Thread by @tai_nugget

Good morning. Today I am going to Disneyland and letting Genie, Disney’s free in-app itinerary planning service, tell me what to do. I will do everything it tells me to up until midday or so. Folks, I am excited.

Genie allows you to select a mere 8 attractions out of 60+ to prioritize. In theory, Genie will try to work in your priorities at the best times while offering options it deems similar. I gave it 5 attractions, which should be easy enough to fit into a morning.

I would have given it 6 priorities, but Genie apparently doesn’t think the Disneyland Railroad is worthy of prioritizing. It is not on the list.

Genie also doesn’t understand parkhopping. You cannot prioritize from more than one park. Yesterday I got some DCA LLs, which Genie added to my itinerary, but then it wanted me to head straight back to DL for an attraction it really wanted me to do.

I will not be purchasing Genie+ or any independently purchased Lightning Lanes.

If I was crafting my own strategy with my 5 priorities, I would rope drop for Mr. Toad, then Thunder, then Jungle Cruise, followed by Pirates, then I would go wait in the 90 minute Rise queue. All of that would probably take me until 10:30 AM or so. But let’s see how Genie does!

If I wanted to get super aggressive, I could rope for Rise, beat the stampede over there for a minimal wait, then do everything in reverse: Thunder, Jungle, Pirates, Toad. That would probably take a little over an hour.

Genie has crafted my itinerary, and it appears I am rope-dropping for [squints] Pinocchio. Always a high demand rope ride. They may be surprised to see me.

Pleasantly surprised to see Rise on here. Yesterday it didn’t show up at all on my itinerary. Why it wants me to hit it up after the initial rope surge has mobbed it, I have no idea. But at least it’s there.

I don’t know what the Audio Tales are, and I didn’t bring headphones anyway, so I’m going to disobey Genie and skip those.

Once I’ve done a ride, I will remove it from my itinerary and then do a refresh. This might end up moving some things around.

If you get the very first bus out of Toy Story, you can often beat the Harbor people to the gates.

Yeah, but the problem, Genie, is when is it not?

Genie suggests the upsell after scanning in to the park.

It is absolutely killing me that Genie is making me waste my excellent turnstile position on Pinocchio. This was a first car on Peter Pan level effort.

At least I have time to go pee.

Front of the rope and I even went pee first. 😩

I have mobile ordered, at Genie’s suggestion, from Docking Bay 7 at 12PM. I ordered the Endorian Fried Chicken Tip-Yip and the Cold Brew Black Caf.

The people behind me at rope might be puzzled by my sedate pace after the rope drops. Don’t need speed when your sights are set on Pinocchio.

It will be funnier if I run though. Just blow past Pan to everyone’s consternation.

Genie has guided me bright and early to Pinocchio’s Daring Journey, a ride that did not open with the park. I even refreshed Genie, and it is still telling me to go there.

Well done, Genie. Well done.

I’m going off script and waiting for Pinocchio to open while riding Kinng Arrthur’s Carrousel. RIDE 1/? The horseys.

Genie has finally noticed that Pinocchio’s Daring Journey is temporarily closed and revised my itinerary to direct me to Casey Jr., another ride that is temporarily closed. You simply cannot make this up. Battin’ .1000, Genie!!

Are you though, Genie? Are you really?

Genie has now noticed Casey Jr is likewise closed, and so ithas directed me to a non-ride. My first 15 minutes in the park and Genie has gotten me on absolutely nothing.

I am the only one up here.

Genie’s itinerary shuffling has directed me to an actual open ride: Storybook Land Canal Boats. I walked past Mr. Toad, one of the rides I told Genie was a priority. It is a walk-on. But no, canal boats.

For what it’s worth, not a bad time to do the Canal Boats, had I actually listed them as a priority.

RIDE 2/?: Storybook Land Canal Boats at 8:32. A 9 minute wait (they don’t appear to be running many boats)

Genie’s next 3 recs after the refresh. It is a huge fan of Pinocchio and Casey, two rides, I remind you, that are not on my priority list. Really doesn’t want me to miss out.

RIDE 3: Casey Jr. Circus Train. Only running one train and there were no seats for me even though they waved me through the gate. Had to wait at the exit for the next one. A wait of 2 minutes that turned into 8 minutes.

RIDE 4: Pinocchio’s Late Journey. Almost a walk-on. I wonder if one of my priorities is also in this area with a minimal wait.

After a refresh, Genie believes this is a good time to go on Matterhorn. Posted 25. Genie makes no reference to Single Rider. I realize that’s a small demographic, but I think a smart planning software that is ostensibly trying to save you time would at least point it out.

RIDE 5: Matterhorn Bobsleds using Single Rider (no wait, Genie is going to be so surprised!) The SR entrance is now at the right side exit btw

Curious reenactment going on

RIDE 6: it’s a small world holiday. I agree with the timing from Genie on this one, since it’s currently a walk-on and not likely to be for much longer. Still haven’t gone on any of my priorities over an hour in though

I can’t be the only one who finds it a little gross that Genie is adding two upsells to my itinerary that I not only didn’t reserve but that also involve dropping serious coin.

Other than food, I’m not doing anything that involves paying out of pocket for anything including ILLs, G+, etc, so these are getting deleted. Maybe Genie will replace them with things I actually asked to do!

Genie has gone from suggesting that I have the option to skip the Rise line, to basically saying that’s what I need to do. Screenshot on the right is the current listing.

Genie heard me talking crap about it and has decided to punish me 😩

So close, yet so far…

Just walked by Rise on my way to Pooh. A 55 minute posted wait with no overflow queue. Probably the shortest wait of the day until later in the day. But no, Pooh first, then canoes. Below is the empty queuing space for Rise

RIDE 7: The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh. Mostly a walk-on.

Despite not opening until 10AM, Genie has directed me to the Davy Crockett Explorer Canoes, where I must now refresh furiously for the next 10 minutes in the hope it gives me something else.

It did not.

There are 3 of us in line for the first canoe. I asked the CM how many more people we would need to get a boat going. He said 7 more.

RIDE 8: Davy Crockett’s Explorer Canoes. Family of 8 to the rescue.

Genie has finally given me the all-clear to join the Rise queue, one of my 5 priorities. It’s doing it by way of suggesting I pay for it still (which would doubtless have me returning much later). Below left is the overflow queue 30 minutes ago. Right is where it is now.

I’m not purchasing it, but the next available ILL for Rise is 1:35.

It’s been 35 minutes in the Rise queue, not to the indoor caves portion yet (but almost). If my mobile order window is ready by the time I’m on the ride, it might be the first intelligent thing Genie accidentally did.

For whatever reason, this comes as no surprise to me today.

CMs are letting everyone stay in line if they want. Some are leaving. No recovery passes being offered that I can tell. I have nothing better to do. It’s not like Genie will recommend one of my other priorities or anything. In fact, I’m a little afraid of what it might suggest.

Genie cannot predict a ride outage, and I don’t expect it to, but if it had given me the Rise recommendation back when it was a comparatively low wait, I would’ve been off it long ago and probably farting around on Tom Sawyer Island or something.

Staying in line for now, but going to see what Genie is recommending now that Rise has been down for a good half hour.

It is still recommending Rise.

I even closed the app and restarted it to see if Genie would place something, anything in front of my 12PM mobile order. Nope. I suppose I should expect this from an app that guided me to not just one but two closed rides first thing this morning.

They’ve just shut down the Rise line. After an hour or more of non-op.

Since Genie is stubbornly refusing to recommend anything else, I am just going to head to Docking Bay 7 and wait for my mobile order window to open.

This thread is getting a lot of attention and chatter and I just want to point out I am NOT testing paid Genie+ which replaces FastPass. I am only testing the basic Genie function, an itinerary planning service that is free for reasons that are now quite clear.

Looks kinda like the pictures I guess.

After picking up my mobile order and refreshing, the Rise suggestion is now nowhere to be seen (perhaps Genie thinks I did it already?), and my midday slate is ready. I have been in the park 4 hours and I have not yet gone on one of the 5 rides I told Genie I was interested in.

Rise is back up, but Genie has other plans.

RIDE 9: Mark Twain Riverboat. This is a fine time to ride this, and I throw it in on a lot of my own tours around this hour. I would’ve applauded Genie’s timing here if I had told Genie I wanted to do this one.

Genie expected me to take my time with my meal instead of stuffing my face as fast as I could (it really doesn’t know me at all, though in its defense, this is our first and last date). Thus I was early to the boat and Genie has filled the gap with one of my actual priorities.

RIDE 10 (🎉Priority Ride 1/5🎉) Pirates of the Caribbean. Posted wait: 30 min, actual wait 15 min. Genie made a great suggestion here for my first priority, though it never would’ve suggested this if I hadn’t been very early to a ride nearby that I didn’t ask for.

After 5 hours, following Genie’s recommendations finally put me on my first of 5 prioritized rides. A shorter than expected wait at Pirates created yet another gap to fill. Does Genie shuffle in the second of my priorities? It does not. Let’s do this, Autopia!

RIDE 11: Autopia. I have to give credit to Genie for finding another low-wait attraction on the fly. This is a good function! Had I never driven a car before, I might find this suggestion a delight.

Personally I would not wait in this for Tea Party (the queue starts in the overflow area) but Genie insists, after several refreshes.

RIDE 12: Mad Tea Party. Posted wait: 10 min, actual wait: 13 min. Not the best of Genie suggestions, but mostly everything has a longer posted wait this time of day. Except for Toad. 🤔

“We know you really want Mr. Toad with a 15 minute wait, but what you’re REALLY saying is you want Dumbo with a 30 minute wait, right? Right.”

RIDE 13: Dumbo the Flying Thing That Is Not Mr. Toad. Posted wait: 30 min, actual wait 30 min. Just like on Casey they overgrouped and I was left without a seat. Had to wait the next cycle, otherwise would’ve been under 30. Having bad luck with grouping today (among other things)

I miss him.

Thunder went down earlier today and Genie did this weird thing where it deleted it from the itinerary and kept it off even when it came back online. It’s back on the list as a LATE REPLACEMENT for Indy. THIS IS ONE OF MY FIVE PRIORITIES! Why is genie playing backup with it?!

RIDE 13: King Arthur’s Carrousel. Waited one cycle. Genie doesn’t know I did this earlier offscript while I was waiting for its first suggested ride of the day to even open, so we’ll redo it officially now. Keeping the count at 13 though.

RIDE 14: Mr. J. Thaddeus Toad, Esq.’s Wild and Prioritized Ride. (🎉2/5 Priority Rides🎉). 15 minute wait, posted 20.

Looks like Genie is having me finish off Fantasyland (minus Pan) before heading in the general direction of my third priority. Good timing on Alice, actually, as a parade is just wrapping up and this is only a 10 min wait or so despite a posted 30.

(I don’t give Genie any credit for Alice, it has proven over and over it is not that smart.)

RIDE 15: Alice in Wonderland. Posted wait: 30 min, actual: 8 min.

Parade was just finishing up, so I cut through the Mad Hatter shop after Alice to beat the post-parade crowds to Snow White (hopefully)

RIDE 16: Snow White’s Scary Enchanted Adventure Wish. Posted: 15, actual: 19. The Khaleesi takes his horse and says, “You. Walk.”

Low wait?? What??

They no longer offer Single Rider for Indy, according to the CM I just spoke to. 55 minutes, if true would be the second longest wait I’ve had all day. Genie is calling that a “low wait”. Jungle Cruise, a priority ride, isn’t even queuing upstairs. This might be my breaking point

I think once Genie gets me to my third prioritized ride, Jungle Cruise, that will be it for me. Rise is not appearing on my itinerary anymore because the time it had established for it expired while I was waiting for it to come back up.

To my knowledge, Genie was never aware Rise ever went down. It kept suggesting it even as I waited in vain for it to come back up. Thunder only appeared on my itinerary as a backup option at 11PM.

RIDE 17: Indiana Jones Adventure. Only 28 min vs the 55 posted, so I’ll give Genie a break on that. It may have just come back up because there was little queuing outside, but a long line of LL/recovery processing that I had to wait for before entering the temple.

I desperately want to go on Jungle Cruise right now. It’s not queuing upstairs, only a couple groups out the door, with a posted 30. It’s likely only about a 10 minute wait right now. But Genie thinks it’s smarter to go check out the Tiki Room. Who am I to question its genius.

I wondered when I’d see this rec. Was expecting it at rope drop actually.

Tiki Room per Genie’s suggestion, as more and more people trickle into the Jungle Cruise queue

RIDE 18: Jungle Cruise (🎉Priority Ride 3/5🎉). 10 min wait. No more overflow queue, but now goes upstairs. Probably a wash.

I am finally breaking up with Genie. I did take one final piece of its advice and mobile ordered from Jolly Holliday Bakery, but it’s not due until 6:20. It added Space Mountain with the “low wait” of 65 minutes in the interim. No. No I say. I am DONE. Going on Thunder.

Thunder is one of my other priorities. It has fallen off the list a few times and then back on. Currently Genie wants me to do it at 11PM. No I say. I’m not staying that long.

Thunder has had some wild wait time swings all day. From 25 minutes to 120 and back in the space of a few minutes. It’s currently posted at 70. Nonsense.

So I am kicking Genie to the curb in favor of my own two eyes and desire to do the things I told Genie I wanted to do from the beginning.

RIDE 19: Big Thunder Mountain Railroad (🎉Priority Ride 4/5🎉 not that Genie cares). Posted wait: 70 min or not until 11PM, your only two options. Actual wait: 23 minutes. Take that, Genie.

Having more familiarity now with the Genie planner than I know what to do with, I can see what it was designed to do. The goal is to spread out your few (up to 8 MAX) chosen attractions throughout the day with heavy doses of filler.

A cynical side of me says this is to keep people in the park from open to close and hopefully spending more (Genie is certainly lousy with upsells, from a $20 LL to a $200 lightsaber). Same concept as not very good food at a bar. If you keep em eating you keep em drinking.

A more generous part of me says that it’s just because the developers had no clue how people actually tour theme parks (and especially DLR). They just think people stay in one park from the crack of dawn until midnight. This is also why Genie doesn’t incorporate parkhopping well.

Most people don’t tour that way, at DLR especially. The two gates are a football field away. There’s a lot of hopping. Even families who do show up for rope and are last ones out take long breaks in the middle. They go offsite for food, back to the hotel for a swim or a nap.

The problem with spacing your priorities out 16 hours is that it spreads them too thin. People just don’t have the patience for that.

The other purpose of Genie is to redistribute crowds. That filler is usually less popular stuff. It benefits Disney more than the guest to steer people toward unpopular attractions.

But even then my choices were spread too thin. Case in point is the rope drop. Never mind that it sent me to a closed ride, it sent me to Pinocchio because Pinocchio is not Space Mountain or Peter Pan or Rise. BUT-

Toad is just as much of a walk-on as Pinocchio in the first 1.5 hours of the day. It’s where the crowds aren’t headed. Why not just give me a freebie there? Unlike Pinocchio, it was actually open with the park, and one of my 5 priorities.

It didn’t send me to Toad until 3 or so, when I had a longer wait for it than I would’ve had in the morning. But no, Genie is designed to spread your choices out. First choice is too soon, even though it would directly benefit the guest.

One very simple solution to -I don’t know if it would fix Genie, but it couldn’t hurt- would be to allow the user to select far more than 8 rides. The more rides picked, the less filler.

Another solution would be to allow the user the option to dictate how many hours they wanted to do these activities. This could help them create plans for parkhopping as well. As of now the system assumes you are in the same park for 16 hours, so it spaces accordingly.

Finally, and obviously, you don’t HAVE to do what i did. Genie doesn’t force you to take its suggestions. And it’s free. But due to its limitations it’s not a great planner, free or not. It could be better but first Disney Parks has to understand the needs of its customer base.

I also canceled my mobile order