Fastpass return or replacement?

[Garyjames220]

So the only person i know with info told me this today:

What we've been talking about -- at least at my level -- is the Genie system. When a guest makes their park reservation, they'll be given the chance to make three "wishes" from the Genie. The Genie will then do its best to grant those three wishes. A guest would say "Genie line (instead of Fast Pass) for Space Mountain in the morning, and the Genie will offer them that. The guest can then say okay, or say no and the Genie will try again. It'll go wish by wish until all three are granted in one way or the other.

She said the park reservation system is here to stay, but Genie can mesh with it. She didn't know about paid wishes or extra wishes after the three are done -- she said they'd been working on a little "no wishing for more wishes" animation. One thing she said that could be a real drawback is that ADRs could be considered wishes, but there's been pushback on that.

She said the stuff in Paris and Shanghai just don't apply here.

She's midlevel, and I don't know how much she actually is tuned into, but she was willing to tell me what she knew today, so that was nice of her.

so was that a cast member

i don’t think u will be able to make these wishes from when u do park reservations as that is like a year in advance

 

[Garyjames220]

So how is lightening pass plus getting we to the front of the queue if the lightening pass people are in that queue too

 

[Stephy811]

I’d be ok with the three wishes…but if not including ADRs what else would people wish for besides 3 fastpasses (or whatever new name will be)? Would you be able to say prime fireworks spots and such? Like I wish the bus will come to take me to Beach Club the minute I exit the park?? Or I wish we could be the only family dining at Cinderella’s castle lol…I mean there’s just not that many things that can be granted…so would basically just be fastpasses anyways…

 

[Garyjames220]

I’d be ok with the three wishes…but if not including ADRs what else would people wish for besides 3 fastpasses (or whatever new name will be)? Would you be able to say prime fireworks spots and such? Like I wish the bus will come to take me to Beach Club the minute I exit the park?? Or I wish we could be the only family dining at Cinderella’s castle lol…I mean there’s just not that many things that can be granted…so would basically just be fastpasses anyways…

I would wish for extra fast passes

 

[Mac30188]

So how is lightening pass plus getting we to the front of the queue if the lightening pass people are in that queue too

I think the problem to your thinking is that each of these are equal lines. My assumption is lightning pass plus, which allows a user to completely bypass a line, will be an extreme luxury item with corresponding price to match. IMHO, lightning pass is the common use replacement of FP+. It will be similar in how it functions but has a dollar value attached. Lightning Pass+ has a 1% option for those that are willing to throw a blank check to Disney to avoid standing in line. I believe this will be at a price point that 90% of population can't afford it, and 90% of those that can afford it would never consider spending that much money for it. For the amount of people you are talking about, I doubt it will be a dedicated line.

If they don't price it that high, it won't work.

 

[Marionnette]

So how is lightening pass plus getting we to the front of the queue if the lightening pass people are in that queue too

I don't think LP+ moves you to the very front of the line. Think of it as LP = FP+. You get a LP with a return time and then enter the FP line when your return time is up. LP+ gets you immediate access to the FP line with no need to wait for a return time.

 

[Garyjames220]

I think the problem to your thinking is that each of these are equal lines. My assumption is lightning pass plus, which allows a user to completely bypass a line, will be an extreme luxury item with corresponding price to match. IMHO, lightning pass is the common use replacement of FP+. It will be similar in how it functions but has a dollar value attached. Lightning Pass+ has a 1% option for those that are willing to throw a blank check to Disney to avoid standing in line. I believe this will be at a price point that 90% of population can't afford it, and 90% of those that can afford it would never consider spending that much money for it. For the amount of people you are talking about, I doubt it will be a dedicated line.

If they don't price it that high, it won't work.

so u think there will be 3 queuing areas to each ride

what is this genie plus that was mentioned. Really don’t get that

 

[Mac30188]

I don't think LP+ moves you to the very front of the line. Think of it as LP = FP+. You get a LP with a return time and then enter the FP line when your return time is up. LP+ gets you immediate access to the FP line with no need to wait for a return time.

Ahhh, that would work as well. Good thought.

 

[Marionnette]

so u think there will be 3 queuing areas to each ride

what is this genie plus that was mentioned. Really don’t get that

If you've ever joined touring plans and had them customize a touring plan for you, that's how they think Genie + will work. You pick the attractions that are high on your list and your touring style ("take no prisoners" or "Sunday walk in the park"?) and then it basically directs you where to start and how to proceed from there in order to accomplish your list in the most efficient manor. The Genie could alter your tour if conditions change, such as HM going down just as you are supposed to join the queue, and send you to another attraction on your list.

 

[Mac30188]

so u think there will be 3 queuing areas to each ride

what is this genie plus that was mentioned. Really don’t get that

I am saying that front of the line passes only work if there are so few that they are insignificant in volume. You can only move to front of the line if there is not a line. A front of the line, line does not make a lot of sense. Therefore they just need a way to get them to the front of the line, and the volume has to be so small that they are not a statistically significant number of riders. My assumption is if this is true, they either are a lottery ticket type item or so highly priced that people won't buy them. If they do this purely by cost, it will be very, very high.

I actually think Marionnette's suggestion makes the most sense. What was lost in translation is "Front of the LIne" really meant "Front of the Queue to get in the fast pass line." That makes a lot more sense. I am still betting a combination of silly high pricing and limited quantity, but at least more affordable than literally front of the line pricing.

 

[Garyjames220]

If you've ever joined touring plans and had them customize a touring plan for you, that's how they think Genie + will work. You pick the attractions that are high on your list and your touring style ("take no prisoners" or "Sunday walk in the park"?) and then it basically directs you where to start and how to proceed from there in order to accomplish your list in the most efficient manor. The Genie could alter your tour if conditions change, such as HM going down just as you are supposed to join the queue, and send you to another attraction on your list.

so it’s just advising me what standby lines to wait in first

 

[ItsMEH]

I would wish for extra fast passes

There's always one...

 

[Heather07438]

From what Disney previewed of Genie park planning abilities they showed Princess and Adventurer options. Maybe you choose one of these categories, and it basically divides up the park for the top tier wishes you could be granted. So somebody choosing Adventurer may have better options for thrill rides, and someone choosing Princess will have better options for character greets.

 

[AnnaKristoff2013]

From what Disney previewed of Genie park planning abilities they showed Princess and Adventurer options. Maybe you choose one of these categories, and it basically divides up the park for the top tier wishes you could be granted. So somebody choosing Adventurer may have better options for thrill rides, and someone choosing Princess will have better options for character greets.

The chance of their being princess, or any face character meet and greets before like, late 2022 at the earliest seem pretty low.

 

[Heather07438]

The chance of their being princess, or any face character meet and greets before like, late 2022 at the earliest seem pretty low.

Genie has been in the works since before Covid. I’m talking more about the way the system can be balanced and avoid some of the pitfalls encountered with FP+ where too many were given out and people in the know were the ones best able to scoop up the most great FPs. I’m sure they’ll need to tweak whatever plans they had included for meets but that’s beside the point of splitting up the offerings.

 

[whiporee]

So the only person i know with info told me this today:

What we've been talking about -- at least at my level -- is the Genie system. When a guest makes their park reservation, they'll be given the chance to make three "wishes" from the Genie. The Genie will then do its best to grant those three wishes. A guest would say "Genie line (instead of Fast Pass) for Space Mountain in the morning, and the Genie will offer them that. The guest can then say okay, or say no and the Genie will try again. It'll go wish by wish until all three are granted in one way or the other.

She said the park reservation system is here to stay, but Genie can mesh with it. She didn't know about paid wishes or extra wishes after the three are done -- she said they'd been working on a little "no wishing for more wishes" animation. One thing she said that could be a real drawback is that ADRs could be considered wishes, but there's been pushback on that.

She said the stuff in Paris and Shanghai just don't apply here.

She's midlevel, and I don't know how much she actually is tuned into, but she was willing to tell me what she knew today, so that was nice of her.

She wrote me again -- she apparently likes talking about it, especially since other teams seem to be leaking stuff, too.

Because there are questions:

1) she's at corporate. Very excited to be moving home in a couple of years. Went to high school together. Broke my heart when she went with someone else to prom junior year.
2) I got the impression that stuff like M&Gs, exclusive parade and fireworks viewing were part of this. But she insinuated that this rollout is part of the reason ADRs haven't gone back to 180 days yet
3) Just part of one team that talked about plans. She said it would be normal for there to be competing plans.
4) A good chance FP will just come back. But from what she understands, they don't love tons of park hopping, and the reservation system keeps that in check. FPs with park hopping has always been a mess.
5) Virtual queues for everything had a BIG push for a while, but enthusiasm has tapered off.
6) the difference with the Genie and FPs is the Genie basically assigns you a time slot instead of you selecting it from a list. This gets you out of their database faster. So you'd say a Genie in the morning, not a FP at 8:50. And it becomes a sort of get what you get. You'd still get a time and a window (albeit shorter) so it would be a lot more regulated than it is. Snd instead of you being able to group your FPs in the morning, for example, the Genie would space them out throughout the day.
7) inside, there are BIG battles about paid FPs in any form. They know the money would be huge -- one analyst said it would be bigger than actual park admission revenue -- but the brand damage would be tremendous.
8) she'd like to meet my wife and kids when she gets back to Orlando.

 

[SemperAbsurda]

Taking my first trip to Disney World in 30 years this October. Everything I've read that is being rumored sounds horrible. Whatever it is, I wish they would just rip the band-aid off and get it over with so I can start planning and budgeting for it.

 

[cdurham1]

How can u have lightening plus with only one fast pass queue there the now

I have been wondering the same thing. Maybe they take them thru the exit?

 

[cakebaker]

I got the impression that stuff like M&Gs, exclusive parade and fireworks viewing were part of this. But she insinuated that this rollout is part of the reason ADRs haven't gone back to 180 days yet

I'd be shocked if they added reserved fireworks viewing as an option. They make an awful lot off those dessert buffets and did away with the FP+ for viewing a long time ago- unless it's a lesser view using Genie.

 

[cakebaker]

I have been wondering the same thing. Maybe they take them thru the exit?

What makes the most sense to me is that Lightning Pass gets you a time to return to the FP line ( much like DAS) and the + gets you in immediately- not exactly front of the line, but no wait to get in the FP line, however long it would be.

If it works that way, sign me up for LP. There's no way I'd pay a premium just to get immediate access. I've had access to DAS some time ago and thought it worked very well. So if this works the same...I'm good- depending on cost of course.