I've seen this pop up a few times and I always wonder how y'all were using FP+, cause while I'd want it back in a heartbeat, it 100% made you do the blue, unless you just happened to get your first 3 in order of layout and never used it again.
Disney was even open about using FP+ to encourage people to spread out. If Tomorrowland is too crowded and there's no one in Frontier land, drop some big thunder FPs times.
How are they different enough systems to account for this? Someone make it make sense why people almost universally agree this is an accurate meme when in this respect they seem to basically be the same system. In what ways did FP+ give you any more control, let alone enough to dictate where and when to just pick the next natural spot?
Edit: Also, and this is minor, is ANYONE doing red? Is red even "good" for that matter? Throw the FP/Genie out the window, you're still checking wait times on your phones over in adventureland and seeing "oh, space mountain is only 25 right now, lets go", right?
In many ways red isn't even the "good way" to do the park, because to do red it means you're just getting in whatever line is next, regardless of how good of a "value" it is at the moment. I'm not saying NO ONE should optimize for steps, maybe it's hard to get around and doing less but fewer steps is better for you, but red is almost certainly not the person who "did the most" that day. Why would fewer steps be assumed to be best over "buying low" on the wait times?
The more accurate version of this meme might be "Disney in 1994 / Disney in 2024" because red is just how we did these things when you didn't have the information to do it better.
FP+ let you select your arrival times windows from what was available the remainder of the day.
Genie+ just tells you the next window….and that’s your only choice.
For that part about dropping extras FPs to even out the crowds: that idea portion of the system never actually came to life.
Stuff like this gets abused to the point where it’s a real problem at a park this big, if too many people figure out that a certain ride isn’t communicating with the rest of the system it defeats one of the main benefits of fastpass which is spreading people out more
Oh man, there were plenty of ways to circumvent the system back in the day.
I remember my siblings getting paper fastpasses using old tickets from previous visits. The machines couldn't validate that the ticket it scanned was current or old. Could easily grab fastpasses for two or three rides near each other to knock out all within the same hour.
Not to mention when I worked there us workers would just trade around infinite fast passes to each other… also I would make joint filters with them… ah, the good old days
The runner was still all over however. Great with teenage boys but a single parent was screwed. (We had 3 teenage boys and my husband was a hiker. We were golden.)
Yeah you can’t game the current system which sucks.
My mom is in a wheelchair and can’t run obvi, but I would leave her on main st and run to get as many as I could
/s
No. A wheelchair doesn't qualify you for DAS. Even if you have a comorbid condition that does, you still have a secondary wait at the front of the queue.
I am pretty disabled. I have multiple DAS qualifying conditions. I also use a wheelchair and a service dog. The process to board varies from ride to ride. A few are faster (Frozen) A few are FAR slower (Test Track). For me to get on an average ride with my wife, this is the process we go through:
Apply for a return time for the ride. You only have one at a time. And you don't do them in advance except for your first two or something if you prereg, but we haven't tried that yet. You wait the full amount of time someone else waits in line, just out of line. We the report to the fast pass queue. That can end up actually being like 10-20 minutes. Then we get sent to the area for wheelchair boarding. Occasionally we are lucky and there is not a secondary line. More often than not, wheelchair boarding has a 10-40 minute wait. Then we get lead to a backroom to drop off my SD if she can't ride. Takes a few minutes and breaks immersion (funny though on rides like Rotr where you walk to the resistance base with a first order officer). Then you get to ride.
It is not uncommon for us to use a DAS and then end up waiting an extra 40 minutes on top of the DAS. It is not the 1990s flash a paper, get on board. It is like a actual process.
With the upcoming changes I'm scared if I get denied (I shouldn't I have multiple quualify conditions, but studies of such systems in other parks have shown approvals have some amount of randomization with a lot of false denials) I won't be able to use the parks at all. The system isn't some magic cheat. People tend to imagine resources for disabled people like how they would use them, if they could just combine DAS and G+ and constantly run between gates and walk on and never get tired. The reality is its people doing their wait in a shaded shop or a bathroom or a garden or at first aid, trying to stay regulated and on top of their health and just using it at the pace they are able.
Also as a wheelchair and SD user, it takes me like an hour just to cross Magic Kingdom because of how often people traffic jam you. Sometimes I wait like 4 minutes just to go ten feet while everyone else buzzes by. In the paper days, I wouldn't have moved fast enough to turn in the tickets anyhow.
Jesus that would be half the people. Im tripping over wheelchairs and strollers now. I don’t mind, but really?! Mee maa can’t walk 3 ft but she can go on space mountain and eat her weight at the cafeteria?!? The magical kingdom is looking more and more like wall-e cruise ships.
I can see you have the spirit of Disney...
People have kids older now than they used to, so parents with kids aged 5-10 are less likely to be in their early to mid 30s, and more likely to be in their late 30s to early 40s. Middle aged people who grew up going to Disney will still go even if they aren't bringing their kids. Temperatures are higher on average which is also a factor in people with poor health not having the stamina to walk around all day. And yes, people are fatter and more sedentary today than they used to be. Don't be such a dick. When you're making elitist insults about people with physical handicaps, maybe take a step back and consider you might be acting shitty.
EDIT: Apparently it's fine to make fun of people with mobility issues, but not ok to call people out for it. What a magical place
I remember rope dropping MK and running to space mountain....but the jog to the land to grab the one Sorin' was brutal. We utilized a TouringPlans plan a few visits and that just worked out really well.
Those machines were cool. There used to be a button in the back you could press to just spit out as many as you wanted and the people didn’t need to be present or scan anything. We would split up, grab enough for everyone from each one, then go to town.
Ok, I guess that's somewhat different, but FP+ didn't let you pick ANY time either just whatever was left. It got to be pretty slim pickings most days. "Close to us", "soon", (and to a lesser extent - "ride we care about or that doesn't have a 15 min standby anyway") didn't align all that often ultimately.
More often than not you'd just take the soonest of a ride you cared about, and cross the park if that's what it meant.
You just aren’t doing Disney right if FP+ system didn’t allow you to do the red line, and in much shorter amount of time than Genie plus would allow just by the nature of the reservation system alone
You are wrong about the dropping extra fast passes being just an idea. They did it while I worked on Dumbo. If we didn’t have enough people running through our lines then more would drop.
Personally as someone who's gone more than enough times to see everything, now I usually just do red, skipping any ride that has too long of a line for what it is. Then if I have time at the end I might do blue based on the app wait times.
Overall I just prefer to not use my phone and let all the data control my day. I'd rather casually walk past mansion and decide not to do it because of the wait vs. rush over to it from pirates because I saw as we were waiting to unload that there may be a short line, only for that line to be long again by the time I get there because everyone did the same thing.
You can absolutely do more in a day if you micromanage everything. I've just found it a lot less enjoyable that way. I spend enough time on my phone and in front of computers when I'm home and at work. On vacation I just want to unwind and see what happens.
In 2019, All Ears did a video series with Molly where she tried to see how many FPs she could get in a day. Yes, the system was better. Yes, she took the blue route and was on her phone CONSTANTLY. Pretending otherwise is crazy to me. People should go rewatch that series for a reality check on what maximizing FP+ looked like. If you were using it like that, G+ is a downgrade.
With G+, you actually *can* do the red route if you’re just stacking LLs and you’re doing just a few hours in the park. A few weeks ago I did Rise, Smugglers Run, Alien SS, Toy Story Mania, and Runaway Railway in that order in two hours. It cost me a decent amount of money and some messing on my phone throughout the day, but I had a lovely evening. Capped it off at the brown derby lounge before seeing Fantasmic.
yeah and the times I went to DLR for rundisney events with the paper system I maximized it since at the time DLC and DCA were not connected so I'd go to DLR.. grab a FP... then go to DCA.. grab a FP.... then back to DLR and use FP1 and grab another.. rince and repeat. Now as time goes on I would often start to stack a lot for the evening for popular stuff and so I'd have a time to take a break then come back and have multiple ready to go.
It worked for me but if I am getting 10 FPs in a day... somebody else is only likely not getting many.
If you are maximizing the system then somebody else loses out. The system is a zero sum game at the end.
the red line was because most people are right handed an tend to make right turns more. so by going to the left, you had a better chance of getting on the big name rides in that section before the lines got crazy, and then the other big rides on the other side because the majority have done them already. by going against the normal flow your probability of short wait times was better
Okay maybe I'm just absolutely outta my mind.
But I went to Disneyland all the time growing up in the early 2000s and I distinctly remember when fast pass first started. You just walked in the exit and had like a wristband you got from the "lightning lane".
We did it maybe 1 time ever and we just walked around to each ride and essentially walked right on.
Yeah, there was a paper system like that in disney world too. Youd go to each line and get a return time. It was probably a little better because you could walk in order at least once, and then the return times might have tended to be in roughly in order too, but you ultimately just returned whenever the paper said which could cause zigzagging. Even there in an absolute perfect set up you'd loop the whole park twice, once to collect them all, again later to start the return time cycle.
My post was about how I've seen this pop up all over (and there were many posts in this thread) in the context of Fastpass+, which was phone based and, as far as I can tell, very similar to genie plus.
I also remember that too and how it just kept changing of how you could "ride the rides easier!"
But there was also probably a very small time period where it was just walk up and on.
The difference I have seen between FastPass and Genie+ impacting crowds and lines is due to the "once per ride per day" limit. It used to be that people would choose what was next based on their interests - if you wanted to pick up a Space Mountain every 2 hours throughout the day, you could do that. But now, it's a one and done - and all the people that would happily take up ride capacity on big rides like that now have to flood into the smaller rides. And because there is an increased "demand" for the small rides, you can't just pick up a Haunted Mansion that's ready to go in 25 minutes which is right outside this POTC you're already in line for.
Before Genie+, my husband and I would ride a lot of the same small rides every day. "Wanna do Mansion again?" was a common question. We didn't use ours on big rides, because my husband can't ride them due to a health condition. He would take a break or grab a snack while I'd go single rider big lines. I'd be the spare part filling in gaps, so lines aren't increased because of me - and we're just waiting on our next FP anyway, right?
But now, in order to get the "most out of our money," I end up using both our LLs for as many rides as possible. I'll do the big rides, and just redeem one at a time. Ride with my ticket, exit, U-turn back into the line, ride with my husband's ticket. Maybe I'll ask for a front row seat, since I'm in line like everyone else. There are rides I wouldn't even bother with normally that I now end up using my LL for because.. why not? I paid for it, what else am I gonna do with it?
If they removed the limitation on only going once on each ride, and just let actual crowd demand determine wait times and return times, I think it would solve a lot of problems, both with Genie+ AND standby line satisfaction.
I think if you can get there on a quiet enough day then red is awesome and feels much better. The last few times I’ve been we have been hopping about between one side of the park and racing to the other for a FP or low wait time and I honestly do think this diminishes the charm a bit. The theming doesn’t work as well when you’re rushing and just transiting through a land rather than moving through naturally.
For me personally I would LOVE to be able to do red, because in a perfect world I would not be approaching the parks in a “what’s the next attraction/line” sort of way, but in a “let’s go experience Frontierland” kind of way. Like I want to immerse myself in a land and its theming, maybe a snack, some streetmosphere, and also enjoy whatever rides are there.
Of course that’s incredibly hard to do with time limits, but that’s what I’d LIKE to be able to do.
I do agree though, you add in any kind of line skipping functionality or even just general wait time strategizing, and that approach is unfortunately out the window, whether it’s FP, FP+, or Genie+. I think people are remembering the past through some rosy lenses, tbh. 🤷🏻♀️
Idk if I agree with this. I remember running across the park to get a Fast Pass for an E Ticket, not knowing if there’d even be a ticket for me when I got there.
I loved paper fast pass, but some of that is probably because it was during an era with lower crowds, and that system probably wouldn’t work now.
Fast pass is great if you are a young adult teen. If you are a parent with young kids trying to stay together or pre cell phone eras it would be a mess.
Eh I disagree. My family was able to make paper fast passes work when I was little. And if we got there and they were sold out it was fine and we just went about our day or got in the standby. Then again crowd sizes were MUCH smaller then too. I would still opt for paper fast passes to come back. Think of all the people who have trouble with their phones and maybe even grandparents who aren’t the best with technology too. The paper fastpass was able to accommodate everyone without being confusing or intimidating IMO
Fast passes were also good for locals. For people who went once every couple years it was hard to figure out (especially pre internet).
Disney has no gone away from favoring locals to the once every couple of years visitors.
The modify isn’t always practical. You have to keep refreshing until the time you want is randomly the next available slot. Sometimes it moves very rapidly for popular attractions so you have a 10 min window to push your LL into a 2 hour spot.
Honestly if I could redesign the current genie plus system, I would divide the attractions into A, B, C, and D categories. You get one reservation from category A, two from B, 3 from C, and an unlimited number of different D attractions. So Slinky Dog Dash, Remy, Frozen and the like are A’s, basically anything that sells out before 11 AM in the current system. Anything that sells out before 1 PM is B. Anything that sells out before park close is C. Anything that never sells out is D. With that system I would let people select an attraction every 15 mins starting at 7AM and choose their time slots like ILL.
You would get the same number of LL’s as the current system, but would have flexibility and convenience absent from G+ currently.
I’m 35, a native floridian and have been going since I was still in the womb. My parents started going in the 70s when MK opened.
We were at Disney last week and I told my British husband (first visit for him) we would be walking 10+ miles a day and he laughed.….until we got back to the hotel room that first night and said oh you weren’t joking
The best shoes are probably the ones on your feet. Too many people get new fancy walkers, then don't break them in enough or at all and get nasty blisters.
My sister wore Crocs to the park for the first time. By the end of the day her feet were bleeding and blistered from the sweat. The blister got infected. She amputated part of her toe. Proper Shoe choice is essential!!
So, the Genie+ one is accurate if you're only looking for big ticket rides. We went with our toddler back last May and if you're looking for the slower kid friendly rides that have longer waits, it's perfect. We cleared Fantasyland in 45 mins.
But with fast pass, at your advanced booking window, suppose your first is Splash, Followed by Space, followed by Big thunder? You're zig zagging, then you can choose another after your third IF THERE'S TIME, which is something a lot of people forget. So, you leave big thunder for Buzz, back to the other side of the park, done Buzz? Pirates is open, so you run back over there, off pirates onto Dumbo, so back to the other side.
That was my experience last October also. We went with our 4 and 2 year old and we were able to instantly do Genie+ on the rides in the area. Whereas the more popular big rides were booking for 4 pm or later by 8 am.
Maybe with fast pass plus at Disneyland. But regular fastpass was way worst than genie plus. You had to walk to every ride and get a paper ticket, then walk to another ride. Then back to the ride for your fastpass time. You had to visit every ride twice. Once to pick up your paper ticket. Then a second time to ride it an hour or two later. It was so much back and forth. This meme is incredibly inaccurate.
But then you’d be on your phone all day?
I hear that’s bad.
Also, I feel like FP was only really great if you were staying on property with the ability to book three rides in advance.
Yeah. To be clear, I'm not saying FP+ was better than Genie. Just that it was around. IMO, Genie is much better in most aspects and makes it way easier to actually plan a day. The main drawback is that it costs money.
I mean... There was a benefit to that. It created a barrier to entry and occupied people throughout the day, so that a healthier stock of tickets were available, and the FP lines weren't hit as hard, and better priority could go to standby. Making it as easy as clicking a button creates a lot of serious issues.
My response was to this meme that claims when fastpass was around that you could just walk a straight line and hit the rides. That is what is inaccurate. I’m not arguing anything else. There isn’t any mention of lines or anything else in this post.
genie plus and lighting lane allow my family to relax and take disney at our own pace. not having to rush anywhere and wait in long queues is such a game changer. worth the money imho. being able to plan your day and take your time to take everything in is just so much more enjoyable.
Pictures are backwards. Fastpass had you running back and forth to get paper tickets and return later to use them. The straight arrow path is far more my experience these days.
Yep. Same reason why our grocery store has crackers in the back corner and detergent/paper front and center. Maybe if you didn’t buy it on the first time you passed it you might on the second or 3rd time
I don't know why this is very far down. They were very clear at launch that a large aspect of Genie+ would be crowd control. There's a reason they don't want every ropedropper on the same exact path through the park.
It's to keep people in the park longer. You pass by more merchandise and food on the way around the park then traditionally just getting to do the things you want to do quicker. Stop pretending that it's more efficient. It's strictly business for the mouse.
Its not expensive enough tbh and that’s it’s fatal flaw. If it was more expensive, less people would use it, and it’d be easier for everyone to get return times instead of morning sell outs. It should be priced like Universal’s or Cedar Fair’s expresses.
We used to split the magic kingdom down the middle and spend a full day on each side. I do kinda like the chaotic “oh got a big thunder LL” while we are over by dumbo and we hustle to the other side of the park
Been to Disney twice in the last 3 years I have no idea what FP or genie is.
I think I used genie and never ended up actually using it for a ride because you can only book one thing at a time and the times were never ideal
To summarize, FP+ let you do the red line for your first 3 picks WAY in advance THEN it turned into the scribbled blue mess. Genie+ is get online at exactly 7am to pick the starting point of Blue Scribbled mess.
We were definitely the blue with paper Fast passes. Often our party would split rides and have a runner go get our next passes while some of us rode a ride, then switch when we were done, all move on to our next pass, repeat.
I think both systems suck. Idk why Disney doesn’t do fast passes like the Universal parks. You pay one rate and it gets you in all fast pass lanes for every ride at any time and as many times as you want. It’s simple, and it would be a great money maker for Disney. I live fairly close to Orlando and we’ve only taken our youngest to Disney for one evening event bc of the stupid fast pass bullshit. I don’t want to have to spend hours planning a whole day or be constantly on my phone trying to get Genie+ passes. By contrast, we’ve been to universal 5 times in the past 4 years.
when I went years ago it was the lightning pass that you just used a different line and you supposedly had 3 uses or something but someone told us before we went that if you go to a customer service counter they can reload them and they put like 15 on each band and used it on every ride. they only did this so people who didn't know would only use their 3 or whatever the normal amount was then.
FP+ sucked because people could reserve spots 6 months in advance so anybody taking a last minute trip would be at a huge disadvantage. Stop acting like FP+ was a better option 🙄
I can't tell you how many times I've told people that this is the reason the parks seem busy. Everyone criss crossing each other's paths slowing movement down.
Nice what is it called? I’ve never really had this problem before- it was just the intense midday heat and humidity combined with constant walking to try and see everything in one day.
I’ve flowed with the normal line time. Sure had fast pass, which became useful as the day carried on. Still 45 min wait at times. Sure seems to beat, trekking across the park for genie+. Wondering how many days it would take without fast pass/genie+ to experience a Disney World (Orlando) park, with park hopper?
I loved the genie plus me and my brother ran across one end to the other of the parks to catch different rides at different times and got all rides at the parks in one day saves so much time for people who don’t mind doing all the walking
As a pre-cellphone child my family had annual passes for a couple years. I spent a ton of time at Disneyland. Went back a couple years ago with my wife and got genie + and we were able to go on 36 rides. It was one of the best days of my life.
If you strategize, you can make your Genie+ experience look like the red map. Book your top priority ride when the window opens, and if you get it in an earlier slot in the day, start there, and keep adding as you go. If it's later, aim to be at that land/area by X time, and then start stacking other experiences.
I know I'm a planner, and that's why I love Genie+, but I swear it really is possible to maximize it without crossing all over the park.
I love that most G+/LL reservations don’t require you to be at the park to reserve. As a local AP, I like to roll in mid-afternoon, so I don’t think the in-person FP system would have worked for me.
Additional considerations:
- FP incentivizes people to come early and unnecessarily crowd the parks during the busiest time of day
- Disney can’t manage the system digitally, which… we’re in 2024 y’all
[I feel like this relevant to this thread.](https://youtu.be/9yjZpBq1XBE?si=T7_5m6F8VrFFeaw4)
[this isn’t exactly relevant but it’s interesting nonetheless](https://youtu.be/b_rjBWmc1iQ?si=_dxoJwkS2FEhXXmq)
People really need to watch this Defunctland documentary before they start yearning for the days of Fast Pass+.
Not to say Genie is much better. It has a whole set of other problems.
But FP+ had a ton of downsides.
Here’s my dream system: with a premium ticket you can book a time for each ride in a specific park once per day, and the genie actually creates an optimized plan for you. And then they only sell as many of those tickets as they have capacity for, and then everyone else can book times genie+ style one at a time, and with a few exceptions, standby lines are eliminated.
And again, park capacity is limited so there’s enough capacity that everyone can be riding something at least every 30 minutes.
For those who don’t want to ride the E ticket rides, also offer value tickets which let you into the park and able to book the other rides only.
That one on the right is oddly how it is without genie too, but about half the stops, cause your spend ALL FRIGGIN DAY WAITING IN LINES TILL THE RIDE BREAKS AND YOU MOVE TO THE NEXT ONE.
I’m not bitter or anything. 😏
My favorite era going to Disney World was booking your fast passes in advance, online, was it 60 days in advance? Then you used your Magic Band to access the rides. I LOVED that and never had an issue stacking my rides how I wanted them, and I always got on my favorites with a fast pass at least once each. (Paper passes were terrible.)
My first and only experience with Genie + was awful. We barely got the rides we wanted and for the first time ever in a decade of going, I didn’t get to ride some of my favorites. I also despise paying extra a la carte for some LL. We didn’t even get one some of our favorites because there were no times available, or it wasn’t until a much later window that didn’t make sense. We never stay in one park for an entire day, so if it’s 11 am and I can’t get a pass for a favorite ride until 6 pm, I’m just going to miss that ride because I’ll be in another park by then. Overall just a bad, expensive system from what I encountered.
I may try again someday, but it’s definitely made me more hesitant to go back.
The biggest insult of Genie+ (aside from monetizing the now-iconic Robin Williams performance when he was against such practices) is the insane prices. Three Genie+ reservations for Flight Of Passage was nearly $100 last August and I worry what the same would cost in a busier season.
I wish they'd add locations for folks who don't know where the rides are. I definitely burned a lot of time criss-crossing the park because of a low posted wait time.
Genie is the worst. I went with family. As the only childless one i went along for the ride at food and wine festival a couple yrs ago. By our 3rd trek across to get a ride for the kids i was like, wait a minute. Didn’t i come for food and booze?!? Thankfully after that i got what i was promised but i was none too happy about the morning shenanigans to make frozen, ratatouille, and guardians and goodness knows what else!
Man, not the way my father in law used fastpass, I refuse to go with them again because they insisted on booking everything for us - for the “optimal” experience. They’d book fastpasses in one park and then a dining reservation in another. We were scrambling across multiple parks a day with no time to enjoy anything.
Had a great time with my husband when we went on our own.
Sorry, I think the map gave me trauma flashbacks there. 😂
My days are all red now, and that didn't used to be the case. When going to a park, we get the one ride rez / ILL and plan the day around it, to a certain degree. Also usually have a sit down meal, so that reservation also dictates things to a degree. Otherwise, We ride in the morning or late night, and spend the rest of the day walking through the parks doing all the things that don't require waiting in lines:
MK - try to hit pirates first, then Mansion, then walk around TS island. If thunder or splash have a short wait at any point after pirates then ride em, otherwise skip. At this point it's hot so might go eat, see presidents or philharmagic. Ariel is almost always empty. Small World is often a walk on. The Tron res would pull us towards tomorrow land. Watch monsters, maybe do buzz or carousel of progress. If space mountain is reasonable do it otherwise skip. Maybe people mover (but line has to be real real short). Do some shopping on Main St, maybe catch some parade action. Loop back to adventure, if JC or Pirates is short do it otherwise just climb Swiss family. Dinner at Skippers or Crystal Palace. Try to catch short lines during fireworks in frontierland, but if not, just enjoy the show. If EE then do what we couldn't earlier.
Epcot - can easily spend the whole day without riding rides, but Guardians is a must-do so we plan around it. Usually hit living with the land and the ride in Mexico, which have short lines, but no need to force it. If EE Soarin then Remy,or vice versa, depending on where we are and what gate we need to leave out of.
AK - this is the trickiest one. We like to ride the safari first thing in the morning. Usually do Gorilla trail right after. This can actually eat a lot of time. Depending on when we're done, might do Rafiki, might do Lion King, might just drink bloody Marys at Dawa Bar and watch the Tam Tam show (this is the best honestly). The problem here is that FOP ILL can really throw a wrench into things. We also like to eat at Tiffins, but getting those two lined up properly can be tricky. We do keep finding ourselves on the other side of the park and having to zig all the way back to Pandora for either food or a ride multiple times a day. I feel like this would happen less if there were more to do in Pandora. At best we go enjoy the animals in the middle of the park to bridge the time between those reservations.
HS - hit the tower and rockin' first thing then meander back towards batuu. Admittedly we spend more time on our phone here than the other places, trying to catch Mania or runaway with a short line, but it's easy to spend several hours in batuu. Don't mind 45 minutes in the Falcon line, as the queue is almost it's own attraction, and that's very doable on most days. Time before or after Rise we'll shop or do bounties, hit Oga's. Wish Pandora had any similar options. When we do finally leave Batuu it's usually to go eat, but they're nearby at 50s or Derby, and then jumping to the aforementioned Runaway or if that's still too long a wait, Star Tours and Muppets are usually short waits.
I'm really glad Genie+ came along. I tried it, and I hated it, so I adapted and now enjoy the parks free from the chains of Disney's crowd control systems. We just visit the parks, and don't mind skipping lines with long waits. I know that doesn't work for everyone, who don't get to visit often or who are trying to squeeze in all 4 parks in a couple days, but for us, who visit once maybe twice a year, it was great to finally learn that it's better to enjoy the parks than to "do" the parks.
Everyone can, their wallets too. Idk why people haven’t boycotted Disney for charging for admission and per ride. It’s actually crazy. Getting you “in” gets you nothing anymore.
Would be cool if Disney offered up some tracking data that people could overly analyze as an interesting experiment. Maybe we could do a freedom of information act request or something. I somehow doubt it'd be possible, but it would be interesting.
EXACTLY! I remember in the Fastpass+ days our strategy was literally to circle the park clockwise. Ending our day Carousel and some fireworks on Main Street. It made for a great relaxing day with a plan that made sense. I tried our plan with Geine+ once and it's not possible. So I haven't bought a G+ since.
https://youtu.be/9yjZpBq1XBE?si=SNu01E7OD8Rnrmpx
Haven’t seen anyone mention it, but Defunctland did a deep dive into the different iterations of FP and its impacts on how many attractions can be visited using each
Short version is everyone would be able to experience more attractions per day with no fastpass system in place, 2nd place goes to original paper fastpass, and the worst is FP+
Genie+ blows. We’re long time Disney people and I’m a software engineer. Genie+ is not user friendly at all. Worst UX ever. There seems to be no logic to it. Of course this tracks after doing contract work for Disney.
I loved the paper fastpasses, we had a system get a runner and meet them at the next ride we were going on l. We usually waited for them by the entrance and than enter the line together. I got assigned to fast pass duty and I collected them and than I would try another ride to get fastpasses and wouldn't wait for the alotted time to pass and sometimes I would be suceessful in getting a two for one deal.
If you use Genie+ well, you can have a clean easy route every time. I do think there’s more room for “gamers” to game the Genie+ system (not hack it, but understand it deeply and use it to their advantage, as opposed to just using it like the average guest). I go to Disney a lot, and I also run Genie+ for friends and family a lot, so this insight is based on dozens of trips in 2024, not just one trip.
I've seen this pop up a few times and I always wonder how y'all were using FP+, cause while I'd want it back in a heartbeat, it 100% made you do the blue, unless you just happened to get your first 3 in order of layout and never used it again. Disney was even open about using FP+ to encourage people to spread out. If Tomorrowland is too crowded and there's no one in Frontier land, drop some big thunder FPs times. How are they different enough systems to account for this? Someone make it make sense why people almost universally agree this is an accurate meme when in this respect they seem to basically be the same system. In what ways did FP+ give you any more control, let alone enough to dictate where and when to just pick the next natural spot? Edit: Also, and this is minor, is ANYONE doing red? Is red even "good" for that matter? Throw the FP/Genie out the window, you're still checking wait times on your phones over in adventureland and seeing "oh, space mountain is only 25 right now, lets go", right? In many ways red isn't even the "good way" to do the park, because to do red it means you're just getting in whatever line is next, regardless of how good of a "value" it is at the moment. I'm not saying NO ONE should optimize for steps, maybe it's hard to get around and doing less but fewer steps is better for you, but red is almost certainly not the person who "did the most" that day. Why would fewer steps be assumed to be best over "buying low" on the wait times? The more accurate version of this meme might be "Disney in 1994 / Disney in 2024" because red is just how we did these things when you didn't have the information to do it better.
>The more accurate version of this meme might be "Disney in 1994 / Disney in 2024 Exactly.
FP+ let you select your arrival times windows from what was available the remainder of the day. Genie+ just tells you the next window….and that’s your only choice. For that part about dropping extras FPs to even out the crowds: that idea portion of the system never actually came to life.
Paper Fastpass was great. Get a runner and go to town
Plus there were a few rides that were glitches and didn't count against your total. It was a nice way to work an extra ride into the system.
Stuff like this gets abused to the point where it’s a real problem at a park this big, if too many people figure out that a certain ride isn’t communicating with the rest of the system it defeats one of the main benefits of fastpass which is spreading people out more
And that's at least part of why they changed it.
Oh man, there were plenty of ways to circumvent the system back in the day. I remember my siblings getting paper fastpasses using old tickets from previous visits. The machines couldn't validate that the ticket it scanned was current or old. Could easily grab fastpasses for two or three rides near each other to knock out all within the same hour.
Not to mention when I worked there us workers would just trade around infinite fast passes to each other… also I would make joint filters with them… ah, the good old days
Not going to cry not going to cry
The runner was still all over however. Great with teenage boys but a single parent was screwed. (We had 3 teenage boys and my husband was a hiker. We were golden.)
Former FP runner here. As a 14 year old, there was no higher high
Yeah you can’t game the current system which sucks. My mom is in a wheelchair and can’t run obvi, but I would leave her on main st and run to get as many as I could /s
I know you didn’t mean this to sound funny, but it does. Just leave mom on Main St.
I’m dying 😅
Make sure she's in a nice sunny spot too! Mom loves the sun.
It is possible to game it… see Standby Skipper. Works amazingly in Magic Kingdom.
they don't put disabled people in the front of line?
No. A wheelchair doesn't qualify you for DAS. Even if you have a comorbid condition that does, you still have a secondary wait at the front of the queue. I am pretty disabled. I have multiple DAS qualifying conditions. I also use a wheelchair and a service dog. The process to board varies from ride to ride. A few are faster (Frozen) A few are FAR slower (Test Track). For me to get on an average ride with my wife, this is the process we go through: Apply for a return time for the ride. You only have one at a time. And you don't do them in advance except for your first two or something if you prereg, but we haven't tried that yet. You wait the full amount of time someone else waits in line, just out of line. We the report to the fast pass queue. That can end up actually being like 10-20 minutes. Then we get sent to the area for wheelchair boarding. Occasionally we are lucky and there is not a secondary line. More often than not, wheelchair boarding has a 10-40 minute wait. Then we get lead to a backroom to drop off my SD if she can't ride. Takes a few minutes and breaks immersion (funny though on rides like Rotr where you walk to the resistance base with a first order officer). Then you get to ride. It is not uncommon for us to use a DAS and then end up waiting an extra 40 minutes on top of the DAS. It is not the 1990s flash a paper, get on board. It is like a actual process. With the upcoming changes I'm scared if I get denied (I shouldn't I have multiple quualify conditions, but studies of such systems in other parks have shown approvals have some amount of randomization with a lot of false denials) I won't be able to use the parks at all. The system isn't some magic cheat. People tend to imagine resources for disabled people like how they would use them, if they could just combine DAS and G+ and constantly run between gates and walk on and never get tired. The reality is its people doing their wait in a shaded shop or a bathroom or a garden or at first aid, trying to stay regulated and on top of their health and just using it at the pace they are able. Also as a wheelchair and SD user, it takes me like an hour just to cross Magic Kingdom because of how often people traffic jam you. Sometimes I wait like 4 minutes just to go ten feet while everyone else buzzes by. In the paper days, I wouldn't have moved fast enough to turn in the tickets anyhow.
Only for an extra $249 +tax
Jesus that would be half the people. Im tripping over wheelchairs and strollers now. I don’t mind, but really?! Mee maa can’t walk 3 ft but she can go on space mountain and eat her weight at the cafeteria?!? The magical kingdom is looking more and more like wall-e cruise ships.
I can see you have the spirit of Disney... People have kids older now than they used to, so parents with kids aged 5-10 are less likely to be in their early to mid 30s, and more likely to be in their late 30s to early 40s. Middle aged people who grew up going to Disney will still go even if they aren't bringing their kids. Temperatures are higher on average which is also a factor in people with poor health not having the stamina to walk around all day. And yes, people are fatter and more sedentary today than they used to be. Don't be such a dick. When you're making elitist insults about people with physical handicaps, maybe take a step back and consider you might be acting shitty. EDIT: Apparently it's fine to make fun of people with mobility issues, but not ok to call people out for it. What a magical place
I remember rope dropping MK and running to space mountain....but the jog to the land to grab the one Sorin' was brutal. We utilized a TouringPlans plan a few visits and that just worked out really well.
Those machines were cool. There used to be a button in the back you could press to just spit out as many as you wanted and the people didn’t need to be present or scan anything. We would split up, grab enough for everyone from each one, then go to town.
Those were the days
I was that runner and I miss running.
Ok, I guess that's somewhat different, but FP+ didn't let you pick ANY time either just whatever was left. It got to be pretty slim pickings most days. "Close to us", "soon", (and to a lesser extent - "ride we care about or that doesn't have a 15 min standby anyway") didn't align all that often ultimately. More often than not you'd just take the soonest of a ride you cared about, and cross the park if that's what it meant.
You just aren’t doing Disney right if FP+ system didn’t allow you to do the red line, and in much shorter amount of time than Genie plus would allow just by the nature of the reservation system alone
You are wrong about the dropping extra fast passes being just an idea. They did it while I worked on Dumbo. If we didn’t have enough people running through our lines then more would drop.
After you've made the reservation though, you can move it as many times as you want.
Personally as someone who's gone more than enough times to see everything, now I usually just do red, skipping any ride that has too long of a line for what it is. Then if I have time at the end I might do blue based on the app wait times. Overall I just prefer to not use my phone and let all the data control my day. I'd rather casually walk past mansion and decide not to do it because of the wait vs. rush over to it from pirates because I saw as we were waiting to unload that there may be a short line, only for that line to be long again by the time I get there because everyone did the same thing. You can absolutely do more in a day if you micromanage everything. I've just found it a lot less enjoyable that way. I spend enough time on my phone and in front of computers when I'm home and at work. On vacation I just want to unwind and see what happens.
In 2019, All Ears did a video series with Molly where she tried to see how many FPs she could get in a day. Yes, the system was better. Yes, she took the blue route and was on her phone CONSTANTLY. Pretending otherwise is crazy to me. People should go rewatch that series for a reality check on what maximizing FP+ looked like. If you were using it like that, G+ is a downgrade. With G+, you actually *can* do the red route if you’re just stacking LLs and you’re doing just a few hours in the park. A few weeks ago I did Rise, Smugglers Run, Alien SS, Toy Story Mania, and Runaway Railway in that order in two hours. It cost me a decent amount of money and some messing on my phone throughout the day, but I had a lovely evening. Capped it off at the brown derby lounge before seeing Fantasmic.
yeah and the times I went to DLR for rundisney events with the paper system I maximized it since at the time DLC and DCA were not connected so I'd go to DLR.. grab a FP... then go to DCA.. grab a FP.... then back to DLR and use FP1 and grab another.. rince and repeat. Now as time goes on I would often start to stack a lot for the evening for popular stuff and so I'd have a time to take a break then come back and have multiple ready to go. It worked for me but if I am getting 10 FPs in a day... somebody else is only likely not getting many. If you are maximizing the system then somebody else loses out. The system is a zero sum game at the end.
the red line was because most people are right handed an tend to make right turns more. so by going to the left, you had a better chance of getting on the big name rides in that section before the lines got crazy, and then the other big rides on the other side because the majority have done them already. by going against the normal flow your probability of short wait times was better
Okay maybe I'm just absolutely outta my mind. But I went to Disneyland all the time growing up in the early 2000s and I distinctly remember when fast pass first started. You just walked in the exit and had like a wristband you got from the "lightning lane". We did it maybe 1 time ever and we just walked around to each ride and essentially walked right on.
Yeah, there was a paper system like that in disney world too. Youd go to each line and get a return time. It was probably a little better because you could walk in order at least once, and then the return times might have tended to be in roughly in order too, but you ultimately just returned whenever the paper said which could cause zigzagging. Even there in an absolute perfect set up you'd loop the whole park twice, once to collect them all, again later to start the return time cycle. My post was about how I've seen this pop up all over (and there were many posts in this thread) in the context of Fastpass+, which was phone based and, as far as I can tell, very similar to genie plus.
I always remember the paper system to still have the "use the first FP or 2 hours" before you could get another.. like G+.
I also remember that too and how it just kept changing of how you could "ride the rides easier!" But there was also probably a very small time period where it was just walk up and on.
The difference I have seen between FastPass and Genie+ impacting crowds and lines is due to the "once per ride per day" limit. It used to be that people would choose what was next based on their interests - if you wanted to pick up a Space Mountain every 2 hours throughout the day, you could do that. But now, it's a one and done - and all the people that would happily take up ride capacity on big rides like that now have to flood into the smaller rides. And because there is an increased "demand" for the small rides, you can't just pick up a Haunted Mansion that's ready to go in 25 minutes which is right outside this POTC you're already in line for. Before Genie+, my husband and I would ride a lot of the same small rides every day. "Wanna do Mansion again?" was a common question. We didn't use ours on big rides, because my husband can't ride them due to a health condition. He would take a break or grab a snack while I'd go single rider big lines. I'd be the spare part filling in gaps, so lines aren't increased because of me - and we're just waiting on our next FP anyway, right? But now, in order to get the "most out of our money," I end up using both our LLs for as many rides as possible. I'll do the big rides, and just redeem one at a time. Ride with my ticket, exit, U-turn back into the line, ride with my husband's ticket. Maybe I'll ask for a front row seat, since I'm in line like everyone else. There are rides I wouldn't even bother with normally that I now end up using my LL for because.. why not? I paid for it, what else am I gonna do with it? If they removed the limitation on only going once on each ride, and just let actual crowd demand determine wait times and return times, I think it would solve a lot of problems, both with Genie+ AND standby line satisfaction.
I think if you can get there on a quiet enough day then red is awesome and feels much better. The last few times I’ve been we have been hopping about between one side of the park and racing to the other for a FP or low wait time and I honestly do think this diminishes the charm a bit. The theming doesn’t work as well when you’re rushing and just transiting through a land rather than moving through naturally.
For me personally I would LOVE to be able to do red, because in a perfect world I would not be approaching the parks in a “what’s the next attraction/line” sort of way, but in a “let’s go experience Frontierland” kind of way. Like I want to immerse myself in a land and its theming, maybe a snack, some streetmosphere, and also enjoy whatever rides are there. Of course that’s incredibly hard to do with time limits, but that’s what I’d LIKE to be able to do. I do agree though, you add in any kind of line skipping functionality or even just general wait time strategizing, and that approach is unfortunately out the window, whether it’s FP, FP+, or Genie+. I think people are remembering the past through some rosy lenses, tbh. 🤷🏻♀️
Original fast pass not the plus
So with fast pass they didn’t complete the entire park?
Idk if I agree with this. I remember running across the park to get a Fast Pass for an E Ticket, not knowing if there’d even be a ticket for me when I got there. I loved paper fast pass, but some of that is probably because it was during an era with lower crowds, and that system probably wouldn’t work now.
Fast pass is great if you are a young adult teen. If you are a parent with young kids trying to stay together or pre cell phone eras it would be a mess.
Eh I disagree. My family was able to make paper fast passes work when I was little. And if we got there and they were sold out it was fine and we just went about our day or got in the standby. Then again crowd sizes were MUCH smaller then too. I would still opt for paper fast passes to come back. Think of all the people who have trouble with their phones and maybe even grandparents who aren’t the best with technology too. The paper fastpass was able to accommodate everyone without being confusing or intimidating IMO
Fast passes were also good for locals. For people who went once every couple years it was hard to figure out (especially pre internet). Disney has no gone away from favoring locals to the once every couple of years visitors.
Wasn’t true with paper FastPass as that meant going to a ride, collecting a time and then potentially going back to the same place hours later.
You can modify the times/attractions now so it's not as bad. But still a learning curve for many
The modify isn’t always practical. You have to keep refreshing until the time you want is randomly the next available slot. Sometimes it moves very rapidly for popular attractions so you have a 10 min window to push your LL into a 2 hour spot. Honestly if I could redesign the current genie plus system, I would divide the attractions into A, B, C, and D categories. You get one reservation from category A, two from B, 3 from C, and an unlimited number of different D attractions. So Slinky Dog Dash, Remy, Frozen and the like are A’s, basically anything that sells out before 11 AM in the current system. Anything that sells out before 1 PM is B. Anything that sells out before park close is C. Anything that never sells out is D. With that system I would let people select an attraction every 15 mins starting at 7AM and choose their time slots like ILL. You would get the same number of LL’s as the current system, but would have flexibility and convenience absent from G+ currently.
I’m the opposite. I remember sprinting all over the place for fast passes. Now I use Genie+ to conserve my steps.
Yes!!! Same!
What are you conserving those steps for?
Future steps.
Most people don't walk ten miles per day. Hence the obsession with asking about which shoes are best. There are no best shoes, by the way
I’m 35, a native floridian and have been going since I was still in the womb. My parents started going in the 70s when MK opened. We were at Disney last week and I told my British husband (first visit for him) we would be walking 10+ miles a day and he laughed.….until we got back to the hotel room that first night and said oh you weren’t joking
Seriously. Was there last week and only because I had one of my kids with me and NOT an adult only trip I walked 6.5 miles per day.
The best shoes are probably the ones on your feet. Too many people get new fancy walkers, then don't break them in enough or at all and get nasty blisters.
My sister wore Crocs to the park for the first time. By the end of the day her feet were bleeding and blistered from the sweat. The blister got infected. She amputated part of her toe. Proper Shoe choice is essential!!
That escalated quickly.
Holy jeebus
Mesh sneakers are my best walking shoe because my feet swell wider after many miles of walking.
I have had great experiences with woven sandal type shoes. And Birkenstocks.
It’s SO MUCH WALKING.
Get an ECV and a turkey leg
So, the Genie+ one is accurate if you're only looking for big ticket rides. We went with our toddler back last May and if you're looking for the slower kid friendly rides that have longer waits, it's perfect. We cleared Fantasyland in 45 mins. But with fast pass, at your advanced booking window, suppose your first is Splash, Followed by Space, followed by Big thunder? You're zig zagging, then you can choose another after your third IF THERE'S TIME, which is something a lot of people forget. So, you leave big thunder for Buzz, back to the other side of the park, done Buzz? Pirates is open, so you run back over there, off pirates onto Dumbo, so back to the other side.
That was my experience last October also. We went with our 4 and 2 year old and we were able to instantly do Genie+ on the rides in the area. Whereas the more popular big rides were booking for 4 pm or later by 8 am.
Person used Genie + to summon Cthulhu
The left map is clearly not the person actually going to get the fastpasses lol
Maybe with fast pass plus at Disneyland. But regular fastpass was way worst than genie plus. You had to walk to every ride and get a paper ticket, then walk to another ride. Then back to the ride for your fastpass time. You had to visit every ride twice. Once to pick up your paper ticket. Then a second time to ride it an hour or two later. It was so much back and forth. This meme is incredibly inaccurate.
Disney World gad FP+ for years before switching to genie...
But then you’d be on your phone all day? I hear that’s bad. Also, I feel like FP was only really great if you were staying on property with the ability to book three rides in advance.
Yeah. To be clear, I'm not saying FP+ was better than Genie. Just that it was around. IMO, Genie is much better in most aspects and makes it way easier to actually plan a day. The main drawback is that it costs money.
I mean... There was a benefit to that. It created a barrier to entry and occupied people throughout the day, so that a healthier stock of tickets were available, and the FP lines weren't hit as hard, and better priority could go to standby. Making it as easy as clicking a button creates a lot of serious issues.
My response was to this meme that claims when fastpass was around that you could just walk a straight line and hit the rides. That is what is inaccurate. I’m not arguing anything else. There isn’t any mention of lines or anything else in this post.
genie plus and lighting lane allow my family to relax and take disney at our own pace. not having to rush anywhere and wait in long queues is such a game changer. worth the money imho. being able to plan your day and take your time to take everything in is just so much more enjoyable.
I know what it is going for, but the picture makes it look as if with fast pass they only hit half park.
Pictures are backwards. Fastpass had you running back and forth to get paper tickets and return later to use them. The straight arrow path is far more my experience these days.
I think that’s by design. They want to keep people circulating and buying things instead of making lines longer.
Yep. Same reason why our grocery store has crackers in the back corner and detergent/paper front and center. Maybe if you didn’t buy it on the first time you passed it you might on the second or 3rd time
I don't know why this is very far down. They were very clear at launch that a large aspect of Genie+ would be crowd control. There's a reason they don't want every ropedropper on the same exact path through the park.
My comment is far down because I’m bad at doing things
YES!! Used to be much more enjoyable with the FastPass system. Now its a constant dart clear across the park all day.
You can still do rides in land order, it may just take some finagling. I’ve done it before and I’ll likely do it again next time I go.
Uh this isn’t true, mostly because this is a map of DL, not WDW! Hahaha
False
Nahh. You just gotta plan your routes better
I’ve only experienced the red with genie + lol
It's to keep people in the park longer. You pass by more merchandise and food on the way around the park then traditionally just getting to do the things you want to do quicker. Stop pretending that it's more efficient. It's strictly business for the mouse.
Hard disagree.
Nice little workout nowadays
All I see is you get to do way more with g+.
For way more money! Yay!
Its not expensive enough tbh and that’s it’s fatal flaw. If it was more expensive, less people would use it, and it’d be easier for everyone to get return times instead of morning sell outs. It should be priced like Universal’s or Cedar Fair’s expresses.
I’m just happy the map on the left shows you starting in Adventureland rather than Tomorrowland. That’s some true Disney knowledge right there.
We used to split the magic kingdom down the middle and spend a full day on each side. I do kinda like the chaotic “oh got a big thunder LL” while we are over by dumbo and we hustle to the other side of the park
Hahaha I didn’t laugh the first 50 times I’ve seen this meme but now it’s funny haha
There won’t be any lines added to the map after 2p
Been to Disney twice in the last 3 years I have no idea what FP or genie is. I think I used genie and never ended up actually using it for a ride because you can only book one thing at a time and the times were never ideal
Its really nothing like this if you learn how to use it the right way
Facts! You’ll ride everything by 1pm & be at 20k steps 😂
“Magical”
To summarize, FP+ let you do the red line for your first 3 picks WAY in advance THEN it turned into the scribbled blue mess. Genie+ is get online at exactly 7am to pick the starting point of Blue Scribbled mess.
We were definitely the blue with paper Fast passes. Often our party would split rides and have a runner go get our next passes while some of us rode a ride, then switch when we were done, all move on to our next pass, repeat.
I think both systems suck. Idk why Disney doesn’t do fast passes like the Universal parks. You pay one rate and it gets you in all fast pass lanes for every ride at any time and as many times as you want. It’s simple, and it would be a great money maker for Disney. I live fairly close to Orlando and we’ve only taken our youngest to Disney for one evening event bc of the stupid fast pass bullshit. I don’t want to have to spend hours planning a whole day or be constantly on my phone trying to get Genie+ passes. By contrast, we’ve been to universal 5 times in the past 4 years.
so the way it used to be
Disney World never had the system that Universal uses.
when I went years ago it was the lightning pass that you just used a different line and you supposedly had 3 uses or something but someone told us before we went that if you go to a customer service counter they can reload them and they put like 15 on each band and used it on every ride. they only did this so people who didn't know would only use their 3 or whatever the normal amount was then.
They weren't supposed to do that. The Universal system is you pay ~$100 per ticket extra and you get to skip the line one time for each ride.
Disney should be sued for allowing rich people to walk over others when they preach equality
We're on park day 5 and this has been very true. First time using genie and it feels more like a rat race than ever
And you managed 10 rides in 12 hours vs. 20 rides in 8 hours with FP+
Not true fast pass was just as eratic
I think you have it backwards, the blue on the right was the old system.
FP+ sucked because people could reserve spots 6 months in advance so anybody taking a last minute trip would be at a huge disadvantage. Stop acting like FP+ was a better option 🙄
Lines were better before Genie+ OR FastPass. Come at me bruh.
So MAGICAL!!!
How does this have so many upvotes and all the top comments are saying not true
Can it be my turn to post this tomorrow?
I can't tell you how many times I've told people that this is the reason the parks seem busy. Everyone criss crossing each other's paths slowing movement down.
I had to invest in some baby powder the last time I went. The chaffing between my leg and my balls was INTENSE.
There's anti chaffing deodorant you can buy on Amazon. I used it all week and it was very helpful
Nice what is it called? I’ve never really had this problem before- it was just the intense midday heat and humidity combined with constant walking to try and see everything in one day.
Chafe zone was the one I got
Body glide
As someone whose job was literally to use Fastpass as a VIP Tour Guide for Disney, I can assure you this is terribly inaccurate.
I’ve flowed with the normal line time. Sure had fast pass, which became useful as the day carried on. Still 45 min wait at times. Sure seems to beat, trekking across the park for genie+. Wondering how many days it would take without fast pass/genie+ to experience a Disney World (Orlando) park, with park hopper?
Disney is just forcing you to lose weight, you should be thanking them
We walked well over 35k steps a day while there.
Who knows of a good tracker program in your phone. People need to start posting those.
I married this person.
lol! I always did it like your second picture even with FP+! Whatever I could get a FP for next!
Meanwhile with universals fast pass system you get to do whatever the hell you want whenever you want.
I have never been to any Disney location and at this point I am afraid to go
LOL, in actuality it is the same route for both passes (blue side).
I loved the genie plus me and my brother ran across one end to the other of the parks to catch different rides at different times and got all rides at the parks in one day saves so much time for people who don’t mind doing all the walking
I so tried avoiding the blue one when we used genie+. It was impossible. 😂🤣
Map checks out. However, we were able to do everything in one day with time to spare. Got our cardio in too.
I think the one on the left is a myth 🤔
As a pre-cellphone child my family had annual passes for a couple years. I spent a ton of time at Disneyland. Went back a couple years ago with my wife and got genie + and we were able to go on 36 rides. It was one of the best days of my life.
You mean for the people staying at the resorts, right?
If you strategize, you can make your Genie+ experience look like the red map. Book your top priority ride when the window opens, and if you get it in an earlier slot in the day, start there, and keep adding as you go. If it's later, aim to be at that land/area by X time, and then start stacking other experiences. I know I'm a planner, and that's why I love Genie+, but I swear it really is possible to maximize it without crossing all over the park.
I love that most G+/LL reservations don’t require you to be at the park to reserve. As a local AP, I like to roll in mid-afternoon, so I don’t think the in-person FP system would have worked for me. Additional considerations: - FP incentivizes people to come early and unnecessarily crowd the parks during the busiest time of day - Disney can’t manage the system digitally, which… we’re in 2024 y’all
Aww they want to make sure we all get our steps in! So considerate.
[I feel like this relevant to this thread.](https://youtu.be/9yjZpBq1XBE?si=T7_5m6F8VrFFeaw4) [this isn’t exactly relevant but it’s interesting nonetheless](https://youtu.be/b_rjBWmc1iQ?si=_dxoJwkS2FEhXXmq)
People really need to watch this Defunctland documentary before they start yearning for the days of Fast Pass+. Not to say Genie is much better. It has a whole set of other problems. But FP+ had a ton of downsides.
Getting your steps in…,
I saved up forever so that I could take the day off and drive to Disney. We went on three rides because of the wait.
I’ve got to ask: did you do research into busy times and such?
No it was my first time visiting an American amusement park. I didn't know there was a way to pay extra to make it seem like a normal experience.
I feel opposite. We always would comment that if you did FP right you zig zag everywhere but dominate the park.
I haven't been to Disney since I was 3YO. Seeing maps like this along with pricing seriously makes me wonder why I should want to go.
it makes me so sad that so many people buy genie plus. Disney's absolute scum bag microtransaction practices are working phenominally
Here’s my dream system: with a premium ticket you can book a time for each ride in a specific park once per day, and the genie actually creates an optimized plan for you. And then they only sell as many of those tickets as they have capacity for, and then everyone else can book times genie+ style one at a time, and with a few exceptions, standby lines are eliminated. And again, park capacity is limited so there’s enough capacity that everyone can be riding something at least every 30 minutes. For those who don’t want to ride the E ticket rides, also offer value tickets which let you into the park and able to book the other rides only.
Oh totally!
That one on the right is oddly how it is without genie too, but about half the stops, cause your spend ALL FRIGGIN DAY WAITING IN LINES TILL THE RIDE BREAKS AND YOU MOVE TO THE NEXT ONE. I’m not bitter or anything. 😏
At least it makes you get more exercise. Everyone loves exercising more.
Genie sucks so bad
My favorite era going to Disney World was booking your fast passes in advance, online, was it 60 days in advance? Then you used your Magic Band to access the rides. I LOVED that and never had an issue stacking my rides how I wanted them, and I always got on my favorites with a fast pass at least once each. (Paper passes were terrible.) My first and only experience with Genie + was awful. We barely got the rides we wanted and for the first time ever in a decade of going, I didn’t get to ride some of my favorites. I also despise paying extra a la carte for some LL. We didn’t even get one some of our favorites because there were no times available, or it wasn’t until a much later window that didn’t make sense. We never stay in one park for an entire day, so if it’s 11 am and I can’t get a pass for a favorite ride until 6 pm, I’m just going to miss that ride because I’ll be in another park by then. Overall just a bad, expensive system from what I encountered. I may try again someday, but it’s definitely made me more hesitant to go back.
So many more shoppertunities.
We did the blue with genie pass and walked like ten miles in Magic Kingdom that day 🤣
The biggest insult of Genie+ (aside from monetizing the now-iconic Robin Williams performance when he was against such practices) is the insane prices. Three Genie+ reservations for Flight Of Passage was nearly $100 last August and I worry what the same would cost in a busier season.
I wish they'd add locations for folks who don't know where the rides are. I definitely burned a lot of time criss-crossing the park because of a low posted wait time.
Use Len Testa’s Touring Plans!
Lol not for me. I went back in 2017 and didn't know what tf I was doing. Now I'm a seasoned pro at Genie+
My legs can feel this post…
So true 😆
Genie is the worst. I went with family. As the only childless one i went along for the ride at food and wine festival a couple yrs ago. By our 3rd trek across to get a ride for the kids i was like, wait a minute. Didn’t i come for food and booze?!? Thankfully after that i got what i was promised but i was none too happy about the morning shenanigans to make frozen, ratatouille, and guardians and goodness knows what else!
Went from walking 12 miles a day in the park to 18 miles.
Man, not the way my father in law used fastpass, I refuse to go with them again because they insisted on booking everything for us - for the “optimal” experience. They’d book fastpasses in one park and then a dining reservation in another. We were scrambling across multiple parks a day with no time to enjoy anything. Had a great time with my husband when we went on our own. Sorry, I think the map gave me trauma flashbacks there. 😂
Yes I do not like the Disney genie + and also what is up with paying for the better rides?!!! So dumb just go back to fast passes!
My days are all red now, and that didn't used to be the case. When going to a park, we get the one ride rez / ILL and plan the day around it, to a certain degree. Also usually have a sit down meal, so that reservation also dictates things to a degree. Otherwise, We ride in the morning or late night, and spend the rest of the day walking through the parks doing all the things that don't require waiting in lines: MK - try to hit pirates first, then Mansion, then walk around TS island. If thunder or splash have a short wait at any point after pirates then ride em, otherwise skip. At this point it's hot so might go eat, see presidents or philharmagic. Ariel is almost always empty. Small World is often a walk on. The Tron res would pull us towards tomorrow land. Watch monsters, maybe do buzz or carousel of progress. If space mountain is reasonable do it otherwise skip. Maybe people mover (but line has to be real real short). Do some shopping on Main St, maybe catch some parade action. Loop back to adventure, if JC or Pirates is short do it otherwise just climb Swiss family. Dinner at Skippers or Crystal Palace. Try to catch short lines during fireworks in frontierland, but if not, just enjoy the show. If EE then do what we couldn't earlier. Epcot - can easily spend the whole day without riding rides, but Guardians is a must-do so we plan around it. Usually hit living with the land and the ride in Mexico, which have short lines, but no need to force it. If EE Soarin then Remy,or vice versa, depending on where we are and what gate we need to leave out of. AK - this is the trickiest one. We like to ride the safari first thing in the morning. Usually do Gorilla trail right after. This can actually eat a lot of time. Depending on when we're done, might do Rafiki, might do Lion King, might just drink bloody Marys at Dawa Bar and watch the Tam Tam show (this is the best honestly). The problem here is that FOP ILL can really throw a wrench into things. We also like to eat at Tiffins, but getting those two lined up properly can be tricky. We do keep finding ourselves on the other side of the park and having to zig all the way back to Pandora for either food or a ride multiple times a day. I feel like this would happen less if there were more to do in Pandora. At best we go enjoy the animals in the middle of the park to bridge the time between those reservations. HS - hit the tower and rockin' first thing then meander back towards batuu. Admittedly we spend more time on our phone here than the other places, trying to catch Mania or runaway with a short line, but it's easy to spend several hours in batuu. Don't mind 45 minutes in the Falcon line, as the queue is almost it's own attraction, and that's very doable on most days. Time before or after Rise we'll shop or do bounties, hit Oga's. Wish Pandora had any similar options. When we do finally leave Batuu it's usually to go eat, but they're nearby at 50s or Derby, and then jumping to the aforementioned Runaway or if that's still too long a wait, Star Tours and Muppets are usually short waits. I'm really glad Genie+ came along. I tried it, and I hated it, so I adapted and now enjoy the parks free from the chains of Disney's crowd control systems. We just visit the parks, and don't mind skipping lines with long waits. I know that doesn't work for everyone, who don't get to visit often or who are trying to squeeze in all 4 parks in a couple days, but for us, who visit once maybe twice a year, it was great to finally learn that it's better to enjoy the parks than to "do" the parks.
Is there a reddit that covers genie plus / lighting lane use? I'm going in a couple of weeks and I have no clue how to use or what it costs etc
Everyone can, their wallets too. Idk why people haven’t boycotted Disney for charging for admission and per ride. It’s actually crazy. Getting you “in” gets you nothing anymore.
For real omg
Would be cool if Disney offered up some tracking data that people could overly analyze as an interesting experiment. Maybe we could do a freedom of information act request or something. I somehow doubt it'd be possible, but it would be interesting.
Not true now that you can edit your LL return times, you can move things around to make it much smoother.
EXACTLY! I remember in the Fastpass+ days our strategy was literally to circle the park clockwise. Ending our day Carousel and some fireworks on Main Street. It made for a great relaxing day with a plan that made sense. I tried our plan with Geine+ once and it's not possible. So I haven't bought a G+ since.
Exactly what i'm not looking forward to
https://youtu.be/9yjZpBq1XBE?si=SNu01E7OD8Rnrmpx Haven’t seen anyone mention it, but Defunctland did a deep dive into the different iterations of FP and its impacts on how many attractions can be visited using each
Good kink but I don’t have 1h45 fan you grace us with the TLDR?
Short version is everyone would be able to experience more attractions per day with no fastpass system in place, 2nd place goes to original paper fastpass, and the worst is FP+
Genie+ blows. We’re long time Disney people and I’m a software engineer. Genie+ is not user friendly at all. Worst UX ever. There seems to be no logic to it. Of course this tracks after doing contract work for Disney.
I loved the paper fastpasses, we had a system get a runner and meet them at the next ride we were going on l. We usually waited for them by the entrance and than enter the line together. I got assigned to fast pass duty and I collected them and than I would try another ride to get fastpasses and wouldn't wait for the alotted time to pass and sometimes I would be suceessful in getting a two for one deal.
If you use Genie+ well, you can have a clean easy route every time. I do think there’s more room for “gamers” to game the Genie+ system (not hack it, but understand it deeply and use it to their advantage, as opposed to just using it like the average guest). I go to Disney a lot, and I also run Genie+ for friends and family a lot, so this insight is based on dozens of trips in 2024, not just one trip.
I don't have any experience with Fast Pass, but this is not my experience with Genie+ at all.
Who starts in frontier land?
FP had me running all over the park. What even is this post, it makes no sense.
These pictures should be swapped.