Genie+ park based priced!

[NavyDad]

I’m older and hopefully wiser, I paid for Genie+, last December when it was included as an add on when I first booked our trip. To me, it was a waste of $15 per day per person (30). It coast is then 300 extra. I can not imagine a family planning a trip and not only paying the money (more now), picking a park, get up early to stage rides and running around all vacation. My next trip is more of a resort trip however if I do go into parks, I will walk around, if something is available so be it if not, keep walking. Unfortunately I remember the days not to long ago, where you could just hit a park, go on rides, go on the monorail hit another park, go to the pool, come back at night go somewhere else with it all this planning. Now you’re planning parks, rides, food, genie, it’s nuts. Sorry for all the families out there.

I wouldn't feel too sorry for us.

When my wife went to WDW in the 90's she had to wait in line over 2 hours each to ride any of the mountains in MK. That was before anyone ever heard of Fast Pass.

Thanks to Fast Pass, FP+ and now Genie Plus, our kids have never had to experience waiting in line for more than 30 minutes for any of those rides and most trips those services have allowed us to essentially walk on ride after ride.

We were at WDW last week and while my daughters were having a great time in the pool I was able to keep booking rides for that night at Hollywood Studios. We walked into DHS at 5:30 PM and we rode Slinky Dog, Toy Story Mania, Star Wars Smugglers Run, Rock 'N Roller Coaster and Tower of Terror all without waiting in line for more than 5 minutes.

You sure couldn't do that prior to FP/Genie. Yes - we did pay more than the old days but what doesn't cost significantly more than the old days?

I gave this example in another thread: in 2008 we rented a house for 3 families in the Outer Banks for $3K for an entire week. Over the years we returned to that house the very same week 3-4 more times. We rented it again in the summer of 2021 (same week) and the price had gone up to almost $9,000 for the week. That price almost killed us but we split it with the in-laws to make it work. I looked at the price for the same week this year and it is now $12,000 for that same week. The price went up 400% in 15 years. The craziest part was it was booked for the entire summer with some weeks going for $15K

 

[AustinTink]

Bring back the free ones, AND STOP MAKING PEOPLE WAKE UP AT 7:00AM EVERY DAMN DAY TO BUY IT OR GET VQ of their vacation

Agreed and by free ones I would vote for original fast pass not fast pass plus. Original free paper fast passes were perfect and never needed to change.

The 7am thing is also brutal. We used Genie+ at DLR last year and didn’t have any of the 7am nonsense. You could purchase Genie+ ahead of time when you bought your tickets. Why on earth is that not the case at WDW?

 

[NavyDad]

Agreed and by free ones I would vote for original fast pass not fast pass plus. Original free paper fast passes were perfect and never needed to change.

The 7am thing is also brutal. We used Genie+ at DLR last year and didn’t have any of the 7am nonsense. You could purchase Genie+ ahead of time when you bought your tickets. Why on earth is that not the case at WDW?

There is no such thing as a free lunch (or fast pass).

 

[AustinTink]

There is no such thing as a free lunch (or fast pass).

But there was and it was glorious.

 

[Jrb1979]

I wouldn't feel too sorry for us.

When my wife went to WDW in the 90's she had to wait in line over 2 hours each to ride any of the mountains in MK. That was before anyone ever heard of Fast Pass.

Thanks to Fast Pass, FP+ and now Genie Plus, our kids have never had to experience waiting in line for more than 30 minutes for any of those rides and most trips those services have allowed us to essentially walk on ride after ride.

We were at WDW last week and while my daughters were having a great time in the pool I was able to keep booking rides for that night at Hollywood Studios. We walked into DHS at 5:30 PM and we rode Slinky Dog, Toy Story Mania, Star Wars Smugglers Run, Rock 'N Roller Coaster and Tower of Terror all without waiting in line for more than 5 minutes.

You sure couldn't do that prior to FP/Genie. Yes - we did pay more than the old days but what doesn't cost significantly more than the old days?

I gave this example in another thread: in 2008 we rented a house for 3 families in the Outer Banks for $3K for an entire week. Over the years we returned to that house the very same week 3-4 more times. We rented it again in the summer of 2021 (same week) and the price had gone up to almost $9,000 for the week. That price almost killed us but we split it with the in-laws to make it work. I looked at the price for the same week this year and it is now $12,000 for that same week. The price went up 400% in 15 years. The craziest part was it was booked for the entire summer with some weeks going for $15K

While prices have gone up a lot in most places some haven't gone up that much. We've been doing Cedar Point every may for the last 5: years and price wise it hasn't jumped that much at all.

 

[NavyDad]

But there was and it was glorious.

It wasn't ever free - they just tricked you into paying for it and told you it was included *free* with the price of your ticket.

 

[snikki]

OG FP sucked. We could barely utilize it without separating and/or running to the top rides. Many times I took the kids to FL while my husband went to get us a FP at Splash. Virtual FP/G all day. I would much rather wake up at 7 and book my ride than run with the masses to the top ride (TSM days) and risk life and limb.

 

[AustinTink]

It wasn't ever free - they just tricked you into paying for it and told you it was included *free* with the price of your ticket.

Oh, please. No one tricked or twisted my arm to go to WDW. But, at least with the old, old paper fast pass system I had control of my day without making ride reservations months in advance or now waking up at 7am to book. That was the entire point of my original post that you quoted.

Now the price is stated up front, true. But the system is not at all user friendly.

 

[Minnie1222]

OG FP sucked. We could barely utilize it without separating and/or running to the top rides. Many times I took the kids to FL while my husband went to get us a FP at Splash. Virtual FP/G all day. I would much rather wake up at 7 and book my ride than run with the masses to the top ride (TSM days) and risk life and limb.

Running in the morning and dragging yourself across the park in the midday heat to one of those FP kiosks. No thanks!

 

[AustinTink]

OG FP sucked. We could barely utilize it without separating and/or running to the top rides. Many times I took the kids to FL while my husband went to get us a FP at Splash. Virtual FP/G all day. I would much rather wake up at 7 and book my ride than run with the masses to the top ride (TSM days) and risk life and limb.

I loved those days. We were OG fast pass masters. I was usually the FP runner. It was awesome.

 

[snikki]

I loved those days. We were OG fast pass masters. I was usually the FP runner. It was awesome.

We hated it lol. I know many liked it for the thrill but it never worked for us with small kids. When FP+ came alone I was thrilled from the beginning. I couldn’t imagine paper FP with Disney crowds these days. Times are changing.

 

[AustinTink]

Besides the dollar aspect, I'm unamused by how every time something's changed, a new complication arises.

Bingo.

 

[NavyDad]

OG FP sucked. We could barely utilize it without separating and/or running to the top rides. Many times I took the kids to FL while my husband went to get us a FP at Splash. Virtual FP/G all day. I would much rather wake up at 7 and book my ride than run with the masses to the top ride (TSM days) and risk life and limb.

I was on these boards back in 2009 when we planned our first family trip. They were filled with people complaining that all of the Fast Passes for the good rides would be gone by 10:30. The TSM days were absolutely crazy. You better make a mad dash to get your paper FP or they were gone almost immediately. If you slept in at all you were behind the 8 ball completely.

The "good" thing was that if you were really experienced and did lots of research, you could leverage all of that into being one of the few select families that got many fast passes throughout the day while 80% of guests didn't even know what Fast Pass was until around 1 PM on their first day and by then everything was gone. Talk about having to plan months in advance.... I remember people posting their touring plans (down to the bathroom break) for people to critique to ensure they got the absolute maximum advantage in staying in front of crowds maxing out on Fast Passes for the day.

Now I can sit on the balcony of my resort or by the pool. whip out my phone for 5 minutes and book walk on reservations for every major ride at a park. It's amazing. It just stinks it costs so much but that's the way the work works.

The one thing I have learned is that no matte what system Disney implements there will be people complaining about it online.

 

[AustinTink]

Times are changing.

Not for the better judging from all the responses across the internet to the new Genie+ pricing.

 

[snikki]

Not for the better judging from all the responses across the internet to the new Genie+ pricing.

Hey I don’t like paying for G+ but it does work well for us. Disney parks are still packed so plenty of people either like it or don’t mind much since they are still in the parks.

 

[AustinTink]

whip out my phone for 5 minutes and book walk on reservations for every major ride at a park.

But only get to do that once per ride. The fatal flaw in the Genie+ system for me. With old fast pass we rode our favorites as many times as we pleased.

 

[snikki]

I was on these boards back in 2009 when we planned our first family trip. They were filled with people complaining that all of the Fast Passes for the good rides would be gone by 10:30. The TSM days were absolutely crazy. You better make a mad dash to get your paper FP or they were gone almost immediately. If you slept in at all you were behind the 8 ball completely.

The "good" thing was that if you were really experienced and did lots of research, you could leverage all of that into being one of the few select families that got many fast passes throughout the day while 80% of guests didn't even know what Fast Pass was until around 1 PM on their first day and by then everything was gone. Talk about having to plan months in advance.... I remember people posting their touring plans (down to the bathroom break) for people to critique to ensure they got the absolute maximum advantage in staying in front of crowds maxing out on Fast Passes for the day.

Now I can sit on the balcony of my resort or by the pool. whip out my phone for 5 minutes and book walk on reservations for every major ride at a park. It's amazing. It just stinks it costs so much but that's the way the work works.

The one thing I have learned is that no matte what system Disney implements there will be people complaining about it online.

I remember those days! I also remember everyone losing their minds over FP+ and now I’m sure those same people wish it were back considering I see so many posts saying just that.

 

[NavyDad]

Oh, please. No one tricked or twisted my arm to go to WDW. But, at least with the old, old paper fast pass system I had control of my day without making ride reservations months in advance or now waking up at 7am to book. That was the entire point of my original post that you quoted.

Now the price is stated up front, true. But the system is not at all user friendly.

Control of your day?

You had to be at the parks at Rope Drop so you could run from ride to ride, not to actually ride the ride, but to get a ticket to come back and ride the ride later in the day.

Genie Plus allows you to get the same result but sitting on your rear end at your hotel, on the bus, at breakfast, in the line or wherever you want to be.... NOT running from kiosk to kiosk around the park.

 

[AustinTink]

All that said, We are still planning to buy Genie+ PH for all our days. I’m not spending 7k on a trip for three to stand in lines. After this WDW trip we will return to our annual DLR trips which have always been much more low key.

 

[NavyDad]

I remember those days! I also remember everyone losing their minds over FP+ and now I’m sure those same people wish it were back considering I see so many posts saying just that.

yes - it's funny how everything comes full circle. Some of the more prolific posters (complainers) I can remember their screen name complaining about how they Disney ruined everything by forcing them to plan ahead months in advance to reserve 3 rides and now say Genie is the worst thing ever and they wished they could book rides ahead of time instead of waiting until the day of.

The more things change.... the more they stay they stay the same...