Disney often strives to keep up with guest interests and anticipate their needs. When they introduced FastPass, it was an excellent way for people to plan their day at the Disney Parks. The system worked by allowing guests to reserve a set number of passes a day. These passes allowed you to show up at the ride at a time you picked and walk onto the attraction with minimal wait. It was a fantastic free offering that Disney provided to its guests.
But like our time in the parks, nothing lasts forever and whether it was the need to innovate or add to the bottom line. Disney has decided to retire FastPass and offer a premium service in its place. Starting on October 18th, the system has launched in the Disney World parks and has gotten off to a rocky start.
Out with the old, in with the new
The new service is called Disney Genie, and it comes in two levels, Disney Genie and Disney Genie+. The product is an extension of the My Disney Experience mobile app. So you will need to make sure you have the latest version on your phone when visiting the parks.
The base level, Disney Genie, is provided at no cost to guests. This level of service gives you a personalized day optimizer, tip board, mobile dining orders, ride wait times, and event recommendations.
The idea that you could be receiving up-to-the-minute suggestions on your current park visit is compelling, and it may prove beneficial. But what this free service doesn’t give you that FastPass did are free ride reservations.
To get that ability, you will need to upgrade to Disney Genie+, and like the Disney+ streaming service will set you back a few dinero. Fifteen of them, to be exact, and that is $15 per person for one day.
A family of four with park tickets will pay an extra $60 a day for Genie+. Adding to their hotels, meals, souvenirs, and photos can put a Disney vacation out of reach for many families.
While the price alone is enough to be outraged over, Disney didn’t make this new process the easiest in the world to navigate. I consider myself a Disney veteran, and reading over the instructions for Disney Genie has been a challenge.
I will try my best to simplify the process. In all the examples, assume you are going to Magic Kingdom Park today.
Example 1
You decide not to purchase Disney Genie+. So you’ll have access to the base level in the app and the features mentioned earlier. It will track your progress, and you can plan the day in the app. While in the park, it may notify you of some wait time changes, ride suggestions, and restaurant choices. But for that day, you will have to get in the lines and brave the crowds to ride your favorite rides.
Example 2
You buy the Disney Genie+. On the morning of your visit, you’ll need to be in the app at 7 am and select your first ride for the day. To be even more confusing, Disney calls these rides “Lightning Lane Attractions.” Unlike FastPass, you do not get to choose your ride time. Instead, the app will show you the next available time to ride. So, depending on crowd levels, you may get the first ride time when the park opens or one late in the afternoon.
Another issue is you have to wait 120 minutes after your first booking to book your next Lightning Lane Attraction. If it is 7 am, you can’t book your next ride till 9 am. Again that ride may be at 11 am or 6 pm; you don’t choose when to ride it.
Example 3
You will buy the Disney Genie+, pick your first ride at 7 am, but Disney has added another tier into the program. The extremely popular rides aren’t in the base level Genie+. Instead, they are listed as an individual attraction in the app, and guess what? They cost extra to reserve a time to ride. How much extra? Anywhere from $7–$15 per attraction.
If you go to Magic Kingdom Park and want to ride Space Mountain or Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, you have two options. Get in the queue and wait your turn or buy Genie+. Then pay the extra fee for the individual attraction to get a return time to ride. For example, that ride would cost you $15 for the Genie+, then another $7, $10, or $15 on top of that. The price depends on the crowd levels and how popular it is on the day.
Now, this pay-per-ride system isn’t new to Disney. In the early days of Disneyland and Disney World, you would buy a park ticket and then tickets to each ride. So there is history and precedence for Disney to go back to this approach.
The one big difference is that ticket prices are far outpacing inflation. When we look at early ticket pricing and compare it to today, the increase is shocking. For example, in the 70s, when Disney World opened, tickets were $3.50 compared to today’s price of around $170. This cost is more than a 3000% increase since the parks opened.
Would Walt be upset by the direction that Disney has gone? I think he would. His idea of a park accessible to the average American family quickly is being swept under the rug.
Conclusion
While there are some neat innovations in this new system, the park wait times and suggestions it offers are a nice feature. But moving from a method that seemed to have worked well, FastPass, to a system of pay-to-play, Disney Genie+ spits in the face of everything Walt Disney preached. He truly wanted a place that anyone could go to and escape their troubles for a time.
It reflects today’s world, where companies prefer to put profits in front of customers and employees. We can vote with our pocketbooks and not take part in the new system, with the hope that Disney will do what it excels at, innovating and improving what it offers its customers. Without having to nickel and dime us to the point of frustration.
Matt Inman is a columnist for the Boardwalk Times
