Disney Genie announcement

[scrappinginontario]

We haven't used Genie+ yet and I'll say, I'm on the fence about purchasing it for a few days for our trip next month.

Question for those who have purchased it. If there was the option to select a return time (similar to FP+) as opposed to having to choose the next available time, would it change your impression of Genie+?

I guess what I'm struggling with as an outsider who has yet to use it is, what is causing people to be on their phones so much more than with FP+? It's a common complaint I'm hearing but I'm trying to figure out what about Genie+ makes this difference? I found with FP+ I was often on my phone, looking for our next FP so am not understanding what the difference is now.

Thanks to anyone who is willing to help me understand better!

 

[20KLeagues]

Except at MK, they don't have the ride density to allow that. Disney world doesn't really have the ride density at the other three parks for any sort of skip-the-line option. Can you imagine having one of those at AK? You'd be bored silly in two hours.

Look at the three non-MK parks and count the number of Fast Pass Worthy attractions. Do the same at Universal. Universal's will be a bigger number and both parks can be treated as one for express pass purposes since it so quick to change parks, like Disney Land.

Although, even then, Disney World does have a ride anytime option, the VIP tours, but even then too many of those would break the parks.

All good points.......

But as currently constituted, WDW is broken


Genie+/ILL is god awful

 

[g-dad66]

We haven't used Genie+ yet and I'll say, I'm on the fence about purchasing it for a few days for our trip next month.

Question for those who have purchased it. If there was the option to select a return time (similar to FP+) as opposed to having to choose the next available time, would it change your impression of Genie+?

I guess what I'm struggling with as an outsider who has yet to use it is, what is causing people to be on their phones so much more than with FP+? It's a common complaint I'm hearing but I'm trying to figure out what about Genie+ makes this difference? I found with FP+ I was often on my phone, looking for our next FP so am not understanding what the difference is now.

Thanks to anyone who is willing to help me understand better!

I don't think being able to select return time would make it much better, because the choices would all still be after the next available time. But then we never have any ADRs (so we don't have to worry about conflicting times).

I was on my phone more than with FP+ because with FP+ we usually had our three lined up, did standby early in the morning, shows in the afternoon, and rarely tried to get a fourth FP+. But I don't feel like I was on my phone all that much with either of them.

Those aren't my gripes about G+. My major complaint is how much more expensive it makes the trip in order to avoid spending more time in line than we want. Our solution to that will be fewer trips and shorter trips.

 

[Jennasis]

You can make another G+ Lightning lane selection after you scan in for the one you currently have, right?

And if it's, say 2pm and you make your next selection for 7pm, can you make another selection at 4pm (two hours after you scheduled your last)?? I'm confused. Is that the "loophole" they closed?

 

[GBRforWDW]

You can do both of those things, depending on what time your LL is for.

The loophole was if you scheduled a LL that overlapped the 2 hour window, you could wait for the 2 hour mark, select a LL pass, then go on your ride that you waited for, and immediately after scanning in, grab another LL.

Ex 7am - grab first LL for 1030-1130, park opens at 9.
11:01am (2 hours after park opening) - grab second LL.
11:02am - get in line for first LL
11:05am - finish scanning into ride with 2 taps points
11:06 - grab third LL

It's now based on last LL selection. Since you haven't gone to the ride you select at 11:01, you're not eligible for another LL until you use that 11:01 pass by scanning into that ride/show or it's 1:01pm

 

[Jennasis]

I booked a 6:40 LL for Peter Pan at 2pm. Had dinner and came back to the park at 6pm. I tried to make another LL selection at 6pm but it wouldn't let me. Said I wasn't eligible to make another one yet...it was 4 hours since I made that Peter Pan LL. So why wouldn't ot let me make another?

 

[princesswahooey]

Rereading the article, it was but IMHO how many UO APs will have actually been to a Disney park since Genie+ was introduced? Seems like their results might be swayed by those who have read but not actually been to a park. I might be wrong but, that's my concern.

If you notice, though, the survey only asked about PERCEPTION of Genie+, like "why do you think Disney implemented it." There were no questions about actual usage. The only questions about usage were for FP+, which they can probably safely assume that APs might have been to Disney in the last 10 years. Also someone said they were a past Dusney AP holder, so could have been targeted that way.

 

[princesswahooey]

I booked a 6:40 LL for Peter Pan at 2pm. Had dinner and came back to the park at 6pm. I tried to make another LL selection at 6pm but it wouldn't let me. Said I wasn't eligible to make another one yet...it was 4 hours since I made that Peter Pan LL. So why wouldn't ot let me make another?

That doesn't seem right. By all accounts, you should if you haven't made any others since 2.

 

[Jennasis]

That doesn't seem right. By all accounts, you should if you haven't made any others since 2.

Yep. That's what I thought. It said it was too soon. And we were ineligible. But frankly I am.not surprised....the IT is abyssmal.

 

[princesswahooey]

Yep. That's what I thought. It said it was too soon. And we were ineligible. But frankly I am.not surprised....the IT is abyssmal.

I know they were having IT problems yesterday with the Amazon server outage. Was this yesterday? Or maybe just residual glitches?

 

[Jennasis]

I know they were having IT problems yesterday with the Amazon server outage. Was this yesterday? Or maybe just residual glitches?

This was today.

 

[Figment1990]

I booked a 6:40 LL for Peter Pan at 2pm. Had dinner and came back to the park at 6pm. I tried to make another LL selection at 6pm but it wouldn't let me. Said I wasn't eligible to make another one yet...it was 4 hours since I made that Peter Pan LL. So why wouldn't ot let me make another?

i would have thought you could make another at 6 also. Actually you should ave been able to make another anytime after 4pm. I wish you could have gotten an answer from the blue umbrellas about that. What time did it say you were eligible to make it When you tried to make one? Did you take a screen shot of that by chance?

 

[Jennasis]

i would have thought you could make another at 6 also. Actually you should ave been able to make another anytime after 4pm. I wish you could have gotten an answer from the blue umbrellas about that. What time did it say you were eligible to make it When you tried to make one? Did you take a screen shot of that by chance?

I didn't look to see what time we were eligible. We were busy fighting our way through the redonkulous crowd trying ro get to Peter Pan for our 6:40 LL. I tried again after we scanned the first tap point at PP and no dice. It worked after I scanned the 2nd tap point.

I have already visited the blue shirts in the park and guest relations at DS and MK more times on this one trip than I have in my previous 40 years of visits combined. I was not wasting any more time.

I am fed up with Disney right now....and Genie can kiss my grits.

 

[Disneylover99]

I guess what I'm struggling with as an outsider who has yet to use it is, what is causing people to be on their phones so much more than with FP+? It's a common complaint I'm hearing but I'm trying to figure out what about Genie+ makes this difference? I found with FP+ I was often on my phone, looking for our next FP so am not understanding what the difference is now.

Everyone could book 3 fp’s in advance and many people booked them for mid afternoon or the evening. Lots of people were content with 3 fp’s and so they weren’t on their phone at all. Even the fp super users who got as many fp’s as they could didn’t need to start looking until late morning/early afternoon for a fourth fp. Now everyone is up at 7am trying to get their money’s worth.

 

[scrappinginontario]

Everyone could book 3 fp’s in advance and many people booked them for mid afternoon or the evening. Lots of people were content with 3 fp’s and so they weren’t on their phone at all. Even the fp super users who got as many fp’s as they could didn’t need to start looking until late morning/early afternoon for a fourth fp. Now everyone is up at 7am trying to get their money’s worth.

I have been to Disney more than 20 times in the past 10 years so I am well familiar with FP+ and how it worked.

What I’m trying to figure out is why people are spending all day in their phones? That was my question, not why people liked FP better. I liked FP too but am trying to understand how other than having 2 more FPs booked when I arrive (assuming I have 1 can’t book a LL at 7AM), what drives the need to be on a phone all day?

I will say we were normally 8-10FP+ people on an average MK day so I felt I spent time on my phone securing those.

 

[PepperjackDragon]

I have been to Disney more than 20 times in the past 10 years so I am well familiar with FP+ and how it worked.

What I’m trying to figure out is why people are spending all day in their phones? That was my question, not why people liked FP better. I liked FP too but am trying to understand how other than having 2 more FPs booked when I arrive (assuming I have 1 can’t book a LL at 7AM), what drives the need to be on a phone all day?

I will say we were normally 8-10FP+ people on an average MK day so I felt I spent time on my phone securing those.

It may not make a big difference for you. Prior to closing the loophole it took a lot of Time on the phone because you were constantly searching for a LL while walking to one, since they were stacked. Now that they have fixed that you would really only need to do it because LL are sold out and you are waiting for a better time to show up. It’s possible that more people are actively engaged in searching during the day at the park, now that they are paying for the service, which may make it more difficult to snag preferable times and thus require more time refreshing? Honestly, if one is actually spending a lot of time on the phone it can only mean one of two things: 1: there is nothing available without constant refreshing. 2: it is working out really well and you are constantly booking another LL.

I suspect the heavy phone usage is mostly outdated prior to the loophole fix combined with people fussing about 7am.

 

[cjlong88]

I have been to Disney more than 20 times in the past 10 years so I am well familiar with FP+ and how it worked.

What I’m trying to figure out is why people are spending all day in their phones? That was my question, not why people liked FP better. I liked FP too but am trying to understand how other than having 2 more FPs booked when I arrive (assuming I have 1 can’t book a LL at 7AM), what drives the need to be on a phone all day?

I will say we were normally 8-10FP+ people on an average MK day so I felt I spent time on my phone securing those.

Personally we spent significantly less time on our phones during the two days we used Genie+ compared to FP. For every person complaining about phone usage on here there are likely several others that are using their phones the same amount or less — we are just less likely to say something because we humans tend to be more vocal when we are upset rather than when we are happy. Honestly I think the biggest issue for people is that before it was free and now it’s not. So perhaps people are paying more attention to their phone usage because now it’s costing them $$.

We can choose to be on our phones as much or as little as we want. Just like how LL’s are limited right now due to crowds (it’s the holidays) we seem to quickly we forget that FP’s we’re the same, and I vividly remember Christmas week spending all day on my phone refreshing until something decent would pop up. But then again that was free, so perhaps people were more likely to just complain about the lack of availability only. Now we are paying and there will still be limited availability due to the sheer number of people there during the holidays. So now that amount of time spent on our phones and getting nothing is worse because it feels like a waste of time AND money.

I think everyone is going to have wildly different experiences until they settle on a final G+ system and stop tweaking it. And because of that we won’t really be able to maximize the system and figure out how to systematically work it in our favor to get our perceived money’s worth.

 

[Disneylover99]

I have been to Disney more than 20 times in the past 10 years so I am well familiar with FP+ and how it worked.

What I’m trying to figure out is why people are spending all day in their phones? That was my question, not why people liked FP better. I liked FP too but am trying to understand how other than having 2 more FPs booked when I arrive (assuming I have 1 can’t book a LL at 7AM), what drives the need to be on a phone all day?

I will say we were normally 8-10FP+ people on an average MK day so I felt I spent time on my phone securing those.

My answer has nothing to do with whether or not people liked fp better. I’m just saying when you charge for a service like this, all/most users will naturally feel compelled to get their money’s worth, leading to many users tied to their phones to see what else they can get. Lots of these Genie users now, may be people who were not tied to their phones at all during FP times.

If you normally got 8-10 FP ‘s at the MK anyway, phone usage probably won’t make a difference to you. Maybe you’ll use it less.

 

[Disneylover99]

We can choose to be on our phones as much or as little as we want. Just like how LL’s are limited right now due to crowds (it’s the holidays) we seem to quickly we forget that FP’s we’re the same, and I vividly remember Christmas week spending all day on my phone refreshing until something decent would pop up. But then again that was free, so perhaps people were more likely to just complain about the lack of availability only. Now we are paying and there will still be limited availability due to the sheer number of people there during the holidays. So now that amount of time spent on our phones and getting nothing is worse because it feels like a waste of time AND money.

People didn’t even complain about lack of fp availability Christmas week. Many people didn’t even try for a fourth fp because they assumed there was no availability, but they made peace with this ahead of time because they had their 3 fp’s.

Now the mindset has shifted to omg, we’re going Xmas week! We need to buy Genie or we won’t be able to ride anything! So everyone buys it, making it basically worthless. It makes people grumbly.

 

[Pluto1976]

We haven't used Genie+ yet and I'll say, I'm on the fence about purchasing it for a few days for our trip next month.

Question for those who have purchased it. If there was the option to select a return time (similar to FP+) as opposed to having to choose the next available time, would it change your impression of Genie+?

I guess what I'm struggling with as an outsider who has yet to use it is, what is causing people to be on their phones so much more than with FP+? It's a common complaint I'm hearing but I'm trying to figure out what about Genie+ makes this difference? I found with FP+ I was often on my phone, looking for our next FP so am not understanding what the difference is now.

Thanks to anyone who is willing to help me understand better!

Perhaps try Genie + for 1-day of the trip and see if it matches with your family's touring style. If it does, wonderful and buy it again. If it does not, you are out $30 or more dollars and you have the experience to know it does not suit you and no more thinking about it in the future (plus you can complain about it - LOL).

That being said, it did NOT work great for us and we much prefer FP+ because we could choose our timeframes for the rides we wanted. The biggest CON we saw was the return times on Genie + were much later in the day for the more popular rides and we do not want to spend all day in the park waiting for a return time.

As for people and smartphones, no idea if Genie + is causing more people to be on them. What I do believe is a significant part of our population have lost the ability to be present and engaged with the people around them because of these "smart" devices. Add to that the apps on them are designed to be addictive and grab the user's attention which means more time for them staring at the phone.

Best of luck with your decision on Genie +!