Disney Genie announcement

[bookgirl]

Thats different than what has been shared numerous times so far. With anybody being able to make Genie + rides at 7, but only onsite could do the additional LL rides at 7.

Could be. She was just doing a quick IG story so it might have gotten lost in translation, but it seemed to be the selling point for onsite stays was this onsite/offsite distinction.

Having it be just the LL would still be an advantage but not as big as being able to make your first reservations before park entry.

Hope to see more public information soon.

 

[bookgirl2632]

I may have missed this in the deluge of information about Genie. I am the one that plans for my group. Would I be able purchase Genie+ or the individual rides for all of us? My mom doesn’t even have an MDE account because I do all of our planning.

 

[menotyou21]

Im pretty sure I read somewhere the only constant in life is change.

Disney has an absolute duty to it shareholder to make as large of return on investment it can. If people are willing to pay more to cut the line, Disney has a duty to capture that extra revenue stream.

The only voice you or any none share holder has in this matter is where you spend your money. Don’t like it don’t go… If ticket sales drop Disney will be force to reevaluate. Something tells me, Disney has teams of marketing people with MBA after their names that have done countless CBAs to figure out that what the market will support.

No doubt Disney must capitalize on their immense popularity. They constantly have crowds and charge a premium already. They have to charge for skipping the lines IMO.....however, their rollout seems a bit clunky. In addition, it seems all the other parks generally have 1 level of "skip the line". WDW will essentially have 3, which makes it a bit complicated even for the savvy vacationer.

On another note....to this day I HATE that they charge resort guests to park. But it's the market....I just had to pay $22/day to park at a resort in Dallas area....seriously....Dallas...painful... LOL

 

[nkereina]

Sure, but I'd say if you spent what a WDW vacation costs and either didn't put int he time to find out how to use FP+ or didn't even know it existed, you put yourself (and family) at a (severe) disadvantage. Not having 3 pre scheduled rides and not knowing you could keep grabbing them after that, meant you wasted unnecessary hours in line.

It remains to be seen how popular Genie+ becomes. But as much as I don't like what I'm hearing, we will most likely consider it for most days of our Thanksgiving trip. I see Genie+ as an insurance policy. Nobody likes to pay for insurance, but if you need it, you're glad you did.

That being said, it will also be (one of many) reasons we probably won't be clamoring to return.

I think our definitions of "severe" may be different, and that's where we can agree to disagree. If a person with Genie+ rides 15 rides in one day while a person without Genie+ rides 10 rides, is that a severe disadvantage? Its a matter of opinion I suppose. It also depends on whether those 5 extra rides are worth the cost of Genie+ for your travel party.

It may be that Genie+ operates like Express Pass at Universal - the standby line folks are not at a disadvantage because they can still get everything done in a full day whereas the fast pass people can do the same amount of stuff, just in half the time.

 

[luv2cheer92]

This makes sense. You are more like me. This level of planning all fits on a single spreadsheet. I do think the uncertainty over LL availability on any given day is going to cause more issues than you think, but other than that, a general outline for the day will look similar. We just won't have the ability to plan the early part of the day in more detail due to not having advance FP's.

But this is not the way a "100% type A, incredibly detailed planner" preps for a WDW trip. What you and I do is child's play for these folks. Their plans are like the battle plan for the Normandy invasion. Attraction sequence laid out for the entire day, all meals planned and timed (even counter service), everything for the day on a detailed itinerary with various if/then scenarios built in. If they are using a spreadsheet, each day is its own full sheet.

If you now tell one of these people they can no longer plan those FP's 60 days out, they are not happy. Period. Yes, they will adjust, doing a great deal more research and having to build more complex contingency plans. So they will deal with it, but they would MUCH rather have the certainty of those 3 FP's to build around. And even at the general outline level of planning we do, if we are being honest we would admit we would prefer those 3 FPs as well.

That is all I am saying. Not that it has to be a deal breaker. Just that if you like to plan, anything that takes away part of your ability to plan is a negative. And the more you plan, the bigger the negative.

I will adjust by having 100 different spreadsheets based upon what LL I can get and what time. And back up spreadsheets for no LLs. Which means more planning and more fun. If I had to pick, would I pick 3 free FPs? Absolutely, I don't think anyone wouldn't. But you nailed down exactly what my plans look like, which won't change, I'll just have more of them for different scenarios. But I enjoy it, so its not like its more work for me.

 

[diskids2]

Just checking in.....did they identify the LL vs G+ attractions yet......

 

[JakeAZ]

If a person with Genie+ rides 15 rides in one day while a person without Genie+ rides 10 rides, is that a severe disadvantage? Its a matter of opinion I suppose. It also depends on whether those 5 extra rides are worth the cost of Genie+ for your travel party.

It will also depend on the make up of those rides. I don't value being able to get on Winnie the Pooh the same way I value getting BTM. That's where the advantage (could) come in.

Using your example, if the delta was 5 extra rides, then yes, $15pp (at $3 per ride) would be 100% worth it for me. If the delta was based on time and I could do what we wanted to do, in less time or with more breaks, I would also feel it could be justified.

Time will tell.

But the more people who use it, the less valuable it will be. That's the catch.

 

[Heather07438]

I understand what she is saying. But if she is okay with this, she is not really a planner. Which is perfectly fine, many are not planners.

I'm a planner too and I plan to plan the heck out of my Genie trip lol

 

[jamescanuck2001]

Interesting the reduction in park perks for resort guests. Knowing of a good number of people that are quite happy to stay at a deluxe resort and not go to parks. Wonder if resort pricing will adjust to the reduction in perks. If not, I see no reason not to stay at a Lakeshore Reserve or Hyatt Regency.

Have complimentary PH tix in my MDE, need to figure out how this change affects them.

 

[Heather07438]

For me it allows me to come up with more plans for more possible scenarios, which to me is a planner's dream!! "If I get a LL for this, I can do this, but if I don't, then I'll do this" x100 for each day. Its a different kind of planning, but it absolutely still is planning.
I just find it funny when a total stranger thinks they know me better than myself haha

What I think we'll prefer about the Genie system is better ability to adjust on the fly. If we want to spend more time in a land that's fine, or decide now's a good time for a break, or want to switch around park days... much less problems.

I'll plan how to get on most of the individual paid LL rides by using EE and pmEMH, and which days make the best sense to buy genie+. If g+ ends up having a cooldown and stackable like MaxPass was, then hooray we're gonna go next level planning how to make it work with our afternoon breaks while still having the flexibility to choose what park & rides we're in the mood for that evening.

 

[JakeAZ]

Wonder if resort pricing will adjust to the reduction in perks

On the contrary, it will just keep going up.

 

[jamescanuck2001]

On the contrary, it will just keep going up.

probably, disney needs to recover C-19 losses

 

[aviva5675]

I thought resort at 7am reservations for vq, LL and G+. Offsite vq at 7, but other choices at park opening. ??? Now Im confused.

 

[bsmcneil]

probably, disney needs to recover C-19 losses

From the Washington Post in Feb 2021:

The coronavirus continued to hammer Disney in the final months of 2020, with the company’s revenue dropping 22 percent over the holiday period while it eked out a much smaller profit than usual.

For the entertainment giant’s fiscal 2021 first quarter, which ran from October through December 2020, Disney saw revenue go from $20.9 billion in 2019 to $16.3 billion in the same period in 2020, as coronavirus shutdowns and consumer caution cut attendance at movie theaters and Disney theme parks, the company said Thursday.

The revenue — which comes heavily from advertising, merchandise, TV and digital subscriptions — is slightly better than the $15.9 billion many analysts had projected. The company did make money, but by a much reduced margin: Its operating income plunged from $4 billion in 2019 to just $1.3 billion in 2020, a drop of 67 percent. Once taxes are factored in, the company’s profit stood at just $29 million, after topping $2.1 billion in the same quarter a year earlier.

 

[cakebaker]

I will adjust by having 100 different spreadsheets based upon what LL I can get and what time. And back up spreadsheets for no LLs. Which means more planning and more fun. If I had to pick, would I pick 3 free FPs? Absolutely, I don't think anyone wouldn't. But you nailed down exactly what my plans look like, which won't change, I'll just have more of them for different scenarios. But I enjoy it, so its not like its more work for me.

I always thought I was a planner, but by your standards. we fly by the seat of our pants. lol

With FP+, we made a few scenarios for which parks which days, then adjusted for what we actually got with our 3 at 60 days. Generally, we kept what we started with, but there were times we had to make a few adustments. Then we'd schedule in our day with shows, parade, EMH or After Hours. This last trip had virtually no planning outside of which parks which days because there is nothing else to plan in. We do hop, so we had to figure which park to go to in the afternoons to balance everything out. We don't do indoor dining anymore, so no need for that scheduling either.

With the new system, staying on site at a Deluxe reduces the need to uber plan a lot. What we can't get in during regular hours, we'll ride during EMH's at the parks it's available at. I do think the new system favors those who like to just go with the flow. While I like to plan, I don't like a dozen different plans that will change on the spur of the moment- so if I can't count on a plan, my plan is pretty much not to have one. That may change as we aren't returning until WDW brings back the things we love like the shows (and not some mini version of them) parades and hopefully a few After Hours and dessert buffets or some version of them. We love those things and actually got tired of doing nothing but going from ride to ride.

 

[gharter]

Don't know if it's been posted yet but a travel agent who does Social Media took the Genie Training Friday.

Resort guests will be able to start booking at 7am. Non resort guests will need to be in a park (after park opening) before they can make Genie reservations (and it kind of sounded like Virtual Queues are also 7am for onsite, after Park Opening for offsite).

That will be a big advantage in the new system.

Do we know if this is correct?
I've read both ways. That resort can book LL at 7 and everyone else when they get in the park. And I've read, everyone can book LL at 7 and only resort guests can book the paid LL at 7.

 

[ThistleMae]

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.

Right, so who knows what you'll be able to get once you use the first one and as the day goes on it could get even worse.

 

[nkereina]

It will also depend on the make up of those rides. I don't value being able to get on Winnie the Pooh the same way I value getting BTM. That's where the advantage (could) come in.

Using your example, if the delta was 5 extra rides, then yes, $15pp (at $3 per ride) would be 100% worth it for me. If the delta was based on time and I could do what we wanted to do, in less time or with more breaks, I would also feel it could be justified.

Time will tell.

But the more people who use it, the less valuable it will be. That's the catch.

All true, I don't disagree. I just take issue with saying its a severe disadvantage when we don't know. I think that's a misnomer at this point, and leads the average visitor to believe they can't have a fun vacation or ride the best rides unless they purchase this. That would never be the case as long as standby lines exist. For people like you, me, and everyone else here with experience that dedicates this kind of time to planning a trip - we may see not having it as a disadvantage because we'll know how to maximize it once it goes live. But I think those of us here, Disney's top fan base, represent a small percentage of overall visitors on a given day.

 

[ThistleMae]

Do we know if this is correct?
I've read both ways. That resort can book LL at 7 and everyone else when they get in the park. And I've read, everyone can book LL at 7 and only resort guests can book the paid LL at 7.

I read that anyone, onsite and offsite, can use Genie + at 7 a.m. for the first ride which includes a list of aprx. 40 rides, and can purchase the Genie + at midnight the day of. The only perk for onsite was purchasing the ala carte rides at 7a.m. and off site had to wait till park open.

 

[ThistleMae]

Fron what I have read, you can have 2 individual headliners (max for the day) and 1 Genie+ "classic attraction" booked at the same time.

If staying on site, at 7AM you can book those 2 individual super headliner lightming lane (probably with multiple return window choices) and can also book your first Genie+ (only "next available" return window time).

This is how I understood it as well.