Disney's miscalculation with Genie/Genie+

[Marionnette]

I just finished a Genie training session. A couple of PPs have asked questions earlier in the thread that I can maybe answer? Here are the main points I gleaned (much of this info is already out there, but I'll try to make it super concise to clear up some confusion I'm reading).

The Genie service itself will be free. It will be imbedded in MDE. This is where guests will find their dining reservations, place mobile orders, and add themselves to sit-down restaurant waitlists if available. They can also view current and projected wait times here, as well as get suggestions for which attractions to visit next based on interests. Genie is also where guests will join Virtual Queues for select attractions, like RoTR and Rat.

Guests have the option to upgrade to Genie+ for $15/person per day at WDW and $20/person per day at DL. Genie+ will allow guests to make Lightning Lane reservations for most attractions, one at a time. At WDW, onsite resort guests can make their first Genie+ reservation beginning at 7am. All others will have to wait until they enter a park. At DL, everyone has to wait until they enter a park to make their first reservation. There are no limits to how many Genie+ Lightning Lane reservations a guest can make each day but, again, they can only be made one at a time. No word on which attractions will be available through Genie+.

A few super headliner attractions at each park will not be included in Genie+. Guests can choose to use the Standby Line for most of these attractions, although some (like RotR and Rat) will only utilize Virtual Queues. Or subject to availability, guests can purchase Lightning Lane access for these super headliner attractions separately (no word on how much that will cost, but it will vary by date and attraction). Onsite guests can make their first Lightning Lane purchase starting at 7am. Guests can only purchase TWO Lightning Lane attractions per day, period. No official word on which attractions will be available for separate Lightning Lane purchase.

This is pretty much all the info that was given to us.

Thank you for the concise explanation. Did they give any indication as to whether, as in the case of FP-, you can select a second G+ LL pass if the first is 2+ hours into the future? Or will it be one and only one at a time?

 

[meremac]

Thank you for the concise explanation. Did they give any indication as to whether, as in the case of FP-, you can select a second G+ LL pass if the first is 2+ hours into the future? Or will it be one and only one at a time?

They didn't address that. I asked but the answer was that they "look forward to sharing more details in the future". I got the same answer when I asked when this will launch, what attractions will be included in G+, and which will be available for separate LL purchases. My gut says it will probably be similar to DL's MaxPass where, when you booked a MaxPass, it told you that you could make another one either when you scanned in for the attraction OR at x time, whichever was soonest. "X time" wasn't always two hours into the future, but it was usually pretty close. This is total speculation on my part, though.

 

[lions1995]

I have pondered the same. I own DVC, so I will probably always stay on site. But my recommendation to friends in the future may very well change. On site perks are dwindling and the cost difference to offsite can be significant.

 

[Klismania]

People will still stay onsite because lots of people have more money than brains.

I think I'd rather have more money and someone insulting me because I have more money, than have less money. But that's just me.

 

[iheartglaciers]

I have pondered the same. I own DVC, so I will probably always stay on site. But my recommendation to friends in the future may very well change. On site perks are dwindling and the cost difference to offsite can be significant.

Same, I'm DVC so I'm locked in , but I have two friends who are coming with my families this November and I recommended they stay off-site. They're on a budget and won't take advantage of the early access (or late hours) anyway.

 

[JennaDeeDooDah]

You don't get 2 per day total you can only hold 2 lighting rides at a time. It's basically the same as fastpass was, you can only hold "x" amount of passes at any given time and you can't get a new pass until you use one or let one expire. Touring plans does a better job of explaining how it will work. My big issue is the availably after you use one of your lightning passes so there is a possibly that you would only get 2 rides if there's nothing available.

I don't think this is accurate, unless we are discussing two different aspects of this Genie+/Lightning Lane thing. Everything I'm reading is saying you can only pay for two lightning lane passes per day, not at a time. That's what I'm referring to - those you have to pay even more for.

 

[Disneychick75]

Does anyone else remember when disboarders were outraged when someone would suggest that WDW would get to a point where people would have to pay for booking attractions? They can call it whatever cute name they want but it's just another way to make $$$$ while giving guests less.

The only way I will ever consider going back is to stay offsite and to book private tours. No way I'm going to be nickeled and dimed. Might as well just throw a ton of money at the mouse, see and ride what my grandkids want to do, and get out. There is no magic left for me. Next trip will be my last.

 

[thegash35]

Counterpoint: I’m not waking up at 7 am during my vacation to book one fastpass, no matter where I’m staying. It was one thing to do that at 60 days out, but I’m not doing it every single day of my vacation. That benefit is worthless to me, and I’d bet it’s worthless to everyone coming from the West Coast.

Then you're not the target audience. Any person rope dropping a park and trying to do as much as possible is already awake at 7am. They're not requiring a special alarm or wake up call just to make a fastpass and go back to sleep.

 

[MikeandReneePlus5]

Does anyone else remember when disboarders were outraged when someone would suggest that WDW would get to a point where people would have to pay for booking attractions? They can call it whatever cute name they want but it's just another way to make $$$$ while giving guests less.

The only way I will ever consider going back is to stay offsite and to book private tours. No way I'm going to be nickeled and dimed. Might as well just throw a ton of money at the mouse, see and ride what my grandkids want to do, and get out. There is no magic left for me. Next trip will be my last.

I do remember that...and yet, here we are. It's sad in a way but I am not sure they are "giving guests less". Some will likely love being able to book fastpasses all day without running around the park like back in the old days or logging on 60 days in advance like FP+.

This offering solves both those problems, albeit with a modest out of pocket cost.

 

[DisLiss]

No matter how many people hate any new change Disney initiates, there will be an equal number who either like it, don't mind it, or simply don't care. So Disney won't lose out even a good number of people disliking/hating something.

 

[Brett Wyman]

I don't equate Genie with staying on property. To me these are two entirely separate things. Genie is about doing the parks. Staying on property is about where you sleep.

I think OP is equating making up the cost of Genie+/Lightening Lane(lets be honest that the real cost) by staying offsite. Which I agree a lot of people who don't require the bubble(my family DOES require it) may start doing. Lost revenue one place to gain it elsewhere.

 

[HopperFan]

Still seeing conflicting information regarding who/what can happen at 7 am. The person who wrote this is highly respected in the Orlando theme park arena, even by the parks themselves. She has descriptions and very clear list of FAQ and answers. This is one of the clearest written articles I've seen about this.

https://orlandoparkstop.com/news/th...uestions-at-walt-disney-world-complete-guide/

 

[cjlong88]

Still seeing conflicting information regarding who/what can happen at 7 am. The person who wrote this is highly respected in the Orlando theme park arena, even by the parks themselves. She has descriptions and very clear list of FAQ and answers. This is one of the clearest written articles I've seen about this.

https://orlandoparkstop.com/news/th...uestions-at-walt-disney-world-complete-guide/

Oooh, so the author states that you will be able to purchase both IAS attractions first thing in the morning. I really prefer that. Additionally, I would love to be able to select any time I want when booking the IAS attractions in the morning (i.e. SDD at night) rather than only being offered the next available slot. If I'm paying extra to skip the line for those highly popular attractions, I would also love to pick the exact time frame I want.

 

[J-Dog]

Then you're not the target audience. Any person rope dropping a park and trying to do as much as possible is already awake at 7am. They're not requiring a special alarm or wake up call just to make a fastpass and go back to sleep.

Then who is the "target audience"? Compared to the total number of people in the park in a day, the percentage of people rope-dropping is small. WDW, unlike DL, has a huge percentage of visitors from other time zones, many of whom (like me) are not getting up super early just to rope drop, or just to book a Genie+ ride. Disney would be completely ignorant to ONLY target rope-droppers.

 

[Eastern]

Terrible money grab. Disney has so many long time/repeat visitors, I don't see how this can fly.

Different if it is an expensive paid 'benefit' for a small %age of people (looking at the CL people). I think, 'they have money, they want to spend it on that, I think it's crazy, but it doesn't really affect me'. But this is just a big

 

[AUDramaQueen]

Every time something like this happens, the Disney "community" like the Disboards go insane.

It's easy to think that because so many of us feel the same way about it, that that is the reality and everyone else must feel the same way too.

But we are a SMALL minority of the number of people who go to Disney World.

Most people do not have alarms set 60 days (and especially not 6 months) before their vacation to get dining reservations or FP. And a lot of newcomers had crappy vacations because of that old way of doing things that we were all experts at. It's easy to say "That sucks for them. They should have done their research" but Disney still needs to retain guests and they are obviously betting that they will retain more going forward than they will lose with this new system.

Most people are not scouring Disney news 24/7 keeping up with every single change made. New guests will not be aware that Disney hotels used to have free parking. They will not be aware that ME used to be a thing or Extra Magic Hours, etc.

And they will not be aware of Genie+ until they book a trip at which point they will be like "Oh I want to do this" or "Oh I don't want to spend the extra money."

I am betting Disney knows that a lot of them will be spending the extra money to avoid the lines because that sounds like a good way to maximize your time and might make you feel like a big shot, just like they will spend the money to stay on property because of the location (and that is still a VERY big perk) and the "status" of it all.

We may know what we're missing, but they won't have a clue.

Whether their bets pay off, only time will tell, but let's not act like because a majority of the Disboards or Disney Food Blog readers or Allears Instagram followers won't pay for this means that's a universal sentiment or an automatic miscalculation.

 

[mi*vida*loca]

Then who is the "target audience"? Compared to the total number of people in the park in a day, the percentage of people rope-dropping is small. WDW, unlike DL, has a huge percentage of visitors from other time zones, many of whom (like me) are not getting up super early just to rope drop, or just to book a Genie+ ride. Disney would be completely ignorant to ONLY target rope-droppers.

DD and I were just talking about the changes for our next trip. We do 9-10 days and mix it up with rope drop and sleep in. I told her we may have to get up earlier more often and she sighed and wasn’t thrilled. Then it occurred to me. I would buy IAS for the park we go to that afternoon or evening. I really don’t think those will sell out so fast that they are gone at 7 am except for ROTR, Remy and maybe FOP. If their target audience are rope droppers, That may be Disney’s “fix” for non rope droppers.

 

[Pats Dragon]

We are staying at a Disney Springs hotel and spending lots of time their. Park mess gives me a headache. Too complicated.

 

[cgattis]

I am betting Disney knows that a lot of them will be spending the extra money to avoid the lines because that sounds like a good way to maximize your time and might make you feel like a big shot,

You know, this just made me think of something I hadn’t before….it seems like more and more events are running these pop-up “opportunities” at/during the event, like selling premium seats an such. Like at the football games when you get an alert to your phone “we still have seats left in SuperFanZone “ or whatever. I know that’s an efficient way of filling the higher end inventory that was left unsold (similar to the rationale for how Disney will give upgrades to open up value rooms). But I wonder if it’s turning out that people are more likely to do upgrades/add-one in the moment rather than ahead of time—once they’re away from their budget spreadsheets and piles of bills and in vacation mode?? How else would it benefit Disney to not allow planning FP ahead of time? Hmm.

 

[WantToGoToWDW]

We usually stay on site - more than 15 trips and only 3 offsite (including a wish trip staying at GKTW). This trip we decided to try offsite and will be staying in Windsor Hills. I originally booked Art of Animation Lion King Suite but it was over $500 a night for a value accommodation. With tickets for 7 days it was $8,500. That’s too much for my liking when all we do at the resort is sleep. There was literally nothing else available (I know there are now). So we cancelled and made a reservation at WH for 8 nights for under $2,000 in a 4 bed 4 bath house with a private pool. Went to Sam’s and bought gift cards and ordered our tickets through Disney. We were already driving so we would have had that expense regardless. Even with $175 in parking fees and $420 for Genie+ we are still saving quite a bit.