Updated October 23 Read First Post Genie+ In WDW Summary To Give Disneyland People An Idea Of What To Expect

[laugard]

This seems unnecessarily complicated when reading the breakdown, but I used and loved MaxPass and still would sometimes feel my head spinning when reading others's explanations of how to stack passes, etc. And I stacked all the time! So I assume once in practice, it will seem more straightforward. But I do feel for those with no experience with even MaxPass. As written, I imagine it would feel very overwhelming to learn the Genie+ LL system.

 

[Epicnemesis]

I care about one thing: how tangible the effect on standby will be.

The one ride per day will help keep the standby lines moving faster than with fast pass, but curious to see what that nets out to be.

The thing about Maxpass vs fast pass is that while maxpass could be gamed, it was still limited to the same access the free option had. Long standbys in that system was fair because everyone had the ability to skip the lines they prioritized most.

Disney just created a system where the worse the standby line is, the more money they make. Does anyone trust them in that scenario? Maybe in Iger’s Disney but not in Chapek’s Disney.

If I knew they were planning this system I might not have gotten a magic key. Will not be renewing if it goes the way I think it will.

Disneyland has always been a premium park that we happily paid for because we felt like the big barrier to entry brought with it “spared no expense” experiences. From condensed Broadway theater level productions in the Hyperion, to over the top parades and fireworks, it was an unwritten rule from Disney “give us your money and we will prove to you it was justified”

Now we have no shows, no parades, the fireworks are severely paired down, and we are getting fleeced wherever possible. Meanwhile service has taken a nose dive. Strong arming mobile order is a broken system that increases wait times instead of decreases.

I’m really close to being done with them. Knotts is half the experience for 1/10 the cost. Universal is pretty damn close in experience at 1/5 the cost. We choose Disney because they go that extra mile. When they stop going the extra mile all you are left with is an overpriced park compared to the competition.


Unexpected rant over.

 

[Dug720]

Maybe in Iger’s Disney but not in Chapek’s Disney.

This whole concept was announced under Iger. I'm beginning to think he purposely stepped away before it came out so that he wouldn't get the blame.

 

[ironband74]

The thing about Maxpass vs fast pass is that while maxpass could be gamed, it was still limited to the same access the free option had. Long standbys in that system was fair because everyone had the ability to skip the lines they prioritized most.

Except that regular fast pass user could not pick up cancelled passes late in the day. This is where maxpass shined, and where power-users really made magic for their group. Many people would open Maxpass and see that all attractions were sold out and not open it again...but we knew that if someone cancelled (and suspected that if they no-showed), maxpass could be used to pick those up at the cost of constantly refreshing the screen. So while in the morning and early afternoon maxpass and fast pass were pretty much on par (though max pass had a 90 minute cool-down while fastpass had 120 minutes to give max pass the edge in the early game), in the late afternoon/evening maxpass was picking up rides while the fast pass kiosks were covered and closed. This was most evident during extremely busy times at the park (Christmas to New Year, I'm looking at you!)

The real question is how much did such gaming of the system extend stand-by waits for the uneducated masses? The number of fast passes for a given attraction was always constant, regardless of who was using them, but maxpass pretty much ensured that they all got used. We now introduce a little more variability in the system, as there will be a set number of passes for sure...but those that aren't used may vanish into the ether. I'm sure Disney is going to algorithm the F out of it, but we may see this translate to stand by times shrinking as park population decreases in the evening. The wildcard here is the regular genie service, which will steer folks to certain attractions at certain times of day. But the jury is still out on what percentage of park-goers will be using the tech vs. clinging to their paper map and the ways of the old republic...

 

[spikefriedman]

One other question on stacking: with Maxpass you could book a new attraction 30 minutes after booking something with a sub-30 minute return time, even if you hadn’t yet tapped. This allowed for solid early day stacking (especially factoring in the 15 minute grace period that has been confirmed to still exist on Genie+).

This doesn’t seem to be the case with Genie, but is there confirmation one way or the other on this use case?

 

[smeg3030]

Here's another weird case, what if you bought the ALA carte rides like Radiator Springs, RoR, and Webslingers and the ride is broken for the rest of the day (just an example). Do you get your money back?

 

[DisneyJamieCA]

Here's another weird case, what if you bought the ALA carte rides like Radiator Springs, RoR, and Webslingers and the ride is broken for the rest of the day (just an example). Do you get your money back?

My understanding is no. You’d get an “anytime pass”. If that’s true, that’s a huge problem for me, especially if it’s same day use only.

 

[JMommyof3]

Here's another weird case, what if you bought the ALA carte rides like Radiator Springs, RoR, and Webslingers and the ride is broken for the rest of the day (just an example). Do you get your money back?

There was a link posted that stated if the ride is down for the rest of the day, you will get an automatic refund back to your original purchase method. If it comes back up but doesn't work with your plans, you can go to guest services to get a refund.

 

[Epicnemesis]

I watched some vlog from disneyworld where they got a refund from the breakdowns.

 

[Chickinvic]

For me, I don't want to have to live on my cellphone while in Disneyland! From what I've watched on youtube from WDW, it sure looks like a lot of app usage! I prefer how simple regular ol' fastpasses used to be Not only that but now I have to pay extra!? No thanks.

To me this would be a big upgrade from WDW's horrible FP+ system (which I despised). This system levels the playing field a lot more at WDW. I was so turned off by FP+ that I didn't even really want to go to WDW again (or only for after hours events if I did). That's how badly skewed that system was in favour of on-site guests (and it just sucked in general besides that IMO). If you think people are on their cellphone a lot with this one, you should have seen their old system. For DL it is a downgrade from Maxpass, but not as terrible as it could be. I don't mind it from what I can see.

 

[RedVines2001]

Anyone else feel like Genie+ was a system designed for WDW but shoe horned to fit DL? Seems like part of the purpose of Genie is to redirect guest flow within the parks to less crowded areas and attractions for crowd management. This seems like it makes sense at WDW where they have more less-experienced guests navigating four vast parks Genie can actually influence crowd patterns. I guess this works at WDW but it feels very Orwellian to me and not exactly the vibe I want at Disney.

I feel like at DL, where you have a majority of experienced park goers are in two much smaller parks, the value of Genie is kind of moot. I don’t see APs following any Genie’s recommendations and will only use Genie + to get LLs. Now throw in the one ride per attraction limit onto the LLs and the overall value of it just plummets.

I have a feeling that Genie+ will not do well at DL. I would have rather Disney just hike the price of Maxpass and kept it the way it was. Even if it was expensive I at least know that I have the potential of getting great value out of my investment where as with Genie + I know I’m maxing out at one ride on each of the E tickets and that’s assuming i am actually able to get all of them. I’m glad that people that want to use it will have the option but I am definitely not a fan and I don’t think this can even be remotely compared to Maxpass.

 

[Version 6]

Has there been any solid indication that the DLR Genie+ system will be the same as the WDW one, with respect to "once per ride"?

 

[BadPinkTink]

First post updated, new information about refunds of Individual Attraction Lighting Lane if a ride goes down and when Individual Attraction Lightning Lane passes can be bought

 

[DisneyJamieCA]

My understanding is no. You’d get an “anytime pass”. If that’s true, that’s a huge problem for me, especially if it’s same day use only.

Ok updating my own response. I read on another blog that if the ride doesn’t reopen at all, you’ll get an automatic refund at the end of the park day. If it goes down during your window, but does come back up at some point and you’re unable to ride when it does, it’s up to the customer to go to guest services and request a refund (it appears to be in the form of a gift card).

This is for ILL only. There aren’t any refunds for Genie+.

 

[BadPinkTink]

Ok updating my own response. I read on another blog that if the ride doesn’t reopen at all, you’ll get an automatic refund at the end of the park day. If it goes down during your window, but does come back up at some point and you’re unable to ride when it does, it’s up to the customer to go to guest services and request a refund (it appears to be in the form of a gift card).

This is for ILL only. There aren’t any refunds for Genie+.

correct and I have updated the first post with this new information

 

[DisneyJamieCA]

correct and I have updated the first post with this new information

I saw. But since my incorrect info was still in the thread, I thought it important to correct it for anybody reading through.

 

[PaladinButters]

I feel like at DL, where you have a majority of experienced park goers are in two much smaller parks, the value of Genie is kind of moot. I don’t see APs following any Genie’s recommendations and will only use Genie + to get LLs. Now throw in the one ride per attraction limit onto the LLs and the overall value of it just plummets.

I'm already ignoring all sorts of 'click here' and 'read more' things the app is trying to get me to do now so not much different there anyway. Genie+ though, that one-per limit is the most interesting piece and I'll be watching the boards here with interest when it rolls out. We usually tour parks (any, not just Disney) as a hit everything once and circle back to a couple of faves kind of thing. If the only option is standby for a re-ride and it's ridiculous I'm not doing it, so the overall value of my DL ticket just plummeted as well.

 

[StormyCA]

Here's another weird case, what if you bought the ALA carte rides like Radiator Springs, RoR, and Webslingers and the ride is broken for the rest of the day (just an example). Do you get your money back?

Based on the OP, you get your money back IF:

• If an Individual Attraction ride that you have paid for does not restart before the park closes, the cost of that Individual Attraction will be automatically refunded to the original payment method.

• If you have paid for an Individual Attraction and it goes down and you can not wait to see if it will restart, you can go to Guest Services and a get a refund.

Now, the 2nd bullet point may be a bit 'iffy', IMHO. A lot of things are 'supposed' to happen but it ends up having to do with the CM you speak to. If one tries to get a refund for an ILL at 10 am because they 'can't wait for reopening' it may be more difficult than someone who requests a refund at 10 pm. But I expect if one is polite and asks nicely to go 'up the chain of command' one would end up getting a refund.

 

[Pluto468]

Is PhotoPass available with Genie+? I read somewhere that is isn’t at WDW. That is a game changer for us.

I hope it is, we love photopass.

 

[alvernon90]

If I am understanding the once per day rule, this is effectively making Genie+ operate like a punch card. I do wonder if this will have the effect of spreading the crowds out by sending people to attractions they wouldn't ordinarily ride because they can get better rides with Maxpass. I suspect that at least some people who buy Genie+ will end up going on rides they would not otherwise ride simply because they paid for it and there are no other LL options available. And it's always been true that a less desirable ride with a short line can be preferable to a more desirable ride with an insanely long line.

Of course, Genie+ is not at all worth the money for how little they give you, so maybe the vast majority of people won't buy it and it won't really matter. It will be like the 1990s before they introduced Fastpass, except with zero chance of ever finding a slow day.