Disney Genie announcement

[JakeAZ]

A real perk would be that I could do it the night before or something. I have two munchkins - 7am is not when I want to be stressing over some detail for the park that day!

It should be included or heavily discounted for on-site, at the bare minimum. Or give X number of lightning passes

 

[raidermatt]

Well, we are about to find out if there is a breaking point for enough guests for Disney to care about. Because if this plan is widely accepted by Disney guests it will be clear even the sky is no limit for what Disney can get away with charging. $15-$20 per day / per person is tough enough, but that doesn't even include what Disney considers to be the top two attractions in each park?

I really thought they would make this at least in part some kind of resort amenity. On-site guests have already lost Magical Express. Evening extra magic hours have been scaled back and Value and Moderate guests no longer have them at all. We have seen amenity cuts backfire in the past, but maybe people just don't care anymore.

Then there are the after hours parties which are scaled back versions of their predecessors but with significantly higher prices.

If all of this goes off without a hitch, expect more to come.

 

[JakeAZ]

it will be tough to use the $15 Genie + option more than a couple times a day. Ex: at 7am, you book smugglers run and get 9:30. You ride it, get off, and book star tours and get a time of 7pm.

This could very well be true, but if that's the case, the reviews will come in hard and fast and people will stop purchasing it.

 

[Mike Mantis]

My guesses:

- it will be tough to use the $15 Genie + option more than a couple times a day. Ex: at 7am, you book smugglers run and get 9:30. You ride it, get off, and book star tours and get a time of 7pm.
- Genie ++ will be VERY expensive and fluctuate based on crowd levels. I’d bet that on busy days, Rise and Flight are over $100 each per person.
- there will be opportunities to get additional ++ passes for things like club level.

Agree with all of the above during peak times. Off peak (just like with Fastpass) there is a POTENTIAL for being able to really get a bunch in a row. But that's an edge case I think.

I love reading the posts about "$6,000 private tours for 10 people" that pop up every so often. If people pay for those I'm sure there is a market for not waiting a single minute for an E-ticket ride.

 

[EpcotPhoenician]

Folks, no one is MAKING you use this service. The entitlement is strong in this thread.

My thoughts exactly. Universal has been charging for their service for how long (excluding their premier resorts)? It was only a matter of time before this was coming.

I'm not OK with throwing money at Disney, but the app looks pretty neat, and if the extra revenue stream for them means being able to bring back more Cast Members post-pandemic, I'm all in.

I realize this is unpopular opinion, though.

 

[honeymo78]

Folks, no one is MAKING you use this service. The entitlement is strong in this thread.

Very true, and while I'm 99% positive we will use it, I'm much less sure we'd pay for specific attractions. I'm old enough to remember waiting in the standby line for everything since that's all that existed. I've brought a book (now Kindle) on nearly every park visit since I was old enough to read. When I mentioned Genie+ to my mom earlier tonight and said we'd likely splurge for a FOP pass since it's her favorite ride, she joked about never having a line long enough to read in. Waiting in line isn't the worst thing in the world, at least for my family.

 

[Jonfw2]

This could very well be true, but if that's the case, the reviews will come in hard and fast and people will stop purchasing it.

Cedar Point charges Nearly $200 per person some days for Fast Lane.

 

[cdurham1]

With the 2k messages on the Rumors thread about paid fastpasses, none of us got this right!

 

[Jillpie]

I have never been so happy to be a DVC member as now. I'll bypass all of this and wait till the extra magic hour nights and just go and get on everything with the stand by line. Watch they'll figure out how to monetize that too.

 

[bsmcneil]

So, $240 for a family of four for 4 days and that doesn’t include the best rides?! Boo!

 

[Mike Mantis]

Very true, and while I'm 99% positive we will use it, I'm much less sure we'd pay for specific attractions. I'm old enough to remember waiting in the standby line for everything since that's all that existed. I've brought a book (now Kindle) on nearly every park visit since I was old enough to read. When I mentioned Genie+ to my mom earlier tonight and said we'd likely splurge for a FOP pass since it's her favorite ride, she joked about never having a line long enough to read in. Waiting in line isn't the worst thing in the world, at least for my family.

+++++ To this comment about waiting in line... Just got back from 2 trips (early June and late July) and the line waiting wasn't all that bad... It was nice to play in the Peter Pan queue for a bit... Within reason of course!!!

 

[bsmcneil]

Folks, no one is MAKING you use this service. The entitlement is strong in this thread.

I genuinely wonder - what's an example of entitlement you've seen in this thread? I see that a lot of places but I haven't seen it here.

 

[cdurham1]

So it's basically MaxPass that won't include 1 or 2 attractions. I have to go now and watch Maxpass YouTube videos to figure out a strategy.

 

[disneyworldsk]

Will I be allowed to use a standby line for Remy? Or is it virtual line or LL only?

 

[JakeAZ]

My thoughts exactly. Universal has been charging for their service for how long (excluding their premier resorts)? It was only a matter of time before this was coming.

Universal's is just so much more straight forward. "Buy this, enjoy your day" No schedules, no constantly having to go into the app. No up charges.

I HATE return times. This is a paid feature that still makes you adhere to "be back at X time"

 

[PFopma]

So my take on this so far... I've already cut back on Disney trips but I'll be there for the 50th. I hope they don't try to roll this out that week - it will be a nightmare. My last 14 day trip to Europe including a 10 day cruise cost less than the 7 day WDW trip I have booked for the 50th. There is a big, beautiful world out there that is not filled with audio animatronics.

 

[JakeAZ]

So it's basically MaxPass that won't include 1 or 2 attractions. I have to go now and watch Maxpass YouTube videos to figure out a strategy.

No it's not. With Max Pass, you could hold multiple ride slots at the same time. With Genie, you have to clear out your current one before getting a new one.

 

[BillBrasky]

Does everyone in the boat have to have paid the extra $500 to see the backside of water? Also confused about the $47 upcharge to have Mickey and friends smile during photos with my kid, will they be updating the costumes to have resting b*tch face?

 

[kylenne]

I honestly can't believe how many people are actually excited to Pay for something that used to be Free.

We paid a lot more than $15 pp per day for CL FP+s on our doomed May 2020 trip.

 

[Dave006]

Will I be allowed to use a standby line for Remy? Or is it virtual line or LL only?

For now it appears Remy will be VQ or Individual Attraction LL pricing for 1 specific time per day.

Dave