The big G+ rides at HS gone by 1:07!

[Grumpy by Birth]

I would loathe to be a customer service rep at Disney the next 60 days. You couldn’t pay me enough. Disney is going to maximize profits, then give something back they took away, and all will be rainbows and lollipops

 

[Haagen Dawgs]

 

[twodogs]

I agree with this 100%
and I think Disney could still accomplish what they intended (I assume) to reduce standby times by only allowing use of one FP+reservation per ride per day.

Genie+ is touted by Disney as being created by “listening to guest feedback to allow more flexibility”…. Well either they’re lying or stupid.. because there is hardly anything flexible about genie +.

What Disney intended to accomplish with G+ had nothing to do with reducing stand by times. It had to do with making more money per guest for Disney. Mission accomplished. Take something that was free and charge for it (even if in a slightly different form). The shareholders are celebrating. Once you think of all Disney decisions through the lens of increasing revenue, it makes it easier to understand (but you don’t have to like it or agree with it; you can vote with your wallet).

 

[Meglen]

With guardian coming out in may now.. this puts a huge wrench in genie + for me because now it's just another thing that can get messed up.

If you grab a vq for guardians. Best bet would to not even get genie that day imo.

 

[roctavia]

What Disney intended to accomplish with G+ had nothing to do with reducing stand by times. It had to do with making more money per guest for Disney. Mission accomplished. Take something that was free and charge for it (even if in a slightly different form). The shareholders are celebrating. Once you think of all Disney decisions through the lens of increasing revenue, it makes it easier to understand (but you don’t have to like it or agree with it; you can vote with your wallet).

They might be celebrating now, but I do wonder how things will shake out once the travel boom settles down and word continues to get around that their new services nickel and dime for less magic than before.

With Universal expanding, and many people (including my family) planning to not return after this COVID make up trip, I could see Disney numbers tanking in the next couple of years if nothing changes. It's going to take a lot, since Disney is such a big draw and people will pay crazy amounts to skip lines... but I wonder if they are feeling a bit of a boom now that won't last if they can't deliver better service/experience.

(Tanking in the sense of not raking it in hand over fist like they are at the moment.... I don't think anything will stop DW from being busy "enough")

 

[Disturbia]

Does the anytime passes need to be used the same day

Our anytime pass expired at the end of the day.

Another recovery pass (multi experience) was multi park and that was any 1 ride, any park and expired the next day.

 

[fireflyer]

They might be celebrating now, but I do wonder how things will shake out once the travel boom settles down and word continues to get around that their new services nickel and dime for less magic than before.

With Universal expanding, and many people (including my family) planning to not return after this COVID make up trip, I could see Disney numbers tanking in the next couple of years if nothing changes. It's going to take a lot, since Disney is such a big draw and people will pay crazy amounts to skip lines... but I wonder if they are feeling a bit of a boom now that won't last if they can't deliver better service/experience.

Roctavia, I fear that you're correct. We are definitely in a travel "boom" which gives Disney an abundance of visitors in early 2022. But people who previously enjoyed planning their Disney visits (pre-Genie+) now CANNOT. Further, the people who HATED pre-planning are ALSO unhappy because they get fewer rides/day than ever in WDW history. se

I'm a repeat park-visitor, and also a shareholder. But I don't foresee any visits for us after March 2022, and I plan to sell my DIS stock after the next $5 increase. Face facts: Even 20 years ago, Epcot appeared extremely outdated. Today, seniors like me still enjoy almost everything at WDW, but nothing there is relevant to today's youth. Mickey Mouse cartoons haven't been on TV for generations. Pluto?... my nephews have never heard of him. My niece doesn't even want a nice plush Mickey. I feel like I could believe in the "Disney Magic" forever. But none of my younger relatives care anything about the Disney characters. And I don't think the nickel-&-diming (wristbands, Genie+, photos, ILL) will convince the 2020's youths to come to Disney. Let's be real.

 

[nicksinger8]

I think we need to remember, way back in the day, that FP was put in place for a reason. It was a huge hit ever since the paper version was introduced.

Having done standby-only last summer, when park attendance was lower than it is currently, I can say without a doubt that standby-only is not sustainable. Doing away with FP, FP+, or G+ certainly may reduce standby waits, but not like you would expect. They may drop from really really really long, to really really long. With paper FP and FP+, we never waited in lines anything like we did last summer. It was like a completely different park experience, literally a different Disney World, in a very negative direction.

As much as I complain about G+, a lot of that comes from how effective FP+ was for us. I was reserved to the fact that Disney would eventually charge for the line skipping service, but didn't expect such a large downgrade.

G+ is certainly better than nothing, but it's painful when it's such a big step backwards, especially when you now have to pay for it.

Dan

I agree that some type of Fastpass system needs to be in place. The first system worked really well and had positive effects on the standby line too. I have not been since 2004 so I don't know how well it would work now - worked in Disney Land Paris when I went Summer 2017. I never used Fastpass + as I haven't been for years. The problem with Genie Plus is the cost. It doesn't appear to feel like good value especially to those who have used Fastpass over the years.

 

[itf]

I think last night I realised what I'd do if I were Disney. I'd allow resort guests 2 LL at a time. They love to punish off-site guests at the moment with the LL system and it drives even more revenue on site.

 

[Pink Partridge]

Mickey Mouse cartoons haven't been on TV for generations. Pluto?... my nephews have never heard of him. My niece doesn't even want a nice plush Mickey. I feel like I could believe in the "Disney Magic" forever. But none of my younger relatives care anything about the Disney characters.

My 3 year old niece is obsessed with Mickey and Donald. She loves Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.

Roll Call!!

 

[Meglen]

Roctavia, I fear that you're correct. We are definitely in a travel "boom" which gives Disney an abundance of visitors in early 2022. But people who previously enjoyed planning their Disney visits (pre-Genie+) now CANNOT. Further, the people who HATED pre-planning are ALSO unhappy because they get fewer rides/day than ever in WDW history. se

I'm a repeat park-visitor, and also a shareholder. But I don't foresee any visits for us after March 2022, and I plan to sell my DIS stock after the next $5 increase. Face facts: Even 20 years ago, Epcot appeared extremely outdated. Today, seniors like me still enjoy almost everything at WDW, but nothing there is relevant to today's youth. Mickey Mouse cartoons haven't been on TV for generations. Pluto?... my nephews have never heard of him. My niece doesn't even want a nice plush Mickey. I feel like I could believe in the "Disney Magic" forever. But none of my younger relatives care anything about the Disney characters. And I don't think the nickel-&-diming (wristbands, Genie+, photos, ILL) will convince the 2020's youths to come to Disney. Let's be real.

Maybe your not looking in the right spots? But Disney and Micky are definitely around for the youth. Brand new style of Micky that is used in MMRR is on Disney + same with new chip and Dale. Lots of the older shows are also being watched on Disney plus. But if you don't own cable or Disney plus you won't see it.

 

[itf]

Agree D+ very popular although my daughter watches the princess films rather than anything mickey and Minnie related.

 

[jbish]

Today, seniors like me still enjoy almost everything at WDW, but nothing there is relevant to today's youth. Mickey Mouse cartoons haven't been on TV for generations. Pluto?... my nephews have never heard of him. My niece doesn't even want a nice plush Mickey. I feel like I could believe in the "Disney Magic" forever. But none of my younger relatives care anything about the Disney characters. And I don't think the nickel-&-diming (wristbands, Genie+, photos, ILL) will convince the 2020's youths to come to Disney. Let's be real.

Not to pile on, as others have already pointed out where kids of all ages can find Mickey and the gang (my kids grew up with MM Clubhouse), but they have also seen all of the classic and newly released Disney animated movie that comes out and the parks definitely capitalize on those. As they grew older, they're all in on Marvel and Star Wars. Quite honestly, the sheer volume of characters/movies/storylines that fans of all types and ages is overwhelming and makes Disney very relevant to lots of different people.

 

[snikki]

With guardian coming out in may now.. this puts a huge wrench in genie + for me because now it's just another thing that can get messed up.

If you grab a vq for guardians. Best bet would to not even get genie that day imo.

If it even goes to VQ. I wouldn’t be surprised if they just did ILL. But then the standby line would be outrageous so who knows.

 

[itf]

On the plus side GOTG should take some of the heat out of Rise in terms of people competing at 7am.​

 

[Disturbia]

Current wait times/LL at 8:32 am

 

[Disturbia]

6 minutes later; MFSR is 25, MMRR is 30

 

[snikki]

I’m not sure if linking to reddit is allowed, but this is a great counter-argument to the current observations about crowds. No idea if the data are accurate, I’d assume so. But definitely interesting to see these comparisons.

https://www.reddit.com/r/WaltDisneyWorld/comments/sywbp9

This was posted on another thread on the dis. I found it interesting.

 

[PaladinButters]

This was posted on another thread on the dis. I found it interesting.

For any that aren't on that subreddit normally (I'm sure there's tons of crossover with posters here) - picture the seagulls from Nemo (except they are just saying crowds, crowds, crowds instead of mine, mine, mine) over and over and over on new posts every few hours to get a sense of what that was even in response to.

 

[MainMom]

If it even goes to VQ. I wouldn’t be surprised if they just did ILL. But then the standby line would be outrageous so who knows.

I hope there is no VQ.