Goodbye, Maxpass. Hello, Disney Genie.

[fit4life2]

they shouldn’t add rise of the resistance as a paid option unless they open up a standby line. Pretty much the ride is only going to be accessible to those that pay otherwise as they will really limit the virtual line to accommodate all the paid people

 

[Skyegirl1999]

Also curious on breakdowns... freebie FP I'm assuming like before?

If I pay for ROTR, I’m gonna expect ROTR, not a FP that I can use on Big Thunder.

 

[beachdreamr1229]

As someone with a reservation for mid September I would really appreciate something less vague then "fall" I dont want to miss out on rise of the resistance or web slingers because I didn't have time to learn and understand this new app or how these new fast pass systems work.

Same here. Heading down September 18. I know the ultimate goal is tied to WDW's anniversary starting October 1, but I would assume they may want to release it a couple of weeks early in case there are some major glitches. I would love to try it at DLR before my big trip to WDW in December just so I can get a feel for what to expect.

 

[dieumeye]

If I pay for ROTR, I’m gonna expect ROTR, not a FP that I can use on Big Thunder.

Interesting observation. I’d assume they’ll still classify the attractions in tiers like they were doing before, so a ROTR pass will probably end up being good on anything. Although the problem remains because Rise is pretty much in a tier of its own. Even if Space Mtn or RSR are also paid LL attractions, I wouldn’t feel like either one was a good substitute if I had paid for Rise.

I suppose they could replace your paid Rise pass with, say, two passes for other attractions, but I doubt they’d go that way.

It’ll be especially interesting if there is some kind of dynamic pricing to these paid LL passes.

 

[AndrewC]

Interesting observation. I’d assume they’ll still classify the attractions in tiers like they were doing before, so a ROTR pass will probably end up being good on anything. Although the problem remains because Rise is pretty much in a tier of its own. Even if Space Mtn or RSR are also paid LL attractions, I wouldn’t feel like either one was a good substitute if I had paid for Rise.

I suppose they could replace your paid Rise pass with, say, two passes for other attractions, but I doubt they’d go that way.

It’ll be especially interesting if there is some kind of dynamic pricing to these paid LL passes.

I think there will be dynamic pricing. I suspect they'll refund the cost and maybe toss you a pass to a Genie+ style place... maybe a less busy one

 

[CO2CA]

I'm usually a worrier and get anxious about new things, but honestly I'm not seeing this service as that big of a deal after looking more into it. Sure, it's $20 per person (plus I guess the extra pay-per-ride) but I think I'm going to wait on judging it until it rolls out completely. I have a feeling it isn't going to be as bad as many think.

 

[It’ll Be Fun]

Yuck. I hate this. I was thinking of inviting my disney hating in-laws to come on a trip with us this fall and now there is no way that’s going to happen with this announcement. It’s even kind of turned me off on wanting to go (and I never thought I’d say that in a million years!) I knew that we were going to pay the price eventually on Disneyland being shut down for over a year, I just didn’t think they would be this obvious about it.

 

[AndrewMickey86]

I also go in mid September and now my head is spinning because I JUST finished my park strategy, then this… with no date announcement! Gah!

 

[ComeToSocialize]

On whether you'll still be able to stack (via the 90 minute max lockout period rule) I really don't think they'll limit it to one ride at a time. I wouldn't overread into that screenshot - that could be for a scenario where it was an "immediate" time slot or a time slot in less than 30 minutes. Remember, in the old Maxpass system, when you picked fastpasses for a time slot less than 30 minutes out, you couldn't get a new one until either 30 minutes passed or you redeemed the fastpass. So that screenshot could be showing that scenario. As noted above, there also could be text hidden below that says "or 90 minutes has passed" or whatever. Maxpass would've been almost entirely worthless if stacking can't happen.

That being said, in Disneyworld, after your 3 "pre-booked" FP+s, it was a one and only one system. You had to make hard choices once you burned your first 3 (or really once you used your first 2 and thus became flexible). I hated that part about the FP+ system, as it made a HUGE HUGE difference if you were able to score morning or early day fastpasses in advance, as that let you free up your FP+ much faster. If you pre-booked 7DMT or FoP for 8pm, you were locked out of the system all day. If you used all your FP+s before 1pm, there actually was usually a lot of availability for less popular FP+ rides like mansion or big thunder, but you couldn't access that if you were locked out.

So if they use the same system that had in Disneyworld before (excluding early booking) there might not be stacking. But FP+ was a free service, and Genie+ will be paid so you'd expect to get more.

 

[BriannaRuth]

I liked MaxPass but REALLY dislike the pay-per-FP concept.

I certainly hope that if you're paying for LL, the wait time should be *much* shorter than it used to be with the old FPs. I'd be pretty annoyed if I paid $$$ for LL and still had to wait 30 minutes in the LL line. I'd guess they're assuming that with the pay per LL, fewer guests will use it, so the waits will be shorter.

 

[PirateBrigade]

I think there will be dynamic pricing. I suspect they'll refund the cost and maybe toss you a pass to a Genie+ style place... maybe a less busy one

I posted this a few pages back in the scrum, but the Disney website pretty much confirmed dynamic pricing:

LL: “Pricing for this option will vary by date, attraction and park and will be announced closer to launch.”

 

[Skyegirl1999]

So if they use the same system that had in Disneyworld before (excluding early booking) there might not be stacking. But FP+ was a free service, and Genie+ will be paid so you'd expect to get more.

Both parks are using the same system (part of the video was clearly meant to sell the WDW people on a Maxpass-like system.)

 

[Jcruise86]

PREDICTION: Disney will charge for all BUS rides at WDW

First off, if any of you think I might be giving Disney a bad idea, I'm pretty sure that since Eisner & Wells took over in 1983, Disney has imagined monetizing everything imaginable, and in recent years they've been bolder about imposing new fees. The Genie+ announcement today inspired me to share this here.

I predict Disney will start charging "just a buck" for bus rides between hotels and parks.

One dollar between the Animal Kingdom Lodge and the Magic Kingdom will seem reasonable. Guests will complain as little as they did when Disney started charging guests to park at their spacious resorts.

Fine print: Every bus ride will be a buck and then after a couple of years the ride between the AKL & MK will be increased to $2, along with rides between the monorail resorts (like the Contemporary & Grand Floridian) and the Animal Kingdom. But that's not really fair to "guests"/customers/sheep in those deluxe resorts, so all bus rides will soon be $2. Hey, that's still cheaper than renting a car! Though expect Disney to then also offer an "upgrade" option for something now free, so that while it might soon be $25 per day to park at a nice resort and it might now be "Free!" to then park at any of the parks, Disney wil help the environment by discouraging driving to parks in individual cars by charging just $45 per day for "Parking unlimited!" that will allow guests park anywhere at the resort! Guests who want to spend a day relaxing at their resort will just have to pay the daily resort parking fee, though discounts for getting multi-day Parking Unltd. passes for the length of their stay will seem reasonable.

Back to the busses. So everyone has gotten used to the reasonable $2 bus fares, and Disney will slip in $1 Skyliner & boat fees that will be raised to $2 a year or two later. Why not? They're not only fast, but they are themselves scenic attractions! Count me in, Disney!

Then after a couple of years all the bus, boat, & Skyliner fees will go to $3, then after many (4?) years, $5.

BTW, the Peoplemover at Disneyland will still sit abandoned rather than replaced,
& there will be no cool DCA's Hyperion-like theater in a proposed expansion of Main Street at WDW's MK, etc.

Have a magical day!

 

[MonocularVision]

This announcement makes me feel like going to Disneyland less (a park I have visited a hundred times and owned APs several years… living in Phoenix) and going to Disney World more (a park I have never visited, largely because I hated the planning involved)

 

[PirateBrigade]

I think I’m just psychologically primed to pay upcharges, I’m surprised it took DL this long to do it. Or maybe they waited until upgrade fees were pervasive?

Random list of upgrades I pay for where there is a free alternative:

$30 for earlier boarding group on Southwest
$100 for Global Entry/TSA Pre
$8 for the 91 express, or other toll road (241/261/73)
$? For expedited shipping
$5/mo for this Korean drama site to remove the ads
Amazon Prime for same-day delivery
$2 on Uber Eats to be the first house the driver goes to (yep paid that for dinner tonight)
+$20/day to park next to the terminal vs economy lot and taking a shuttle
I’ve probably paid a dollar to skip a level on Candy Crush Saga (lord why did I just admit that)

I think from that viewpoint, the G+/LL program is reasonable and falls in line with the outside world…but I suppose that’s also the problem. RIP berm.

 

[Skyegirl1999]

So, I’m reading through blog posts and articles from people who were on the actual media call with Disney, and they’re all using language like “once you tap into one Lightning Lane, you can make a new selection.”

No mention of a maximum wait between bookings. Hmmm… there still definitely could be one, but no one is talking about it.

 

[AndrewC]

I think I’m just psychologically primed to pay upcharges, I’m surprised it took DL this long to do it. Or maybe they waited until upgrade fees were pervasive?

Random list of upgrades I pay for where there is a free alternative:

$30 for earlier boarding group on Southwest
$100 for Global Entry/TSA Pre
$8 for the 91 express, or other toll road (241/261/73)
$? For expedited shipping
$5/mo for this Korean drama site to remove the ads
Amazon Prime for same-day delivery
$2 on Uber Eats to be the first house the driver goes to (yep paid that for dinner tonight)
+$20/day to park next to the terminal vs economy lot and taking a shuttle
I’ve probably paid a dollar to skip a level on Candy Crush Saga (lord why did I just admit that)

I think from that viewpoint, the G+/LL program is reasonable and falls in line with the outside world…but I suppose that’s also the problem. RIP berm.

Wait, you can pay an up charge on UberEats for preferred delivery?!

Also, are there any toll/express lanes between Anaheim and LA area? My trip from Disneyland to Universal Studios is painful... and it's a trip I make TWICE during my vacation. I start the trip with Halloween Horror Nights at Universal, spend the week at Disney, and then end the trip with another Halloween Horror Nights.... I'm happy when it only takes an hour getting to Universal, but I plan for 90 minutes to 2 hours >.<

 

[Kender]

No but that's exactly what I mean -- that was a bad, although common, system, and they eventually figured out that nobody wants to be constantly messing around with a fussy little ticket book and worrying about how many tickets they have and how to budget them and whether X ride was more "worth" seven tickets than Y ride and all that other small-time stuff; people wanted to pay once, and then more or less forget about it as they immersed themselves in the magic kingdom, right? Prix fixe, all-inclusive, you're in a different world now -- not Chuck E Cheese or the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk. If your family can muster up the entrance fee, there's no difference between you and Johnny Four-Yachts as far as what rides and attractions you can go on.

Funny you mention both of those: the Boardwalk has an all inclusive ride ticket/wristband and a season pass (that issues you an unlimited rides wristband each day you go). Chuck E Cheese also has an "all you can play" ticket you can buy.

Why? Because people like you mentioned want options where they don't have to budget for each and every ride/attraction.

 

[Sun_soakin]

Wow I am super turned off by this. Like in a way that makes me think I'm not sure I want to go back. So, I can pay $60 extra for my family to ride RSR, OR I can force my 3 and 5 year old to stand in a 2 hour line. I would sooner have them jack up ticket prices but leave maxpass as it was so I feel like I can rides the rides my kids want to ride, not just the "cheap" ones.

I’m with you. We’ve had APs for years and finally have our first trip back planned for November, but I’m going to cancel. Honestly, it’s not an issue of affordability, it’s just that all this nickel and diming and pre-planning is such a turn off. We are a family of 6, so the upcharge for us is just stupid. There are better trips out there w/o all the crazy planning.

 

[dieumeye]

I think I’m just psychologically primed to pay upcharges, I’m surprised it took DL this long to do it. Or maybe they waited until upgrade fees were pervasive?

Random list of upgrades I pay for where there is a free alternative:

$30 for earlier boarding group on Southwest
$100 for Global Entry/TSA Pre
$8 for the 91 express, or other toll road (241/261/73)
$? For expedited shipping
$5/mo for this Korean drama site to remove the ads
Amazon Prime for same-day delivery
$2 on Uber Eats to be the first house the driver goes to (yep paid that for dinner tonight)
+$20/day to park next to the terminal vs economy lot and taking a shuttle
I’ve probably paid a dollar to skip a level on Candy Crush Saga (lord why did I just admit that)

I think from that viewpoint, the G+/LL program is reasonable and falls in line with the outside world…but I suppose that’s also the problem. RIP berm.

Yeah. What annoys me most is not the upcharge, but that there’s now two upcharges.

In that regard, I’d rather they just increased the G+ fee to $40 or $50 or whatever and have it include all the LL lines. OR go crazy and have each LL have an individual price that you pay per attraction (aka Paris style).

At least that way I would feel like I get what I pay for (either a big fee for everything, or fees only for the LL lines I used).

Instead, I feel like you pay for G+, but you don’t quite get everything unless you pay even more. Which is annoying to me.