POLL: How are people feeling about Genie+

[Micca]

Passing judgement before the program is live doesn't work for me. I'll wait to see it in practice before I decide.

Ah c'mon, don't you enjoy hand wringing and grousing over something that doesn't even exist yet?

I'll wait and see, probably will try it from time to time.

 

[MrBellatrixLestrange]

Ah c'mon, don't you enjoy hand wringing and grousing over something that doesn't even exist yet?

I'll wait and see, probably will try it from time to time.

Just because it hasn't been implemented doesn't mean people can't see how it will affect them.

I'm guessing Caesar didn't need to feel the knives in his back to know he wasn't going to enjoy the experience.

 

[Micca]

Just because it hasn't been implemented doesn't mean people can't see how it will affect them.

I understand what you're saying, but I don't think we can know how it will affect people until we see it in action. If it works as promised, people will probably be ok with it, but if the app is glitchy like nearly every other bit of Disney IT, it's gonna suck. Too many variables to see how it's going to work out.

 

[vincep]

The thing is there will be a lot of people willing to pay $15 extra for the genie+. Therefore how many fast passes are you going to get out of it in a day? No more sleeping in late you've got to be up 7AM to get your first FP and as soon as you get off the ride(can you do it on the ride?)you've got to immediately look at your phone to see what next is available and when. This really makes you a slave to your phone. Your phone will be your immersive experience. It might be hours before something you want to do is available and then after that you will be lucky if you can find something you want to do before the end of the night. So in between you will be having hour-an hour and a half wait times for other rides.

This releasing info piecemeal is not helpful. It is purposely confusing. I assume this surge pricing for the most popular rides will be like $15 to $25. Disney just doesn't want to be hit by a tsunami of criticism all at once. Keep the 'guests' off balance so they won't know what hit them.

 

[DisneyFive]

Versus standing in standby lines all day, it's an improvement, even with the cost. Standby lines and lack of FP+ were THE BIGGEST negative of our recent late July, early August trip we just completed. I estimate those factors alone took away 25% of the value of our WDW vacation.

Pro's:
Less time standing in lines
More time to just meander and enjoy the parks (like we used to with FP+)

Negatives:
Getting up at 7am every day (staying on property) so that we can book our first G+ attraction

Don't know yet:
Availability of G+'s for popular attractions
Will there be a built in automatic delay before you ride your next G+ attraction
What will the "time windows be" 1 hour? 30 minutes?
Will you be able to update to an earlier timeslot if one exists (like the old refresh method)

Dan

 

[JoJoGirl]

I voted “neutral,” regarding how I think/hope it will work for my park style. Whatever it is, I can make it work for me.

That said, it’s a bitter pill to have to pay extra fees on top of an already high ticket price. That part I don’t like at all.

 

[Alexis56578]

I'm a wait and see person.

Still hope there's an extra perk for on site guests that they haven't announced or are waiting to announce after enough people complain.

 

[cakebaker]

My option isn't there. Don't like it but I can live with it and will definitely use it. I can see where strategies will play a big part in how well it works. I'm going to sit back and let others do the leg work on that. By the time we go back, the dust will have settled and maybe I'll end up loving it.

 

[TimeToPack]

I voted Neutral. I will wait and see the next few years what it costs other people to go and then decide. I just don't have that excitement I had at the 25th Anniversary. The 50th just seems blah! In the mean time, I am planning a Norway cruise, London and France, skipping Disneyland Paris, if Covid numbers are still high in Europe, we will take a cruise to Alaska and enjoy Canada for a few weeks As of right now, I am fed up with this and so are my kids and husband. We had a great run in Disney, it will never be the same, but my kids have awesome memories. There's only so many times you can ride the same rides over and over, and keep paying and paying.

 

[Kitty-chan]

Do we know yet whether you have to buy Genie+ for length of ticket, or if you can buy it just for an individual day? This might change my vote. I've been assuming it'll be for length of ticket (so for my 7-day ticket this fall, I'd have to pay $105 to add it, as opposed to just $15/day here and there as desired.

 

[Pyxie]

I chose "wait and see," but really I'm more "okay with it, but would prefer to not have to pay."

 

[MrBellatrixLestrange]

Do we know yet whether you have to buy Genie+ for length of ticket, or if you can buy it just for an individual day? This might change my vote. I've been assuming it'll be for length of ticket (so for my 7-day ticket this fall, I'd have to pay $105 to add it, as opposed to just $15/day here and there as desired.

https://www.disneytouristblog.com/lightning-lanes-genie-plus-disney-world-faq-guide/
According to this it should be available for days based on your needs.

 

[Sjm9911]

I dont like the idea of paying per ride, feels carnival like to me. I will get the 15 $ thing for the days im there but will not shell out per ride. I figure most will do it this way. Why it will suck, everyone will not want to pay per ride as they allready shelled out for the ticket and the extra 15$ so they will all flock to the teir 1 rides. There will be no spacing out of the crowds with fp+. If this happens , it could be a nightmare. As people want to ride the new stuff and will be afraid the lines will be to long later in the day. Sure the disney ap will say go to the teacups, no wait, but no one will listen.

 

[HopperFan]

I can only vote based on the information Disney has released. As more info comes out, as it actually goes into play and we learn the pros / cons, as we see if Disney has a solid IT product or a dud ............ my vote could change.

 

[rangerxenos]

What bothers me is I'm looking at it as yet another money grab by Disney for something that used to be free. And the Tier 1 level is JUST a money grab, nothing more.

 

[suzywindy]

I keep researching info and am still trying to wrap my head around it in order to see what will work for my group. I am the early riser so the 7am time does not matter to me and I am the planner so hopefully I can pick for all. Sometimes I think I will pay for the plus $15 for all 4 of us so that day we can just continue to pick open options to maximize that day and then other days I am thinking I will want to pay just for the top 2 rides to make sure we get on slinky and Rise and then do the rest. Then the day we do epcot not so sure because my family is not a big Epcot fan but we are going there one day to do the new ride so that day I think I will just purchase the $ extra cost of whatever Disney decides on. The rest of what we do at epcot I will not pay for - Living with the Land, Spaceship Earth, Figment, etc. That is what I am starting to think about. I have 2 days at MK so perhaps one of the days we do the Genie plus and the other we pay for 2 of the popular ones. I am guessing I finally have to start my spreadsheet to see what will make sense but for now my only other pre-planning will be for a Cabana and some sit down meals - at least you can still try and secure those 60 days out.

 

[daae3]

I like to plan...part of my enjoyment in my Disney vacations is the planning. I am not going to like this version because it takes away my ability to pre plan. I am not going to like paying for fast passes. I don’t need to see how this rolls out to know I will not like those things...oh and the genie planning your next steps? That is a hard no from me...I do not trust Disney not to try to manipulate lines and crowds or stick me in every gift shop they can...

 

[Moliphino]

Hate it, won't use it, makes me less inclined to take a Disney vacation. I hate having to pay for what used to be free. I hate that it will make you need to use your phone so much. I hate that it makes you get up early while on vacation to get better times.

 

[Moliphino]

I like to plan...part of my enjoyment in my Disney vacations is the planning. I am not going to like this version because it takes away my ability to pre plan. I am not going to like paying for fast passes. I don’t need to see how this rolls out to know I will not like those things...oh and the genie planning your next steps? That is a hard no from me...I do not trust Disney not to try to manipulate lines and crowds or stick me in every gift shop they can...

It'll be like the old surprise fastpasses for attractions nobody was interested in.

 

[Andrew Gross]

As a many-year Annual Passholder who let my families passes expire due to the pandemic and still waiting for the COVID-19 risk in the community to decrease before traveling again, I am currently in a holding pattern in any decisions pending what the new annual pass offerings are. In general, as someone who would visit the theme parks pre-Covid two weekends a month traveling from Tampa Bay, enjoying Disney dining with Tables in Wonderland, I have no desire to wait on any lines over 10 minutes at any time. When Universal took the Express ride line access to be a hotel only benefit and started charging for express access, I waited until they started offering the Premium pass which gave me express access after 4pm and was quite happy with that and visited their park often, also enjoying the prime parking beneft. I current renewed my Sea World/Busch Gardens Platinum pass also knowing I took a trip to San Antonio, like the reserved seating, and although the single Qwick Quoue for me is useless since I don't ride roller coasters- but the preferred parking and reserved seating, dining and shopping discounts is worth the higher cost for my family (and I am buying lots more food and gifts then ever before when I visit because of the benefits we get). Being with outdoor shows seems a little safer with the covid risk these days, however now that as a vaccinated physician I am seeing such high positivity in the community, we visit much less often then we would like to due to the crowds.... as I mentioned, I like the parks but travel way too often to bother with crowds and lines to see things we see so often. Which brings us back to Disney's decisions on their new Genie-Plus. Paying for single rides for my family won't happen on principle. The previous fastpass system probably encouraged me to renew my pass many years repeatedly before their expiration because of the benefit of the 60d reservation system (before that, I used to let the pass expire, wait for new attractions to be built while visiting other parks, then resume as a passholder when the park seemed a little different, which sometimes was hard to wait because the concert series used to be much better and gave my family a reason to come over several weekends a month. So I suppose it will be wait and see- if the new annual pass offering is value, and the entertainment offerings (like the concerns Epcot used to have) comes back, my family will take advantage of it at a reasonable price point. However, I will not pay daily extra for fast ride access, nor pay extra for new rides. If stand by ride times go back to unreasonable like they were before the Fastpass system, then my family will probably hold off on renewing and will go back and wait until visitation become more accommodating and enjoyable, in the meantime enjoying my reserved seating for shows and close up parking at Sea World and eventually resuming Premium Pass at Universal with the express entry after 4pm with prime parking. But we are in no hurry to decide anything now- perfectly happy trading the theme park crowds for a beachfront room away from crowds while earning Marriott Lifetime Titanium and Hilton Diamond Points. We will see what the new Disney Passes offer us when they come, knowing and fearing it probably won't be of much value anymore for us compared to other entertainment options.