Genie+ Warning in Disneyland App
Since the launch of Genie+ and Lightning Lanes last fall at Walt Disney World, there’s been no shortage of problems, guest complaints, and tweaks to the system meant to address those issues and adjust guest expectations. This post takes a look at the latest such instance of this, in the form of a pop-up warning message in the Disneyland app.
As intimated above, this is hardly unique. During last year’s holiday season and the week of Presidents’ Day this year, Walt Disney World moved Individual Lightning Lane attractions to Genie+. The motivation was adding availability, and (theoretically) how many standard Lightning Lane selections guests who purchase Genie+ can score in a day when attendance is high.
Since then, Walt Disney World has added a ‘warning’ to its official resources about Genie+ and Lightning Lanes, including on the splash screen before guests purchase the Genie+ add-on. Among other things, this states 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.)
The former change was made to buoy guest satisfaction. Before those rides were moved over to the Genie+ service, many consumers complained of limited ride reservation availability. Prevailing reader sentiment suggested that people felt they were paying for nothing, getting more headaches than value for their money.
The latter change was made to lower expectations about how much guests can accomplish via Lightning Lanes. It was also notable in being a high-visibility warning that would actively discourage some guests from buying the Genie+ line-skipping service. Disney trying to reduce sales of an upcharge is relatively unprecedented.
However, all of this occurred for good reason. When Genie+ is useless or guests feel they aren’t getting their money’s worth, there are long lines at Guest Relations, refunds are issued, and guest satisfaction scores drop.
None of this is hypothetical. Lines at Guest Relations have grown since last fall and frustration has increased with the paid replacement for FastPass. As we’ve discussed in several other posts, the company has been silent on the topic of guest satisfaction since Genie launched after touting its resilience for several quarters during quarterly earnings calls.
Instead, those same executives have expressed surprise about how many guests are buying Genie+ and Lightning Lane access, inferring popularity from those purchases. They have offered the naked assertion that Genie “improves and enhances the guest experience” without explaining how.
This new warning comes against that backdrop, with a new “Pardon the Inconvenience” message that began popping up in the Disneyland app during the Easter weekend:
“We strongly encourage you to check today’s Lightning Lane availability and other park details before purchasing Disney Genie+ service, as purchase of Disney Genie+ service is nonrefundable. We apologize for any inconvenience.”
This is relatively noteworthy and is actually a bit surprising (and downright odd) for several reasons…
The unsurprising aspect is the timing. This is happening the weekend of Easter, which is one of the busiest holidays of the entire year at Disneyland. The long weekend always draws big crowds from Northern California and nearby states, as visitors flock to Southern California for pleasant April weather.
This whole week is a big one for spring break in California, including Los Angeles County Schools. That alone made weekdays at Disneyland incredibly busy in the lead-up to the holiday weekend. In reviewing wait time data, the 7 busiest days of 2022 at Disneyland have all come since April 11.
As with the previous warning message at Walt Disney World, the pop-up can be construed as Disneyland attempting to dissuade some guests from purchasing the Genie+ service. It doesn’t explicitly state as much, but that type of language “strongly encouraging” guests to review availability before buying obviously is not meant to spike sales.
Even the most charitable reading is to adjust expectations so that guests know exactly what they’re buying and realize Genie+ is nonrefundable. However, by that logic this message always should’ve appeared prior to purchase–and this warning never appeared until now. This isn’t the type of thing that just gets added by happenstance–and with such sharp language. It wouldn’t exist if something weren’t going wrong.
That Disneyland would be actively discouraging Genie+ sales isn’t even the oddest aspect of this. I’m still struggling to understand the motivation for adding this warning at Disneyland. Here’s a look at Lightning Lane availability on April 16 at around 7:45 pm Pacific:
Again, this is 7:45 pm. In other words, at night.
Show this to someone who has visited Walt Disney World recently, and their mind is likely going to be blown that Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run, Big Thunder Mountain, Splash Mountain, and Matterhorn all still have availability. The parks having relatively good Lightning Lane availability in the evening hours is what makes this truly odd.
To be clear, this is not “selective screenshotting” on our part. These images don’t omit any attractions, nor were the screenshots captured after a big ride reservation refill. This is a normal look at availability.
The only unavailable attractions on the Genie+ side were Space Mountain and Indiana Jones Adventure. On the Individual Lightning Lane side, Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance was also gone. While the Galaxy’s Edge headliner sold out at about noon, the two Genie+ headliners still had availability after 5 pm. Even on the busiest days of the year, nothing at Disneyland is booking up in the morning, let alone at or before park opening.
So what prompted this at Disneyland? I have a couple of theories, but it’s really difficult to say if any of them are valid.
First, there are the underlying differences between Walt Disney World and Disneyland guests. The latter sees fewer first-timers; even those who aren’t Magic Key passholders tend to visit on an annual basis. Disneyland regulars likely would’ve been familiar with MaxPass, which was similar but superior to Genie+. It’s thus possible past MaxPass users were expecting more or better out of Genie+.
Disneyland’s most fervent fans also hold the company to a higher standard. Since more have visited in the past, they have knowledge about how things used to be done. Once in a lifetime visitors are easier to satisfy than those with years or even decades of experience visiting the parks. Disneyland visitors are vocal, and their threshold for complaining is far lower than Walt Disney World guests.
In other words, guest expectations differ between the coasts. It’s entirely possible that Disneyland is receiving more guest complaints about Genie+ than Walt Disney World, despite the service being objectively superior at the California parks. (Genie+ is not just a little better at Disneyland–it is significantly better. Yet this warning only appears in California and not Florida.)
Another possibility is that management holds Disneyland to a higher standard. This is really nothing new, and has driven decisions for years. Walt Disney World is perceived internally as the cash cow, whereas Disneyland is the sacred one where Walt actually walked.
Being a short drive from Glendale and Burbank, the California parks are also the ones frequented by senior leadership and corporate executives as actual guests. When these individuals visit Walt Disney World, they’re usually doing so as part of guided tours that direct their attention towards what Orlando management wants them to see, and away from what they want to avoid. By contrast, they’re visiting Disneyland with their kids on the weekends, and usually without plaids.
Finally, it’s possible that there’s confusion and complaints about Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance, Radiator Springs Racers, or the Spider-Man ride not being included in Genie+ and costing extra via Individual Lightning Lanes. We’ve lamented the unfortunate branding and likelihood for consumer confusion since this whole system was announced. There are no doubt plenty of guests every day who don’t realize they can’t use Genie+ to make a ride reservation for Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance until it’s too late.
Obviously, this issue is not unique to California. If this is the core complaint, why the warning is popping up in the Disneyland app and not the My Disney Experience app for Walt Disney World is a good question. Again, it could come down to local leadership. Anaheim has the reputation for being more responsive to and cognizant of the guest experience and satisfaction. While this hasn’t always appeared to be the case since reopening, it is historically true.
I have some other theories as to why this pop-up appeared in the Disneyland app and not the Walt Disney World app, but I won’t subject you to them. They are firmly in “tin foil territory” and likely reading too deeply into one little message.
All I will say is that this wouldn’t be the first time that Anaheim and Orlando were at odds over how to approach line-skipping services. It also wouldn’t be the first time that Disneyland pushed back on Genie–just the first time since launch.
Ultimately, it’s an interestingly odd message and one that suggests (to me at least) that there’s more to this story. While I think there might be nuggets of truth to each of the aforementioned potential reasons, there are probably other motivations, as well. Or, maybe the explanation is far simpler and there’s even less to this than meets the eye.
With all of this said, we continue to recommend anyone visiting Disneyland and Disney California Adventure purchase the Genie+ service, at least for one day. Like its predecessor, Genie+ works pretty well at Disneyland…minus some new tech issues and rule quirks. That still appears to be the case even right now, but we’ll be testing Genie+ again soon and reporting back on the good and bad of our experience. For now, everything you need to know, including ride priorities and much more is covered in our Guide to Genie+ and Lightning Lanes at Disneyland and DCA.
Planning a Southern California vacation? For park admission deals, read Tips for Saving Money on Disneyland Tickets. Learn about on-site and off-site hotels in our Anaheim Hotel Reviews & Rankings. For where to eat, check out our Disneyland Restaurant Reviews. For unique ideas of things that’ll improve your trip, check out What to Pack for Disney. For comprehensive advice, consult our Disneyland Vacation Planning Guide. Finally, for guides beyond Disney, check out our Southern California Itineraries for day trips to Los Angeles, Laguna Beach, and tons of other places!
YOUR THOUGHTS
Thoughts on Disneyland’s warning about Lightning Lanes availability and that no refunds are offered? Thinking we’re making too much of this language tweak, or is it fair to point to this as the paid FastPass system not meeting expectations in Anaheim? If you’ve purchased Genie+ in April at Disneyland Resort, how many Lightning Lanes were you able to reserve? Was your experience positive or negative? Are you planning on buying Genie+ or sticking to free standby lines at DLR? 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!
Used genie plus on November 19 2022 and hated it. At 3pm was giving me ride times at 10pm. Then gave me a notification that I should have been stacking every 120 minutes. Why wasn’t this told in the morning. and seriously phone dying but need to set an alarm every 2 hours to stack. Then had my family with 2 little kids bouncing back and forth between the parks trying to redeem within the 1 hour return window. Went 15-20 minutes after return time window trying to redeem a genie + and it was invalid. lucky the ride attendant felt bad an let us on. I will not be doing again.
Genie+ $20/pp
We come often to DL and DCA and I can say this service has made our experience worse.
Lines are all longer, often the LL return windows are hours out, and you cannot make another LL until that one is done. You can also only use the + once per ride.
Many times it was faster and more convenient to just wait in line.
Line times on the app also seemed much higher than reality (rotr was posted at 65min but only took 30min.
For us, after many years coming down to Disney from Canada are likely over. The confusion, wait times , and general frustration are no longer worth our time or money.
This is great info! Thx u! We will be in DL in Aug but only for a day and half. I plan on getting Disney Genie for the whole day we are spending at DL but should I purchase it if we are only going to be in DCA for 1/2 a day? Is it worth it? We are first time visitors.
Tom, I am confused about the purchase of individual lightning lane, and the purchase of Genie+. If I do not purchase Genie + may I still purchase an individual lightning lane for a specific ride?
We are at WDW and genie plus is not worth the price. We purchased it at midnight and woke up before 7 to be ready to book first pass. At 7 am the first availability was after 11. And the next one was after 4. For the price it’s easier to wait in line.
Is DL feeling like it’s forced to suffer the bad decisions of WDW?
Tune in May 4th to find out what happens on the season finale of Coast Wars.
Next season will be sprites, spite and lights when we bring you backstage as DL is forced to risk sending their beloved MSEP back over to WDW.
“Next season will be sprites, spite and lights when we bring you backstage as DL is forced to risk sending their beloved MSEP back over to WDW.”
I wonder if you realize just how much truth there is in this “joke.”
So we just returned from DL after our first time visit from 4/11 to 4/15. While I heard of first hand horror stories (and online posts) about Genie+ at WDW, must say we didn’t have any issues. We didn’t even see this error message pop up. Granted, we avoided the weekend rush on purpose. The only ride we couldn’t get was ROTR but we didn’t want it anyways. Everything else we had no problem getting. The 2 hour rebook stack worked very well. The only thing I wish was doable was to search a future window time slot rather than having to load up the app every so often. Even when we had a LL and the ride broke down, multiple experience passes were issued automatically onto the app, good for both parks.
Maybe more people without the park hopping option are heading to DCA and finding out that of 7 possible LL rides on Genie+, one of them is for Goofy’s Sky School and thus doesn’t count? (At least it’s warm enough there that Grizzly River Run counts or else it would be down to five.)
TinFoilHat: Even if Anaheim programmed this code and offered it to Orlando for free, they’re going to say NOPE like it’s a parade float that was designed after 1999.
Just add $15 to the daily ticket price to appease Chapeck and be done with all this other malarkey!
Bomokanda Bertha tried to warn us all….
*Bomokandi Bertha. Sorry for the typo, Berth.
I’m a Disneyland keyholder and have gotten Genie+ twice. Once starting out at Disneyland and once starting at DCA. Both times, I arrived within a couple hours of park opening. Both times I was able to get almost every single one of Genie+ ride offering, despite only being at the park for less than half the day.
I did get to use Genie+ at WDW once in mid Dec of last year, and although we were able to do several rides with it, I remember having to keep refreshing and really had to strategize for the day. We were also hotel guests and did early entry. The Disneyland Genie+ experience is comparatively very low effort.
I remember seeing messages similar to this with MaxPasa, especially if purchasing later in the day. It was reminding you to take a look and make sure rides were even available before purchasing. I used Genie + and purchased Lightning Lane passes when we went first week of April. It was great. Didn’t wait more than 20 min for anything, but it was definitely less busy than it was this past week. Only bummer is when you pay for a ride and it breaks down. You can’t use it for any other paying ride so you hope that the ride works again and that you can come back when it does. Or you wait in that big line at City Hall for a refund. I also couldn’t remember with Max Pass if you could only use it for a ride one time. Genie+ only allows one Lightning Lane pass per ride.
I was a big fan of MaxPass and I will definitely be trying Genie+ in September at DLR if it still exists. I didn’t have the opportunity to use it last September at WDW since it wasn’t available. Luckily we had all your tips and advice and we were still able to ride everything with very little wait time. (That and the crowds were super low!) I’m really curious to see the difference between MaxPass and Genie+ at DLR. My kids believe I have mystical line avoiding powers and I’d like to keep it that way!
Tom- I’ve been following your posts for years! As always, thank you for the fantastic insight!
Our family was at WDW for the March 12-19 week of horror. We had prepaid for Genie + and can honestly say is was a huge waste of money! We actually felt bad for those who hadn’t been to the parks several times before (as we had) because they would essentially get to experience 2-3 attractions per day. I’ve been to WDW on Christmas week, and this was so much busier!!
We have plans to be at Disneyland the last weekend of August. Despite the Florida debacle, we will likely buy Genie + again, given time constraints – we only have 2 days.
My question is, how does DL deal with the absence of magic bands? Will I be using my phone for our party of 7 to enter LLs??
Also, we are staying at The grand Californian, while the other half of our party will be offsite. Are there advantages available to us but not them? (Early entry / access to CA through the back entrance?)
Coreen – In my opinion, you should absolutely get Genie+ for your entire party at DL in August. If you follow Tom’s guides, you will do many more attractions that you would otherwise, and you can get lots of great photos through PhotoPass (included). We always have the photographers do a variety of group and individual shots. The key, of course, is to get to each park prior to opening and to have a plan (and mobile order your meals if you’re doing counter service). You will have all the Lightning Lanes on your phone, and it’s easy to swipe through them for the scanner for your party. There is currently no early entry, so yes, you can have GCH access but your friends would have to go to the main entrance. It’s probably easiest for all of you to meet at the front entrance unless you want to reduce your walking and go somewhere further back in the park (like Toy Story) at opening and have them meet you there. Have a great time!
I got this message on Friday and I assumed they were pushing it only to late arrivals since it happened almost as soon as I had scanned in (4pm, Army had half day). I checked LL availability and it looked pretty good. Everything was still available on the DCA side anyway. It was a packed weekend, though, so maybe they had heard some complaints and decided to get a little preemptive. I think it also serves an informative purpose, since infrequent visitors might not know they can check LL times even if they haven’t purchased Genie+ yet (finding them is another story). As busy as it was, it was nice seeing LL windows only an hour or so out. I still have yet to see a WDW-style day where the good stuff is all gone by mid-afternoon.
Gotta love that California 4.5 day work week (or in your case, the Army work week, I guess).
It’s curious to me that DLR adds this pop-up after a busy week with LL availability going slightly faster than normal, but still being really good. If Walt Disney World were held to the same standard, this popup would’ve been a daily occurrence there since last November. So much for “consistency” between the two coasts, which is ironic given that’s how DLR got stuck with Genie in the first place.
I plan on trying out Genie+ for our Disneyland park day May 17 and then play it by ear for the rest of our trip. I do appreciate the PhotoPass being included, so that influences my calculation. I’m taking a bunch of high schools friends to WDW in January and I definitely don’t want to be a Genie+ newbie for that trip. Have to maintain my Disney Park Commando cred!
I’m sure you’ll have a great experience with Genie+ at Disneyland in May, but don’t let that lull you into a false sense of security with it at Walt Disney World next January. It’s very different in Florida.
Just visited Disneyland and used all your tips Tom. Thank you! It really was a walk in the park in comparison to Orlando. On one medium crowded Friday evening from 3:30 pm to midnight I was able with focus and a lot of walking to ride almost every headliner in both parks (including ROTR, which had a 45 minute wait) and enjoy a nice sit down dinner. No paid LLs but I did use Genii+ and single rider for Cars. Genii LLs available until late in the evening.
All headliners in BOTH parks, a nice table service dinner, and RotR all in an afternoon. I’m impressed!
This is the first time I’ve ever wanted to hear someone’s tin foil hat theories on the internet.
Like any good conspiracy theorist, I’m concerned that my guess might be accidentally correct.
In all seriousness, the paragraph following that more or less suggests what I think might be happening.
I’d love to hear some tin foil theories, if only for kicks and giggles.