Disney Just Fixed Its Most Broken Toy. What’s Next?
In October 2021, Disney announced the new Disney Genie+ program, which was poorly named and oddly implemented.
For nearly three years, fans griped about the system, while inexperienced park guests barely understood what anything meant.
Thankfully, Disney just ended all those complaints with a series of excellent changes.
Now that Disney has fixed its most broken toy, what’s next?
About Disney in 2024
First, we should acknowledge how much Disney has listened to fans in 2024.
Think back to the start of the year, when Disney made several welcome changes at the parks.
Remember that Disney restored all-day Park Hopping, something we hadn’t had for four years.
Also, two of the various Disney Dining Plans returned after an extended absence.
Most importantly, Disney eliminated the need for most Park Passes. The usage of date-based admission tickets negated their necessity.
While annual passholders still require Good-to-Go reservations, they’re in the minority.
For most vacationers, Park Passes are a thing of the past.
Finally, after years of uncertainty, annual pass sales have remained consistent throughout 2024.
During 2020-2023, Disney would sell annual passes for a short period and then take away the buying option for the rest of the year.
Now, Walt Disney World guests can count on at least some, if not all, annual pass availability.
All these things happened within the first ten days of 2024.
Soon afterward, Disney promised to modernize Country Bear Jamboree.
Currently, Test Track is also undergoing a reimagining, and Tiana’s Bayou Adventure will have reopened by the time you read this.
We can toss in the debut of CommuniCore Hall & Plaza and all its activities to appreciate just how much Disney has improved this year.
Then, next month, the flawed Disney Genie+ system will vanish in favor of the more intuitive Lightning Multi Pass and Single Pass system.
The naming conventions alone underscore that Disney is prioritizing its fans’ needs regarding park upgrades.
As for the changes, well, they’re just plain better.
What Should Disney Improve Next?
So, the question becomes, “What should Disney improve next?”
The obvious answer here is the parks themselves. We all know that’s happening.
While Country Bear Musical Jamboree is just around the corner and Test Track will arrive next year, those aren’t the biggies.
Soon, Disney will close DinoLand USA and turn it into the Tropical Americas.
Similarly, Disney may have already filed the construction paperwork to begin the What Lies Beyond Big Thunder project.
Disney’s recent agreement with Florida officials ensures that Disney World will add $8 billion in improvements over the next decade.
That’s $800 million per year that management will spend on improving and expanding the parks.
We can safely expect new E-ticket attractions and themed lands at a minimum and possibly even a fifth theme park.
As part of those improvements, Disney may return to a previous potential plan.
When the Disney Skyliner opened in 2019, nobody expected park officials to stop there.
As I wrote a few weeks after the transportation system opened:
“The Walt Disney World campus is massive. The company operates four theme parks, two water parks, two entertainment complexes, a sports complex, and more than 20 official hotels.
“Currently, the Disney Skyliner only covers a fraction of that territory.”
Later, I added: “Even so, long before Disney broke ground on the Disney Skyliner, plans were already in place for future expansions.
“Some of them have leaked online and really were never much of a secret anyway.”
At a minimum, it makes sense for the Disney Skyliner to expand to Disney’s Animal Kingdom and Disney Springs.
I’ll also include Magic Kingdom in that group, although I’ve never seen any plans indicating that Disney could do that.
Why a Transportation Fix Is Needed
Right now, I’m just taking a blue-sky approach to how Disney could please guests by improving the parks.
You can tell from my comments that I view transportation and logistics as some of the most significant remaining issues.
By restoring advanced booking of Lightning Lane reservations, Disney should solve some of its sustained wait time problems.
The next step should be efficiently transporting guests to and from the parks. Unfortunately, we don’t have that right now.
Sure, the Disney Skyliner helped mightily, but more is needed. An expansion would go a long way in addressing the issue.
After all, Walt Disney envisioned the Central Florida campus utilizing the best transportation imaginable.
At the time, Uncle Walt wanted to use monorails and PeopleMovers, but that’s a side issue.
Overall, the entrepreneur innately understood that he’d bought a massive amount of land. He needed a way to move people conveniently.
The Disney Skyliner is that, as is the monorail. However, monorail parts aren’t that easy to come by these days.
That makes the Skyliner the next best option, but it’s only part of the problem.
There’s something else Disney needs to do to please its most loyal fans.
Another Plea for Magical Express
Dear Disney management, the time has arrived to bring back Magical Express!
We’re not even asking you to do it for free, but don’t get me wrong—that’s what we want and would vastly prefer.
After all, we grudgingly agreed to pay for the formerly free FastPass system that we now call Lightning Lane Multi Pass.
Still, many of us are willing to meet you (more than) halfway here.
If need be, countless Disney vacationers have suggested that they’ll pay for Magical Express.
MickeyBlog has been asking this question regularly on social media, and I’m frankly stunned by how universal the opinions are.
Generally, you can’t even ask whether people like ice cream without a vocal minority swearing that the Illuminati and Reverse Vampires are involved with its manufacturing.
In the case of Magical Express, most Disney fans have told us they’d pay for the service.
That presumes the only choices are paying to have it vs. not even having it as an option.
Again, including Magical Express with Disney resort reservations would be preferred, but beggars can’t be choosers.
To a larger point, it’s time, Disney. You cut this during the pandemic, which was understandable.
Now, you should bring it back because it’s an amenity fans want and deserve.
If you can spend $8 billion on the parks, you can throw in a few million dollars to transport us to and from the airports again.
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