Disney Genie announcement

[cfw213]

I am very interested in the answer to this question. Does anyone have any insight?

I’ve been thinking a lot about this. What I *think* will happen is that if the first attraction that you booked with the farther out return time (attraction A) is not within 120 mins, you’ll be able to book another as soon as you tap into attraction b. If it’s within 2 hours I don’t think you’ll be able to “leapfrog”

ex: at 7am book slinky for 5pm return time (exaggerating for example)
At 11am book TSM for 1230 pm return. I think in this scenario you’d be able to book another at 1230 or when you tap into TSM, because slinky is more than 2 hours away. If slinky was at, say, 2pm, I don’t think you’d be able to book another attraction after tapping into TSM, but I haven’t seen reports of this in practice - just my guess

 

[GoingSince1990]

Some were able to get gift cards due to Rise breaking down 3X yesterday, but they didn't get an actual refund, and it wouldn't be automatic, you 'd have to go to guest services. According to WDW you would get a refund only if Rise never reopened that day.

A greedy and unreasonable policy. Even an airline ticket that is fully nonrefundable will be refunded in full if the flight is canceled, or changed by more than a couple of hours. It's fine to give an all-day return pass as an option, but if the guest is unable to use that if and when the ride reopens, because they have other plans such as a flight to catch, the refund should be automatic.

 

[SheSingsAlong]

It’s only Day 2 but I have noticed something different with G+LL at DAK.

Both yesterday and today at 7 AM I looked to see what kind of LL return times there were in the parks. At DAK, both the Safari and Kali were listed as “closed” and no LL times were offered. Both attractions were open during the morning.

The only thing I can think of is that the Safari is scheduled to open at 8:15 (probably because of the late sunrises at this time of year) and Kali is scheduled to open at 9, so they don’t offer LL times until they actually open the attractions. The Safari would be a logical choice for the first LL selection at DAK but, at least for now, you can’t do that at 7 AM. Maybe that will change when daylight saving time ends and the sunrise gets earlier.

I was clicking around the Tip Board from home yesterday and today. For MK, yesterday after 7am I could see the G+ return time options for all MK rides which utilize lightning lane. Today, however, half the park's rides were marked "closed" - it appeared to be all the rides which are not open for Early Entry. The time was maybe 8:45am. So maybe, like you found in AK, they decided not to allow G+ selections for those rides until the rides actually opened? But why? You can make your first G+ selection at 7AM and none of the parks are generally open at 7AM. Why restrict certain rides? So confusing!

 

[Disturbia]

There should be some makeup pass for people who miss something (stuck on monorail) etc. Genie should know that the ride was not redeemed

 

[Avery&Todd]

I definitely would not think of it as an advantage to buy the entire stay in advance

for me it would be - then I don't have to buy it each morning since for this trip I plan on using it each day.

I guess I'd like the option to purchase it each day I wanted it at the start of my trip vs. having to remember and get up earlier each morning...

 

[persnickity]

A lot of people have lamented having to get up at 7am on your vacation (understandable), but I feel like it usually isn't going to be necessary since we've determined that the stacking window doesn't begin until park open. The exception would be HS and booking an SDD lightning lane - you might miss out on that if you sleep in. But needing to wake up early to get the most out of your HS day is nothing new, it's been pretty necessary for the past 2 years.

 

[Miffy]

A lot of people have lamented having to get up at 7am on your vacation (understandable), but I feel like it usually isn't going to be necessary since we've determined that the stacking window doesn't begin until park open. The exception would be HS and booking an SDD lightning lane - you might miss out on that if you sleep in. But needing to wake up early to get the most out of your HS day is nothing new, it's been pretty necessary for the past 2 years.

Seriously. We got up at 3:30 or so in December 2019 so we could Uber over to DHS and stand in line--nowhere near the front of the line, btw--in order to be tapped in to DHS as early as possible and try for a BG for RotR at the first opportunity. Back in ye olden times.

Hey, remember when people were complaining about the unfairness of the RotR so-called lottery? At least that was free. Now you get to pay $15 and maybe not even get on the ride and also not get a refund!

 

[CarolynFH]

Having gotten up in time to be inside DHS gates at whatever time was necessary in January 2020 to get a RotR BG (all I can remember is that it was still dark), and having awakened in time to get onto the phone at 7:00 AM to get RotR BG, I’m not worried about waking up in time to get on the phone to buy Genie+, book Genie+ LL, and/or book ILL$ at 7:00 AM. If I book carefully, I might even be able to go back to sleep!

 

[Grumpy by Birth]

Some were able to get gift cards due to Rise breaking down 3X yesterday, but they didn't get an actual refund, and it wouldn't be automatic, you 'd have to go to guest services. According to WDW you would get a refund only if Rise never reopened that day.

Another wrinkle with ROTR ILL$ is that the ride often seems to be omitting some of the pre-shows which, to many people, is an integral and critical part of the experience.

I realize that "experiences/rides are not guaranteed." But if you're charging extra for expedited access to the ride and then don't offer the complete experience, there are going to be disgruntled customers because of that (at least those that are "in the know" with regards to what is supposed to happen).

 

[MJJME]

A lot of people have lamented having to get up at 7am on your vacation (understandable), but I feel like it usually isn't going to be necessary since we've determined that the stacking window doesn't begin until park open. The exception would be HS and booking an SDD lightning lane - you might miss out on that if you sleep in. But needing to wake up early to get the most out of your HS day is nothing new, it's been pretty necessary for the past 2 years.

I guess the point is, that this is not necessary......

Why not let people start booking an hour after the park closes the previous night? There is absolutely no difference at all.....Why 7am?

 

[zebrastreyepz]

I'm scratching my head with this one....If I purchase a ILL$ for let's say Rise of the Resistance and I get a time of 11:30 am. And the ride breaks down. I'm issued an all day return pass (or whatever we are calling it) and the ride is still broken down at 2 pm and I need to exit DHS because I have other arranged plans - I should not expect a refund?

I'm having trouble with this. I purchased something that the company was unable to provide to me. What am I missing?

PWOR the last two pages.... https://www.wdwinfo.com/walt-disney...fund-possible-when-an-attraction-breaks-down/

 

[zebrastreyepz]

For some reason people here don't know how to spell 'dining' either. Shows up as 'dinning' all the time.

Suronded bye purfection, I am.

 

[jamescanuck2001]

Wow, I just read the last few pages and decided to hold off for a while on the next Disney vacation. Doesn't sound fun at all

 

[AquaDame]

Wow, I just read the last few pages and decided to hold off for a while on the next Disney vacation. Doesn't sound fun at all

Problem is we've already pushed our vacation off 3x at a higher cost each time... hotels going up is one thing but the fact that our tickets go up each time now too and we can't get a refund for those... I want this next trip OVER WITH so I can walk away for awhile.

 

[LSUfan4444]

for me it would be - then I don't have to buy it each morning since for this trip I plan on using it each day.

You still have to go on each day and make your selections. The only difference is, purchasing it in advance commits you to it.

 

[Disturbia]

Genie+ should be first pass at park open like maxpass. I don’t want my app to crash and I can’t even see waits; have you tried wifi in the buses? Has anything improved since June?

 

[Disturbia]

Also why isn’t Disney bringing back the after hours event at AK and HS for those of us not on EST.

 

[Avery&Todd]

You still have to go on each day and make your selections. The only difference is, purchasing it in advance commits you to it.

Yes, I understand that - I'd still like the option to be able to purchase it for my whole stay.

I don't have commitment issues - I've been married over 28 years!

and when we take my cousin in March I can upgrade her ticket ahead of time but I'll have to do our APs each day....

but it's oK, I'll get over my pre-planning issue with this aspect!

 

[yellowfish78]

I wish they would let us choose days in advance. I have had issues on the payment screen so I don’t want to deal with that nonsense at 7 am.

I feel that this will change going forward - similar to DVC adding the dining plan, you can add a length of stay Genie+.

A greedy and unreasonable policy. Even an airline ticket that is fully nonrefundable will be refunded in full if the flight is canceled, or changed by more than a couple of hours. It's fine to give an all-day return pass as an option, but if the guest is unable to use that if and when the ride reopens, because they have other plans such as a flight to catch, the refund should be automatic.

But why do they? Automatically would be great, but even airlines don't automatically give you a refund if your flight is canceled or changed. You have to ask for it. Then you'll have the other end of things: "oh you refunded me automatically for Rise when it came up 30 mins before park close and I'm still here? I still want my ride I didn't ask for a refund."

 

[nurseberta]

Another wrinkle with ROTR ILL$ is that the ride often seems to be omitting some of the pre-shows which, to many people, is an integral and critical part of the experience.

I realize that "experiences/rides are not guaranteed." But if you're charging extra for expedited access to the ride and then don't offer the complete experience, there are going to be disgruntled customers because of that (at least those that are "in the know" with regards to what is supposed to happen).

is this because the LL bypasses ride content? I have never been on it