Genie+ change!

[DJFan88]

Anyone have any idea how well Genie+ would work say at MK if you didn't start trying to book anything till noon?

Fine, but you’d basically be wasting a good pick that could’ve been stacked.

 

[SheSingsAlong]

Stacking with G+ is a really awesome feature. And I love that the return times can overlap! I don't think you could do that with FP+. For me, the pros of current G+ far outweigh the cons. Plus I'm happy that this new system does not so severely disadvantage the new and uninformed visitors. They can learn about G+ on day 1 of their trip and then be able to act on that knowledge for the rest of the trip. With FP+ you were pretty much stuck if you arrived for your trip with no knowledge of the system. If anyone here hasn't already watched it, I highly recommend YouTube channel Defunctland's documentary on the history of Fastpass! It's educational and hilarious!

 

[Chuck S]

My biggest question about the potential of pre-purchasing / pre-selection of Genie+ is how this will work for APs. With date based tickets it is pretty easy to link the G+ day w/the ticket. But, with APs I am not sure how this is going to work. Sure you could link it with when you make a park reservation, but what about these "good to go" days that are supposedly going to be added to the system.

As an out of state AP visitor and one who relies on G+ because I hate lines if we are shut out of the "good" rides because we can't pre-select that is going to be frustrating.

Since the system allows passholders with onsite reservations to make more park-day reservations than what would be available to offsite passholders, I would assume Genie+ prebooks will work the same way.

 

[New Mouse]

Honestly, they should've just started charging for FastPass+ rather than introducing Genie+ at all. The infrastructure to do so was already in place, and would have saved the company a lot of $$$ in app development. I only used Genie+ once, and it was an abysmal experience.

It was also a broken system in that there aren't enough fastpass to go around. They would have had to majorly change the rules and amount they sold for it to work.

Better system? Yes, but still garbage when you have to pay for it as it too was broken.

 

[Miffy]

As I understand it, one of the big issues they were trying to "fix" from FP+ was the fact that off-site hotel guests had almost zero chance of reserving certain rides since they couldn't book until 30 days out. Heck, things like FOP and 7DMT were fully booked exactly 60 days out much of the time. Even Disney hotel guests had trouble getting on some rides.

The tiering of attractions was also unpopular. Many people openly hated being forced to select specific attractions and ride times a full 2 months in advance. In order to give every guest their 3 pre-booked rides, Disney reportedly devoted as much as 90% of daily capacity on some rides to FP+, making standby completely unworkable.

At the end of the day, Disney can't satisfy everyone. Each attraction has a limited capacity. These systems are merely different methods of distributing that capacity. We could spend all day debating which system is "fairer", whether Disney's cure (G+) was worse than the disease (FP+).

I'll be very surprised if these pending changes to genie allow guests to book 3 passes in advance. I think it's more likely they allow people to buy Genie and book just their first attraction of the day. And even then, it will be interesting to witness the impact on the system as a whole. At a park like Epcot, we'll see a lot of capacity on Remy, TT and Frozen gobbled up weeks in advance. Unless they do even more aggressive tiering where guests can choose 1 attraction from a list of the top draws, and add a few more lesser rides.

As far as booking FP+ 30 days out (or fewer): I did this several times when I took last-minute trips. And was able to book FoP and 7DMT, etc. Yes, I had to work at it a bit, but it wasn't impossible. I was also able to get FoP several times day-of, on the fly. So the attractions "gobbled up weeks in advance" thing wasn't really the case. You just had to be persistent and you could get basically any attraction you wanted. Maybe not on the first or second try, but it was doable.

And, btw, I have a job. It's not like I was spending hours at a time trying to get FP+s.

 

[Skip Coffee for Rope Drop]

Anyone else excited about this at the bottom of page 10 of the Fall 2023 issue of Disney Files:
Members and guests have requested the flexibility to make Walt Disney World Theme Park plans with the Disney Genie+ service and Individual Lightning Lane selections before their visit, and as this edition of Disney Files Magazine hits the press, we're told that efforts to grant that wish are underway.

I, for one, would be very excited to hear that FREE FastPass was returning. But, I'm not going to hold my breath and will temper my expectations in the most cynical way.

I'd grudgingly be willing to pay for Genie+ (but not at $30 per day) if it gave me the same functionality as FastPass had (3 rides per day, up to 90 days in advance). I'm thinking their idea of "in advance" is going to be the night before, and you'll get to choose one ride. Disney still doesn't understand that a WDW vacation isn't the same as DL/CA, that some of the WDW parks have very few "rides" and fewer things to do (other than shop or eat) than DL/CA. And, because so many visitors to DL/CA are considered "local", they're not factoring in the "One trip in a lifetime" factor (especially for those outside the USA).

The ability to make ILL's other than at 7am, on the other hand, is a HUGE thing for me! I'm tired of having to get up at 7am in order to try to get on ROTR!

I am certain that the "efforts to grant this wish are underway" will not result in complimentary preselections but a separate fee added to the price of Genie + for guests that wish to utilize this option. ( Let's hope I am wrong)

 

[Miffy]

Since the system allows passholders with onsite reservations to make more park-day reservations than what would be available to offsite passholders, I would assume Genie+ prebooks will work the same way.

I hope you're right, @Chuck S.

Yet AP holders who are staying on-site will still have to make park reservations after January 9th, which makes no sense to me, since a WDW resort reservation is kind of the equivalent of a date-based ticket.

 

[BamaGuy44]

I am certain that the "efforts to grant this wish are underway" will not result in complimentary preselections but a separate fee added to the price of Genie + for guests that wish to utilize this option. ( Let's hope I am wrong)

Hope that's not true. The term "money grab" gets way overused, IMO. Offering something isn't always a money grab just because they charge for it. But if they charged extra just to preselect, that would be gross and I'd call that a money grab.

Given that their stated reason for some of these changes is the eroding good will with their guests, I don't think they will overtly make it a separate charge. I think they need a G+ announcement that will be very positively received, with no huge downside for people to complain about. Wishful thinking? Maybe.

 

[Chrisdriscoll]

Stacking with G+ is a really awesome feature. And I love that the return times can overlap! I don't think you could do that with FP+. For me, the pros of current G+ far outweigh the cons. Plus I'm happy that this new system does not so severely disadvantage the new and uninformed visitors. They can learn about G+ on day 1 of their trip and then be able to act on that knowledge for the rest of the trip. With FP+ you were pretty much stuck if you arrived for your trip with no knowledge of the system. If anyone here hasn't already watched it, I highly recommend YouTube channel Defunctland's documentary on the history of Fastpass! It's educational and hilarious!

I agree with this. Genie + works great now. And some vague handwaving about how we'll be able to book ahead doesn't give me a lot of comfort. They only way this would work is if it is for the not as popular rides. Otherwise I still foresee people complaining about how they still can't get on Frozen, Slinky Dog, ect. I went in July when it was super hot and bc of stacking and the other advantages I was able to get us on every ride we wanted to go on and beat the heat by avoiding standby lines. And bc the people I went with weren't rope droppers, we got to the parks at 10:30-11:00. Without Genie +, we wouldn't have been able to do as many rides. It definitely saved us probably 6-8 hours conservatively over a 5 day trip. Definitely money well spent. Sure I had to wake up at 7. But that's the time I normally wake up. Then after my selections were made, I rolled over and went back to sleep.

There will never be a perfect system. What works for one group of people doesn't work as well for others. I've been to the parks under all three systems and I think this one works best for me. I like its flexibility. The real issue for most of the people that don't like it as far as I can see is that it costs money. All I will say on that front is that it is way less expensive than what Universal charges, which I just checked is $105/ day.

 

[New Mouse]

There will never be a perfect system. What works for one group of people doesn't work as well for others. I've been to the parks under all three systems and I think this one works best for me. I like its flexibility. The real issue for most of the people that don't like it as far as I can see is that it costs money. All I will say on that front is that it is way less expensive than what Universal charges, which I just checked is $105/ day

Universal has both one time and unlimited use options. Both allow walk up access, no booking required and often times absolutely no wait. They also provide the unlimited option free to deluxe guests which are often cheaper than Disney hotels and are without a doubt more deluxe.

Disney offers a cheaper option that is....well...poorly made and poorly executed. It's almost like they didnt learn much from fastpass plus and literally just decided to put a price tag sticker on it and change the name of the product. They've tinkered with the rules for certain but by the time I buy genie and 2 ILL, my $150 ticket for the day is now $200 plus for an experience that isn't optimized nor does it seem worth it.

 

[jo-jo]

If they want to make changes that actually matter, they need to get rid of the 1 ride per attraction per day. There are way too many attractions/shows that don't even need passes ahead of time, and some that I don't want to ride. If there are open time slots available for me to ride Tower of Terror 3 times in one day, I should be able to book 3 LL's, same as I used to with Fast Pass+ .

Or there are rides we can't ride anymore. 6-8 years ago, we did the rollercoasters, test tracks, etc. Year by year, rides got dropped. Now we need the option of doing buzz three times.

 

[zavandor]

I agree with this. Genie + works great now. And some vague handwaving about how we'll be able to book ahead doesn't give me a lot of comfort. They only way this would work is if it is for the not as popular rides. Otherwise I still foresee people complaining about how they still can't get on Frozen, Slinky Dog, ect. I went in July when it was super hot and bc of stacking and the other advantages I was able to get us on every ride we wanted to go on and beat the heat by avoiding standby lines. And bc the people I went with weren't rope droppers, we got to the parks at 10:30-11:00. Without Genie +, we wouldn't have been able to do as many rides. It definitely saved us probably 6-8 hours conservatively over a 5 day trip. Definitely money well spent. Sure I had to wake up at 7. But that's the time I normally wake up. Then after my selections were made, I rolled over and went back to sleep.

There will never be a perfect system. What works for one group of people doesn't work as well for others. I've been to the parks under all three systems and I think this one works best for me. I like its flexibility. The real issue for most of the people that don't like it as far as I can see is that it costs money. All I will say on that front is that it is way less expensive than what Universal charges, which I just checked is $105/ day.

G+ is certainly too cheap which lead to overutilization and slower standby lines.
As a DVC owner, I've done all rides dozens of times and I know I'll be back. It's hard for me to justify an extra expense. If it were $100+ per day fewer people would use it and I'd find lower lines.

 

[Hubalorian]

Universal has both one time and unlimited use options. Both allow walk up access, no booking required and often times absolutely no wait. They also provide the unlimited option free to deluxe guests which are often cheaper than Disney hotels and are without a doubt more deluxe.

Disney offers a cheaper option that is....well...poorly made and poorly executed. It's almost like they didnt learn much from fastpass plus and literally just decided to put a price tag sticker on it and change the name of the product. They've tinkered with the rules for certain but by the time I buy genie and 2 ILL, my $150 ticket for the day is now $200 plus for an experience that isn't optimized nor does it seem worth it.

Do you believe universal will still offer these great perks when Epic Universe opens or will Epic Universe have its own set of rules?

 

[Miffy]

G+ is certainly too cheap which lead to overutilization and slower standby lines.
As a DVC owner, I've done all rides dozens of times and I know I'll be back. It's hard for me to justify an extra expense. If it were $100+ per day fewer people would use it and I'd find lower lines.

I feel like crying when DISers post about how they want the already high prices of things hiked up even further. For sure Disney reads this board, and the more people advocating higher prices, the more likely it is that they'll be happy to accommodate these suggestions.

I can barely afford G+ as it is and I travel with someone who cannot stand in long lines, so we always get it. If it were suddenly $100+/day that could likely be the end of our ever visiting WDW again, which is our #1 favorite vacation spot. So please have some mercy on those of us who use G+. And no fair comparing it to Universal's pricing, since their skip-the-line service is FREE if you stay at one of their deluxe hotels. If that ever happened at WDW, I'd be completely shocked. They think they're giving Deluxe guests a big bonus by having 2 nights a week for them.

ETA: I was at WDW post-pandemic when there was no FP+ and no G+ and the lines were often quite long.

Also, you realize that if WDW really wanted to limit the number of people purchasing G+ there's an easy solution that doesn't involve raising the price: they could just limit the number G+s they sell.

 

[zavandor]

I feel like crying when DISers post about how they want the already high prices of things hiked up even further. For sure Disney reads this board, and the more people advocating higher prices, the more likely it is that they'll be happy to accommodate these suggestions.

I can barely afford G+ as it is and I travel with someone who cannot stand in long lines, so we always get it. If it were suddenly $100+/day that could likely be the end of our ever visiting WDW again, which is our #1 favorite vacation spot. So please have some mercy on those of us who use G+. And no fair comparing it to Universal's pricing, since their skip-the-line service is FREE if you stay at one of their deluxe hotels. If that ever happened at WDW, I'd be completely shocked. They think they're giving Deluxe guests a big bonus by having 2 nights a week for them.

ETA: I was at WDW post-pandemic when there was no FP+ and no G+ and the lines were often quite long.

Also, you realize that if WDW really wanted to limit the number of people purchasing G+ there's an easy solution that doesn't involve raising the price: they could just limit the number G+s they sell.

Sorry not sorry.
I hate paid like skipping systems. I really hope they increase the cost 4x so that utilisation is reduced by 75%.
If someone won't go anymore because they cannot visit without skipping the lines, maybe they will be balanced by someone who would have not gone anymore because he couldn't afford to pay the extra.

 

[SL6827]

I just wish they would announce when the changes are going to happen.

 

[New Mouse]

Do you believe universal will still offer these great perks when Epic Universe opens or will Epic Universe have its own set of rules?

Yes. The volume can handle it even with the new hotels. Its how they sell deluxe. I'm assuming they don't try to create a new subset of hotels with Epic to change it up some, but they have years of data showing how express impacts deluxe hotel occupancy.

If they make any change I could see it going to one time use with $x to upgrade.

 

[Grumpy by Birth]

"Our customers spoke and we listened... in order to meet the demand of our guests, prices will be doubled effective immediately."

 

[ParrotBill]

Good comment above that what works for some doesn't work for others.
I'm an early person so 7am is fine, and I much prefer same day lightning lane only.
I hate preplanning my schedule to death. I've going every year for 40 years. I want to wander, and decide each morning based on the weather. I am really unhappy AP tickets have to keep making park reservations (especially with a resort reservation.)

On my June trip I decided day by day if I would buy Genie+. I do not want to map THAT out weeks ahead now. Again, weather plays a big role in my decisions.

Without park reservations (for everyone else), I fear advance LL will cause the problem that happened before with FP+... lots of no shows the first half of the day. FP lines would be empty until noon when they would start releasing new availability. I suppose having to pre-buy Genie+ will lead people to buy for one park only, which will act as a pseudo park reservation and force people to stick to their plans. Maybe that's their plan all along - no park reservation needed if they can see how many are buying Genie+ and LL in advance.

 

[tjkraz]

If it were $100+ per day fewer people would use it and I'd find lower lines.

Yeah, but there would also be more people using the standby line. While the lines may move faster (due to fewer LL “line cutters”), more people in the line means wait times could be just as long.

Genie / LL doesn’t necessarily change people’s desire to experience an attraction. And attraction capacities don’t change. All it really changes is the manner in which ride slots are doled out.

Less Genie / LL MIGHT mean moderately lower wait times because a single person can only be in one line at a time. More people in standby lines could have an overall positive effect. But it would take a computer model to really do any meaningful predictions. I’m skeptical that the results would match what many people envision.