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

[Figvention]

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.

For all my Disney angst, we are going to Epcot on Christmas Eve. Traditionally we forgo Christmas "gifts" for the family and pre-Covid would spend 5-7 days on-site. We will not get Sucker Plus, I mean Genie Plus/Luxury Lane as we are there for the "holiday", and not the rides. We went for two, two-day trips to Epcot in 2021, and we will still probably plop down a stupid amount of money on a Candle Light Processional Dinner Package (my wife performed in as a young adult). This year we are staying offsite and making a tour down the Atlantic coast with the other days. We will be eating at 5-star restaurants and staying in very nice accommodations, all the while saving a few grand from previous years. I'm not trying to lend myself to being a pauper king or anti-wealth. I'm an economics major and long-time operations manager for a large chunk of the territory of a very large corporation. These decisions are intentional, they are punitive towards the customer. I'm just baffled that people can lower their standards and pay sometimes 30% more, no other customer base does this, anywhere along the economic scale.

Facts: A- The crowds are ridiculous B - The rudeness that has developed in our society has seriously bled into the parks, the number of violent incidents and aggression in line is absurd. Don't have this problem at a seaside villa. The realization of lack of value once people get there is a huge motivator for this. Sick of seeing people puking because they are hammered drunk at Epcot. C - The attractions and theming are shoddy, take a look as you ride through Journey through Imagination. It looks like a country fair ride. So many places we have noticed where the paint is peeling and broken parts of attractions (BTM/Splash) are simply being ignored.

THIS IS NOT WORLD-CLASS ENTERTAINMENT and it cost MORE than world-class entertainment, MUCH MORE. The online complaining while still going and giving away an amount of money that would feed a small village in the developing world, is a drinking game at our house. One shot for each "I can't believe it" (Yes you can because you're still paying), "I'm gonna send a strongly worded email/letter", is two shots, and "it will get better next year" is 3 shots. It will never go back and it will never get better because people keep ringing the register. Your emails and angry posts are infantile and useless to a megacorp like Disney.

If you gonna go, you are going to deal with it as it is. No email or message board post is fixing it. If they do read these, they are laughing as they dive into the money bin. Stop fooling yourself.

 

[revdon64]

Well this thread has made my mind up for me. We were considering buying G+ for our three-day trip next month, but after haunting the ADRs every day for weeks and not seeing even one restaurant available on our HS day, I'm not wasting $90 for our 6-person group to get three rides. I can do that in SB. I might buy ILL for RoR just because we've never done it, but we'll just take it easy and do whatever else we can do. Add this to the pile of reasons that we won't likely be back after this.

 

[twodogs]

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

Realize that longer hours cost Disney money for increased staffing, so don’t expect this without an increase in ticket prices. Those good old days are gone. They are limiting hours to save themselves money. None of us like it, but I don’t see it changing if attendance stays this high. People spending their money for a reduced experience is music to Disney exec’s ears. Sadly.

 

[DduzDis]

For all my Disney angst, we are going to Epcot on Christmas Eve. Traditionally we forgo Christmas "gifts" for the family and pre-Covid would spend 5-7 days on-site. We will not get Sucker Plus, I mean Genie Plus/Luxury Lane as we are there for the "holiday", and not the rides. We went for two, two-day trips to Epcot in 2021, and we will still probably plop down a stupid amount of money on a Candle Light Processional Dinner Package (my wife performed in as a young adult). This year we are staying offsite and making a tour down the Atlantic coast with the other days. We will be eating at 5-star restaurants and staying in very nice accommodations, all the while saving a few grand from previous years. I'm not trying to lend myself to being a pauper king or anti-wealth. I'm an economics major and long-time operations manager for a large chunk of the territory of a very large corporation. These decisions are intentional, they are punitive towards the customer. I'm just baffled that people can lower their standards and pay sometimes 30% more, no other customer base does this, anywhere along the economic scale.

Facts: A- The crowds are ridiculous B - The rudeness that has developed in our society has seriously bled into the parks, the number of violent incidents and aggression in line is absurd. Don't have this problem at a seaside villa. The realization of lack of value once people get there is a huge motivator for this. Sick of seeing people puking because they are hammered drunk at Epcot. C - The attractions and theming are shoddy, take a look as you ride through Journey through Imagination. It looks like a country fair ride. So many places we have noticed where the paint is peeling and broken parts of attractions (BTM/Splash) are simply being ignored.

THIS IS NOT WORLD-CLASS ENTERTAINMENT and it cost MORE than world-class entertainment, MUCH MORE. The online complaining while still going and giving away an amount of money that would feed a small village in the developing world, is a drinking game at our house. One shot for each "I can't believe it" (Yes you can because you're still paying), "I'm gonna send a strongly worded email/letter", is two shots, and "it will get better next year" is 3 shots. It will never go back and it will never get better because people keep ringing the register. Your emails and angry posts are infantile and useless to a megacorp like Disney.

If you gonna go, you are going to deal with it as it is. No email or message board post is fixing it. If they do read these, they are laughing as they dive into the money bin. Stop fooling yourself.

We'll pay for the things we still find value in. We love the resorts and will continue to go there. But, will be more choosy in the extra cash grabs going forward.

 

[becauseimnew]

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.

Thanks, we were there last August (no fastpass so busy season) and didn’t enjoy it as much like in years past. I know it will be busy, but I think that’s just the new normal. So just want to make sure we won’t hate it.

 

[scrappinginontario]

We'll pay for the things we still find value in. We love the resorts and will continue to go there. But, will be more choosy in the extra cash grabs going forward.

In spite of the changes we still loved our time at Disney 2 weeks ago.! I'm happy to pay for the vacation we had and did not regret spending the money.

Like you, I'm more choosy about extra cash grabs so I cancelled our PH's (they're a nice to have but honestly did not miss them even once) and used that money to purchase G+ 3 days. In the end I came out ahead money wise and we had an amazing trip!

 

[pixiedust2u]

FP+ without a doubt. I'd actually be o.k. with paying the $16 per person per day for that old system. That system had serious value, not just in the amount of rides you could get in, but also the ability to have a less stressful day sleeping in if desired, etc...

• Ability to pre-book 3
• Ability to modify or cancel without losing the ability FP that ride again
• Ability to choose from a few time windows
• ALL rides included, not the removal of two per park for $ILL

For those of you saying that headliners were gone day of, that simply wasn't true, with the excpeption of maybe one premier ride per park. (7DMT, SDD, FOP). We used FP+ for years, the most recent time with a party of 7 and ALWAYS could get day of FP's for any attraction other than the ones I already mentioned. We had no problems getting them day of for BTMRR, Space, Splash, PP; RnRC, ToT; EE, Safari; TT, Soarin... and this was during the moderate/busy summer, not low crowd days

Dan

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 +.

 

[gregskellington]

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 +.

Or! Think about this...You are focused on the parts of G+ that you don't like and the parts of FP+ that you did, while totally ignoring the many, many faults of FP+.

 

[Mrs~Incredible]

Well this thread has made my mind up for me. We were considering buying G+ for our three-day trip next month, but after haunting the ADRs every day for weeks and not seeing even one restaurant available on our HS day, I'm not wasting $90 for our 6-person group to get three rides. I can do that in SB. I might buy ILL for RoR just because we've never done it, but we'll just take it easy and do whatever else we can do. Add this to the pile of reasons that we won't likely be back after this.

I’m sorry if this post took some wind from your sails. Remember, you don’t have to purchase ahead of time and you can monitor things closer to when you go to see if it will be worth it to you.

 

[pixiedust2u]

Or! Think about this...You are focused on the parts of G+ that you don't like and the parts of FP+ that you did, while totally ignoring the many, many faults of FP+.

If the intent of genie + was to address the faults of FP+ then they failed miserably.

Genie + is a money grab, and a gamble for most guests. Further is falsely marketed as a premium add on option to “enhance” your experience and add “flexibility”.

FP was not perfect, and it’s had its faults… but at least it didn’t cost guests extra money or their valuable time.

 

[Mrs~Incredible]

If the intent of genie + was to address the faults of FP+ then they failed miserably.

Genie + is a money grab, and a gamble for most guests. Further is falsely marketed as a premium add on option to “enhance” your experience and add “flexibility”.

FP was not perfect, and it’s had its faults… but at least it didn’t cost guests extra money or their valuable time.

Yep. Opposite of “flexibility”.

 

[gregskellington]

If the intent of genie + was to address the faults of FP+ then they failed miserably.

Genie + is a money grab, and a gamble for most guests. Further is falsely marketed as a premium add on option to “enhance” your experience and add “flexibility”.

FP was not perfect, and it’s had its faults… but at least it didn’t cost guests extra money or their valuable time.

You've just said more words without supplying any supporting evidence. You can critique things anyway you like. I'm personally not jumping to calling people stupid if I myself have not properly analyzed the situation.

 

[gregskellington]

Yep. Opposite of “flexibility”.

I'd describe the opposite of flexibility being told 68 days in advance I won't be getting a FP for Flight of Passage and my FP for Slinky Dog 65 days out will be at 630pm.

 

[MikeandReneePlus5]

there's more demand than ever and that makes lines grow. you can stand in those lines if you like.

Or for $15 a day per person you can skip a couple or three of the lines and for another $15+$7 you can do ROTR and MMMRR without a line. that's the value proposition, take it or leave it.

What you can't do is ride all the rides without long waits. That is impossible.

And what Disney could have done is raise ticket prices across the board and offered no line shortening system. They didn't do that. they tiered it so it's pay to get more.

 

[pixiedust2u]

You've just said more words without supplying any supporting evidence. You can critique things anyway you like. I'm personally not jumping to calling people stupid if I myself have not properly analyzed the situation.

Sorry, let me clarify I’m calling those who designed and approved genie + as a premium and flexible product as not too bright. Not the people who use it or who happen to find it valuable to their own personal experience.

 

[DduzDis]

I'd describe the opposite of flexibility being told 68 days in advance I won't be getting a FP for Flight of Passage and my FP for Slinky Dog 65 days out will be at 630pm.

You still had 68 and 65 days (respectively) of stalking if you so chose and you could modify FP+; not so much with G+. Far more flexible than G+ in that regard.

 

[MikeandReneePlus5]

Sorry, let me clarify I’m calling those who designed and approved genie + as a premium and flexible product as not too bright. Not the people who use it or who happen to find it valuable to their own personal experience.

you should watch the Defunctland video on how complicated this stuff is. just google it. it's long though...like 90 minutes.

 

[Mrs~Incredible]

I'd describe the opposite of flexibility being told 68 days in advance I won't be getting a FP for Flight of Passage and my FP for Slinky Dog 65 days out will be at 630pm.

You have a point there. You sound like my DH, who thinks ALL of this is ridiculous. And don’t get him started on dining reservations 2 months (or 6 haha ) in advance.

for me personally, i liked the ability to book my FPs in the morning or afternoon, so part of the day was structured and part of the day was more spontaneous.

with G+, 2 of the 3 or 4 days we used it I felt “trapped” in a park, with awkward and variable amounts of time in between. So I feel like more of a servant to the genie, which stinks especially after paying extra.

to be fair, we did have one great G+ day. And part of the reason the other days were not very good is the lack of capacity/staffing/shows etc. so hopefully it will get better.

I’d really like it if it were more consistent.

After reading and following this thread, maybe it comes down to everyone’s personal threshold.

for me, by 1:00 I expect MF and SDD to probably be gone. Maybe even tot on a really busy day. But add in RnR and for me that’s past my threshold of it being perceived as worth it.

 

[gregskellington]

You have a point there. You sound like my DH, who thinks ALL of this is ridiculous. And don’t get him started on dining reservations 2 months (or 6 haha ) in advance.

for me personally, i liked the ability to book my FPs in the morning or afternoon, so part of the day was structured and part of the day was more spontaneous.

with G+, 2 of the 3 or 4 days we used it I felt “trapped” in a park, with awkward and variable amounts of time in between. So I feel like more of a servant to the genie, which stinks especially after paying extra.

to be fair, we did have one great G+ day. And part of the reason the other days were not very good is the lack of capacity/staffing/shows etc. so hopefully it will get better.

I’d really like it if it were more consistent.

After reading and following this thread, maybe it comes down to everyone’s personal threshold.

for me, by 1:00 I expect MF and SDD to probably be gone. Maybe even tot on a really busy day. But add in RnR and for me that’s past my threshold of it being perceived as worth it.

I totally agree with you (and probably am quite like your DH, lol. My family doesn't know what they want to eat in an hour, 6 months?!?!) - and I want to be SUPER clear, G+ is totally half baked. But, FP+ was a nightmare. I mean, we are honestly supporting that in addition to me waking up at 5am my time 60 days out from check in to book our FP+ (also considering I planned our trips for parks with headliners to be last, knowing my booking advantage would be greatest), I should have also stalked the app to move my times or replace my selections? And then should have refreshed the app all day day of? But G+ requires us to be on our phones "all day".

Yes, capacity is a huge problem (it was with FP+, too, that's why you saw things like every meet and greet being a FP+ and fireworks viewings being one). I also think the program will work better if they remove one ILL from each park. That, to me, is the money grav. Charging for a service thay never should have been free hurts, but I understand. Charging me the same price for Space Mountain as Rise of the Resistance? Yeah, I'll pass.

 

[Delirium]

Or! Think about this...You are focused on the parts of G+ that you don't like and the parts of FP+ that you did, while totally ignoring the many, many faults of FP+.

Give me a list of 'faults' for FP+ and I will explain to you why none of them are faults for me. For my family, FP+ was the perfect planning tool for our trip.