Disney Genie announcement

[BroadwayHermione5]

Im sure they qill still take advanced reservations for dining, but you could score your pass for a ride on the opposite end of the park for that time. I guess it will then be up to you, at 7 am and maybe not yet caffinated and half way groggy to make a decision for your group. And then inform the familly of your decision. Not my idea of a good time.

I am wondering though if the genie plus will know you have that reservation and will try for something else. For example you have a sci fi reservation, they are probably going to suggest Star Tours/Muppets/something in Galaxy's Edge.

Or you just got off Haunted Mansion and CHH is too busy right now come back later/go to pecos bills.

Its definitely going to be trial and error for a while but I do wonder if that is something that is going to happen.

 

[Lashed34]

Coming in 2022 - want to guarantee your restaurant reservation....just get Genie+Gold.

Coming 2023 - want to breathe fresh air....just get Genie+O2

 

[jimmymc]

If everyone has it, nobody has it

That's probably my biggest concern. If you charged $100 then very few people would pay and the standby lines wouldn't be too bad. But at $15, it might be necessary to get on anything with less than a 1 hour wait.

 

[mi*vida*loca]

Idk, I wonder if those situations will be balanced out by how many couples are like us, where one person is the crazy type A planner type and the other one is cool with whatever, the “just tell me when to show up” type. My gf is so laid back I could tell her we gotta get up 4am and do the ice bucket challenge to get into a park and she’d be fine as long as she got her dole whip on time

This is my SO and DD too. I’ve done one mom/daughter trip and have another planned. My SO and I want to do an adult trip in a few years. They just go with whatever I say. I don’t think my SO even knows what a FP is or even an ADR. Lol. If I say we go to this ride and we eat here now he’s like let’s go. My daughter adapts to change well and rolls with it too. If I say we have to do this ride while the line is short and then we can do the ride you want next she’s with it.

My son is the complete opposite and I learned once he hit his teen years that Disney as a family trip isn’t very relaxing and fun (after our last family trip that went a bit crazy). Now with this new system it would probably be worse. We go to other destinations as a family and my son told me a few years back that he’s kinda over Disney (he told me this when I offered a mother/son trip) So don’t feel bad that we go without him. Lol

 

[CarolynFH]

I am wondering though if the genie plus will know you have that reservation and will try for something else. For example you have a sci fi reservation, they are probably going to suggest Star Tours/Muppets/something in Galaxy's Edge.

Or you just got off Haunted Mansion and CHH is too busy right now come back later/go to pecos bills.

Its definitely going to be trial and error for a while but I do wonder if that is something that is going to happen.

Since Genie is MDE on steroids, I’m confident that it will know about the ADRs you’ve already made and plan your itinerary for the day around them.

 

[brightlined]

F&F I agree with, just a complete waste of space, but Jimmy Fallon we absolutely loved - great fun, rode it lots when we were there.

Part of my complaining there is because, at the same time that UO opened those two rides (and imported King Kong from USH), Disney opened Pandora / Flight of Passage. Even in this thread, it's like people have memory-holed that Disney built and opened Galaxy's Edge while UO opened Hagrid's, which was broken for the first several months it was open. People can readily argue that Universal is coming up with great stuff, but GE was a solid attempt at letting Imagineering go big.

(At to the person lauding Velocicoaster - installing a standard roller coaster takes a lot less time to finish than any ride that includes new and different technology, which, by all accounts, Guardians does.)

I'll admit, too: I'm going a little Inside Baseball on Fallon. I personally didn't like it because it felt like a 90s CGI-heavy retread (and felt more like an echo of Conan's Late Night rather than Fallon's). But then I spoke to someone who worked on it, who acknowledged that it wasn't the ride that they had originally intended it to be. One of the key personalities involved (who I'll leave nameless) demanded a bunch of changes that diminished (in my opinion) what it could have been. The original concept sounded amazing.

I personally think UO is just "fine". I was a UO passholder a couple years ago, and just couldn't find the energy to go more than a handful of times. I have friends who specifically avoid UO because it can cost as much (or more) than Disney for a one-day ticket if you want to ride the Hogwart's Express, which is a solidly great attraction. (To be fair, a few of them have also admitted that they're getting priced out of a WDW trip.)

But I also think the whole "I'm going to Universal instead" whenever Disney does something questionable is just weak sauce. If you want to do that, fine. But it's not the threat that it sounds like it is.

I think Disney should genuinely be worried about Epic Universe - assuming UO can get it built and it lives up to the hype.

("I'm going to Universal instead" is still a better argument than the people on the DL board who reacted to DLR's changes at reopening by loudly proclaiming that they were going to Knott's instead. Not that Knott's is bad, but it's not even in the same league as Disney or USH. It'd be almost like proclaiming that you were giving up your WDW AP to go to Fun Spot.)

 

[Stormtrooper mum]

Forgive me if I’ve missed this. Planning a dec trip to just ak. Realise FOP will be one of the extra paid lighting pass lines but what else do we think would be in that tier at ak? Got to be honest, willing to pay to avoid the lines with my elderly dad and 6 year old son...

 

[tsme]

I’m trying to reserve my opinion until I see how it works in real time. However, I hate having to stay looking at my phone while on vacation, I do find it is a blatant money grab, I find what I’ve read to be a bit confusing so far (like I can see people getting confused with Genie + lightning lane & extra cost lightning lane, especially those who aren’t fanatics like most of us), I don’t have confidence in Disney’s IT (the app & website is notorious for crashing, plans disappearing, & generally poor internet service in the parks), all these things would give guests & the poor CMs who have to deal with irate guests huge headaches. But since Disney doesn’t give a rat’s biscuits what any of us think, guess we’ll have learn to deal with it. OR go somewhere else for vacations

 

[kylenne]

Since you say you put your money where your mouth is when it comes to the dehumanization of marginalized communities, you must not be aware of the plight Chinese Uighurs since you continue to go to Disney parks.

For the record, I didn’t pay to see live action Mulan and I have yet to stream it even for “free” (I get D+ through Verizon). Regardless, this is not the time or place to have the “there’s no ethical consumption under late stage capitalism” discussion. I just responded the way I did because I’m tired of the assumption that everyone will just want to go to Universal instead any time Disney does something people don’t like. A lot of people definitely will. But for some of us that’s not something we would do, for a lot of reasons. I gave mine, which is their contract/financial relationship with JK Rowling. For others it could be as simple as they don’t like the rides there or it doesn’t work for their family. Like I said, there are many other vacation options besides Disney and Universal and many more places to go besides theme parks. If we ever reach our breaking point we’ll just head to them more often. I have family all over Europe who I haven’t seen since before lockdown.

 

[jimmymc]

So, you can make "one at a time". Does that mean if my next lightning pass is 3 hours from now, I can't book another one until I ride that? The "next generation of Max Pass" sounds very restrictive.

Wasn't that the case with Maxpass anyway? One pass at a time?

 

[HopperFan]

.

Random but has anyone figured out how this affects dining and other things that require advanced reservations like Savi's? Will we be able to still reserve dining ahead of time?

I would watch the video Disney put out, I think it is way more informative to visually see it than just read their blog. You can see that you can still book ADR, join waitlists (new with COVID), do mobile ordering etc. I think it will be much easier than most think.

 

[Sjm9911]

Could be, that could kinda be worse, as disney will be herding you to rides to space out the crowds. Or better , as it would create best times for rides. Who knows. I would hate to be the one that gets sent to all the rides i didnt want and have the day be over. Plus , i kinda like to plan out my areas and what im doing before hand. Just so much thats not known. I feel like a test subject.

 

[eleven24]

So the TLDR version of this is you pay $15 a day per person for the right to hold one reservation at a time for the rides that are the least popular rides. On top of that, the popular attractions will cost a varying price based on demand, and guests are permitted 2 of these per day.

In other words, Disney is once again taking something that used to be free and charging for it. So now your Disney trip includes cost of getting from airport to Disney resort (no more DME) and it's mandatory to have a mobile phone with you to visit the park (no more Magic Bands).

 

[SealedSeven]

But will I even need to use LL beyond that?
If staying deluxe, I will have extra hours at MK and EP (if I time my dates right) ... with those limited crowds, I can likely do all the LL attractions as stand-by without an unreasonable wait time because of the limited access. Don't need LL for MK and EP.

I can wake at 7 and try for a ROTR boarding group - included with my park ticket, no extra change. If I get that BG, I may not need LL for HS ... depends on the list of LL attractions.

I don't see a work-around for Flight of Passage, though. So really AK would be a LL for me, unless i just wanted to do rope drop or end-of-day line mitigation strategies.

Doesn't the Extra Hours for DVC rotate between all 4 parks? (has there been more info released?) All the LL should be available to DVC with ease during those times..... hopefully...

 

[Skippyboo]

Forgive me if I’ve missed this. Planning a dec trip to just ak. Realise FOP will be one of the extra paid lighting pass lines but what else do we think would be in that tier at ak? Got to be honest, willing to pay to avoid the lines with my elderly dad and 6 year old son...

I would guess Navi River Journey would be the other one. The 2 Pandora rides were both Tier 1 FP in the before times.

 

[ppony]

Here comes Disney’s very own class system. I REALLY hoped they wouldn’t ever go down this road. It’s utterly antithetical to what “Disney” is supposed to be and mean.

 

[ENJDisneyFan]

So the TLDR version of this is you pay $15 a day per person for the right to hold one reservation at a time for the rides that are the least popular rides. On top of that, the popular attractions will cost a varying price based on demand, and guests are permitted 2 of these per day.

In other words, Disney is once again taking something that used to be free and charging for it. So now your Disney trip includes cost of getting from airport to Disney resort (no more DME) and it's mandatory to have a mobile phone with you to visit the park (no more Magic Bands).

Not sure about the Magic Band part. I’d assume you can still use them, at least for the foreseeable future, to access LL and Genie +

 

[eleven24]

Could be, that could kinda be worse, as disney will be herding you to rides to space out the crowds. Or better , as it would create best times for rides. Who knows. I would hate to be the one that gets sent to all the rides i didnt want and have the day be over. Plus , i kinda like to plan out my areas and what im doing before hand. Just so much thats not known. I feel like a test subject.

It's definitely crowd management with the Genie suggesting where to go in the park. On the surface it's a great idea for those who don't visit often or who don't like planning out their vacations, but it's relying on AI to curate someone's Disney experience.

For us, part of the fun was the months leading up to Disney. Trying to get the FP for a ride. Planning out our days. Now? Meh. Just let the app do it.

 

[RedK]

The thing that gets me is - in order for G+ to work, Disney is going to have to make huge upgrades to their IT infrastructure.

• Upgrades to wireless connectivity and bandwidth in all resorts to enable mass connection attempts at 7 am
• Upgrades to wireless connectivity and bandwidth in all parks and parking lots to enable constant connections
• MASSIVE updates to their database functionality, speed, monitoring, etc to support the 7 am connection surge, plus DR backups
• Likely large updates to their log monitoring and troubleshooting
• Enhanced IT testing teams to support regular QA with every OS update on every phone, to make sure it all still works

Given Disney's lack of success in these exact things over the past few years, I think the first few months of G+ are likely to be really really ugly, with people unable to get on at 7 am to get the rides they want, freezes, query issues, etc.

 

[eleven24]

Not sure about the Magic Band part. I’d assume you can still use them, at least for the foreseeable future, to access LL and Genie +

The Magic Bands will still work, and are still being sold. They're just no longer a complimentary item when booking at a Disney resort. Now they sell it as "Being a Disney resort guest you have the privilege of buying exclusive magic bands that are not available in the park".

Not that I need them, because we have a collection. It's just a fun way to look back on our trips based on the magic bands we have collected and written the dates on the insides.