Disney Genie+ and ILL$ Details & FAQ - Launches 10/19 at WDW, Paid "FastPass" at WDW and Disneyland (date TBD)

[Liquidice]

I keep checking back here hoping for a solid date on when it starts. And I'm still surprised at the level of complaint. Disneyland is my home park and most of us were already paying for MP so I guess there isn't quite as much outrage on the west coast. I do remember when MP started people were frustrated, but they all got over it when they realized how much easier it made everything.

That being said, I think the real killer here is the a la carte attractions. But who knows? Maybe it won't be as bad as we think. It probably will be, but I'm holding off of judging until I actually use the new system.

For Disneyland, don't forget that this was a conversion from a paper Fastpass to a digital Fastpass. So the upcharge brought with it convenience, you didn't need to walk to the FP kiosk and obtain a paper Fastpass. You also still could use the Paper Fastpass without an extra charge.

On the other hand, at Disney World - FP+ was already digital and included.

I do agree that IA$ is really the kick in the pants. I'm not really happy about Genie+ by itself but when you realize that the $15 per day doesn't even get you Lightning Lane access to all of the rides - it is even worse. So previously, I could get a Fastpass for 7DMT included in my admission and now I can't even get that if I pay $60 for 4 people for Genie+.

 

[Liquidice]

I feel like that take has evolved, it definitely started out as resentment towards Genie, now people have changed their tune to it being the “last straw”

I've been saying for awhile (maybe not my very first initial reaction) that Genie+ is just another in a long list of perks that were cut / up-charged.

Right here, I even said Genie+ by itself isn't so bad - but removing Tier 1 rides and putting them on IA$ is what made it bad: https://www.disboards.com/threads/d...s-at-wdw-and-disneyland.3849370/post-63286889

And within 24 hours of announcing Genie+ I made a longer post about my feelings which discuss the removal of perks over the last year as being the biggest problem I have - https://www.disboards.com/threads/d...s-at-wdw-and-disneyland.3849370/post-63291299

So if you want to say my opinion evolved over the 24 hours after announcing Genie+ sure. But I've been saying the same thing essentially since Genie+ launched.

 

[Aluminum Falcon]

I've been saying for awhile (maybe not my very first initial reaction) that Genie+ is just another in a long list of perks that were cut / up-charged.

Right here, I even said Genie+ by itself isn't so bad - but removing Tier 1 rides and putting them on IA$ is what made it bad: https://www.disboards.com/threads/d...s-at-wdw-and-disneyland.3849370/post-63286889

And within 24 hours of announcing Genie+ I made a longer post about my feelings which discuss the removal of perks over the last year as being the biggest problem I have - https://www.disboards.com/threads/d...s-at-wdw-and-disneyland.3849370/post-63291299

So if you want to say my opinion evolved over the 24 hours after announcing Genie+ sure. But I've been saying the same thing essentially since Genie+ launched.

I wasn’t really referring to you, I feel like you have been consistent from the beginning, and your reactions are typically pretty well crafted. However there are a lot of posters on a lot of boards who I feel like have changed over time. Maybe genie was a knee jerk reaction, and people needed time to sort out their feelings

 

[Douglas Dubh]

The only question is whether Genie+ will show you all available time slots like FP+ did or will it only show you "next available", like legacy FP did?

There is a third option. It might be that Genie+ will offer the next available time slot that doesn’t conflict with one of your planned activities. So if the current window for an attraction is 12:30 to 1:30 but you have an ADR for 12:00, Genie+ will offer you a 1:30 to 12:30 slot. You might even be able to tell it what shows you want to see, and it will schedule lightning lanes around those.

 

[Liquidice]

I wasn’t really referring to you, I feel like you have been consistent from the beginning, and your reactions are typically pretty well crafted. However there are a lot of posters on a lot of boards who I feel like have changed over time. Maybe genie was a knee jerk reaction, and people needed time to sort out their feelings

Gotcha, the post you quoted was referring to an earlier post I had made - so I thought you meant me.

I do think people's feelings and opinions will change over time. Perhaps even when Genie launches some of us, myself included will actually like the Genie and Genie+ service!

 

[CampbellzSoup]

It is definitely the last straw for our family! Hello Universal!

universal needs a nightly fireworks show hopefully their third park has one as its missing something it has all the ingredients of a Big Mac without the special sauce

 

[laughograms]

Disappointing!

 

[AnnaKristoff2013]

If it works the way legacy FP worked, if you book a LL reservation and it is more than 2 hours away, you can make another LL reservation two hours after you made the first one.

So, let's say it's 11 AM and you reserve a LL for PP at 6:15 PM. At 1 PM you can make another LL reservation for any other attraction that has availability. That second attraction could have a return time that is sooner than the one you have for PP or it could be later.

The only question is whether Genie+ will show you all available time slots like FP+ did or will it only show you "next available", like legacy FP did?

Under legacy maxpass you could also pull a new fastpass as soon as you swiped into the existing one, right?

 

[Liquidice]

Under legacy maxpass you could also pull a new fastpass as soon as you swiped into the existing one, right?

I believe this will still be the case with Genie+, normally you can hold 1 LL Pass at a time, so when you use one you can grab the next, similarly to how FP+ worked. The exception to this is if you select a ride and the LL time is 2+ hours away, you can select a 2nd ride after 2 hours have elapsed essentially allowing you to hold 2 LL passes at the same time.

 

[Marionnette]

Under legacy maxpass you could also pull a new fastpass as soon as you swiped into the existing one, right?

That was also true under FP+ and as far as legacy FP at WDW was concerned, you could pull a new paper FP as soon as the return window opened for your existing FP. You didn't need to "tap in" because there wasn't a way to tap in.

 

[popeyeohoh]

Young families will have an edge here I believe. Aging DisneyWorld guests may not be as savvy with their smart phones. Picking your choices, getting in the same area. Making lightning lane choices, then trying to get 2 Premium tickets. Sounds easier said than done

 

[poptart90]

Young families will have an edge here I believe. Aging DisneyWorld guests may not be as savvy with their smart phones. Picking your choices, getting in the same area. Making lightning lane choices, then trying to get 2 Premium tickets. Sounds easier said than done

Not sure if Genie+ will work the way MaxPass did for DL, but the way we handled that was to scan all the park tix into one person's (mine) app and then have a "master" organizer for the group. With all the tix linked, I could select a MP for the whole group, or if only a couple wanted to ride, I could uncheck them before selecting the MP time. Hopefully it's modeled on that system - it was super easy to use. We loved MP.

 

[shawthorne44]

universal needs a nightly fireworks show hopefully their third park has one as its missing something it has all the ingredients of a Big Mac without the special sauce

They have that. Light show and fireworks similar to what WDW seems to be adding to Epcot with the Stargate and tacos. Saw it in May.

 

[gerilyne]

I am sure this has been said earlier in the thread but my issue with paying for LL is what happened when we used the DL maxpass. We paid for the maxpass pre-Covid and while we loved the convenience of pulling them from the phone it was always disappointing around 5pm because everything for the night would already be gone. I mean you expect that from RSR but when you want to feel like you are getting your money's worth and can't use it in the evenings because everything is gone. It just made the evenings a little disappointing when it came to riding rides.

 

[Marionnette]

Young families will have an edge here I believe. Aging DisneyWorld guests may not be as savvy with their smart phones. Picking your choices, getting in the same area. Making lightning lane choices, then trying to get 2 Premium tickets. Sounds easier said than done

I think that there will be guests of all ages who end up confused by Genie, Genie+, IA$, LL, VQs, Magic Bands, Magic Mobile, mobile ordering, mobile checkout and so on. While I agree that many of the younger crowd will probably adapt more quickly, there will be a learning curve for everyone and us old fogeys who learned to program using punch cards will eventually catch on.

 

[Aprilshack]

The way it seems to be working is that if you have an LL for 3 hours from that point, Disney will allow you to stack another LL on top of that one after two hours. If you have an LL for 30 minutes from now, once you use that one, you can immediately book another, god I hope that makes sense haha

Basically i'm going to need to be pretty savvy in booking rides and try not to book a ride more than an hour away to try and do a fair amount in a day. As soon as i have used one LL booking, i can make another?

 

[closetmickey]

That being said, I think the real killer here is the a la carte attractions. But who knows? Maybe it won't be as bad as we think. It probably will be, but I'm holding off of judging until I actually use the new system.

Absolutely. It’s the individual paid attractions for me that make me the most upset.

 

[closetmickey]

I do agree that IA$ is really the kick in the pants. I'm not really happy about Genie+ by itself but when you realize that the $15 per day doesn't even get you Lightning Lane access to all of the rides - it is even worse. So previously, I could get a Fastpass for 7DMT included in my admission and now I can't even get that if I pay $60 for 4 people for Genie+.

Perfectly put!!

 

[circus4u]

I think that there will be guests of all ages who end up confused by Genie, Genie+, IA$, LL, VQs, Magic Bands, Magic Mobile, mobile ordering, mobile checkout and so on. While I agree that many of the younger crowd will probably adapt more quickly, there will be a learning curve for everyone and us old fogeys who learned to program using punch cards will eventually catch on.

As a fellow "oldie," I represent this!

 

[luv2cheer92]

Basically i'm going to need to be pretty savvy in booking rides and try not to book a ride more than an hour away to try and do a fair amount in a day. As soon as i have used one LL booking, i can make another?

Yes