Genie Plus, a must for busy days.

[Jrb1979]

I'm not a spreadsheet planner at all and FP+ worked for me. I spent maybe 30 minutes, max, planning out what FP+s I would choose and maybe 20 minutes on the day of earliest booking making the reservations.

Many people I ran into in standby lines had zero idea that FP+ even existed. If they did know it existed, they didn't realize they could use it and/or that it was free. Yet WDW told onsite guests very clearly that they had access to FP+, sent reminders re the first booking date, etc. It wasn't a mystery and it wasn't all that difficult to use.

Raising the price of G+ is not the only solution to the current situation. If it is, then pretty soon the price is going to be out of reach for a lot of us. Perhaps not you, but I would be unable to pay an additional $200 or $300 a day for a week's vacation to WDW. Do they want guests like me--an out-of-state AP who in non-pandemic times comes for a week twice a year--to instead come for 3 or 4 days once every 2 or 3 years? Maybe they do.

I have to ask. How many other parks do you visit? If you do you buy the skip the line pass there? At everything park, yes it costs more but it's also limited to how many are available for a reason. If everyone had a skip the line pass it wouldn't be worth it as the point of waiting less would be gone as everyone would be doing the same.

Disney has trained people well in making them believe that using skip the line is a right. Go to any other park out there and it's a privilege to have that pass.

Here's a question for all of you. Would you rather pay $15 but only get on 1-2 rides on busy days or pay $50 and have the ability to get on the majority of rides each day.

 

[Gentry2004]

Serious question. What was wrong with paper FP? (I also loved FP+ and we were definitely super users.) Why do they keep fixing things that are working?

 

[DisneyGuy]

Here's a question for all of you. Would you rather pay $15 but only get on 1-2 rides on busy days or pay $50 and have the ability to get on the majority of rides each day.

$50, easily. If I’m paying to stay on property, for the sole purpose of going to the parks, I want the best experience each day. A VIP tour is out of reach for me and frankly unnecessary for an experienced visitor. Sure I might have to go to WDW less, but at least I’ll know what I’m getting when I go.

 

[itf]

Here's a question for all of you. Would you rather pay $15 but only get on 1-2 rides on busy days or pay $50 and have the ability to get on the majority of rides each day.

$50 would be fine if it included the ILL rides but it wouldn't so now we're on $80+ x 9 days for an international guest x 3 people in my party and pretty soon you're talking about serious money. We're already on $50 when you take into account G+ with 2 ILL per park.

 

[Figment of Speech]

We currently have MK days scheduled for Monday (arrival day), Wednesday, and Friday (flight is a little after 4pm). I'm now debating whether to get G+ on arrival day since we'll probably arrive to our resort around 11am. Maybe not get it that day and play it by ear. Figure we will use Genie+ to avoid long waits with the toddler on Wednesday in MK and anything that us parents miss, we will try to ride during extended hours that night while grandma stays back at the resort with him. Now thinking it might be better to get G+ on arrival day, try to stack times for later in the day and not get it for Friday. Might be a waste of $45 for the 3 adults on Friday since we'll head to the airport around 2pm. Thinking of using that money for G+ at AK just to avoid a long line at the safari. Definitely not getting G+ at Epcot and just paying $ for Remy.

Sounds like a solid plan. The general consensus from people who are building experience with G+ seems to be to be choosy about what days you get it. It's not always a must, and like you, we expect to mix easygoing standby days with heavy-duty G+ days. And expectations are a big part of what seems to make people happy or unhappy about the purchase.

 

[Miffy]

I have to ask. How many other parks do you visit? If you do you buy the skip the line pass there? At everything park, yes it costs more but it's also limited to how many are available for a reason. If everyone had a skip the line pass it wouldn't be worth it as the point of waiting less would be gone as everyone would be doing the same.

Disney has trained people well in making them believe that using skip the line is a right. Go to any other park out there and it's a privilege to have that pass.

Here's a question for all of you. Would you rather pay $15 but only get on 1-2 rides on busy days or pay $50 and have the ability to get on the majority of rides each day.

I don't visit other parks, unless you count an occasional trip to Coney Island, which isn't a theme park unless you consider the Atlantic Ocean to be a theme.

I go to WDW for the entire experience, not to be at an amusement park. You couldn't pay me to go to Six Flags.

I don't believe skipping the line is a right. I liked having FP and FP+ but it wasn't a "right." It was something WDW offered and I used it.

I mean, except for expecting a clean room with an indoor bathroom, nothing at a WDW resort is a "right," either. In fact, the clean room may be moving into the area of privilege.

I'd rather not add an additional $400/week to my vacation, which is what $50/day x 8 days would be. Perhaps this isn't a significant amount to you, but it is to me, especially since onsite resort room rates have skyrocketed,

I'm getting the same feeling I had last year when there were numerous postings saying that paid FP was coming and many DISers saying what a great thing that would be. I felt like the DIS posters were actually pushing WDW to start charging for this. Now I feel like the DIS is pushing WDW to triple the price of G+. Wait. $50 isn't triple the price. It's 3.3x the price.

There actually is a financial breaking point for some of us.

 

[kmrobins03]

I have to ask. How many other parks do you visit? If you do you buy the skip the line pass there? At everything park, yes it costs more but it's also limited to how many are available for a reason. If everyone had a skip the line pass it wouldn't be worth it as the point of waiting less would be gone as everyone would be doing the same.

Disney has trained people well in making them believe that using skip the line is a right. Go to any other park out there and it's a privilege to have that pass.

Here's a question for all of you. Would you rather pay $15 but only get on 1-2 rides on busy days or pay $50 and have the ability to get on the majority of rides each day.

Replying to say.. I follow your thought process.On another thread, someone posted a very detailed 2 hour video that talked about the evolution of ride tickets, Paper fast passes, FP+, ect…
After watching that video, I agree with you and think that the skip the line benefit needs to be higher in cost so that less people buy it. I also think that past programs make people feel like everyone should have FP included in their vacation package.
we are going in mid-Dec and might test out G+. I am curious to see how it works in action

 

[Jrb1979]

I don't visit other parks, unless you count an occasional trip to Coney Island, which isn't a theme park unless you consider the Atlantic Ocean to be a theme.

I go to WDW for the entire experience, not to be at an amusement park. You couldn't pay me to go to Six Flags.

I don't believe skipping the line is a right. I liked having FP and FP+ but it wasn't a "right." It was something WDW offered and I used it.

I mean, except for expecting a clean room with an indoor bathroom, nothing at a WDW resort is a "right," either. In fact, the clean room may be moving into the area of privilege.

I'd rather not add an additional $400/week to my vacation, which is what $50/day x 8 days would be. Perhaps this isn't a significant amount to you, but it is to me, especially since onsite resort room rates have skyrocketed,

I'm getting the same feeling I had last year when there were numerous postings saying that paid FP was coming and many DISers saying what a great thing that would be. I felt like the DIS posters were actually pushing WDW to start charging for this. Now I feel like the DIS is pushing WDW to triple the price of G+. Wait. $50 isn't triple the price. It's 3.3x the price.

There actually is a financial breaking point for some of us.

I understand that. Do you see where I am coming from though?

Right now Genie+ doesn't work due to too many people having it. You can't tell its working if you are lucky to get 1-2 rides a day using it. They need to limit it in some fashion. There are stories of people showing up the parks late afternoon buying Genie+ and there is no availability. How is that right?

As far as it me being able to afford it, I could afford it but I also wouldn't be buying for my whole stay. Which is no different then when I visit any other park.

 

[itf]

Right now Genie+ doesn't work due to too many people having it. You can't tell its working if you are lucky to get 1-2 rides a day using it. They need to limit it in some fashion. There are stories of people showing up the parks late afternoon buying Genie+ and there is no availability. How is that right?

It isn't right, but it's for the 60 billion dollar corporation to have worked out before they introduced the system! The answer is just greed - they know that they're selling a % of people each day a useless/defective product, and they don't care. We're cutting them far too much slack here.

 

[Jrb1979]

It isn't right, but it's for the 60 billion dollar corporation to have worked out before they introduced the system! The answer is just greed - they know that they're selling a % of people each day a useless/defective product, and they don't care. We're cutting them far too much slack here.

It's why I keep saying it needs to be limited for it to truly work.

 

[MomOTwins]

I have to ask. How many other parks do you visit? If you do you buy the skip the line pass there? At everything park, yes it costs more but it's also limited to how many are available for a reason. If everyone had a skip the line pass it wouldn't be worth it as the point of waiting less would be gone as everyone would be doing the same.

Disney has trained people well in making them believe that using skip the line is a right. Go to any other park out there and it's a privilege to have that pass.

Here's a question for all of you. Would you rather pay $15 but only get on 1-2 rides on busy days or pay $50 and have the ability to get on the majority of rides each day.

A difference you are missing is most other parks are single day affairs. I go to six flags, and can stomach a day if waiting in line because it is just one day. Disney people often stay a week, and on our trips without fastpass in the covid year, we were in agony on day 4 and on from standing in line all day—with fastpass, we could do most of what we wanted by 1pm (3 guaranteed rides and some low-line stuff) and then go back and swim all afternoon. Not possible with Genie+ that assumes you’re willing to stay in the park all day waiting for your return time, after waking before 7am. This system pretty much guarantees we limit our trips to 3-4 days not because of cost but from fatigue.

I would absolutely rather pay $50 a day (cheaper than an average character meal) to get fastpasses throughout the day. I would probably pay $100.

 

[Miffy]

I understand that. Do you see where I am coming from though?

Right now Genie+ doesn't work due to too many people having it. You can't tell its working if you are lucky to get 1-2 rides a day using it. They need to limit it in some fashion. There are stories of people showing up the parks late afternoon buying Genie+ and there is no availability. How is that right?

As far as it me being able to afford it, I could afford it but I also wouldn't be buying for my whole stay. Which is no different then when I visit any other park.

I do see where you're coming from and I actually agree with a lot of what you're saying. I'm just thinking this thing through and it helps to read others' ideas about this.

The parks shouldn't be selling G+ if there's no availability. That's just wrong. But this is the WDW IT way, i.e., ineffective.

If WDW wants to limit the number of guests in the park or in line at attractions, they could limit the number of park reservations, however, they don't seem to want to do that.

Do you think they undershot the estimate of how many parkgoers would buy G+? And ILL$, for that matter.

 

[mab2012]

I hated FP+ and I hate Genie+ as well. I travel to parks all across the US every year and have seen how skip the line systems should work. Disney's system doesn't work for many reasons.

One being there isn't enough attractions. The biggest reason it doesn't work is that too many people have access to it. Judging by the responses on Genie+ and the cost, it feels like a lot of you have never been to other parks much or have bought skip the line systems there.

They cost more for a reason. Most parks understand if you want to make those happy that do buy skip the line, they should be able to have short waits and ride a lot of rides. People have to understand that skip the line systems are a privilege. They don't work when everyone has it. Genie+ is showing that right now. Paying $15 and getting 2-3 rides is absolute garbage.

They need to up the price to $50 or more for it too truly work.

It's not that nobody else has been to other parks or that we're all too stupid to understand how other skip-the-line systems work. I don't think anyone even disagrees that G+ is broken in its current form, and that one way to "fix" it would be to raise the price significantly.

What some of us are saying is that there was a middle ground system that worked quite nicely for many of us and didn't require selling your firstborn into slavery to pay for it. People LIKED that FP+ was different from exorbitantly-priced skip-the-line systems at other parks. It was a differentiator. If what I wanted was what every other park is offering, I'd just go to those other parks in the first place. And if Disney isn't careful, that's exactly what will end up happening.

FP+ didn't go away because it didn't work. It went away because Disney decided they could make more money with a pay-per-ride system. And yes, I know FP+ is not coming back, and there's probably not much point lamenting it, but you won't convince me that there is only one system that "works". Fundamentally, that's where we disagree. You want a system that costs a fortune but keeps most people out. I don't. What "works" for you is not the same as what works for me.

But I think we can all agree that the current system is garbage, especially on busy days.

 

[DisneyGuy]

So the system will allow someone to pay when there’s no availability at all? Can you check availability prior to buying?

 

[disneyfanforever]

I'm very concerned about purchasing G+ for 7 people Christmas week if all you get at HS is Slinky Dog and then everything else is gone. Am I correct in understanding that is what happened over Thanksgiving unless you purchase the per ride LL in addition to G+? That would be very frustrating. However, if that did happen, are you able at 11:00 at HS to reserve a G+ at another park as long as it is after 2:00 assuming there is something you want that is available?

 

[Jrb1979]

It's not that nobody else has been to other parks or that we're all too stupid to understand how other skip-the-line systems work. I don't think anyone even disagrees that G+ is broken in its current form, and that one way to "fix" it would be to raise the price significantly.

What some of us are saying is that there was a middle ground system that worked quite nicely for many of us and didn't require selling your firstborn into slavery to pay for it. People LIKED that FP+ was different from exorbitantly-priced skip-the-line systems at other parks. It was a differentiator. If what I wanted was what every other park is offering, I'd just go to those other parks in the first place. And if Disney isn't careful, that's exactly what will end up happening.

FP+ didn't go away because it didn't work. It went away because Disney decided they could make more money with a pay-per-ride system. And yes, I know FP+ is not coming back, and there's probably not much point lamenting it, but you won't convince me that there is only one system that "works". Fundamentally, that's where we disagree. You want a system that costs a fortune but keeps most people out. I don't. What "works" for you is not the same as what works for me.

But I think we can all agree that the current system is garbage, especially on busy days.

The reason I want a system that keeps most people out is due to how Genie+ doesn't work. There is not enough attractions for everyone to have Genie+. Since we know that isn't getting fixed anytime soon and we know FP+ isn't coming back, the only solution is limit how many people can buy Genie+.

 

[Orsino]

FP+ didn't go away because it didn't work. It went away because Disney decided they could make more money with a pay-per-ride system

Given that Disney could implement FP+ with a charge just as easily, if not easier than Genie+, I think FP+ was broken in some ways. One way is the fact that uninformed guests would show up without pre-booking fastpass and could not recover from that error because the fastpasses are booked 30+ days in advance. This is a serious flaw that must have hammered guest relations.

Disney charging for low wait access and FP+ versus Genie+ are two different things. They both happened at the same time, but they didn’t really have to.

 

[5DisneyNuts]

I still hold the line that G+ has nothing to do with guest experience. The casual/day of guest has to be possibly more informed than with FP+ given the layers. That argument won't hold water with me, sorry. It's monetizing the system just like they did with the dining plan and magical express.
The dining plan started as free certain times and magical express had normal pick up times.

Then the dining plan cost much more for less value and ME started picking up guests 3-4 hours before flights.
It feels the same with this. I stopped getting the dining plan and started using Uber. I won't purchase G+ for all days.

From my experience this week during very busy times: Got at DHS, on Wed before Thanksgiving. That was a mess due to crowds and inexperience, not to mention changing app behavior. Rode only 2 rides. Did not purchase the Friday after Thanksgiving at EPCOT 10/10. Rode all but TT which was offline for a decent amount.

Purchased Saturday at MK 7/10 and it worked well. We arrived around 10am and my first G+ was BTRR. After that we rolled the others based on 2hr wait and tap in. Didn't try to strategiize on the fly just checked eligible times. The loopholes studied are closed. We didn't ride 7DMT or SM but could have waited around an hour or hour and a half.

For those stressing going on less than 10/10 days, it can work, don't worry. More info will be coming. 10/10 days may still be a problem. However, getting up at 7am and starting to plan s***s. Hate that part.

I'll go over more specific data points and post what I find, just thoughts for now.

 

[soniam]

Genie+ has been “working” for us this week. We have been doing EE and buying some ILL too. However, “working” is subjective, and I had tempered my expectations due to the holiday week. We got a lot more done this time this year than last year and didn’t feel quite as worn out this time. That could be due to a combination of EE, G+, ILL, less Covid protocols, and parks being open longer. I can’t tell anyone if it’s worth it for them or not. I have spent more on alcohol in a day at WDW than I have spent on myself in a day for G+ and ILL Also, there are only 3 of us.

 

[Delirium]

One way is the fact that uninformed guests would show up without pre-booking fastpass and could not recover from that error because the fastpasses are booked 30+ days in advance.

There was very little justifiable reason why someone would have booked a Disney vacation and not been aware of FP+.