Early Pros and Cons of Disney Genie+

We’re a few days into the Disney Genie era at Walt Disney World. Thus far, we’ve witnessed several pros and cons of the new system.

So, let’s talk about how Disney Genie+ and Lightning Lane are doing so far.

Early Experiences and Some Pro Tips

Let’s start with a realistic evaluation of Disney Genie+. First, here’s our friend, PC Dev, recounting his day.

This clip includes videos with plenty of confused/disgruntled fans:

The complaints they have represent ones you may experience. For example, you may find that Disney Genie+ spaces out your Lightning Lane recommendations.

With FastPass+, you had the opportunity to book another one the instant you entered the line for the current FastPass.

Disney Genie+ allegedly comes with that feature. But, unfortunately, many users discovered that they had to wait 10-15 minutes before they could even try to book again.

That’s not supposed to happen and appears like something Disney has already addressed after day one. So I’m just providing a warning in case it happens to you.

Conversely, some guests have discovered a nice workaround you should know.

If you book a Disney Genie+ reservation for 11 a.m. at 7 a.m., that’s an intelligent approach.

I say this because you’ll enter the park at 9 a.m. and have another open window to schedule a Disney Genie+ reservation.

Now, you’re holding one for 11 and can head straight to the option at 9.

When 11 rolls around, you’ve already experienced two of your favorites and can reserve a third attraction immediately.

I can even maximize this approach a bit. You have a 60-minute window for your Disney Genie+ attraction.

So, book something at 9 for this hour. Then, Rope Drop a different attraction. Follow it up with your Disney Genie+ ride.

By 11:30, you’ll have experienced three good attractions with a reservation for a fourth. So now, you’re maximizing the efficiency of Disney Genie+!

Pro: The Idea Works

We’ll talk about Disney Genie and its paid versions repeatedly over the next few months.

Disney executives believe that this software will fundamentally change the way that guests experience Disney theme parks.

So, we need to pay close attention to everything happening at all parks. But, unfortunately, the virtual assistant hasn’t debuted at Disneyland yet.

This leaves us with the four Walt Disney World theme parks as our testing grounds.

Thus far, I’m happy to report that Disney Genie mainly works as promised.

Some of the promised features either aren’t active yet or don’t provide the utility Disney had indicated.

Still, when you use Disney Genie, you should receive pretty good advice about what to do.

Many of the suggestions will focus on your surrounding area a bit much. Ergo, they’re better for first-timers who want to try it all.

Veterans will desire a more ambitious approach, but it’s a solid start. Disney Genie functions admirably as a pocket guide to Disney theme parks.

Con: The Price Doesn’t Include Tax

This one didn’t surprise me, but the internet rage about it has been pretty entertaining to watch.

With MaxPass at Disneyland, the $10/$15/$20 price always included tax. However, in Florida, Disney does things differently.

This change has led to an outcry when guests pay for Disney Genie+ and Lightning Lane. They suddenly learn that $15 is actually $15.98.

Suffice to say that nobody likes it. Seriously, there are social media posts of live reactions to the tax fee. The micro-reactions border on hostile.

We’re only talking about a dollar or less. Still, Disney could have avoided some outrage by pricing the services to have tax included.

Pro: Lines Have Proven Quite Short

One of my favorite influencers is 4K WDW, which does a terrific job of showing what the parks are like.

Here’s an opening day clip of his Disney Genie+ experience:

I used a timestamp for Buzz Lightyear: Space Ranger Spin at 11:57 a.m. The average wait time for the attraction this day was 27 minutes.

The influencer was in the gift shop five minutes after entering the Lightning Lane line queue.

That’s almost literally walk-on. There were 16 (!) people in front of him in line. He taps his MagicBand at 12:56 and is sitting down at 13:35. That’s 39 seconds.

I’m sifting through a lot of data right now, but Disney Genie+ doesn’t seem to be selling high. That’s a benefit for those who purchase it.

You’ll face less competition in line when fewer people buy, a MASSIVE pro.

Con: Lines Were Already Short at Many Attractions

There’s a flip side to this. I just posted the wait times for the days before the start of the Disney Genie era.

Park traffic for this week was in the slightly below average to average range, as is typical in mid-October.

Over the past few days, traffic hasn’t increased. So, wait times have appeared reasonable enough on their own.

In fact, some enterprising folks have noticed that their Disney Genie+ return times sometimes show later dates than if they just waited in line.

Now, you won’t have to do as much waiting with Disney Genie+, which makes it better.

However, if you’re in a rush to do something, a modest wait isn’t bad. After all, it’s the way we’ve always approached a theme park visit.

The most extreme example involves Expedition Everest at Disney’s Animal Kingdom.

With a Lightning Lane purchase, you can enter the shorter line for $7 or so.

During the first two days of the service, the average wait times were 17 and 15 minutes. So why would you pay when you can be on the ride that quickly?

Also, I’m not factoring Single Rider into that conversation. The difference between Single Rider and Lightning Lane had to be minimal on those days.

Pro: Lightning Lane Guarantees a Ride on E-Ticket Attractions

Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance has sold out its entire allotment of Lightning Lane reservations every day so far.

In fact, guests at Disney resorts have discovered a substantial competitive advantage.

The overwhelming majority of Rise of the Resistance reservations book between 7 a.m. and 9 a.m.

Guests who don’t stay at Disney resorts cannot even purchase Lightning Lane reservations until 9 a.m., when the park opens.

So, they have to stay until late in the day to ride. Some are even getting shut out entirely.

To wit, on a recent day when Rise of the Resistance experienced technical difficulties with its pre-shows, Disney closed the standby line queue early in the afternoon.

Guests who have booked Lightning Lane reservations guaranteed a ride that other visitors at Disney’s Hollywood Studios couldn’t on that day.

Obviously, you can take some bad with the good on this particular story. It’s not great for the other paying guests who didn’t book Lightning Lanes.

Ergo, Disney has some work to do to ensure a fair process for all involved.

Still, the Lightning Lane users got what they paid for…mostly.

Con: Lines Aren’t Always Shorter or Better

On that date, when the standby line closed, the Lightning Lane grew massive in length.

When Rise of the Resistance closed for repairs, it caused a delay in servicing Lightning Lane guests.

Once the attraction reopened, all the people waited in line. The ostensible “Lightning Lane” moved extremely slowly for several hours.

Guests got to experience the attraction that they paid for. However, this glitch disrupted their other plans at the park.

Conversely, Disney Genie+ users on less popular attractions have discovered a sticking point with the software.

Remember the scenario I mentioned earlier? Unfortunately, it’s happening fairly regularly.

Disney’s unstated but readily apparent goal is to balance the throughput across attractions.

So, Disney Genie will recommend lots of rides that you may otherwise skip.

I’m talking about TriceraTop Spin, Magic Carpets of Aladdin, and Journey into Imagination with Figment.

There’s already a joke about Prince Charming Regal Carrousel, which appears to be the favorite attraction of Disney Genie.

Often, your Genie virtual assistant will recommend rides that receive less attention from regular guests.

For example, The Barnstormer has had an average wait of about 17 minutes this week. Nobody has ever waited more than 35 minutes.

For whatever reason, Disney Genie+ wants you to spend one of your eight selections on The Barnstormer, which is a total waste.

You have your choice of 17 participating attractions at Magic Kingdom. Unfortunately, the Barnstormer wouldn’t make the top 12. So, it’s a bad recommendation.

MickeyBlog will post a ranking of the Disney Genie+ options based on average wait times this week as a way to arm you with information about valuable selections.

Feature Image: Disney

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