POLL: How are people feeling about Genie+

[Andrew Gross]

I voted Neutral. I will wait and see the next few years what it costs other people to go and then decide. I just don't have that excitement I had at the 25th Anniversary. The 50th just seems blah! In the mean time, I am planning a Norway cruise, London and France, skipping Disneyland Paris, if Covid numbers are still high in Europe, we will take a cruise to Alaska and enjoy Canada for a few weeks As of right now, I am fed up with this and so are my kids and husband. We had a great run in Disney, it will never be the same, but my kids have awesome memories. There's only so many times you can ride the same rides over and over, and keep paying and paying.

Agree and very well put and I feel the same way. I'm at a point that Disney will need to earn their magic with our family again- everything I have been reading since last March (and the fact that I visited the new Galaxy's edge dozens of time before COVID-19 yet never found a reasonable opportunity to ride either ride as a higher level passholder frequently coming over helped us decide not to renew after they closed down anticipating the reopening was not worth keeping the passes active- it the speculation is just way too much for us to deal with and what it looks like they want to do just means, its time to wait a few years for us and see what happens.... maybe they will like Florida visitors again coming to their restaurants and bringing their visiting friends and relatives with them one day again.

 

[DL1WDW2]

Forgot to add
Hope it fails selection

 

[canyoncam]

I voted like the idea and would use some days, mainly because I already have tickets in “storage” for my next few trips and I go solo so it’s not a huge cost add on to those trips. Though I really am waiting to see how it plays out as my next planned trip isn’t for another year. By then they may make enough “modifications” ,ie: higher price point or less attractions, to justify it. I thoroughly enjoyed my trips to WDW from 2007 to 2019 but as I’m getting older and don’t feel the need to run all over I’m enjoying my lodging experience more and more over the park experiences

 

[LiteBrite]

Definitely feeling the "wait and see" vibes. I don't like having to pay for it, not one little bit, but I'm going to withhold judgement until I experience it for myself. We will probably try it both ways - doing all standby, while using other resources like Touring Plans and our own experience and smarts; and also paying for some days of G+.

I do feel positive about one aspect - I love that the selections are made day of. I've enjoyed the mindset of figuring it out as we go, old school style, during Covid, and this feels like a continuation of that one aspect.

 

[WDWEPCOT]

I remember the OLD days before Magical Express riding Meers getting a coupon to cut the cost - before ADRS weee online and you made them in the Parks in the morning - and before any fast pass -
Long before cell phones and Fast Pass
Super long lines everywhere on all rides - that was how it was
Then fast pass - running all over Parks getting them and riding rides and making it work with ADRs - nightmare
It just seems to me nothing Disney comes up with works - but as of late it Cost me more and more money
I’ve sold a couple DVC contracts and changed my vacation habits as I don’t like how things are going - It’s getting very pricey to visit Mickey and I can visit other things
I do enjoy the cruises but they are starting to go the same way - Disney is just getting to expensive for me and I find that sad I do love Disney and I am a planner but I DONT want to be tied to my phone on vacation PERIOD I get enough of that working all week I want a break when I’m on vacation
I don’t want to pay for a ticket then pay to ride the rides - what is the ticket for? To spend all day in line for maybe 3 rides ??? At these prices no thanks
I would spend money if I felt I was getting an ROI but with Disney I don’t feel that any more

I remember when the parks opened at 6 AM and closed at 2AM not a special party those were the hours - great value for your ticket then

$20 plus to ride one ride per - for the big tier rides
times # people in your group
times number of days for big rides
plus the $15 per person per day
Times number days purchased

that adds up - do the math - it’s a chunk of change and to some people it will make it so they can’t go
Walt built the Parks for everyone not for just the well off with disposable income
I just find this sad I know a lot of people who can’t go because it’s so expensive and I’m starting to think I’m one of them
It’s hard to find discounts and if you want to do anything it cost extra - at some point my budget says ah NO
Sorry Mickey I love you but I don’t LOVE you
To each his own

 

[billlaurie]

As far as the process, I'm neutral since there are too many unknowns. Of course, who likes paying for what was once free? On top of high admission tickets, I won't pay for individual rides and am irked that some will only be available as VQ or extra $$$ so no rope drop potential for them. We are rope droppers so the 7 am day of thing doesn't bother me unless it turns out to flood the parks every morning. My husband says so long Disney Chase and is shopping for a better rewards card. I will miss what Disney once was to our family, but all the changes have left a bad taste. I could probably convince him to go back in a couple years, but not sure if I even want to.
Edited to add what I do hate the most is the need to constantly be glued to your phone. It just keeps getting worse. Disney ads really need to depict families standing in huddles staring at their phones!

 

[Kitty-chan]

https://www.disneytouristblog.com/lightning-lanes-genie-plus-disney-world-faq-guide/
According to this it should be available for days based on your needs.

Thanks, that's really good news!

It'll be like the old surprise fastpasses for attractions nobody was interested in.

I should have saved my surprise FastPass to Carousel of Progress, as a souvenir. (And for the record, I LOVE THAT ATTRACTION.)

 

[Grumpy by Birth]

Wait and see for me.

We're up at 7 am anyway getting ready (or already waiting) for RD and/or getting ROTR BGs, etc. So the 7 am opening for reserving the first LL time isn't a deal breaker for me.

For trips that are just my wife and me, I could see paying an extra $30 for MK and DHS as long as Genie+ actually results in us getting to use the LL line for a sufficient number of rides throughout the day. If it's only a handful, not worth the cost... we'll just wait in SB for those few additional rides since we'd be in SB for the rest of them anyway.

When traveling with extended family, it complicates matters because our traveling partners may not want to spend the extra and we wouldn't want to pressure them just so WE don't have to wait in lines (even if I'm generous and offer to pay for everyone, now we're talking about a significant chunk of change... not to mention that most of my family would not want to take "charity" so they would feel more obligated to spend out for it themselves).

As of now, we're still planning to be in MK on 1 OCT (no other park days for this trip). If they do roll out G+ before then, I'll volunteer to spend $30 in order to be a guinea pig for the rest of you and let you know what our experience was.

I enjoy Space Mountain and 7DMT, but they aren't "must do's" for us. Sometimes we skip them even if the line is reasonable. I would not pay extra for them (even if only $5 pp). So the additional cost for MK (for the two of us) would not exceed $30. At least until Tron opens. I might pay extra for that, but the more likely scenario would be that I would just wait an hour in SB for it. If the line exceeds an hour, I'd be tempted to pay extra for LL (IAS), but not an insane amount like $20+ (probably not willing to ever spend more than $10 per person for any one ride). So I might get shut out of that one or just have to wait for 2-3 hours.

At DHS, I would attempt to get a ROTR BG first and if unsuccessful, would be tempted to pay for LL (IAS) to ride it. But again, that would depend on the price tag. As much as I love that ride, I just don't think I can bring myself to fork over $50 for a single ride. If G+ will get us access to ToT, MFSR, SDD, TSMM, Star Tours, and MMRR (?) through the LL, there might be adequate value to use it at DHS for us with the $30 price tag. The real question is how much will ROTR cost and will I break down and pay it if I don't get a BG?

For AK, I would be inclined to just use SB for the Safari, EE, Dinosaur, etc. If FOP costs $15 as an IAS to use LL, it's still $30 for the day for the two of us. Even if it's more than $15 due to "surge" pricing, it would be slightly more stomach-able (is that a word?) since it would be the only extra ride cost for the day.

Similarly, for EPCOT we probably would just use SB for the rides (skipping TT and Frozen if they're over an hour wait). We've ridden Remy at DLP and it's a great ride, but I doubt I would pay extra for it. I would try to get a VQ (BG) for it but, if not successful, would probably skip it until a future trip. That being said, since we didn't pay the extra $15 each for G+ that day, we could instead spend that much for IAS to ride Remy using the LL and still be staying within that $30 per day price range.

Don't get me wrong... I think it absolutely STINKS that everyone will now have to pay extra to skip some of the SB lines (especially for families/large groups where it will add up). But if the $15 per day for G+ gets us enough rides using the LL, I think we could make it work for the two of us by purchasing it only at MK and DHS. We could then budget that $30 for AK and EP days to ride FOP and either Remy, Soarin' or TT (depending on the cost as well as free BG availability).

My perspective about this is probably shaped largely by the fact that I have been going to WDW since 1975. We used the ticket books back then and there were no FPs. You waited in line (often for an hour or more). I've experienced every variation of prices/line options.
I've been to WDW when they had:
Ticket books to ride the rides
All-inclusive rides but no FP existed
Legacy (paper) FP
FP+
Socially distanced SB only during COVID

...and now G+/LL/IAS

Bottom line... the price of WDW went up by $15 per day if we want to avoid having to wait in SB for all rides. I don't like the extra cost one bit, but whether I judge G+/LL to be a failure or not will depend on how effective it is in reducing the waits for that price.

 

[The Mayor]

Another money grab. I’m committed to this years November vacation with my wife and our 2022 vacation with our children and grandchildren but after that it’s asta la bye bye to Disney unless they change their greedy money grabbing ways.

 

[ChanaC]

I'm in the neutral/wait and see camp. I've always tried to be a strategic person who hits Disney with a plan, so I'm interested to see how this will affect park planning and how I can use it all to my advantage. I'm planning a short two day trip in early December, hoping to avoid the holiday crowds so we will see if this is something I will need. However, since I am going for such a short trip and my goal is to see and do new things since my last trip in 2015 I also want to really hit the big attractions and skip the smaller stuff I've already done a hundred times. I'm thinking that we might need to splurge on Genie+ to see and do everything on my list.

This is one of the times I'm grateful for all the vloggers. Based on some recommendations on here I've been binging through some All Ears videos with Molly and she's just great. There are a few others I watch with varying degrees of frequency (like the Trackers and DFB). I'm interested to see them go through the park with the lightening lanes and what they think of the system. Hopefully they will catch any bugs and come up with some tips in time for my trip!

I will say, I'm suspicious of the Genie free planning system. There could be some nice details in it, but like others said I bet they steer people the way they want. It's to their advantage to make people think they absolutely need to stop and eat at a place like Be Our Guest versus snacking on trail mix you brought from home. I might also shell out for the Touring Plans app, as they hopefully will provide more unbiased ideas.

 

[Sargeant Tibbs]

I don't like it one bit but will probably end up paying for it since we have a 20 month old. He's not at the age where he can wait in long lines.

Good news is most of the attractions he'll be interested in and tall enough to ride don't usually have long lines. Granted, the current understaffed, not all attractions open park situation has driven up wait times, but this won't last forever.

My thought is the opposite of yours for my January trip. I think I won't have much of a need for Genie+ with my 3 y.o., and that makes me happy.

 

[Bullseye]

Money Grab! I might spring for it on couple days depending which park were at. More and more Disney just keeps pulling moves like this that make me not want to go to the parks. We have been going for so many years I don't really need much park time any more. I'll spend my days at the resort or the waterparks. I'm sure at some point they will do something to squeeze more money out of the water parks and ruin that too. Completely fed up with Disney. So many years when other people would be griping on these boards about Disney there I was sniffing the pixie dust and staunchly defending them. Not any more, the romance is over.

 

[mommy2mrb]

I like it and would probably only use at MK. Maybe buy an extra ride if needed. It’s just my adult DD and I. We’ve used max pass in DL before and loved it.

 

[ChimCher-ee]

Anything that makes me pay for something that used to be free is a blow. But I will probably pay the price added to the ticket price. I will not pay for individual rides.

 

[Keckster]

What's painful is what used to be somewhat included will now cost. Reading the source material (Disney Parks blog) wasn't overly confusing--just a new change to process. What makes it confusing is all the vlogs with "Disney" experts interpreting and speculating without qualifying their statements as speculation. Watched many vlogs and some vloggers are doing a good job. Others just venting and making it confusing between what is a Disney stated fact and what is the vloggers' opinion/interpretation/speculation. Here's my "Cliff Notes" version:

• Standby Line is included in regular park admission.
• Genie is an itinierary tool--Disney's version of TouringPlans Lines App--to be included in My Disney Experience App
• Genie+ is a per day/per person fee to have access to select Lightning Lane queue times for most attraction (a variation of Disneyland Maxpass)
• Individual Attraction Selections is an up to two-time purchase per day/per person/per attraction access to Lightning Lane for identified top tier attractions

 

[bsmcneil]

I hadn't seen anyone explicitly say this (though I could've just missed it). We live in a culture deeply entrenched in FOMO (fear of missing out). It's one reason people go incredibly into debt to try to keep up appearances. Do I think a lot of people will pay for G+ or the LL$? Yeah, and sadly I may be one of them when I go. But that doesn't necessarily make it a good purchase or program.

 

[Amore Disney]

I'm one of those rare people that is actually canceling my next trip to Disney (but may return later). I'm a student on a tight budget, and simply can't make it to Disney very frequently. I don't want to spend 10x my rent money to feel like my trip wasn't worth it.

I'm very interested to see how this plays out and hear from everyone about their experiences with - or more importantly without - LL and Genie+.

 

[vincep]

I think if you want to go on the new big rides like Ratatouille, Guardians of the Galaxy or Tron you are going to have to pay. Or wait for many hours on line or join in virtual queues like ROTR which means there is a very good chance you won't get on them at all.
When I went on Space Mountain when it was relatively new for the first time there was no fast pass you just had to wait and it was usual 90 or 120 minutes. But you did not half to wait half a day.

 

[Elle :)]

I don’t like it but I will 100% be using it. My biggest issue is with the additional fee for the tier 1 rides. Not cool, Disney. Not cool.

 

[_19disnA]

I agree as someone else said too many unknows about the entire process to have an opinion and apparently some aspects of pricing haven't yet been released. What I have read about it so far we likely won't use if it requires you get up too early and/or spend all that time with your nose stuck in your phone at a park. Honestly, even with the old FastPass you could still only pre-reserve 3 rides per day, so we never viewed it as any amazing advantage. Occasionally, we were able to get an additional FastPass after using up the 3, but seemed like more bother then it was worth. I wish this site would consolidate the numerous threads on Genie into one area to avoid having the same conversation in several places.