Starting yesterday Disney killed off Genie+, which some think was the worst post-Covid change that Disney ever came up with. This replaced the Fastpass+ system which replace the old paper Fastness, both of which were Free! That’s right FREE. These free to use line skipping tools were pretty much loved by everyone. Heck, even ol’Grandpa used the paper one and loved it back in the day. I won’t go into the history of line skipping tools here, but if you would like me too, let me know in the comments.

Disney listens

Ok believe it or not Disney does listen to their guests. Change comes from several places. The most visible is what I call Corporate Greed and Arrogance. Corporations are there to make money. I can give you many examples where greed and arrogance (I can get away with anything) attitude has killed companies, but that is a post for a different time. I think Genie+ came from this. There are many other forcing functions for change, but a powerful one is customer feedback.

Power to the People.

I believe that there were so many complaints about the changes made by Bob Chapek, that Disney had to do something and do it well. Genie+ was one such change that was ill-conceived and poorly executed from the beginning. The complaints were many and loud. I think this change was driven by such input. One powerful way to effect change at Disney is through Guest Feedback surveys. Please fill them out. They do get read and change can happen.

Lightning Lane Multi and Single Pass

Yesterday 7/24 marked a huge shift in Disney’s approach to line skipping services. Now guests can purchase Lighten Lane passes before arriving at the parks and make reservations before arriving on property. 7 days before for on property guests and 3 days before for others. There are many blog posts about it such as Walt Disney World site, DisneyLand, and even a DVC Rental Site.

So what does this mean.

Since this is a brand new system, the jury is still out on how well it works. I’m very sure that there will be changes coming months. In the mean time Disney Food Blog and Disney Tourist Blog and done some first day test runs and have posted their experience. They have done their usual exceptional job so no need for Grandpa to try and repeat it.

Crushing it with the new system

So Grandpa, what will this do to your Crush strategy?

Not much, I think. Remember Grandma and I did not use GeniePlus. I don’t think we will use the new system. Crushing it relies on slowing down and not rushing to get to the next ride or attraction. Both systems pretty much put you on a schedule and requires a lot, I mean a metriccrapton lot of planning. For some visitors, that is great, but then anxiety can set in if anything disturbs the plan! It is hard to derail a plan when plan itself is in reality, do what the day brings ya. Besides Disney vacations are very expensive in their own right, SO adding to the cost really bugs me. The point of Crush is to lessen anxiety, maximize relaxation and to have fun. Fun is what it is all about right people.

Of course Time will tell. Grandma and I have a Disneyland trip coming in early Spring and a Walt Disney World trip early summer. By then the new system will have been in service for a while. So we shall see what we shall see.

Let me know in the comments what your thoughts are on the new services.

Talk to you Next Time