Disney Genie announcement

[Disturbia]

Pretty sure you need to tap into your reserved park before hopping. I think that’s the way it’s worked for a while now with the park reservation system and hoppers. Can others confirm?

Dan

Except for travel day; you can choose not to hop, so Epcot reservations are ok and you can try for the 7 am Boarding Group…assuming Epcot is your travel day park

 

[Disturbia]

Not sure your party but for us my son got to go twice. You will need the ILL for whoever is riding but they will get to go with both.

Rider switch policy changed to allow only one child back with the parent; not 2 (few months ago).

 

[Jrb1979]

This is an excellent value added and unique recap. I do appreciate it. The bloggers know what they are taking about. I have a feeling G+ is going to be a massive dud by this time next year (or maybe sooner)

Disagree. It's going to be a massive success. It's not meant for AP holders. The people that only go once or twice every few years will most likely buy it. FP+ is dead and it's not coming back. People's best bet is learn to deal with the system in place.

 

[Disturbia]

My head is spinning with the new genie and lightening lane… I’ve read how to articles etc and still cannot wrap my head around it! So my questions are
If I do not purchase anything will I get on rides without waiting longer than normal hours?!?
If genie plus is purchased what exactly will I get from that? I understand that it only allows access to buy lightening lane? Im soo confused and leaving next week and this is ruining my vacation already! Help! Thanks

I would watch some YouTube videos. Kyle Pallo, Allears and paging Mr Morrow. They walk you through the steps.

$15 Genie+ is like your 4th rolling fast pass and it generally covers most rides except for the 2 most popular - booking starts at 7 am. Can’t ride same attraction twice

$7-15 Lightning Lane individual attractions are the 2 most popular in each park and are like booking your 2 fast passes and you choose the time. If you’re staying on property you book at 7 am; otherwise it’s whenever the park opens. Max of 2 per day even if park hopping (you can choose 1 in each park or both in one park); can’t ride twice except Remy if you got a BG

 

[dmunsil]

So then if you can get 2 by stacking you can simultaneously hold 2 all day by essentially leap frogging them? That would surprise me.

That does seem to be the implication. That said, to get to that point you have to wait 2 hours early in the day, so by the time you’ve got your double stack going many of the best selections may be gone, or for many hours in the future. But there may be a clever strategy lurking here to get more LL reservations by deliberately getting something 2+ hours away as early as possible…

 

[wisblue]

What about 9pm the night before? Or 8pm? Or 7pm? What is preventing WDW from doing any of those times?

Anyone have a good answer?

If there’s going to be a rush on the system I wouldn’t think they would want it to be while the parks are open.

As a user I wouldn‘t want to have to take a break from what I’m doing today to make arrangements for tomorrow.

There were discussions just like this a few years ago about when the window opened to make FP+ reservations. All those proved is that you’re never going to satisfy everybody.

 

[Disturbia]

People are finding value in using it; unless the ride broke down of course

https://www.disboards.com/threads/genie-usage-poll.3856881/

 

[wisblue]

Exactly the person they are Targeting. You spent $175 (if you got genie+ and 2 IAS) of flexibility to save about an hour. Disney has won the marketing war with you.

and you probably had to wake up at least an hour earlier than you used to to book that first genie+ attraction so net net, you lost time and money

But hey, Disney has you thinking you won! They are laughing all the way to the bank.

hahahahahahahaha

If someone gets two IALL and Genie+ they’re saving a lot more than an hour that they would have to spend in line to experience the same attractions (if they could do all of them at all.)

And, based on the number of people in line to enter the parks at 8 AM and earlier there are A LOT of people up at 7 AM and earlier to get there. There are a lot people up before 7 AM almost every day of their lives to get ready for work or school or to take care of kids. Taking about 2 minutes at 7 AM to make a couple of LL selections is not going to be a big deal for them.

It‘s not a matter of ”winning” anything.

 

[RamblingMad]

Exactly the person they are Targeting. You spent $175 (if you got genie+ and 2 IAS) of flexibility to save about an hour. Disney has won the marketing war with you.

and you probably had to wake up at least an hour earlier than you used to to book that first genie+ attraction so net net, you lost time and money

But hey, Disney has you thinking you won! They are laughing all the way to the bank.

hahahahahahahaha

You're forgetting about the melt downs when the phone battery dies.

 

[twodogs]

We don't fail to recognize that at all. What you fail to recognize is what happens when companies lose a carefully developed reputation and start being seen as someone who only cares about their bottom line and not their customers. Most companies like this try to work their asses off to get a reputation of being a company that continually innovates to offer their customers more. Disney has crossed a huge line here based on the feedback their getting from people who have been devoted to them for decades - that should be a warning shot to them.

I agree that there is a line, but that line is not the same for all consumers. That is why I said you vote with your wallet, and I’ll vote with mine. But I don’t think I should tell you where your line is or how to spend your money. Likewise, I will draw my line and spend my money as it suits me. If Disney doesn’t suit me, I can spend it elsewhere.

I am baffled by those who expect everyone on these boards to “see it their way“ and agree with them on things that are, in my opinion, value judgements for individuals. To me it is clear that this new system does not have enough value to you, and I am not clear why you are continuing to follow this thread if you have already completely determined you do not want to pay for this service? As you state, an email to Disney corporate expressing your disappointment in their business decisions might be in order and more impactful.

 

[katyringo]

I don't really understand why people have to be rude to those of us who like this change and are more than willing to pay for it.

not for you? Then don't get. Literally. Nothing has changed for you. You can go enjoy the parks like it was October 18,2021 to your hearts content.

But no need to be rude to the rest of us .

I would never pay the cost of the delux resorts and have the after hours.. but that doesn't mean I'm mad at Disney for having them.

there is zero need to be rude.

 

[Jrb1979]

You're forgetting about the melt downs when the phone battery dies.

That's what fuel rods are for.

 

[twodogs]

As a person who visited WDW and DLR pretty equally, I am interested to hear feedback on G+ from those who were experienced Max Pass users. I realize that if you had never used MP, then G+ seems very different from FP+. But to me, it seems quite similar to MP, which we loved. Can someone with this experience of MP, who has now used G+, share some comments?

 

[Sjm9911]

I don't really understand why people have to be rude to those of us who like this change and are more than willing to pay for it.

not for you? Then don't get. Literally. Nothing has changed for you. You can go enjoy the parks like it was October 18,2021 to your hearts content.

But no need to be rude to the rest of us .

I would never pay the cost of the delux resorts and have the after hours.. but that doesn't mean I'm mad at Disney for having them.

there is zero need to be rude.

Im not rude, I dont like the change and the money I spent on it. I also dont want to be left out, so i buy it. Its almost a must as i stated before. Its not rude to not like something. And things do change if you dont get it, you get longer lines. The pass makes the standby longer.

 

[MJJME]

If someone gets two IALL and Genie+ they’re saving a lot more than an hour that they would have to spend in line to experience the same attractions (if they could do all of them at all.)

And, based on the number of people in line to enter the parks at 8 AM and earlier there are A LOT of people up at 7 AM and earlier to get there. There are a lot people up before 7 AM almost every day of their lives to get ready for work or school or to take care of kids. Taking about 2 minutes at 7 AM to make a couple of LL selections is not going to be a big deal for them.

It‘s not a matter of ”winning” anything.

7am for work? Sure. It’s work, I get paid to do it.

dont get up at 7am on vacation ever. Skiing, beach, Disney, etc. never, especially when I have to pay vs getting paid

think of it this way. You saved an hour, even 2 in lines. But you woke up 2 hours earlier to book your first ride. You were on your phone all day. You paid $175 for your family of 5.

what was different than the last time you visited MK? Did you ride different rides? Did you spend less time in the park from start to finish?

no. You woke up earlier Paid more money. Spent the same amount of time in the park.

look at it for Disney’s perspective. They had the same or less amount of guests. Fewer employees because the parks weren’t open as long. More money because those same people just paid more for the exact same experience.

this is a marketing ploy and it is frustrating that people fall for it.

 

[Epicnemesis]

So I haven’t paid attention to Disney world wait times. For those in the know are you seeing a notable uptick in standing times now that genie plus has launched? That’s my main concern with the program is that they priced it too cheap to the point where the traffic from the genie line will have a dramatic effect on standby.

At least universal’s front of the line pass is expensive enough to be a self limiter on its use and this it’s effect on standby.

 

[MJJME]

So I haven’t paid attention to Disney world wait times. For those in the know are you seeing a notable uptick in standing times now that genie plus has launched? That’s my main concern with the program is that they priced it too cheap to the point where the traffic from the genie line will have a dramatic effect on standby.

At least universal’s front of the line pass is expensive enough to be a self limiter on its use and this it’s effect on standby.

Prob too early to tell because it’s only been 2 days but so far no, standby has been “normal” for these crowd levels.

 

[ShelsGoingToDisney]

So I haven’t paid attention to Disney world wait times. For those in the know are you seeing a notable uptick in standing times now that genie plus has launched? That’s my main concern with the program is that they priced it too cheap to the point where the traffic from the genie line will have a dramatic effect on standby.

At least universal’s front of the line pass is expensive enough to be a self limiter on its use and this it’s effect on standby.

We arrived Saturday with our first park day at HS on Sunday, MK on Monday. We wondered if wait times were being inflated to prepare for the Genie launch so we timed them. They were consistently 20 minutes inflated at HS. At MK they were crazily inflated, Buzz posted as 55 (it was 15 tops), Pirates at posted as 50 (20 actual), Space 50 (really 25)...

Genie launched on Tuesday and we were at Epcot and you couldn't really tell it was even there, we didn't buy. Wait times were just relatively low all around, but posted times were still inflated by at least 20 minutes.

Today, we returned to HS and it was a whole different ballgame from Sunday! We did not plan to buy Genie at all. Wait times were not accurate and actual was at least 5-15 minutes longer than actual for stand-by for us for RotR, Toy Story, MMRR, & RnR. ToT and Smuggler's Run were walk-ons with 20/35 minute posted wait times. After realizing the lines were much longer and being affected by the LL people we wished we had purchased it but by that point, it would have been a waste. We did not get to ride Star Tours or Slinky Dog as we wanted due to running out of time.

We go back to Epcot tomorrow and won't buy but we're considering buying the LL (I don't think I could ever stomach paying for ILL$) for MK on Friday. Monday was the busiest I've ever been in MK and we didn't get all our rides in so we want to hit them all on Friday. I still am not clear how LL really works and worry it won't be worth the $$. I'll be so angry if we pay $60 for it and only get on a few rides with it. It feels like such a gamble. I would feel differently if it wasn't launched in my week here and I was able to really research it. It feels so ridiculously convoluted though, so for the principle of the matter, I want it to fail so something efficient and simple can replace it.

I just hate this so much. I so miss the golden days of WDW that were for me 2000-2016. I actually liked the paper fastpasses, if you learned the system you could maximize them. Then add the 3-hour evening extra magic hours (especially for us night owls) and you were gold in those days to ride all the rides and repeats of the favorites. I so mourn the loss of those days.

 

[mab2012]

With MaxPass, the rebooking time limit was from the time of the most recently booked FP that you made (not the FP return time, but the clock time that you actually booked the FP at), not from the one you were currently using. So if you booked one way out (say 6pm return time) at 10am (your booking time), your next one was able to be booked 90 minutes after 10 am (your booking time). You kept booking from there (90 minutes from booking time or after you used the FP). That 6pm FP was just hanging out there. The only way the 6pm FP impacted things, as I recall *and it is somewhat faint memory here* was that you could not book another FP for that same ride while holding the FP for it at 6pm. But the time block until the next booking was keyed off of the time your most recently booked FP was booked, not the return time. I hope I am remembering that correctly!

Thanks, this is helpful, and supports what people have been saying so far about the ability to keep booking new selections while still holding a later G+ choice.

What I'm really hoping to understand is what happens when you get close to that 6 pm timeslot, and eventually that "earlier" pass that you've been rebooking all day becomes the later pass, eg. at 7 pm. When you tap into that original, 6 pm G+ ride, can you immediately rebook another, replacing the one you just used? And if not, what exactly makes this different from the earlier situation, where you had a later G+ queued (the 6 pm one) but could still replace the stacked G+ (the one you waited 120 minutes for) immediately after using it?

If you can replace that 6 pm G+ immediately, with a later G+ still booked, that suggests that the 120 minute wait creates a "permanent" second G+ slot. ie. Once you have two, you can always get two (for the rest of the day). IMO that would create a pretty powerful incentive to deliberately book your first G+ more than 120 minutes after park opening (preferably not much more), and make a specific point of booking a second G+ at the 120 minute mark, before tapping into the first. Now you're free to keep booking two G+ at a time, all day long.

And if that's not the way it works, I'd love to understand exactly where it breaks.

I'm not sure anyone really knows the answers yet, although people probably did have it figured out with MaxPass, which would be a good start. Hopefully someone will try it with G+ soon and report back!

ETA: Sorry, hadn't gotten a chance to look at the last few pages of posts before replying. Looks like there's been a bit of recent discussion on this.

 

[mab2012]

That does seem to be the implication. That said, to get to that point you have to wait 2 hours early in the day, so by the time you’ve got your double stack going many of the best selections may be gone, or for many hours in the future. But there may be a clever strategy lurking here to get more LL reservations by deliberately getting something 2+ hours away as early as possible…

Yes, exactly this. You can double stack by 11:01 with a 9 am park opening, potentially with two G+ passes by noon. It's possible that all the good rides are gone by then, but if they are, I'd be questioning the value of getting G+ at all.