Enthusiastic about Genie+ touring

[Marionnette]

You may not be able to make G+ LL reservations until you enter a park if you are offsite. That hasn’t been confirmed by Disney yet.

It was confirmed in TA training sessions recently. Once I find the post, I'll add the link. The OP was pretty emphatic about their certainty on that particular point.

Thank you to @mi*vida*loca who quoted the aforementioned post.

To quote @meremac

"According to the training session, offsite guests will not be able to make Genie+ or separate Lightning Lane reservations until they physically enter the park. Hypothetically then, an on-site guest could make their first MK Genie+ reservation at 7am, take advantage of early entry and get either SM or 7DMT then, get in line for the other, be ready to scan into their first Genie+ reservation (and make another) in the first hour of park opening...all before an offsite guest even scans into their first Genie+ reservation. That would be a HUGE advantage for on-site guests"​

 

[DavidNYC]

My eyes glazed over trying to read all that. Not your fault by any means...I just can't focus on all the planning and scheduling.

And that is a major point - all of these people who

Even for the late risers I don’t think the LL will be gone when they go to book. They weren’t all gone with FP+ and that was free. IMO less people will be using G+ than people who used FP+ Since you have to pay. They can do the tier 1 rides at the end of the night when lines are shorter instead of at rope drop.

But they were gone (or VERY late in the day) for popular rides using FP- which was also a system of sequentially assigned ride times. And for FP- you had to actually be in the park and walk to the ride itself to get the FP so while some people will choose not to pay for Genie, you've more than made up for that by the fact that you can now reserve from anywhere in the morning as opposed to only be available to people who physically go to the ride.

 

[havoc315]

My understanding is that your understanding is wrong. The 7 am booking is only for people staying onsite.

Provide a source.

"When can Genie+ ride reservations be booked?


All guests will be able to make their first Genie+ selection at 7 am on the day of their visit, regardless of whether staying off-site or on-site.


Subsequent selections will follow the legacy FastPass “rules.”


https://www.disneytouristblog.com/lightning-lanes-genie-plus-disney-world-faq-guide/

 

[mi*vida*loca]

It was confirmed in TA training sessions recently. Once I find the post, I'll add the link. The OP was pretty emphatic about their certainty on that particular point.

Yup I read the posts. That person was pretty set on that point. Everyone is set on what the blogs are saying but this poster seemed legit.

 

[dez1978]

Actually... it is.

Under FP+, it was almost impossible to get FOP unless you were onsite. With the new system, off-site guests should easily be able to purchase FOP.
So, you can now stay off-site instead of onsite, which will easily save more than $200.

If you were staying onsite either way... airfare, hotel, tickets, food... talking a $5,000 to $10,000 vacation, easily. SO another $200 is "a little more money."

Wow, you must have a TON of money to consider $200/day for say 5 days a "little money" Your world must be awfully nice. An extra $1000 on a vacation for things that were included before is a lot. And for what it's worth, it wasn't almost impossible to get FOP. And I have DVC, so I'm not staying offsite. I can afford the extra $, but to just casually act like that isn't a big deal to a LOT of people is ridiculously absurd.

 

[DavidNYC]

Nonsense. This is MUCH better for off-site. Off-site couldn't get any good FPs 30 days out. Now, they are on almost the same playing field as on-site.

And this works MUCH better than FP+ for late-arrivers.

Animal Kingdom with a noon arrival:
At 11am, as you are getting ready to leave, book Genie+ for Navi River, 1pm Genie+ window. Purchase a 12pm FOP. Purchase 2pm Safari.
Arrive at gate at 12:15pm. Arrive at FOP at 12:30, ride FOP LL.
At 1pm, redeem Genie+ for Navi River. While boarding Navi River, reserve Genie+ for River Rapids probably get a 3pm..
After Navi, grab lunch. Do the Bug movie. See Lion King. Do the Jungle Walk.
Then redeem Safari LL between 2-3pm. While boarding the Safari, book Expedition Everest, 5pm return time.
Enjoy the Safari without a line. Then enjoy River Rapids without a line, thanks to Genie+.
After River Rapids, play games in Dinoland, ride Dinosaur standby. Redeem your Expedition Everest Genie+...

So even with a noon arrival.. and spending a little more money, you got LL and Genie+ to FOP, Navi, Safari, River Rapids, and Expedition Everest. Did Dinosaur and the Bug movie standby.

That's a far more efficient day then you would have gotten with FP+.

Yes, there is an advantage to an early morning rope drop -- But that's been true for the last 50 years. There has ALWAYS been an advantage to early morning rope drop.

Again - some exceptionally optimistic views of return times. I highly doubt you'll see return times within 1-2 hours for Navi and FOP for those booking at 11am. You do realize the last time WDW had a system of 1 at a time passes that were distributed sequentially, that popular rides were all distributed for the day in the first two hours or had return times 4-5 hours later.

 

[RoseGold]

I travel off peak on Tuesdays and I don't even know how your schedule makes it to 9AM. I'm still in the Safari line, where Genie is yelling at me to just pay $12 to skip the line.

I do love that it seems like Expedition Everest would be in G+, but I'm not even sure I'd pay for G+ at AK at all.

 

[mi*vida*loca]

According to the training session, offsite guests will not be able to make Genie+ or separate Lightning Lane reservations until they physically enter the park. Hypothetically then, an on-site guest could make their first MK Genie+ reservation at 7am, take advantage of early entry and get either SM or 7DMT then, get in line for the other, be ready to scan into their first Genie+ reservation (and make another) in the first hour of park opening...all before an offsite guest even scans into their first Genie+ reservation. That would be a HUGE advantage for on-site guests.

The post regarding on-site and offsite.

 

[havoc315]

Wow, you must have a TON of money to consider $200/day for say 5 days a "little money" Your world must be awfully nice. An extra $1000 on a vacation for things that were included before is a lot. And for what it's worth, it wasn't almost impossible to get FOP. And I have DVC, so I'm not staying offsite. I can afford the extra $, but to just casually act like that isn't a big deal to a LOT of people is ridiculously absurd.

$200 for a day is actually LESS than paying for park hopping for a day, for a party of 4. It's less than dinner at a Signature restaurant for a park of 3-4.
And actually.. in my example at AK, you were paying $15 per person -- So a family of 4 was paying $60, not $200.

Yes, Disney World is EXPENSIVE. $200 is not "nothing." But park tickets at $120-$200 per day is expensive. Hotel rooms of $300 to $1,000 per night are expensive. Disney World is expensive. In the context of all the other Disney expenses, $60-$200 is not a huge expense.

And guess what -- You don't have to purchase it. Just like you don't have to eat in signature restaurants. Just like you don't have to buy parkhoppers. Don't have to purchase a VIP tour.

 

[mi*vida*loca]

And that is a major point - all of these people who

But they were gone (or VERY late in the day) for popular rides using FP- which was also a system of sequentially assigned ride times. And for FP- you had to actually be in the park and walk to the ride itself to get the FP so while some people will choose not to pay for Genie, you've more than made up for that by the fact that you can now reserve from anywhere in the morning as opposed to only be available to people who physically go to the ride.

I didn’t use legacy FP thst much because running around with small kids was a pain but the rides I remember being sold out the soonest are now IAS rides, except TSMM isn’t on the list. I don’t think they’ll be gone as quickly since you have to pay. I’m sure another tier 2 ride will take that place though.

 

[dez1978]

Also for what it's worth, I hope that OP is correct and that it actually does work like they hope. And I'm not totally against the idea. I just hate when people act like that extra $ isn't going to add up or be an issue for some guests.

 

[havoc315]

Again - some exceptionally optimistic views of return times. I highly doubt you'll see return times within 1-2 hours for Navi and FOP for those booking at 11am. You do realize the last time WDW had a system of 1 at a time passes that were distributed sequentially, that popular rides were all distributed for the day in the first two hours or had return times 4-5 hours later.

I used the old system many times. It was rare that any return time was more than 2 hours away. There were some exceptions -- Back in 2012, TSM was the huge ride. All the FPs for the day were gone within an hour. But most rides, they were available within 1-2 hours, always.

FOP -- It isn't Genie+. It's an extra purchase. This will keep demand low, based on similar systems in Asia and Paris. There should be plenty of availability through the day.

Navi may indeed be the most popular Genie+ attraction, but plenty of people will choose Expedition Everest over it. Or something else. So that should lead to healthy availability within 2-3 hours, worst case scenario.

 

[havoc315]

Also for what it's worth, I hope that OP is correct and that it actually does work like they hope. And I'm not totally against the idea. I just hate when people act like that extra $ isn't going to add up or be an issue for some guests.

But the really nice thing -- You likely won't need to purchase it every day. You purchase it for your "commando" days where you hope to do a LOT in a single day. For more casual days, you may find you don't need it at all. So only purchase it on days where you need it.

 

[Marionnette]

I didn’t use legacy FP thst much because running around with small kids was a pain but the rides I remember being sold out the soonest are now IAS rides, except TSMM isn’t on the list. I don’t think they’ll be gone as quickly since you have to pay. I’m sure another tier 2 ride will take that place though.

Maybe they won't be gone as quickly. Or they could be gone just as quickly. Disney isn't going to disclose just how many FP- were made available each day and it's possible that the number of G+ will be even fewer. In fact, I believe that number has been and will be elastic and highly dependent on crowd density.

 

[dez1978]

$200 for a day is actually LESS than paying for park hopping for a day, for a party of 4. It's less than dinner at a Signature restaurant for a park of 3-4.
And actually.. in my example at AK, you were paying $15 per person -- So a family of 4 was paying $60, not $200.

Yes, Disney World is EXPENSIVE. $200 is not "nothing." But park tickets at $120-$200 per day is expensive. Hotel rooms of $300 to $1,000 per night are expensive. Disney World is expensive. In the context of all the other Disney expenses, $60-$200 is not a huge expense.

And guess what -- You don't have to purchase it. Just like you don't have to eat in signature restaurants. Just like you don't have to buy parkhoppers. Don't have to purchase a VIP tour.

But I could also ride all those rides, have times just like you posted, without spending that $200 a day. And I have. Never have bought park hoppers or eaten in a signature restaurant. In my $200/day I was including having to pay to ride FOP, like I mentioned, so a family of 4 would be 60/day for genie + and say 10/pp for FOP so $100 per day for a fam of 4. For what they could have done for FREE before.

 

[Kingoglow]

Bull crap! See, I can be dismissive of opinions with one demeaning phrase, too.

You wrote a plan that includes being onsite, in a Deluxe Resort, and doing rope drop. Show me one for someone who is offsite, who cannot even book a G+ or IA$ until they tap in at a park and are 30 minutes behind the onsite guests

Don't be dense. The OP's whole thread is about how s/he is excited about what s/he will be able to do for their trip. No where does s/he say that it will work for everybody. No where does s/he say that they don't understand the complaints. The post is about how this will work for them.

Everyone is just trying to rain on the OP's excitement. And no, OP does not have to make a plan for you. You will be tasked to figure out Disney vacation planning for your family yourself.

Thumbs up to the OP for being able to afford a Deluxe resort and have a good plan for their family. Enjoy your trip!

 

[mom2rtk]

I'm shocked at the negative feedback and backlash about the Genie+ announcement. Seems it's pure apprehension about change.

How incredibly dismissive of you.

 

[JETSDAD]

MATH, plus experience with maxpass and with old fastpass.
You are no longer giving 3 passes to every person. You are now givning only 1 pass at a time, only to those who purchase Genie+.

So take DHS.. average attendance is 30,000 people. Say, 20,000 purchase Genie+.
The Genie+ attractions at DHS:

• Alien Swirling Saucers
• Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway
• Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run
• MuppetVision 3D
• Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster
• Star Tours – The Adventures Continue
• The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror
• Toy Story Mania

The hourly capacity of those 8 attractions is somewhere between 12,000 and 16,000.
If 70% of the capacity is given to Genie+, similar to FP+, that means hourly Genie+ capacity of 8,400 to 11,200.

Now, not every single Genie+ user is going to book a rope drop attraction at 9am. But, even if EVERY Genie+ buyer wakes up and books the first available Genie+ reservation -- So 20,000 people call clicking the first available Genie+ ride for the earliest possible ride.. Even under this WORST case scenario ... then there it would book up all the 9-11 am availability, and there would be wide open availability for everyone at 11am.

I agree with this in theory and hope it works like this however we don't know how many LL passes will be allocated compared to how many FP's available for any given time. If they allocate the same as FP then it should work really well. I would hope they do that as they will want G+ to look like a great benefit in order to sell it widely but I'm also not holding my breath. I can't wait to play around with it to see what sort of availability there will be.

 

[dez1978]

But the really nice thing -- You likely won't need to purchase it every day. You purchase it for your "commando" days where you hope to do a LOT in a single day. For more casual days, you may find you don't need it at all. So only purchase it on days where you need it.

One of the TA pages said you may not be able to buy it ala carte every day. Like UO express passes only sells so many. So I wonder if they were told that if you purchase ahead of time you are guaranteed to have it the whole time whereas if you purchase it per day it could be sold out.

 

[Marionnette]

Don't be dense. The OP's whole thread is about how s/he is excited about what s/he will be able to do for their trip. No where does s/he say that it will work for everybody. No where does s/he say that they don't understand the complaints. The post is about how this will work for them.

Everyone is just trying to rain on the OP's excitement. And no, OP does not have to make a plan for you. You will be tasked to figure out Disney vacation planning for your family yourself.

Thumbs up to the OP for being able to afford a Deluxe resort and have a good plan for their family. Enjoy your trip!

Thank you for being obtuse.

The OP opened their statement with:

"I'm shocked at the negative feedback and backlash about the Genie+ announcement. Seems it's pure apprehension about change."​

​

That invited a discussion as to why there is backlash. It has nothing to do with apprehension about change and everything to do with how it affects the way people visit the parks on the future.

​