Hello Everyone,
Got back from the World on Sunday evening and I'm finally getting caught up at work. The jet lag is lasting a little longer though. Southwest got us across the country and back successfully though it was a bumpy ride home on Sunday. The decent into Midway was especially rough.
Since I was at Disney last week, I got to experience what it was like both before Genie and after and, boy, was there a world of difference. Anecdotally, the standby lines went up considerably after Genie debuted and I found that Cast Members were more reluctant to give out fastpasses, or lightning lane passes, or whatever, as a guest satisfaction recovery. After all, they don't want to slow down the paying
Genie+ customers. The Lightning Lanes were so backed up that I saw several people complain that they paid extra for them but still had to wait in the long lines. In addition to the problems Genie caused, it seemed there was a bigger issue with their systems last Tuesday as well. When we tried to tap into Studios, all of us were denied and we were sent to Guest Relations. Turns out our annual passes somehow became unlinked to each of us as admission. The CM at guest relations could see our AP's, could see that they were active, but did not know why we weren't being allowed in. It took her about 30 minutes on the phone with the IT department to get everything straightened out. With as massive as Disney's database is, I am surprised it works as well as it does.
The Genie software itself it typical Disney bloated mess; It is slow and some of the menu placements are weird. I played with Genie the first couple of days it was available, but gave up after that. I did not pay for Genie+ and my family has a policy that we won't wait more than 30 minutes for our favorite rides, much less other rides. I didn't have any intentions to follow the Genie recommendations, I just wanted to see what it would recommend. The Kid and I stood next to each other, input the same preferences, and Genie gave two vastly different recommendations. While standing next to Muppets, Genie said I should go to to the Disney Junior Dance Party. Keep in mind that the youngest person I was with is 16. Genie told The Kid that we should go wait in the 60 minute line for Slinky Dog. Every other step included stopping at some sort of food cart or restaurant. While chatting with a wonderful couple at MK when waiting for Enchanted to begin, they said they experienced the same thing. Disney noticed we hadn't spent any money in the last 5 minutes and wanted us to stop doing free things.
Speaking of Enchanted, it is a good show. The story is a bit difficult to follow but it is visually impressive. No one in my family thinks it is a worthy replacement for Happily Ever After. Watch it from centered on the castle from the entrance to the hub from Main Street. The first time we saw it, we were on the curb on the Adventureland side of the hub and all the fireworks were off to the side of the castle. The second time we saw it, were were centered in Main Street and the fireworks made more sense.
Finally, what can I say about Epcot? Epcot has always been my favorite park. For me, Epcot is all about the ambiance and atmosphere. After thinking for a long time about it, I think the best way I can describe it is that the "flavor" of Epcot is changing. Whereas Epcot used to be a bit understated, it is now more upbeat and in your face than it used to be. The music is faster and more "pop-y", the lights are brighter, and everything seems faster, if that makes sense. Spaceship Earth is defiantly in your face now. The points of light are impressive and bright, they can be seen from almost anywhere on property. I was not a fan at first but they are growing on me. I loved the floodlights on Spaceship Earth because they accented the shapes and the way the lights blended together. The points of light aren't that.
HarmoniUS, on the other hand, not only am I not a fan of, but I hate. I would be a happy man if the barges caught fire and sank. In my opinion, Illuminations is the best show but I would take Epcot Forever over HarmoniUS. The show itself is choppy with no story and a very thin, tenuous thread running through it to tie all the pieces together. The thread is that every county has music. When it was over, The Kid and I looked at each other and both said, "Is it over?" There is no real ending or conclusion. The clue that it was over is the lights came back on. Add in the fact that the show is only complete when viewed head on, and there are just too many things wrong with it for me. I also can't stand that the stargate and tacos are a blight in the lagoon. The sightlines are completely destroyed and the show does not make up for that. Disney has given up on hiding the barges during the day. Instead they show the 50th logo all day. Don't get me wrong, the technology for the show is impressive, I just think Disney had a solution and went looking for a problem. Unfortunately, this is what they came up with.
