Disney Genie announcement

They just announced that ROTR will be pausing the VQ beginning on Sept. 23. Whether that "pause" foreshadows what will happen in the future is anyone's guess.
Interesting development. My cynical side thinks that Disney is calculating that people will be more likely to purchase IA$ if the alternative is a 3-6 hour SB line vs. everyone who gets a BG can do other things, then show up at their designated time and wait an hour or less. If they eliminate VQ/BG for ROTR, the SB line will double or triple (or more), making a $24.99 IA$ more tempting.
 
Interesting development. My cynical side thinks that Disney is calculating that people will be more likely to purchase IA$ if the alternative is a 3-6 hour SB line vs. everyone who gets a BG can do other things, then show up at their designated time and wait an hour or less. If they eliminate VQ/BG for ROTR, the SB line will double or triple (or more), making a $24.99 IA$ more tempting.

Yes they’ll use the genie data to understand the optimal line length where people give up and pay and price it so the line is always at or around that length for optimal profit.
 

Yes they’ll use the genie data to understand the optimal line length where people give up and pay and price it so the line is always at or around that length for optimal profit.

Anyone that thinks the free version will be anything other than data collection to push the upsell on is kidding themselves. I honestly think it will push guests around to create artificially long lines, before suggesting you pay up.

Im actually glad we have a travel ban on. Bless those of you heading to the 50th and being the Geniepigs for this mad scheme
 
The park reservations are linked to your MDE account. When you scan a MB or park ticket at the gate, a quick verification process of "Is this ticket valid?" Followed by "Does this person have a park reservation for this park?" occurs. So when each member of your party goes through the gate with their admission media, that is how their park reservations are confirmed for the day.

For dining reservations, you can check in from your phone by scanning a QR code located near the hostess podium. Or you can go old school and just tell the hostess that you have arrived.

Genie will be an app, so yes it's going to be on your smart device.
Thanks for the words. That sure helps.
 
I think we have a start date of GENIE.... On Sept. 23
I think they'll use the first week as a test-and-adjust on ROTR to see how long they can let the standby queue get, thus letting them have a better idea of how many Lighting Lane passes they can sell a day.


Agree it’s basically going to be Rollercoaster Tycoon but in the real world and with state of the art machine learning for profit maximisation I suspect.
"Oh it's raining, guess these umbrellas cost $75 now, ahahahahaha!"
 
I think they'll use the first week as a test-and-adjust on ROTR to see how long they can let the standby queue get, thus letting them have a better idea of how many Lighting Lane passes they can sell a day.



"Oh it's raining, guess these umbrellas cost $75 now, ahahahahaha!"

You joke but grocery stores over here have started experimenting with screen shelf labelling which could be dynamically priced!

Edit - a few people reacted to this - it's a real thing, you can read more here. https://www.displaydata.com/
 
Last edited:
I get both sides of the "like" and "don't like" regarding Genie+....but with me being responsible for the entire family for the entire trip; I like having the ability to put my phone in my pocket for the majority of the day. I saw this picture on a site today....the photo was simply for showing the crowd at Space 220. I've "blurred out" with red circles(ish) the 9 faces I saw.....in just a small piece of the pic....looking at their phones. I recognize ADRs/table ready notices have been on phones prior; I just felt this pic captured my feelings towards having another need to always be on my phone. I def don't miss running around the park to get paper FP; and understand I can choose to not use the service....
606201
 
You joke but grocery stores over here have started experimenting with screen shelf labelling which could be dynamically priced!

Edit - a few people reacted to this - it's a real thing, you can read more here. https://www.displaydata.com/
Yes, a lot of printer and retail companies have played around with one version or another of "electronic ink". More and more places are also letting you scan your items and pay from your phone without going to a checkout. Once that becomes the norm, you could easily eliminate the need for price tags or shelf pricing in general.
 
Yes, a lot of printer and retail companies have played around with one version or another of "electronic ink". More and more places are also letting you scan your items and pay from your phone without going to a checkout. Once that becomes the norm, you could easily eliminate the need for price tags or shelf pricing in general.
We asked about a price for some baby yoda crocs at a shop in HS and the girl working picked them up and took them to the register. I was apologizing and telling her I looked all over and couldn’t find a price and she said “I’ll have to scan it because they don’t put a price out because they want to change it whenever they want”…the price for the crocs was over sixty dollars THATS a pass 😂
 
We asked about a price for some baby yoda crocs at a shop in HS and the girl working picked them up and took them to the register. I was apologizing and telling her I looked all over and couldn’t find a price and she said “I’ll have to scan it because they don’t put a price out because they want to change it whenever they want”…the price for the crocs was over sixty dollars THATS a pass 😂
See, if you could scan it yourself, you could immediately make your purchase decision and they could also change the price at any time (they'd also have some metrics about how often people are scanning vs buying). No need or delay for the floor person interaction anymore.
 
See, if you could scan it yourself, you could immediately make your purchase decision and they could also change the price at any time (they'd also have some metrics about how often people are scanning vs buying). No need or delay for the floor person interaction anymore.
They are doing this at some of the Disney stores. The new Creation Shop in Epcot as well as the World of Disney store in DS. I'm sure there are others too but basically you have the option to scan your own items as you add them to your basket so it's a form of self checkout.

I watched a video today of Ryno checking out the new Creation Shop and was surprised how many items were not priced. Personally I'm less likely to purchase something if I have to work to find the price. I'm more likely to put it back and move on.
 
Personally I'm less likely to purchase something if I have to work to find the price. I'm more likely to put it back and move on.
Totally me! I am price-driven. A lower than expected price will get me to buy. A higher than expected will have me return it to the shelf and no price (and no easy way to detect the price) will have me just walking away. Time is $$... and that is true while on a WDW vaca too.
 
Surprised they don't have scanners out for you to check prices. Many stores around us may not have all the prices out, but they have a scanner every few isles.
 
They are doing this at some of the Disney stores. The new Creation Shop in Epcot as well as the World of Disney store in DS. I'm sure there are others too but basically you have the option to scan your own items as you add them to your basket so it's a form of self checkout.

I watched a video today of Ryno checking out the new Creation Shop and was surprised how many items were not priced. Personally I'm less likely to purchase something if I have to work to find the price. I'm more likely to put it back and move on.

Having worked retail most my life, this is true of most people. I have noticed over the last decade people wanting less of an interaction with staff in the store. So unless there is a way for the costumer to find the price on their own I do not see this going over well. If you can find the price through your own device I can see it working out very well, especially by finding the sweet spot for pricing or better yet by tracking each individual consumer and finding their sweet spot. I assume this can be done, not that it’s fair to the overall public but certainly for the retailer. Too much backlash but definitely possible.
 
Having worked retail most my life, this is true of most people. I have noticed over the last decade people wanting less of an interaction with staff in the store. So unless there is a way for the costumer to find the price on their own I do not see this going over well. If you can find the price through your own device I can see it working out very well, especially by finding the sweet spot for pricing or better yet by tracking each individual consumer and finding their sweet spot. I assume this can be done, not that it’s fair to the overall public but certainly for the retailer. Too much backlash but definitely possible.

And this is how it'll likely go - not now but in 5 years time or whenever this app based shopping is commonplace. We're veering wildly off topic - but if you've picked that thing up and put it back down x times, then magically a coupon offers you 10% off etc...
 
So back on Genie+…any speculation on what the hold up is as far as announcing which attractions and/or pricing? Surely there would have been plenty of analysis internally as far as pricing before they announced anything at all…so why no more news at this point? They’ve already started changing the signs and we’ve all braced ourselves that it’s coming…just get it over with! I’m a little scared that the rides/prices won’t be announced until the first day you can buy them at this point!!!
 












Receive up to $1,000 in Onboard Credit and a Gift Basket!
That’s right — when you book your Disney Cruise with Dreams Unlimited Travel, you’ll receive incredible shipboard credits to spend during your vacation!
CLICK HERE






DIS Facebook DIS youtube DIS Instagram DIS Pinterest DIS Tiktok DIS Twitter DIS Bluesky

Back
Top Bottom