Disney Genie announcement

[JakeAZ]

but if they actually let us stack after a time , could you actually “fill in” with lesser rides or would all additional passes have to have come-back times after your first? For example: At 9 am on a crowded day you manage to snag a BTMR pass with a return time of 6:00 pm. After 90 minutes you can stack another with a return time sometime after 6:00 pm, but not earlier.

Even if they allow you to pull another after a set time (I've seen credible rumors of 120 minutes), you will only be offered the next available on a ride. Seeing 6pm slots for rides, while checking at 9am probably isn't going to happen, based on what I've read.

 

[Gordo Gato]

but if they actually let us stack after a time , could you actually “fill in” with lesser rides or would all additional passes have to have come-back times after your first? For example: At 9 am on a crowded day you manage to snag a BTMR pass with a return time of 6:00 pm. After 90 minutes you can stack another with a return time sometime after 6:00 pm, but not earlier.

It’s been a long time since I did max pass and I know genie isn’t the same but…
If I reserve a pass at 9am for BTMR at 630pm, would I be able to get a second pass (book at 1030) say for HM at 1pm?

it would be really cruddy if 15$ per person per day gets me 1 genie pass in the evening that we may or may not use because it’s so late in the day.

 

[JakeAZ]

It’s been a long time since I did max pass and I know genie isn’t the same but…
If I reserve a pass at 9am for BTMR at 630pm, would I be able to get a second pass (book at 1030) say for HM at 1pm?

it would be really cruddy if 15$ per person per day gets me 1 genie pass in the evening that we may or may not use because it’s so late in the day.

Nothing has been confirmed if you'll be able to grab another one after a set period of time but before you use your current one.

BUT you won't be able to choose from a list of times on rides. You will be offered the "next available time". It's a take it or leave it scenario.

So, if we'll be allowed to grab another one, you can gamble and take a later "next available". If we're not, it's in your best interest to grab the earliest time available, regardless of ride.

 

[Gordo Gato]

BUT you won't be able to choose from a list of times on rides. You will be offered the "next available time". It's a take it or leave it scenario.

So if at 701am, the first time my desired ride is available is 630pm, then that may be the only time I can reserve a genie pass for the day? So in essence it could be 15$ per ride thing?

We would always prefer to snag the earliest ride time so “too early” is not an issue for us.

 

[JakeAZ]

So if at 701am, the first time my desired ride is available is 630pm, then that may be the only time I can reserve a genie pass for the day? So in essence it could be 15$ per ride thing?

I guess, ya that could be the outcome, but if people can't start booking until 7am, it's highly unlikely the "next available" on any ride would be 6:30pm.

 

[TangledHairDon'tCare]

So if at 701am, the first time my desired ride is available is 630pm, then that may be the only time I can reserve a genie pass for the day? So in essence it could be 15$ per ride thing?

I don’t think that will happen mainly because it would mean a ton of other people would have to be ok with taking all of the times that lead up to 6:30 first thing in the morning. I imagine most people will peruse the list of available rides and choose one that is in the area they want to be when they arrive in the park and go from there.

 

[Gordo Gato]

I guess, ya that could be the outcome, but if people can't start booking until 7am, it's highly unlikely the "next available" on any ride would be 6:30pm.

Thank you - the lack of a start date as well as definite rules and details is really messing up our planning for 10/2021.

 

[JakeAZ]

Thank you - the lack of a start date as well as definite rules and details is really messing up our planning for 10/2021.

I feel for you. Hopefully you're later in October so there will be tons of posts on what works and what doesn't.

 

[Cabius]

The most popular rides will quickly have later return times and if they don't let people book other rides in between, they won't be maximizing the LL and minimizing standby times. It makes no sense not to be able to reserve another LL if you're hours away from your return time on your current one.

On the flip side, if guests cannot book any more rides in between, it minimizes the incentive to book D-ticket rides later in the afternoon and spreads out demand. If your options are between Haunted Mansion at 10AM or BTMRR at 3PM, how many people will pick HM in order to maintain flexibility and get more rides in? That means rides will book up slowly, and there will be greater availability throughout the day.

There is a fixed capacity of butts in seats, so everything here is a zero-sum game between guests. By eliminating the complexities that let guests like us game the system to get on more rides, it means more availability for less-savvy guests who don't know all the tricks of the trade.

 

[rpfennig]

I honestly think the problem with wait times is with the capacity, there just isn't enough to do. Year over year disney rethemes old rides and doesn't add any more capacity or things to do. They tear down old rides and build new ones over top of them. The only solution to long wait times is park expansion or raising prices. You can see which path they have chosen. Universal has chosen rapid growth and has built more and more hotels and a new water park and is planning a new whole park. Long term growth and planning. Disney on the other hand has redone existing rides and focused on the 50th anniversary, what happens after that will be interesting.

It feels a bit like long wait times shifted from "a problem to solve" to "an opportunity to monetize" for Disney. It's not a bug, it's a feature.

A bit like if when you bought a new car, the manufacturers took out a life insurance policy on you... I'd question their commitment to safety features. Similarly, I'm a bit more suspicious about what counts as a good guest experience in Disney's mind when it comes to wait times.

Sigh... should have gotten a Boo Bash ticket so I could dress up as Charlton Heston at the end of "Soylent Green" and stood in the middle of Main Street... "If we all just stick to stand by, it will be better for everyone! Do you hear me!! Wait times are made of PEOPLE!!!"

 

[JakeAZ]

It feels a bit like long wait times shifted from "a problem to solve" to "an opportunity to monetize" for Disney. It's not a bug, it's a feature.

Yep. Nobody is better at offering paid "solutions" to the problems they created.

 

[Babe the Blue Ox]

Yes, we've done that many times at DLR, it's certainly not taking advantage, just knowing how the system works. The person I was responding to was talking about paper FP an stacking- which wasn't really stacking at all- just hoarding. It was based on being able to ignore the return times and just grabbing FP's as fast as you could.

That game was called Fast Pass Poker. If you collected enough passes you could fan them out just like a deck of cards.

With a family of 5, we could usually get 6-8 sets (30-40 passes) throughout the morning then play them in the afternoon and early evening when it got really hot and crowded.

 

[ofcabbagesandkings]

Yep. Nobody is better at offering paid "solutions" to the problems they created.

100%. If they really were trying to optimize the guest experience, they would increase capacity on rides and they would have stopped cutting shows and other entertainment that started going away long before Covid. This is like when they “solved” the problem of no ADR availability at BoG by making lunch and dinner prix fixe. Or when they tried to spin taking away MDE as a reflection of guests having “more choices” than ever before.

 

[cakebaker]

your options are between Haunted Mansion at 10AM or BTMRR at 3PM,

If at 10am the return time for BTMRR is 3 pm, then your theory that a later return time will deter guests is proven wrong. It took many hundreds of people booking it to push the time out that far. There were hundreds willing at 9am to reserve a 2pm return.

 

[JakeAZ]

100%. If they really were trying to optimize the guest experience, they would increase capacity on rides and they would have stopped cutting shows and other entertainment that started going away long before Covid. This is like when they “solved” the problem of no ADR availability at BoG by making lunch and dinner prix fixe. Or when they tried to spin taking away MDE as a reflection of guests having “more choices” than ever before.

Firework viewing too crowded for you?
Well, you’re in luck. We have like 15 different “solutions” for you.

 

[twodogs]

People hated FP- because you had to run all over the park getting paper FPs, people hated FP+ because you had to plan every ride 60 days in advance and the "good" FPs were all immediately booked up and ruined the chances for folks with last minute trips or locals, people hated no FP during COVID because lines were super long, and now people hate G+ for the innumerable reasons in this 85 page thread. All people can't be happy because it is not ever happening that you will have a reasonably priced, non-crowded, no planning needed, uber-planning will help you succeed and crush other guests, short lines experience at a Disney park (or any theme park worth visiting, that I know of). Not if Disney wants to continue to be able to be a profitable business that can stay open.

I am glad folks are voicing their concerns and letting Disney know what they don't like about G+ (and maybe letting them know what you do like about it, if you do). But ultimately, change will occur in the direction that makes Disney more money. Whatever that is. It will be a balance of the guest experience versus the maximum extraction of money for their business, with a heavy slant towards the latter. The good news about that is that you can each VOTE with your WALLET. Go, don't go right now, don't go ever again, sell your DVC (to someone else who will then go in your place), never stay onsite again since it is not a good value to you anymore, always stay onsite since it gives you great or enough value, buy more DVC points, buy DVC for the first time. Your actions tell Disney what works and what doesn't since your actions make or don't make them money.

When people begin to interpret every move Disney makes as a business decision, it may lessen their personal feelings of disappointment in the company. If you don't feel any change they make is creating a valuable experience for you, there are so many options out there for your vacation dollars, that aren't Disney at all. And I hope that people who are dissatisfied with G+, Boo Bash or whatever else, will go and find something that makes them happier than Disney does in the current incarnation. And spend the heck out of your hard-earned vacation dollars where you feel you are valued! I also hope Disney is listening, to its most dedicated fans, and reacts accordingly, whatever that is.

 

[cakebaker]

With a family of 5, we could usually get 6-8 sets (30-40 passes) throughout the morning then play them in the afternoon and early evening when it got really hot and crowded.

And it locked many people out of the opportunity to ride. It also threw off the way FP was supposed to work. I was very glad when they finally made CM’s enforce return times, but that was at the end before they introduced FP+. I never understood why they allowed it to happen in the first place.

At least with Genie+, that won’t happen. If they allow a window then it’s possible to hold a few at a time, but they have to be used when they’re intended to be used. I don’t think they’ll make that mistake again.

 

[Babe the Blue Ox]

And it locked many people out of the opportunity to ride. It also threw off the way FP was supposed to work. I was very glad when they finally made CM’s enforce return times, but that was at the end before they introduced FP+. I never understood why they allowed it to happen in the first place.

At least with Genie+, that won’t happen. If they allow a window then it’s possible to hold a few at a time, but they have to be used when they’re intended to be used. I don’t think they’ll make that mistake again.

Yes, those were the days. Even with FP+, it was very easy to get 10-12 sets per day using the refresh method.

We don’t move around as quickly as we used to, and probably showed up late beyond the grace period for whatever reason at least half the time. Fortunately, we were never once turned away with an expired FP+ on even the most popular attractions.

 

[meremac]

To (hopefully) answer multiple questions, I think this is how it will work (although there was some mention of potential tweaks before launch, so take it with a grain of salt until it's officially released). If you are on onsite guest, you can do the following at 7am: join Virtual Queues, make your first Genie+ reservation, make an LL$ reservation. Offsite guests can join Virtual Queues at 7am, but they cannot make Genie+ or LL$ reservations until they physically enter a theme park. Expanding: Genie+ and LL$ will be separate. You can take advantage of one, both, or neither. You can only make a maximum of two LL$ reservations per day. It's possible you will be able to make both LL$ reservations at the same time at 7am, but that wasn't entirely clear. There are no limits to the number of Genie+ reservations you can make each day. However, you will only be able to make one Genie+ reservation at a time. It's possible that you will ultimately be able to hold more than one Genie+ reservation if the system works like DL's MaxPass did (when making a MaxPass, a notification popped up that you would be able to make another one either after scanning in for your current MaxPass reservation or at "x time"...and sometimes "x time" was sooner than your current MaxPass reservation window). That part wasn't clear though.

So here's what I'm thinking a day at MK could possibly look like for an onsite guest.

7am: Make Genie+ reservation for BTMR with a 9:30am-10:30am return window. Purchase LL$ for 7DMT with a 10:30am-11:30am window.
8:30am: Enter MK for Early Entry (assuming the park opens at 9am). Ride Space standby.
8:50am?: Ride PP standby.
9:00am: First offsite guests coming into the park and making first Genie+ reservation (onsite already has done 2 attractions).
9:15am-10:15am (this is generous ~ might not take this long): Off PP. Ride 1-2 attractions standby.
9:30am: Make second Genie+ reservation if new window has opened and stacking is allowed.
10:15am: Ride BTMR with Genie+.
10:30am: Ride second Genie+ attraction if stacking was allowed, then make another. If stacking isn't allowed, make second Genie+.
11:00am: Ride 7DMT with LL$.
11:15am: Spend the next few hours doing "Anytime Attractions" like PhilharMagic/Monsters Inc/HoP/CoP, lunch, working in Genie+ ressies.

That would mean on onsite guest could potentially do 7-8 popular attractions in less than 3 hours. It would free up the afternoon for pool time, Park Hopping, exploring MK leisurely, etc. If a guest doesn't want to do LL$, there would be ways to work around that too. Of course, we'll have to see exactly how this all pans out. But this is one potential plan I came up with while I was taking notes during the training yesterday.

 

[Cabius]

If at 10am the return time for BTMRR is 3 pm, then your theory that a later return time will deter guests is proven wrong. It took many hundreds of people booking it to push the time out that far. There were hundreds willing at 9am to reserve a 2pm return.

Right, but without that deterrent it might be snatched up all the way to 7 PM. Deterrent doesn't mean nobody will book 5-hour-away passes - some people aren't even getting to the park until the afternoon, after all - but that fewer people will.

I'm making up times here; the point is that by not allowing stacking you put downward pressure on demand and improve availability later in the day.