How Disney Could Make Mornings Easier for Guests
A few weeks ago, I described the 7 a.m. struggle, the frustration that fans feel first thing in the morning when planning their park day.
Now, I’d like to make a few suggestions for how Disney could make mornings easier (and less stressful) for park guests.
Photo: Disney
The Reservation Window Problem
We have chronicled Disney’s tech issues on many occasions. Anytime Disney launches a new event, fans resign themselves to a challenging morning.
Touch of Disney and the first day of Park Passes spring to mind as nightmarish tech debuts.
Photo: Disney
Thankfully, Disney Genie+ and Lightning Lane’s rollouts didn’t involve such problems. Sure, there were hiccups, but the launch went well by Disney standards.
Today, these services generally work well. I’m talking 999 times out of 1,000, which is phenomenal in tech.
Photo: Disney
Yes, you’ll hear terrible stories about the system, but those are thankfully far outside the norm.
Still, the Disney Genie system comes with one unforgivable flaw. The times change as you try to book.
Photo: Disney
Let’s say that you seek a Lightning Lane early in the day. So you grab your phone, clear your cache, and start trying to book at 6:58 a.m.
You’re ready. It’s the system that fails you. The instant you start trying to book, you cede all control.
Photo: Disney
You may notice a Lightning Lane available within an hour of the park’s opening. You’ll select it and go to a second screen.
Here’s where the panic and frustration set in. That next page could and likely will display a different time.
Photo: Disney
Other Disney fans are also logging in, and they’re rushing to beat you to book.
The Suggested Fix
You’ll probably try to book anyway, confirming the price and that you agree to the purchase. And that’s where Disney really messes up.
Even though you’re effectively entering into a written contract for a Lightning Lane at the displayed time, you could still face a delay.
Your Lightning Lane could show as three or four hours later when you reach the confirmation screen. That’s NOT what you agreed to buy!
Credit: Disney
Disney should lock in times for buyers, allowing you to hold a reservation until you finish booking.
I mean, even Ticketmaster has that, and it’s like the worst tech on the internet.
If I log into the system and show a 10:30 a.m. reservation, I should be able to book at 10:30, not 1:30 p.m. or 2:30 p.m.
You won’t even want to stay that long at some parks if you plan to Park Hop.
So, the current system could strand you somewhere you don’t want to be. And you’re stuck because you already paid!
Disney needs to fix that asap. It’s wholly unacceptable.
The Feeding Frenzy
Currently, Disney schedules too many things around the same time.
You must plan for Early Theme Park Entry, schedule your Lightning Lane and Disney Genie+ reservations, and – oh yeah – get dressed!
That last thing is vital since the pictures provide many of the memories you’ll keep from your trip.
Photo: Disney
So, you don’t want to multitask here. That’s how you wind up wearing your shirt inside out. I have a Disney picture like that, and it’s embarrassing.
What Disney needs to do is return to a strategy that worked. Not that long ago, guests booked FastPasses up to 60 days before their arrival.
Photo: Yesterland
Park officials dropped this functionality due to the pandemic, but that’s all but over now.
Guests should have the option to book Lightning Lane reservations early at a minimum. Of course, I’d prefer Disney Genie+ added as well, but I’ll take any win here.
This simple change in approach would mean that fewer people simultaneously fight for the same reservations.
In other words, early booking would dial down the volatility dramatically. When you book your Lightning Lane, the time should vary by 15-20 minutes at most.
This small change would provide you with much more clarity about planning your park day.
Also, Early Theme Park Entry provides spectacular value for guests, but it still has some kinks.
The process for entering the park still feels chaotic. There are far too many MagicBand checks as well.
Disney needs a QR code or something similar to MagicMobile as a means for guests to show with their phones that they are staying onsite.
Currently, park officials err too much on the side of caution here. They’re slowing down hundreds of valid guests in case they find one unauthorized entrant.
The Bandwidth Issue
Photo: Disney Addicts
This problem isn’t new, which tells me that it’s much more challenging to fix.
Still, frequent Disney guests know that the Wi-Fi at the various theme parks behaves mercurially. So you really don’t want to count on it in a pinch.
Photo:orlandolanes.con
To its credit, Disney has added 5G towers across several resorts. I suspect these towers will blanket Walt Disney World and hopefully Disneyland one day soon.
The nice thing about these towers is that they look like lampposts, making them easy to theme so that you won’t notice them.
Photo: Disney
How much will that help with internet signals and bandwidth at Disney theme parks? That would require too much guesswork on my part.
What I’ll say is that Disney must commit to fixing this once and for all. Bob Chapek recently stated that Disney tech is “front of mind.”
Source: Variety.com
That’s corporate-speak for, “We know we must fix this.” And he’s right to think that way.
Augmented reality experiences have already arrived at the parks. They’ll only grow more demanding in terms of broadband requirements.
Photo: Apple
If Disney doesn’t fix this now, it’s going to be a cascading problem.
Better bandwidth would also mitigate some of the other issues I’m discussing.
Photo: wirefly.com
You book reservations closer to your current time window when you connect faster.
I’m in my early 70s and I don’t think I could be any less tech savvy. My special needs adult son loves Disney World and we’ve vacationed there every year for the last 10 years because it’s what makes him happy. We are going in September and I’m scared to death I won’t be able to book rides, etc. because of everything that I’m required to do online. I think your idea about being able to book rides 60 days in advance like we could with FastPasses would be an EXCELLENT improvement!!!