Disney Genie announcement

[sheilafri]

The whole Genie mess makes me sick. We purchased DVC because WDW is fun and we wanted it to be stress free. Now that we have gone to Universal twice, we regret our DVC purchase. UO just does things better. Free unlimited Express Pass when staying at HRH just cannot be beat. Over all, the whole UO vacation is easier and has great rides, resorts and restaurants.

I understand your point of view. We are Seasonal Resident AP holders at WDW but don’t qualify for UO FL Resident Passes so feel we are stuck with the mouse. The first year we figured out how to “do” the parks and it has been a stress free holiday for us since then. If we have to refigure our budget every day, and relearn how to maximize our efficiency at the parks it will make WDW a less desirable destination.

 

[twincruisers]

And you have to purchase G+ that morning, if you choose to, correct? Cant do it in advance for all of your park days ?

You can do it in advance, the only limitation is that you need to buy G+ for all the days of your park pass. If you want to buy them for individual days, you do it the day of.

 

[twincruisers]

And for resort guests, you would be able to purchase (2) tier 1 (upcharge rides) at 7AM? Only the G+ you can only book 1 ?

For IAS, you can purchase up to a max of 2 rides per day, we know you can get one at 7am, but not sure if both will be available then or at different time slots.

For G+, you get unlimited rides, but you can only be holding the LL pass for one at any given time.

 

[Opie100]

G+ (tier 2 attractions) only allows one selection at a time. So calling it unlimited isn't really telling the story if you only can use it for a couple rides in a given day.

 

[twincruisers]

I bet they will, but I don't know how much it's really going to help you in the AM. It will allow those who purchase it to grab the next available time, not a time of their choosing. So early in the AM, you're only going to see AM times across the board.

I also see the most likely scenario is that your stuck in a 130 min stand-by line at Splash Mountain and Genie says "upgrade for $15 for a 15 min wait". This is where I see Genie going the route of mobile gaming and pushing the "micro-transaction" as a convenience/time saver.

 

[Violetspider]

I'm seeing that some are thinking G+ will allow for stacking like MaxPass at DL did. Where did that thinking come from? Everything Disney has issued thus far would seem to indicate only one LL at a time. Is it just wishful thinking?Just hoping for some clarity on that thought.

 

[JakeAZ]

G+ (tier 2 attractions) only allows one selection at a time. So calling it unlimited isn't really telling the story if you only can use it for a couple rides in a given day.

While, as of now, I'm not a fan of the Genie, I don't think slots will run out as fast as people are speculating.

With FP+, times were made 60/90 days in advance and everyone got 3 to start with. Here everyone has the opportunity to get 1 (a la carte aside) at a time, but not everyone will buy it. If you use it as intended, grabbing the closest time available in the park you're at, you should be able to grab quite a few in a given day.

 

[serenitygr]

Any word on whether Genie+ and/or paid selection times will be cut-off during the early morning/evening hours for resort/deluxe guests? Certainly, it would just be stand-by for those, wouldn't you think?

If not, then the advantage of early arrival and staying towards park closing to ride headliners will be gone. Those time slots could already be filled with people…

 

[LiteBrite]

Where are the optimists? I haven’t seen them!

I am cautiously optimistic.

In terms of the availability of Genie+ passes, I'm thinking that it will be kind of like FP+ was, except that the first G+ pass of the day will function like the 3rd FP+ did - once that one was used, the game was on, and we were on the hunt for the next one, then the next, then the next. To us, it was enjoyable, like a game that we got good at, and we typically got many of them throughout the day.

Maybe G+ will be like that too, maybe it won't be many hours between passes. I do realize there were lots of people who never got the hang of FP+, and many won't get the hang of G+ either, but they could. My optimistic viewpoint is that perhaps we'll all have the opportunity to get good at the game.

To be clear, I am not pleased at the prospect of having to pay for it. We do WDW as cheaply as anyone I know, and we may or may not feel able or willing to pay for it, but I'm hoping for the best anyway. Waiting in lines during Covid hasn't been terrible at all (admittedly we didn't go during the summer), so maybe if we continue to visit at less crowded times, then waiting in standby lines won't be terrible.

 

[Grasshopper2016]

Mixed feelings overall. I'm really frustrated that there is no way to line skip the Tier-1 ride lines more than once a day, even if you are willing to open your wallet. But, leaving that aside, I think my satisfaction with Genie+ will depend almost entirely on how many (and which) LL slots you can pull during the day. If you can only end up getting 3 or 4, and only 2 of those are desirable rides (in the league of HM, POTC, PPF, MFSR, RnRC, ToT, Soarin', etc.), then I will be very disappointed. But if it ends up working the way some people claim that Maxpass worked --- an ability to pull 8-10 good ride slots per day -- then I will be satisfied.

To be clear, that will still mean I'm paying more for less than what I used to get for free with fastpass+. But I knew that those days were over . . . .

 

[yorkieteacher]

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...

Safari- the two most popular rides are FOP and Safari-

 

[Mystify]

I’m going to have to take a special course just to be able to use this system. It’s one thing to take away what was free and put a price on it but, it’s another when you make it so complicated to use. This is not a vacation any longer.

 

[JakeAZ]

I’m going to have to take a special course just to be able to use this system. It’s one thing to take away what was free and put a price on it but, it’s another when you make it so complicated to use. This is not a vacation any longer.

People are more likely to adapt to new programs that are easy to use. Time will tell if this is easy to use.

Once I get to a 3rd or 4th click in an app and haven’t gotten what I’m looking for, I think twice about using that app again.

 

[HopperFan]

I do estimate that space mountain will not be as inundated once Tron opens. Especially because they're going to be somewhat close together. Replacing space mountain with Tron might make sense. The same might happen with test track and guardians.

Oh I think Space Mountain and Test Track are only placeholders for when the other two open. Then they will likely drop out, especially if Disney sticks to the two per park.

 

[NY Pirate Princess]

Yuck. That is all.

 

[Frozen2014]

Safari- the two most popular rides are FOP and Safari-

If FOP is a pay per ride one, do you think it will be easier to get on the ride (i.e. whereas fastpass seems pretty hard to get)

 

[HopperFan]

I understand your point of view. We are Seasonal Resident AP holders at WDW but don’t qualify for UO FL Resident Passes so feel we are stuck with the mouse. The first year we figured out how to “do” the parks and it has been a stress free holiday for us since then. If we have to refigure our budget every day, and relearn how to maximize our efficiency at the parks it will make WDW a less desirable destination.

Price it out ... UO doesn't give the big break for FL AP like Disney does. I do both. You only save $50 on the Preferred Annual Pass. And the pass is considerably less than Disney's comparable pass. And they let anyone do the monthly payments unlike Disney.

 

[bsmcneil]

Is anyone planning on emailing Disney to voice their unhappiness? I have read all 41 pages up to now and read hundreds of different complaints and I am wondering if these are going to be voiced to Disney? If so, where are you planning on sending your opinions? If everyone who has something to say actually says it to Disney, maybe it will make a difference? Just maybe?

I agree with so many things that have been written here since the announcement yesterday. I don't want to get up before 7am EVERY day on my vacation just to get all stressed out staring at my phone waiting for my clock to tick to 7:00:00 am just so my family can get up and have the 'best trip ever!" I am a huge planner and have rolled with the punches to plan every detail for our many trips to Disney. I enjoy the planning and never minded getting up and onto a computer to get all the (180, 90, 60, 30 days) ADR's and FP+ booked. I just really don't want to have to do this every single morning during our trip. This past May, I was so stressed our first park day trying to get a BG for my family to ride RotR that I was shaking. I managed to get the BG and everyone loved it, but I don't need this pressure every day. I don't mind if this is the only way to get on the newest attractions, but not for many and I haven't even gotten into the new additional cost for this stress.

wdw.guest.communications@disneyworld.com if folks didn't see it. And I did email.

 

[ElsasFan]

I hate this. We take our three kids to WDW annually. I like having a plan for what we are going to do for the day. I don't need a computer to figure out what I should do, nor do I want it to, and I certainly don't want to be staring at my phone when the park opens, trying to figure out where we're going or what Lightening Pass we're going to select. And who's going to have to do that for our family? Me! Thanks, Disney. If we choose to keep going to Disney, in addition to the skyrocketing ticket and resort prices, we have to pay for transportation to and from the airport, plus $85/day for Genie +, and perhaps even more if we want to ride the most popular rides without a long wait. With Fastpass+ I had to plan, but I was the master of my day, not Genie, and it was free.

 

[eleven24]

I wish RotR were just pay per ride. It would be an efficient way to reallocate the availability so that frequent guests would end up riding less often and guests who visit once every several years would have more opportunity to ride at least once.

At that point, why not just have a big ticket booth and sell tickets for rides?