Just paid $30 for Genie+

[Disturbia]

Charge me $100, get rid of the stupid app and booking times, and tie it to my Magic Band. Let me enjoy my vacation without looking at a stupid phone all day.

I’d pay $50 for a fireworks LLI$ instead of paying for a dessert party

 

[MillauFr]

We thought $30 Genie+ would be on Christmas Day. I suppose I now have to brace for $50 Genie on New Years (going to WDW). Multiply by 5. I suppose we won’t be using it for our entire trip.

If they only charge $30 it will be completely useless

 

[DeeCee735]

Nothing in any of any park warrants paying that for us...not in a long time, not ever. JMHO
I miss fast pass, it was definitely a better system. And of course free, because after all park passes are (and always were - relatively speaking) pricey. I understand that people opt to purchase to get the most out the parks, but I've also learned that there are so many ways to enjoy the parks that we decided we don't need to rely on (an unreliable) pay for service. I've read so many posts about how people find the service glitchy (we all know the app can be) and that sometimes when they follow the plus service's posted wait times, they find the times to be less than posted in the app. We chose not to pay for Genie plus back in December, but paid for the one ride we wanted to try - using ILL and saved ourselves some money. We still got onto the other rides we were interested in at some point in the day, without that feeling of, "we paid extra for this, we have to get on the ride". If the waits were long, we went to something else and came back or tried a drink in a bar we never sat at, etc. (talking EPCOT).

I guess our mind set comes with having been there often enough to feel like we just don't have to do everything anymore...again JMHO

Dee

 

[lalasmama]

I’m sort of mind-boggled that people are saying more people are using Genie+ than Fastpass?

While FP was free, it was substantially less user friendly. To start, you had to know *where* the dang machines were located. Remember RSR's FP machines being near Carthay? Indy's were in a spot that looked like it was Jungle Cruise. Buzz and Star Tours were at the same location. If you didn't go into the inlet and just looked, you could easily just see the sign for one and assume the other one was somewhere else.... and you had to go to the FP station to get the FP.

So while FP was free, it was much more inconvenient. Disneyland gets us hooked on the simplicity of booking a 'FP" anywhere we are while and charging a small fee, and people are going to fork out their $$$ to avoid running the distance of the parks when you are at Space and wanting to ride BTMRR next.

 

[Mle8308]

Anyone know if they give CM's a discount? I was there last week with friends from WDW and they were able to get me in on their Silver Pass. We bought Genie+ and it said the cost was $25 per person, however I was only charged $20 per person (total of $60 including tax, if taxed) each day. I know at WDW there is no Cast discount, was curious about DL. Not that I'm complaining about paying less! And Genie+ was definitely needed, it was very busy. We were able to make great use of it, at least 8-10 attractions each day.

 

[Disturbia]

If they only charge $30 it will be completely useless

Not really. We went in August (holiday season) and Genie+ worked really well at DL and we did things as we went (very little going out of our way to get to a ride). There are a lot of APs who don’t buy Genie+. We saw a lot of families there with little kids.

 

[twodogs]

Charge me $100, get rid of the stupid app and booking times, and tie it to my Magic Band. Let me enjoy my vacation without looking at a stupid phone all day.

They already have this option…. It is the VIP tour that will run you about $5000/day for up to 10 guests for 7-8 hours. That is a lot more than $100 per person per day. If Disney ever introduces an “all inclusive” G+ pass, it will have to cost at least as much as the current VIP tour per person or they would be losing money.

 

[jecarnl]

They already have this option…. It is the VIP tour that will run you about $5000/day for up to 10 guests for 7-8 hours. That is a lot more than $100 per person per day. If Disney ever introduces an “all inclusive” G+ pass, it will have to cost at least as much as the current VIP tour per person or they would be losing money.

I'm not asking for a tour guide or the ability to skip the line. Give me the Universal model of Express Pass and get rid of the stupid app. I don't go on vacation to get up early to make a LL selections or stare at a stupid cell phone all day.

 

[Kender]

I honestly prefer it to the WDW one. It's fair for everyone regardless of where you are staying. I'm sorry your trip didn't go as expected tho. We went on August and the longest line we had was RotR at 30 min. Genie+ works great if you do your research on it.

I hate that it cost so much money and I hate that they are doing dynamic pricing but Genie+ worked so much better that MP and free fastpass. We got a Space Mountain LL at like 9pm , which would have been impossible before.

I used to pull high demand passes that late all the time on MP. And were usually rerides which isn't possible with G+. So was not impossible before with MP. It's also not a guarantee with G+.

 

[starlite_]

I used to pull high demand passes that late all the time on MP. And were usually rerides which isn't possible with G+. So was not impossible before with MP. It's also not a guarantee with G+.

Lucky you, maybe you have gone more than me, we never could get SM that late.

 

[Kender]

Lucky you, maybe you have gone more than me, we never could get SM that late.

I was just addressing it was not impossible as saying it was impossible was untrue. Unlikely? Sure. But not impossible. It's also unlikely with G+. But not impossible.

I'm also not local so not like I'm offering an experience from getting to try daily either. I just knew how to refresh. Same type of strategy can work for G+ (but nothing is a guarantee), but if you got a Space earlier in the day, you can't grab one that shows up late like you could with MP.

 

[twodogs]

I'm not asking for a tour guide or the ability to skip the line. Give me the Universal model of Express Pass and get rid of the stupid app. I don't go on vacation to get up early to make a LL selections or stare at a stupid cell phone all day.

A Disney VIP tour is not "skip the line". You wait in the LL line with everyone else, but you don't have to book times and you can reride things (other than ROTR) during the tour as many times as you want (remembering the price quoted above was based only on 7-8 hours; if you had an "express pass" like Universal's, you could use it open to close, so that price above that is currently charged for the VIP tour doesn't cover that many hours). Some guides do more "tour guide" things than others, talking about park history or pointing out things. Having been on several VIP tours in the past, the main reason that I think the vast majority of folks book them is for the almost unlimited LL access (you do get VIP seating for fireworks or WOC and/or Fantasmic and/or parade on the day of your tour). So yes, someday Disney might offer something like Universal's EP, but it will have to be much, much more than $100/person/day. If they offer it, I am sure there will be many who will take them up on it.

 

[limace]

I want the data analytics folks at Touring Plans to talk about this. When we think back to maxpass-$20-and we also had free fast passes-we didn’t have the horrendous line issues. The Fastpass line typically went smoothly. Now we presumably have fewer people accessing those lines since there is no free option but the lines seem to often be much worse.

I am starstruck. Emailed Len Testa just now and heard back from him in 11 minutes! He says they are working on this very question right now and expect to have some sort of answer in about a month after gathering more data.

 

[Blue32]

I am starstruck. Emailed Len Testa just now and heard back from him in 11 minutes! He says they are working on this very question right now and expect to have some sort of answer in about a month after gathering more data.

It has been speculated here and elsewhere, but the combined effect of more through put % of LL users and the increase in breakdowns and MEP's given out has got to play a large part in how this is currently affecting lines in the parks now.

 

[bookbabe626]

2pm arrival should have gotten you quite a bit of value, especially if you knew about the refresh trick.
Even the top tier LLs.

We could have gotten Splash (chilly and raining so didn't) and Big Thunder (not a fan). Everything else was either during or after our BB dinner, and we knew once we ate we'd be too jetlagged to stay longer. Had some rides show up during refresh but my fingers using disney wifi weren't fast enough to be successful, I guess. I think I was initially caught off guard by the "no LL until after park entry" difference, and it threw off my game just enough that I didn't adapt well to the difference between the two systems. Live and learn, I guess.

 

[bookbabe626]

I honestly prefer it to the WDW one. It's fair for everyone regardless of where you are staying. I'm sorry your trip didn't go as expected tho. We went on August and the longest line we had was RotR at 30 min. Genie+ works great if you do your research on it.

I hate that it cost so much money and I hate that they are doing dynamic pricing but Genie+ worked so much better that MP and free fastpass. We got a Space Mountain LL at like 9pm , which would have been impossible before.

See, that's where we differ in opinion. I really think that people spending the gawdawful stupid rates at Disney hotels should have some kind of perk, and the ability to book LLs starting at 7am is a good one that we make use of pretty much daily. We aren't early entry people, so those perks aren't at all useful to us.

Sounds like August was much slower than October, maybe we'll have to try DL then. Or maybe like a random Tuesday in January. But Saturday's lines were pretty bad, lots at 90 min and up, with HMH hitting 165 min for most of the afternoon. And then there were all the breakdowns. Ugh. Ah well, a busy day at Disney is still better than a day at work anytime...

 

[irlandaise]

I am starstruck. Emailed Len Testa just now and heard back from him in 11 minutes! He says they are working on this very question right now and expect to have some sort of answer in about a month after gathering more data.

Limace, that's great news. Their analysis will be fascinating. Please make a thread with a link to their data when they get it. Thanks!

 

[limace]

Limace, that's great news. Their analysis will be fascinating. Please make a thread with a link to their data when they get it. Thanks!

Deal!!!

 

[GoingSince1990]

A Disney VIP tour is not "skip the line". You wait in the LL line with everyone else, but you don't have to book times and you can reride things (other than ROTR) during the tour as many times as you want (remembering the price quoted above was based only on 7-8 hours; if you had an "express pass" like Universal's, you could use it open to close, so that price above that is currently charged for the VIP tour doesn't cover that many hours). Some guides do more "tour guide" things than others, talking about park history or pointing out things. Having been on several VIP tours in the past, the main reason that I think the vast majority of folks book them is for the almost unlimited LL access (you do get VIP seating for fireworks or WOC and/or Fantasmic and/or parade on the day of your tour). So yes, someday Disney might offer something like Universal's EP, but it will have to be much, much more than $100/person/day. If they offer it, I am sure there will be many who will take them up on it.

I did some back-of-the-envelope calculations back when people were pondering what would replace FP and concluded that a Universal-style ride anytime pass for Disney would need to be priced at something like $700 to $900, per person, per day.

 

[Kit Jackson]

I did some back-of-the-envelope calculations back when people were pondering what would replace FP and concluded that a Universal-style ride anytime pass for Disney would need to be priced at something like $700 to $900, per person, per day.

I am horrible with math and lots of numbers tend to overwhelm me. With that disclaimer out of the way, how did you arrive at that amount? I'm not saying you're wrong, I'm just really curious how you arrived at that price range.