Disney Genie announcement

[Sjm9911]

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I would watch the video Disney put out, I think it is way more informative to visually see it than just read their blog. You can see that you can still book ADR, join waitlists (new with COVID), do mobile ordering etc. I think it will be much easier than most think.

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Thanks for that. Ill watch it when i can process this better. Tbh, i wish they mailed me this when they put out a press release. Getting the info here first feels like a punch in the gut. I figure they could at least send it out to the people that it may effect. I know they dont have a firm date for rollout. But a heads up would be nice when you have like a 2 week trip of a lifetime planned out comming up in November.

 

[KittyKitty]

With increased pricing and no incentives to stay on property I was already leaning towards split Uni/WDW trips in the future, with more

There is an advantage. If you stay on property, you can book(?) your LL at 7am. Offsite have to wait till park opening. Also can get into parks earlier in the morning.

That is how I understand it. Could be wrong.

 

[eleven24]

The thing that gets me is - in order for G+ to work, Disney is going to have to make huge upgrades to their IT infrastructure.

• Upgrades to wireless connectivity and bandwidth in all resorts to enable mass connection attempts at 7 am
• Upgrades to wireless connectivity and bandwidth in all parks and parking lots to enable constant connections
• MASSIVE updates to their database functionality, speed, monitoring, etc to support the 7 am connection surge, plus DR backups
• Likely large updates to their log monitoring and troubleshooting
• Enhanced IT testing teams to support regular QA with every OS update on every phone, to make sure it all still works

Given Disney's lack of success in these exact things over the past few years, I think the first few months of G+ are likely to be really really ugly, with people unable to get on at 7 am to get the rides they want, freezes, query issues, etc.

Why? It's not like there's ever a problem with the 7am surge for Rise.

 

[ThornXBL]

Wasn't that the case with Maxpass anyway? One pass at a time?

MaxPass let you get another pass after like 90min, even if your previous pass was for a later time and hasn't been used yet.
The wording so far for Genie+ sounds like this is no longer a thing, but who knows

 

[CeCe0906]

Well they said Fall, and that is at the earliest Sep 21st. I would expect they do not want to roll it out right before the 50th. I suspect Nov 1st target date.

I think I'm glad I just got back from my trip, and it will be awhile before the next one. Get all the kinks worked out,and you guys will have all the strategies figured out for me.
Given that they are doing Halloween stuff so early, I wouldn't count on
"Fall" being offical start of fall. Many people consider Labor Day the last of summer. I bet they roll it out after that. Since they expect huge crowds for the 50th, I can see them wanting to use the Genie to mitigate waits and not have people complaining about no options to skip long lines. Also early Sept start gives them time to work out issues that crop up before the huge crowds descend.
One issue I had was WiFi in park. I often had to switch to data to get mobile orders to work or to use app to check wait times. Now with people having to use it for all this extra stuff, I'm sure their WiFi will be even more taxed. I bought a magic band to avoid having to continuously have my phone out, so having to use it more is annoying for me

 

[T-Daddy]

The whole thing has become too tedious and I'm tired of being treated like a wallet.

I know nobody cares, least of all Disney, but I'm just about done. I've sold off some DVC points, I'll be selling off more, and this will be my last annual pass. They've managed to turn a Disney fanatic into a hater.

 

[EPCOT-O.G.]

The thing that gets me is - in order for G+ to work, Disney is going to have to make huge upgrades to their IT infrastructure.

• Upgrades to wireless connectivity and bandwidth in all resorts to enable mass connection attempts at 7 am
• Upgrades to wireless connectivity and bandwidth in all parks and parking lots to enable constant connections
• MASSIVE updates to their database functionality, speed, monitoring, etc to support the 7 am connection surge, plus DR backups
• Likely large updates to their log monitoring and troubleshooting
• Enhanced IT testing teams to support regular QA with every OS update on every phone, to make sure it all still works

Given Disney's lack of success in these exact things over the past few years, I think the first few months of G+ are likely to be really really ugly, with people unable to get on at 7 am to get the rides they want, freezes, query issues, etc.

I am a cheapo and have an old hand me down iPhone 6 to use for MDE (my work phone limits 3rd party apps, and I use my personal iPad in the morning for ROTR BG). Relying on Parks wifi made it virtually impossible to place a mobile order. It wouldn't give me a reliable signal anywhere, and I'd have to use my wife's current phone with LTE to have any hope of successfully scoring reservations or placing orders - and even that was buggy about 20% of the time

 

[JustinS30]

And no benefit for staying in a Disney hotel.

this has been my question in making sure I’m understanding correctly. My current understanding is the $15/day for Genie+ is essentially no benefit because everyone can reserve their first attraction at the same time.

The “benefit” comes in when you’re on site you can have have extra time to pay more for the top tier attractions.

I think I have that right?

 

[Sjm9911]

The thing that gets me is - in order for G+ to work, Disney is going to have to make huge upgrades to their IT infrastructure.

• Upgrades to wireless connectivity and bandwidth in all resorts to enable mass connection attempts at 7 am
• Upgrades to wireless connectivity and bandwidth in all parks and parking lots to enable constant connections
• MASSIVE updates to their database functionality, speed, monitoring, etc to support the 7 am connection surge, plus DR backups
• Likely large updates to their log monitoring and troubleshooting
• Enhanced IT testing teams to support regular QA with every OS update on every phone, to make sure it all still works

Given Disney's lack of success in these exact things over the past few years, I think the first few months of G+ are likely to be really really ugly, with people unable to get on at 7 am to get the rides they want, freezes, query issues, etc.

I had good plans also, got on every ride in one day, sometimes more then once. And yea, infastruture may be a problem. I stay at the fort and the wifi there is nonexistent in most places. I cant imagine having to get up, cook breakfast, shower get the kid ready and then search out a spot for phone service or wifi. This will not be the case for everyone, and to think i was worried aout getting up at 7 to try for a boarding group. Lol.

 

[jimmymc]

MaxPass let you get another pass after like 90min, even if your previous pass was for a later time and hasn't been used yet.
The wording so far for Genie+ sounds like this is no longer a thing, but who knows

Ok, I did not know that about Maxpass. And I interpreted the Genie+ announcement the same way, one attraction at a time.

 

[PirateNovelist]

What I am now worried about is the main ride I am going down to DW for, Remmy, is virtual queue. Do I need to snag a now elusive boarding pass for this ON TOP OF the $15? or will that $15 for the ride guarantee me to be able to ride?

 

[Sargeant Tibbs]

Part of my complaining there is because, at the same time that UO opened those two rides (and imported King Kong from USH), Disney opened Pandora / Flight of Passage. Even in this thread, it's like people have memory-holed that Disney built and opened Galaxy's Edge while UO opened Hagrid's, which was broken for the first several months it was open. People can readily argue that Universal is coming up with great stuff, but GE was a solid attempt at letting Imagineering go big.

(At to the person lauding Velocicoaster - installing a standard roller coaster takes a lot less time to finish than any ride that includes new and different technology, which, by all accounts, Guardians does.)

Except that Galaxy's Edge is Disney's belated response to all of HP.

On the first day of opening ROTR was down for hours. I know, I was there. And it continues to break down almost daily.

For people who love roller coasters (I do not), Velocicoaster is in a league of it's own. My husband said it's the best roller coaster he's ever ridden.

 

[jimmymc]

this has been my question in making sure I’m understanding correctly. My current understanding is the $15/day for Genie+ is essentially no benefit because everyone can reserve their first attraction at the same time.

The “benefit” comes in when you’re on site you can have have extra time to pay more for the top tier attractions.

I think I have that right?

I thought on-site guests could reserve the first attraction at 7 am, while off-site had to wait until park opening or they were in the park.

 

[ThornXBL]

Ok, I did not know that about Maxpass. And I interpreted the Genie+ announcement the same way, one attraction at a time.

Yeah, the MaxPass "next pass" timing worked the same as the paper FastPass system, since DLR was running both of those together before COVID.

 

[dunkindonut]

Splash Mountain retheme I wonder if it will get a VQ too. All I know is that Tokyo Disney has never looked better than ever, OLC could proudly take my money since their offerings are just way better. What a sad time to be a Disney park fan, the fact that Tokyo would probably be cheaper than going to WDW is an unbelievable thought.

 

[Lashed34]

What I am now worried about is the main ride I am going down to DW for, Remmy, is virtual queue. Do I need to snag a now elusive boarding pass for this ON TOP OF the $15? or will that $15 for the ride guarantee me to be able to ride?

You join a virtual queue like RotR, subject to it being avaiable, but you could also pay extra for a Lightning Lane - subject to one being available.

 

[jimmymc]

What I am now worried about is the main ride I am going down to DW for, Remmy, is virtual queue. Do I need to snag a now elusive boarding pass for this ON TOP OF the $15? or will that $15 for the ride guarantee me to be able to ride?

Boarding passes will still be free, or you can pay for a guaranteed ride.

 

[kbelle8995]

I have mixed feelings. I'm an Ap holder who didn't feel that the FP+ was not totally even and didn't work for everyone. The new rides were slim to none possibility of getting a FP. I think that FP was used too much by too many. I also wonder how much they will charge for these top tier attraction s.

 

[CarolynFH]

What I am now worried about is the main ride I am going down to DW for, Remmy, is virtual queue. Do I need to snag a now elusive boarding pass for this ON TOP OF the $15? or will that $15 for the ride guarantee me to be able to ride?

The $15 is for Genie+, which gets you into the LL for the “ordinary” rides. Remy will be the top tier - you can try for the VQ, and if not successful then you can pay for the LL access at a price that will vary depending on demand and other factors.

 

[mi*vida*loca]

Seems that this new system will benefit first time guests and once in a lifetime guests the most.