How would you fix Genie +

[fluffybunny88]

I know this has been discussed in various topics but I didn't see one topic just for how you would fix genie+

It is apparent genie+ is here to stay and disney has no problem changing how it works. Is there anything they could do that would make it "worth it" for you?

I will start with my opinions. First off I am now an annual passholder(once they came back again) and I have been lucky enough to go to disney 3 times since the parks reopened. So my usage of Genie+ might be different than yours. My wife and I primarily use it just so we don't have to wait in lines, and so we can do the things we want to do in a shorter period of time. When we travel we go for 4-5 days, so shorter trips, but we try and pack as much in as possible. Our focus is not to do every ride, or attraction since we know we will be coming back, but we want to get into the parks, have fun, then go and do some other things outside of the parks, or at a different park. Said another way, we use genie+ to try and get done in 4-6 hours what might take us all day to do if we didn't have genie+

For us what would work really well is the ability to buy genie+ before our trip, one less thing to worry about. I would not want to be forced to get it for every day of our trip, but it would be nice to have the option to buy it day by day, just ahead of time, think like dining reservations 60 days in advance.

I would also want to have the ability to prebook 1 attraction. Just basically to get a head start, so you don't have to be up at 7 AM booking things. The whole being up at 7 AM on vacation is not fun to me and the worst part of genie+

I think the ability to modify as it is works well. I think the rest of the system works reasonably well, just if we could get away from having to be up at 7 am to book your first lighting lane would make this so much better I think.

What do you think? What changes would you like to see for Genie+?

 

[GreatAuntie]

I would like to be able to buy it before midnight, maybe noon the day before or even prior to our trip (such as a week prior but not months ahead) if we could select it for only some days. I did my purchasing in the mornings. We used it for 2 of our 5 park days on our last trip. I think it would be nice to be able to pre-select 2 rides the day before so you can do it at your leisure. I was definitely on my phone too much searching while in the parks. We are typically early park people so we are up early on vacation but we do have a sleep in day and it would be nice to not have to worry about this stuff while getting ready or having a late morning.

 

[SL6827]

I don't know, but if we do go on the trip I've planned in January, I will just have around 2 weeks of other guest experiences too study on.

 

[thanxfornoticin]

We've used G+ a lot in the past several months. If I were Genie+ King for a day, and could have just one wish, I think I'd want the G+ selection process to allow me to pick particular available time slots, like the ILL process does. I believe that could really make some planning easier for the day. Currently, I use modify (which I love and works great) a lot just to get the times later in the day when I want them. I don't think I'd call it a 'fix', but an enhancement!!

 

[TheSouthernBelle]

G+ being worth it for me is sort of a double edged sword. I get that it's the new world and it's likely here to stay but "worth it" would be putting it back to the way it was, it wasn't broken and didn't need fixing so I'd be glad if we could book our 3 FP+ pre trip but I digress......especially knowing that's not ever coming back as a "free" service. I think there are a few wish list items that would make G+ a much more enhanced and overall more enjoyable experience. I agree, the 7am booking time stinks. I am usually up early but there are times I'd prefer to sleep after a late night and not have to be on my phone to book G+ LL, try to get in a VQ and buy iLL$.

Just brainstorming....perhaps to get at least your first ride pre-booked, disney resort guests can pre-book 1 attraction say at 60 days out and non resort guests can do the same at 30 days out. This would move everyone away from the 7am bologna. Then your second ride selection would start either at park opening or a set time after park opening. This helps disney market the benefits of staying at a disney resort and provides onsite guests some more perks which have dwindled over the years. I realize return times, etc. might not be great for that 1st attraction for non resort guests during busy times but it wouldn't necessarily matter given you'd have a level playing field on the day of your visit to the park for all following G+ bookings. Beyond that, even if they didn't separate resort/non-resort guests, it would be great to move away from 7am for trying to book everything.

I also read this some time ago and though likely a rumor, I could see this having a place at WDW. You'd have G+ and then you'd have G++ or whatever you'd call it---super fancy/rip off G+. It would essentially work like an iLL$ for every ride so you'd be spending much, much more $$$ and picking your attraction times as you do with iLL$ and not waiting to see what the Genie gave you and then having to modify and you'd have as many as 3-5 returns you can buy. It would be elitist and likely super pricey to not cause major disruption to LLs but not so expensive that it would be cost prohibitive. It would be something offered to a smaller population, like club level resort stays or something along those lines. It could not have mass appeal as it would then just be a major G+ hiccup.

In app suggestion, not so much a wish list but just practical usage feedback, the tip board is fine and it's great that you can have your favorites highlighted so you can see their return times first, however, the app is bulky and it would be great if you could hide attractions. Like I don't usually care to see character meet times or there are rides that I wouldn't likely ever use a G+ on so if we could remove/hide them, that would be great Disney IT.

 

[PolymerSkywalker]

Simplify simplify simplify.

Two attractions only and can't book another one until you leave the 2nd one.

Just simplify the entire process so that you don't have to be on your dang phone so much.

Remove all the ability for 3rd parties or bots to help you gain any advantage over other guest.

 

[Her Dotness]

Probably nothing that would get us to use it as we do okay with ropedrop and standby, leaving a park for lunch and lolling about the room until dinner and maybe another park.

We might actually use G+ if it gave you a specific time you could count on having as suggested above. We like to eat TS and find booking any G+ would be too complicated trying to hit times that don't conflict with our ADRs at 3/day. Since we do a lot of character meals, selecting a G+ ride time would be more challenging than we want to bother doing under the current system.

Also, letting people staying in Disney resorts book the evening before would get our interest. This 7:00 a.m. business is ridiculous as is having to be glued to your phone during the day to get more. Hmmm, I think I just suggested making it more like FP+ was--allow advance booking for an ILL or two and a specific number of G+ per day.

Oh, and most importantly, allow G+ rebooking for an attraction. We love HM and rode it 2-3 times a day on the FP+ system. We'd free up rides for others if simply allowed to multiply rebook the rides we like.

 

[lynzi2004]

As a travel agent, the #1 thing I would change about Genie is the ability to purchase when you purchase your room/tickets. As a long time Disney-goer, DH and I are well aware that there will be extra costs tacked on for Genie and $LL. But when helping a newbie plan their trip, the number 1 thing most of them want to know is "how much will the trip cost?!" Nothing is more frustrating then pricing a trip for them, say 5 nights/4 park days for a family of 4 at Pop Century is $3500, and then going back and having to tell them that it isn't required BUT if they want Genie, or $LL its going to be an additional charge, and although I can get reasonably close to guessing, I can't tell them exactly how much or even purchase it myself for them in advance. I wish there was truly an "all-inclusive option"that included maybe Genie and one $LL/day, even if it cost more. But just like Memory Maker, or Dining plan, I could add it to their tickets prior to the trip!

 

[PolymerSkywalker]

No more 60 day out dining and ride booking. I don't want to have to plan at that level of detail a full two months before my trip.

 

[gharter]

Put it back to FP+, with the ability to prebook 3 rides (at 60 days), modify picks, ride an attraction as many times as I can get a pass. Purchase it ahead of time. I liked walking into a park and knowing we had 3 rides already booked.

 

[Upatnoon]

No prebooking of anything.

Walk up to the attraction and decide then if the G+ line is too long or not. If you enter, you use your G+ for that attraction.

Same goes for Lighting Lanes. Walk up to attraction, decide if you want to pay or not, enter.

I would allow unlimited Lighting Lanes, but the cost would double with each repeat ride.

Everyone gets one free G+ if they do to the Carousel of Progress, Hall of Presidents, Tiki Room, Laugh Floor, Philharmagic and Country Bear Jamboree.

 

[ttintagel]

I would honestly go back to the days of no fastpass at all. It worked fine, and would work even better now that we have the technology to check wait times from across the park. Standby lines might be longer, but they would move much faster.

A few changes from current standards would have to be put into effect. They would have to do a better job of making sure as many attractions as possible are running every day, and running at full capacity. Hourly capacity would have to be taken more into consideration than it currently is when designing new attractions. I might add more single-rider lines to the big headliners that don't currently have them. And parks like Hollywood Studios and Animal Kingdom would need some more lower-tier attractions to absorb overflow from the headliners.

People who enjoy planning ahead would still be able to maximize their time with touring plans based on data about which lines get longer at different times of the day. People who enjoy a more spontaneous experience could just check current wait times and decide whether they wanted to wait or go do something else first and come back.

 

[PolymerSkywalker]

I would honestly go back to the days of no fastpass at all. It worked fine, and would work even better now that we have the technology to check wait times from across the park. Standby lines might be longer, but they would move much faster.

A few changes from current standards would have to be put into effect. They would have to do a better job of making sure as many attractions as possible are running every day, and running at full capacity. Hourly capacity would have to be taken more into consideration than it currently is when designing new attractions. I might add more single-rider lines to the big headliners that don't currently have them. And parks like Hollywood Studios and Animal Kingdom would need some more lower-tier attractions to absorb overflow from the headliners.

People who enjoy planning ahead would still be able to maximize their time with touring plans based on data about which lines get longer at different times of the day. People who enjoy a more spontaneous experience could just check current wait times and decide whether they wanted to wait or go do something else first and come back.

We have a winner folks!

 

[Douglas Dubh]

I disliked the whole 60+ day fast pass booking. If they do go back to allowing pre booking, I hope they keep the window small. Maybe three weeks ahead for deluxe, two for DVC and moderates, and one for value. Better yet would be 5, 10, and 15 days. Offsite would have to do day of.

Personally wouldn’t mind going to all individual Lightning Lanes, rather than some ILL’s and the Genie package. As locals, we tend to only go into the parks for a few hours so it might be worth it for me to spend a couple of bucks to skip a line, but not $20 or more to skip several.

 

[PolymerSkywalker]

I hate all the early pre-booking junk. It is all just ripe for corruption, bots, 3rd party programs, and hiring someone to game the system for you.

 

[thanxfornoticin]

I would honestly go back to the days of no fastpass at all. It worked fine, and would work even better now that we have the technology to check wait times from across the park. Standby lines might be longer, but they would move much faster.

It's something they'll never go back to, but I also like the idea!! I've proposed to others that one day a week should be a standby only day!! Some folks got a taste of the standby only for a brief period during Covid reopening - It's such a great concept - go to the attraction when you want to ride, wait in line, get on when it's your turn!! I like it!

 

[PolymerSkywalker]

Allow pre-bookings for restaurants and about 3 attractions per day, and only start that 5 days out.

 

[kimmar067]

....by getting RID of it.

 

[kimmar067]

....Everyone gets one free G+ if they do to the Carousel of Progress, Hall of Presidents, Tiki Room, Laugh Floor, Philharmagic and Country Bear Jamboree.

...in other words, torture the guests.

 

[Upatnoon]

...in other words, torture the guests.

If you can create an incentive for guests to pile into those high-capacity, less-popular attractions it will keep them busy and out of the stand-by lines for the more popular ones.

Plus you could create special merchandise to celebrate the achievement!