DVC owners and I have never read so many negative remarks about Disney.
Total corporate move here. Bandaid for a bullet wound. Just give us what we want. Ability to select a time based on availability, and hold that time when you click it for 5 minutes while you finalize it. Now you leave guests guessing who are already stressed out about booking these in the first place.
I really hope they make major changes because Genie+ has completely ruined our vacation plans and we won’t return unless it changes. that’s upsetting because we have loved WDW for years and years.
We went 3x since the pandemic and the last in November of 2021 and it was the worst vacation we have ever been on and that’s not hyperbole. We like to sleep in and go to the parks later in the day and Genie+ takes way the reason we go to WDW so we won’t be back unless they make drastic changes.
I prefer to avoid self induced stress and decision fatigue while on vacation. No Genie+ for me. Getting in a queue at 7am is enough to make my hands shake. l’ll keep things simple — enjoy conversation with friends and family while waiting in the regular line.
Awesome! You mean like normal people used to do all the time? I hope to bump into you there. We’ll be the other family who are looking up and talking to each other, enjoying the amazing details of the park. We might even go a full 5-10 minutes without anyone pulling out a phone. I don’t understand this thinking that somehow we’re too important or special to wait in a line. Folks, when everyone is paying to skip a line, you’re still sitting in a line. You just paid more to do so.
agree with you!
Is this new less-than-helpful feature only for that first booking, or throughout the whole day?
I’m absolutely overwhelmed. We return every year and this system is hard to figure out. We are going during the light crowd (First week of September) so hoping we won’t even have to use this system much.
I think you’ll be in a good position to just not use Genie+ given the likelihood of lower crowds in early September.
It’s possible you’ll want it at Magic Kingdom, but the ride roster there is so good that you don’t really need advanced strategy. That really just leaves DHS, and it’s easy to beat the crowds there if you can do Early Entry or stay late.
Have fun–don’t stress out over this advanced level stuff!
Wow. Super disappointing. Have been following your strategies for months and felt ready for our trip next week and now this…super grateful for your post though! This makes it extra difficult not to make overlapping reservations. Maybe a good strategy is to wait for 7:08 and bank on a refill?
This is such a good question that I just updated the post to include the answer there. Here it is:
Our recommended approach for the 7 am sharp super strategists would be to book your first selection using the speed strategy without pausing to check times or review anything. Once you made your reservation, check the time to see if that conflicts with your schedule–or whether you think you can do better.
If so, cancel and wait for an anticipated refill time and book again then. This approach entails more risk and committing more time, so understand that before proceeding. For most people and attractions, simply booking at 7 am as speedily as possible is still going to be the best and most straightforward strategy.