Disney Genie announcement

[OhDannyBoy]

Our second ride wasn’t till 1:20. I think that my major issue was choosing SDD for our first ride. We didn’t get a time till 11:30. we could have maybe squeezed another LL ride out if we had chosen a less popular ride for our first slot. But SDD was completely gone by 1pm. And I never could get FP+ for this ride in the past. So this ride was on my radar. At 11:00 we got RNR for 1:20. So we had to wait till 1:00 to book another. The slots are pretty spaced out. You are not going to ride—ride—ride on Genie+. Well if you are only looking at minor attractions, maybe.

Ohhh ok that makes sense.

 

[rmclain73]

Our second ride wasn’t till 1:20. I think that my major issue was choosing SDD for our first ride. We didn’t get a time till 11:30. we could have maybe squeezed another LL ride out if we had chosen a less popular ride for our first slot. But SDD was completely gone by 1pm. And I never could get FP+ for this ride in the past. So this ride was on my radar. At 11:00 we got RNR for 1:20. So we had to wait till 1:00 to book another. The slots are pretty spaced out. You are not going to ride—ride—ride on Genie+. Well if you are only looking at minor attractions, maybe.

Same as old FP+ try refreshing the times just prior to confirming your selection. It seems like people are cancelling and changing all the time. Sooner times will open. You just have to be quick like FP. I was following someone at Magic Kingdom on twitter yesterday who got 12 LLs. I will give you though that HS will be a much harder park to a lot of LLs.

 

[MJJME]

I think most posters here are assuming you would follow your own advice and therefore it wouldn't be $1,295 but a much more reasonable amount..... say the amount of skipping a TS ADR for the family/

Correct but the point of the post is that to get the equivalent of what I used to get under FP+, it now costs $1,295

Plus as i said before, I do like IAS and will pay for it

Genie+ to me is not worth it, almost on any day.....would i like to have it if it was free? 100%..........is it worth the cost? 100% no (of course thats just to me)

 

[MJJME]

We are currently here at WDW. Yesterday we decided to test out Genie+ and two paid Lightening Lane Passes. We went to HS first, then hopped at 4pm to EPCOT. We decided it just isn’t worth the extra money and time it takes to do this. Right at 7am I added Genie+ and chose my first ride, SDD. You can’t choose another ride until 2 hours after the park opens. So at 11am we chose RNR. Then we couldn’t add another ride till 1pm. By that time everything we wanted to ride no longer had slots for Genie+. Slots did seem to open later in the evening, but we were already at EPCOT by then. We did do paid LL for ROTR and Ratatouille. ROTR was worth it, not Ratatouille. Now we are seasoned visitors (DVC since 1997), so we don’t want to ride some of the smaller attractions. And unfortunately that was all that was left by early afternoon. The price for all this was $39 plus tax per person. Interesting test, but not for us.

This is why i think Genie+ will be a flop.......

i dont see many people doing this more than once, epsecially locals who cannot add it onto their AP for a single price and have to pay EVERY trip to the park

I think that it will all end up migrating to IAS for every ride and Genie+ will go away

 

[mshanson3121]

Same as old FP+ try refreshing the times just prior to confirming your selection. It seems like people are cancelling and changing all the time. Sooner times will open. You just have to be quick like FP. I was following someone at Magic Kingdom on twitter yesterday who got 12 LLs. I will give you though that HS will be a much harder park to a lot of LLs.

Except before you could do this in the comfort of your home (for your first 3 at least), not while standing in the park wasting time.

Also, the people who got 12 LL were getting primarily the "little" rides, not the bigger ones. And I'm also going to guess they were bloggers that didn't have kids with them, and didn't mind having to zig zag all over the park chasing rides.

 

[mshanson3121]

I think that it will all end up migrating to IAS for every ride and Genie+ will go away

This. It'll be a modern, far more expensive version, of what Disney used to be - pay to enter with a few rides included free, and then pay by the ride for the rest. Which honestly would have been the simpler and probably better way to go.

 

[PaladinButters]

You are not going to ride—ride—ride on Genie+. Well if you are only looking at minor attractions, maybe.

Just like the FP+ tiers would force you away from stacking headliners in the mornings. Predicting upcoming G+++ "thrill pass" that gives you access in 3....2.....

 

[LSUfan4444]

Yeah, people could do that, but it would just make them a hamster on Disney’s wheel, staying in a resort they’d rather not be in, not eating the food they want to eat….generally not doing the things that make a Disney trip worthwhile to them, all so Chapeck can pad a few quarters at the expense of the Disney legacy. I understand, Disney won’t make money off of you as you run their wheel, but someone else will fill your spot at the table service restaurant you skipped, or so Disney thinks. At some point they won’t though, right? I mean there has to be a tipping point….

I guess then it will cost you more but thats more budgeting than being on a hamster wheel. You have to give up some things you might want for things you want more. If you want it all, it will cost more.

 

[mshanson3121]

Just like the FP+ tiers would force you away from stacking headliners in the mornings. Predicting upcoming G+++ "thrill pass" that gives you access in 3....2.....

Except at MK. That was so nice.

 

[snikki]

Brooke McDonald on IG is reporting via her story. She started at DHS today.

 

[Disturbia]

I'm just going to post these questions again to make sure I understand parts of this. It got buried already.


Ok I’m trying to understand this all. Not like it matters for me cause I won’t step foot in the parks again till maybe end of next year but.

the extra 2 paid rides. U guys call them ill$? Not LL right?

you can book them back to back at 7 am if on property right? U don’t have to use the 1 and then book second right?

if so I can go on at 7 and grab say rise and Mickey Minnie train for at night in Hollywood studios right?

But they have to be 2 hours apart thought right?


Thanks!

Someone stacked 2 LLIA$ and first Genie+ in the same 1.5 hours. They are separate and the LLIA$ can overlap.

 

[LSUfan4444]

You are not going to ride—ride—ride on Genie+. Well if you are only looking at minor attractions, maybe.

Totally agree,,,standby is unavoidable unless you prefer to spend your time waiting on a park bench. Either way, if you want to do the most popular rides on G+ you're going to wait. Either in a standby line or waiting for your next G+ attraction.

How people use the standby lines will be key...you're not going to be able to G+ your way to no waits.

 

[Belle70]

I understand the appeal of Genie+ and iLL$, but the more I read about them in practice, the more I can see myself avoiding them.
Not only do they cost extra, but they seem overly complicated, clunky and I think this would make me more dependent on my phone.
I am admittedly old-school but the idea of using free Genie as a resource for planning along with others, being able to have a flexible plan and leaving some decisions until I'm at the park appeals to me. I don't mind standing in a few lines if I can be back in WDW (in about a year). Or it could be that I'm just frugal (aka cheap).

 

[catnik]

One less? Genie+ and IAS for my family of 5 for 7 days costs $1,295. That’s not skipping a high end restaurant, that’s not eating on the trip.

For my family of 4, Genie+ will be primarily used in MK and HS and not every day on a multiple day trip. 2ILL$ every day x multiple days add up for sure. But EE and rope dropping the ILL$ rides would decrease that cost significantly. I think as time goes on, people will be able to figure out ways to maximize the efficient use of both Genie+ and ILL$ while minimizing cost. One high end ADR for us is $350-400. I believe I can plan our use of Genie and ILL$ to = that cost, but your situation may well be different

 

[DisneyKidds]

I guess then it will cost you more but thats more budgeting than being on a hamster wheel. You have to give up some things you might want for things you want more. If you want it all, it will cost more.

Yup. I mean, if we give up the resorts and meals we like (those are just as important to us as the parks) then what’s the point in going? But we’re locked in (DVC, and not yet inclined to sell, yet). So, we’ll go, use this new G+/ILL$ nonsense as sparingly as we can, trying to enjoy what vestiges of old Disney still remain for as long as we can stomach it. Now THAT’S a great way to feel about your vacation!

Yeah, yeah, yeah….things get more expensive, that’s how the world works, yadda, yadda, Yoda. But as I’ve said all along….it’s not about the money, even though Disney’s price increases and money grabs lately are hard to justify outside of the “as long as suckers keep paying it” modus operandi. It’s about the process, the eroding of any real value, the customer focus (or lack thereof)…..all the things that made (past tense) Disney special and not just like the other guys, because Walt’s entire point for creating DL was to have a park that wasn’t just like the other guys!

 

[KayKayJS]

Been watching this closely and keeping an eye on the tip board. We will be trying this on Sunday with our 2 year old. Not gonna lie, kind of excited to not have to wait in a 45 minute line for MMRR with her, last time was terrible. For us with a toddler - I'm willing to pay.

 

[Disturbia]

Is there a new thread on just how Genie, Genie+ and LL work? Some of us have just a few days to get a hang of the system before arriving.

 

[PaladinButters]

This is why i think Genie+ will be a flop.......

i dont see many people doing this more than once, epsecially locals who cannot add it onto their AP for a single price and have to pay EVERY trip to the park

I think that it will all end up migrating to IAS for every ride and Genie+ will go away

This. It'll be a modern, far more expensive version, of what Disney used to be - pay to enter with a few rides included free, and then pay by the ride for the rest. Which honestly would have been the simpler and probably better way to go.

Wouldn't those same locals also not be buying the IAS$$?

One day of use (on a slow Tuesday, but that also had every blogger on it and tons of people had that free day) is really not a big enough sample. How many would pay 'only $15' on a Saturday in May rather than wait when the crowds are high? How many bite when something new opens (Tron, Guardians) even though they normally never would?

 

[MJJME]

For my family of 4, Genie+ will be primarily used in MK and HS and not every day on a multiple day trip. 2ILL$ every day x multiple days add up for sure. But EE and rope dropping the ILL$ rides would decrease that cost significantly. I think as time goes on, people will be able to figure out ways to maximize the efficient use of both Genie+ and ILL$ while minimizing cost. One high end ADR for us is $350-400. I believe I can plan our use of Genie and ILL$ to = that cost, but your situation may well be different

I agree with most of what you said.........i thought this poster made a good point...............

The whole thing seems counter intuitive

So I can save an hour or 2 of waiting in line but I have get up 2 hours earlier than I would at 7am vs my normal wake up time of 9am on vacation, not be able to go when I want in the afternoon because I cannot pick my return time, be on my phone all day and pay $75 for my family of 5?

I’ll give up the time I save standing in line, the money and aggravation and sleep in until 9am and be no worse off.

Where is the value in any of this?

 

[LSUfan4444]

Now THAT’S a great way to feel about your vacation!

I agree...it sounds totally miserable. If thats how I felt I would probably make some changes but to each their own.

Good luck.