Changes to genie plus

[mikkle]

Disney hasn't said anything officially, but you have to assume that by taking the advanced purchase revenue off the table that they are planning on making it back with surge pricing similar to Individual Lightning Lanes.

Yeah I can definitely see that being the case. Seems like everything is going to either a subscription or an on-demand pricing model these days. I hate it, but at this point I think there's no going back. It's the best way to extract as much money as possible for a fixed set of good/services.

 

[ilovetotravel1977]

I think we are going to skip G+. We are rope-droppers / closers, so all day in the park. Plus, we hate zigzagging all over the place. We will have two days at HS and MK (including party night) so I think we will be able to ride everything. We weren't buying it for AK or EP anyways.

 

[Frozen2014]

We have a trip in August - our second trip to Disney World and most likely our last. We have 6 day park tickets and there are 4 of us. Before this change, I was thinking we would purchase Genie+ for maybe 4 of those days, but now...thinking may bit the bullet and just purchase it (I know...need to decide soon if pre-buying it) . August will be hot and so any skipping of lines will help (esp if outside) and would be upset if it sold out. The other thing is...having to stay up until midnight to purchase it each night (to ensure we got the passes) and then 7am to book first ride is a pain and stressful....so would at least eliminate the midnight part. It adds $360 USD (or about $465 CAD)...guess it just adds to the overall budget. Sucks though considering last time FastPass+ was free.

 

[isabellea]

Wanted to add G+ to all our tickets a few months ago but can only add to my daughter’s dated ticket. The other 3 are no-expiry Canadian tickets and they cannot be updated unless I pay a fortune. No thank you! I will take my chance every morning during our July trip instead..

 

[Silvermist999]

We have a trip in August - our second trip to Disney World and most likely our last. We have 6 day park tickets and there are 4 of us. Before this change, I was thinking we would purchase Genie+ for maybe 4 of those days, but now...thinking may bit the bullet and just purchase it (I know...need to decide soon if pre-buying it) . August will be hot and so any skipping of lines will help (esp if outside) and would be upset if it sold out. The other thing is...having to stay up until midnight to purchase it each night (to ensure we got the passes) and then 7am to book first ride is a pain and stressful....so would at least eliminate the midnight part. It adds $360 USD (or about $465 CAD)...guess it just adds to the overall budget. Sucks though considering last time FastPass+ was free.

We updated our expired tickets recently for our July trip and at the time I was going to take some time to see if we needed G+. This recent announcement convinced me to get it (going to buy it this weekend), for all of the reasons you stated. I may likely still be awake at midnight during our trip, but I want that to be for relaxing downtime void of stress.

 

[joanjett1976]

we have a june disneyland trip and an august wdw. we have our tickets but not genie+. will we still be allowed to add them on for a few days if we try today before the cutoff date? there is no way to do it online is there?

 

[samsteele]

I haven't used Genie+ yet but understand from watching good, credible vloggers that its really only useful in MK & HS. Not a needed expense in AK and Epcot. Google Tom Bricker. Think Deni here on the DIS also did an initial tutorial last fall. f I had a trip planned this year, I wouldn't have purchased it up front for length of stay anyway. My plan would be to purchase by 6:30am that morning then still have lots of time at 7am when my first selection was available if staying on property. Suppose on heavy crowd days like major seasonal holidays it will have limited availability for purchase day of. But I wouldn't be going into the parks then anyway.

 

[ilovetotravel1977]

We are not purchasing it. We will have two days at HS both with early entry. MK a day, plus the Xmas party night. We were never buying it for AK and EP as noted above. I'm actually relieved that we won't have to have our phone glued to our faces every day. We don't like to zig zag around the parks, especially MK.

 

[samsteele]

Re not buying up for Epcot, only fly in the ointment may be new Guardians of Galaxy ride. Think $17 ILL but that was over the holiday weekend so may have dropped a little in price now. But compare that to Genie+ where you have a (slim) chance at 7am to grab it and then can get a few more rides later in the day. No standby line for GOTG.
Oops - editing to add that GOTG is not part of Genie+
I used to love planning my trips, but sure I'm not the only one tired of constantly changing micro rules. Whatever happened to a relaxing and enjoyable WDW vacation?

 

[I Run Long]

We're going this September and have the 14 day tickets from the UK. We decided against adding Genie+ to our tickets when we purchased them at the time. Since we have 14 days, we're just going to see what we can get on and if we really want to get on some rides that we couldn't get on through rope dropping and evening hours at MK and EP (we're staying at DVC resorts) - we can always decide one morning to get Genie+. If you could choose your return times and not risk clicking on say a 9:00am return time, only to have it go up to maybe 3:00pm once you click purchase, I may be more inclined to get Genie+. As it stands right now - no thanks. Mind you, if we were going for a short 4-5 day trip we might be inclined to get it - maybe.

 

[sheilafri]

I agree. But it’s the limiting availability plus putting it on sale at midnight that sucks. So if you go at a busy time and want to make sure you get it you may have to be up at midnight. Then up at 7am to book your rides.

It’s like they don’t think these things out very well.

Or they don’t care?

 

[Jennny]

I just read a comment from someone on another site where they said that the next set of G+ changes will limit the total of # selections to only 3 per person per day.....that doesn't sound very promising. I am surprised that there isnt a lot of details about what will become of this after June 8th except for you can only purchase on a day to day basis.

 

[ilovetotravel1977]

I just read a comment from someone on another site where they said that the next set of G+ changes will limit the total of # selections to only 3 per person per day.....that doesn't sound very promising. I am surprised that there isnt a lot of details about what will become of this after June 8th except for you can only purchase on a day to day basis.

So essentially three paid fastpasses.

 

[Miffy]

So essentially three paid fastpasses.

Except, unlike FP+s, you can't book them in advance or modify them. Or book the same attraction more than once a day.

 

[Jennny]

And not included is the top tier rides. And with FP+ after your 3 you could book more. LOL...hopefully not true.

 

[ilovetotravel1977]

Yep, so glad we are not buying it.

 

[Frozen2014]

Oh gosh...certainly hope not. And I've noticed at a park like Epcot, you can only get 1 headliner, so that's a lot of money for just one ride and two others that aren't quite as popular (i.e. Test Track, Remy and Frozen are all gone by the time you are eligible to book the next Genie+)

 

[youngdeb12]

Would definitely change my mind about buying it if that were true. Would rather just plan more efficiently and wait standby. I think they would find a lot less purchasing it if they go that route.

 

[Jennny]

Would definitely change my mind about buying it if that were true. Would rather just plan more efficiently and wait standby. I think they would find a lot less purchasing it if they go that route.

I agree.

 

[Krystal659]

It seems like most have the opinion that you do not need it for AK and EP (agree on this, I was there in February), but does this mean that people will only buy for MK and HS days? If so, those will be the most in demand, so are we playing roulette with vacations that cost several thousand for families (especially at peak seasons/holidays)?

I am usually up early so that 7 am does not bother me much, but the stress of booking Genie Plus and ILL does cause me anxiety. In February three of us were on different devices at 7:00 and still did not get all the ILL we wanted. Now I have to buy Genie too