Disney announces changes to Genie+

Lord Gonchar:

The more you tell them in advance what you're doing, the more they can prepare for it. Think of how much easier it is to make the guest experience better (and even being able to anticpate, adapt to, and modify things) because you already know where you need to focus based on the fact that your guests have outlined where they'll be and when before they arrive.

One of the driving forces behind the whole mymagic+ rollout.

Brent Sullivan:
Yeah, and that system is junk.

I rather liked Volcano Bay, it is the best waterpark I've been to actually. Loved not having to haul tubes or stand around roasting on slide towers.

Go to Schlitterbahn New Braunfels, 90% of the rides there are partial lazy rivers and partial tube chutes, their newest one is a 30 min ride with a conveyor belt so you can just loop around and around over and over again, other rides dump you in the Comel River to float back to the park. An amazing place, Volcano Bay is definitely in the top five though.

Brian Noble:

In other words, the queues are themselves are an important part of the park's physical guest capacity.

That’s why I’ve always admired a lot of the newer Disney queue lines.

The ones that put a bunch of peeps in some room that makes you feel like you’re not in a queue line, but you really are (watching some monitor screen)You keep advancing from room to room.

Lord Gonchar:

A bunch of people handing over a hundred bucks and repeatedly randomly running up the unmonitored exit lines of any given park's biggest attractions isn't doing much for anyone involved.

Fast Pass has nothing to do with what I'm suggesting, although a version of it (similar to what Disney is doing) could be incorporated.

Also, guest behavior is not random. Pretty sure parks can predict general crowd flow and which rides are going to have their queues fill up. It certainly would not be as accurate as Disney having most everyone's 3-ride itinerary ahead of time, but it's not like Cedar Point is going to wake up tomorrow and say "holy crap, Troika is slammed today!"

I'd argue that the Disney experience continues to get more and more over the top good...Disney continues to find out more and more about what the guest will be doing when they visit.

I'd argue that the Disney experience continues to get more and more over the top good because their attractions are amazing, incredibly themed and totally immersive.

But that doesn't help Disney at all.

Help Disney do what? Enhance the guest experience? Because that's what I'm also suggesting. Disney's system is to provide the means to book a few attractions ahead of time (for an upcharge) so that you don't have to wait, in line or otherwise, to ride them when you're there. But in doing so, they are trading the leisurely, go-with-the-flowness feel that many people desire when they go to an amusement park. Does this system yield an overall net benefit in terms of experience over just having people choose what they do as they go about their day at the park? Maybe for some, and possibly even for most. I really don't know.

What I'm suggesting is much simpler, in principle, than what Disney is doing, and frankly they are a different beast playing in a different league. All I'm suggesting is that the worst part of any day at the park is standing in line, and it seems there could be some clever ways using technology to remove that element from the experience, assuming a park has the means and will to enforce the policy and make sure it runs efficiently and effectively.

Brian Noble:
The people standing in queue switchbacks are not on the midways, clogging up the stores, etc. etc.. In other words, the queues are themselves are an important part of the park's physical guest capacity.

Completely agree. This would be a challenge.

eightdotthree:
Six Flags

Oops. Shows how much I've attended/paid attention to Six Flags in the last decade (never/not at all). After some very cursory internet research, it seems that their system is intended to do what I'm proposing. Why is it garbage? Just because Six Flags?

Bakeman31092:

Why is it garbage? Just because Six Flags?

I've never used it but there is a trip report from the other day that said it was great so who knows.

Bakeman31092:

All I'm suggesting is that the worst part of any day at the park is standing in line, and it seems there could be some clever ways using technology to remove that element from the experience, assuming a park has the means and will to enforce the policy and make sure it runs efficiently and effectively.

Fair. I was using your point as a jump off to a related idea.

I haven't been to Disney in over 15 years now and care about it less than ever, but...

Wasn't a whole "virtual queue" supposed to be part of a Fantasyland re-do a long while back? Why am I remembering a concept like this somewhere - with a common area with activites, but you're virtually waiting for the local attractions. Is that a thing? Did I dream that? I may have hopped timelines between then and now in which case, I assure you there's an alternate reality where Disney World has a whole virtual queue thing happening.

In a circus tent? Maybe? I can't find anything.

I keep promising to lay off the bath salts...

I feel like what you're describing is how the standby line for Dumbo works, but I think I've used Genie the last couple of times we rode.

Bakeman31092:

but it's not like Cedar Point is going to wake up tomorrow and say "holy crap, Troika is slammed today!"

bigboy:

I feel like what you're describing is how the standby line for Dumbo works, but I think I've used Genie the last couple of times we rode.

That's exactly it.

"Dumbo the Flying Elephant has a Standby Line where you may be given a pager and enjoy time in an air-conditioned circus tent chocked full of fun activities for the kids."

So there. Disney is already using this idea in limited capacity.

But are you confined to the tent? 😉

Hard to believe, but if you leave that tent, straight to Mickey jail.

Is Disney still using virtual queues for rides like GotG and TRON ? They were last year when I went.

Around 2010 Disney re-worked many of their queues with interactive elements. This included Winnie the Pooh, Dumbo, Test Track 2.0, and Space Mountain. They seemingly have abandoned this strategy. As long as the line is moving or their is some kind of interactive element I really don't mind waiting in line.

Lord Gonchar:

I'd argue that the Disney experience continues to get more and more over the top good (or at least remain the leader in the field) while others implementing dollar-store versions of the same ideas are racing to the bottom because of the idea that Disney continues to find out more and more about what the guest will be doing when they visit.

With all due respect, if you haven't been in 15 years how can you know the experience has improved? Doesn't the experience need to be, you know, experienced?

The_Orient_of_Express:
Is Disney still using virtual queues for rides like GotG and TRON ?

Yes, with Tiana joining the line-up on Friday.

I’d think an almost guaranteed drawback to a 100% virtual queue is the risk of a sell out early in the day. I mean, imagine arriving at a park at 12:30p to find out that the times for the good rides are gone already. Lines are visible to those walking by. Virtual queue times are not.

I don't believe that would happen with the system I'm imagining, because a) you wouldn't be able to book ride times for later in the day, and b) you could only queue for one ride at a time. Also, the system would estimate the current wait time based on how many people are "checked in" and how many people have been cycled through the ride in the last X minutes, and therefore would display a fairly accurate wait time. And while you were waiting for your time to ride Tilt-O-Puke, if you went to Balls Out 2: Faster Balls and decided that you wanted to ride it instead, when you tried to check in to the new ride the system would tell you that you're already queued for Tilt-O-Puke and would give you the option to "get out of line" for that ride to check in to the queue for Balls Out 2.

Again, just imagine everything working the same as it does today (minus Disney, minus Fast Pass), except instead of standing in line for an hour, you check in and then come back an hour later to ride, while doing whatever you wanted to in the meantime.

Bakeman31092:

But are you confined to the tent? 😉

You're not standing in a line.

Mulfinator:
With all due respect, if you haven't been in 15 years how can you know the experience has improved? Doesn't the experience need to be, you know, experienced?

Yes. It's impossible to understand or know something without experiencing it firsthand.

And, as usual on the ol' Buzz, selective context. The point is, Disney is widely regarded at the best at this. But you knew that.

Bakeman31092:

Is there any park that has implemented a virtual queue?…

Disney’s old FastPass. Six Flags old Qbot. Isn’t that how they all worked when they started coming out?

Lord Gonchar:

Yes. It's impossible to understand or know something without experiencing it firsthand.

And, as usual on the ol' Buzz, selective context. The point is, Disney is widely regarded at the best at this. But you knew that.

I never said that Disney isn't the leader in the business. My issue was your argument that the experience is improving. We are literally having this discussion in a thread about changes to a significant part of the guest experience. Disney is effectively changing Genie+ back to Fastpass, but paid and a shorter window to book in advance. They are essentially admitting they got Genie+ wrong. They wouldn't be making this change if they didn't have mountains of data justifying the change.

Anecdotally, Disney is currently a lesser experience unless you have Genie+. I say that based on visits over the last few years in Florida and California. I have many discussions with colleagues who hate Genie+ and think Disney is going downhill. These are DVC owners too who have plenty of visits under their belts. I know these are anecdotes but there's much more negative about Genie+ out there than positive.

I applaud Disney for recognizing there is a problem and course correcting.

To be fair, the DVC crowd has a tendency to complain about everything.

TheMillenniumRider:

To be fair, the DVC crowd has a tendency to complain about everything.

That sounds about right for any hardcore Disney enthusiast. They are loudest complainers but continue to spend money hand over fist at Disney parks. ???????