Disney Genie announcement

[SCDisneyfanatic]

With the free genie, which will give you a suggestion when to ride when rides have lowest waits, you don’t have a LL access (it will keep trying to temp you to purchase $15 Genie+). You can book both LLIA$ at 7 am for say SDMT and Space. 2 hours before you enter the park you can pay for Genie+ and get the next available (if there is anything available); it will not let you overlap or conflict, so if you only have 2 hours max already booked 2 LL I don’t think you can get anything, but Genie+ can still be purchased even if you have nothing to use it for.

Not sure I really followed that...but here's an example...think this is within the parameters? I get Genie+ and we hit MK for the 30 minute EE...use Genie+ for a couple rides. In the meantime, that morning I purchase an ILL$ for Frozen for 1600. At 1500 I secure a Genie+ pass for Soarin' in the early evening. We hop over to EPCOT at 1600 and do Frozen...wait for Soarin' time while we walk around the WS.

 

[Disturbia]

I was thinking the same since our two princesses will want to do Frozen at least once or twice. Question: can you purchase the LLIA$ in advance and pick a time or is it like the Genie+ and you get next available? Or, can you look at the standby and if it's long, just buy entry then? That would be a great option.

Yes I think that’s what it’s intended to do; but I would check standby earlier vs evening (less availability). You select a time when you pay LLIA$; Genie+ is next available but frozen and Remy (most popular in each park) are not included

 

[Disturbia]

Not sure I really followed that...but here's an example...think this is within the parameters? I get Genie+ and we hit MK for the 30 minute EE...use Genie+ for a couple rides. In the meantime, that morning I purchase an ILL$ for Frozen for 1600. At 1500 I secure a Genie+ pass for Soarin' in the early evening. We hop over to EPCOT at 1600 and do Frozen...wait for Soarin' time while we walk around the WS.

Yes I think this is correct

 

[Disturbia]

I think I would standby some rides during early entry and then highest wait rides select with genie+; so you need to know a day ahead what wait times are at MK

 

[Avery&Todd]

With the free genie, which will give you a suggestion when to ride when rides have lowest waits, you don’t have a LL access (it will keep trying to temp you to purchase $15 Genie+). You can book both LLIA$ at 7 am for say SDMT and Space. 2 hours before you enter the park you can pay for Genie+ and get the next available (if there is anything available); it will not let you overlap or conflict with dining, LLIA$. Genie+ can still be purchased even if you have nothing to use it for.

see post 3579 for screenshot

so my plan is to buy the Genie + so I have access to the LL attractions but I'm not buying the LLIA$ rides for MK that day since there are extended park hours for Deluxe guests and the plan would be to ride 7DMT that evening...and Space is never on my list to ride! HA!

the only dining we have that day is for dinner at LTT.....so that shouldnt be an issue..

 

[Disturbia]

Reviews for extended evening hours are great. SDMT had 30 mins or less once the day guests get cleared (they can standby at the last minute), everything else was a walk-on.

This was our plan but we downgraded AKL to AOA.

 

[Miffy]

I think that eventually Disney will come up with something that might be called Genie Ultra, because no matter how G+ and ILL$ will work, both still have restrictions, the biggest being you can ride each ride only once. The next-biggest restriction is having to use your phone all the time, trolling for LL selections at times that are at least somewhat convenient for you. Not to mention having to get up at 7 a.m. while you're on vacation.

With Genie Ultra, though, you wouldn't have any restrictions--well, not as many anyway. You'd be able to ride anything and everything except maybe Tron and RotR--those would be limited to twice each--and you wouldn't have to make reservations for anything. Just having Genie Ultra would give you access to the LL, like getting 100 anytime FP+s for the day.

I'm thinking this would cost about $250/person. Maybe that's too low. And there would be a limited quantity of them, like the front-of-line passes at Universal, which are also limited.

Do I think people would buy this? Absolutely. Something like this would completely eliminate the stress of standing in line, the stress of getting up at 7 a.m. and not knowing whether you were going to get the ride(s) you wanted at the times you wanted, and the stress of coming up against some restriction or requirement of G+ or ILL$ that you were unaware of.

Genie Ultra: Pay one price, go directly to the Lightning Lane of any ride you want (with 1 or 2 exceptions), and put away your phone! Enjoy your trip to WDW like never before. Only $1,000 extra a day for a family of four! 10% discount if you buy Genie Ultra for your family for length of stay.

 

[OhDannyBoy]

I'm still confused why people think it's mandatory to be up at 7AM for any of this.

Is it because we think availability will be nil by park opening? Like all the lightning Lane pay to play rides will be completely booked for the day aby7:03? Is the general consensus this will be the case for G+ too?

 

[thptrek]

OhDannyBoy, I think you are correct. I can't see Genie+ selections and LL$ selling out at 7:03am. I think that many are stressing too much about this. We really don't know until it goes live. Now maybe on peak days like Christmas your selections may be more challenging. In the FP era, we were always able to grab some sort of FP during the day. Maybe not the exact ride we wanted but something else that was good.

My $0.2 is that ride capacity dedicated to Genie+ is going to be higher than FP of old because guests are paying for it. Disney can also moderate the amount of Genie+ availability on the fly using the data. If there are not enough Genie+ selections in the queue then they could open more up (backing the standby lines up). It should be a dynamic system.

 

[scrappinginontario]

do we think the expected wait times are temporarily less than usual because the LL or previously known as FP lanes have been in general not open?

I would say partially and also that park attendance in general is down.

Kiss those goodbye until sometime after Christmas.

Yes, my answer was in response to the post above.

 

[fumanchu2488]

Next week strategy question. How do we think this will impact crowds?

I am going 16th - 22nd. Two little kids (1 and 3) so we are not looking for tons of thrill rides. Currently:

17th - MK
18th - HS
19th - Resort/EPCOT
20th - AK
21st - MK
22nd - EPCOT

Question is, should I switch HS with AK to try and use Genie+ and ILL for the HS rides or do we think crowds will be really bad on the 20th so keep with AK?

 

[BrotherCraig]

Next week strategy question. How do we think this will impact crowds?

I am going 16th - 22nd. Two little kids (1 and 3) so we are not looking for tons of thrill rides. Currently:

17th - MK
18th - HS
19th - Resort/EPCOT
20th - AK
21st - MK
22nd - EPCOT

Question is, should I switch HS with AK to try and use Genie+ and ILL for the HS rides or do we think crowds will be really bad on the 20th so keep with AK?

I would switch AK and HS. Mondays are usually a little busier day for HS than Wednesdays for some reason. By looking at TouringPlans - that week looks light but HS is the busier park because of GE. best to use the Genie+ there in my opinion.

 

[Disturbia]

I think that eventually Disney will come up with something that might be called Genie Ultra, because no matter how G+ and ILL$ will work, both still have restrictions, the biggest being you can ride each ride only once. The next-biggest restriction is having to use your phone all the time, trolling for LL selections at times that are at least somewhat convenient for you. Not to mention having to get up at 7 a.m. while you're on vacation.

With Genie Ultra, though, you wouldn't have any restrictions--well, not as many anyway. You'd be able to ride anything and everything except maybe Tron and RotR--those would be limited to twice each--and you wouldn't have to make reservations for anything. Just having Genie Ultra would give you access to the LL, like getting 100 anytime FP+s for the day.

I'm thinking this would cost about $250/person. Maybe that's too low. And there would be a limited quantity of them, like the front-of-line passes at Universal, which are also limited.

Do I think people would buy this? Absolutely. Something like this would completely eliminate the stress of standing in line, the stress of getting up at 7 a.m. and not knowing whether you were going to get the ride(s) you wanted at the times you wanted, and the stress of coming up against some restriction or requirement of G+ or ILL$ that you were unaware of.

Genie Ultra: Pay one price, go directly to the Lightning Lane of any ride you want (with 1 or 2 exceptions), and put away your phone! Enjoy your trip to WDW like never before. Only $1,000 extra a day for a family of four! 10% discount if you buy Genie Ultra for your family for length of stay.

I think it called Club 33 or Golden Oaks property holder

 

[Disturbia]

Are you going to Boo Bash on 17th? MK closes at 8:30 pm that night

 

[Disturbia]

Does anyone know why Mon/Tue AK closes at 7 and then at 8 for the other days? Not sure if these hours will trickle over to Nov. I know MK and AK had an hour added just a week or so ago (select days)

 

[Disturbia]

Next week strategy question. How do we think this will impact crowds?

I am going 16th - 22nd. Two little kids (1 and 3) so we are not looking for tons of thrill rides. Currently:

17th - MK
18th - HS
19th - Resort/EPCOT
20th - AK
21st - MK
22nd - EPCOT

Question is, should I switch HS with AK to try and use Genie+ and ILL for the HS rides or do we think crowds will be really bad on the 20th so keep with AK?

AK is open an hour late on 20th

 

[TropicalDIS]

I'm still confused why people think it's mandatory to be up at 7AM for any of this.

Is it because we think availability will be nil by park opening? Like all the lightning Lane pay to play rides will be completely booked for the day aby7:03? Is the general consensus this will be the case for G+ too?

I think for most days you probably won't need to be up at 7am. Weekends, and holidays are definite exceptions.
If you are really interested in SDD at HS, I would want to be up at 7am, I think that ride is going to be one of the ones to go the quickest on Genie+. What exactly quickest means, we won't know until a couple weeks of reports.

Like everything, we will need hands on reports from the vloggers and people on the forum who have used the system, before we start to get an idea of what the best strategy is.

 

[TropicalDIS]

Kiss those goodbye until sometime after Christmas.

Not sure about that. I expect the rest of October to be busy, but it usually is with schools off at various times all over the country. November will be very interesting to see what happens.
December will naturally be busy.

 

[AnnaKristoff2013]

I think that eventually Disney will come up with something that might be called Genie Ultra, because no matter how G+ and ILL$ will work, both still have restrictions, the biggest being you can ride each ride only once. The next-biggest restriction is having to use your phone all the time, trolling for LL selections at times that are at least somewhat convenient for you. Not to mention having to get up at 7 a.m. while you're on vacation.

With Genie Ultra, though, you wouldn't have any restrictions--well, not as many anyway. You'd be able to ride anything and everything except maybe Tron and RotR--those would be limited to twice each--and you wouldn't have to make reservations for anything. Just having Genie Ultra would give you access to the LL, like getting 100 anytime FP+s for the day.

I'm thinking this would cost about $250/person. Maybe that's too low. And there would be a limited quantity of them, like the front-of-line passes at Universal, which are also limited.

Do I think people would buy this? Absolutely. Something like this would completely eliminate the stress of standing in line, the stress of getting up at 7 a.m. and not knowing whether you were going to get the ride(s) you wanted at the times you wanted, and the stress of coming up against some restriction or requirement of G+ or ILL$ that you were unaware of.

Genie Ultra: Pay one price, go directly to the Lightning Lane of any ride you want (with 1 or 2 exceptions), and put away your phone! Enjoy your trip to WDW like never before. Only $1,000 extra a day for a family of four! 10% discount if you buy Genie Ultra for your family for length of stay.

They already have genie ultra. It’s called VIP tours.

 

[Einstein509]

Understood. Again, though, is there zero possibility that this won't improve guest experience? None? Zilch? Because hoping that Disney will see that they "have gone too far" assumes that this new system is a terrible one. I mean, I guess if the belief is that no matter how good Genie+ may turn out to be, Disney should not be adding to cost, then sure...this thinking makes sense. I can say I'm going to just wait and see, though.

Disney has failed. Not often, but there are missteps. Think Rivers of Light, no Ohana noodles, Alien Encounter, Ursula's purple float....the good list is better than the bad list. I just hope this Greedy, Greedy+, and IA$$$$$$$$$ is on the bad list.

For me it's about Disney being different and magical from the rest of the competition. Now, it's becoming like the competition, which begs the question why I would want to spend money here.