In a new interview with the Orange County Register, Disneyland President Ken Potrock discussed how things have changed and will continue to change at Disneyland Resort.

Potrock stepped into the position in May 2020, two months into the over year-long closure of Disneyland Resort due to the COVID-19 pandemic. According to him, the pandemic “opened up a variety of really interesting opportunities for us to rethink our approach to business.” He pointed to the Park Pass reservation system and Genie+ as examples.

“Sometimes we get it just right,” he said. “Other times it needs some modification. And that’s OK because the Disneyland Resort is a continuously evolving place. Our objective always is to create a great experience. If we don’t get it perfect the first time, we’re going to keep trying until we do.”

When asked about guest reaction to Genie+ and Lightning Lane, Potrock said, “It’s been extraordinary.” According to CEO Bob Chapek, up to 50% of guests are using Genie+. Potrock said, “One of the things that we’re finding is that those that use it are feeling that their experience was better and that they had an opportunity to do everything that they wanted to do.”

He did also say that they are working to improve the free Genie service for guests who don’t want to pay for Genie+. “That’s going to be very valuable as well. Ultimately, all boats need to rise.”

Potrock reiterated that park reservations likely aren’t going away, because they “create a really important opportunity for us to be able to manage the demand more effectively than we ever could.”

Several nighttime spectaculars are returning to Disneyland Resort in April. When asked why “Fantasmic!” was coming back later than the others (May 28), Potrock said, “It just took longer to do. We were literally installing towers as of earlier this week. It’s just a much more intricate, complex mechanical endeavor.”

As nighttime spectaculars return, Mickey’s Toontown will close for a major reimagining, and will reopen in 2023 with a new attraction — Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway. The Orange County Register asked Potrock, “What’s Toontown going to be like once the renovation is complete?”

“Looking at that land as an opportunity to really improve upon the experience for families with younger kids is a big objective of ours,” he said. “It’s going to become much more interactive. It’s going to have much more park space to picnic, sit in the grass and for kids to run around. That’s going to be a really special place for us here at the resort.”

In regards to Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway, he said, “It’s in Florida already and it’s going to be even better here because it has some enhancements that Florida doesn’t have.”

The Orange County Register asked what major milestones lay ahead for Disneyland Resort and Potrock pointed to character experiences, which have remained absent or physically distanced since the parks reopened.

“We’re optimistic that the character experience is going to get back to a new normal,” he said. “Many of the things that we did with the characters standing behind you and social distancing — a lot of that worked. But that’s not the only way we want to have people interact with characters. That will be a big milestone change as we go forward.”

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The post Disneyland President Says Toontown Will be More Interactive, Improvements Underway for Free Genie Service, Changes to Character Experiences Coming, and More in Interview appeared first on WDW News Today.

Skipping the standby lines for some of your favorite Disney World rides is about to CHANGE (for a limited time, that is).

Right now, Disney World guests can skip the lines at some of the most popular attractions in the parks either by using Disney Genie+ or Individual Attraction Selection — both of which are paid systems that replaced FastPass+. Certain rides are available through Genie+ while others are only available through Individual Attraction Selection. But just what rides will be on which list is about to change for a little bit!

A quick recap: Genie+ and Individual Attraction Selection are the PAID systems that recently replaced FastPass+. To skip the lines using Genie+, a guest pays $15 per person per day at Disney World. They can then make 1 selection to use the Lightning Lane (old FastPass+ lane) at a ride during a certain return time period. They can then continue to make 1 Lightning Lane selection at a time throughout the day.

But select popular rides are NOT available through Genie+. To skip the standby line at those rides, guests need to pay to use the Lightning Lane for each ride individually. Prices can vary depending on the ride, park, and day.

As we mentioned, some rides are available through Genie+ and others are available through Individual Attraction Selection. But some changes on these ride lists is coming soon.

Disney has just announced that 3 rides which are normally available through Individual Attraction Selection will soon be available through the regular Genie+ service from tomorrow (February 25th) through August 7th.

Specifically, at EPCOT, Frozen Ever After will be available through the regular Genie+ service starting on February 25th through August 7th.

Over at Magic Kingdom, Space Mountain will also be available through the regular Genie+ on those dates. And at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway will also be available through the regular Genie+ for that period of time.

That means that, from February 25th through August 7th, if you want to skip the standby lines for these rides, you won’t need to pay for them separately through Individual Attraction Selection. Instead, they’ll simply be included in the regular Genie+ service and you can select a return time for these rides through that.

We saw this done back in December as well for select rides, ahead of the big New Year’s Eve holidays. It seems Disney may be doing this again in anticipation of the Spring Break and summer crowds headed to the parks.

Again, remember that this is just a limited-time change. We’ll keep an eye out for more updates!

Click here to see the CHANGE Disney World made for Genie+ when it comes to 1-day tickets.

What do you think of these changes? Tell us in the comments!

The post BREAKING: Genie+ CHANGES Announced for a Limited Number of Disney World Rides first appeared on the disney food blog.