Thanksgiving Week Genie+ Experience and required mobile ordering so far

[ML_LovesDisney]

I really hope many of you here email a summary of your experience to Disney. If I could c&p this whole thread I would. I think many people are going to pay the one time 15$p/p and for one reason or another realize it’s not worth it and choose not to pay again. Sounds like during slower or even normal crowd times you don’t even need it, or it’s more of a hassle than helpful. And during busy crowd times it’s not even worth it.

I really can’t wrap my head around the stress of logging in at 7am, and only being able to reserve a LL for 5pm for a desired attraction. So your option is to try your luck with standby, revolve your whole day/evening plans around the only LL time given or skip the ride? How are any of those options acceptable? How are any of those options on line with Disney’s (former) commitment to guest satisfaction??

so you book an ADR 60 days out, then you have to choose the MORNING of, after you paid for Genie+, to skip your ADR (as unlikely to be able to move time), or not get the LL for the one ride your kids were most excited to ride? What if your family needs a break, or your kid naps at the ONE time you offered for LL. What if you had plans to hop? How is this is any way a good thing. I just don’t get it. This system sucks.

What is the email for this? I’ve only ever emailed one other time and I forget

 

[tjmw2727]

I think Disney is actually happy with this; they want to lessen the crowds. They will charge more to make up for the lost revenue.

Maybe? In my case during the 4 days we cut I canceled 3 pricey table service ADR's for 6 adults (who do order alcohol!). One of those days was a surprise for my nephew that would have included some nice souvenirs as he doesn't go often - instead he will be spoiled at "Hogwarts".

If they wanted to lessen crowds, they could easily reduce theme park reservations.

 

[Kbrb]

Maybe? In my case during the 4 days we cut I canceled 3 pricey table service ADR's for 6 adults (who do order alcohol!). One of those days was a surprise for my nephew that would have included some nice souvenirs as he doesn't go often - instead he will be spoiled at "Hogwarts".

If they wanted to lessen crowds, they could easily reduce theme park reservations.

This...it amuses me they think they will be making huge amounts of extra$ when most people will just cut out other stuff to pay for it. Ive said numerous times ive already downgraded my hotel and cut the number of days im staying. Guess where im going with the money i have saved?

Disney had me 14 nights 14 day tickets on the ME with no car. Me and family where going no where all our spending would have been onsite.

 

[papertraveller]

Like many of the above posters, we also had trouble trying to book the second and subsequent attractions at convenient times. By the time we were through the first one in the morning, the availabilities for our preferred attractions were approaching the dinner hour. We bought Genie + for MK and HS. I honestly don't know what we'll do on the next trip, but I doubt we will purchase Genie. At a minimum I expect an experience that equates to FP+ -- but based on our trip, we definitely struggled to get three quality attractions booked.
Another challenge is that one of our party likes to sleep in -- this system now makes it impossible for him to join us later in the day, but still have some attractions to enjoy on arrival.

 

[ML_LovesDisney]

Like many of the above posters, we also had trouble trying to book the second and subsequent attractions at convenient times. By the time we were through the first one in the morning, the availabilities for our preferred attractions were approaching the dinner hour. We bought Genie + for MK and HS. I honestly don't know what we'll do on the next trip, but I doubt we will purchase Genie. At a minimum I expect an experience that equates to FP+ -- but based on our trip, we definitely struggled to get three quality attractions booked.
Another challenge is that one of our party likes to sleep in -- this system now makes it impossible for him to join us later in the day, but still have some attractions to enjoy on arrival.

Agreed. This system has made it impossible to sleep in. If you wait, there are no more LLs to even pick from (MK is a bit different because it has so many rides; but Epcot, DHS, and AK, you’re out of luck). The first day I slept in was today, and we are flying home at 2:20p. Pretty sad!

 

[mikebb]

Main issue I have with Genie+, although I was successful using it, it that I have my head in my phone most of the time. I don't like that. I missed a lot of great stuff because I felt that I needed to be on top of things. I highly recommend NOT doing that. Use Genie+ to plan out your day but don't have the phone in your face the whole time. Universal was much worse for that because of trying to get a VQ for HAgrids the whole time. Kind of takes that magic away in that regard.

This is huge for me. Disney seems to keep going in the direction of more, not less, reliance on staring at phones all day. For a park that's built on immersive-ness and little details, this is a huge detraction (and distraction) from the experience.

Unfortunately, I think all parks and in-person experiences are going to struggle with this if not already. How to properly use tech to augment experiences and manage visitors without getting in the way of "real life fun". We actually found that Universal was much better for this - while we used VQ for Hagrids as well, it was so little of our time to be not noticeable. I definitely felt less tied to my phone there, although having Express Pass via the hotel was probably a big part of this.