Disney Genie announcement

[disneydreamer1980]

Is the genie plus an “all or nothing” thing, like park hoppers? Do you have to purchase it for each day if your trip? We have 10 park days and I’m thinking of only getting it for a few of those days (we’re a family of 7 and buying it for each day would add a whopping $1050!). We already spend SO much money on these trips

 

[meremac]

Was there a recent change on the offsite guests not being able to book Genie+ until park entry? I may have confused myself trying to keep up, but I originally thought it was being reported that all guests (resort and non-resort) could book their first Genie+ at 7:00am, and that the resort guests only had the advantage of booking the LL$ at 7:00 and non resort guests had to wait until park entry?

I don't know if there was a change or not. All I know is that it was very clear on the slide decks in the training today that only on-site guests can make their first Genie+ AND LL$ reservations at 7am.

 

[meremac]

Is the genie plus an “all or nothing” thing, like park hoppers? Do you have to purchase it for each day if your trip? We have 10 park days and I’m thinking of only getting it for a few of those days (we’re a family of 7 and buying it for each day would add a whopping $1050!). We already spend SO much money on these trips

If you have an on-site package, Genie+ is all-or-nothing for length of stay.

 

[Turksmom]

If you have an on-site package, Genie+ is all-or-nothing for length of stay.

Only if purchased as part of the package, correct?

 

[deltadisney]

I don't know if there was a change or not. All I know is that it was very clear on the slide decks in the training today that only on-site guests can make their first Genie+ AND LL$ reservations at 7am.

Thanks for sharing, and I hope that is the case.

 

[disneydreamer1980]

I think so many people staying on site won’t take advantage of the 7am thing anyway because they either won’t know about it or don’t be awake. I miss not making my ADRs at the 180 mark snd I’ll miss the 60 day FP too. They’re like milestones, they gave me something to be excited about lol

 

[meremac]

Only if purchased as part of the package, correct?

Um...I think so. TBH, that part wasn't entirely clear.

 

[luv2cheer92]

Is the genie plus an “all or nothing” thing, like park hoppers? Do you have to purchase it for each day if your trip? We have 10 park days and I’m thinking of only getting it for a few of those days (we’re a family of 7 and buying it for each day would add a whopping $1050!). We already spend SO much money on these trips

You can either add it on to your package, then it is all or nothing. OR you can add it on each day of your trip starting at midnight each day, then you can pick and choose days and people.

 

[Cabius]

Only if purchased as part of the package, correct?

My understanding is that it can be purchased as part of a package for length-of-stay, but that it can also be purchased for a single day at a time.

I could imagine using G+ for only 1-2 days out of a 6-day trip, personally. Indeed, the longer the trip, the less important G+ is because I can hit a single park 2-3 times and not feel like I MUST do it all in one day.

 

[StarrySkye21]

Have you looked to see if you could change your park reservations. I haven't looked lately, but I have heard that they are much more open than before. You could look at the availability calendar before changing it.

Yes I have already shuffled them around quite a bit. We planned on Epcot the day we fly in since it opens later. Depending on how in demand virtual queues end up with Remy, I may swap it around. If it’s easy to get a 1pm boarding group though I’ll keep it.

 

[Nick6300]

But there isn’t any crossover between the paid LLs and genie+ right? So, one wouldn’t effect the other.

Are the paid LLs and genie+ using separate lines? Or do you mean no cross over as in you can only book 1 at a time, either G+ or paid add on.

I was just thinking that less paid LLs (since you can only book 2 per day) may mean less congested expedited lines for G+ users, assuming they used the same former FP lines.

 

[Robbie Cottam]

No doubt Disney must capitalize on their immense popularity. They constantly have crowds and charge a premium already. They have to charge for skipping the lines IMO.....however, their rollout seems a bit clunky. In addition, it seems all the other parks generally have 1 level of "skip the line". WDW will essentially have 3, which makes it a bit complicated even for the savvy vacationer.

On another note....to this day I HATE that they charge resort guests to park. But it's the market....I just had to pay $22/day to park at a resort in Dallas area....seriously....Dallas...painful... LOL

They do not charge DVC members

 

[Turksmom]

Are the paid LLs and genie+ using separate lines? Or do you mean no cross over as in you can only book 1 at a time, either G+ or paid add on.

I was just thinking that less paid LLs (since you can only book 2 per day) may mean less congested expedited lines for G+ users, assuming they used the same former FP lines.

They aren't available for the same rides

 

[Nick6300]

They aren't available for the same rides

They aren't available for the same rides

Ah, thank you.

 

[Robbie Cottam]

Yes, I understand how a for-profit corporation works. My point was not that Disney owes us a free FP system. Rather, my point was that they cultivated this “free FP included with the price of your ticket!” mindset for 20 years, so the backlash is hardly a surprise.

And I agree that Disney has had tons of people examining and studying the feasibility of Genie before they made a commitment. That said:

1.) I know a lot of MBAs; some of them are not that smart; and that degree doesn’t make them any less prone to error, confirmation bias and overconfidence than anybody else;

2.) Even the best marketing minds can only do so much if they are getting poor directives from upper management; and

3.) I think we all have seen, either first-hand or in the news, a lot of big companies, similarly employing a lot of “smart” people with a lot of letters after their name, that still screwed things up royally.

In short, Disney’s not infallible. I’m not saying they haven’t crossed “t”s and dotted “i”s with Genie+/LL, but they still could be mis-calibrating our appetite for it.

And of course, if they are wrong, they’ll never admit that. They’ll just create new “magical offers” of some sort (e.g., free LL passes for Deluxe resort guests) that makes it look like they’re doing us a munificent favor vs. outright cutting prices on anything.

Disney owes you a free fast pass system? I’m confused I don’t see that in the terms and conditions of my annual pass please explain.

 

[TangledHairDon'tCare]

Are the paid LLs and genie+ using separate lines? Or do you mean no cross over as in you can only book 1 at a time, either G+ or paid add on.

I was just thinking that less paid LLs (since you can only book 2 per day) may mean less congested expedited lines for G+ users, assuming they used the same former FP lines.

The rides that extra are not included in Genie+

 

[CBMom01]

Are the paid LLs and genie+ using separate lines? Or do you mean no cross over as in you can only book 1 at a time, either G+ or paid add on.

I was just thinking that less paid LLs (since you can only book 2 per day) may mean less congested expedited lines for G+ users, assuming they used the same former FP lines.

The way i read it the only option for the Tier 1 rides will be individual paid LL or standby

 

[cygnusx1jg]

This is strictly my opinion. When we had FastPass, I understood that they couldn't let only FastPass people go immediately into the queue without letting some standby go periodically. It was a trade off since I had FP for this and you had FP for that, so all was good.

However, if I'm paying for Genie+, shouldn't I expect to get into the attraction before people in the standby line? And won't that delay the standby line incredibly, assuming enough people use Genie+?

 

[TangledHairDon'tCare]

This is strictly my opinion. When we had FastPass, I understood that they couldn't let only FastPass people go immediately into the queue without letting some standby go periodically. It was a trade off since I had FP for this and you had FP for that, so all was good.

However, if I'm paying for Genie+, shouldn't I expect to get into the attraction before people in the standby line? And won't that delay the standby line incredibly, assuming enough people use Genie+?

I’m sure they’ll have a ratio of LL and standby that they use, just like they did before. You’ll still be getting on the ride before almost all of the standby riders.

 

[g-dad66]

Was there a recent change on the offsite guests not being able to book Genie+ until park entry? I may have confused myself trying to keep up, but I originally thought it was being reported that all guests (resort and non-resort) could book their first Genie+ at 7:00am, and that the resort guests only had the advantage of booking the LL$ at 7:00 and non resort guests had to wait until park entry?

Yes, I believe you are correct. In fact, some popular sites still say that it's only the LL$ and not Genie+ where onsite has the 7:00 advantage.

If the training is now saying that only onsite can start Genie+ at 7:00, that is a huge additional advantage for onsite (in addition to half-hour early entry) in my opinion.