Disney Genie announcement

[DL1WDW2]

This is hard for me to digest since we know Disney has not played fair .
Manipulate the ride times so we beg for the privilege to pay more?
Okay Disney just give me a little reassurance to believe that the attractions will be operating at full capacity and not have additional mechanical problems .I don’t even have faith you care enough to make sure the attractions are working when you open in the morning and give me that half hour entry .
I guess this means the PeopleMover Transit Authority will become the most popular attraction…and that explains why you haven’t cared enough to repair that also. Much easier to just announce it is down ,closed , get outside of the line please… go stand in another line and hope it doesn’t also fail .
I better remember to read the fine print about no guarantees and no complaining allowed. So don’t waste your time at guest services .
No refunds

 

[Wiltony]

Please do not be fooled. I can't believe how many people I'm seeing that say "this is doable" or "$15 isn't that bad."

Genie+ is a major downgrade to Fastpass+ except now you have to pay $15 per person, per day for it, you cannot make more than one selection at a time, cannot make selections before the day of your visit, and does not include all the rides that Fastpass+ did. It is a very high cost program providing guests with SIGNIFICANTLY less than the free FP+ system provided.

Remember if you do not pay up the $15, you do not get access to ANY fastpass lanes on ANY rides whatsoever.

Finally, once you pay the $15, you still have to pay quite a bit more to get in the fastpass lane for any of the "good" rides on a per-ride basis.


I think this is abhorrent.

 

[sarbee]

-

Folks, no one is MAKING you use this service. The entitlement is strong in this thread.

I mean, this is a board about Disney vacations. I think entitlement or privilege or whatever you want to call it goes without saying. That clarification out of the way, I don't think people being upset about being asked to pay hundreds or thousands of dollars more for the same (or arguably lesser) trip is entitled behavior. We all understand the concept of inflation. This isn't that.

 

[Takket]

i shouldn't need a spreadsheet and matrix more complicated than the IRS income tax tables to figure out how to plan a day at Disney. All this on top of park reservations... higher ticket prices... higher resort prices... spend more, get less...

If you are going to make us pay for fastpasses geez can we at least be allowed to make them ahead of time so i'm not worried about getting around the parks around my dining reservations???

Does anyon else miss the joy of at least a little spontaneity and "seeing where the day will take you"?

"Hey look! The Dapper Dans!" "Nope, gotta run, the Genie says if i want to ride space mountain we gotta get there now!!!" At least with fastpasses i KNEW all the times way ahead of time and could plan my day around it and leave the rest of my time with as little or as much structure as i want. Now i have to figure out when the Genie says I can go on the next ride i want and figure out what to do in between...

 

[pigletto]

"
UPDATE and important clarification: WDW resort guests will be able to reserve Lightning Lane "individual attraction selections" starting at 7am.

HOWEVER -- there is no resort/onsite advantage for Genie+. ALL guests with Genie+ can book their first attraction starting at 7am."
>@ScottGustin

It keeps getting worse hahaha

Well I guess the advantage to that is being able to save a ton of money and stay at larger and more comfortable offsite accommodations.

 

[Farro]

So you pay $15 for minimal use....

Not at all.

 

[PFopma]

Another question - will everyone in your party have to purchase the $15 pass if one or two people want it?
I sent the Disney Parks Blog article to one of my party and she said (in her best grumbly voice) I'm not paying for that!!

 

[gharter]

My thoughts exactly. Universal has been charging for their service for how long (excluding their premier resorts)? It was only a matter of time before this was coming.

I'm not OK with throwing money at Disney, but the app looks pretty neat, and if the extra revenue stream for them means being able to bring back more Cast Members post-pandemic, I'm all in.

I realize this is unpopular opinion, though.

The difference is at Universal when we stay at one of their "Deluxe" resort, Express pass is free. And we bypass the line for all but 2 attractions. What Disney is offering for a paid option isn't even close.
However, if you were paying for Express Pass at $100-$300 per day (depending on crowds) now Disneys option is looking better.

 

[JakeAZ]

"
UPDATE and important clarification: WDW resort guests will be able to reserve Lightning Lane "individual attraction selections" starting at 7am.

HOWEVER -- there is no resort/onsite advantage for Genie+. ALL guests with Genie+ can book their first attraction starting at 7am."
>@ScottGustin

It keeps getting worse hahaha

Wow...total slap in the face. Pay more to stay on-site and we'll allow you to pay more to reserve a time...2 hours earlier than those who don't say on site...but at the same price they pay.

 

[SealedSeven]

Not at all.

You have to wait till the next pass is used. If first one is at 10:30am, and you pick 3pm for earliest time at another ride, your next selection is after 3, where possibly slim pickings after. So essentially 3 rides $15.

 

[Wiltony]

i guess this will ruin touring plan's business too. that's sad.

Phsaw! I would buy stock in Touringplans right now if I could. Genie+ will be constantly lying to you to help manage crowds to Disney's liking. They will inflate ride times to get you to buy Genie+ or a per-ride fast pass. They will manipulate reality to serve their ends, not yours. Touringplans will be the only source to pull back to the curtain and see what's really going on and where to go in order to maximize your time.

I can 100% guarantee that Genie+ will be telling me to buy a Lightning Lane pass for $24.95 (plus tax!) for my family of 7 in order to get on Slinky Dog Dash, where Touringplans will happily inform me to "just enter the queue at 1:45 and you'll experience half the wait....and save $175."

 

[mousefan73]

i shouldn't need a spreadsheet and matrix more complicated than the IRS income tax tables to figure out how to plan a day at Disney. All this on top of park reservations... higher ticket prices... higher resort prices... spend more, get less...

If you are going to make us pay for fastpasses geez can we at least be allowed to make them ahead of time so i'm not worried about getting around the parks around my dining reservations???

Does anyon else miss the joy of at least a little spontaneity and "seeing where the day will take you"?

"Hey look! The Dapper Dans!" "Nope, gotta run, the Genie says if i want to ride space mountain we gotta get there now!!!" At least with fastpasses i KNEW all the times way ahead of time and could plan my day around it and leave the rest of my time with as little or as much structure as i want. Now i have to figure out when the Genie says I can go on the next ride i want and figure out what to do in between...

That my main complaint. WDW was never a relaxing vacation- but this sounds exhausting and total lack of control of MY time

 

[Jadyreen1282]

We were booked at BWI. Bagged it cause Delta. POR is our home though. Looks like we will spend the extra cash from going deluxe on Genie+. Fine with us.

 

[Taylor'sMom]

Wondering how the rope drop "rush" will be affected.
For example... at MK.. If SDMT is one of the only add-on rides, does that mean:
a) LESS people will be headed there at rope drop because they have paid the add-on individual price and can ride it later in the day or
b) MORE people will be headed there at rope drop because they have paid the $20 for the base Genie+ and don't need to rush to anything else they'll have easy access to later, but they didn't pay the add-on price for SDMT so that makes it the only must-do option for rope drop.

 

[Farro]

You have to wait till the next pass is used. If first one is at 10:30am, and you pick 3pm for earliest time at another ride, your next selection is after 3, where possibly slim pickings after. So essentially 3 rides $15.

We'll see. Who knows how fast it will go.

And we start a lot earlier than 10:30 am and I wouldn't choose a ride at 3pm, that's quite a leap from what I said!

 

[mom2cinderella]

Great article from DFB that breaks it all down:
https://www.disneyfoodblog.com/2021...isney-world-soon-and-its-called-disney-genie/

Thanks, that was very helpful to explain it easily.

yes that was super helpful - thank you

 

[Skippyboo]

This all seems so confusing. So say I have a HS park pass. At 7am, I can try for a Rise boarding group or try to book a paid lighting lane for Rise or 7DMT and also at 7 am book a genie+ for ToT? Are they going to get rid of the 2 pm park hoppers limit since you can book your paid lighting lane across multiple parks? Also how long do you have to use your FP especially if you have dining ADRs or have to travel to a different park.

 

[SealedSeven]

Wondering how the rope drop "rush" will be affected.
For example... at MK.. If SDMT is one of the only add-on rides, does that mean:
a) LESS people will be headed there at rope drop because they have paid the add-on individual price and cab ride it later in the day or
b) MORE people will be headed there at rope drop because they have paid the $20 for the base Genie+ and don't need to rush to anything else they'll have easy access to later, but they didn't pay the add-on price for SDMT so that makes it the only must-do option for rope drop.

Makes it so every DVC guest is at Seven Dwarfs or eventually Tron in the first 30min. Rope drop for everyone else will be walking into long lines for those already.

 

[gharter]

Genie+ will be constantly lying to you to help manage crowds to Disney's liking.

This is one of many concerns. If you let Genie "plan" your day, is it going to route you to rides to help balance out the park?
You have Pirates listed as one of your attractions and Little Mermaid has nearly no line, so it routes you there? Granted you can over ride that, I'm guessing and make it select a different option?

 

[Turksmom]

I just received an email from Disney Destinations telling me about Genie. I have WDW trips scheduled beginning 10/17 and 11/7, so I'm guessing it will be available before one (or both) of those dates