Disney Genie+ and ILL$ Details & FAQ - Launches 10/19 at WDW, Paid "FastPass" at WDW and Disneyland (date TBD)

[crazymomof4]

What's the buzz about when Genie/Genie+/IA$ will drop? Are people still thinking Oct 1st is the start date?
I leave early on the 6th. We know it's going to be more crowded than our usual trips.
We had long waits without FP on our Sept 2020 trip. Expecting worse for this trip. Would like to optimize touring by joining Touringplans and getting an itinerary via that website.
BUT>>> If I pay to renew membership and Genie drops, I feel like touringplans itinerary won't be accurate right away after the new system goes up. So, it would kind of be a waste of $$ renewing.

Would Disney REALLY drop this new system on Oct 1st with practically ZERO heads up (as far as ability to plan) for guests with trips the first/2nd week in Oct?

 

[snowwhite84]

What's the buzz about when Genie/Genie+/IA$ will drop? Are people still thinking Oct 1st is the start date?
I leave early on the 6th. We know it's going to be more crowded than our usual trips.
We had long waits without FP on our Sept 2020 trip. Expecting worse for this trip. Would like to optimize touring by joining Touringplans and getting an itinerary via that website.
BUT>>> If I pay to renew membership and Genie drops, I feel like touringplans itinerary won't be accurate right away after the new system goes up. So, it would kind of be a waste of $$ renewing.

Would Disney REALLY drop this new system on Oct 1st with practically ZERO heads up (as far as ability to plan) for guests with trips the first/2nd week in Oct?

Rumors now include third week of October, with October 16 as a suggested rumor by some.

 

[BrianL]

Rumors now include third week of October, with October 16 as a suggested rumor by some.

Ugh - I don't like that. We get in on the 16th! I'd rather it be available for a couple weeks prior or just wait until after. Guess I may be the guinea pig.

And just for fun:


Okay, maybe being a guinea pig isn't so bad!

 

[rmclain73]

I posted yesterday in another thread on this site from a reliable source that the earliest we will see Genie and Genie+ is the third week in Oct. A blog the reports daily news that is very reliable ran a story this morning saying the same thing, 3rd week in Oct. Of course anything can happen, but I would say it is safe to assume with Disney being so silent that they are behind.

 

[Stephy811]

Ugh - I don't like that. We get in on the 16th! I'd rather it be available for a couple weeks prior or just wait until after. Guess I may be the guinea pig.

Same. We also arrive Oct 16. I don’t want to be a Guinea pig either but it may work to the advantage of those of us on boards like this/in the know…if we know so little and have no real world experience how it will work…imagine the ordinary guest that just shows up and sees some random message in MDE. I feel like those first few weeks it will be very underutilized…or maybe I’m just underestimating the chaos that is going to ensue???

 

[Leight19]

I posted yesterday in another thread on this site from a reliable source that the earliest we will see Genie and Genie+ is the third week in Oct. A blog the reports daily news that is very reliable ran a story this morning saying the same thing, 3rd week in Oct. Of course anything can happen, but I would say it is safe to assume with Disney being so silent that they are behind.

Do you have any insight into whether it’s the earliest it can be due to strategy/timing around 50th or is it something to do with IT integration/readiness issues?

 

[rmclain73]

Do you have any insight into whether it’s the earliest it can be due to strategy/timing around 50th or is it something to do with IT integration/readiness issues?

Seems to be more on the IT side of things. Disney wanted it in place for the 50th.

 

[Landry]

Same. We also arrive Oct 16. I don’t want to be a Guinea pig either but it may work to the advantage of those of us on boards like this/in the know…if we know so little and have no real world experience how it will work…imagine the ordinary guest that just shows up and sees some random message in MDE. I feel like those first few weeks it will be very underutilized…or maybe I’m just underestimating the chaos that is going to ensue???

My wife and I are arriving on the 15th and going to DHS on the 16th for our 5 year anniversary. I was hoping G+ would be out but it sounds more and more like MaxPass without the T1 rides. If that's the case then I'm happy since we loved MaxPass in DL when we visited in 2019. You could schedule your next FP as soon as you tapped in to your current one. And the wait for 2 hours wasn't too horrible if you were scheduling Radiator Springs for dusk/night in the middle of the day since we had done 3-5 rides using it before that time popped up.

 

[OhDannyBoy]

Same. We also arrive Oct 16. I don’t want to be a Guinea pig either but it may work to the advantage of those of us on boards like this/in the know…if we know so little and have no real world experience how it will work…imagine the ordinary guest that just shows up and sees some random message in MDE. I feel like those first few weeks it will be very underutilized…or maybe I’m just underestimating the chaos that is going to ensue???

I'm curious to see how this goes.

Does Disney slow roll it and make it available but not push it much so it doesn't overwhelm the system and they can identify any bugs, or do they go all out and advertise it everywhere to sell as much as possible.

On the next episode of: This is supposed to be vacation.......

 

[emilymad]

If they are having IT issues that maybe explains why no actual information has been released on how it will work. At least I hope that is the reason.

 

[Venelope21]

Would they even announce it if they weren’t confident in their IT yet? It probably doesn’t bode well for investors to flaunt the new system and then remain silent and let everyone assume that’s what it’s related to…

 

[shawthorne44]

They'd mentioned Genie in 2019.

 

[Boski]

I'm curious to see how this goes.

Does Disney slow roll it and make it available but not push it much so it doesn't overwhelm the system and they can identify any bugs, or do they go all out and advertise it everywhere to sell as much as possible.

On the next episode of: This is supposed to be vacation.......

They slow rolled out FP+/Magic Bands. We got to test it out before it rolled out to everyone because the resort we were staying as was participating in the test.

 

[snowwhite84]

They slow rolled out FP+/Magic Bands. We got to test it out before it rolled out to everyone because the resort we were staying as was participating in the test.

Actually, I would love to do this.

 

[rmclain73]

They slow rolled out FP+/Magic Bands. We got to test it out before it rolled out to everyone because the resort we were staying as was participating in the test.

Interesting. Where were you staying when the tested this? Did they notify you at check-in or did you know ahead of time?

 

[snowwhite84]

Interesting. Where were you staying when the tested this? Did they notify you at check-in or did you know ahead of time?

I remember this era. I was there during the sifts launch and though I was onsite, we weren’t chosen to participate. I remember seeing people with magic bands and being SO jealous!!

 

[qwerty2k]

We were also chosen to test out magic bands before they 'officially' launched, iirc it was August 2013 and we stayed at Animal Kingdom Lodge - was quite funny trying to use it to pay/use the dining plan and some restaurants had no idea what it was/how to use it .

We didn't know ahead of time they just sprung it on us when we got the the resort

 

[KaTinkerbell]

Rumors now include third week of October, with October 16 as a suggested rumor by some.

I wouldn’t be surprised. They wouldn’t want slower or crashing app to be a part of the Disney news stories when the 50th Magic should be the headline.

 

[mom2rtk]

First big test of FP+ was first week of December 2012. People were selected based on check in date at certain resorts. We were checking into AoA on Friday night and our friends were checking in Saturday. They were able to test but we were not.

It was a great experience for those who got to do it because it was overlaid onto the free FP system that was still operating. So people got to double dip. There wasn't anything to not love.

I assume if they use guests to test this, they wouldn't be charging for it, so this would be great too. You can't really decide the true value without laying out the cash.

 

[Boski]

Interesting. Where were you staying when the tested this? Did they notify you at check-in or did you know ahead of time?

Beach Club, I can't remember which ones, but there was 2 other resorts participating I believe at the time. We were notified ahead of our trip, got to pick out our magic bands and book our rides (paper FP was still going on). It was funny because resort guest who didn't know what was going were given magic bands when the checked in and then had to have a CM give them a run down on what the test was. They really encouraged us to not only use the FP+ system but to charge as much as possible on the band as they really wanted to test that part of the system (which was good because according to the CM at Hollywood & Vine they were having issues).