Disney's miscalculation with Genie/Genie+

[cedricandsophie]

We are DVC members and go a couple times a year. But we are not park people. So during our annual 12-14 day visit in March we might go to parks one day and hit 3 parks, just for the big rides. And we try to do it on a day when a park is either open early or late for those who are staying in resorts. So genie and maybe even lightening passes might work well for us, although for 4 people it might add more up to $200 in Addition to the cost of the tickets. But we will probably pay it just to get on the rides we like. I’m hoping that they may have some promotions for DVC members staying at resorts. I will miss the magic express but we will probably just take a cab or Uber depending on the per person bus ticket. I will miss the bag check in on the date we leave if that doesn’t continue. I don’t care about the food plan because we never got it, but I do miss Tables in wonderland card for the 20% discount on food and alcohol and hope it returns, Everyone obviously does Dw differently. For us it’s the ambiance of the resorts and the restaurants rather than running around the parks.

 

[Robbie Cottam]

We are DVC members and go a couple times a year. But we are not park people. So during our annual 12-14 day visit in March we might go to parks one day and hit 3 parks, just for the big rides. And we try to do it on a day when a park is either open early or late for those who are staying in resorts. So genie and maybe even lightening passes might work well for us, although for 4 people it might add more up to $200 in Addition to the cost of the tickets. But we will probably pay it just to get on the rides we like. I’m hoping that they may have some promotions for DVC members staying at resorts. I will miss the magic express but we will probably just take a cab or Uber depending on the per person bus ticket. I will miss the bag check in on the date we leave if that doesn’t continue. I don’t care about the food plan because we never got it, but I do miss Tables in wonderland card for the 20% discount on food and alcohol and hope it returns, Everyone obviously does Dw differently. For us it’s the ambiance of the resorts and the restaurants rather than running around the parks.

You know DVC members get a discount on food, not sure if it is 10 or percent but it helps

 

[Stefne]

I thought that Genie+ was to work like Max Pass worked at DL when they had it. You can get your first fast pass starting at 7am but you can not book any additional fast passes until you use that one.

At DL, you could get another FP with the MaxPass system, either as soon as you scanned into your ride or 90 minutes after you obtained your FP, whichever was sooner. It was a nice perk as we could tour the parks in the morning and take a break in the afternoon but continue to pull FP on our phone every 90 minutes from our hotel to set us up for that evening. The only stipulation was that you could not hold 2 passes for the same ride at a time. For instance, if you pulled a RSR FP at noon to be used at 5PM, when you obtained your next FP at 1:30, RSR would not be one of your options since you had not used the one you had yet. You could pull for other rides though. I really hope this new system works the same way.

 

[Grumpy by Birth]

At DL, you could get another FP with the MaxPass system, either as soon as you scanned into your ride or 90 minutes after you obtained your FP, whichever was sooner. It was a nice perk as we could tour the parks in the morning and take a break in the afternoon but continue to pull FP on our phone every 90 minutes from our hotel to set us up for that evening. The only stipulation was that you could not hold 2 passes for the same ride at a time. For instance, if you pulled a RSR FP at noon to be used at 5PM, when you obtained your next FP at 1:30, RSR would not be one of your options since you had not used the one you had yet. You could pull for other rides though. I really hope this new system works the same way.

Legacy FP also had the option of getting another after a waiting period or if your current FP had been used or expired. That way, if you pulled a 6 pm FP for a ride at 10 am, you wouldn't have to wait until 6 pm to get another FP. You could get another one around noon. Hopefully G+ includes this feature.

That would be vastly better than ONLY being able to get another LL selection once your current one is used or expired. If they don't include that caveat, it's possible some guests who select a popular ride (not a headliner, but one of the "better" rides included with G+) with a late return time could get much fewer LL rides that day.

The alternative would be to only select rides with return times that are in the near future, but those might only be the "B ticket" rides and it might mean not getting LL for that more popular "C or D ticket" ride and having to use SB for it, again reducing the value of G+.

That being said, put me in the camp of being optimistic that we will be able to maximize use of the LLs with G+ and it will be worth the extra $15.

 

[disneyseniors]

We had an amazing Universal trip December 2019. Christmas parade, fireworks, first look at Harry Potter land, Dr. Seuss land itself and the stage show was great. Not sure what will be available at Universal parks this Christmas but I highly recommend both it, as well a the Royal Pacific. Our king suite was on the same floor as the lobby. It was so nice to skip the elevators. Walking to the parks was so easy. I was sorry to leave there to go to Disney although we did like club level at Coronado Springs.

I agree, snappy We have stayed at RP and loved it. The HP lands are so immersive that I could stay their all day. We really enjoyed the more relaxed and spontaneous touring at Universal. We loved MIB and rode it back to back at least 4 times. You can do that with Universals EP's. We will be returning to Universal, but have no plans to visit WDW at this time. It's sad to say this, as we have always loved going to WDW. Now,? most of the magic has gone for us.

 

[_19disnA]

It was just getting too crowded....................

To me that is the main issue they need to address. Neither FastPass nor Genie is the solution if the main issue is too many people are let into the parks for the available ride capacity. It seems over the last several years Disney kept raising prices to try to reduce attendance and that hasn't worked. When we were last there in 2019, some places were wall-to-wall people mid-week and it was nearly impossible to walk around. No amount of advance planning we could do will reduce the number of people who are there. Genie isn't going to solve that problem either.

 

[smallworldnh]

Thank you for the concise explanation. Did they give any indication as to whether, as in the case of FP-, you can select a second G+ LL pass if the first is 2+ hours into the future? Or will it be one and only one at a time?

I thank the OP also for the post. My question is can one person handle the G+ reservations for their group or does each person have to book separately?

 

[chalee94]

You know DVC members get a discount on food, not sure if it is 10 or percent but it helps

Not all food. Generally the discounts are to try to drive business to the less popular restaurants.

 

[sheilafri]

People will still stay onsite because lots of people have more money than brains. They are like every other tourist business in Florida right now. Demand is massive. No reason to give extra perks when people are yelling at you to take their money.

Staying on site has always been expensive. I haven’t stayed onsite at Disney in 30 years because of that.

We’ve only been going regularly for a couple years and stayed offsite except for one trip to see if it was worth it (nope) and one night to get free ME for guests arriving separately. One night at a value was enough for me. We prefer getting out of the bubble but I fully understand some people like it.

 

[BabiesDaddy]

Disney is a business, so they are operating on that mindset. They have so many people fighting to get into Disney, they must react. The more people that go to Disney, the more it costs disney in employees, services,etc. If they can raise the prices and subtract services, and eliminate 1% of people going each time, they win. They achieve the same money or more, servicing less people, which equates to less cost in employees,etc. They'll keep doing this until they get to around the amount of people they want to achieve. They have an ideal number in mind for all guests to feel like they are getting the disney experience.

 

[starry_solo]

Not a DVC member and we go to WDW (with friends) once every few years, sometimes three years, sometimes four years, sometimes five years in between of visits. We stay in deluxe resorts...it's more palatable when splitting the room bill in half or thirds...we also usually rent DVC points unless the owner we rent from is out, then we look for good rates/deals from Disney.

We don't have APs. Our traveling habits don't lend themselves to it.

We were expecting paid FPs to be $100/day for unlimited FPs for the park (not across all 4 parks, but one park per day). So, Genie+ at $15/day is better + $20 (or so) for a single Lightning Lane attraction is doable as long as we can get certain headliners in. Vacation isn't meant to get up at 630 am every morning to try to get into boarding groups

So, I guess this Genie + is meant for my type of traveling

 

[Kbrb]

I said in the Uk section. Dw was 2 weeks of no hassle, once I get off that plane and get my bags I’m done. Transport to hotel , no apps no international charging, just a bus

My fp are booked for the major rides
Free dining takes care of my food.
Free bands means no need to carry a wallet

now it’s loads more hassle and money. If I’m going to suffer hassle I may as well move off site and save money.

 

[Robbie Cottam]

Not all food. Generally the discounts are to try to drive business to the less popular restaurants.

I have never been told no to a dvc discount anywhere other then quick service ….. one more reason i dont like quick service

 

[gottalovepluto]

We were expecting paid FPs to be $100/day for unlimited FPs for the park (not across all 4 parks, but one park per day). So, Genie+ at $15/day is better + $20 (or so) for a single Lightning Lane attraction is doable as long as we can get certain headliners in. Vacation isn't meant to get up at 630 am every morning to try to get into boarding groups

Thank goodness you don’t have to start booking this new stuff until 7am!

 

[starry_solo]

Thank goodness you don’t have to start booking this new stuff until 7am!

LOL, 630 am to roll over and hit snooze, then make sure the phone data is on...

 

[over50visits]

I do remember that...and yet, here we are. It's sad in a way but I am not sure they are "giving guests less". Some will likely love being able to book fastpasses all day without running around the park like back in the old days or logging on 60 days in advance like FP+.

This offering solves both those problems, albeit with a modest out of pocket cost.

I disagree it is a "modest" cost, consider a family of 4 spending 5 days at the parks. $240 over the cost of park admission tickets for something that was included in the price for years. And you guess what they will pay for the premium rides...$15 for one person to ride one ride?

Also, as for "giving guests less" Disney seems to be doing that in spades just this year. I remember a few years after the Dining Plan came out, Disney removed the feature that it included gratuities for the servers. So they could say they had not increased the price, when in fact it was a whopping 15-20% real increase in one year. With the long list of features previously included in the admission price that are now gone, Disney is truly raising the cost of a vacation or reducing the product (no more parades for now?) spectacularly in just this year. And they will surely tell us they're trying to hold the line on ticket prices!

 

[snappy]

Disney is watering down the koolaid, or diluting it, if you prefer.

Just not as tasty as before.

 

[heresabe]

I’m hoping that they may have some promotions for DVC members staying at resorts. I will miss the magic express but we will probably just take a cab or Uber depending on the per person bus ticket. I will miss the bag check in on the date we leave if that doesn’t continue.

Mears' initial pricing from the airport to all Resorts is $16/person/each way. Since Disney has no involvement in the Mears transportation initiative, I highly doubt they will reinstate bag check.

 

[DanielleC]

No more magical express service. No more magic bands. No more FP's. No more in park purchases delivered to your room. No meal plan. No parades. The list goes on and on, and prices keep going up.

If anyone knows exactly why Magical Express was cancelled, please tell me. There are 4 pieces to the DME puzzle, Disney, Mears Transportation, BAGS, Inc and MCO (the airport). All Disney did was handle your DME reservation and transfer your luggage to/from your room and the resort curb. Any one of the non-Disney three could have increased their price to a pont where Disney said No, we're not paying that. Maybe Mears didn't want to renew the contract? Maybe the airport increased the price for the airport space? Maybe the airport wanted to move the space from Terminal B to the Intermodal Terminal? That has been the plan all along, to move all ground transportation to the Intermodal Terminal.

Magic Bands were a perk? Come on, technology changes, it always does. Disney is going Green and Magic Bands aren't needed any longer. There are how many hundreds of thousands Magic Bands out there. Does anyone rally feel that a solid color Magic Band is a "perk"? There aren't any Meal Plans or parades because of COVID. They are starting to bring parades back anyway. Park purchases are the same thing, COVID. Disney doesn't want anyone who really doesn't need to be in your room going into your room.

If anyone thinks the magic is gone or prices are too high or staying on property is too expensive, that's fine. But I agree with Pete on this one. Don't pay for Disney any longer. No more Annual Passes, no more signature dining, no more table service restaurants, no more plush toys and Mickey Ears. No more Mickey pretzels and Mickey Bars. Use your own camera and no more Photo Pass. And while you're at it, no more Disney+ either. The only thing Disney understands is money, either up or down. Up gets them excited. Down gets them concerned. Continued down gets them very worried. Make them worry.

 

[Robbie Cottam]

If anyone knows exactly why Magical Express was cancelled, please tell me. There are 4 pieces to the DME puzzle, Disney, Mears Transportation, BAGS, Inc and MCO (the airport). All Disney did was handle your DME reservation and transfer your luggage to/from your room and the resort curb. Any one of the non-Disney three could have increased their price to a pont where Disney said No, we're not paying that. Maybe Mears didn't want to renew the contract? Maybe the airport increased the price for the airport space? Maybe the airport wanted to move the space from Terminal B to the Intermodal Terminal? That has been the plan all along, to move all ground transportation to the Intermodal Terminal.

Magic Bands were a perk? Come on, technology changes, it always does. Disney is going Green and Magic Bands aren't needed any longer. There are how many hundreds of thousands Magic Bands out there. Does anyone rally feel that a solid color Magic Band is a "perk"? There aren't any Meal Plans or parades because of COVID. They are starting to bring parades back anyway. Park purchases are the same thing, COVID. Disney doesn't want anyone who really doesn't need to be in your room going into your room.

If anyone thinks the magic is gone or prices are too high or staying on property is too expensive, that's fine. But I agree with Pete on this one. Don't pay for Disney any longer. No more Annual Passes, no more signature dining, no more table service restaurants, no more plush toys and Mickey Ears. No more Mickey pretzels and Mickey Bars. Use your own camera and no more Photo Pass. And while you're at it, no more Disney+ either. The only thing Disney understands is money, either up or down. Up gets them excited. Down gets them concerned. Continued down gets them very worried. Make them worry.

I have been told the same thing from many cast members, that is, with all the different ways to get people to the resort, limos uber lyft, etc. its