Disney's Genie Plus is great value!

[Bossy22]

The system is broken. As a family of 7 coming we can not afford to do Genie + every day, we might be able to add it for 1 day. To me, the problem isn't with Genie + it's with the implementation. I hate it! We couldn't afford maxpass either but I had no issue. I could still get my fastpasses, I could still wait in line, it worked. Those who paid, enjoyed some perks (you pay, you get) but those of us who didn't pay still had a great trip (we are also paying an awful lot of money for this experience). I think that is the problem, I don't want to pay 7 grand for a trip and have a crappy time. Depending how our summer trip goes this may be our last trip for a long time.

 

[Lumpy1106]

Democratically elected governments are offering Genie+ like services. Why wouldn't a private corporation do the same? Just like the Ferry lines. If you pay for Genie + you get to skip the line and get immediate loading. If you chose standby you might have to wait 2 or 3 boats and several hours before you get loaded.

That's awful! Don't get me started on carpool lanes (that never worked to relieve traffic) and the recent conversions to paid lanes.

 

[starlite_]

The system is broken. As a family of 7 coming we can not afford to do Genie + every day, we might be able to add it for 1 day. To me, the problem isn't with Genie + it's with the implementation. I hate it! We couldn't afford maxpass either but I had no issue. I could still get my fastpasses, I could still wait in line, it worked. Those who paid, enjoyed some perks (you pay, you get) but those of us who didn't pay still had a great trip (we are also paying an awful lot of money for this experience). I think that is the problem, I don't want to pay 7 grand for a trip and have a crappy time. Depending how our summer trip goes this may be our last trip for a long time.

This is the word I was looking for. In theory, Genie+ should be better for the standby line that maxpass+fastpass was. Because there are no more paper passes & because of it's one LL per attraction limitations. The fact that it isn't is because of it's implementations. Be it that the ratio of how many passes there are now vs how many there were before, the unbalanced amount of ppl being allowed in an attraction vs the amount of standby users or maybe it's something else BUT something is definitely wonky with it's implementation.

 

[SOCALMouseMommy]

The system is broken. As a family of 7 coming we can not afford to do Genie + every day, we might be able to add it for 1 day. To me, the problem isn't with Genie + it's with the implementation. I hate it! We couldn't afford maxpass either but I had no issue. I could still get my fastpasses, I could still wait in line, it worked. Those who paid, enjoyed some perks (you pay, you get) but those of us who didn't pay still had a great trip (we are also paying an awful lot of money for this experience). I think that is the problem, I don't want to pay 7 grand for a trip and have a crappy time. Depending how our summer trip goes this may be our last trip for a long time.

Yes, this is the problem. The people who buy it love it (though many probably don’t know that it’s inferior to the old MaxPass). And people who don’t buy it are screwed despite already paying for incredibly expensive park tickets. In the past, with free fast passes, it was so much easier to justify the high ticket/AP prices. Now, we go and some days barely get on any rides at all due to the extremely long standby wait times caused by Genie+. It’s actually making me rethink renewing my Magic Key and that is shocking to even myself!

 

[Kit Jackson]

Why not do it like the old MaxPass system?

This is the part I never understood. I used MaxPass at Disneyland and it was great. I don't understand why they didn't keep MaxPass the way it was and develop a version of MaxPass for WDW (In this scenario, MaxPass at Disneyland stays exactly the same in terms of how the system works and what it includes, and WDW gets the MaxPass system, with any changes that needed to be made due to things unique to WDW).

Also, I don't think it's mentioned enough at Disneyland that PhotoPass is included with Genie+ and that's a huge benefit for people who are not local and only going once a year or once every few years.

 

[MillauFr]

That's awful! Don't get me started on carpool lanes (that never worked to relieve traffic) and the recent conversions to paid lanes.

I'm not going to defend it but that is the way that it is in the United States. The United States is not an egalitarian society. If anything we are prioritizing wealth creation and special privileges for upper income residents. In 2008/2009 our government bailed out Wall St. not Main St. Expecting the Disney Corporation to swim upstream like a salmon is delusional. They are going to go with the flow and boost profits. Disney is out to make money not be a charity. I don't like it but it is what it is.

 

[Epicnemesis]

Another note: other parks have caps on their line cutting service to keep standby reasonable. They can put this cap in place because the premium charged is hefty (ticket price is basically doubled vs the 15% surcharge at Disney)

When you price the service low you are making it a volume play on something that diminishes the park for everyone the more you sell into the system.

The real answer is they want this problem. It’s good for business. Disney rides have a lot of throughput, and if they don’t sell a lot of genie then the value of genie shrinks. It’s a lot harder to sell a front of the line pass with a hefty premium when lines are maxing out at 40 minutes.

It’s actually really gross.

 

[Lumpy1106]

I'm not going to defend it but that is the way that it is in the United States. The United States is not an egalitarian society. If anything we are prioritizing wealth creation and special privileges for upper income residents. In 2008/2009 our government bailed out Wall St. not Main St. Expecting the Disney Corporation to swim upstream like a salmon is delusional. They are going to go with the flow and boost profits. Disney is out to make money not be a charity. I don't like it but it is what it is.

Not disagreeing with this and in fact I think we can all agree Disney has always been worth a premium price for the experience, especially in comparison to Six Flags et.al. I think that's what makes G+ LL so disappointing. That cash grab is the kind of thing you'd expect from a park that charges 1/2 what Disney does for admission and barely more than a day's admission for an annual pass. But Disney?!? I know I really expected more from them. Not only that, but G+ is far WORSE for everyone (cutters and stand-byers alike) than the pay-for-cuts programs at the other parks, for the very reasons we are seeing in this thread.

 

[SOCALMouseMommy]

Another note: other parks have caps on their line cutting service to keep standby reasonable. They can put this cap in place because the premium charged is hefty (ticket price is basically doubled vs the 15% surcharge at Disney)

When you price the service low you are making it a volume play on something that diminishes the park for everyone the more you sell into the system.

The real answer is they want this problem. It’s good for business. Disney rides have a lot of throughput, and if they don’t sell a lot of genie then the value of genie shrinks. It’s a lot harder to sell a front of the line pass with a hefty premium when lines are maxing out at 40 minutes.

It’s actually really gross.

I have often wondered if Disney is doing it on purpose to make the standby lines longer to force more Genie+ sales. I agree that it's gross and pure money grabbing. Disney used to care about the guest experience but right now that is a very low priority over increasing cash flow.

 

[DnA2010]

Haven't read all the replies, however in Sept I am returning to DL with a family group- my family, my sister's family, and my mom. total of 9 of us- I used to rock the fast pass system, but buying Genie+ is just not in the budget, especially not knowing how the 6 year olds are going to do.

 

[Bossy22]

I have often wondered if Disney is doing it on purpose to make the standby lines longer to force more Genie+ sales. I agree that it's gross and pure money grabbing. Disney used to care about the guest experience but right now that is a very low priority over increasing cash flow.

They are increasing sales and money but I have to think this is bad for business long term. I'm the Disneyland guy up here (in my small town in Canada). I have talked so many people into family trips but now I just can't recommend it let alone have people see my excitement and book trips. There has to be some long term collateral damage to their method. People keep saying new people will fill the spots if you don't go, I don't know if that will continue to be the norm going forward. Right now everyone wants a vacation after the last 2 years, eventually people will want value for their money. I'm sad.

 

[Epicnemesis]

They are increasing sales and money but I have to think this is bad for business long term. I'm the Disneyland guy up here (in my small town in Canada). I have talked so many people into family trips but now I just can't recommend it let alone have people see my excitement and book trips. There has to be some long term collateral damage to their method. People keep saying new people will fill the spots if you don't go, I don't know if that will continue to be the norm going forward. Right now everyone wants a vacation after the last 2 years, eventually people will want value for their money. I'm sad.

They are chasing short term success. It’ll backfire in a few years. I remember an empty Disneyland in the Eisner era, they will find themselves there again. I don’t see how people can come spend thousands for this experience over the course of 1 week. We have APs and even then we are thinking of not renewing in August.

 

[sophy1996]

I was at DL park last night. During the lead-up to 1st MSEP (so tons of people along the parade route) the LL return line for BTMRR was 2/3 of the way to the ride’s exit. 20 minutes later, still the same. That tells me LL was way oversold.

 

[MillauFr]

They are chasing short term success. It’ll backfire in a few years. I remember an empty Disneyland in the Eisner era, they will find themselves there again. I don’t see how people can come spend thousands for this experience over the course of 1 week. We have APs and even then we are thinking of not renewing in August.

They most likely scenario is that people are going to be kicking themselves in 5 years why they didn't go Disneyland back in 2022 when you could book rooms for < $1,000 a night, buy Genie + for < $100 a day, and buy annual passes for < $5,000 a year. Starbucks has shown that with a bit of marketing you can sell a product for way more than it is worth and get people hooked on it even if you are fleecing them.

 

[Pluto468]

Other people have already said this, but I think the main issue is that we are now being charged for something that used to be free. I loved Fastpass! I still have many of those little fastpass passes lying around my house. They are souvenirs now Once in a while we would buy Maxpass, but it was nice to know we could still have reasonable wait times without it.

With Genie+ the cost really adds up. I'm all for saving time by purchasing Lightning Lanes. But it would be nice if the lines could be managed a bit more evenly, so the people who did NOT buy Genie+ or Lightning Lanes aren't having an extra long wait time.

I always thought of Fastpass and Maxpass as nice little perks, not something that I could barely manage my park time without. It seems like it's becoming more and more necessary to pay for Genie+ or LL now.


For our upcoming trip we'll probably try it for at least one day to get on Rise etc. If we like it we'll buy it on other days. I really like that it has photopass, and I think Lightning lanes are 100 times better than those virtual queues.

 

[Whistlebee]

I really don’t know why they are operating like this but it’s horrible. Why not do it like the old MaxPass system?

I agree . It’s like they’re ruining it on purpose. If the stand by lines are longer, more people will buy Genie+??? That’s the only thing I can figure out

 

[sophy1996]

For our upcoming trip we'll probably try it for at least one day to get on Rise etc. If we like it we'll buy it on other days. I really like that it has photopass, and I think Lightning lanes are 100 times better than those virtual queues.

Rise isn’t part of Genie+. You can buy an ILL for Rise separately without buying Genie+.

 

[Pluto468]

Rise isn’t part of Genie+. You can buy an ILL for Rise separately without buying Genie+.

Thanks! Good to know

 

[CeCe0906]

don’t see how people can come spend thousands for this experience over the course of 1 week.

While I do have a trip to DL coming up, the last time I went was 50 yrs ago as a child. My perspective comes from the WDW side. I went to WDW once as a child, I spent my honeymoon there, took my kids a couple of times, did a WDW marathon trip, and most recently took my granddaughter last year. So 6 times in my life. WDW was the "big trip", not a place to pop in for an evening, or go multiple times a week. I think a lot of the discontent seems to come from people that see DL as an affordable familiar hangout. Disney to me has always been $$$ for a plane, hotel, food, tickets, a special souvenir. The $15 to make the day more pleasant is worth it to me, especially with the photos included. Could make that amount up if need be by bringing sandwiches for lunch instead of QS.

 

[sophy1996]

The $15 to make the day more pleasant is worth it to me, especially with the photos included. Could make that amount up if need be by bringing sandwiches for lunch instead of QS.

Just FYI, Genie+ is $20 per day per person at DLR.