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

[kc51570]

I think this is the part that bothers me as much as the cost. I preferred to schedule things in advance at the crack of dawn and set expectations 60 days in advance as opposed to having to get up at 7am every morning of my vacation to see what I can get whether it's a boarding group, Genie + ride or a paid LL ala carte ride. I think with both onsite and offsite accessing Genie + basic rides at 7am the times and popular rides are going to go quickly.



It seemed to me that the reaction on social media overall was pretty negative. I agree with keeping an open mind, but right off the bat, with the details released so far, my exact trip from March 2020 is going to cost my family somewhere around $1000 + more and I'll be getting up every morning at 7am to forage for rides. So right now, I'm feeling somewhat negative.

I also realize nothing stays the same and WDW is a for profit company.

This is exactly how I feel. I got up early one morning before our trip to book FP+ for the week and was able to guarantee all the rides I wanted. I don’t think it was the crack of dawn-maybe a little before 7. I also didn’t even have to book them all at 7am back then. I picked the most popular and filled in the rest later. Now I will have to get up at 7am every.single.morning of my vacation to schedule my first ride, pay for two top tier rides and hope that all the other good “free“ or whatever is included in the $15 a day Tier 2 rides do not sell out by 10:30am like Toy Story Midway Mania did when there was still paper FP.
This does nothing to alleviate the crazy crowds at rope drop I witnessed this July and will just drive more people in earlier trying to grab their first pass.

I have also seen very few positive comments on social media-mostly negative.

 

[RamblingMad]

Genie is a new platform, not MDE.

But remember, Aladdin is about a guy marrying up. You're going to have to marry up to afford Disney now.

 

[TioAdis78]

Yeah I’m guessing 2 per park and then rat and rise as the boarding group hybrid. 7DMT,Space SDD,MMRR Frozen,TT Navi,FOP. There’s the 10

I’d swap Navi for Everest, so that it doesn’t seem like all of Pandora is kept from guests behind a paywall

 

[Liquidice]

Here is TouringPlan's guess at what attractions will be considered "Tier 1" and not available in Genie+

Here’s the attractions we expect will be a la carte, although this has not yet been confirmed by Disney and is subject to change:
Magic Kingdom: Space Mountain and Seven Dwarfs Mine Train
EPCOT: Test Track and Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure
Hollywood Studios: Rise of the Resistance and Slinky Dog Dash
Animal Kingdom: Flight of Passage and Kilimanjaro Safaris

Safari is kind of surprising to me for AK as well as Space Mountain - but I assume that is just a placeholder until Tron is open.

 

[igrsod]

Question... do you need to purchase the $15 genie+ in order for the privilege of purchasing a tier 1 attractions, or can you just purchase a tier 1 attraction time without the $15 genie +?
For Epcot I could see just getting one ride at Remy and just stand by for everything else

 

[stephk1981]

So the only perk of staying on site now, is getting to book LL at 7am ( and the 30 EE)? If you stay off site when can you book LL ( not until you are in the park?? Or is that the perk of staying on site?

 

[Aluminum Falcon]

Personally I think the recent restructuring of the parks was due, this happens with every business time and time again. There's a reason apple charges more every year for an iPhone with minimal upgrades. This is how business works across the board, they have a legal obligation to make their shareholders as much money as possible

I think the genie is going to work great, it looks like it's going to act like air traffic control and advise people where to go, which should help cut down on wait times, and prevent overcrowding in areas of the park. Not to mention it looks like Disney will get to decide what rides get the lightning pass throughout the day, which should also help cut standby lines, and shift crowds. Would you rather be given the option to pay $15 a day for the genie, or just have Disney increase ticket prices by $15, (because they would be getting that money one way or another). For the service they will be providing, it seems well worth it.

 

[tinkerhon]

Here is TouringPlan's guess at what attractions will be considered "Tier 1" and not available in Genie+



Safari is kind of surprising to me for AK as well as Space Mountain - but I assume that is just a placeholder until Tron is open.

Totally agree--- Safari ??? Really !!!??

 

[soniam]

Haven't seen this confirmed/answered. Will you have to buy Genie+/Maxpass in order to get access to buy the individual attractions?

Also, my thought about Space Mountain is that it will be replaced by Tron when that opens. I think Test Track will be one of the paid ones at Epcot but replaced by Guardians when that opens. I seriously hope Everest isn't one of the paid options at AK. AK is really kind of limited, so I am hoping there is only 1 and it's FOP.

 

[DisneyAuntie12]

Not sure what to make of this yet as a lot hinges on availability. If the “next available time” for any decent ride is almost always 7 hours away then this is essentially saying people have to use the pay-per-ride model or standby. If it’s pretty available most times, different story… although as others have said, I don’t really see this price point allowing for that. So seems more likely the rides you want will always be booked up, but I’ll reserve judgment until I see it in action.

 

[stephk1981]

Question... do you need to purchase the $15 genie+ in order for the privilege of purchasing a tier 1 attractions, or can you just purchase a tier 1 attraction time without the $15 genie +?
For Epcot I could see just getting one ride at Remy and just stand by for everything else

Someone in another post said you had to book genie plus for the day, then the LL tier 1 were add ons......but, if you have a specific ride you want to ride, buy genie plus for the day then there aren't any LL left for that ride you are really going to be out of luck...hoping that post wasn't right.

 

[mshanson3121]

You won't pay in money BUT in time. Maybe twice as long so the GENIE appears to be a good value.

Will Genie negatively impact the SB lines significantly?

 

[vinotinto]

Loved max pass in Disneyland - this seems to be very similar. I know this costs more, but looking forward to not getting up at the crack of dawn however many days before the trip to book fast passes. Still need to plan dining in advance . . . .

Instead, you’ll be getting up at the crack of dawn every day of your vacation.

I will miss most getting back-to-back FPs to Space mountain with the kids. Now, it will be a pay for lightning lane based on the video. Doubtful that we will pay more than once per trip.

 

[dominickolas]

I know Disney wants more of our money and I know it's crowded. I just wish they could have gotten more of our money and helped with the crowds by building a fifth Park instead of this. That would have been win win. This just costs more while getting less.

 

[umichigan10]

You can purchase one time or unlimited. Unlimited park to park for two different weekends I was looking at this past June and July were over $350/day per person.

ETA: The minimums for one time is $69 and unlimited is $89, but I don't know that I've ever seen them that low. It's usually closer to $150-200 at least.

I didn’t know you could purchase and unlimited if you weren’t a deluxe guest honestly. Still a good amount of money and definitely makes Disney’s system look “affordable by comparison”. Though the complaints about free perks being up charged now are very very valid

 

[DVC92]

It won't be long before they will be charging us for the Monorail and bus transportation.

 

[ajiuo]

I was hoping it would be a lot more expensive than $15 a day. It is at that price range where I won't pay for it, but many people will. And that will make it much more challenging to navigate the parks for those of us who only have stand-by lines as an option.

Really disppointed!

the 15$ does not include any e ticket attractions though.., you will have to pay an extra 10-20 per ride per person, on top of the 15 for e tickets.. limit of 2 per day

so it could potentially cost a family of 4 an extra 220 per day. If you go to each park just once that could be as much as 880 for the trip.

The is the massive commercial opportunity that Bob Cheapek spoke of

 

[tinkerhon]

Personally I think the recent restructuring of the parks was due, this happens with every business time and time again. There's a reason apple charges more every year for an iPhone with minimal upgrades. This is how business works across the board, they have a legal obligation to make their shareholders as much money as possible

I think the genie is going to work great, it looks like it's going to act like air traffic control and advise people where to go, which should help cut down on wait times, and prevent overcrowding in areas of the park. Not to mention it looks like Disney will get to decide what rides get the lightning pass throughout the day, which should also help cut standby lines, and shift crowds. Would you rather be given the option to pay $15 a day for the genie, or just have Disney increase ticket prices by $15, (because they would be getting that money one way or another). For the service they will be providing, it seems well worth it.

VERY respectfully disagree a bit--- not sure if this seems well worth it.

I would rather not have to pay for rides (as a perk for staying on-site) --- HOWEVER, if I am going to pay for rides/attractions -
(and after my recent July trip, I have NO problem paying extra to guarantee that we will get to enjoy our faves.)

1). Dont exclude certain "tier 1's" - (will be addl cost)
2). Make the booking window earlier - I really dont feel like waking up on vacation at 7AM to book rides for that day
(ADRs (and previous FP) were different--- you didnt have to be on vacation to be book them. I dont mind waking up from home early to lock these things in. (YMMV)
3). There is no guarantee that you will even get the ride (and/or time) that you want--- and from everything Ive read, you will already have paid for LL for that particular day.

 

[butterscotchcollins]

Or you could…you know…stand in the standby line for free. No one is forcing you to pay for any of this. It’s possible to have an enjoyable vacation while waiting in a line.

Personally I like that they limit the # of top tier attractions you can get, and the fact that it is only done day-of and not 60 days out. Lots more flexibility for people who hate being forced to pre-plan every minute of what is supposed to be a relaxing and fun vacation.

 

[tinkerhon]

It won't be long before they will be charging us for the Monorail and bus transportation.

Sshhhhhhh......... dont give them any ideas !!!