Scathing report from Frommer's on Genie+/LL

[StarlitNight05]

LOL no worries about derailment. It's all interesting to discuss.

I've never been a SW fan. My son is a HUGE SW groupie, but it's far too depressing for my taste. I love fantasy, but I don't love dystopian and to me it doesn't fit in DLR. I don't really consider it Disney, but that becomes tricky because there are other properties that Disney acquired that I do like. One of my best friends ADORES SW/GE and we have interesting debates. I always win (in my own mind ).

No, I get it. It's definitely not everyone's cup of tea!

 

[Kit Jackson]

I thought it was WOW at night, during the day it was just nice. Other than removing the tourists (which I assume was the StarCruiser theory) what do you think is missing or something you expected that is not there?

Galaxy's Edge is interesting. In many ways I think it's very well done. I do think they could have added a few more things, but it does kind of feel like what I expected if I was in a Star Wars land. I think they could add another ride or two for sure and would be cool if they updated Star Tours to be a bit more modern.

What do you wish they had? What did you expect that wasn't included?

When I walk into CarsLand, I feel like I'm actually in the world in which the story takes place. It is a familiar place that I know and love from the movies. The same is true for the Harry Potter sections of Universal Orlando. It's the strong sense of, "I know this place and now I'm here and it's awesome!" I don't get that from the overall land of Galaxy's Edge. I was expecting something we had seen on-screen in a previous Star Stars movie.

I'll give you my opinion on it. The caveat is that I'm a life long Star Wars fan, so my opinion may be a bit biased...and long. Also, apologies in advance for the further derailing of this thread

For a dedicated Star Wars land, Disney had SO MUCH subject matter they could have gone off of. I mean...my first reaction to Galaxy's Edge was, why not something recognizable like Tatooine? They could have done a variety of other recognizable Star Wars lands...or even combine a few into one! Batuu was a weird choice. Yes, there is the book series on Galaxy's Edge (that came out around the same time as the land itself), but that's not something your mainstream Star Wars fan is going to like. It's about the movies and series (e.g., Clone Wars, Mandalorian, etc.).

My main comparison of disappointment was to Carsland/Radiator Springs. I am not a fan of the movies, but I LOVE the land and all its immersion. We make a point to spend time there every trip. It's just amazing. I don't get that from Galaxy's Edge whatsoever.

Also, in that sam vein, Galaxy's Edge is kind of like if they made Carsland based on a book series about some random Cars character's side story.

This is exactly how I feel 1100%. They wrote the book series more or less to justify the park's existence in universe. To build on @StarlitNight05, it's like if instead of taking place in Radiator Springs, CarsLand was set in a town you never saw in the movies, but was mentioned once on a sign or in a line of dialogue from a spin-off book. Batuu is not something a casual fan is going to know or be familiar with. They went with something completely new and unfamiliar, which was a huge problem/disappointment for me.

If they insisted on setting the land during the sequel series, set it on Tatooine and anything that isn't 100% accurate to the 1977 movie can be explained away with "its decades later and things change."

 

[LKing]

I thought about this thread today as I decided to drive in the Fast Trak lane (as a single rider) and paid a premium so I didn't have to deal with traffic.

 

[MonocularVision]

What I don’t get is why we haven’t seen Batuu in one of the Disney+ series yet.

 

[starlite_]

I guess depends on what you mean better

But I rather ride like 2-3 less rides then pay 30 bucks a visit to get on he rides I want.

FP was loved for 20+ years and Max pass was the same thing with some added elements but for sure if you asked guess if they liked Max Pass or Genie Plus more you would see even normal guests go for the free/cheaper service then what we have now

From a Business view, I understand why Disney wants this but guests....I'd loveeeee to meet a guest that wants to pay more for basically less

MaxPass wasn't free tho. It cost $15 I think. Maybe 20$ on it's last years.

 

[bdrex28]

When I walk into CarsLand, I feel like I'm actually in the world in which the story takes place. It is a familiar place that I know and love from the movies. The same is true for the Harry Potter sections of Universal Orlando. It's the strong sense of, "I know this place and now I'm here and it's awesome!" I don't get that from the overall land of Galaxy's Edge. I was expecting something we had seen on-screen in a previous Star Stars movie.



This is exactly how I feel 1100%. They wrote the book series more or less to justify the park's existence in universe. To build on @StarlitNight05, it's like if instead of taking place in Radiator Springs, CarsLand was set in a town you never saw in the movies, but was mentioned once on a sign or in a line of dialogue from a spin-off book. Batuu is not something a casual fan is going to know or be familiar with. They went with something completely new and unfamiliar, which was a huge problem/disappointment for me.

If they insisted on setting the land during the sequel series, set it on Tatooine and anything that isn't 100% accurate to the 1977 movie can be explained away with "its decades later and things change."

I can totally agree with that.

I do think they had a massive bit to work with and chose to go with the "recent" portion. Perhaps it can grow and be more?

I do agree with HP land at Universal. It's pretty amazing.

 

[gardenrooms]

It’s true and pretty obvious.

Why is Indiana Jones a 90 minute wait when there are maybe 100 people in the outside standby queue? Pirates now has a higher average standby wait now that it’s been temporarily added to Genie+.

Lightening Lane is now the de facto “main queue”. You still have to wait, sometimes 10 - 30 minutes. Unless you get up early or stay out late, or try to time it by waiting for a breakdown, standby is going to be close to an hour.

Spend money to save time or spend time to save money? Most people don’t have that much vacation time and in the grand scheme of Disney costs, most will pay out for it at least once on their vacation.

"Spend money to save time or spend time to save money?" Well put, foolish_mortals!

 

[longboard55]

We have found Genie+ works great when we use it, we are season pass holder and will do a full day maybe twice a year. The issue with Disneyland is it is dominated with season passes who won't get Genie +. Genie+ gives the full day tourists a chance to get on all the rides they want. Our usual trip is to just go a few hours and ride one or two rides, we do not need to do the top rides every trip like the full day toursists

 

[Kit Jackson]

What I don’t get is why we haven’t seen Batuu in one of the Disney+ series yet.

It was in Young Jedi Adventures, but because the series takes place hundreds of years before the sequel trilogy and the animation style is very play-set (it is a show for pre-schoolers so the animation style makes perfect sense) it does not closely resemble what you see in Galaxy's Edge.

Also, the series is flying very much under the radar. Almost no one knows about it.

I agree with you. It would make so much sense to have in The Mandalorian or another Disney+ series that is more people and has more people watching.

 

[twodogs]

We have found Genie+ works great when we use it, we are season pass holder and will do a full day maybe twice a year. The issue with Disneyland is it is dominated with season passes who won't get Genie +. Genie+ gives the full day tourists a chance to get on all the rides they want. Our usual trip is to just go a few hours and ride one or two rides, we do not need to do the top rides every trip like the full day toursists

This is what makes G+ at DL so valuable to us, who come 1-2 times per year and stay for 4 days, versus at WDW. I have learned how to better use G+ at WDW these days, but it is not nearly as great as the DL G+ because SO many others in the parks at WDW also purchase it. At DL, when not too many MK holders seem to want to purchase G+ (and I wouldn’t either if I came frequently (since Disney didn’t do a year-long G+ option for pass holders like they did for MaxPass)), it is much more “worth it” to the day guest. At WDW, it seems so many are on a “big trip” and therefore they are willing to buy G+, flooding it.

 

[NorCalFanatic]

I will repeat my theory that the goal of Genie+ at Disneyland is to make for a better experience for visitors (who are more likely to be ok with paying a bit more per day) at the expense of Magic Key holders.

It wasn’t better for “most guests”. It was better for AP/MK’s and power users that could really game the system.

We’re MK holders and we purchase Genie+ every time we’re at the park. More rides, less lines, more time spent together as a family doing fun things. Just saw the standby line today for soarin over California was 120 minutes at one point…..with Genie+ we’d likely done soarin and 3-4 others in the same 120 mins

 

[LKing]

We’re MK holders and we purchase Genie+ every time we’re at the park. More rides, less lines, more time spent together as a family doing fun things. Just saw the standby line today for soarin over California was 120 minutes at one point…..with Genie+ we’d likely done soarin and 3-4 others in the same 120 mins

Even LL was backed up on Soarin today. It is always that way when they bring California back.

 

[MonocularVision]

We’re MK holders and we purchase Genie+ every time we’re at the park. More rides, less lines, more time spent together as a family doing fun things. Just saw the standby line today for soarin over California was 120 minutes at one point…..with Genie+ we’d likely done soarin and 3-4 others in the same 120 mins

I don’t think you are the norm but

 

[LKing]

I don’t think you are the norm but

The MK holders who live local rarely buy Genie +. However, some people buy MK because they live out of the area and visit for multiple days, a handful of times a year. For those, it is more cost effective to buy a MK than it is to buy tickets. I believe NorCalFanatic and DizMe both fall into that category.

When Disneyland offered MK passes for sale in January, I needed to go in person to upgrade my MK. I shared my experience in the thread about MK sales. While waiting in line for seven hours, we all got to know each other. Only one person in the 30+ people I spoke to had actually purchased Genie +. The queue wound back and forth and, when this person started explaining their Genie + experience, people in line on both sides of the chains leaned over to hear about that person's experience and whether it was worth it.

 

[NorCalFanatic]

The MK holders who live local rarely buy Genie +. However, some people buy MK because they live out of the area and visit for multiple days, a handful of times a year. For those, it is more cost effective to buy a MK than it is to buy tickets. I believe NorCalFanatic and DizMe both fall into that category.

When Disneyland offered MK passes for sale in January, I needed to go in person to upgrade my MK. I shared my experience in the thread about MK sales. While waiting in line for seven hours, we all got to know each other. Only one person in the 30+ people I spoke to had actually purchased Genie +. The queue wound back and forth and, when this person started explaining their Genie + experience, people in line on both sides of the chains leaned over to hear about that person's experience and whether it was worth it.

Yes that’s correct we’re not local. But we take multiple trips a year anywhere from 5-9 days each. It’s definitely more cost effective for us to be MK holders.

 

[NVDISFamily]

Yes that’s correct we’re not local. But we take multiple trips a year anywhere from 5-9 days each. It’s definitely more cost effective for us to be MK holders.

Also not local MK holders. See a few MK stickers on cars around southern Nevada. We make 4 to 6 trips a year for about 5 days each. We get believe keys and knotts AP for the difference as we like having that variety.

We don’t buy GP that often but I’m considering it for our upcoming trip.

 

[foolish_mortals]

I would love to see the stats on the percentage of MKs that buy G+.

We’re fairly local MKs (San Diego), we don’t buy it every time we go, but buy it sometimes, often on a whim. I’m sure party size heavily influences the decision. We’re a party of 2, so it doesn’t break the bank for us. Now, if there were 4 of us…I probably would stop buying it on a whim.

 

[longboard55]

To get the moneys worth you need to start the day early, as a local pass holder we usually don't get to the parks before 2. That is the big difference between WDW and Disneyland. At WDW seems like everyone gets there at 8am

 

[crystal1313]

We were MK holders and started buying genie every trip after getting stuck in horrendous stand by lines that never moved. We are not local. We go rope drop to almost closing typically (usually until fireworks or about 10:30-11). We spend a lot of money to go to the parks. We are not fans of genie…but feel it is worth it for us to enjoy our day at the parks more and not be miserable in long lines that hardly move. Now that we are no longer MK holders, we buy tickets with genie included.

 

[Lisa24jks]

The MK holders who live local rarely buy Genie +. However, some people buy MK because they live out of the area and visit for multiple days, a handful of times a year. For those, it is more cost effective to buy a MK than it is to buy tickets. I believe NorCalFanatic and DizMe both fall into that category.

Yep. I don't think the division is MK holders vs. regular ticket holders. It's more like LOCAL MK holders vs. non-local MK holders vs. regular ticket holders.

I'm a MK holder from Las Vegas and we always get Genie+ for days when we're spending all day in the park, which is... most of the times I'm there.

There are a few exceptions, when sometimes I'll pop in for a few hours at night when I was doing other things during the day or whatnot. I won't buy Genie+ because I'm just coming to browse shops, maybe have a snack and then hop on a couple rides that have reasonable lines.

It probably would be different if I lived in Orange County, but as I do want to maximize the days I'm there when I make the drive down, I get Genie+ way more often than not.