Disney Parks head Josh D'Amaro says Disney will continue to simplify the park experience following criticism of being overly complex

May 22, 2023 in "Disney Genie"

Posted: Monday May 22, 2023 10:09am ET by WDWMAGIC Staff

Josh D'Amaro, Chairman, Disney Parks, Experiences and Products, speaking earlier today in a question-and-answer session at the JP Morgan Global Technology, Media & Communications Conference said that Disney will continue to try to simplify the theme park experience for guests after receiving feedback that it can be overwhelming.

Responding to a question about the complexity of visiting the Disney parks, D'Amaro said that Disney is listening to guests and fans and will continue to make adjustments to the guest experience. He referred to recent changes to theme park reservation requirements and eliminating the need for reservations with date-based tickets at Walt Disney World as examples of improvements based on guest feedback.

A trip to Walt Disney World can be complicated, especially for those who are first time visitors

Talking about the cost to visit the parks, he said that variable and flexible pricing helps to make Disney's parks more accessible by offering entry-level ticket pricing during certain seasons, whereas on peak days, more aggressive pricing is in place to handle demand.

Disney has faced criticism in recent years that the parks need to be simpler to plan for many visitors, especially first-time guests. Genie+, Lightning Lane purchases, virtual queues, park reservations, and ticket buying are all areas that can be daunting for those guests who do not spend time researching and carefully planning.

Planning a Walt Disney World trip requires detailed understanding of Genie+, Lightning Lane, and park reservation requirements

Earlier this month, Disney said it is working on ways to let guests plan with Disney Genie+ service and individual Lightning Lane selections before the day of their park visit. A post on the official Disney Parks Blog said, "Our goal is to give you the opportunity to spend less time planning in the park and more time enjoying your visit with friends and family. While we are not yet able to share specific details, we look forward to sharing more information at a later date."

Discuss on the Forums

Get Walt Disney World News Delivered to Your Inbox

wdwmagic10 days ago

First pricing for 2025 is out https://www.wdwmagic.com/genieprice.htm

RememberWhen13 days ago

Thanks for the update! I had gotten the same data you had elsewhere, so it definitely seemed like a glitch on the WDW end. Always grateful for all the information I get here!

wdwmagic13 days ago

That was actually a rare instance where the prices changed after being initially released. First time that has happened.

Brooklin Disney Dad13 days ago

Ultimately, we each have our own price point for budgeting a family vacay at Disney. You can complain on a forum, but wear your thick skin. Or you can go somewhere else, hoping that the demand for LLs, multi, etc. drops to lower prices to within your budget. They way my fam of 5 did DW 6 yrs ago will never happen again. I can live with that. Loopholes and extra perks are gone and won’t come back until there is a big shift in consumer spending. And that may take a few years.

Touchdown13 days ago

I’ve taken over a half dozen trips since this got implemented and was able to do it with 5.5 days in the park. Needed Early Entry to do it, but otherwise had no issues.

RememberWhen14 days ago

Thanks for the confirmation.

networkpro14 days ago

I won't pontificate drawing attention away from Lightning Lane. Currently LL works well for both standby and those who choose to purchase expedited entry. LL lanes are not overflowing and the standby lines move thanks to the removal of unplanned capacity consumption by DAS parties. Value of LL is the primary focus now and personal justification of it's cost based on crowd levels. Rides have a fixed maximum capacity per hour and planned consumption works well right now.

Fido Chuckwagon14 days ago

The numbers were wrong. Also, WDW clearly didn’t have access to numbers past the 21 day mark, the data they were publishing past that point was wrong. Nobody knows what the price will be past the 28th since that’s 21 days from now.

Fido Chuckwagon14 days ago

Yeah, so @wdwmagic’s numbers were wrong. I made my purchases today. It was up to $39 for basically all of Christmas week for MK. It did go up from last year.

RememberWhen14 days ago

Can we bop back a page here and look at LL pricing again? I’m trying to figure out pricing for our trip, which extends through New Years and into the first couple days of Jan. The page hosted by WDW Magic doesn’t list prices past 12/31. (It had been listing prices out a week further than I could see on MDE). And the price they had listed for the 28th at Epcot/MGM didn’t match what MDE eventually showed. It does now list the higher expected price. (Example: it had said $29 for MGM on 12/29. Now it says $35. But I can only see out through the 28th on MDE and now I don’t know what’s what. Just feeling frustrated with the whole system.

DisDude3314 days ago

Easily spoken by someone that the game (which is equal parts chance and skill) has treated well.

networkpro14 days ago

Life isnt fair. Play the game, make your choices, live with the consequences.

Ayla14 days ago

To be fair, very few people can take a leisurely, two week vacation. The average length is 5-7 days.

Cliff14 days ago

How were "official" posted wait times versus actual wait times? We are hearing lots of talk about Disney "inflating" posted wait times to scare people into buying into the app. I have two CM friends that told me that if a guest asks them what the "real" wait time is, they are MANDATED to repeat only the "official" posted time. They are NOT allowed to look at a que that they know is only 15 min and tell that to a guest. If the official time says 65min,..they must say that and NOT the "real" 15min. I'm sorry folks,...that does not bother the strong Burbank defenders here on this forum...but that bothers me. It's a dishonest way to get people to pay for something they might not need. They prey on guests that don't know better. Also,...do you know how to make lines LONGER at Pirates if they are not long enough? You deliberately take boats OUT of the water and keep less boats moving in circulation. Etc.. Keep that app money on your phone flowing!