No the Magic isn’t gone but it’s at 25%

[Aluminum Falcon]

I don't think it's as complex as you are making it seem. Yes, I exclusively use the Test Track single rider line but the majority of people aren't. From my experience using it, the line is 95% made up of adults without children or families with preteen and up kids. When you enter the line, there are multiple signs saying that your party WILL be separated and Cast Members tell you that as well. Single rider lines will never be added to rides like Peter Pan and Pooh. That doesn't make sense given the seat layout of those attractions.

I have seen people try to game the system by claiming they didn't know the line was for single riders and try to sit together, but this is not an every time occurrence. It did happen the last time I rode Test Track and do you know happened? The Cast Members made those guests exit the line. It took maybe less than 2 minutes to resolve the issue.

Your last point is something I can see annoying some people. On Everest and Rocking Roller Coaster, 99.9% of the time the stranger I'm sitting with doesn't even turn to look in my direction let alone speak to me. On Test Track, I do get some pushback despite it not being my fault. One time there was a set up where it was 2 elementary school kids in the front and 1 mom + another elementary school kid in the back. I was in the back and asked the mom to move over and she got extremely huffy and angry about it, as if I was ruining her vacation. I bet she hated that I was in her family photo (despite another single rider sitting next to her kids in the front but I digress).

I agree with everything you said, you took the words right out of my mouth. Though I will say that I have been sat next to other people's kids as a single rider. I am a 5"3' woman that looks like a high schooler so maybe that's why.

Think of it this way, Disney has to find seats for every single rider, when the more efficient way would be to make everyone wait in the same line, (baring LL) and just send ride vehicles out with less people creating more turnover in ride vehicles per hour, I know it’s not that much time, but I believe that all adds up over the course of a day. It also doesn’t matter if 5 groups a day gum up the line complaining about wanting to ride together, that’s still time that counts against the rides turnover rate. Experiences working in one of these systems, or using it yourself doesn’t really help as those aren’t perspectives that really matter in terms of efficiency, a cast member may think it doesn’t take all that much time, but when you boil those numbers down across multiple shifts throughout the day I’m sure it would be more significant then what’s being theorized here. Lesser demanded parks have it a little easier because they have the luxury of less turnovers per hour to work with giving them more wiggle room if there are snags. That’s way more detail then I planned on going into, just my thought process on the matter

 

[Smugpugmug]

Think of it this way, Disney has to find seats for every single rider, when the more efficient way would be to make everyone wait in the same line, (baring LL) and just send ride vehicles out with less people creating more turnover in ride vehicles per hour, I know it’s not that much time, but I believe that all adds up over the course of a day. It also doesn’t matter if 5 groups a day gum up the line complaining about wanting to ride together, that’s still time that counts against the rides turnover rate. Experiences working in one of these systems, or using it yourself doesn’t really help as those aren’t perspectives that really matter in terms of efficiency, a cast member may think it doesn’t take all that much time, but when you boil those numbers down across multiple shifts throughout the day I’m sure it would be more significant then what’s being theorized here. Lesser demanded parks have it a little easier because they have the luxury of less turnovers per hour to work with giving them more wiggle room if there are snags. That’s way more detail then I planned on going into, just my thought process on the matter

I think you could make the same argument for people that have to transfer from a wheelchair/ECV to a ride vehicle. That still takes a little bit of time and some rides even get stopped entirely because of it (Haunted Mansion and Spaceship Earth being the main two). Those stops cause the turnover rate for vehicles per hour to be slower than average just as much as single riders.

I dunno, I just don't feel like single rider really halts the line. I use it all the time and the Cast Members are quick to send people in to fill gaps in ride vehicles. I'm happy that certain rides have a single rider line to begin with. I would probably never ride Test Track if it didn't have one and it was JUST the 80+ minute standby line.

 

[Aluminum Falcon]

I think you could make the same argument for people that have to transfer from a wheelchair/ECV to a ride vehicle. That still takes a little bit of time and some rides even get stopped entirely because of it (Haunted Mansion and Spaceship Earth being the main two). Those stops cause the turnover rate for vehicles per hour to be slower than average just as much as single riders.

I dunno, I just don't feel like single rider really halts the line. I use it all the time and the Cast Members are quick to send people in to fill gaps in ride vehicles. I'm happy that certain rides have a single rider line to begin with. I would probably never ride Test Track if it didn't have one and it was JUST the 80+ minute standby line.

The difference is you can’t tell disabled people they can’t ride a ride. Single riders on the other hand can be told they aren’t getting their own special line. Th way test tack, smugglers run, Everest, are loaded, and the actual time from load to movement, you can get away with single riders more easily. RnR runs into more of these snags bc it’s a quick load quick launch ride in comparison, it would just be more difficult to do this on constantly moving rides ie haunted mansion ect. That, and I still think Disney is more apt to allow it on thrill rides where a lot of groups would splinter into willing and unwilling to ride

 

[leiaorgana]

Think of it this way, Disney has to find seats for every single rider, when the more efficient way would be to make everyone wait in the same line, (baring LL) and just send ride vehicles out with less people creating more turnover in ride vehicles per hour, I know it’s not that much time, but I believe that all adds up over the course of a day.

It takes more time having CMs calling out down the line for a party of two or three to fill every seat when the next few groups are too big, which is what they do because I’m pretty sure they’re encouraged to fill as many seats as possible per cycle, instead of just quickly grabbing two or three people from a single rider line and telling them to fill those empty spots.

 

[Smugpugmug]

The difference is you can’t tell disabled people they can’t ride a ride. Single riders on the other hand can be told they aren’t getting their own special line. Th way test tack, smugglers run, Everest, are loaded, and the actual time from load to movement, you can get away with single riders more easily. RnR runs into more of these snags bc it’s a quick load quick launch ride in comparison, it would just be more difficult to do this on constantly moving rides ie haunted mansion ect. That, and I still think Disney is more apt to allow it on thrill rides where a lot of groups would splinter into willing and unwilling to ride

I agree with you in that Disney shouldn't add single rider to non thrill rides like Haunted Mansion but for thrill rides it's a non issue. They don't stop the rides to accommodate single riders. They fill those rows at the same speed in which the standby line is filled. And I wasn't saying people in wheelchairs/ECVs shouldn't ride. It's just that some rides do stop to accommodate them and that can impact how many vehicles can go through the track per hour.

I think it's pointless to argue since the four single rider lines they have are not going away any time soon. I have no idea why the one was Space Mountain in Disneyland was removed, but that is a shame. I used that all the time last time I was there.

 

[Aluminum Falcon]

It takes more time having CMs calling out down the line for a party of two or three to fill every seat when the next few groups are too big, which is what they do because I’m pretty sure they’re encouraged to fill as many seats as possible per cycle, instead of just quickly grabbing two or three people from a single rider line and telling them to fill those empty spots.

I don’t disagree, but that is on rides that have an “on deck” style of loading so they aren’t holding up the ride. If they can’t find 2 people in time, the ride goes on down 2 bodies. So in that case it’s. Win win for Disney.

 

[Aluminum Falcon]

I agree with you in that Disney shouldn't add single rider to non thrill rides like Haunted Mansion but for thrill rides it's a non issue. They don't stop the rides to accommodate single riders. They fill those rows at the same speed in which the standby line is filled. And I wasn't saying people in wheelchairs/ECVs shouldn't ride. It's just that some rides do stop to accommodate them and that can impact how many vehicles can go through the track per hour.

I think it's pointless to argue since the four single rider lines they have are not going away any time soon. I have no idea why the one was Space Mountain in Disneyland was removed, but that is a shame. I used that all the time last time I was there.

And that is the crux of the argument, I doubt that is actually the case, and you clearly feel opposite to that, which means it probably falls somewhere in the middle haha.
All I was saying with the disabled riders was that, Disney doesn’t have an option there to not let them ride, (nor should they) so that must be removed from the equation as it’s a non fungible event

 

[Smugpugmug]

And that is the crux of the argument, I doubt that is actually the case, and you clearly feel opposite to that, which means it probably falls somewhere in the middle haha.
All I was saying with the disabled riders was that, Disney doesn’t have an option there to not let them ride, (nor should they) so that must be removed from the equation as it’s a non fungible event

I don't have any data to back up my argument. This is all from experience from using the single rider lines constantly when I want to ride the rides that have them (Test Track and Everest mainly as Rockin's doesn't really save you much time and I never did Smuggler's since I do not want to be the Engineer). Disney doesn't seem to have an issue running them alongside standby, so they are a good option to use if you don't care about sitting with your party. I go with other adults who don't care and we're all happy to ride without a long wait.

It probably does fall in the middle. Who knows. Disney won't release those numbers lol All I'm saying is that I would be okay if a single rider line was added to a ride like Guardians or even Space Mountain since at some point in the queue Cast Members will walk through the queue and pull single riders out regardless if there is a specific line for them or not.

 

[gharter]

This is very interesting because I can't imagine traveling 1200 miles (for me) and spending thousands of dollars to just show up and wing it with no research on where I'm going but people do this every day at WDW.
But can we all at least agree that MDE isn't know for being super reliable and easy to use even if you know what you're doing? If anything they need more tech and to spend a little more of the budget on making it all functional.

The amazing/sad thing is that you used to be able to do that. In the last 5 to 10 years that really didn't work. Today, it doesn't work at all.

 

[jkiszka]

Think of it this way, Disney has to find seats for every single rider, when the more efficient way would be to make everyone wait in the same line, (baring LL) and just send ride vehicles out with less people creating more turnover in ride vehicles per hour, I know it’s not that much time, but I believe that all adds up over the course of a day. It also doesn’t matter if 5 groups a day gum up the line complaining about wanting to ride together, that’s still time that counts against the rides turnover rate. Experiences working in one of these systems, or using it yourself doesn’t really help as those aren’t perspectives that really matter in terms of efficiency, a cast member may think it doesn’t take all that much time, but when you boil those numbers down across multiple shifts throughout the day I’m sure it would be more significant then what’s being theorized here. Lesser demanded parks have it a little easier because they have the luxury of less turnovers per hour to work with giving them more wiggle room if there are snags. That’s way more detail then I planned on going into, just my thought process on the matter

Your argument seems to suggest that single rider lines accomplish the exact opposite of what they set out to do.

If that was the case, they wouldn’t be done anywhere, ever.

 

[jkiszka]

I agree with you in that Disney shouldn't add single rider to non thrill rides like Haunted Mansion but for thrill rides it's a non issue. They don't stop the rides to accommodate single riders. They fill those rows at the same speed in which the standby line is filled. And I wasn't saying people in wheelchairs/ECVs shouldn't ride. It's just that some rides do stop to accommodate them and that can impact how many vehicles can go through the track per hour.

I think it's pointless to argue since the four single rider lines they have are not going away any time soon. I have no idea why the one was Space Mountain in Disneyland was removed, but that is a shame. I used that all the time last time I was there.

The descriptor “thrill” shouldn’t be an indicator of the need for a single-rider line.

Relatively lower hourly rider capacity should be.

 

[Aluminum Falcon]

Your argument seems to suggest that single rider lines accomplish the exact opposite of what they set out to do.

If that was the case, they wouldn’t be done anywhere, ever.

I think it depends on the park, my comment went over that. On the flip side, if it was so beneficial then most parks would have it in place, I can only speak for myself, but the parks around where I live don’t offer them at all

 

[lugnut33]

nah, just a conversation evolving, it isn't that poetic

Sure, if that's what you think.

 

[Shughart]

I wish they'd either ditch Genie+ and go back to fastpass+ with 3 free or go to a maxpass system and price it high enough to make it so that yeah some people are going to be priced out of it. I'm not going to pay for a system that's crappy and priced at a point where everyone is just paying for it still. I'll just skip it and work around. If I'm going to pay, I'd rather pay $$$ and have actual priority access that works. Not Genie plus.

 

[DrummerBoy523]

You should have told me that before I went during Spring Break, followed the plan I created using Molly's videos and followed it pretty much to the letter and rode more rides than I have ever been able to do in half days in the park.

you still can't "plan". You just have to wing-it

 

[Marionnette]

you still can't "plan". You just have to wing-it

Correct. You can have a strategy but you cannot have a concrete plan. So much is dependent on how many people buy G+ on any given day and where they are using it.

 

[Elle23]

We are at WDW and genie+ has been a miserable failure for us. Until it is fixed or replaced, I can’t see us going back to WDW. It has been disheartening not being able to give my family (3 of whom have never been to WDW) the wonderful experience I have enjoyed in the past.

 

[Jadyreen1282]

Genie plus was a waste for us too in February. LL worked OK though.

 

[keishashadow]

We’ve experienced the new system over several trips. lot of valid concerns here.

For me, the worst of it is feeling the need to keep my nose glued to my phone instead of enjoying the park’s atmosphere.

 

[sethschroeder]

I don't think you'd want to see what they would charge for that. Universal is $100-$300+ per person per day. Disney would be much higher.

Actually Universal is free for onsite guests in their Deluxe resorts so we would get it included which I would take. I thought back in 2020 that was the system they were eventually going to roll out unfortunately got G+.