Disney Genie announcement

[Alexis56578]

I'm not sure that they'll limit sales themselves since I expect rides to be limited just like Fastpasses were. There will only be so many available Space Mountain passes

 

[Marionnette]

One possible reason to book Genie+ in advance for your whole trip: what if it sells out? I can imagine Disney limiting the number of Genie+ sales per day (perhaps on a park by park basis, based on park reservations). Otherwise, on a crowded day, too many people will buy Genie+, which will make the LL lines so long that everyone who bought it will complain about not getting their money's worth.

If there is a danger that Genie+ will sell out, you might want to buy it well in advance to make sure you get it before supplies run out. Which, in turn, will necessitate your purchasing it for your whole trip, including your EPCOT and AK days, even though it isn't really worth it for those parks given the no re-rides rule. Which, in turn, will make even more money for Disney.

On the other hand, I can see Disney selling Genie+ to as many people as are willing to pay for it, and when they complain that the LL line is 45 minutes long, saying, "Well, it's still less than half the standby wait, so you got your money's worth!"

What do people think? Will sales be limited?

Theoretically, yes. Sales of Genie+ will have a cap. But IMO, that cap will be very high and will likely almost never be met. Disney can just adjust the LL-to-standby ratio in order to keep the LL queue moving efficiently.

 

[Grasshopper2016]

I'm not sure that they'll limit sales themselves since I expect rides to be limited just like Fastpasses were. There will only be so many available Space Mountain passes

But then, if I purchase Genie+ for a day and am only able to get a couple of LL passes (and nothing for the best rides), I’m going to be very angry and demand my money back.

 

[HopperFan]

I find incredible that the communication from disney has been so poor about this. So many unanswered questions and uncertain points. I can't believe anyone booking any other holiday with so many unknown points, especially considering that time spent in a line could make or break a vacation.

But it's always been that way - the number of people that show up to Disney not having a clue is HUGE. Just like a previous poster said about people on the plane with him discussing what they want to do and where they want to eat - Princess meal. Most my time at Disney is with just with my son who is nonverbal. So we take lots of time people watching, hearing all the conversations around us etc ........... it's amazing the things people say. I wish I had started writing it all down because it's book worthy.

In July a family tried to enter the FP+ line which they thought they were entitled to because "they had a MagicBand" to all the people who want to just walk up to any table service without ADR, love the parents trying to walk in to Cinderella Royal Table without an ADR. And this is many times on every single trip that these things happen. My DD worked there, have had friends who worked there ... the stories are hysterical. One lost count on how many people ask when they are going to put up the MK bubble when it rains. Seriously you know these people didn't do their homework.

You are right, no way I'd book an international trip or a cruise or any trip that cost me thousands of dollars without doing my homework but they sure do for Disney. They don't do their homework when Disney puts it all out there over and over again - so they won't care if they know nothing now. In the end they'll have the same trip.

Theoretically, yes. Sales of Genie+ will have a cap. But IMO, that cap will be very high and will likely almost never be met. Disney can just adjust the LL-to-standby ratio in order to keep the LL queue moving efficiently.

I always say the cap is when Disney says they are going to stop selling, and likely that is only to drive you to another day. There are "cap ranges" just like a park, like After Hours, like Parties. If it is anything that doesn't have a finite number of chairs or parking spots .... it will be sold as long as they decide.

In this case it will likely be an algorithm just like FP+ was.

The issue though is false equivalency between G+ and express pass. They are nowhere near the same products.

I don't think anyone has said they are the same. But I don't think it is false to compare them.

They both offer you a Fast/Express lane option for one time per ride per day max ....

For $70-80+ per day you get all the rides ONCE without reserving at Universal.

For $15 per day you get reservations ONCE for most the rides (if available).

Yes Universal provides a superior product but it's also at least 5x more expensive.

I've never bought Express at Universal ~ I'll risk the $15 at Disney most days.

I doubt there will be a cap. FP+ was open to everyone (and not everyone used it. Same thing will happen with genie+) I do think this is the reason for one ride only. Keeps availability open for more people to buy into genie+.

But there was "a cap" with FP+. The system would stop giving them out. But since you didn't pay for it you really couldn't complain if you didn't get one.

Now that you are paying for it, they will have to make sure folks are not being edged out after half a day. There will have to be some kind of algorithm to determine when to stop selling them so they don't risk long lines at GR.

That said I think it will be high. Without 3 per person being pulled from inventory in advance and all those people who used FP+ but won't pay for it. I think the inventory available to roll all day should be there. I'm going in first week of November and expecting it to be "not fun" but excited to go back in January to compare if it is improved.

 

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[ShayBells]

I doubt there will be a cap. FP+ was open to everyone (and not everyone used it. Same thing will happen with genie+) I do think this is the reason for one ride only. Keeps availability open for more people to buy into genie+. My main reason for considering purchasing beforehand is to just have it done and over with. It’s one less thing to buy every day or even a few days each morning. And will be easier to swallow. Kinda like DDP that money was already spent. Almost like it was free when I went to eat. But I still think this works better with park hopping (as long as availability stays open) The value is more rides with more parks.

 

[Tom_E_D]

I find incredible that the communication from disney has been so poor about this. So many unanswered questions and uncertain points. I can't believe anyone booking any other holiday with so many unknown points, especially considering that time spent in a line could make or break a vacation.

Disney has never been good at communicating all the ins and outs of its convoluted rules, and I think that's intentional. Back in the Fastpass+ days, there were certain combinations of fastpasses that could not be booked together as your first three fastpasses booked at Epcot, Animal Kingdom and Hollywood Studios. Many Disney blogs knew what they were and wrote articles describing which attractions were in Tier 1, which in Tier 2, and what the rules were about using them. Disney itself never, to the best of my knowledge (and I am at least somewhat knowledgeable on the subject), said what attractions were in what tier, or what the rules were about how many attractions you could book from a given tier. We have to credit the bloggers for figuring it out and letting the rest of us know. Genie+ is at least partially the successor to Fastpass+. The fact that Disney's announcements have been vague should not be surprising. Not communicating "the rules" gives Disney the flexibility to make changes without violating its own rules.

 

[dawnball]

I know this is very new for WDW but the more info comes out about the more it is incredibly similar to maxpass just with those additions lightening lanes uncharged.

I've used maxpass. I liked maxpass, and it was pleasantly easy to avoid most of the lines on maxpass attractions. I found it was worth the price over paper fastpass.

However, if we're limited to one genie+ pass per attraction - that's a significant change to the value proposition. I'm waiting to see how it comes out, but I'm dubious of the utility for my particular traveling party.

 

[katyringo]

I've used maxpass. I liked maxpass, and it was pleasantly easy to avoid most of the lines on maxpass attractions. I found it was worth the price over paper fastpass.

However, if we're limited to one genie+ pass per attraction - that's a significant change to the value proposition. I'm waiting to see how it comes out, but I'm dubious of the utility for my particular traveling party.

I agree with you. If you are someone who likes to re-ride in the same day then this won't work well for that. I think that works at Disneyland because when go there and have a 4-5 day tickets you will be in the same parks for those days...

 

[katyringo]

Disney has never been good at communicating all the ins and outs of its convoluted rules, and I think that's intentional. Back in the Fastpass+ days, there were certain combinations of fastpasses that could not be booked together as your first three fastpasses booked at Epcot, Animal Kingdom and Hollywood Studios. Many Disney blogs knew what they were and wrote articles describing which attractions were in Tier 1, which in Tier 2, and what the rules were about using them. Disney itself never, to the best of my knowledge (and I am at least somewhat knowledgeable on the subject), said what attractions were in what tier, or what the rules were about how many attractions you could book from a given tier. We have to credit the bloggers for figuring it out and letting the rest of us know. Genie+ is at least partially the successor to Fastpass+. The fact that Disney's announcements have been vague should not be surprising. Not communicating "the rules" gives Disney the flexibility to make changes without violating its own rules.

Disney know it's has bloggers.. that they don't have to pay... to share the information for them.

 

[Tonyz]

Maybe you can make it exactly clearer what you are saying because you just bolded their post and told them they were wrong. If your intention was that you loved the ride and wanted to ride it over and over it appears you would be willing to do that again in the standby line or be willing to pay once to do it with the new system. What cryptic message were you trying to state by bolding part of their post and then Laughing at them that they don’t understand what you meant. I think the poster totally understood that you were saying his impression of “underwhelmed” was just wrong.

Personally I rode the ride. It was neat. Everyone should experience it at least once if they like Star Wars. But in my opinion and many others it’s not necessarily the best ride in the world. If you aren’t a Star Wars fanatic and thrilled with seeing all the nuances of the characters you love (or hate) it’s just a fun ride. I will say it is a longer ride so if you do wait in standby at least you get a longer ride at the end.

Technically, I believe it's the best ride ever created. It's utter brilliance.

But for me, personally... there's probably 10 or so rides that I prefer over it.

 

[dawnball]

I agree with you. If you are someone who likes to re-ride in the same day then this won't work well for that. I think that works at Disneyland because when go there and have a 4-5 day tickets you will be in the same parks for those days...

Yup. And the two parks are close enough that you can pop between them fairly easily. It's a lot slower to change parks at Disney World (although DHS/Epcot could make a nice G+ pairing)

We have a trip at the end of October, but have just decided that we'll have a nice time regardless of what lines end up looking like.

 

[DSLRuser]

I look forward to this release and can’t wait to have faster lines again. Disney is finally catching up to every other amusement/theme park by charging for access to express lines.

I agree Disney is just playing catch up.

I would rather the raise the price of a ticket $30 a day if they need the cash. For me, the guest experience has been awesome when everyone has to wait stand by.

I had no problem waiting 60 mins for 7 dwarfs if we needed to ride it. vs not getting a fast pass and having to wait 120 minutes.

Reminds me of the early 90's before fast pass. so much better guest experience over all.

 

[mom2rtk]

No I did agree with you that they said that.

They also say purchasing the Genie+ ""... lets you select arrival windows ..." for the Lightning Lanes. Inconsistent information, makes me feel like they are so busy talking it up they aren't reading what they are saying. They are telling you how to buy this right down to the details .... but not very clear on how it will actually work.

I'm betting you have to take the next available time. Otherwise slots early in the day could go unused, and later in the day could become "booked". And having later in the day booked makes it harder to keep selling Genie+. People really aren't going to buy it all day long, but they'll stop much earlier in the day if things are booked up in advance for what remains of their day.

 

[katyringo]

I'm betting you have to take the next available time. Otherwise slots early in the day could go unused, and later in the day could become "booked". And having later in the day booked makes it harder to keep selling Genie+. People really aren't going to buy it all day long, but they'll stop much earlier in the day if things are booked up in advance for what remains of their day.

what I understand is you can choose your time for the upcharge lightening lane rides- the two per day you can use to pay to pass the line.

for just genie plus you choose the next available time.

 

[mom2rtk]

Oh dining reservations are going to be a nightmare with this crap. You are basically given a time to come back to ride that you can't modify. So if it ends up on your dining reservation, tough luck. Fast pass was free so I could deal with that problem ( I also had much advance notice to make fast pass time selections )

At least with fast pass I can religiously look at my phone to get what I want sooner or later

If it's anything like legacy FP, you could just hold off booking until times advance to a window that doesn't conflict with your ADR. Many times I watched the return times advance to get a time that worked for us.

 

[mom2rtk]

what I understand is you can choose your time for the upcharge lightening lane rides- the two per day you can use to pay to pass the line.

for just genie plus you choose the next available time.

Yes, sorry, I was talking about Genie+.

 

[mom2rtk]

Yes Universal provides a superior product but it's also at least 5x more expensive.

But you can get the unlimited plan free for the length of your stay at their hotel that's comparable in price to a Disney moderate these days.

 

[mom2rtk]

I've used maxpass. I liked maxpass, and it was pleasantly easy to avoid most of the lines on maxpass attractions. I found it was worth the price over paper fastpass.

However, if we're limited to one genie+ pass per attraction - that's a significant change to the value proposition. I'm waiting to see how it comes out, but I'm dubious of the utility for my particular traveling party.

The "once per attraction" thing is a significant downgrade. But the fact that headliners aren't included is another. You used to be able to get RSR with MaxPass without paying extra. And those parks are side by side, so almost like one big park. So easy to access to every single ride every single day you had a park hopper.

 

[Jennasis]

Can you park hop with Genie+? If I buy it at 7am and start my day at MK and hop to Epcot later, can I continue making G+ selections at Epcot?