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

[Smugpugmug]

It's also a reliability issue. Especially HS. TOT is half down for months. Mickey, Rockn, ROTR are constantly going down. HS was the worst on my recent trip. When the rides were down, you couldn't book. Rides going down meant G+ shifted people everywhere. And there's just not enough rides to handle all the people there.

I had a similar experience on both HS days on my last trip. It's gotten to a point where my family opted to do Universal instead of HS on our December trip because we don't want to deal with the hassle and stress that park is to visit.

 

[Wells Larsen]

We went last April for the first time in 5 years. We had a blast, but we also didn't let money come in the way of a good time. This trip was way way way more expensive than our last one 5 years ago.

Oh, yea. I feel that. I'm a bit shell-shocked as far as price goes compared to my last trips. I think my trip in 2010 was two weeks at DVC Animal Kingdom Savanah for under $2k. At least I make more money than I did back then and I have a year and a half to save.

 

[Dean Kennedy]

This trip has been our worst ever. Genie plus has been a waste of money everywhere but MK. It’s glitched and canceled things and we got less than 3 rides at both Epcot and. DHS. They’d be better off doing paid lightening lane than this. It has put me in a horrible mood every day of what is supposed to be a fun vacation. They won’t be getting my money again my time soon.

My sentiments exactly. Absurd greedy appetite for money. When it could cost a family an EXTRA 100/125 bucks to ride one ride you have to draws the line. That plus a $475 lunch at Space 220 just makes your stomach queasy. With all the Imagineers and things Disney has dreamed up, Genie + is the most evil. What would Walt do????

 

[tink2424]

My sentiments exactly. Absurd greedy appetite for money. When it could cost a family an EXTRA 100/125 bucks to ride one ride you have to draws the line. That plus a $475 lunch at Space 220 just makes your stomach queasy. With all the Imagineers and things Disney has dreamed up, Genie + is the most evil. What would Walt do????

I don't necessarily have a problem with corporations making money. The problem comes down to the value for your money. Disney while expensive was still a value for most people. Now it seems like Genie+ is just not valuable even if it was free. So that is where the issue is...

 

[Jrb1979]

I can see that being the only way that demographic would visit the parks. Theme parks probably aren't their normal vacation.

It's why I'm baffled they are trying so hard to cater to that crowd. They should stick with those that are their most loyal guest.

 

[DCLMP]

It's why I'm baffled they are trying so hard to cater to that crowd. They should stick with those that are their most loyal guest.

I think their going to find out in the next year or so that people wont be able to afford it.

 

[Jrb1979]

I think their going to find out in the next year or so that people wont be able to afford it.

I agree. I just don't think going after the group that really interested in your product is a good idea.

 

[asc]

I realized in my last survey when they had income bands they did with over 500K a year at the top, "I'm not the guest Disney is looking for". I'm glad I have some old passes that should allow another two visits before I have to buy anything new. Overall, our recent trip was better than 3 years ago and then much better that our last before that.

 

[xipotec]

If you have EVER tried to purchase something online from Disney... especially when there's one of those rare items available for a short time... it's PAINFULLY obvious that Disney does NOT know how to scale their servers to handle the amount of customers they have.

Genie getting overloaded doesn't surprise me in the least.

They know how, just like all online comapies know how.

You are not seeing the obvious, they do not WANT to scale the servers , because it costs them more money to do so.

If you want the servers to handle the occasional massive spikes in traffic you have to buy and maintain the extra server units for that capacity…..they do not want to buy that hardware for the occasional customer service issues.

 

[lugnut33]

It's why I'm baffled they are trying so hard to cater to that crowd. They should stick with those that are their most loyal guest.

As American society bifurcates in to the haves and have nots (elimination of middle class), Disney is simply choosing to go after those that will have in the future.

 

[Jrb1979]

As American society bifurcates in to the haves and have nots (elimination of middle class), Disney is simply choosing to go after those that will have in the future.

Like I said a lot of those people are not theme park people.

 

[ScarletFire]

We recently had a 100% MAGICAL Disney vacation!!

With 4-day park hoppers, we rode all the fancy rides with Genie+. No issues. We would have been just as successful with 3-day park hoppers and could get a lot done with 2-day park hoppers. We go commando!

All the CMs were kind and helpful. Respect works two ways.

Genie+ is not intuituve. Don't wait until day one of a Disney park to learn. Do your research. Besides the cost, I find it superior to paper FP and FP+. I love the ability to stack in the evening.

The only lines we waited in were end of the day for Rise and Avatar, and those were short. LL's were walk-ons.

I've seen discussion on this thread about virtual queues. It's been my experience when using a virtual queue at Disney that there's still a long wait. VQ and LL are not the same.

I witnessed more than one meltdown; grown-ups and children. Kids need a break. I suspect the grown-up meltdowns centered around money anxiety.

It IS way expensive! So is snow skiing, my other love. Counter service at Disney is less expensive than food on the mountain at the CO/UT ski resorts; we pack a cooler.

I'm not theme park people but LOVE the Disney bubble. I feel secure knowing there are mags at the parks and Disney Springs. I like the cleanliness and landscaping. I could go on about the Disney details all week. I live in an urban area with homeless camps and gun crime. Disney is an escape from societal problems that make me very, very sad. I only follow sports news on vacation. I don't do other theme parks so I cannot compare to Universal.

It's difficult to take a Disney vacation without money anxiety. Don't spend a fortune and then skimp on Genie+. I suggest shorter stays with park hoppers. Park hoppers are expensive but a resort stay costs more. Extend your vacation at the beach. Stay at the campground, it's a vacation without the parks. Try renting DVC points.

We are middle class and have managed many Disney family vacations over the past 50 years.

 

[Jrb1979]

We recently had a 100% MAGICAL Disney vacation!!

With 4-day park hoppers, we rode all the fancy rides with Genie+. No issues. We would have been just as successful with 3-day park hoppers and could get a lot done with 2-day park hoppers. We go commando!

All the CMs were kind and helpful. Respect works two ways.

Genie+ is not intuituve. Don't wait until day one of a Disney park to learn. Do your research. Besides the cost, I find it superior to paper FP and FP+. I love the ability to stack in the evening.

The only lines we waited in were end of the day for Rise and Avatar, and those were short. LL's were walk-ons.

I've seen discussion on this thread about virtual queues. It's been my experience when using a virtual queue at Disney that there's still a long wait. VQ and LL are not the same.

I witnessed more than one meltdown; grown-ups and children. Kids need a break. I suspect the grown-up meltdowns centered around money anxiety.

It IS way expensive! So is snow skiing, my other love. Counter service at Disney is less expensive than food on the mountain at the CO/UT ski resorts; we pack a cooler.

I'm not theme park people but LOVE the Disney bubble. I feel secure knowing there are mags at the parks and Disney Springs. I like the cleanliness and landscaping. I could go on about the Disney details all week. I live in an urban area with homeless camps and gun crime. Disney is an escape from societal problems that make me very, very sad. I only follow sports news on vacation. I don't do other theme parks so I cannot compare to Universal.

It's difficult to take a Disney vacation without money anxiety. Don't spend a fortune and then skimp on Genie+. I suggest shorter stays with park hoppers. Park hoppers are expensive but a resort stay costs more. Extend your vacation at the beach. Stay at the campground, it's a vacation without the parks. Try renting DVC points.

We are middle class and have managed many Disney family vacations over the past 50 years.

Your post brings me to a point I have made a few times. My family visits multiple different parks a year. Since May we have already done 3 different amusement parks. We have seen how other parks treat guests and pass holders. Right now Disney is near the bottom in our opinion.

Genie+ has shown to work for some and but for most it's been a disaster. I'm sorry but you shouldn't need a PHD to visit a theme park. Add in reservations as well and it's getting more complex than it needs to be.

As pass holders go the way Disney thinks of them is disgusting. I have a Cedar Fair platinum pass and the perks they have added for us as well as extending our pass til labor Day this year due to Covid has been amazing.

IMO most Disney park goers visit other parks much and see how well they are run in comparison.

 

[Carol_]

Our trip this last week included 2 park days without hopping, plus SeaWorld and Aquatica and ~4 resort days (at resorts with water parks). After our last WDW trip had me cranky and declaring a trial separation from my previously beloved WDW… This week has me honeymooning all over again. I begrudgingly renewed our incredipasses. The CMs were across the board professional and helpful, even and especially when things weren’t going my way.
The prices of everything is up in the same way gas prices are. We packed snacks, ate off the kids menus, skipped signature dining, ate off property, and occasionally got nifty drinks. Discovered new more affordable favorites, and will be back in a few months.
I’d say the magic is back for the most part, and yes, for double the price. When I couldn’t figure out Genie +, Guest relations helped me out. You have to be willing to ask for help. (And log on at 12am to buy it, then 7am to book that one ride you can’t live without.)
Also, the merchandise quality is still abysmal. It’ll all dissolve in the machine within 2 years, when you’ll have return to buy more fast fashion and hand wash only mugs from WDW.

 

[dd316]

There are going to be complaints about Genie+ until the end of time (because if people keep buying it, they'll keep offering it).

Just do what we did in February - don't pay for Genie+. We had an amazing time, rode everything we wanted, and while it was still an expensive trip and we waited in lines we had a blast. We tapped out at waiting more than an hour so we skipped rides with super long waits and moved onto shorter rides or found something else to do. You can't do it all anyway.

Save the money, save the stress, and go with the flow.

 

[donaldbuzz&minnie]

We just got back from a week long trip to WDW. We stayed at Kidani, which turned out to be one of our favorite stays ever. We were lucky enough to get a room close to the lobby, which made all the difference. Such a peaceful, beautiful resort. A really good memory.

But....we didn't get Genie + or use the Lightening Lane. Still can't stomach the fact that Disney is making us pay for an inferior alternative to what used to be free. So we opted instead to get up early for rope drop, both to avoid the ridiculous costs, and because it was almost impossible, given the heat, to stay in the parks past about 10:30 am.

This summer was when our grandkids could go, though, it was where they wanted to go, and for those reasons I'm still glad we went. We did have a great family visit.

However...getting up at 5:45 am to make early entry isn't all that much fun. It especially isn't fun when the rides you are doing that for are broken. Announcement at Hollywood Studios at early entry - Rise of Resistance down; will be down for indeterminate multiple hours. Announcement at Epcot the next day at early entry - Remy down, unknown when it will be fixed, suggest you maybe go ride Test Track. Lines for almost every ride were long, long, long; even some of the dependable older rides were down when we wanted to ride; and of course the parks were all jammed. Too many people for the 4 parks, and the solution seems to be to just let the guests deal with it.

Going to Disney is more and more like work. It's hard not to resent every single petty subtraction from what used to make these trips so much fun. The value for the time and money we spend there seems to be very quickly draining away. The cast members on our trip were the saving grace - almost uniformly kind and helpful. But the people running the show seem to be far more Scrooge McDuck than Mickey Mouse - greedy and petty beyond belief. Is Disney really that hard up for every penny they can possible squeeze out of their guests?

I'm not going to lie - my grandkids' happiness is going to make me keep coming back for awhile longer. But the kids are quickly growing up and it's hard not to ask myself: At what point will it make more sense to stop trying to ride Remy, and just use my money to go to actual Paris instead?

 

[0FF TO NEVERLAND]

The fact that you need to be waking up at 7am every day drives me crazy. I like to sleep in a little bit. At least with fast pass I could choose my time frames before I am there. I REALLY wish they would stop that. Not everybody rope drops

 

[Jrb1979]

The fact that you need to be waking up at 7am every day drives me crazy. I like to sleep in a little bit. At least with fast pass I could choose my time frames before I am there. I REALLY wish they would stop that. Not everybody rope drops

Yes it sucks but if it worked like planned you wouldn't have that issue. Due to the demand of Genie+ it's causing a lot of the issues.

 

[Wells Larsen]

Yes it sucks but if it worked like planned you wouldn't have that issue. Due to the demand of Genie+ it's causing a lot of the issues.

So, is the takeaway that Genie+ is in far more demand than FastPass or FastPass+?
If that's the case, why?
Does it have merely to do with revenge travel and the crowds?

From a functionality standpoint with FastPass +, one could "pre-schedule" something like 2 or 3 rides, right? Did availability of FastPass+ have the ability to "run out" due to demand and did it as often as Genie+?

Wouldn't the smarter play have been to keep FastPass+, but then just charge for it?
I'm not sure how Genie+ is superior to FastPass+
I'm not being facetious. I honestly don't know.

 

[Jrb1979]

So, is the takeaway that Genie+ is in far more demand than FastPass or FastPass+?
If that's the case, why?
Does it have merely to do with revenge travel and the crowds?

From a functionality standpoint with FastPass +, one could "pre-schedule" something like 2 or 3 rides, right? Did availability of FastPass+ have the ability to "run out" due to demand and did it as often as Genie+?

Wouldn't the smarter play have been to keep FastPass+, but then just charge for it?
I'm not sure how Genie+ is superior to FastPass+
I'm not being facetious. I honestly don't know.

Yes and no. In reality FP+ was really only used by 50% of guests were Genie+ is used by 2/3 of guests.

If the system were operating as designed (with less people using it), there would be availability all day long that you could open it up at 11am 2pm 4pm and find an attraction near in the future.

This was also one of the reasons that the most popular attractions were moved into ILL because they knew if they were included in Genie+, way too many people would purchase Genie+ and also break the model of being able to pick selections easily throughout the day. And it's also why you can select specific times for ILL.