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

[Mrs~Incredible]

I don't think Disney will ever be able to create a system that works flawlessly with the crowds they have at the parks. Like you said, there just isn't enough space on rides.

I feel that G+ is the virtual OG FP.

Which is why they reaaaaalllly need to expand their hours, as pp said.

 

[snikki]

Which is why they reaaaaalllly need to expand their hours, as pp said.

I agree. I miss the late nights in the parks!

 

[MickeyMice]

DHS has a few relatively unreliable, high demand, lower capacity headlines and then stuff like Muppetvision. no genie+. fastpass, etc system could possibly fix the math here. IMO you have to rope drop it (if you can) and/or stay late and/or use G+ to avoid crazy waits. i think it's possible to have relatively productive "chill" days at other parks but not at DHS.

 

[Figvention]

Before Genie+ these rides would've been gone at 59 days, and you were limited to 3 as well. The system isn't perfect, and in many cases isn't worth the money, but pretending these problems are new is just deliberately looking at the old Fastpass models with nostalgia. It's very entertaining to watch people yearn for FP+ when 8 years ago that system was also despised.

What happened with Genie+ isn't surprising. The cost is so low that way too many guests are willing to purchase it. But truthfully nothing is going to fix this system unless Disney increases ride and show capacity. FP+ would be just as bad, everything sold out weeks in advance. And paper fastpasses would be gone before noon with most guests being able to get one. Disney is more crowded than every and there literally isn't enough space on rides for every guest to reserve 3 experiences.

And to comment on your quote "I remember before Chapek, they cared about guest experience and studied how many “experiences” guests needed in order to want to come back.", that number of experiences was studied by imagineers and determined to be 4. In this case, you can easily get 3 Genie+ reservations and wait in 3 to 4 standby lines, plus eat two meals in a day.

My opinion on the who matter is to increase ticket prices and return to paper fastpasses. Some sort of Fastpass system does help people get on more smaller rides that typically have 20 minute or less waits, even on crowded days. The paper system allows Disney to account for unexpected breakdowns (major flaw with FP+), lets new visitors learn the system quickly (another smaller issue with FP+), provides some barrier to entry (having to go to the physical location instead of the phone lottery), allows guests to completely disconnect from their phones, and still provides the opportunity to see shows while not waiting 2 hours in line. The only change I might make is putting the FP pickup stations in better locations to reduce crowding.

The wedge is being driven by the age divide. Someone in their mid 40's thru mid 60's (I am in this bucket) WAS the real white whale Disney wanted to attract because we are a sucker for memories of the Mousketeers Club or Disney Afternoon cartoon block, oh and we have most of the money

When we spend in excess of 7k on a vacation, it's not to be glued to my phone and I don't get the endorphin release caused by a "like" or winning the phone game of getting an $LL day of like a younger person who does it for the "gram". As a family we enjoyed FastPass plus because once we got to Disney we were "done". Sure we sometimes didn't get SDD or SDMT at 60 days out, but that's life. Nobody is stomping their feet because they didn't get ALL RIDES. I'm not paying this kind of money for "maybe" or to be constantly playing a phone game for 7k+. The younger crowd has been conditioned that face into the phone is a new reality, we don't have that. I'm too old to rope drop and I'm surely not getting up at 6:30am on vacation to participate in a play-to-play phone "game", I don't need to level up. I don't know anyone in my age bracket that would consider that "vacation" activity, sorry it's not. I'm not moving dinner plans because my phone game told me I had to be somewhere. Are you paying the cancelation charge for the ADD just so you can ride Peter Pan when the phone tells you to?

Disney knows that the generation coming up under us does not have the buying power we do, they are moving on to the "day pass people" and milking them for all they have. The average family of 4 can barely make a mortgage payment, the days of 7-night family trips for anyone under 55 will die VERY soon. They have soaked us "geezers", the whale herd is thinning (much like my hair), they have other rubes to move onto. Please don't say your middle class if you can afford a 7+ day Disney trip or can go there 3 times a year for 5 days at a time, that level of "middle class" is now GONE from the economy, permanently. Be cognizant of your position in life before you start saying "well, most people can afford it". The initial estimate of median household income in November 2021 is $72,353, if you can afford to spend at least 12% of your post tax income on vacation, in this America you are WEALTHY, sorry. Disney knows this to be true, $LL is built to tax the new Disney. People who can come for 2 days and stay offsite.

 

[Duck143]

Good for you. They must be getting alot of this going on trip advisor reviews are savaging them currently

Wow! I just read a bunch of Tripadvisor reviews and you weren't kidding. If Disney execs aren't reading our posts, I'm hoping that they at least see some of those.

 

[leeniewdw]

We were supposed to be arriving today with a group of 6 (my grown kids + SOs who all haven't gone since they were tweens). I'm so relieved "life" got in the way (and covid) and we postponed. I would have been so stressed out with not being able to schedule more than 2 rides before everything was gone (which it is as of now). We used G+ at DHS on our travel day in December and arrived at the park with 5 LLs (2 ILL$ and 3 LLs) and grabbed another once we were in the park. Today would have been a COMPLETELY different experience. I know we're heading into Pres Weekend, but wow, such a huge huge difference.

 

[Disturbia]

Which is why they reaaaaalllly need to expand their hours, as pp said.

I agree with expanding hours; but realistically they are making lots of money selling those for an up charge -corporate events, after hours etc.

 

[Disturbia]

We were supposed to be arriving today with a group of 6 (my grown kids + SOs who all haven't gone since they were tweens). I'm so relieved "life" got in the way (and covid) and we postponed. I would have been so stressed out with not being able to schedule more than 2 rides before everything was gone (which it is as of now). We used G+ at DHS on our travel day in December and arrived at the park with 5 LLs (2 ILL$ and 3 LLs) and grabbed another once we were in the park. Today would have been a COMPLETELY different experience. I know we're heading into Pres Weekend, but wow, such a huge huge difference.

I see waits over 3 hrs for some of the rides. This is crazy.

 

[Turksmom]

For science- and if I refer to this thread in the future- It is 12:26 and all of the rides listed in my OP have no availability.

sooo if I want to ride all of them with G+, it needs to be over 2 days, unless by some miracle I can rock through all of them in the morning but I don’t think that’s really possible.

Well, at 12:58, you can book Star Tours for 4:25, AS2 for 6:00, or TSM for 8:10. If you had plans to hop to a different park before that, you are just out of luck.

 

[DisneyFive]

I think so - because we got there at park open, so I could have installed the MDE app - we did have international data, then paid for G+ (which would be peanuts compared to the huge ticket cost for the single day we were there) and gone for coffee or something while we waited for our first one to be called. As it was we were wandering round the park, seeing 2 hour lines everywhere (think 7DMT may even have been a posted 3) and it just being hopeless.

No idea why that day was so bad, we'd done Seaworld in a similarly disorganised manner the day before, and seen shows, got on rides etc no problem.

Kind of an apples/oranges comparison if you don't consider the option that you could have installed MDE last trip at park opening and then booking your FP's. You could have booked a FP, then went and get your coffee as well right?

I agree about SeaWorld. Back in 2012 all I did was plan our day around the shows and then fit in rides in between. Worked great. That was 2012 though when crowds were still low. SeaWorld still doesn't draw in the number of guests each day as Disney parks so I think that's a big factor.

For reference, here is a "heat map" courtesy of touringplans.com This shows ride availability with G+ on a high crowd day which is what you said you had. It's information like this that REALLY helps those out that do some research/planning. If you had G+ in place back in 2020 your first attempt at booking would be around 9:30am by the time you installed MDE and purchased G+. The times in each square are the expected return time if you booked that attraction as the time in the top row. For instance, at 9:30am, BTMM would be around 2:15 - 3:30pm return time, and then you can book another at 11:30 (two hour cool down window), etc...

 

[becauseimnew]

They were gone much sooner during Thanksgiving week.

How was Thanksgiving week? We are thinking about going that week this year… is it the worst?

 

[meghanmione]

We used Genie+ two Monday's ago for HS and it made a world of difference. Everything is sold at very early in the day (refreshing does work sometimes) for the headliners and had we waited just seconds longer to purchase rise at 7am we would've missed out. It was my first time ever using the new system and luckily I got it down pretty quick but it was frustrating having to wait every two hours just to hope something good is left. Luckily, crowds weren't that bad that week for us and we still had an absolute blast (tbh it was probably the most fun park of the trip for us).

The annoying part is unless you're doing two HS days, you really have to choose between what ride you absolutely want to do. We were happy to get Rise but had to miss out on a SDD LL because those sold out in mere minutes also. Instead of rope dropping, we tried to plan our LL for later in the day which worked out pretty well since the early times were gone up so fast, anyways. We ended up stacking MMRR, TSM, Rn'RC, MFSR, ST, and Rise for returns in the afternoon & evening. This worked great for us and while we didn't rope drop, we still ended up getting to the park around 10AM to walk around, shop, eat & do standby.

I will say, our experience with standbys was MUCH shorter than posted wait times so long waits didn't really discourage us. Rn'Rc said 95 min wait that afternoon but was nearly on the dot only 45 mins.
ST was posted 45, we did standby before our LL (and got the EXACT same experience ) and the wait was more like 25 mins. SDD was pretty accurate, however. 90 min posted wait, was a good 75 mins at least.

 

[dadr]

Yes and no. You can see next available time, but there is no guarantee that it will be available by the time your purchase processes.

And they go extremely quickly, if you browse around for a minute before deciding, the times can push back an hour or more.

 

[itf]

Kind of an apples/oranges comparison if you don't consider the option that you could have installed MDE last trip at park opening and then booking your FP's. You could have booked a FP, then went and get your coffee as well right?

Well no - we were directed by a cast member to kiosks - and of course there were no FPs available for any of the 'big' rides, or much of anything at all. We needed a time machine not, an app! At least with the G+ heatmap for a busy day, we could have done Peter Pan, Splash Mountain, Haunted Mansion and Barnstormer even if we only started booking at 10am. Admittedly a lot of it would be end of day but at least we'd finish with a bang. The reality was we checked kiosks on and off all day and only managed to score a princess M&G for my daughter and I think one of the shows.

 

[Westerner]

obviously a lot of people don’t find G+ to be great, but come on y’all - it’s not some conspiracy to make G+ awful, just an attempt to solve an unsolvable problem. When your park is too popular, you have to find some way to deal with the crowds. Any approach you take is bound to upset someone.

Very true. Line skipping systems are a complex beast with no perfect solution.

Maybe Disney should or will also copy Universal and offer a G+ Unlimited (G++?)…. LL on all rides as often as you like. Of course it’ll have to be $100/day, and then they’ll still have too many people opting in for that, and then the LL lines will be too long, and everyone will hate G+ and G++ too!

The advantage of Universal's system is its simplicity, but it's quite a bit more expensive than G+/ILL$ and has 2 tiers: Universal Express and Universal Express Unlimited. Six Flags has 3 tiers for their Flash Pass product. One concern I have with G+ is that Disney will be tempted to create additional tiers, which feels a bit too much like pitting guests against each other in a system where the more you pay the less you wait.

 

[DisneyFive]

Well no - we were directed by a cast member to kiosks - and of course there were no FPs available for any of the 'big' rides, or much of anything at all. We needed a time machine not, an app! At least with the G+ heatmap for a busy day, we could have done Peter Pan, Splash Mountain, Haunted Mansion and Barnstormer even if we only started booking at 10am. Admittedly a lot of it would be end of day but at least we'd finish with a bang. The reality was we checked kiosks on and off all day and only managed to score a princess M&G for my daughter and I think one of the shows.

It’s unfortunate that you got sub-optimal advice from the cast member. MDE would have worked better due to the ability to check more often, easier. Not doubting your experience. Surprised all you could get, or chose to get, was a M&G and show.

Keep In mind that you know more now than you did back then, and that heat map shows what you could possibly do of you chose your G+ optimally. There are many guests currently that are choosing their G+ options not realizing many of the attractions they want are sold out by the time the a looking to book them. This is especially true at HS, the original point of this thread. MK has the best opportunity to maximize G+ for sure

Dan

 

[soniam]

How was Thanksgiving week? We are thinking about going that week this year… is it the worst?

This was our 3rd time: twice since covid and once before. It's busy, but we usually go at March Spring Break or summer and have been between xmas and NYE, which are busy. I would never suggest it to a first timer. We rope dropped early entry, bought G+, and bought some ILL. It was very doable with all of that. That may be too much for some people though. We don't really mind crowds, but it was definitely busy. I think xmas to NYE is probably the worst, but not by much. I love seeing the holiday decorations. Unfortunately, Epcot's holiday festival doesn't start until Black Friday, so it doesn't give you much time to see it. All of the other decorations are usually up though. We also did Universal the weekend before Thanksgiving.

 

[DduzDis]

The wedge is being driven by the age divide. Someone in their mid 40's thru mid 60's (I am in this bucket) WAS the real white whale Disney wanted to attract because we are a sucker for memories of the Mousketeers Club or Disney Afternoon cartoon block, oh and we have most of the money

When we spend in excess of 7k on a vacation, it's not to be glued to my phone and I don't get the endorphin release caused by a "like" or winning the phone game of getting an $LL day of like a younger person who does it for the "gram". As a family we enjoyed FastPass plus because once we got to Disney we were "done". Sure we sometimes didn't get SDD or SDMT at 60 days out, but that's life. Nobody is stomping their feet because they didn't get ALL RIDES. I'm not paying this kind of money for "maybe" or to be constantly playing a phone game for 7k+. The younger crowd has been conditioned that face into the phone is a new reality, we don't have that. I'm too old to rope drop and I'm surely not getting up at 6:30am on vacation to participate in a play-to-play phone "game", I don't need to level up. I don't know anyone in my age bracket that would consider that "vacation" activity, sorry it's not. I'm not moving dinner plans because my phone game told me I had to be somewhere. Are you paying the cancelation charge for the ADD just so you can ride Peter Pan when the phone tells you to?

Disney knows that the generation coming up under us does not have the buying power we do, they are moving on to the "day pass people" and milking them for all they have. The average family of 4 can barely make a mortgage payment, the days of 7-night family trips for anyone under 55 will die VERY soon. They have soaked us "geezers", the whale herd is thinning (much like my hair), they have other rubes to move onto. Please don't say your middle class if you can afford a 7+ day Disney trip or can go there 3 times a year for 5 days at a time, that level of "middle class" is now GONE from the economy, permanently. Be cognizant of your position in life before you start saying "well, most people can afford it". The initial estimate of median household income in November 2021 is $72,353, if you can afford to spend at least 12% of your post tax income on vacation, in this America you are WEALTHY, sorry. Disney knows this to be true, $LL is built to tax the new Disney. People who can come for 2 days and stay offsite.

This sums up my thoughts very well. Though I struggled with G+ enough to make our trip last week work, I was a miserable mess trying coordinate everything. That is not how I want my kids to remember their vacations with me nor is it how I want to spend them. We are blessed to be in the we can afford it camp, but I won't be buying G+ again. Disney is enjoying profits while everyone gives it a whirl, but I have to imagine there are plenty of 1 or 2 days and done with G+ people as well.

We loved FP+ and the ability to know our plans well in advance (whether we got everything we wanted or not). I can remember not getting on FoP for a number of trips but it didn't ruin the trips. Paying for G+ and the uncertainty it presents daily is unsustainable in my opinion. I'll gladly forego G+ and leave the parks if wait times are unbearable.

 

[leeniewdw]

This sums up my thoughts very well. Though I struggled with G+ enough to make our trip last week work, I was a miserable mess trying coordinate everything. That is not how I want my kids to remember their vacations with me nor is it how I want to spend them. We are blessed to be in the we can afford it camp, but I won't be buying G+ again. Disney is enjoying profits while everyone gives it a whirl, but I have to imagine there are plenty of 1 or 2 days and done with G+ people as well.

My "kids" are in their late 20s and we've been trying (since before covid) to get them to come with their SOs for a long weekend. None of them have been since middle school and we think it would be a lot of fun. Weddings (all of them seem to have every friend getting married and are part of their wedding party and bachelor/ette trip, etc) and Covid have made it difficult to get a firm date on a schedule (we've canceled twice). But now I wish we'd offered a different vacation to them. We went in March 2020 and Dec 2021 and had great success, with FP+ and G+, respectively, but I also knew that with just 2 of us, we'd roll with any curveballs. I'd HATE to have spoken about all the SW stuff at the Studious and then end up only getting on 1 ride or whatever.

We are the 1-3 day people where G+ is very helpful, but it's like $200 a person per day or something!

And while we may be able to say we can afford it (though with price increases, it's getting ridiculous and that could change), but I'm not sure it is very palatable. Perfect timing after us all agreeing how much fun it would be.

 

[DduzDis]

My "kids" are in their late 20s and we've been trying (since before covid) to get them to come with their SOs for a long weekend. None of them have been since middle school and we think it would be a lot of fun. Weddings (all of them seem to have every friend getting married and are part of their wedding party and bachelor/ette trip, etc) and Covid have made it difficult to get a firm date on a schedule (we've canceled twice). But now I wish we'd offered a different vacation to them. We went in March 2020 and Dec 2021 and had great success, with FP+ and G+, respectively, but I also knew that with just 2 of us, we'd roll with any curveballs. I'd HATE to have spoken about all the SW stuff at the Studious and then end up only getting on 1 ride or whatever.

And while we may be able to say we can afford it (though with price increases, it's getting ridiculous and that could change), but I'm not sure it is very palatable. Perfect timing after us all agreeing how much fun it would be.

It's definitely becoming less and less palatable for us as well. I did it with just my family though we do often travel with another DVC family from our hometown. I can't begin to imagine what that trip would look like in a G+ world. We're planning to travel with them next March. I hope for serious adjustments before we need to dial in plans for park touring.