Disney Genie announcement

[queenadnama]

I purchased the MaxPass in DL strictly because it was going to be my only "bucketlist" trip to Anaheim, if not for years -- I think it was $10 for the whole day per person?

As an AP, I don't think I can justify buying a fastpass (Do you get multiple like MaxPass, one after each is done? It's so confusing.) when I've been there so many times.

 

[DIS_MIKE]

i guess this will ruin touring plan's business too. that's sad.

They will have to come up with a whole new business model.

 

[Jonfw2]

I foresee every single person getting off their first ride of the day and immediately flooding whatever ride at that point has the soonest Genie+ time available.

 

[pigletto]

Yup, family just said "Lets cut out Yahtsman, eat counter service and Disney spring and use the money for Genie"

Yep , we had the same conversation at dinner. I’ll be damned if they get one more dime from me. I’ll just cut it from somewhere else. It’s the principal of the thing. The trip is already costing enough. I’m not paying hundreds more for what is free today.

 

[Elle23]

Whoever is at the top coming up with all of these changes has a screw loose.

We took our first WDW in January 2017 and it was incredible. We loved it so much we have gone back at least every year since (twice during Covid). The changes and losses are getting to be too much. How could such a great thing get so messed up so quickly? I really don’t get it. I am so sad.

 

[mousefan73]

News like this make me grateful for those golden years we had as a family pre Covid. Remember free resort parking, MDE, free fast passes, if lucky FD. Now pay pay pay AND while keeping every second of My well earned vacation time more glued to my frickin phone ( genie ). WDW was already a part time job planning pre trip - now it’s a full time job on your phone while in the park. I just wanted to walk in and enjoy a park with out planning everything, every second.

 

[PFopma]

My non-controversial input: RIP my phone battery.

My phone battery is already dying constantly while at the parks.

Might as well just leave it plugged into a battery pack at this point

And think about all the people not being able to get in their rooms at the end of the day because their phone died and the ditched the Magic Band.

 

[JakeAZ]

So photo pass is included, with Genie+, at DLR but at WDW, it's still extra?

 

[luv2cheer92]

I foresee every single person getting off their first ride of the day and immediately flooding whatever ride at that point has the soonest Genie+ time available.

I would imagine it would be just like FP+ and have an allotment, so once one time slot is full, it moves to the next time slot. Just like MaxPass was too.

 

[TwoMisfits]

If it hasn't been said...

This is a way to advantage single trip guests over APs...APs can't just book 3 popular rides and hit an evening and be happy. If they want to do that now with little wait, it will be $15/person each night (plus probably $15/ride on the biggies). So, fewer will do it, and thus the waits go down for single trip guests to the disadvantage of APs.

Whether you think that is good or bad probably depends on who you are...but if you're Disney, you win no matter what, so now you know why it was put in...

 

[GeorgiaHoo]

We'll almost certainly go to the Caribbean next year instead of Disney. I keep thinking Disney is going to price us out soon and this may be it--death by a thousand cuts.

On edit--and now I have the "perk" of having to get up at 7 am on vacation to pay to ride an attraction for a trip that already cost me thousands of dollars. Sounds magical.

 

[luv2cheer92]

So photo pass is included at DLR but at WDW, it's still extra?

Yes, there are other new experiences included at WDW. But DLR has far less photopass photographers and options than WDW and was included with Maxpass, so it makes sense (also makes sense why Genie+ costs a little more at DLR)

 

[gharter]

Great article from DFB that breaks it all down:
https://www.disneyfoodblog.com/2021...isney-world-soon-and-its-called-disney-genie/

Thanks, that was very helpful to explain it easily.

 

[DIS_MIKE]

Christmas Party tickets are now $200+. You have to pay for Magical Express. Moderate resorts are $300/night. And now we have to pay $15-20 per day per person for FP. Anyone else noticing a trend? The only way to fix that trend is if people "trend" their vacations elsewhere. If we pay it, it's never leaving.

It really is something. I will miss the days (AP Life) where I could use up some airline miles and just hop on a plane to WDW and be in the parks that evening. Thankfully, I discovered cruising a few years ago, so that's where my money has gone for the most part.

This is truly the end of an era for many of us. COVID was Disney's excuse to completely revamp the system to maximize their profits and have absolute control.

 

[tsme]

Whoever is at the top coming up with all of these changes has a screw loose.

It’s Goofy!

 

[gharter]

On-site would have thought perhaps get discount on +, or perhaps 1 Individual Attraction pick for free. They really are taking spikes to pop the Disney Bubble, and that's already been popped.

Agree that there should be some larger perk for spending the extra money to stay on site. Booking 1 pass at 7 am is not a huge benefit. I wonder if this will lower the demand for onsite stays? It doesn't seem unreasonable to give onsite at least 2 passes to book early.

 

[SealedSeven]

"
UPDATE and important clarification: WDW resort guests will be able to reserve Lightning Lane "individual attraction selections" starting at 7am.

HOWEVER -- there is no resort/onsite advantage for Genie+. ALL guests with Genie+ can book their first attraction starting at 7am."
>@ScottGustin

It keeps getting worse hahaha

 

[Farro]

I foresee every single person getting off their first ride of the day and immediately flooding whatever ride at that point has the soonest Genie+ time available.

And that's when you choose rides with later times and go wait in regular lines.

 

[SealedSeven]

And that's when you choose rides with later times and go wait in regular lines.

So you pay $15 for minimal use....

 

[CaliforniaGirl09]

The biggest issue I see aside from the cost is how this is going to work at WDW where some parks have so few rides. IMO one of the reasons Maxpass at Disneyland was so awesome/efficient is that it's easy to move between parks so you have basically all the rides available as options. Nothing good available at Disneyland? You could check out Caliofornia Adventure and easily do a ride over there and pop back to DL for the next. This was also before Park reservations. So now I have an Ecpot day reserved (just as an example--I wouldn't actually do this, LOL), I've done my first couple Genie + rides and then you hit a wall. If you have a ton of people using Maxpass and not a lot of rides, there isn't going to be a lot of choices and those good rides will be gone quickly or only be available way later in the day. It's the same problem as there was with the FP+ system. Everyone wants Frozen, Test Track and Soaring. I'm probably not explaining it very well, but if you were a regular user of Maxpass you probably get what I'm saying. The times and availability of rides on Maxpass fluctuates throughout the day, and the fact that you had both parks available and could stack was key.