Goodbye, Maxpass. Hello, Disney Genie.

[DLgal]

OOOOH!! I'm so hopeful about this!! We're staying at DLH (checking in Oct. 5th) and are bringing FIRST time guests with us, so we're really crossing our fingers to be able to splurge on this to make their trip extra magical! Fingers crossed.
Thank you for giving me such super news!!

Be careful what you wish for. This app/program may have a ROUGH first few days as glitches work out and cast members get used to it. I would be wary of having to deal with this with first time guests.

 

[Malcon10t]

I just saw that you can pay in store through your phone and not have to check out for purchases. You get a mobile order bag of some sort, get the stuff you want, pay on your phone and then you get a QR code that you present to a CM when you exit. Is that what you were thinking of?

ETA: of course, I can't find it now, LOL. I saw it on the app but I have no idea where, but I did find a place in the app (World of Disney) that has a blue "Shop in Store - Now Testing" button.

I know I am late on this thread, but they have been doing this since mid July in WOD. It is very handy and only on our Labor Day trip did we encounter anyone else doing it. It is now also in Elias and I believe Emporium. My daughter was so proud of me for being able to do thee self check out. ANd the bag they give you is clear and they tape the top closed.

 

[StormyCA]

10/1? I was thinking of a one-day solo (IF I could get a reservation) when I'm 'down south' and it would be after that date. But I don't think I want to go anywhere near DL if it's within a month of the roll-out. Let others be the 'crash test dummies' that help Disney IT work out the kinks. Plus it'll give me a better idea of what and how much the 'LL +' rides are.

As much as I love HalloweenTime, I think I may push my DL visit back to early next year.

 

[DLgal]

10/1? I was thinking of a one-day solo (IF I could get a reservation) when I'm 'down south' and it would be after that date. But I don't think I want to go anywhere near DL if it's within a month of the roll-out. Let others be the 'crash test dummies' that help Disney IT work out the kinks. Plus it'll give me a better idea of what and how much the 'LL +' rides are.

As much as I love HalloweenTime, I think I may push my DL visit back to early next year.

10/1 is my birthday. I don't want that birthday present. I have reservations for 10/2 and 10/3 as well. They can start it on 10/4.

 

[Rich M]

OOOOH!! I'm so hopeful about this!! We're staying at DLH (checking in Oct. 5th) and are bringing FIRST time guests with us, so we're really crossing our fingers to be able to splurge on this to make their trip extra magical! Fingers crossed.
Thank you for giving me such super news!!

I was just at Disneyland the past 3 days and I did not see one sign changed yet. I was thinking that maybe Disney World would be getting it first.

 

[DLgal]

I was just at Disneyland the past 3 days and I did not see one sign changed yet. I was thinking that maybe Disney World would be getting it first.

It's launching simultaneously on both coasts. It's a much smaller job at DL to swap out signage. They will only have 15 Lightning Lane attractions to WDWs 40.

 

[dina444444]

The rumor is it will start just after 10/1 at wdw not on 10/1. My guess would be 10/4.

 

[Skyegirl1999]

Ugh. Guess we better go as many times in September as possible.

 

[avalon451]

I just saw that you can pay in store through your phone and not have to check out for purchases. You get a mobile order bag of some sort, get the stuff you want, pay on your phone and then you get a QR code that you present to a CM when you exit. Is that what you were thinking of?

ETA: of course, I can't find it now, LOL. I saw it on the app but I have no idea where, but I did find a place in the app (World of Disney) that has a blue "Shop in Store - Now Testing" button.

Did this at World of Disney this week. It was awesome and fast.

 

[Epicnemesis]

It’s been so nice without a fast pass/genie line.

I hate that they are creating a problem and then providing a solution to the problem they created. I’d honestly rather they went with the Disneyland Paris model.

Now they’ve created a program that is so low cost that a substantial portion of people are going to use which will tangibly slow down the standby line. Either make it super expensive and limited or a per ride thing.

 

[Malcon10t]

It’s been so nice without a fast pass/genie line.

I hate that they are creating a problem and then providing a solution to the problem they created. I’d honestly rather they went with the Disneyland Paris model.

Now they’ve created a program that is so low cost that a substantial portion of people are going to use which will tangibly slow down the standby line. Either make it super expensive and limited or a per ride thing.

There are already too many people complaining it should just be free, that it is too expensive, and it is ruining trips for families.

I don't know what the right answer is, Genie+ does seem like a good program, but if too many do use it, it will lower the value.

 

[ClaudiaKincaid]

I may be imagining this, but somewhere I think I saw something about being able to shop online while in the Parks and pick up your merch at a store later.

.... but I don't *want* to shop online in the parks! I'm, like, IN the parks -- I wanna go look at the merch! I can do the online thing at home, which is what we've been doing for the last year and a half! (I know, the merch is different in-park, but my point is that I am so sick of all-online-everything-all-the-time, come ONNNNN. This is not a perk to me, it's just another drain on my phone's battery.)

 

[ClaudiaKincaid]

So about the shift to Genie: If you guys are right, and it rolls out 10/4, me and my fam (and two other families we're good friends with -- our kids' schools all have this weird October break) will be the test subjects; my family will be doing 5-day hoppers starting on that date. Hoooo boy ... I'll try to report back!

 

[SeaDis]

Not sure if this was posted elsewhere. This Freshbaked blog came out 2 days before they posted the Genie+ rumor. And now it seems interesting in context/hindsight, with regard to October:

Disney may be planning increase in capacity at Disneyland

https://www.freshbakeddisney.com/disney-may-be-planning-increase-in-capacity-at-disneyland/

 

[Kender]

.... but I don't *want* to shop online in the parks! I'm, like, IN the parks -- I wanna go look at the merch! I can do the online thing at home, which is what we've been doing for the last year and a half! (I know, the merch is different in-park, but my point is that I am so sick of all-online-everything-all-the-time, come ONNNNN. This is not a perk to me, it's just another drain on my phone's battery.)

But it's not really "shopping online". It's using your phone as essentially a portable POS machine with the merch you are physically looking at, holding, and picking out in the stores at DLR that offer the service. Think of it like self check out without having to wait for a self check out machine and can be done as you go through the store so you don't have to scan everything at the end. You can pay at Sam's Club like this too.

And it's not a requirement to use it . So if you don't want to use it, don't use it. They still have traditional registers to check out at. You get to look at the merch in person no matter which checkout method you choose.

I personally love mobile checkout when I'm in a hurry and the lines are long. I also love that with mobile checkout I get a digital receipt. No chance of losing it or ruining it.

 

[DizMe]

.... but I don't *want* to shop online in the parks! I'm, like, IN the parks -- I wanna go look at the merch! I can do the online thing at home, which is what we've been doing for the last year and a half! (I know, the merch is different in-park, but my point is that I am so sick of all-online-everything-all-the-time, come ONNNNN. This is not a perk to me, it's just another drain on my phone's battery.)

I like it as an option, not a replacement. Have you ever wanted something in the parks but they're gone in the store you saw it in? Then you have to either have a CM call or you have to run around and try to see if it's in any of the other shops? Maybe a shopping option in the app would make that easier.

I do like the idea that I can mobile checkout in-store when the lines at the registers are really long. But part of me is worried that this is taking jobs away from CMs and we won't have a choice down the road.

 

[ClaudiaKincaid]

OK, I see what you're saying -- yeah, this could be helpful as a mobile POS instead of what I meant, which was the "shopping experience." (And I know you don't *have* to do it -- I guess I'm just being curmudgeonly about how much it looks like we're gonna be on our phones, when the whole point of a family trip to DL is to ... not be on our phones all the time, lol!)

 

[kikismom]

Be careful what you wish for. This app/program may have a ROUGH first few days as glitches work out and cast members get used to it. I would be wary of having to deal with this with first time guests.

This is exactly what I'm thinking. We are bringing (mostly) first time guests from 10/2 - 10/7. I do not want to be part of the guinea pig group at all. I was kind of excited for one trip where I don't have to stare at my phone the whole time to book maxpass.

 

[TikiTikiFan]

I'll be the one with the unpopular opinion here but I'm really hoping Genie+ will just launch already. Let's just get it going... take some time to work out the kinks and all the tech issues we know there will be before the xmas season. Finally know all the prices, how it works, strategies, etc. I'm sick of unknowns when trying to plan our trip.

We always visit at peak times of the year though bc of my schedule so I'd rather pay for that quicker ride access than be stuck in long lines. I'm definitely the target audience ("sucker"? haha) for this. WDW with no FP was so rough- waiting in line over an hour is something we're not used to. Just take my money and be done with it... they end up getting most of it anyways.

 

[lalasmama]

I'll be the one with the unpopular opinion here but I'm really hoping Genie+ will just launch already. Let's just get it going... take some time to work out the kinks and all the tech issues we know there will be before the xmas season. Finally know all the prices, how it works, strategies, etc. I'm sick of unknowns when trying to plan our trip.

We always visit at peak times of the year though bc of my schedule so I'd rather pay for that quicker ride access than be stuck in long lines. I'm definitely the target audience ("sucker"? haha) for this. WDW with no FP was so rough- waiting in line over an hour is something we're not used to. Just take my money and be done with it... they end up getting most of it anyways.

Same to most of this. I didn't miss FP at WDW, but DLR is my home park, and I've never *not* used FP/MP, so this is a huge unknown to me. I'll be at DLR next week, and I wouldn't be sad if it started around that time. Glitches? Of course. But at least we'd know something more!