Rumored Changes to G+

[Miffy]

Isn't a DAS pass much harder to get now? And VQs, they can be a long wait as well once you get in line, right?

I can't answer the DAS question, but as far as VQs go, it can be a long time waiting just to get called for your spot. When RotR was in its VQ stage, one would sometimes get a number that was never called and you wouldn't find out until late in the day.

 

[mi*vida*loca]

Isn't a DAS pass much harder to get now? And VQs, they can be a long wait as well once you get in line, right?

I don’t know about DAS but we waited in line for an hour once for Guardians after we tapped in for VQ. The rest of the time was about 30-45 minutes. With ILL it was about 5-10 minutes.

 

[BrianL]

I don’t know about DAS but we waited in line for an hour once for Guardians after we tapped in for VQ. The rest of the time was about 30-45 minutes. With ILL it was about 5-10 minutes.

I had generally lower wait times with GotG and RotR with my VQ callbacks. I had a significantly worse time with Ratatouille! We were called for VQ and teh wait was still an hour. It's like, what's the VQ for? I have never gotten a TRON VQ, but ratehr bought ILL, and that definitely saved me some time!

 

[starlite_]

It's like, what's the VQ for?

The VQ is so the 1 hr wait is spread throughout the day, instead of having a 5hr line standby.

 

[MPD]

So you are only ever going to come back if they allow you to pay to cut in line?

You are not thinking this through; is there EVER a reason for an omni-mover ride like Haunted Mansion to have a line that is over an hour long? Of course not! But with G+, that's a pretty normal standby line wait. That line should be 30 minutes tops on all but the worst of the holidays. Frozen standby is absolutely intolerable. It was not the day before G+ was introduced. Do you have any interest in fixing that or are you just happy you got to cut the line?

In the 70s and 80s waits were well over an hour for every E ticket ride during school breaks. I remember those days well! And Frozen standby has been looooooong every time I've been to Disney -no matter what line options were available.

 

[SL6827]

I will pass on the VQs. A possible hour long wait is not what we want.

 

[Suger Mag]

I will pass on the VQs. A possible hour long wait is not what we want.

We like to do both. I buy and schedule a ILL for a earlier time, and then we usually try for the second Virtual Que either at 1 or 6 depending if it is an extra hour night. We do not like to go to the parks early, so we generally get there 1ish... so the early VQ is too much. I usually schedule a ILL (and pay for it LOL) first thing at 7am. Then I can relax knowing that BIG RIDE is al set and on my time frame. Then I usually start selecting my Genie + selections to stack them.

Since the virtual que is free, I suggest to try for it and get one and then if you want to, you can do it or if not, or if some of your group doesn't want to ride ...it is no loss. This way we got to ride TRON in the daytime with the ILL.. and then again at night with the later VQ.

 

[SkyGuy]

We like to do both. I buy and schedule a ILL for a earlier time, and then we usually try for the second Virtual Que either at 2 or 6 depending if it is an extra hour night. We do not like to go to the parks early, so we generally get there 1ish... so the early VQ is too much. I usually schedule a ILL (and pay for it LOL) first thing at 7am. Then I can relax knowing that BIG RIDE is al set and on my time frame. Then I usually start selecting my Genie + selections to stack them.

Since the virtual que is free, I suggest to try for it and get one and then if you want to, you can do it or if not, or if some of your group doesn't want to ride ...it is no loss. This way we got to ride TRON in the daytime with the ILL.. and then again at night with the later VQ.

The second VQ drop is at 1:00p.m. (for those who may not know - didn’t want someone thinking back to Disboards and miss it!).

 

[Suger Mag]

The second VQ drop is at 1:00p.m. (for those who may not know - didn’t want someone thinking back to Disboards and miss it!).

did it used to be 2? lol not like I didn't just use this... will edit my post

 

[HokieRaven5]

did it used to be 2? lol not like I didn't just use this... will edit my post

It has been 1 at least since hopping returned partially because the hopping time was 2pm. Gave those with reservations the first crack at the VQ

 

[Brian Noble]

That's the issue with the current corporate mentality - they only see the short term.

Disney has been building (and expanding) the parks for a very long time, in more or less exactly the way they are doing now. I don't see why their strategy suddenly will not work, but I'm often the "Everything is Fine" guy.

 

[BrianL]

Disney has been building (and expanding) the parks for a very long time, in more or less exactly the way they are doing now. I don't see why their strategy suddenly will not work, but I'm often the "Everything is Fine" guy.

View attachment 810240

Well, I'm not the reactionary type and generally I think they are going along fine, but I do see cracks forming in that. Honestly, staffing is arguably the most important issue to solve, but they do need to ramp up expansion too. They are jsut SO SLOW about it!

 

[ChipnDale79]

Disney has been building (and expanding) the parks for a very long time, in more or less exactly the way they are doing now. I don't see why their strategy suddenly will not work, but I'm often the "Everything is Fine" guy.

View attachment 810240

Have they? They’ve added new lands and parks over the years. The last few years, for the most part, they’re taking out rides/attractions and replaced them. That’s not all ways the case though.

 

[Brian Noble]

I wrote this elsewhere (in a Marriott timeshare discussion thread), but they are doing what they can about staffing:

Walt Disney World increased their base starting pay for all cast members in Florida from a minimum of $15/hr to $17/hr in '23, an increase of 13.3%. Houskeeping (a union position at Disney) went from $17 to $20, an increase of 17.6%. That's before considering Disney was paying signing bonuses of $1,000 this past August for new Housekeepers who stay on the job for 90 days. That's equivalent to an extra 50 hours' starting-rate pay over the course of 13 weeks---someone working full time is getting an extra 9.6% in pay for their first three months, on top of the 13.3% increase in base rate, or a total of almost 29% over what Disney was paying a Housekeeper in 2022.

 

[Chili327]

What I don't get is how nobody is upset about G+ out of principal alone. The day before it went on-line there would have been whole threads dedicated to anyone cutting in line. You hand Disney a $20 to do so and now it's OK? Not with me it's not!

So the fix - and yes, I believe there is one. Scrap G+ entirely. Have the headliners be VQ only (FoP, Guardians, RotR, SDD and TRON). VQ drop is 7a and 1p like it is now. If you miss the drop for whatever reason, sell LL for the headliners ONLY. All of the other lines are tolerable - ALL OF THEM. The standby lines only get ridiculous because G+ allocates the majority of seats on the rides to paying line-cutters. Stop it already!

What added benefit do you offer to staying on-property? Extra, legitimate EMH like it used to be. not the morning EM0.5H we have now - that is of almost no benefit. If they insist on having a ton of after hours events, then maybe give on-property guests a discount or just plain let them in.

You're missing the point, Disney makes more money with Genie+ over without it. (its the same as having after hours, it's about the profit)

 

[Minnie1222]

So you are only ever going to come back if they allow you to pay to cut in line?

You are not thinking this through; is there EVER a reason for an omni-mover ride like Haunted Mansion to have a line that is over an hour long? Of course not! But with G+, that's a pretty normal standby line wait. That line should be 30 minutes tops on all but the worst of the holidays. Frozen standby is absolutely intolerable. It was not the day before G+ was introduced. Do you have any interest in fixing that or are you just happy you got to cut the line?

Yes! I will come back as long as there are options to skip the line.

 

[Minnie1222]

I personally love the idea of VQs replacing G+ and ILLs, and giving all guests access to that system as a part of their ticket functionality. I'm with you in theory, give me more VQs.

I absolutely dislike the idea of VQ replacing G+ and iLL. I believe ROTR was the first ride to utilize VQ and it wasn't a fun experience trying to snatch one. If they were going to use VQ for all the rides, then they should sell iLL for all of them as well.

 

[BrianL]

I wrote this elsewhere (in a Marriott timeshare discussion thread), but they are doing what they can about staffing:

Well, it's not just hiring, but also not trying to get by with the bare minimum staff levels. For the cost of a Disney vacation, I expect a higher level of service. It's attainable.

 

[mamaofsix]

Which logically makes sense. Take away a free service (FP+) and people might try to find a way to get a different free service (DAS abuse).

Thanks for the feedback!

I think some things about DAS need to be set straight here. I have adopted children with disabilities, so hope I can help:

1) DAS is VERY hard to get, and extremely difficult to "cheat." Disney rebuilt all of their lines so that anyone with a wheelchair or EVC can go in the regular line. DAS is mostly for those with invisible disabilities (Autism, Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder, Bladder control issues) who cannot wait in a regular line, either sitting or standing. If you check the DISabilities board, you'll see how many people are denied DAS on a regular basis. More are denied than accepted. It is an arduous process to get DAS in advance of your trip. It took me 10 hours of waiting online and going through multiple chats to get it for my children last trip. My children had to be present for video chats and interviews.

2)DAS is NOT the same as skipping the line with paid G+. With G+, you simply select the ride and can often ride almost right away. You can also stack attractions. With DAS, you get a return time that is equal in length to the current standby. Say the standby wait for Flight of Passage is 120 minutes. You get a return time that is 120 minutes after your selection. You cannot select any other rides to use DAS on until after you have checked into Flight of Passage 120 minutes later. The point of DAS is that you can wait to ride in a space that is not claustrophobic or hard to escape for the person with disabilities. For example, I can wait with my child with disabilities on a park bench, etc. until our time is called. If they freak out on the park bench or I need to rush them to the bathroom, I am able to move them (unlike a line that is locked in). Once our 2 hours of waiting for FoP is up, we will ride.

3)Many people with DAS choose to also buy G+ and use a combination of the two systems (due to the clunky nature of the process described above). I'll repeat it again - Many people with DAS also pay for G+

4)If I had to guess, I'd say that exponentially more people in the lightning lane are there due to G+, not DAS

Hopefully this clears up some of the misconceptions about DAS abuse.

 

[DL1WDW2]

Very informative information but I am not sure I would be comfortable with Disney “ interviewing” my children for requirement . That would be stressful for a child and surprised Disney Legal allows this for their protection and for a child .

Universal Studios has updated entrance removing finger scan & taking picture of every face instead… It happened so fast yesterday but I guess the fine print on any purchase protects their rights on property , etc.
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