New MultiPass LL (aka Paid FastPass+)

[Neener16]

I will be testing a vpn on that first day for our arrival on July 28th. If it doesn't work, gonna have to drive from Winnipeg to the border just to steal some wifi. Insane.

Hopefully it was a mistake which will be remedied soon.

 

[Cocolazzone]

What international regulations? It doesn’t affect me since I live in the US, but I can’t imagine how outraged international visitors are. For the life of me I cannot figure out why they came up with this rule.

What regulations though? Why can we pre-pay for trips, dining, ADRs, races, magical extras, we used to be able to book FP+, and when we went to Disneyland we paid for G+ all in advance. I can’t see how/why it would be any different.
Even if we had to call DVC MS to add it on like we do for dining plan or APs it would be better. Not perfect, but definitely better.

You make good points, this is just what I had heard! but it does not make sense and I really cannot see how Disney will be able to pull this off. Hoping it was a communication error that spiralled!

 

[bigmac5]

I am guessing we might be able to use a VPN or ask an American friend to help in the worst case. ....

What is VPN?

 

[jd370]

Our travel agency confirmed it for now!

They had a meeting with DIsney today and were told you have to be in the US for the advanced purchase of LL muti or single pass.

Simply outrageous!

 

[yowcruiser]

So.....

When accessing the WDW website, if you are on any non-US versions of the site, the new Lightning Lane information does not show up... more or less a blank page only... so that + the information circulating from travel agent pretty much confirms the current approach. As to why... time will tell.

Ultimately, this may be as simple as switching to the US version of the site and right now, a VPN appears to be working just fine when conducting most activities on the WDW website. I recall using a VPN a few years ago on the DCL website due to a glitch on the non-US version of the site

 

[walt34]

Currently, the app doesn't allow you to book Genie+ if you are outside the US (or Canada). It doesn't care whether you use a VPN, so I assume the app uses GPS directly. So this isn't a workaround (at least not in the current implementation).

I certainly do hope Disney addresses this. I am somewhat optimistic as this does not only affect international DVC members but all international hotel guests.

 

[pangyal]

I am in Canada and have booked Genie+ through the app dozens of time from home for arrival day evenings. Are there people who aren’t able to do this? The links also take me to the respective pages and I am not currently using a VPN.

 

[walt34]

I am in Canada and have booked Genie+ through the app dozens of time from home for arrival day evenings

You have to in the US OR Canada to book Genie+. I fixed my earlier post.

 

[TropicalDIS]

This seems crazy, especially for Canadians. I can only hope there has been poor communication from Disney and we will be able to prebook.

I suspect we won’t know for sure until the system rolls out and someone here tries it out.

 

[mamaofsix]

I have a feeling this policy was meant for certain countries who can't access the same MDE features as us (UK, etc). Disney communicated it badly and CMs / media lumped Canada in with other countries. Canadians can already make purchases and reservations through MDE, whereas I don't believe those in the UK can.

Let's see how it shakes out.

 

[TropicalDIS]

I have a feeling this policy was meant for certain countries who can't access the same MDE features as us (UK, etc). Disney communicated it badly and CMs / media lumped Canada in with other countries. Canadians can already make purchases and reservations through MDE, whereas I don't believe those in the UK can.

Let's see how it shakes out.

That's what I think as well. I think it is typical bad communication from Disney, and Canada is being lumped in with other international countries.

It would be crazy if we couldn't prebook the new LL.

 

[Minniemoo15]

I agree, I am now thinking this might be a blanket statement for countries where the app isn’t available to download, make purchases etc. I’ve always been able to make genie+ and ILL purchases and selections at home here in Canada - I do it often for friends on their trips. So I am hopeful we will still be able to with this.

For countries where they are unable to do so, there should be a phone number you can call to have a CM make selections on your behalf.

 

[walt34]

I agree, I am now thinking this might be a blanket statement for countries where the app isn’t available to download, make purchases etc. I’ve always been able to make genie+ and ILL purchases and selections at home here in Canada - I do it often for friends on their trips. So I am hopeful we will still be able to with this.

For countries where they are unable to do so, there should be a phone number you can call to have a CM make selections on your behalf.

The app itself is available in many countries. Unfortunately not all of the functionality is available everywhere. Sometime this seems to be on purpose (Genie+ can only be bought in the US and Canada), sometimes it's Disney's terrible IP geography detection. This is supposed to direct people to offers that are specific to their country but it is implemented really badly, so whenever MDE depends on the Disney website, changes to either the app or the website often break functionality.

With the old Genie+ this isn't much of a problem (if you can only buy it after midnight of the day) but with the new pre-booking this becomes a serious problem. I do hope Disney addresses this. Think about all of the Europeans who go on an expensive (often once in their lifetime) trip to WDW only to find all of the attractions already sold out.

 

[Minniemoo15]

The app itself is available in many countries. Unfortunately not all of the functionality is available everywhere. Sometime this seems to be on purpose (Genie+ can only be bought in the US and Canada), sometimes it's Disney's terrible IP geography detection. This is supposed to direct people to offers that are specific to their country but it is implemented really badly, so whenever MDE depends on the Disney website, changes to either the app or the website often break functionality.

With the old Genie+ this isn't much of a problem (if you can only buy it after midnight of the day) but with the new pre-booking this becomes a serious problem. I do hope Disney addresses this. Think about all of the Europeans who go on an expensive (often once in their lifetime) trip to WDW only to find all of the attractions already sold out.

It’s terrible - I don’t think I would even bother to buy new genie if I couldn’t book until I got to the US. They need some sort of work around.

 

[thebigman65]

I sincerely hope this is an error and will be corrected. But just in case I emailed MS and DM'd the Disney Parks IG account. I think all Canadian member should do the same!

Good Morning,

We would like to express our deep concern regarding the new Lighting Lane system changes. When it was announced yesterday, we were so happy! We have been advocating for years to make these changes and allow guests to book Lighting Lane in advance. Well it seems we were premature in our celebration, because now we are hearing that only guests in the USA are able to use the new system of booking 7 days in advance.

We are Canadian and have been members since 2010. We take multiple trips a year, have annual passes and bring our entire family every 2 years. In other words, we spend lots of money at Disney! A CM in a chat seemed to also indicate that this was a limitation from a website/technology perspective. I can honestly say this should not be the case. There is no reason why the new LL system cannot be available to international guests! When the Fastpass+ system was in place, there was no "USA ONLY" issue, we could book FP+ in advance just like everyone else. Now all of a sudden, this is an issue? Also, International guests can book dining 60 days out like everyone else, so why is this any different?! If this is indeed the case, this is without a doubt, the most short sighted and wrong-headed change that Disney has ever made.

I am confident that this was just an oversight, and that this will be corrected. I cannot imagine our beloved Disney would ever do anything to make their international guests and fans feel like second class citizens.

If you could please let us know if this is indeed the case, and if so, will it be corrected so that international guests will be able to make LL reservations in advance just like everyone else. Please feel free to send this on to whichever dept is responsible for implementing this new system. I am sure you will have many other international members sending similar emails or requests.

Thank you.

 

[bigmac5]

I sincerely hope this is an error and will be corrected. But just in case I emailed MS and DM'd the Disney Parks IG account. I think all Canadian member should do the same!

Good Morning,

We would like to express our deep concern regarding the new Lighting Lane system changes. When it was announced yesterday, we were so happy! We have been advocating for years to make these changes and allow guests to book Lighting Lane in advance. Well it seems we were premature in our celebration, because now we are hearing that only guests in the USA are able to use the new system of booking 7 days in advance.

We are Canadian and have been members since 2010. We take multiple trips a year, have annual passes and bring our entire family every 2 years. In other words, we spend lots of money at Disney! A CM in a chat seemed to also indicate that this was a limitation from a website/technology perspective. I can honestly say this should not be the case. There is no reason why the new LL system cannot be available to international guests! When the Fastpass+ system was in place, there was no "USA ONLY" issue, we could book FP+ in advance just like everyone else. Now all of a sudden, this is an issue? Also, International guests can book dining 60 days out like everyone else, so why is this any different?! If this is indeed the case, this is without a doubt, the most short sighted and wrong-headed change that Disney has ever made.

I am confident that this was just an oversight, and that this will be corrected. I cannot imagine our beloved Disney would ever do anything to make their international guests and fans feel like second class citizens.

If you could please let us know if this is indeed the case, and if so, will it be corrected so that international guests will be able to make LL reservations in advance just like everyone else. Please feel free to send this on to whichever dept is responsible for implementing this new system. I am sure you will have many other international members sending similar emails or requests.

Thank you.

What were the email addresses you send to?

 

[samsteele]

It’s terrible - I don’t think I would even bother to buy new genie if I couldn’t book until I got to the US. They need some sort of work around.

I agree. I wouldn't buy it either if I had to wait until I arrived in the US. But I didn't buy Genie+ or ILL at all on my last trip in September and didn't miss those. Of course, that was September with low crowds and if I had a trip booked for Christmas, Easter, March Break, etc with high crowds then it would be tempting and I would be very concerned.

Like some PPs, I'm going to wait and see how this news shakes down in the next few days.

On some other threads, there is significant criticism of vloggers who have passed on the info re international guest restrictions. Let's not shoot the messenger. I've followed Tom Bricker for 5+ years and his info has always been up to date, thoughtful and complete. If he's made an interpretation that isn't supported, he will definitely correct it once Disney clarifies. He is one of the best and most helpful sources for WDW.

Re VPN, I'm not sure that will be as helpful with the app as some suggest. Again, that will be a watch and see.

I really feel bad for international friends landing at the end of July. Any huge change always lands on someone's head. This is a heavy and disappointing weight to deal with after months of planning.

 

[hdrolfe]

Well I was excited about this, I never liked genie+ and the few times I've paid for it, it was a waste of money for us. If the news is correct that we can't do it from Canada, that may change things for me. I have no trips planned at the moment, perhaps I will have to find a new "happy place" for vacations. I'm still a little bitter about not being able to pre-order magicbands any more, this is one more thing to frustrate a trip to Disney. But we'll see how it plays out.

 

[carlyannek]

I just got off the phone with Disney, as we had to modify our tickets for our upcoming trip. The customer service rep asked me if I was aware of the new changes to Genie. I told her that I was aware, and that I was disappointed that international guests were not having the opportunity to book in advance, despite my 14 days booked at a deluxe resort. She had no idea what I was talking about. She then pulled up her document on it, and went to the FAQ portion. She read the whole thing aloud to me, and then went "oh.. my.. gosh...." and then read line ten to me which stated "for international guests, while they will be able to utilize this service, it will not be available until they arrive to the United States." She then messaged her team lead, who confirmed the change.

For those who were wanting confirmation from Disney.

She said she was so embarrassed because had I not brought that to her attention, she would have been giving incorrect information. She said we would be vocal about this with her lead and make sure that the correct information is given out to people.

Why is Disney trying to sneak this through? I do not know.

 

[bigmac5]

Is there an email address were we can voice our concerns/displeasure?