Disney Genie announcement

[RedmonFamily]

Can you park hop with Genie+? If I buy it at 7am and start my day at MK and hop to Epcot later, can I continue making G+ selections at Epcot?

It sounds like yes

 

[Jimmy Mouse]

I just returned today, been at WDW since Sunday (6 days) and It was crowded. We were at UO before we arrived at WDW and it was just as crowded in the evenings. Thank God for Express pass! We were able to ride everything and we stayed in the parks all day because we were having a lot of fun! Things were a lot different at WDW. We were able to do the rides we wanted with no problem but we only did half park days. Each day we each picked a ride, just 4 of us. We did those and left. Disney did not get our money in the shops, at the snack carts or restaurants. We ate a lot of meals in our room. Insta cart is wonderful! Once Genie launches, If you decide to pay for the + part you will not be able to repeat a LL for a ride and that just sucks. When FP+ was free you could. I still have another trip booked in 80 or so days but that may change. We had a ton of issues this last trip that may be the tipping point for us. That's for another post.

Edit: I was reminded by my wife how much we really did eat in the parks and that we only had 2 meals in the room but a lot of snacks. Seems my memory is foggy. I had to look at all the food pics before I believed her lol. This will only get better as I get older! I can't wait

 

[kappyfamily]

I've used maxpass. I liked maxpass, and it was pleasantly easy to avoid most of the lines on maxpass attractions. I found it was worth the price over paper fastpass.

However, if we're limited to one genie+ pass per attraction - that's a significant change to the value proposition. I'm waiting to see how it comes out, but I'm dubious of the utility for my particular traveling party.

this! We used and abused MaxPass, loved it! BUT, we could ride the same ride multiple times if we wanted to. In a full day we would get 10-14 rides on maxpass reservations per day depending how busy the park was. We had it pretty much figured out. Even when they raised the daily price we still felt it was worth it. Not sure about the only ride 1x though..... hmm will have to think about this one. Maybe use it on the 1 or 2 busiest days we will be there during the week.

 

[PepperjackDragon]

what really boggles me is the emphasis on a la cart. 1: it makes it more confusing. 2: it will obviously make less money. 3: single per ride sux but is probably so they can make sure they can sell them to everybody and still have slots available.

On point 2: Consider prix fixe meals is obviously way more profitable than me skipping entrees and splitting deserts. Clearly WDW recognizes this. I mean, if they had a set price for my whole trip-presumably with a slight discount after x number of days- I would definitely get it for fear of needing it. I am positive that if I had to accept $150 for 10 days-even $300-i would convince myself it’s not THAT bad. As is no way I get it for AK or Epcot. Moreover, once I had them for everyday I would HAVE to get park hoppers to maximize my AK and Epcot passes.

this is like getting rid of prefixe at cinderellas table, and letting people split a desert and enjoy meet and greets. All of this to say, forget about fast passes, in the next 12-18 months these are going to be the good days, even though when they finally do force us to buy them as a package we will probably be happier for it.

 

[fabfemmeboy]

We need threads where the DL max pass experts give lessons

Wouldn't do any good because max pass only had 1 tier and didn't care if you pulled times for the same attraction repeatedly. Plus we had to pull them for things like Fantasmic/WOC viewing which isn't the case at WDW.

 

[Spike101]

I'm visiting Florida for 2 weeks at the end of Jan from the U.K, I'm a Universal fan, however this year I'm taking a day out to visit DHS,mostly for Galaxys Edge it has to be said, my ticket and reservation are all sorted, yay!

As far as ROTR is concerned, as its only $15 a pop, I'm going to indulge the cost and invest in a Lightning Lane reservation, I'll be rope dropping anyway so having ROTR booked will let me enjoy the rest of the park at my leisure.

Having said all that, I'm going at the beginning of Feb, in theory its a crowd light time, so could end up just doing ROTR via standby, I'll play it by ear when I get there.

I'm not going to pay for Genie+ but as a solo traveller, and knowing this will (probably) be my only ever visit to DHS, the Lightning Lane paid option is good for me for that particular ride.

 

[shawthorne44]

The only once per ride significantly changes my G+ strategy. If you will probably want to re-ride, you would want to delay using the G+ on a ride that gets longer lines later in the day. If it starts high at park open and then stays steady, then it wouldn't matter. But, if it climbs, it might be better to go standby first.

 

[tony67]

If you decide to pay for the + part you will not be able to repeat a LL for a ride and that just sucks. When FP+ was free you could

In theory yes - but the FP had to be available but I do agree that if it is available - even if they enforced some time between the rides like 2 hours between repeats - Id much prefer that

You are right, no way I'd book an international trip or a cruise or any trip that cost me thousands of dollars without doing my homework but they sure do for Disney. They don't do their homework when Disney puts it all out there over and over again - so they won't care if they know nothing now. In the end they'll have the same trip.

Honestly part of the problem here is bad travel agents. I dont know why people even use them - anymore if they are not going to give you the info they need - they are still used a lot from UK/Ireland. I had a really good travel agent back in the late 90s early 2000s - but then Disney and Amex cut them out.
Anyway - Ive talked to far too many folks from the Uk and Ireland that used travel agents and got completely ripped off and had no plan - including family members who I specifically told to let me assist them - but they knew better.

One of the worst was a guy I met who was dying and did a big family trip - booked everything including the top level dinning plan and showed up during free dinning with no reservations. The amount he payed to stay in the wings at the contemporary was far more than I was paying at club level. I did help him a bit with a few reservations - but only so much I could do. Hopefully this travel agent was dealt with when he got home, but since it was Dublin and not a small town they can get away with it.

I'm not going to pay for Genie+ but as a solo traveller, and knowing this will (probably) be my only ever visit to DHS, the Lightning Lane paid option is good for me for that particular ride.

For me as a solo traveler -it's much more tempting since its only $15 not $15 x 4 people

 

[mousestruck]

Does anyone know if you will be able to pre-purchase Genie+ with an annual pass, as they’ve indicated you can do with other tickets and packages? I wonder if AP holders will have to purchase “day of,” or if Disney will offer any discounts. I doubt it, but would be nice!

Clearly there are still unanswered questions, but we all have an advantage. We’re the people who read the Disney chat boards, follow the bloggers and stay on top of all the breaking Disney news. I have no doubt that within a few weeks of launch, people will have figured out how to optimize Genie+… and we’ll benefit from that knowledge. I’m counting on that for our January trip!

 

[CWTC]

Does anyone know if you will be able to pre-purchase Genie+ with an annual pass, as they’ve indicated you can do with other tickets and packages? I wonder if AP holders will have to purchase “day of,” or if Disney will offer any discounts. I doubt it, but would be nice!

Older information suggested AP holders would need to buy day of and after midnight. I have not seen anything more current.

 

[Marionnette]

Does anyone know if you will be able to pre-purchase Genie+ with an annual pass, as they’ve indicated you can do with other tickets and packages? I wonder if AP holders will have to purchase “day of,” or if Disney will offer any discounts. I doubt it, but would be nice!

Clearly there are still unanswered questions, but we all have an advantage. We’re the people who read the Disney chat boards, follow the bloggers and stay on top of all the breaking Disney news. I have no doubt that within a few weeks of launch, people will have figured out how to optimize Genie+… and we’ll benefit from that knowledge. I’m counting on that for our January trip!

The only answer about APs that I could find on an official Disney website was thru PlanDisney (formerly the Mom's Panel) and we know how accurate their info can be at times. Anyway, in response to a question about adding Genie+ to an AP, this was the response:

Crystal, as Genie+ launches, Walt Disney World Annual Passholders will not be able to purchase in advance. The purchase in advance option is currently available only for theme park tickets. But Hakuna Matata, Crystal! No Worries! You won’t be at any disadvantage when you purchase day-of through the My Disney Experience Mobile App. The pricing is the same, as is the availability to choose your Lightning Lane Attractions. As a Disney Vacation Club Member and Walt Disney World Annual Passholder, I’ll be doing the same thing for our visit!​

​

https://plandisney.disney.go.com/qu...-dvc-reservation-november-passholders-468759/

 

[Delilah1310]

Why would Disney care if we wanted to ride the same ride over and over? Do they think limiting the re-rides will disperse crowds better? Just trying to understand their logic.

 

[MainMom]

what I understand is you can choose your time for the upcharge lightening lane rides- the two per day you can use to pay to pass the line.

for just genie plus you choose the next available time.

This is what I don’t like about Genie+. I never booked my first FP before 10am because we are RDers with a good strategy. If I get on at 7am and want to book Splash at 10, but the first available is 9 I have to wait around & refresh until 10 shows up? If this is the case I’m going to have to rethink everything about my park days. If it was free I wouldn’t care, but having to pay for it I’m not going to be happy if I book a 9am ride that’s still a 15 minute wait. Seems like a waste to me.

 

[shawthorne44]

Why would Disney care if we wanted to ride the same ride over and over? Do they think limiting the re-rides will disperse crowds better? Just trying to understand their logic.

It should keep the standby line reasonable. Otherwise imagine the most popular G+ ride. People would get back-to-back reservations on it and choke the standby line.

 

[Marionnette]

Why would Disney care if we wanted to ride the same ride over and over? Do they think limiting the re-rides will disperse crowds better? Just trying to understand their logic.

Part of it is about spreading out crowds but I think it's mostly about limiting access so that they can sell more Genie+ add-ons. For instance, AK has only 8 Genie+ LL attractions, 3 of which are shows. Epcot has 9. If a family visiting AK was able to do multiple re-rides of KS, Na'vi or Kali imagine what that would leave for other Genie+ guests to choose from.

 

[dawnball]

I understand why they're limiting it to once per ride. There just aren't that many attractions at WDW that need a fastpass.

Why would Disney care if we wanted to ride the same ride over and over? Do they think limiting the re-rides will disperse crowds better? Just trying to understand their logic.

Because they're trying to ensure that as many people as possible purchase G+.

Guests visit attractions in the morning when lines are short and Genie directs you around. They have lunch, and the lines start getting longer just as the day is getting hotter and the Genie starts saying "120 minute wait for Jungle Cruise, or you can purchase G+ and ride in 20 minutes? It sounds like a much better deal than if Jungle Cruise return times are 2+ hours out.

 

[dawnball]

This is what I don’t like about Genie+. I never booked my first FP before 10am because we are RDers with a good strategy. If I get on at 7am and want to book Splash at 10, but the first available is 9 I have to wait around & refresh until 10 shows up? If this is the case I’m going to have to rethink everything about my park days. If it was free I wouldn’t care, but having to pay for it I’m not going to be happy if I book a 9am ride that’s still a 15 minute wait. Seems like a waste to me.

I think the goal is to have return times be very short - like "book it now, stroll across the park and it's time to ride" levels of short. My prediction is that will work in the short term, but may quickly turn into the RSR issue "I want to ride this in the dark, so I have to keep checking to see when the mid-afternoon times suddenly become nighttime and then disapppear in a flash"

 

[scrappinginontario]

It should keep the standby line reasonable. Otherwise imagine the most popular G+ ride. People would get back-to-back reservations on it and choke the standby line.

While this could happen I see that particular scenario working in Disney’s favour as it would encourage more to purchase G+.

 

[CWTC]

So I know there has been a lot of back and forth on stacking like Maxpass if the return window is multiple hours out. I just took the time to read the info in my MDE app:

“Once you’ve redeemed your initial selection (or the arrival window has passed), you can make another selection using the app, up to park closing.”

That seems to imply no stacking. How cruddy would it be at 7am to get a return time for 6pm and that is the only LL you get for the day?

 

[Jessica Geisler]

I’ve screenshot this to follow and attempt as a genie-pig when we are in MK on the 24. I can’t determine if we would buy it for Epcot, but definitely won’t for AK. Universal the first half of the week requires a lot less thought and planning & now I have to spend my time seeing how it works for 3 days prior to us arriving.

If they run the tickets like maxpass you will be able to buy tickets with genie plus included and tickets without it.
My guess is if you currently have tickets from an outside vendor not as part of a vacation package then you will want to buy genie plus daily while you are there. This is how maxpass worked. You just purchased it in the app and then you could start using it once scanned in the park.

so if you have tickets where it's not included And you can start selections at 7am- Disney has said genie plus purchase for the day will start at midnight for that day.... this doesn't mean it sells out and you need to be on at midnight- it just means that when buying it opens.

so if you are planning to buy it day of- and want to make a selection at 7am- I would make sure you have it purchased by 7am.

I know this is very new for WDW but the more info comes out about the more it is incredibly similar to maxpass just with those additions lightening lanes uncharged.

Because DisneyWorld will have early entry too for resorts guests let me tell you how maxpass worked for us on a Disneyland day during Christmas break crowds. The difference here is that at Disneyland you had to be scanned into the park to start using it while at WDW it will open at 7am. You all- THiS IS IMPORTANT- because if the info about 120 minutes before booking next one is true- then that means if you book one at 7- your next one is at 9. You will have entered MK at 830 for early entry. You could have rode 2-3 rides early entry, and have two lightening lanes booked by the time the park official opens. If those have fairly quick return times you could be booking your third lightening lane pass by 10-11am. And for those who want to purchase the lightening lanes- book those for the afternoon when crowds pick up.

we used maxpass at Disneyland during capacity Christmas crowds. We had what was known there at magic morning. We were in the park half hour early and booked our first fastpasses for offical Opening at 830. We could then make a selection 90 minutes later. By using magic morning to hit space mountain, fantasy land, and buzz light year and by 9am we were booking our second fastpass abs about to ride with our first.

I know this is a big change but it really does work well. And it's flexible. And we could stack a couple by watching them while on a hotel break for the evening.

And for those who don't want to wake up early it works good too! Once you wake up you can get on and start booking. Remember everyone else is still having to wait 120 minutes between booking or using what they have.

we will start figuring out which rides run out of lightening lane passes each day abs then those become the ones you wanna book first in your day. Example was at California adventure radiator racers would usually run out by early afternoon.