Just back - here's how Genie + affects the parks.

[disneyfan2kids]

Seasoned WDW traveler - DVC - AP - etc. We know what we're doing. We loved FP and the ability to be "fair game" (if you will) for everyone to get a few headliners and wait (as necessary) for other rides. We paid for AP's this time and refused to pay one dime more so decided we'd grin and bear it. Was onsite from 01/01 thru 01/08 (busy time in front of week - way less busy 2nd half of week.)

1.) Waits (regardless of Park/day/business/etc) for almost all rides were 90 - 120 minutes at all times in every park. We did NOT do Genie + so we realized quickly the only way to get on rides was to rope drop for early entry and do late nights (for deluxe resorts.) So we did that every day (except one - more to come on that).

2.) We woke up nearly every day by 6-6:30am to get to park 30 mins BEFORE the EARLY ENTRY for onsite guests. In that early time - we'd hit the main headliner and maybe 1 other ride before the parks became inundated with long waits. Using this strategy we still waited 1.5 hours for ROTR in star wars. Thats a 1.5 hour wait in line BEFORE the park even opened. After that the waits were near 180-240 for rest of day. For Pandora FOP it was still a 45 minute wait in line using this same strategy. Anyone else who didnt rope drop THAT ride - were waiting 180-240 minutes for it.

3.) late night at Epcot - we got to ride Soarin, TT, and Nemo - so 2 hours from 9-11pm got us 3 rides. Outside that - we would have been waiting well over 120 minutes for those. EACH.

4.) late night at MK - literally the ONLY time the waits at MK for most/all rides were below 120 minutes each. We stayed for the full 2 hours and ran from ride to ride and were able to do Pirates, BTMR, HM, Space, Buzz - all in 2 hours.

So - the early mornings (as in get there AT LEAST a half hour BEFORE THE EARLY MORNING ENTRY (not rope drop for regular people) and then you can hit 1 headliner but will still likely wait 1 hour to 1.5 hours for that ride. Then proceed into the rest of park and deal with ridiculous waits at each and every ride until you go back to resort to relax because you're exhausted from being at the parks until 11pm (for late night - only way to get on rides) and then back at parks at 6:30pm (for early entry - only way to get on rides).

So, my vacations that used to be relaxed - wake up at 10am - eat breakfast as a family - hit parks and FP a few rides - and then watch some fireworks - is a distant memory. In all seriousness, we are/were exhausted. And we do are the family that has to ride much. But if we didn't do the above - we were not getting on 1 single ride. We tried the old method 1 day at MK. Got there early (but not rope drop) and EVERY SINGLE RIDE was over 120 minute wait. Everything. We left within an hour. It was pointless - and a complete waste of money if I hadn't had an Annual Pass.

In other news - Mobile ordering is NOT faster. You order on your phone - wait in just as long a line as prior and then get your food. Those not using it - mostly got their food faster than those waiting for mobile orders.

EVERYONE. and I mean EVERYONE was heads down in their phones 24/7. My phone died one day at the parks - and I literally had to go back to resort. Felt like I had lost all control to anything WDW related without the stupid App - that crashed all the time anyway.

We had a great time (as a family) mostly because we talked about how the parks used to be. But we were exhausted and completely disenchanted by alot too. SO much is closed down - or limited - or simply changed and NOT for the better.

WE have AP's so we will be back again - but it will be the last time for a very long time. Unless they change the new "rules" - they've lost my vacation dollars.

I'm glad for the memories I had - and will most likely make some more this year (AP's) but this was the least relaxing, least "action packed", least productive, least satisfying WDW vacation we've had. FWIW - it appeared most people in parks were equally disenchanted. I saw more "phone anger" (LOL) then ever in my life. I saw "once in a lifetime" vacationers amazed at the lack of availability to get on a single ride for less than 120 minutes standing in line.

This system - Genie + - whatever. Doesn't work. and they will lose customers because of it.

 

[butterscotchcollins]

I assume you were there for Christmas week or Marathon week/weekend? I was periodically checking wait times on the app and while there were some egregious 55 minute ones (Pirates for example) mid-day I think it’s a stretch to say every single attraction was 90-120 minutes. (Headliners, absolutely, at least.)

Regardless I’m sorry you had a miserable time I think we all got a little spoiled from the “low” covid crowds of 2020/2021 before the 50th.

 

[BroadwayHermione5]

I have to agree about mobile ordering. Unless the QS required it, we asked if there was a separate line-between allergies, severe acid reflux, and just weird hating if certain foods we liked being able to talk to a person

 

[disneyfan2kids]

I assume you were there for Christmas week or Marathon week/weekend? I was periodically checking wait times on the app and while there were some egregious 55 minute ones (Pirates for example) mid-day I think it’s a stretch to say every single attraction was 90-120 minutes. (Headliners, absolutely, at least.)

Regardless I’m sorry you had a miserable time I think we all got a little spoiled from the “low” covid crowds of 2020/2021 before the 50th.

I wish I was exaggerating about the wait times - I'm honestly not. And I haven't been since Dec 2019...so I don't have any "covid lows" to compare it to.

 

[butterscotchcollins]

I wish I was exaggerating about the wait times - I'm honestly not. And I haven't been since Dec 2019...so I don't have any "covid lows" to compare it to.

I’m so sorry that was your experience We avoid the more crowded times of year for exactly this reason (I’m not good at “gaming” the pass system.) Hopefully you guys can find a better time to go and enjoy the parks - I’m getting old and rope drop to closing 4 days in a row is no longer as doable for me as it once was

 

[dd316]

I would blame massive crowds instead of Genie+. You said it yourself, the 2nd half of the week was less busy as you moved further away from the holiday. It'll be interesting to see where wait times go over the next 30 days or so. We know MLK weekend will be busy, but aside from that how busy will it be between now and President's Day? I have to imagine wait times will taper down with lower crowds.

We're still in the same boat where many "people eaters" are still closed, so more people are in ride lines when they would normally be doing other things - shows, characters, etc. No matter what time of year, until everything is back to 100% it's going to be rare to see any wait times back down to between 10-20 minutes.

 

[disneyfan2kids]

I would blame massive crowds instead of Genie+. You said it yourself, the 2nd half of the week was less busy as you moved further away from the holiday. It'll be interesting to see where wait times go over the next 30 days or so. We know MLK weekend will be busy, but aside from that how busy will it be between now and President's Day? I have to imagine wait times will taper down with lower crowds.

We're still in the same boat where many "people eaters" are still closed, so more people are in ride lines when they would normally be doing other things - shows, characters, etc. No matter what time of year, until everything is back to 100% it's going to be rare to see any wait times back down to between 10-20 minutes.

The difference is that the "less busy" (read: you could walk around) did NOT make for any less waits.

 

[Mrs.AMC]

I wish I was exaggerating about the wait times - I'm honestly not. And I haven't been since Dec 2019...so I don't have any "covid lows" to compare it to.

I can assure you, not every wait was 120 min. I was there too. We never rope drop, ever.
Besides that, one of the bonus of having an AP (and there aren't many bonus any more) is you'll be back. There's really little reason to exhaust yourself doing it all. Something we learned after a year or two of AP

 

[Kmilos1024]

We also didn't use genie plus and were there 1/2 to 1/8. I agree early entry is not helpful for families with kids because to make it from the POP you basically had to be at the bus at 730 to 8 which meant waking up about 630 (what a relaxing vacation!). Also the waits weren't all 120 minutes but even a 60 minute wait was rough because you would stand still for 5 minutes very often not moving, this absolutely kills your feet and is so tiring, and it feels like the wait is much longer than it actually is.

Although we didn't use Genie + we did use the ILL$ on ROTR, FOP and Frozen, and that was easily over 150 dollars for five people, but it did save tons of time. In contrast when we didn't use ILL$ for seven dwarfs the wait took forever. We also found it wasn't worth it to go back to the resort because then you wouldn't really have time to ride much.

A silver lining-we didn't have extra evening hours, but still found that last hour to half hour in a park was dramatically lower waits so in the end we got on everything. But now we have gotten home, we are exhausted and until our boys ask to go back we have no plans to return. The only way to do this is to shell out for genie plus for at least three days and most of the ILL$ and for a family of four you are talking about 400 dollars extra. In the end the ILL$ and genie+ are great if you use it but a nightmare if you don't which is exactly what disney wants.

 

[Wakey]

We had the same experience. It’s a disaster compared to what it was like with Fastpass.

Everyone was flooding to Extra Morning hours to ride the paid for rides. At 8.05 Mine Train was 75 min wait with lines right to the rear of the attraction opposite Litte Mermaid. One side effect of Disney Genie and paid for rides is the Extra Morning time is now packed compared to before with people who before had Fastpasses with them doubling efforts to get up early to avoid the charges.

Test Track we entered in Extra Morning hour and ran/ brisk walked to Test Track. It was a 75 min wait seconds after we joined the line with the queues back to the pathway next to the lake.

We leave parks just after lunch and so Genie+ was useless, return times were late afternoon. What a mess.

For the first time we didn’t ride many key attractions. The whole family was disappointed, and the kids said they had no interest in visiting again.

Essentially you got in for one headliner in EMH for which you queue half hour + , then maybe one more decent secondary ride like Thunder Mountain, then everything decent is a 75+ minute wait.

Also in every park we went over 7 days, aside from Animal Kingdom, rides were going down for long periods.

Animal Kimgdom was the only park we got what we wanted done, by arriving for Morning Hours at 6.45am, and even then the queue for Flight of Passage was so large at 7am I think it left Pandora!

Food outlets were understaffed. Hour waits (with no mobile order anytime soon) for a waffle at Sleepy Hollow, an hour for Starbucks on Main Street. No apparent management looking to speed up process.

Large swathes of Epcot boarded off with apparently little or no building works going on, causing footfall around World Showcase to be overwhelming also. It’s what, 4 years since they started this project?

Rides not built. Remy was finished summer and held over, meaning even more demand. Guardians has been building for 4 years nearly. Tron, no visible work being done when looking from People Mover, and possibly not open until 2023?

Outside the one parade, I saw four characters whole trip. Two were on the railroad platform exiting the MK and two on a barge passing under the bridge at AK near Nemo theatre. No characters spotted anywhere else over 7 days including the resorts or anywhere else in the parks.

We have almost 400 points with DVC. The one saving grace was the resorts were still great. But we will not be heading to the WDW parks again until Chapek/ Board reverse many of the changes which I accept may be never,. For next Xmas we are booking Portofino with Club and free express pass and going on an RCI cruise to Coco Cay. I will use the DVC for Vero, California and a condo like arrangement for pool stays. WDW parks will not get any more money from me for the foreseeable future. I will be dropping $7k at Universal next Xmas, all of which would have gone to Disney.

Very sad indeed what has happened. I am seeing mass dissatisfaction and the serious damaging of a brand. Appreciate we may be more affected by the changes as we rope drop and leave early afternoon so can’t ‘stack’ rides, but yes, we have been Xmas before, we were there Xmas 2019 and it was a totally different experience. Chapek and co have unfortunately damaged the park experience to the extent I was walking around thinking the way Disney is charging for what is on offer is obscene. Then I see yesterday they now have jacked up prices further. They know no shame. Sorry I am a little emotional about what has happened.

I repeat, we went Xmas pre pandemic and loved it.

Don‘t say it’s a pandemic, I’m sick of seeing that excuse, Disney chose to lay off staff and bring construction projects to a halt and Genie+ was set up before the pandemic was even known about. Disney has become the master of using the pandemic as cover. The park reservation system is universally hated, and not to limit crowds. Chapek admits it’s great for his favourite word ‘yield’.

Sorry it seems like a bit of a rant, but it hit me like a brick wall that I‘d struggle to ever get the family back to what were my beloved parks again.

Finishing on a positive note, aside from the resorts, the CMs we’re trying mainly to keep up morale, we loved the SSR renovations, and Disney Springs restaurants were very good indeed.

 

[disneyfan2kids]

We had the same experience. It’s a disaster compared to what it was like with Fastpass.

Everyone was flooding to Extra Morning hours to ride the paid for rides. At 8.05 Mine Train was 75 min wait with lines right to the rear of the attraction opposite Litte Mermaid. One side effect of Disney Genie and paid for rides is the Extra Morning time is now packed compared to before with people who before had Fastpasses with them doubling efforts to get up early to avoid the charges.

Test Track we entered in Extra Morning hour and ran/ brisk walked to Test Track. It was a 75 min wait seconds after we joined the line with the queues back to the pathway next to the lake.

We leave parks just after lunch and so Genie+ was useless, return times were late afternoon. What a mess.

For the first time we didn’t ride many key attractions. The whole family was disappointed, and the kids said they had no interest in visiting again.

Essentially you got in for one headliner in EMH for which you queue half hour + , then maybe one more decent secondary ride like Thunder Mountain, then everything decent is a 75+ minute wait.

Also in every park we went over 7 days, aside from Animal Kingdom, rides were going down for long periods.

Animal Kimgdom was the only park we got what we wanted done, by arriving for Morning Hours at 6.45am, and even then the queue for Flight of Passage was so large at 7am I think it left Pandora!

Food outlets were understaffed. Hour waits (with no mobile order anytime soon) for a waffle at Sleepy Hollow, an hour for Starbucks on Main Street. No apparent management looking to speed up process.

Large swathes of Epcot boarded off with apparently little or no building works going on, causing footfall around World Showcase to be overwhelming also. It’s what, 4 years since they started this project?

Rides not built. Remy was finished summer and held over, meaning even more demand. Guardians has been building for 4 years nearly. Tron, no visible work being done when looking from People Mover, and possibly not open until 2023?

Outside the one parade, I saw four characters whole trip. Two were on the railroad platform exiting the MK and two on a barge passing under the bridge at AK near Nemo theatre. No characters spotted anywhere else over 7 days including the resorts or anywhere else in the parks.

We have almost 400 points with DVC. The one saving grace was the resorts were still great. But we will not be heading to the WDW parks again until Chapek/ Board reverse many of the changes which I accept may be never,. For next Xmas we are booking Portofino with Club and free express pass and going on an RCI cruise to Coco Cay. I will use the DVC for Vero, California and a condo like arrangement for pool stays. WDW parks will not get any more money from me for the foreseeable future. I will be dropping $7k at Universal next Xmas, all of which would have gone to Disney.

Very sad indeed what has happened. I am seeing mass dissatisfaction and the serious damaging of a brand. Appreciate we may be more affected by the changes as we rope drop and leave early afternoon so can’t ‘stack’ rides, but yes, we have been Xmas before, we were there Xmas 2019 and it was a totally different experience. Chapek and co have unfortunately damaged the park experience to the extent I was walking around thinking the way Disney is charging for what is on offer is obscene. Then I see yesterday they now have jacked up prices further. They know no shame. Sorry I am a little emotional about what has happened.

I repeat, we went Xmas pre pandemic and loved it.

Don‘t say it’s a pandemic, I’m sick of seeing that excuse, Disney chose to lay off staff and bring construction projects to a halt and Genie+ was set up before the pandemic was even known about. Disney has become the master of using the pandemic as cover. The park reservation system is universally hated, and not to limit crowds. Chapek admits it’s great for his favourite word ‘yield’.

Sorry it seems like a bit of a rant, but it hit me like a brick wall that I‘d struggle to ever get the family back to what were my beloved parks again.

Finishing on a positive note, aside from the resorts, the CMs we’re trying mainly to keep up morale, we loved the SSR renovations, and Disney Springs restaurants were very good indeed.

THIS!!! All of this - everything you wrote is exactly what we experienced and exactly how we feel. Its so sad :-(

 

[diser_fam]

We were there 1/1 thru 1/8. Went to the parks 1/2 thru 1/7. There were 7 of us in my party and I went into the trip saying I would buy ILL for ROTR and try Genie+ one day. $590 later, we used Genie+ both days at MK and 1 day at HS. Bought ILL for ROTR, MMRR, and FOP.

We went to HS on Sunday 2nd. Got there around 10 am and jumped in the Tower of Terror line with a 50 minute wait time. 2 hours later we rode the ride. ILL for ROTR and then a 75 minute wait for Toy Story Midway Mania. Super busy that day at the park.

Monday 3rd - Rope dropped AK. Last day of the 1 hour Early Park Access. Bought ILL for FOP, so rode Dinosaur, EE twice, Navi River and headed to the Safari line in the first hour. If you buy the ILL for FOP and rope drop, you can knock out a lot of other stuff. Rode everything except the Rapids and were out of the park by early afternoon.

Tuesday 4th - Got a virtual que for Remy and rope dropped Epcot coming in from International Gateway. 30 Minute early access. Rode Frozen and got to Test Track as they opened single rider line a minute or so before 9 am (park opening) Waited 5 minutes for that. Longest wait of the day was Soarin' and that was 45 minutes. We rode everything at Epcot and were out of there mid afternoon.

Wed 5th - Tried Genie+. Got Peter Pan for 1 pm. Walked to the bus stop at our resort at 7:10 am just as a bus pulled up and we were in the park ready to rope drop SDMT a little after 7:30. Rode that, went to the restroom at Tangled and was in line to get in Liberty Square at 5 til 9. Rode HM, BTMRR, and Splash by 10 am. Left the park at 4 for a dinner ressy at Ohana and came back for 2 rides after dinner. Long day, but rode 12 rides....5 with Genie+.

Thur 6th - HS with Genie+. After a long Wed, we hit the parks around 11. Goal was to ride everything we didn't ride on Sunday. Got a Genie+ for SDD at 7 pm. Bought ILL for MMRR at 11 am. Did Mickey first, waited in a 35 minute line for Star Tours, watched MuppetVision and the Frozen show and picked up a 7:30 Genie+ for Rock n Roller Coaster. At 1, we got a pass for Alien Space Saucer Spin. Got in line for Smuggler's Run around 2 with a 45 minute wait. Ate at Prime Time around 5, did our 2 Genie+ roller coasters and were back on the skyliner to Caribbean Beach.

Fri 7th - MK - Same thing as Wednesday, bus stop at 7:10 right as the bus got there and were one of the first ones on Space. Rode Space Ranger Spin, Under the Sea and Peoplemover before 10 am. Had a Genie+ for Jungle Cruise at 11. Only got 3 Genie+ rides that day. Left the parks around 3:30 after browsing Main St shops and the Confectionery and we had ridden everything we didn't on Wed the we wanted to. Only attractions we didn't hit during the 2 days was the Tiki Room, Hall of Presidents and the Boat in Liberty Square.

Hated spending the $590 for all the extras, but it was super busy. Don't think Genie+ is needed for Epcot or AK, but buying the ILL for FOP sure helped. You can get a lot of bang for your buck in MK due to all the rides they have, if you will be there in the afternoon. It was helpful at HS, but everything was later in the day.

My daughter's boyfriend proposed to her in front of the castle on Wednesday, which was cool.

Great trip overall.

 

[Donaldsfans]

I was in MK a few days ago. Park was crowded and lines were long. I want to talk about the food. WE went past an egg roll food cart twice, and both times the lines were about 30 deep. We paid $68 for three entrees and 3 drinks at Colunbia Harbour house. WOW! We ordered on the phone and got our seats then were shortly called to pick up our food at window 6. It went smoothly, but I noticed 1 line - ONE LINE -for people who were trying to order at a cash register, and it was Looong. I commented that I felt I was at Walmart, not WDW. It seemed rude to me. Lastly, we went to Starbucks ( certainly can't hold the title of Main Street Bakery anymore). They had one person at the door and nobody else inside directing traffic or helping customers (except behind the plexi glass). We were trained to follow the lines and WAIT. I commented,, "Is there a LL pass for this? " You know, $30 to move to the head of the line and another $30 for our coffee? Overall, the food experience was pathetic.

 

[Mrs.AMC]

I was in MK a few days ago. Park was crowded and lines were long. I want to talk about the food. WE went past an egg roll food cart twice, and both times the lines were about 30 deep. We paid $68 for three entrees and 3 drinks at Colunbia Harbour house. WOW! We ordered on the phone and got our seats then were shortly called to pick up our food at window 6. It went smoothly, but I noticed 1 line - ONE LINE -for people who were trying to order at a cash register, and it was Looong. I commented that I felt I was at Walmart, not WDW. It seemed rude to me. Lastly, we went to Starbucks ( certainly can't hold the title of Main Street Bakery anymore). They had one person at the door and nobody else inside directing traffic or helping customers (except behind the plexi glass). We were trained to follow the lines and WAIT. I commented,, "Is there a LL pass for this? " You know, $30 to move to the head of the line and another $30 for our coffee? Overall, the food experience was pathetic.

Urgh, just reinforces why we don't do QS, especially at MK. WDW has never had what I'd call even decent QS choices, with a few rare exceptions. The recent drop in quality has only served to make them even worse, which is hard when they were so bad to begin with.

What you saw at CHH is Disney's way of more or less forcing Mobile Ordering. They don't want folks to get in line to order.

 

[Wakey]

I was in MK a few days ago. Park was crowded and lines were long. I want to talk about the food. WE went past an egg roll food cart twice, and both times the lines were about 30 deep. We paid $68 for three entrees and 3 drinks at Colunbia Harbour house. WOW! We ordered on the phone and got our seats then were shortly called to pick up our food at window 6. It went smoothly, but I noticed 1 line - ONE LINE -for people who were trying to order at a cash register, and it was Looong. I commented that I felt I was at Walmart, not WDW. It seemed rude to me. Lastly, we went to Starbucks ( certainly can't hold the title of Main Street Bakery anymore). They had one person at the door and nobody else inside directing traffic or helping customers (except behind the plexi glass). We were trained to follow the lines and WAIT. I commented,, "Is there a LL pass for this? " You know, $30 to move to the head of the line and another $30 for our coffee? Overall, the food experience was pathetic.

Sums that Starbucks up nicely. Must be raking in millions in profit and customers like us having to wait in a snail pace line for 45- mins. Nothing but contempt really because they must just think they have the captive audience. Sleepy Hollow as bad if not worse.

 

[CTDisneygal]

Doesn't sound dissimilar to our August 2021 trip, which was obviously pre Genie +. Pre-COVID we'd visited during Christmas, Thanksgiving and July 4th weeks and I'd not experienced the lines such as they were for this Aug trip. Literally, SDD was insane at park opening. We ended up leaving DHS at lunch just because the lines were so long.

The only help was the parks were open much later and the early morning hours hadn't started yet. We did manage to get stuff done at most parks other than DHS first thing in the AM. We are going back in April. but im really worried it will be just as disappointing now.

 

[Donaldsfans]

Urgh, just reinforces why we don't do QS, especially at MK. WDW has never had what I'd call even decent QS choices, with a few rare exceptions. The recent drop in quality has only served to make them even worse, which is hard when they were so bad to begin with.

What you saw at CHH is Disney's way of more or less forcing Mobile Ordering. They don't want folks to get in line to order.

I agree, but of course you have to make reservations for the restaurants and they are very expensive too.

 

[a1tinkfans]

Ugh, this entire thread once again reminds me that unless u are willing to Wait in Xtra long lines, pay Even More for rides that you’ve already paid for, Want to spend your time Looking at your Phone all day and night to strategize( that’s a joke) , wake up Extra Early on ur vacation to face the drudge, Stay up late each night to Possibly get on a shorter line and Hit REPEAT to do it all again the next day….
CANCEL ur DISNEY visit and realize the Good Ol days are Gone n buried … or Just Accept that ur
Tickets/pass/Money is going to be spent on Way BElow mediocrity.
Walt is turning, Sad .

 

[MarcIsMe]

My two cents worth; our trip was this past 13th to 15th. I have an annual pass, wife and son 3 day park hoppers with Genie+ pre-purchased and staying on site. We did not rope drop since I am the only early riser. Thursday was EPCOT and managed to get a lot done in spite of the crowds, bought LL for Remy and Test Track, but was not able to park hoppers due to the later park opening. Friday was Magic Kingdom and crowds were heavy. Used both of my LL$ but the $15 Genie+ yielded three rides before the desirable rides were gone. One of the issues was I had to wait until 7:00 to buy my Genie+ since the linked tickets already had it, this resulted in lost time slots. I found out after the trip there was a phone number I could have called to buy Genie+. Once again no park hopping due to wait times. Saturday was Hollywood Studios. Used LL$ for Rise of the Resistance, Slinky Dog was gone by the time I finished the purchasing fiasco. Decided to ride Midway Mania before Rise since it was posted a 75 minute wait. Took two hours from start to finish, I feel due to LL. Had to park hop to EPCOT for a 5:00 Disney on Broadway dining package. Genie+ yielded one ride at HS and two at EPCOT. My annual pass expires in August and we have one more trip in May. We are already a Universal Orlando convert even though they are two day parks. My wife and I agreed that unless something drastically changes with Genie+ and park crowds in the 'slower' seasons I would not renew my pass and WDW will be off our trip list for a while.

 

[Pinnochio]

Genie + is going to have it's place in history right next to "New Coke".