Genie Service

[ForWhomTheMouseTolls]

I just cancelled my visit and listed all my points resale. I had a pending riviera contract within the ten days and I pulled out as well.

Killing Magical Express really settled poorly with me. Doing this and magical express in the same year is just gross.
Cheers ya’ll.

 

[Sandisw]

The real issue to me is that the rides are no longer able to handle the volume of people who go to Disney. The capacity of rides like 'its a small world' (typical example) hasn't changed in the past 20 years and certainly the crowds have increased in that time. When they let too many into the park for the capacity the rides can handle, it creates the problem they are now trying to solve by charging more.

Unless this is a way to help with crowds because people will choose to come less often?

Most of the feedback here and in the other threads are negative so I see it going a few ways.

People won’t pay it and those that do will have great success which will cause people to begin paying it.

People won’t be repeat visitors which will make it a better experience for those that still come because standby won’t be as bad as it has.

Lots of people will just pay as it’s not as bad as many feared but Tier 1 attractions will become a once and done per trip which may mean more people ride.

For us, I can see some benefits for certain trips depending on who we are traveling with and others a change in what and how we do things, especially TS meals and adult drinks. Glad I got my Owners Locker!!

 

[The Jackal]

For me the only positive of this announcement is there is no longer any reason to stay on site and could save ton of money staying offsite and paying $15 extra per person for the fastpass. The negative is I own 300 points so I’m sorta commited to staying on site lol.

Resale points are selling near or at all time highs. So if you want out this is a good time, unless you recently bought direct, then you could be in the red. I agree WDW is making it way more attractive to stay off site. It may take a few years, but they’ll figure out why they did the benefits in the first place.

 

[DL1WDW2]

I just cancelled my visit and listed all my points resale. I had a pending riviera contract within the ten days and I pulled out as well.

Killing Magical Express really settled poorly with me. Doing this and magical express in the same year is just gross.
Cheers ya’ll.

I pulled out of Riviera also recently and sold 200 points at BRV.
I think this will send a message .Disney still needs to sell DVC and especially at Riviera. Did you tell them the exact reasons for decision?
I am starting to wonder if this is going to start the resale prices to drop . If so I hope you beat the market. I am glad I sold even tho I thought it would be heartbreaking.

 

[New Mouse]

Unless this is a way to help with crowds because people will choose to come less often?

Most of the feedback here and in the other threads are negative so I see it going a few ways.

People won’t pay it and those that do will have great success which will cause people to begin paying it.

People won’t be repeat visitors which will make it a better experience for those that still come because standby won’t be as bad as it has.

Lots of people will just pay as it’s not as bad as many feared but Tier 1 attractions will become a once and done per trip which may mean more people ride.

For us, I can see some benefits for certain trips depending on who we are traveling with and others a change in what and how we do things, especially TS meals and adult drinks. Glad I got my Owners Locker!!

They dont care about crowds. If they cared about crowds they could just cap park capacity much lower.

 

[SnowWitch]

Someone mentioned Universal does this but not at their top tier resorts. At their top tier resorts it’s free and unlimited. The purchase option only allows for one experience per ride. When we book at Portifino it’s unlimited.

I have been considering selling my BWV contract that I have had since 1998. This is just one more reason to do so.

I love Disney but it’s rare they blow us away with new ride technology. Flight of Passage being the exception. We will wait until
Next year do a big trip when all the new rides are open and then make a decision. It’s just getting very old and the constant removal of perks is annoying when I don’t feel like I’m getting the same bang for the buck.

 

[Leight19]

Resale points are selling near or at all time highs. So if you want out this is a good time, unless you recently bought direct, then you could be in the red. I agree WDW is making it way more attractive to stay off site. It may take a few years, but they’ll figure out why they did the benefits in the first place.

I dont think this will push me to sell as I still would enjoy a resort only stay spending $0 at Disney out of spite. I also view dvc long term and think Disney will eventually have to adjust because I believe they are overestimating what people will tolerate long term based on what they will during covid.

My next trip isn’t until may 2022 but was planning two more in September 2022 and Jan 2023. Now I’m thinking to potentially cancel some of these to switch to banking as many points as I can and traveling less until something changes.

 

[JGINPL]

I'm going to enjoy my Aulani Stay early next year and the let the dust settle on this and see how everything is working. I'm hoping they will come out with some perk for Deluxe Resorts like they did for the Extra Magic Hours at night. I'm guessing they will need more perks for the Deluxe resorts to keep the occupancy up after the 50th. So offering 2 free Lightning Lane passes for DVC/Deluxe resorts would be a nice perk. Then I would maybe spend the extra $15 on certain parks but maybe not all of them.

 

[OhDannyBoy]

We're going to go on our trip in February and that will be it.

I was trying to decide if when annual passes become available again if we would get them as we are Florida residents and a few weekend trips to Disney a year is fun.

This made my decision easy.

I never really went to Disney for the rides as most of their rides are outdated and rely on nostalgia. There are a few exceptions. I do love Pirates as goofy as it is. We went for the other stuff in the park. You know, the stuff they all but did away with. I loved parades and shows and characters. Now that isn't really a thing anymore or at least not like it was. So now the only draw is rides. And all both of the new rides they built in the last 10 years may as well not exist as getting on them is so complicated it's really not worth the effort.

So with the $100ish entry fee, I'm buying the opportunity to either stand in line for an hour for a ride that was cool in 1975 or a roller coaster that barely qualifies as more than a kiddie ride, see a cavalcade of random characters with little to no theme, eat overpriced carnival food that can take an hour to even get, or just wander around and look at the admittedly nice looking park.

It was already hard to justify the $100 ticket before, but at least I got to go on a handful of mediocre rides without waiting as long as the corresponding movie run time. Now that's not a thing unless I want to spend even more money for a non-guarantee to even ride the ride with a shorter wait. And, God forbid I want to ride one of the things made in this century, I have to spend even more.

Yeah, I'm gonna pass. There is too much other stuff to do in Florida to spend thousands on mediocrity. Pity, I grew up going to Disney parks at least once a year and was hoping my kids would get to do the same.

 

[Boopuff]

I'm holding out hope that deluxe/DVC will get some sort of perk. I think I'll take a wait and see approach. The more I read the "just back" threads, I'm dismayed at the lines snaking all over the park right now. If the Genie takes that away, in my book, that's fine! Once it's put into action I'm sure the folks on this board will find a way for it to be beneficial.

 

[Leight19]

Someone mentioned Universal does this but not at their top tier resorts. At their top tier resorts it’s free and unlimited. The purchase option only allows for one experience per ride. When we book at Portifino it’s unlimited.

I have been considering selling my BWV contract that I have had since 1998. This is just one more reason to do so.

I love Disney but it’s rare they blow us away with new ride technology. Flight of Passage being the exception. We will wait until
Next year do a big trip when all the new rides are open and then make a decision. It’s just getting very old and the constant removal of perks is annoying when I don’t feel like I’m getting the same bang for the buck.

The other difference to me is universal prices it high enough that I believe most won’t get it. While some seem happy with the low price for genie + I think this means many will buy it and if everyone buys the “skip the line” option are you really skipping the line or just waiting in different line?

I guess a lot will depend on implementation but I see two risks that comes from Disney’s model. 1) They dedicate so much capacity to fast pass that standby lines are intolerable, 2)They don’t dedicate enough capacity to fast pass and people regret buying because they can’t book anything.

Given the fact option 1 would heavily incentivize spending more money and I believe current Disney will do anything they can to increase revenue I’m guessing they will do everything in their power to make standby lines as miserable as possible.

 

[kilik64]

To me what will really be interesting is what effect if any this has on stand by lines once it launches. While they havent explicitly stated how the main $15 tier works, you gotta figure its like the old fp+ system in that there are windows and each window only has so much capacity before it fills up. So even if "everyone has it so no one has it" happens, you'll still have a shorter wait time in the Genie + line vs the standby. People like to spout that standby waits were longer because of fp+, so wonder if standby ends up being better, worse, or same as before.

 

[thptrek]

We are going in mid October and staying at our home BLT, so we shall see how this shakes out. I'm fine with the extra $15 per day as long as it includes most rides. Saying that, I would pay another $15 to guarantee I can get on ROTR.

I think this will be in flux for a bit just like when FP first came out. Remember how people hated it and then we got to love it. Remember running from FP kiosk to kiosk to get those paper FP tickets???

WDW is crowded and demand is high. Some people will cancel/sell but many others will not. Yogi Berra said "nobody goes there anymore because it's too crowded"

I'm hopeful.

 

[Sandisw]

The other difference to me is universal prices it high enough that I believe most won’t get it. While some seem happy with the low price for genie + I think this means many will buy it and if everyone buys the “skip the line” option are you really skipping the line or just waiting in different line?

I guess a lot will depend on implementation but I see two risks that comes from Disney’s model. 1) They dedicate so much capacity to fast pass that standby lines are intolerable, 2)They don’t dedicate enough capacity to fast pass and people regret buying because they can’t book anything.

Given the fact option 1 would heavily incentivize spending more money and I believe current Disney will do anything they can to increase revenue I’m guessing they will do everything in their power to make standby lines as miserable as possible.

The use of the park reservation system may actually help with this since you will only be able to get GP+ for the park you are at for the morning times.

That may lead to a much more accurate way of knowing how many of each to release. Plus, with only one at a time, there will be more options to spread people put during the same times…I hope.

I am just wondering how the paying will work. Do they just charge your hotel room for onsite guests once you book. Can you order ahead of time for days you know you want?

And who knows, maybe we will see a new ticket type offered that includes GP+ every day and it works out slightly less than $15/day?

 

[WilsonFlyer]

We should be getting really close to the time when one of those guys pops in here with, "Well, you didn't buy theme parks. You're not entitled to anything. You bought a timeshare. Get over it."

 

[Yinn]

I've always said "I went to Disney every year as a kid" but I grew up staying off property. 10am arrival to the parks, left by 4pm. We ate out of the parks. We only went two days max to Disney, then we'd go to Seaworld, Gatorland, Wet and Wild, and Universal.

It was a great time. My DW was the one that convinced me to stay on Disney property. No need to rent a car, magical express, early access (Should have seen my face first time she suggested a rope drop!) Which led me to buy things like the dining plan, PhotoPass, and eventually DVC.

I don't like it, but I'm not bugging out yet. I have little ones, we'll still need to vacation. It'll all depend on when the crowds/lines are. If this ends up making the non-paid portion a 3.5 hour wait, no thank you. If it's a 30-45 min wait, that's not terrible. And if we have to pay it to avoid the 3.5hrs...we will. But we're sure as heck not paying it for a 7 day trip. We'll pay it for 2 days, get our fix and go do other things. If we had to choose, we'd skip Epcot and AK and pay the genie for a day at MK and a day at HWS. I'm happy I have AKL as one of my home resort.my kids enjoy the pool and the animals and we'll have more resort days.

Disney will still be on the list, but we'll do it differently. I'll still go and if I'm already renting a car, we'll cover that by eating dinner out of the parks. Paying for Genie will make sure we can hit the rides up faster and get out for dinner.

This also means we won't get PhotoPass because we won't have a weeks worth of photos. We won't get the dining plan because we'll be staying longer than we're in the parks. We won't get the popcorn bucket. etc etc. I don't think Disney will fail because of this. But I know my average dollars per trip to Disney will probably be closer to 35-40% of what I currently spend and my average per day will be closer to 25% of what I currently spend. We'll see...

 

[n2mm]

Do people realize genie + is only for the tier 2 rides. it does not include the big rides. people are excited about $15, but when they realize they have to pay extra to ride space mountain, that may make people redo the math. At MK, tier 2 rides would be ok, but most of us are still going to be in standby for the big rides. Seems the pay per ride price depends on the wait time. Someone on FB posted a screen shot of the program that shows purchase for space mountain, but dumbo is included in genie +

 

[WilsonFlyer]

It's starting to feel like the county fair, only the gate admission went to $150/day. Same rides though. All from the 60's.

If only they had a house of mirrors, I'd be all-in. Oh wait! DVC!

 

[Sandisw]

Do people realize genie + is only for the tier 2 rides. it does not include the big rides. people are excited about $15, but when they realize they have to pay extra to ride space mountain, that may make people redo the math. At MK, tier 2 rides would be ok, but most of us are still going to be in standby for the big rides. Seems the pay per ride price depends on the wait time. Someone on FB posted a screen shot of the program that shows purchase for space mountain, but dumbo is included in genie +

I think many do realize it is not the top tier. I will say, though, that not every family has people who ride those top tier rides so i am glad you can pay…if you chose to…for only those who want to ride them.

My DH can not ride any of them and I can no longer ride many. It will be interesting to see it in practice but I can potentially see how we can make it work with the different things people like to do.

 

[jo-jo]

When all the information comes out, could there be sticky "genie for dummies"? I barely got FP , now this is a whole new ballgame.