Disney Genie is launching Oct. 19 - Video DAS Registration rolled out 10/12/21

[SueM in MN]

Disney has posted on their Parks blog that Genie will be launching on October 19.
Disney Genie launching

Ability to register for DAS by video chat opened yesterday (10/12/21) to kind of a rocky start. Disney did NOT make an official announcement. As people saw the video chat link appear, they shared the information on the internet and a flood of calls came thru.

There has been no official announcement of when the roll out will be for the new ability to reserve/manage DAS Return Times in the My Disney Experience app.
Since the video registration started yesterday, it’s likely DAS Return Times in the MDE app will roll out on 10/19 with Genie.
The previous ways of obtaining DAS Return Times will continue.

 

[ttintagel]

I’ve been wondering lately how much, if at all, the basic Genie may be able to be customized for individual needs. Like, there’s no point in Genie suggesting I go on dark rides until after dark, because my eyes won’t adjust to the dark interiors when I come in out of the sunlight. It would be nice if there was a way to feed the app that kind of information. I guess we’ll know more in a couple of weeks!

 

[Matt'sMom]

What I am curious to see is how Gene+ & LL will impact our DAS access, return times, and our wait times once in a queue... since we use DAS because we can not stand and wait in long queue lines. DAS users have been sent through the 'Lightning Lane' lines (former FP lines) to access attractions, as a way to avoid a long wait in the physical queue. Is the DAS access going to continue to be via the LL queue lines? And if so, how are they going to handle providing us access if/when a LL queue becomes excessively backed up (as sometimes used to happen with FP lines, when a ride had been down earlier in the day)? I hope they have a process in mind for continuing to offer equal access somehow.

 

[dawnball]

Is the DAS access going to continue to be via the LL queue lines? And if so, how are they going to handle providing us access if/when a LL queue becomes excessively backed up (as sometimes used to happen with FP lines, when a ride had been down earlier in the day)? I hope they have a process in mind for continuing to offer equal access somehow.

I strongly suspect that it will continue to be through the LL. Rumours are that LL will be only once per attraction, so there's a good chance that LL won't back up as much as FP+ did. I found that the FP+ line provided equal access, or that something could usually be worked out. For reference, the symptoms of my disability are somewhat erratic, so I used FP+ heavily and the DAS fairly lightly. I probably have a ~50% incidence of the FP line being too much for me if I was using the DAS.

 

[DisneyOma]

What I am curious to see is how Gene+ & LL will impact our DAS access, return times, and our wait times once in a queue... since we use DAS because we can not stand and wait in long queue lines. DAS users have been sent through the 'Lightning Lane' lines (former FP lines) to access attractions, as a way to avoid a long wait in the physical queue. Is the DAS access going to continue to be via the LL queue lines? And if so, how are they going to handle providing us access if/when a LL queue becomes excessively backed up (as sometimes used to happen with FP lines, when a ride had been down earlier in the day)? I hope they have a process in mind for continuing to offer equal access somehow.

It will be the same as when you could access through the FP queue, as that is what they are using for LL. There will still be times when the queue is a little backed up, as it was with FP+, so I'm not sure what exactly you are expecting? I know that the access has been pretty quick lately since FP+ was discontinued, but that wasn't ever going to be a permanent thing. They are providing access, not sure why you think they will not? Have you heard it will not be in the same queue as LL?

 

[OurBigTrip]

What I am curious to see is how Gene+ & LL will impact our DAS access, return times, and our wait times once in a queue... since we use DAS because we can not stand and wait in long queue lines. DAS users have been sent through the 'Lightning Lane' lines (former FP lines) to access attractions, as a way to avoid a long wait in the physical queue. Is the DAS access going to continue to be via the LL queue lines? And if so, how are they going to handle providing us access if/when a LL queue becomes excessively backed up (as sometimes used to happen with FP lines, when a ride had been down earlier in the day)? I hope they have a process in mind for continuing to offer equal access somehow.

It should be handled no differently than it was when FP+ was in place…if the line is backed up, you have the option of waiting in it or coming back later.

 

[Norton figment]

I am just hoping the get it sorted on the app. My mom was the DAS holder and now there could be a whole lot less walking. She was extremely happy to here the interview will be virtual. She was always Anxious going to get Services to ask which made her condition even worse. I’m thinking this might actually reduce her stress tenfold and will actually help reduce her if she was in the park. Sidenote I wish we knew about this system back in the 90s when we went when I was a kid all the time as my mom had to leave the lines and miss out on a ride when there was this available to her we always feel guilty getting on the ride while she had to miss out. It’s been such a change to our vacation when we go with my mom. I am sad the fast passes are going as I thought they were a great help for my mom as well as DAS but I’m hoping with this new system it’ll be like days of old and the lines will be more manageable in general if you’re in standby I hope the algorithms are good in the Genie app.

 

[SueM in MN]

The actual physical Fastpass lines just got renamed. They replaced the Fastpass signs with Lightning Lane signs.

 

[DisneyOma]

As there is a limit to the number of LL passes you can purchase for extra $$$ in one day, (2) I think the queues will be just fine. There has always been the potential for a slight wait (under 10 minutes or so) and the potential for a longer one if the ride breaks down, right?

 

[Starwind]

As there is a limit to the number of LL passes you can purchase for extra $$$ in one day, (2) I think the queues will be just fine. There has always been the potential for a slight wait (under 10 minutes or so) and the potential for a longer one if the ride breaks down, right?

Also, you can only use Genie+ for a given ride once per day, no repeats for a given ride.

 

[Evita_W]

Also, you can only use Genie+ for a given ride once per day, no repeats for a given ride.

That is not what it says on Disney's website, where are you getting that from?

I do see the individual lightning lane is once per attraction per day.

I also see that you can only get one Genie+ LL selection at a time, but nothing about once per attraction is mentioned anywhere official.

I see that some non-official sites say that a cast member mentioned in previews that guests wouldn't be able to re-ride the same attraction. This doesn't mean the CM was properly informed or it may have been a lonit for the preview, etc. But I can't find anywhere official that states that and if nothing says that in writing before purchase, there will be a lot of issues if that is how it works.

 

[Selket]

I see that some non-official sites say that a cast member mentioned in previews that guests wouldn't be able to re-ride the same attraction. This doesn't mean the CM was properly informed or it may have been a lonit for the preview, etc. But I can't find anywhere official that states that and if nothing says that in writing before purchase, there will be a lot of issues if that is how it works.

I can't find it officially anywhere either (one ride per attraction for Genie+) but I can believe it. I think that's why the old FP system had tiers to keep people from picking the most popular ride over and over to some extent (of course after using your first three FP's you could pick a ride you'd already done although it may be hard to get) - which makes some sense they will want to spread people with Genie+ out over as many rides as possible. I'm glad this is going into effect many weeks before my trip so we will actually know what the heck this thing is and how it works. You'd think they'd roll out the new DAS system as well at the same time but who knows....

 

[Evita_W]

I can't find it officially anywhere either (one ride per attraction for Genie+) but I can believe it. I think that's why the old FP system had tiers to keep people from picking the most popular ride over and over to some extent (of course after using your first three FP's you could pick a ride you'd already done although it may be hard to get) - which makes some sense they will want to spread people with Genie+ out over as many rides as possible. I'm glad this is going into effect many weeks before my trip so we will actually know what the heck this thing is and how it works. You'd think they'd roll out the new DAS system as well at the same time but who knows....

The reality is that there are very few rides we do more than once per day anyway, especially when we have APs and will be park hopping, as we tend to start off at opening in one park, head back.to the hotel and rest, then if we are up to it, head to a different park.
The attractions that we will do multiple time are: Kilimanjaro Safaris, usually rope drop that anyway because that is one of the best times to go and then as close to the last ride of the day as possible.

Figment (generally not much of a line anyway)

Monsters Inc laugh floor - generally no major issue there

People mover, Country Bears- not even on Genie+

Sometimes Jungle Cruise

Mickey and Minnie's Runaway Railway - Since this is one of the individual purchase attractions, the DAS will be beneficial with this.

Also, with DH needing a DAS, we have that as an option if we really do want multiple rides on something.

But my overall point is if it is limited to once per attraction per day, it needs to be officially in writing before Genie+ is purchased, otherwise there will be a lot.of complaints that people aren't getting what they are paying for.

 

[SueM in MN]

Some DIS site staff had a preview of Genie and have written a post about the details of how it will work.
wdwinfo Genie details

Screenshots from article.



Points from article:
- ALL attractions will have a either a Standby Line or virtual available.
- guests have the option to ride without purchasing either Genie+ or Individual Lightning Lane.
- only one Genie + Lightning Lane selection can be held at a time: exception being when a guest’s next selection time window is more than 120 minutes away. In that case, Disney Genie+ will allow a second selection to be held.

I have seen posts where people have written a guest can only purchase a total of 2 Individual Lightning Lane Selections a day and can’t purchase the same attraction twice. The First screenshot (which is from Disney) confirms 2 per day and does say « 2 different » which also confirms not doing the same attraction twice.

 

[HappyDisneyWife]

I’m very hopeful that the ability to get our own return times launches with Genie on the 19th!! The advance registration/selections sounds nice (though not as important to me, personally)- and should be launching right around the same time … just 9 more days until we have some concrete info!! Unless Disney decides to be nice & tell us beforehand

 

[Dory92130]

So for DAS - Advanced times - can they include the new 'LL tier 1' type rides -- ie: Rise, Remy, Frozen or not?

 

[SueM in MN]

So for DAS - Advanced times - can they include the new 'LL tier 1' type rides -- ie: Rise, Remy, Frozen or not?

I doubt that any of the attractions in the list of Individual Lightning Lane Purchases will be part of the DAS Advance Selections. All we know at this point is that it say « select attractions » and « available times ». My guess is that the »select attractions » will probably change from time to time, based on wait time/busyness projections.

Remy and Rise of the Resistance have been announced to use Boarding Groups, at least some of the time. For those to ride with DAS, guests would need a Boarding Group and when their Boarding Group time comes, they would let the CM at the attraction know they are using DAS. That is how those Boarding Group attractions hav worked.

 

[fabfemmeboy]

I’ve been wondering lately how much, if at all, the basic Genie may be able to be customized for individual needs. Like, there’s no point in Genie suggesting I go on dark rides until after dark, because my eyes won’t adjust to the dark interiors when I come in out of the sunlight. It would be nice if there was a way to feed the app that kind of information. I guess we’ll know more in a couple of weeks!

I fully expect it won't be customizable for us at all, but my partner and I plan to test it when we go in November. If not, it's a lawsuit waiting to happen because it means it's fundamentally unusable for people with disabilities. I tend to assume that they didn't think to include us because so few people do...but given that they did roll out the new DAS system with Genie, I'm cautiously optimistic that it might be inclusive/accessible?

 

[DisneyOma]

I fully expect it won't be customizable for us at all, but my partner and I plan to test it when we go in November. If not, it's a lawsuit waiting to happen because it means it's fundamentally unusable for people with disabilities. I tend to assume that they didn't think to include us because so few people do...but given that they did roll out the new DAS system with Genie, I'm cautiously optimistic that it might be inclusive/accessible?

There's no law saying you have to use the app, so it doesn't have to be customizable for anyone. It does state that it will take your interests and other such info to come up with a plan, but you don't have to follow the plan at all. And for the PP who stated that dark rides don't work for them at night, then don't go on them at night. The plan Genie spits out isn't written in stone. If you pay to get LL access, there will be a timeframe to return, and choices, using the FP+ framework, from what I have read/seen.

 

[lanejudy]

I’ve been wondering lately how much, if at all, the basic Genie may be able to be customized for individual needs.

I fully expect it won't be customizable for us at all

They are calling it a "Personalized Day Optimizer" and I would expect it to be somewhat basic in customization.

The things I expect you can add include:

• number of people in your party and ages (it may pull-in that info from MDE anyway)
• arrival time at the park
• length of day
• favorite attractions or your party's must-do list
• any ADR's you have scheduled
• whether you purchased Genie+ and/or Individual Attractions
• whether you plan to hop that day

I hope it would include a way to note if you are using DAS and/or a wheelchair, maybe even if you are using a hearing or visual assistance device. But I wouldn't expect much more with respect to specific disabilities for customization because so much of that is very personal. What I've read sounds more like it will suggest a touring plan -- which attractions in what order.