Big news coming out of Walt Disney World in Florida, where Disney has announced major updates to some if it’s most controversial programs. Namely the reservation system and genie plus, but also the disney dining plan. Big news yes, but how does this effect Disneyland? Will it? Could it?
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23 Comments
Listening to you talk about the “gym memberships” and the opposite effect on DL pass holders brings to mind what Justin was saying about people getting burned out of Disneyland but never taking a break from Disneyland (his argument-because they don’t want their pass to expire). I really agree that this unique environment of Disney-overuse plays a role in the heightened tensions in the parks, rolled into a perfect storm with all the other high-stress factors of modern Disneyland.
I remember going to WDW in 2016 and my cast member friend telling me for every 30 fastpass guests they let in 1 party from the queue 😳 I hoped and prayed it didn’t come to Disneyland because the lines were hell at WDW, and now here we are. People are blaming Lightning Lane, but the 30:1 ratio was implemented at DL with LL and it sucks.
I have the SoCal resident pass and the summer up until the very end of August is completely blacked out. I went about ten times since January just to try and make up for the fact that I have two whole months that are unavailable to me.
If the summer months were open with even just a few days, I probably would have cooled down on going so much. I probably wouldn’t have gone that much either, since Disneyland can be unbearable in the heat. But I don’t have that option, so I made sure to make reservations and go
IMO… it was the best with fastpass and maxpass and I really really hated virtual queues!
I did NOT like DW FP +, but I did like DL MaxPass. There were tiers to the FP + so you couldn’t choose two rides in the same tier. You could be online ready to go and book your FP 6 months prior and the popular ones were already gone. Hard to be spontaneous if you had to go to a certain park because of your FP choice months ago. MaxPass allowed a level playing field as you couldn’t start booking until you were in the park.
My favorite time to attend Disneyland was when they offered FastPass. They didn't charge anything extra and you could go on the same ride more than once in a day. With Genie+, it's typically $25 per day and you're not allowed to go on a ride more than once per day. I don't mind the $25 but not being able to go on a ride multiple times, makes me mad especially when I'm paying $25! I'm hoping that Disney changes their policy.
I’m on the fence about park reservations. As an out of town-er who doesn’t get to visit often, it has been more helpful to me and others alike to have park reservations because 1) you’re guaranteed an entrance to the park even when it’s busy, and 2) the manipulation has made the crowds more manageable even on busier days. I remember as a kid waiting 3 hours for a ride on a day where the park hit max capacity. It was insanity. That’s not enjoyable when you travel out of town and plan vacation days and money around that sort of thing. I totally get it’s not ideal for locals, but that’s where I feel they need to find the balance between allowing the flexibility for locals who go all the time versus the tourists who come once in a great while or only once at all.
The virtual queues however, are a massive disaster. They’re impractical and hated. It shouldn’t be a dog eat dog situation to ride a ride. Same with dining, people shouldn’t have to fight to compete for that coveted spot. It’s ridiculous. Disney can do better.
I wonder if Disney sees the reservation as a way to manage their labor better than use forecasting?? Dose the reservation system put a strain on the attractions???
Guest experience at the mouse sucks
We are in a recession
Virtual queue is a good idea for new rides. The last rides to open without it was guardians of the galaxy mission break out and there was an 8 hour line that weaved throughout backstage all through the park.
Price, Price, Price. Travel from the West Coast to Disney World is expensive. Add all the other costs, it becomes unaffordable. The same thing is now happening at Disneyland. Disney has to bring down costs, or negotiate cheaper travel costs. They could take a Lesson from Las Vegas on this. Disney needs to create their own discount travel packages to get people to the parks.
Far too complicate for the average resin to go to the parks. I am always explaining something to some poor family.
Bring back the Maxpass!
For the Walt Disney World piece of this, I have close ties to people that work in the travel industry and there are people specifically not going to Florida right now because of all the political stuff that’s going on there. There are people that have historically taken 2 to 3 visits to Walt Disney World per year and are canceling or not scheduling trips because they do not want to support what’s going on in Florida right now or members of a certain community, who are downright worried to go to Florida right now.
Virtual queues are the absolute worst thing to happen. They do sell out so fast, and if something were to happen and your not in the park early enough. You are hooped! Speaking as an out of town guest, it makes it very hard to navigate and understand. Especially if you need to get multiple virtual queues and risk missing your spot, running around the park.
this summer will be an important barometer for disney. it's their most profitable time of year…or will it be? with a couple of summers under their belts,summer2023 will make or break the reservation system. with other theme parks heavily competing for vacationer dollars,disney will have no choice but to reconsider all the changes they've made since the lock down was lifted. by the end of summer i think local hold outs (like myself,who hasn't been to disneyland since feb. 2020) will come out on top. all we want is to have things the way they were,and i think that time is coming soon.
We've only used the Disney dining plan 1 time, we got it for our Disneymoon. We ate so much and it was all so good. We have a 3 year old now so in our current stage of life, it isn't the most practical thing to utilize and have, but if you are a family with older kids, it makes complete sense to use!
Disney just overcomplicates things, they create solutions in search of problems. The fastest lines were when there was no fastpass and no genie. Just one line, they went so fast.
Can't wait till the full recession hits and the parks are empty
Your own bias towards Disney is the main reason why you do not go to the other Parks the same way and end up losing money
The reservation system has kept me away. I used to go twice a year and I miss it. But my visits were more of a let’s go this weekend if we can variety.
The old fast pass system was "simply" the best…the excitement of getting your fast pass out of the machine and checking to see your time to "ride" and when you could get your next fast pass…if you had leftover fast passes they were great souvenirs of your time at Disneyland!!