Lightning Lane & Genie+ Selections ‘Selling Out’ & Holiday Availability

Earlier this holiday week, we shared Genie+ Collapsing in Crowds at Walt Disney World. That detailed the many problems with Lightning Lanes and the paid FastPass service during Thanksgiving week, from technical difficulties to limited ride reservation inventory. This post is essentially the sequel to that, taking a look at ride reservation options every two hours so you have an idea how quickly selections are “selling out.”

We also wanted to supplement that post with additional thoughts based on the ~140 reader comments. Many of those offer firsthand accounts from regular guests who are visiting Walt Disney World right now, and are frankly a bit tough to read. (Not because they’re poorly written–due to the really bad experiences some are sharing.)

Those comments are worth revisiting, especially if you thought we might’ve been exaggerating. Some also cover errors and glitches that we haven’t experienced at all. That’s the bad news–that some people have had even more problems using Genie+ this week than us. The good news is that Lightning Lane inventory hasn’t looked as bad the last couple of days…

To be sure, Slinky Dog Dash is still fully booked within minutes of 7 am. Same goes for Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance on the Individual Lightning Lane side of the ledger. At Magic Kingdom, Jungle Cruise is selling out relatively quickly. The same is true of Na’vi River Journey at Animal Kingdom and Test Track at Epcot.

In order to give you an idea of what inventory is looking like throughout the day, I’ve been taking copious screenshots over the course of the last couple of days–over 200 this week, with 100+ yesterday alone. I’m trying to find a good way of presenting those (I think the 4 in a row below might be too hard to read for most people) and will continue to tweak the approach as this could be a useful illustration going forward.

In any case, I’ve been checking Genie+ regularly and have the following in 2-hour increments (consistent with the 120-minute rule, since that’s the relevant rule when it’s busy). Commentary follows in case you can’t make sense of the screenshots, or just want an interpretation…

~9 am Genie+ Inventory

~11 am Genie+ Inventory

~1 pm Genie+ Inventory

~3 pm Genie+ Inventory

~5 pm Genie+ Inventory

Inventory is definitely better, and it’s better managed. In the prior post, we mentioned that Genie+ Lightning Lane drops or refills had become more frequent and less predictable. That definitely has continued to be the case. In particular, all of the headliners except Slinky Dog Dash had refills after 9 am. All of the Genie+ Lightning Lane selections other than SDD were available at some point after 11 am. (ILLs are a different story–once they’re gone, they’re gone.)

This is relatively significant because it means that, at minimum, you could’ve booked two headliner attractions in any of the parks. Assuming, of course, that you were diligent about watching for watching for Lightning Lane refills and didn’t get a dreaded access code email prompt or have another random glitch while trying to book. (Big assumptions, I know.) Just casually watching from home during another embarrassing Lions loss, I’m pretty confident I could’ve scored selections for at least 4 headliners in Disney’s Hollywood Studios and even more in Magic Kingdom.

Speaking of which, DHS and Magic Kingdom have been our focus with Genie+ since the beginning and that remains the case. It’s a tougher sell for us at Animal Kingdom or Epcot, which is largely driven by a lack of eligible attractions and the reality that following savvy strategy will accomplish just as much. (In the case of Animal Kingdom, “stay late” remains the easiest advice–many Genie+ return times will end up being late in the day when wait times are short anyway!)

Even with this “better” day, inventory at Disney’s Hollywood Studios was pretty low by 3 pm. Still, the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror was available, which would’ve bypassed a 55 minute posted wait and been the 4th Genie+ Lightning Lane selection of the day. That’s not too shabby in terms of total time saved. (That would’ve been the last pick–by 5 pm, even Alien Swirling Saucers was sold out and only shows remained.)

At Magic Kingdom, there were good options into the early evening. Big Thunder Mountain Railroad and the Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh were still available as of 5 pm. Although I don’t have 7 pm screenshots, there were still reasonably valuable options then. Standby wait times weren’t bad by that hour in the evening, either.

Without question, Magic Kingdom is the best park for Genie+ by virtue of its higher attraction count. This is where the system most resembles MaxPass at Disneyland. Having more attractions also removes some of the pressure, which is part of what makes DHS so stressful and unpleasant for using Genie+ Lightning Lanes.

One of the keys to success with Genie+ is getting a feel for the Lightning Lane selection refills or drops. Sometimes, it only appears that an attraction is ‘sold out’ of Genie+ Lightning Lane times for the day, but is actually just temporarily unavailable. In other cases, the time has progressed into evening, but will soon ‘roll over’ into earlier return times.

Since there’s no modify button (a colossal oversight that urgently needs to be remedied), it’s often advantageous not to book a ride reservation, but rather, to wait for a better time to come along. Cancelling and rebooking is too cumbersome–you’ll usually miss out on the better time, and might get denied a replacement reservation altogether due to the app’s bugginess.

If you’ve yet to visit Walt Disney World, we’d recommend spending some time monitoring the Genie Tip Board in the days prior to your vacation to get a feel for the cadence of refills, when they’re happening, and how quickly the times progress. There’s no good way to explain this via a blog post–learn by seeing/doing.

In the summary of our last post about Genie+ collapsing under crowds, we advised that anyone visiting Walt Disney World this week for “holistic enjoyment” and not just wait time minimization, should opt for a normal rope drop, midday break, late night strategy—and pretend Genie+ doesn’t even exist. If you read the horror stories in the comments, the reasons for that recommendation should be fairly evident. Nevertheless, we want to clarify a bit.

Even with all of these problems, Genie+ can still save you a good amount of time waiting in line–potentially 3+ hours at Disney’s Hollywood Studios and 4+ hours at Magic Kingdom. However, that’s assuming you utilized no other strategy and stood in long lines during the middle of the day. Hopefully, anyone reading a strategy blog like this one would otherwise be leveraging a solid touring plan and tactics for outsmarting the crowds–so the time savings offered by Genie+ is a bit illusory.

Right now, our recommendation (or lack thereof) is more colored by all of the headaches dealing with glitches, screen time trying to score “good” Lightning Lane selections, and who knows what other problems. Don’t underestimate the “cost” of all that, as it is significant right now.

Stated differently, the extra time you spend in line by not using Genie+ might be preferable to the frustrations and time incurred in bypassing some lines. Unless your tolerance for Disney IT induced pain is high, you might come out ahead just doing standby and not messing with it.

Everything has a cost–whether in dollars, time or your sanity. Genie+ takes the first and third, while giving you the second. At this point, that tradeoff is arguably not worth it–except maybe at Magic Kingdom, where it’s lower pressure and there’s greater opportunity to book more selections before they sell out. (If you were already on the fence about Genie due to screen time or dealing with Disney IT, the conclusion here should be an obvious one for you.)

Finally, a friendly reminder to be kind to Cast Members if you’re choosing to visit Walt Disney World during this peak holiday season. This should go without saying and is always the case, but it’s especially true now. It has been a tough couple of years for them, and having to do with the many woes of Genie+ will not be easy or pleasant, especially given how belligerent some guests can be about it.

Frontline Cast Members with whom you interact have literally zero say over Walt Disney World’s prices, the upcharges that get sold, nickel & diming policies–and they certainly aren’t the ones coding My Disney Experience. Lines at Guest Relations and the “blue umbrellas” have been very long this Thanksgiving week, and we’ve heard some horror stories about guest behavior. You are not going to change anything by being rude to them, only reveal the true content of your character. Hopefully we’re preaching to the choir, and everyone reading this already knows that.

As a corollary to this, it’s also worth noting that the decision-makers are often “insulated” from the operational consequences of the products they release and actual on-the-ground guest experience. We already know that the company views Genie as a great success, because CEO Bob Chapek said as much on the last quarterly earnings call. (Money talks…)

He and other leaders see financial results coming out of Walt Disney World, which undoubtedly look great this week, plus summary reports often written to reinforce what they want to hear. It should also go without saying, but those in the c-suite are not in the parks, fielding complaints. They are also not using using Genie+ themselves to book Lightning Lanes because, on the rare occasions that they do visit Walt Disney World, their visits are carefully scripted and they are whisked around by an entourage of park management and have VIP access.

The point of all this rambling is that we recommend respectfully expressing your opinions as to how Genie+ or Lightning Lane is impacting your vacations or business with Walt Disney World by emailing [email protected].

This is far superior to only complaining in comments, social media, forums, etc. (Although Disney sees all of that, too.) Rather than starting petitions, which are largely ineffectual, share feedback in guest satisfaction surveys, bring it up if you speak with managers or others in park leadership, or even contact Guest Relations. Write your letters is a sincere manner, explaining exactly why you were disappointed and the impact it had on your vacation. Sarcasm or “venting” might make you feel better, but it is far less likely to get results.

There’s probably more ground to cover with how Genie+ is working–and breaking–this week at Walt Disney World, but those are my key thoughts in seeing how the last couple of days have played out and seeing reader comments. Should more questions or interesting points arise in the comments, I’ll revise this accordingly. Plus, we’ll be in the parks throughout the weekend and early next week to do more testing and research, and will bring you more firsthand conclusions then. Stay tuned!

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

If you’re at Walt Disney World for Thanksgiving week, what has been your experience with Genie+ or standby lines? Any success or failures making morning Lightning Lane selections? Would you recommend Genie+ to others, or just advise sticking to standby? Have you had problems with My Disney Experience glitches, errors or bugs? Other problems or thoughts to share? 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!

64 Responses to “Lightning Lane & Genie+ Selections ‘Selling Out’ & Holiday Availability”
  1. Nicki November 30, 2021
  2. Brittany November 30, 2021
  3. Elena November 29, 2021
  4. Jacqueline November 29, 2021
  5. BM November 28, 2021
  6. Jared W November 28, 2021
  7. Beth November 28, 2021
  8. Lauren November 28, 2021
  9. Lisa November 28, 2021
  10. Gearhead November 28, 2021
  11. Marisa November 27, 2021
  12. Rene November 27, 2021
  13. Larry H November 27, 2021
  14. Karen Nelson November 27, 2021
  15. Jen November 27, 2021
  16. Lisa Z November 26, 2021
  17. Ash November 26, 2021
  18. Liz November 26, 2021
  19. Helene November 26, 2021

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *