Disney Genie announcement

[ThistleMae]

Let's say they do indeed roll it out on September 15th (which is pure speculation). If so, how far prior to the date do you think they'll officially announce it?

I'd say any time now, but my guess would be 10 days prior...if indeed it might be the 15th. Total guess.

 

[ThistleMae]

I just saw photos on twitter of the Lightning Lane signs. Many are just decals/stickers placed over embossed Fastpass signs (meaning, you can still see the outline of Fastpass).

Not surprised they weren’t ready for this

Omg...is that a joke? It has to be. I would just die laughing if they really did this!

 

[lorileahb]

Has anyone been able to see what the app itself will look like? In a test environment or any other way?

 

[mickeyluv'r]

That would be no one's idea of an enjoyable experience. None of us are privy to the modeling the powers that be most likely did while designing this, but I can almost bet that their models did not show enough people purchasing Genie+ that would result in a 3 hour standby for Space Mountain. Except maybe on Christmas Day or something like that. We also don't know if Disney will cap the number of people who can buy Genie+ in a given day. They already cap park reservations, and Universal caps their Express Pass (in other words, it can sell out). I think it would be wise for them to at least say they are capping it because it will increase the urgency for people to buy it, thus resulting in more purchases because of the fear it will sell out. And I bet they did modeling to account for this too.

Here's a little more of what I said:

But in the first two years, it absolutely didn't make sense to book a last minute trip to WDW, IMO. People with pre-booked FP rode 3 e-rides with a 15 min wait. People with no FP spent more like 70minutes in line for each e-ride: 45 minutes of waiting vs. 210 minutes of total frustration.

So while technically, you are correct, it is possible to spend 3 hours watching other people ride Space Mtn, ahead of you.

When I said Space Mtn in the last sentence of the above quote, it was shorthand in the context of the sentence that preceded it. I have absolutely seen the MK mountains all with 60+ posted as the standby wait.

[Yikes- someone reported July MK posted wait times for July 2021: 95 minutes for PotC (though they actually waited quit a bit less), HM actual 50min wait, Space was posted 70, Barnstormer at 50, Smuggler's at 130(!), another poster reported actual 50 for Space Mtn. mid-July.]

No, I have not seen Space at 3 hour wait, nor do I think that will happen. That'd be pretty horrible.

On the other hand, monetizing wait times = an incentive for Disney to sustain wait times above a certain threshold. People won't buy LL if wait times are too short. Will people buy LL to get around a 20minute wait? 40min? 60min?

For me, one downside of FP+ was that your could only get 1 FP for each attraction. It might be a little bit fun if Genie+ now lets me ride BTMRR 3 times in a row. We'll see.

 

[JakeAZ]

Has anyone been able to see what the app itself will look like? In a test environment or any other way?

I believe it's just going to be integrated into MDE, not a separate app.

 

[Lehuaann]

Omg...is that a joke? It has to be. I would just die laughing if they really did this!

Sadly, no. Look closely.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1433440397821456391

 

[JakeAZ]

Sadly, no. Look closely.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1433440397821456391

I’m sure once the sweet, sweet Genie money starts to roll in, they’ll update the signs.

 

[ThistleMae]

Sadly, no. Look closely.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1433440397821456391

That is ridiculous...they couldn't afford new signs...I don't know what to feel about this, just too shoddy. I guess this is a DIY attempt.

 

[cakebaker]

Omg...is that a joke? It has to be. I would just die laughing if they really did this!

That's exactly what I thought too, it has to be a joke. Are they seriously going to leave it like that? I'm beginning to wonder just how low quality is going to drop. First a DJ to rush guests out the MK and now too cheap to even get a new sign. They might as well have written over it with a magic marker. It's just pathetically sad. I still believe it's a joke- it has to be.

 

[ThistleMae]

Well, the signs for LL are going up. They are on Small World and Jungle Cruise and Soarin'. Could be more but that's what I saw so far, and they looked better than the one that covered up FP+ from what I could see.

 

[twodogs]

For those who do not like the idea of G+ or will not pay for G+, would you rather that the FP+ system was left as-was, and ticket prices were raised across the board by $15/day/person (ie a 5 day ticket would have a price increase of $75 per person)? I am asking this question honestly, as I would rather have the option to buy or not buy this add-on, rather than have ticket prices raised for all tickets.

 

[Turksmom]

For those who do not like the idea of G+ or will not pay for G+, would you rather that the FP+ system was left as-was, and ticket prices were raised across the board by $15/day/person (ie a 5 day ticket would have a price increase of $75 per person)? I am asking this question honestly, as I would rather have the option to buy or not buy this add-on, rather than have ticket prices raised for all tickets.

Honestly, I would. Disney vacations are expensive. I'd really like the assurance that I can do my family's "must do" activities while I can still make adjustments to my plans.

 

[serenitygr]

I’m just sitting here thinking “please put one on Peter Pan…. Soarin….jungle cruise…. Basically all my favorites just so I know they won’t be in the other category of “pay per ride”

 

[CBMom01]

I’m just sitting here thinking “please put one on Peter Pan…. Soarin….jungle cruise…. Basically all my favorites just so I know they won’t be in the other category of “pay per ride”

My thoughts exactly.

 

[TeddieM]

For those who do not like the idea of G+ or will not pay for G+, would you rather that the FP+ system was left as-was, and ticket prices were raised across the board by $15/day/person (ie a 5 day ticket would have a price increase of $75 per person)? I am asking this question honestly, as I would rather have the option to buy or not buy this add-on, rather than have ticket prices raised for all tickets.

I think a lot of people would have preferred Disney just went this route - it's not fun to continually go into your wallet on a vacation and have to make decisions if you should pay to do something or not. Nickel and diming people on a vacation just gets tiresome.

 

[scrappinginontario]

For those who do not like the idea of G+ or will not pay for G+, would you rather that the FP+ system was left as-was, and ticket prices were raised across the board by $15/day/person (ie a 5 day ticket would have a price increase of $75 per person)? I am asking this question honestly, as I would rather have the option to buy or not buy this add-on, rather than have ticket prices raised for all tickets.

While I think this is a good option, it takes away the fact that Disney is now charging an up charge for some rides (SDMT, FoP, etc).

I like the option to add it when I choose to as we travel during lower crowd times.

 

[JakeAZ]

For those who do not like the idea of G+ or will not pay for G+, would you rather that the FP+ system was left as-was, and ticket prices were raised across the board by $15/day/person (ie a 5 day ticket would have a price increase of $75 per person)? I am asking this question honestly, as I would rather have the option to buy or not buy this add-on, rather than have ticket prices raised for all tickets.

I wouldn't want it built into the price.

I'm not a fan of the system, but I like that I can pick and choose if / when I want to use it.

I also like that by making it a separate add-on, less people will (most likely) use it, which will make it (hopefully) more valuable to have.

 

[Marcus A. Jordan]

I wonder how many people will pay for Genie+. If Disney doesn’t oversell it, it could be a great option to have.

Also if you’re not at the park in the early morning, will there be anything good left to warrant paying?

 

[Kbrb]

That signage is the best, I imagine Chepek waiting for the guests to go home and running around the parks himself armed with paint and stickers.

I hope they use this tactic on splash mountain, just use a bit of paint and stickers over Rabbit and Bingo hes a crocodile.

Or better yet the Epcot refurb. The jumping water fountains will have a sticker of Moana on them.

 

[luv2cheer92]

I’m just sitting here thinking “please put one on Peter Pan…. Soarin….jungle cruise…. Basically all my favorites just so I know they won’t be in the other category of “pay per ride”

My thoughts exactly.

The pay per ride rides will still have Lightning Lanes. That's the name of the line.