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It has only been around for a few months, but Disney’s newest service, Disney Genie+ has already garnered A LOT of opinions. Guests voiced their discontent at Disney getting rid of their free FastPass system and replacing it with a paid-for system. Many feel that Disney is beginning to nickel-and-dime them. However, Disney CEO Bob Chapek recently stated that, despite the anger, almost half of the Guests visiting Walt Disney World Resort are purchasing and using Disney Genie+.
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While there are a large number of rides that are a part of Disney Genie+, other rides require a separate fee to use the Lightning Lane. These are called “individual attraction selections”. Each theme park has two individual attraction selections. At EPCOT, those two rides are Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure and Frozen Ever After. Prices for the Lightning Lane at these rides will vary based on the day of the week and the time of year. Only a limited number of Lightning Lane reservations are released each day.
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Some attractions see Lightning Lane reservations quickly book up and Guests have to be quick if they want one. One Guest recently visited EPCOT and says that she tried to book a Lightning Lane reservation. She was unable to book a time, but claims Disney charged for Lightning Lane access anyway. The Guest took to Reddit to share their story:
Husband and I were charged for an lightning lane pass for Frozen Ever After that we didn’t even receive. We tried adding a lightning lane and got to the point where we selected to pay with Apple Pay…2 seconds later we get a screen saying there were no longer any available.
Checked out account four hours later and we had been charged $24 for the “expedited access” we didn’t actually receive.
Has anybody else had this happen? If so, what did you do about it?
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Many Guests commented on the article, sharing that they have struggled to get refunds when they were incorrectly charged or could not use the Lightning Lane they had purchased because of ride breakdowns. Redditor missykins8472 claimed that the same happened to her, and she was not happy with the results.
This happened to us too. Talked to guests services to get a refund. We were told it would be refunded but it wasn’t.
Redditor Johnykbr commented that the Guest’s refund troubles were only the tip of the iceberg. He believes that the problem lies in the entire Disney Genie+ service:
The app is horrible. Rise went down during our ILL and the CMs kept saying we could wait or go use a complimentary Genie+ ride anywhere. The problem is some CMs said it was in place of the ILL and others said we would still have our ILL if we used it. We decided to wait and some people came back and were told because they used the Genie+ offer the ILL was now invalid. After an hour, they kicked us out saying it would be down for a couple more hours. About 30 after everyone is out of line they opened the ropes and there was a made dash because the ride was up.
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Many of the comments were telling the Original Poster to call Disney’s Guest Services line. If you ever find yourself in a similar situation, contacting Guest services is the way to go. If you are in one of the Parks when the problem arises, you can also go to Guest Relations while you are there, and a Cast Member should be able to assist you.
Credit: DisneyDining.com
Guest services in the Magic Kingdom are located at City Hall. If you are visiting EPCOT, Guest Relations is located at both the International Gateway and in World Celebration. There is also a Guest Relations window at the main entrance. At Hollywood Studios, the Guest Relations Lobby can be found to the left of the entrance, after you are in the Park. When visiting Animal Kingdom, Guest Relations is located at the front of the Park right before the locker area.
Has Disney ever charged you for a service that you were unable to or did not use?
