Trip review - 10/31-11/2, Genie+ complaints/meh.

[wendlle]

I've been going to either DL or WDW every year or two since 2003 from Australia.
Every year it gets more and more expensive, and now I have two kids - even more so.
I'm arriving next week with my Aunt who has never been to a theme park in her life and never been to the USA.
I am actually sad for her, because she will never see Disneyland the way I used to see it.

I'm actually not expecting to get much done this trip, I am mainly going for the Christmas vibe and take my kids to some Princess experiences before they are too old to want to do it. But I can tell you this is the shortest and most expensive trip I've ever done and I expect to do a whole lot less that usual as well.

We are now focusing more on Disney Cruising, they are equally as expensive but I feel like they are just a little more magical than the parks these days - which is sad.

 

[CandyMouse]

DAS was really the saving grace of our trip which makes me feel terrible because it shouldn't feel like an advantage. We absolutely got on rides that we wouldn't have been able to because of it though, and when we integrated that with genie+ it made for fairly productive days.

Genie+ and DAS are two totally different systems and you can hold both at the same time.

1. Genie+: book based on available windows on the app, you get an hour to go, you can book a new one as soon as you use yours or 2 hours passes, whichever is first

2. DAS: book based on current wait times. Wait time at RSR is 45 mins, you book a DAS return from the app 45 minutes from now. It is good from the return time to the end of the day, you book a new one once you use the current one.

Lightning lanes with Genie+ were sometimes still relatively long for a fastpass you pay for - for GOTG we waited 20-30 most rides. RSR was probably 15-20 mins. Obviously much faster than standby (although sometimes the LL for guardians was about the same as standby!) but definitely not an immediate return.

Where DAS is most useful (for us) was the non-LL rides. Something like Peter Pan - we (my son, who was the DAS holder) would never be able to wait the consistent 30-45 minute wait. Same with Dumbo - a consistenly 30+ min wait except for very early morning. With DAS, you go through the exit and are on fairly quickly.

So all that said, we would book a Genie+ that may be an hour or so out, and then ride non-LL rides with DAS in close proximity with relatively quick return times.

Anyway, they are completely separate systems and with a little planning definitely help keep the day moving.

Ok thanks for the detailed description of DAS and Genie+, sounds like that worked fairly well for you and your family.

 

[Aurora0427]

We’re here now, and it’s just ridiculous. Space was down until after 11. Big Thunder has been down practically since rope drop…. It’s 12:15. Matterhorn had been down off and on all morning. At one point, Space, Big Thunder, Rise, and Matterhorn were all down, and Rise was down for over an hour. At rope drop, Snow White, Space, Big Thunder and Rise were all down. Shockingly, Indy has been working the entire time. We’ve ridden it 3 times.

It’s just unreal.

 

[Aspencreek]

We’re here now, and it’s just ridiculous. Space was down until after 11. Big Thunder has been down practically since rope drop…. It’s 12:15. Matterhorn had been down off and on all morning. At one point, Space, Big Thunder, Rise, and Matterhorn were all down, and Rise was down for over an hour. At rope drop, Snow White, Space, Big Thunder and Rise were all down. Shockingly, Indy has been working the entire time. We’ve ridden it 3 times.

It’s just unreal.

So aggravating with all the constant breakdowns. How are you doing Indy multiple times - MEP passes? And how are the crowd levels would you say?

 

[Aurora0427]

So aggravating with all the constant breakdowns. How are you doing Indy multiple times - MEP passes? And how are the crowd levels would you say?

My husband and daughter rope dropped it, and then we just waited in line twice…. Less than an hour each time. My six year old is finally tall enough, so it’s her new favorite ride. At one point the line for Indy was less than Toad.

It’s busy, but I feel like the lines are bad because of all the breakdowns, not because it’s actually packed.

 

[Aurora0427]

Oh and I’m pretty sure the shows in the royal theater have been cancelled due to staffing…. At least Tangled. It was scheduled this morning and we looked about two hours ago, and the times were gone.

 

[gelatoni fan]

Oh and I’m pretty sure the shows in the royal theater have been cancelled due to staffing…. At least Tangled. It was scheduled this morning and we looked about two hours ago the times were gone.

This has been happening a lot. I know Disney Junior gets cancelled a lot due to technical issues. The funny thing is that they often replace it with a character meet & greet and I made a comment: "the meet & greet could be worth waiting for because it's more rare" and a CM said thatthese days, it's actually not

I completely agree with the assessment by the original poster. The ride and Genie+ situation is not good.

When they transitioned from social distanced back to proper meet & greets, the amount of characters did go down. But I actually feel like the amount of characters at DCA is comparable to pre-pandemic and it's mostly a decrease in Disneyland due to fewer roaming characters and the closure of Toontown.

 

[Aurora0427]

So my observations today….. I felt like today was the first normal Sunday crowd in awhile, but the lines were long because of several things, and I think there’s a combination of factors that make touring a less pleasant experience than it was Pre Covid.

1. The ride breakdowns are, in my opinion, their biggest problem. I posted above how many rides were down today at rope drop and throughout the morning into lunch time. It makes rope drop less efficient, and backs up the LL for all the other rides because of those MEP’s. I personally think if a ride is down, you shouldn’t be able to book a LL until it’s back up.

2. The rides being down also exacerbates the issues with Genie +…. When the rides work, it’s a much smoother process. For example, we went over to DCA and got in line for Guardians at 2:29. There was a 50 minute posted wait, BUT the ride had been functional all day. There wasn’t a huge back up of LL passes….. and the standby line moved. We entered the line at 2:29 and we were buckling into the ride at 3:16. Once we got out of the study section, we walked right on. Typically, when the ride is down, it’s all backed up inside after you get your plan of action from Rocket. I think this illustrates how Genie + can work better and not screw up the standby lines on a normal busy day…. But the rides HAVE TO WORK. Also, Incredicoaster was functional most of the day, and my husband and older daughter waited about 30 minutes at 1:30, even though the wait time was 40 minutes.

3. I hate early entry. Fantasyland used to be completely walk on that first 60 to 90 minutes, with the exception of Peter Pan. This morning, there were waits at every single ride in fantasyland that was operational. Once again, Space being down exacerbated this because the crowd that would normally go to Space, was spread out among all the other rides that are open during early entry. I really wish they would dump the 1pm park hopping requirement, and go back to the good old days when that extra magic hour would alternate between DLP and DCA. We would start in whatever park didn’t have extra magic hour, but now they both have that silly extra 30 minutes every day, and you can’t park hop until 1pm. So it’s really affected our touring strategy at rope drop, which was once very efficient.

4. Genie + is a pain in the rear, but that’s been covered ad nauseam, so I won’t regurgitate all of that here. There are so many simple changes they could make that would make it better, particularly concerning those pesky MEP’s, which once again comes back to THE RIDES HAVE TO FRIGGING STAY OPERATIONAL!

So, in conclusion, the rides going down is basically the biggest problem on a typical day.

They desperately need the shows to come back, and other daytime entertainment…. To help when the rides break down.

 

[lcp9]

So my observations today….. I felt like today was the first normal Sunday crowd in awhile, but the lines were long because of several things, and I think there’s a combination of factors that make touring a less pleasant experience than it was Pre Covid.

1. The ride breakdowns are, in my opinion, their biggest problem. I posted above how many rides were down today at rope drop and throughout the morning into lunch time. It makes rope drop less efficient, and backs up the LL for all the other rides because of those MEP’s. I personally think if a ride is down, you shouldn’t be able to book a LL until it’s back up.

2. The rides being down also exacerbates the issues with Genie +…. When the rides work, it’s a much smoother process. For example, we went over to DCA and got in line for Guardians at 2:29. There was a 50 minute posted wait, BUT the ride had been functional all day. There wasn’t a huge back up of LL passes….. and the standby line moved. We entered the line at 2:29 and we were buckling into the ride at 3:16. Once we got out of the study section, we walked right on. Typically, when the ride is down, it’s all backed up inside after you get your plan of action from Rocket. I think this illustrates how Genie + can work better and not screw up the standby lines on a normal busy day…. But the rides HAVE TO WORK. Also, Incredicoaster was functional most of the day, and my husband and older daughter waited about 30 minutes at 1:30, even though the wait time was 40 minutes.

3. I hate early entry. Fantasyland used to be completely walk on that first 60 to 90 minutes, with the exception of Peter Pan. This morning, there were waits at every single ride in fantasyland that was operational. Once again, Space being down exacerbated this because the crowd that would normally go to Space, was spread out among all the other rides that are open during early entry. I really wish they would dump the 1pm park hopping requirement, and go back to the good old days when that extra magic hour would alternate between DLP and DCA. We would start in whatever park didn’t have extra magic hour, but now they both have that silly extra 30 minutes every day, and you can’t park hop until 1pm. So it’s really affected our touring strategy at rope drop, which was once very efficient.

4. Genie + is a pain in the rear, but that’s been covered ad nauseam, so I won’t regurgitate all of that here. There are so many simple changes they could make that would make it better, particularly concerning those pesky MEP’s, which once again comes back to THE RIDES HAVE TO FRIGGING STAY OPERATIONAL!

So, in conclusion, the rides going down is basically the biggest problem on a typical day.

They desperately need the shows to come back, and other daytime entertainment…. To help when the rides break down.

Totally agree, when just one big ride goes down, everything gets exponentially worse. And it's not a matter of one ride, it's multiple big ticket rides so no one has anywhere to go. That's pretty new in our experience (as of the last year or so) so I'm not sure why all of a sudden the rides are so problematic? Are they short staffed on maintenance?

I wonder what they gain from the 1pm parkhopping. Keep the reservations, fine, whatever. It just makes the afternoons that much worse when parkhoppers are cramming in a bunch of rides after 1pm.

 

[Aurora0427]

Totally agree, when just one big ride goes down, everything gets exponentially worse. And it's not a matter of one ride, it's multiple big ticket rides so no one has anywhere to go. That's pretty new in our experience (as of the last year or so) so I'm not sure why all of a sudden the rides are so problematic? Are they short staffed on maintenance?

I wonder what they gain from the 1pm parkhopping. Keep the reservations, fine, whatever. It just makes the afternoons that much worse when parkhoppers are cramming in a bunch of rides after 1pm.

I don’t know if they don’t have the maintenance staff to keep up with the ride maintenance, or if parts are still short because of Covid? I have no idea. Certain rides like RSR had a history of going down frequently Pre Covid, but now it’s customary to have 3 plus rides down simultaneously, which I don’t remember from before.

The only thing I can come up with for the 1pm thing is staffing? I don’t know. I think it’s my absolute least favorite part of post Covid Disneyland.

 

[twodogs]

So many comments about when to go with lower crowds. I am not local, but we have gone numerous times per year for 10 years. We always go at school holiday or breaks due to our kids, so we understand busy times at DLR. But at this point, Disney had made changes SO that there are no lower crowd times. They don’t want that. They want it as packed as can be, so long as people don’t get so turned off that they don’t come back (or they might even be ok with that, as long as there is someone new to replace them). They make special events, after hours events, So Cal discount tickets etc to fill those prior “low crowd” times. That, combined with the the ride down times, low staffing, restricted park hopping, less shows and less entertainment, means that it is going to be a far-diminished experience for many/most. And Disney planned it that way. Sad.

 

[serendipityaey]

Totally agree, when just one big ride goes down, everything gets exponentially worse. And it's not a matter of one ride, it's multiple big ticket rides so no one has anywhere to go. That's pretty new in our experience (as of the last year or so) so I'm not sure why all of a sudden the rides are so problematic? Are they short staffed on maintenance?

Short on staff, short short on experienced staff (rides are sooo quirky) and short short short on all supplies and parts. Normal parts can be impossible to find, specialized parts? Not happening at all.

 

[V.I.N.CENT.]

I think the COVID vacation backup surge is still going on. Many visitors are going back for the first time still. once that fall off, and with the decline of the park experience, maybe Disney will wake up.

 

[DodgerGirl]

I think the one thing that could help Disneyland fill job positions faster is having a Disneyland Hiring Expo and if they had one they would hire a lot of people because I think ever since they closed in 2020 for the pandemic I think the one thing that the cast members worried about was that they were still gonna keep their jobs once Disneyland reopened. But since it was reopened last year Disneyland still had some problems and they still do. What they could've done was keep Disneyland open for cast members only during the pandemic to improve the rides and fix the rides that were broken so that when the park reopened the rides would be working with no problems for guests. Because whenever a family goes to an amusement park and Disneyland they expect to see rides that work and enjoy with no problems to ruin the fun otherwise it will be like the movie National Lampoon's Vacation in the scene where the Griswold's finally go to Walley World only to find the park closed and so Clark Griswold had to ask John Candy's character to let the Griswold's in and enjoy Walley World by themselves at the end of the movie. As for the shortage of shows and unexpected cancellations of shows I think the reason why Disneyland is doing this is because not only due to lack of performers but they can't hire enough understudies to replace performers who are sick or take days off. And as for characters I think the same thing has happened also which is why DCA had so few characters that day but I have a great feeling but don't count your chickens when they hatch is that when Mickey's Toontown reopens next year I bet we will see more characters pop up around Disneyland and DCA as well. But I think once Mickey And Minnie's Runaway Railway opens and daytime parades return next year I think Disneyland will be improved and the price of Genie+ will be lowered and will have some changes to make it easier to use
Dodger

 

[DLRExpert]

From what I was told by a CM maintenance friend is that it is mostly due to limited staffing. So when multiple attractions are down at the same time it is difficult for the Maintenance Team to keep up.

Many were let go because of the jab mandate and they haven't put a rush into hiring the people who left.
In my opinion they are just asking for a major accident to eventually happen.

 

[twodogs]

...and the price of Genie+ will be lowered and will have some changes to make it easier to use
Dodger

I think they will literally never lower the price of G+. Why would they when they have incredible demand for it, and it is very profitable?

 

[DLgal]

I don’t know if they don’t have the maintenance staff to keep up with the ride maintenance, or if parts are still short because of Covid? I have no idea. Certain rides like RSR had a history of going down frequently Pre Covid, but now it’s customary to have 3 plus rides down simultaneously, which I don’t remember from before.

The only thing I can come up with for the 1pm thing is staffing? I don’t know. I think it’s my absolute least favorite part of post Covid Disneyland.

They don't have the staff. They posted to social media today a video about Harold, and a maintenance guy talking about working as a maintenance cast member. They were literally begging people in the caption to apply for the posted maintenance jobs on the website.

 

[DLgal]

From what I was told by a CM maintenance friend is that it is mostly due to limited staffing. So when multiple attractions are down at the same time it is difficult for the Maintenance Team to keep up.

Many were let go because of the jab mandate and they haven't put a rush into hiring the people who left.
In my opinion they are just asking for a major accident to eventually happen.

They have been actively trying to recruit maintenance for several weeks.

Guessing the pay is the issue.

My husband is getting ready to retire out of the military and went to a large job fair on Camp Pendleton 2 weeks ago. Disney had a table there and they were vigorously trying to recruit him for welding and maintenance jobs. They were disappointed when he handed them his resume as a Lieutenant Colonel with 23 years of officer experience and he told them he was looking for a corporate position. They were like "send anyone you know looking for maintenance jobs our way!" They are DESPERATE at this point. He said they were ready to hire people on the spot.

 

[DLRExpert]

They have been actively trying to recruit maintenance for several weeks.

Guessing the pay is the issue.

My husband is getting ready to retire out of the military and went to a large job fair on Camp Pendleton 2 weeks ago. Disney had a table there and they were vigorously trying to recruit him for welding and maintenance jobs. They were disappointed when he handed them his resume as a Lieutenant Colonel with 23 years of officer experience and he told them he was looking for a corporate position. They were like "send anyone you know looking for maintenance jobs our way!" They are DESPERATE at this point. He said they were ready to hire people on the spot.

cast member. They were literally begging people in the caption to apply for the posted maintenance jobs on the website.

They could be looking hard now, but not until the maintenance issues became a problem the DLR couldn't hide.
Low pay, jab mandates, etc. can all cause good workers to look elsewhere.

 

[Aurora0427]

They don't have the staff. They posted to social media today a video about Harold, and a maintenance guy talking about working as a maintenance cast member. They were literally begging people in the caption to apply for the posted maintenance jobs on the website.

If you pay people enough, and offer great benefits, they’ll work. Disney needs to pay up for the maintenance staff…. Rides breaking down is their biggest issue.

I didn’t realize Disney was mandating vaccines. If so, that’s their other issue with staffing.