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

[nicksinger8]

People spend thousands more for an inferior hotel and pool experience than they could/would get offsite. $1,000 is peanuts and something with a real benefit in comparison.

I suppose it depends on the person. I don't think $1000 is peanuts in any context although it could easily end up $2000. But for a perk - $1000-$2000 is surely huge for most people. But I suppose, in any event, Disney could increase the price ten fold and reduce the quantity 10 fold and make the same money. If there is demand, fine they get their cash. The people who buy it get tremendous value as they have very small wait times. And the rest may look on longingly, but at least that is pretty much everyone else. Having everyone paying a bit and being disappointed - that can't go on much longer.

 

[nicksinger8]

$1000 is peanuts? Even at $10,000 like our trip last summer, $1000 extra is not peanuts. It's adding "insult to injury" Keep in mind it's $100+ per person per day. If you wanted to pay for something like Express Pass, and at minimum wanted to just visit each park once, that would be $2000+ for our family of 5. The economics just don't work. The more exclusive you make FP+, G+, or whatever you want to call it at WDW, the more the majority of guests suffer due to being stuck in standby-only lanes.

Dan

But wasn't this just Disney prior to Fastpass? It just equalises everyone. The select few get on without a wait - ah well, that's capitalism right - work hard, splash big cash, get a benefit! The vast vast majority wait in line like we used to - but if there aren't many people using the Lightning Lanes, that will make standby lines shorter. Frankly, I want them to go back to Fastpass one. That worked so well, but didn't make Disney any money of course.

 

[Meglen]

But wasn't this just Disney prior to Fastpass? It just equalises everyone. The select few get on without a wait - ah well, that's capitalism right - work hard, splash big cash, get a benefit! The vast vast majority wait in line like we used to - but if there aren't many people using the Lightning Lanes, that will make standby lines shorter. Frankly, I want them to go back to Fastpass one. That worked so well, but didn't make Disney any money of course.

Lots of complaints about fast pass system as well. I think they might drop genie + all together and just make all rides ILL on a flux scale. Making everything a e ticket rides while also charging for entry to the park. It will be scummy but people would buy them.

 

[itf]

Lots of complaints about fast pass system as well. I think they might drop genie + all together and just make all rides ILL on a flux scale. Making everything a e ticket rides while also charging for entry to the park. It will be scummy but people would buy them.

Don’t see what changes they can easily make when they’ve already sold people like me 14 day tickets with G+. What would happen to them? We paid extra for that portion of the ticket.

 

[Meglen]

Don’t see what changes they can easily make when they’ve already sold people like me 14 day tickets with G+. What would happen to them? We paid extra for that portion of the ticket.

Gift cards to make up the difference.. this way you have to still spend the money at Disney

 

[Delirium]

There have been many lucid observations about G+ made in this thread, some pro, and most con. But I take offense at the above implications from you (italics added) that posters who've anything good to say about G+ are Disney corporate shills. Please stop.

If your best friends in the world were going to Disney World, and they were experienced Disney vacationers, would you recommend that they invest in Genie+ for their trip?

 

[mom2rtk]

Typo noted and corrected.

That must be a leftover slip from years ago when posters on this board insisted that FP+ was going to be so unpopular that it would bring down the Disney Company.

In those days, anyone suggesting that FP+ would be more useful for many guests, maybe even a majority of guests, than the previous paper FP system drew allegations of being part of a paid Disney PR Team.

The more things change...

Nobody thought FP+ was going to bring down the company. But it was certainly the beginning of the end of spontaneity. And it laid the groundwork for what we have now.

I agree some things never change though. Some people will defend whatever Disney throws out there.

 

[mom2rtk]

Then maybe they should limit the number of park guests. They know how many reservations they've got and if they can't provide an adequate experience for that number of people, and god knows they will have the analytics, then they deserve no return visits.

The bottom line is that ride capacity has not kept up with attendance through the years and Disney seems uninterested in fixing that.

 

[wisblue]

Nobody thought FP+ was going to bring down the company. But it was certainly the beginning of the end of spontaneity. And it laid the groundwork for what we have now.

I agree some things never change though. Some people will defend whatever Disney throws out there.

Actually there were people who made statements to the effect that Disney wasn’t “too big to fail“ and predicted that if FP+ wasn‘t eliminated attendance at the parks would plummet and the company would suffer. Subsequent events have proven how off target that was, and a lot of comments on this board confirm that a lot of people prefer the certainty of having FP+ reservations in advance over Genie+ or the old paper FP system that didn’t exactly promote spontaneity either.

It isn’t a matter of defending what Disney is doing but trying to help people planning trips to make their plans with factual information, and not dramatic false statements like “Genie+ forces guests to have their faces in their phones all day”.

I think the Community Board is a better place for the opinion based complaining, not Theme Park Atrractions and Strategies.

 

[mom2rtk]

Actually there were people who made statements to the effect that Disney wasn’t “too big to fail“ and predicted that if FP+ wasn‘t eliminated attendance at the parks would plummet and the company would suffer. Subsequent events have proven how off target that was, and a lot of comments on this board confirm that a lot of people prefer the certainty of having FP+ reservations in advance over Genie+ or the old paper FP system that didn’t exactly promote spontaneity either.

It isn’t a matter of defending what Disney is doing but trying to help people planning trips to make their plans with factual information, and not dramatic false statements like “Genie+ forces guests to have their faces in their phones all day”.

I think the Community Board is a better place for the opinion based complaining, not Theme Park Atrractions and Strategies.

Goodness, you have strong feelings about discussions from 8 or 9 years ago. If you'd like to relitigate those, you probably need to go find those threads and bump them up. I'm not here to defend things people were saying so many years ago. Plenty to say about what's going on now instead.

 

[wisblue]

If your best friends in the world were going to Disney World, and they were experienced Disney vacationers, would you recommend that they invest in Genie+ for their trip?

In a situation like that I would talk to them about what they want to do at WDW, asking questions like what time of year they were going, how many days they were staying, whether they planned to get to parks early or stay late or take midday breaks, what attractions they most wanted to experience, etc.

I‘d also ask them if they are willing to spend some money to avoid standing in long lines. Then we could talk about my recommendations for how best to use Genie+ that fits their style and preferences.

There is no one good one size fits all answer to whether something like Genie+ makes sense for a certain group. I see the purpose of this board as helping people sort through facts and decide how it fits their circumstances.

 

[wisblue]

Goodness, you have strong feelings about discussions from 8 or 9 years ago. If you'd like to relitigate those, you probably need to go find those threads and bump them up. I'm not here to defend things people were saying so many years ago. Plenty to say about what's going on now instead.

I have been saying plenty about what’s going on now, and it has been designed to help people plan their trips. Not just air out complaints as some posters are doing.

But, I am seeing a lot of the same kinds of complaints that were made 8-9 years ago.

 

[Westerner]

If your best friends in the world were going to Disney World, and they were experienced Disney vacationers, would you recommend that they invest in Genie+ for their trip?

Difficult to answer b/c none of our friends go to WDW much. Closest thing I have is some family members who've been to WDW 3-4 times. They are not early risers nor do they plan much by DIS standards and didn't use FP+. They like things simple but would be prepared to pay to skip some lines esp. for super-headliners.

My advice to them on G+/ILL$ would be:

• Be prepared to use your phone a fair bit
• In advance, set up your Tip Board to so that the rides you care about most are listed at the top.
• When you wake up, go to tip board and see what ILL$ are available, book them and plan your day around that.
• After that, see what's available for G+ rides and book something with a return time that works
• During the day, during downtime, recheck tip board and see if anything else on your list is available.

 

[roctavia]

I suppose it depends on the person. I don't think $1000 is peanuts in any context although it could easily end up $2000. But for a perk - $1000-$2000 is surely huge for most people. But I suppose, in any event, Disney could increase the price ten fold and reduce the quantity 10 fold and make the same money. If there is demand, fine they get their cash. The people who buy it get tremendous value as they have very small wait times. And the rest may look on longingly, but at least that is pretty much everyone else. Having everyone paying a bit and being disappointed - that can't go on much longer.

Disney already has the expensive VIP tours to get a "select" few on the rides without waits if they are willing to pay for it. So it's not like that isn't already an option.

I don't think there is an answer as far as price to solve the problems with G+ Too many people will still buy it/be angry if they can't buy it because it's limited. the VIP tours are at least that "VIP" so people expect it to be very limited. To slowly limit G+ to a small portion of guests will really make people angry, even if they don't understand that the regular lines will move faster with out all of the other lightening lane people.

G+ needs to be made more functional, the capacity problem won't be solved until Disney has more capacity for guests- so that's not going to change. But making it so people an modify their G+ experience a little, even if you can't choose the initial time sure would go a long way in helping people work around ADRs and other stuff... especially once all of the restaurants are in full swing and the dining plan is back.

 

[Delirium]

If I'm getting up at 7 am, if I'm staying onsite, I may as well commit to getting up a little earlier and taking whatever advantage I can of the early entry. Then, take advantage of the end of day for headliners (and hope the attraction doesn't break). I just don't see value in Genie+. To be honest, I think it's a rip-off.

A good touring strategy can still overcome all else. If you go into the day determined not to wait more than 30 minutes for anything and then get upset when you go to get in line for SDD at 1 pm, that's on you.

I was watching a video on you-tube this morning of a vlogger who had a goal to ride every Magic Kingdom ride in a day. She starts her day and gets thrown by a long line at Mine Train at rope drop and promptly blows up her whole plan (surprise, surprise that Mine Train got crowded early). I stopped watching 10 minutes into the 30 minute video because she was criss-crossing the park multiple times. Since when does walking for 10 minutes not count the same as standing in line for 10 minutes? Especially when you are eventually going to have to walk back to that attraction. AND STILL STAND IN LINE FOR IT! Seriously, after the Mine Train fail, she went to Pooh, Space Mountain, Astro Orbiter, Haunted Mansion, and Pirates in that order. Middle of the park with Pooh then on to far one-side of park with Space, all the way to the far other side in Pirates, skipping a whole bunch of stuff in between. Where's Buzz? Where are the Teacups? Speedway, Small World, etc.?

Now, to be fair, she wasn't using Genie+. She was doing it all on her own, but this is the same kind of journey Genie+ will take you on as well. Meanwhile, a good common-sense plan does not have you criss-crossing the park like that. A good plan has you in one part of the park for the morning, another part of the park for the afternoon, and a different part of the park for the evening. If you have more than 1 day for that particular park, that expands your options on how to chunk it up. In your morning part of the park, you can prioritize it so headliners can be done first, while your evening touring should ensure headliners are done last. Whatever section of the park you choose as your middle should be the least important to you.

Save your Genie+ money and devote some time to planning for yourself. You will be glad you did.

 

[Westerner]

G+ needs to be made more functional, the capacity problem won't be solved until Disney has more capacity for guests- so that's not going to change. But making it so people an modify their G+ experience a little, even if you can't choose the initial time sure would go a long way in helping people work around ADRs and other stuff... especially once all of the restaurants are in full swing and the dining plan is back.

I agree with you. G+ should be able to take into account ADR's and other booked experiences when assigning return times.

 

[Disturbia]

If I'm getting up at 7 am, if I'm staying onsite, I may as well commit to getting up a little earlier and taking whatever advantage I can of the early entry. Then, take advantage of the end of day for headliners (and hope the attraction doesn't break). I just don't see value in Genie+. To be honest, I think it's a rip-off.

A good touring strategy can still overcome all else. If you go into the day determined not to wait more than 30 minutes for anything and then get upset when you go to get in line for SDD at 1 pm, that's on you.

I was watching a video on you-tube this morning of a vlogger who had a goal to ride every Magic Kingdom ride in a day. She starts her day and gets thrown by a long line at Mine Train at rope drop and promptly blows up her whole plan (surprise, surprise that Mine Train got crowded early). I stopped watching 10 minutes into the 30 minute video because she was criss-crossing the park multiple times. Since when does walking for 10 minutes not count the same as standing in line for 10 minutes? Especially when you are eventually going to have to walk back to that attraction. AND STILL STAND IN LINE FOR IT! Seriously, after the Mine Train fail, she went to Pooh, Space Mountain, Astro Orbiter, Haunted Mansion, and Pirates in that order. Middle of the park with Pooh then on to far one-side of park with Space, all the way to the far other side in Pirates, skipping a whole bunch of stuff in between. Where's Buzz? Where are the Teacups? Speedway, Small World, etc.?

Now, to be fair, she wasn't using Genie+. She was doing it all on her own, but this is the same kind of journey Genie+ will take you on as well. Meanwhile, a good common-sense plan does not have you criss-crossing the park like that. A good plan has you in one part of the park for the morning, another part of the park for the afternoon, and a different part of the park for the evening. If you have more than 1 day for that particular park, that expands your options on how to chunk it up. In your morning part of the park, you can prioritize it so headliners can be done first, while your evening touring should ensure headliners are done last. Whatever section of the park you choose as your middle should be the least important to you.

Save your Genie+ money and devote some time to planning for yourself. You will be glad you did.

We used Genie+ and planned it so we didn’t runaround like that. We booked SDMT for the evening and Genie+ JC (10:30 or 11 am) in the morning.

When we entered the park (around 9:30 am) we did POC standby and when we tapped into JC we booked Big Thunder right away. Rode JC then standby magic carpets, lunch at Pecos bill, watched the Mickey & Friends calvacade infront of Country Bears and ate popcorn and headed back to our resort.

During our break we were able to book PP, IASW and Haunted Mansion for the evening; so when we came back we had those in hand on top of the SDMT. After fireworks everything was min wait in Tomorrowland so we did a few more rides.

 

[Disturbia]

I agree with you. G+ should be able to take into account ADR's and other booked experiences when assigning return times.

It actually does. We had Oga’s at 11:25 am and ROTR was showing 11 am, but on the checkout screen it pushed us (4 riders) to 9-10 am. It gives a warning of overlapping times as well.

 

[Westerner]

It actually does. We had Oga’s at 11:25 am and ROTR was showing 11 am, but on the checkout screen it pushed us (4 riders) to 9-10 am. It gives a warning of overlapping times as well.

Have not heard this before. ROTR is ILL$ not G+ and is supposed to allow you to pick your return time. Perhaps the system leverages that leeway and adjusts your return time accordingly.

 

[Disturbia]

Have not heard this before. ROTR is ILL$ not G+ and is supposed to allow you to pick your return time. Perhaps the system leverages that leeway and adjusts your return time accordingly.

You’re right, but it bumped us when the first available was actually already up to 11 am within seconds.

We always had a warning of overlapping plans even if we didn’t memorize our ADRs.