Disney Genie announcement

[DisneyFive]

@LSUfan444

In that scenario, I wonder you would still be able to get at least one or two good headliners at HS with G+ at Hollywood studios, THEN book that test track for 4 PM at Epcot.

Anything to not wait in lines. This past summer we got to Hollywood studios one hour before park open, rode TOT 30 minutes prior to official park opening, and by the time we got off TOT, rockin roller coaster already had a 30 minute standby wait and that was 16 minutes before official park opening. It just built from there

Dan

 

[Disturbia]

I love TWD btw. And yes I’ll be no 3, but with a bow and arrow to slay Genie+

‘Naah’ just kidding - Daryl

 

[DisneyKidds]

Tapping in means:
1. When you tap into a ride that you have a LL booked for. When you tap into a ride - you can make your next reservation.
2. When you tap into a park. You have to tap into your reservation park in order to be permitted to hop to another park. So correct - your family cannot just meet you at Epcot at 2pm without either going to MK first or changing their reservation.

As for your first statement - the 120 minutes does not start to run until a park opens even if you make a reservation at 7am. If you make a 7am reservation with an 11:30 return time, you can make your second reservation at 11am. You can still make your second reservation if you have not tapped into the park. If you enter the park and tap into your 11:30 reservation, you can then make another reservation after you have tapped even though you also have the reservation you made at 11.

Thanks. I understand the tapping in as it applies to LL. It’s the requirements to tap into a park I was curious about. That tapping into your reserved park before you can hop to another park is just plain stupid, if reservations in the “second” park aren’t available for someone who can’t tap into their reserved park for some reason. It really takes any ability to be flexible with your day out of your hands. Between losing the ability to make FP+ reservations and the need to tap into a park you won’t stay in if you can’t change your reservation means we may never park hop again. I know,

However, for Disney, whose sole focus is now monetization and maximizing revenue, losing park hopper upgrade $$ over something stupid like this doesn’t make much sense.

 

[pinnypanny]

Yes..so long as the time between selections (120 minutes after park open and then 120 minutes after that, etc etc etc) has passed, you can do that.

Great! Thank you.

 

[Duck143]

This is the best video I have seen thus far.

Thanks Kyle!

 

[LSUfan4444]

@LSUfan444

In that scenario, I wonder you would still be able to get at least one or two good headliners at HS with G+ at Hollywood studios, THEN book that test track for 4 PM at Epcot.

Anything to not wait in lines. This past summer we got to Hollywood studios one hour before park open, rode TOT 30 minutes prior to official park opening, and by the time we got off TOT, rockin roller coaster already had a 30 minute standby wait and that was 16 minutes before official park opening. It just built from there

Dan

Its possible and many people will try that by refreshing their phone and hoping they have availability and not something else they are already booked for when it becomes available. My approach will be book it early and keep my phone in my pocket.

At some point, a window will be missed and now you'll be stuck waiting for whatever window you were able to get

 

[DisneyKidds]

Six flags is $90 per day minimum.

True…..but a Six Flags daily admission or season pass isn’t anywhere near the stratosphere that Disney passes are in.

 

[DisneyFive]

I don't see that happening. In fact - I think the case for being at the parks at rope drop has increased substantially with (1) the limitation of only being able to use LL once on each ride and (2) the most popular rides being standby only or paid LL. But as it was in the past - there will be a massive rush to certain rides at each park and the rest of the rides will be walk-ons for the first hour. Most of the people who are there for rope drop are heading to one of the rides they can't pre-book without paying or a popular ride that want to ride multiple times (or SDD).

Versus standby only, I can't see G+ and $LL doing anything other than helping reduce the rope drop crush. With SB only, the ONLY way to ride with low wait was to be at rope drop (actually up to 1 hour earlier than that even), or right before park close. Now with G+ and paid LL, guests can secure those coveted rides and not HAVE to be there at rope drop to have a low wait.

...and speaking from our experience this summer with SB only, there was no such thing as low waits for the first hour, like there used to be when FP+ was around. You were able to get one headliner in with low wait. By the time you got off that it was 30 minutes or more for other headliners. It was a marked difference from prior years when FP+ was around, when I would agree that the first hour truly had low waits.

Dan

 

[Miffy]

One thing that I really hope G+ does is remove the crush of crowds at rope drop. It’s been crazy without FP+ or G+. Rope drop was a huge negative difference for us this past July/August. When everything was standby, the cat was out of the bag, and people knew that you had to get to the park 30 minutes to an hour early in order to ride the top headliners with low(ish) waits.

At least with G+, at 7am having the ability to pre-book an attraction for later in the morning, hopefully allows some people to sleep in and not feel the need to jam the parks right at opening. This will allow standby wait to be low like they used to be for the first hour or so. At this is my hope.

Dan

You may be correct, but G/G+/ILL$ have convinced me that RDing is the only way to tour the parks right now and be guaranteed to get on the rides you want with little to no wait. Because as a resort guest I'll get EE (early entry) and will be able to ride maybe 2 rides, minimum, depending on the park, that have high demand later on.

I didn't feel this way with FP+ since my faves were booked ahead of time, however, this past May I found that RDing was the only way to avoid really long lines. That was without Genie. But seeing how the G+ times keep getting pushed forward--and in some cases getting sold out--

Thanks. I understand the tapping in as it applies to LL. It’s the requirements to tap into a park I was curious about. That tapping into your reserved park before you can hop to another park is just plain stupid, if reservations in the “second” park aren’t available for someone who can’t tap into their reserved park for some reason. It really takes any ability to be flexible with your day out of your hands. Between losing the ability to make FP+ reservations and the need to tap into a park you won’t stay in if you can’t change your reservation means we may never park hop again. I know,

However, for Disney, whose sole focus is now monetization and maximizing revenue, losing park hopper upgrade $$ over something stupid like this doesn’t make much sense.

One point missed here--apparently now you can cancel your park reservation and rebook to another park. I don't know if this solves your hypothetical dilemma, but perhaps it does?

 

[Jrb1979]

Its possible and many people will try that by refreshing their phone and hoping they have availability and not something else they are already booked for when it becomes available. My approach will be book it early and keep my phone in my pocket.

At some point, a window will be missed and now you'll be stuck waiting for whatever window you were able to get

The more I read and hear how Genie+ works, trying to plan out your day like it's FP+ doesn't work. Mainly cause you're not guaranteed to get the times that work for how you do the parks.

Personally I hope they close that 2pm loop hole. It hurts those who don't park hop. It should be that you can't book rides in your 2nd park til after 2pm.

 

[Miffy]

Versus standby only, I can't see G+ and $LL doing anything other than helping reduce the rope drop crush. With SB only, the ONLY way to ride with low wait was to be at rope drop (actually up to 1 hour earlier than that even), or right before park close. Now with G+ and paid LL, guests can secure those coveted rides and not HAVE to be there at rope drop to have a low wait.

...and speaking from our experience this summer with SB only, there was no such thing as low waits for the first hour, like there used to be when FP+ was around. You were able to get one headliner in with low wait. By the time you got off that it was 30 minutes or more for other headliners. It was a marked difference from prior years when FP+ was around, when I would agree that the first hour truly had low waits.

Dan

I wish you were correct, and I'm not prescient on this particular topic, but I'm guessing that RD is going to be as busy as ever, maybe even more so because that extra $15 for G+ seems like a lot of money to some people, for example, people with more than one other person in their group. A couple with three children would be spending $75 extra (plus tax, I believe) for park admission just to get G+. This could be a deal breaker, but RDing is free.

 

[DisneyFive]

You may be correct, but G/G+/ILL$ have convinced me that RDing is the only way to tour the parks right now and be guaranteed to get on the rides you want with little to no wait. Because as a resort guest I'll get EE (early entry) and will be able to ride maybe 2 rides, minimum, depending on the park, that have high demand later on.

The early park entry is a game changer versus how things were with SB only. Only having onsite resort guests there will make that first 30 minutes much more useful. Hopefully that, along with the help from prebooked G+ and paid LL, crowds won't be so nuts at rope drop like we experienced recently.

Dan

 

[Disturbia]

I’m still confused on using park hopping and using Genie+ in park 1.

So I book Jungle Cruise at 7 am for 9-10; ride pirates 9:15-10:20; ride Big Thunder 9:40-10:40; then at 11 am book a 2 pm Test track? After booking that I can’t ride anything else with genie+ inbetween? The 11 am has no relevance here with the 120 min rule (could as well have another pass 10:30-11:30).

at 7 am I book Test track for 2 pm. Then I go to MK and can only book a Genie+ starting 11 am; here the 120 min from park opening applies; I can only do standby, no Genie+ 9 am-11 am. When can I book Genie+ for any Mk rides? 11 am-2?

 

[LSUfan4444]

The more I read and hear how Genie+ works, trying to plan out your day like it's FP+ doesn't work. Mainly cause you're not guaranteed to get the times that work for how you do the parks.

Personally I hope they close that 2pm loop hole. It hurts those who don't park hop. It should be that you can't book rides in your 2nd park til after 2pm.

I agree with alot of that too....using G+ to recreate FP+ will cause alot of frustration. You have to use G+ to beat current standby times, not FP+.

FP+ is gone..it's a ghost.

 

[DisneyKidds]

One point missed here--apparently now you can cancel your park reservation and rebook to another park. I don't know if this solves your hypothetical dilemma, but perhaps it does?

It would, but ONLY if the park you want to rebook for has available reservations.

 

[wisblue]

One thing that I really hope G+ does is remove the crush of crowds at rope drop. It’s been crazy without FP+ or G+. Rope drop was a huge negative difference for us this past July/August. When everything was standby, the cat was out of the bag, and people knew that you had to get to the park 30 minutes to an hour early in order to ride the top headliners with low(ish) waits.

At least with G+, at 7am having the ability to pre-book an attraction for later in the morning, hopefully allows some people to sleep in and not feel the need to jam the parks right at opening. This will allow standby wait to be low like they used to be for the first hour or so. At this is my hope.

Dan

This Is a big one for me. My least favorite part of a Disney day is the crush to go to the most popular attractions during rope drop.

I don’t mind so much waiting for something to open because you can relax and chat with the people around you. But once the crowd starts moving toward an attraction like FOP or SDD, it is no longer fun. Cast members can control how fast the front of the crowd moves, but behind the number of people trying to run around the edges and cut in or elbow their way ahead of others is aggravating, if not physically dangerous.

I was able to avoid these things with FP+, and might be able to do it for some things with G+LL. But, for something like FOP, the cost of an IALL might be worth it to me just to avoid that whole scene. During Early Entry we can go at our own pace (brisk walking) to EE and Dinosaur with a lot less “company” and enjoy FOP later.

I haven’t had the ”pleasure” of doing a rope drop to ROTR because I was only there for the VQ days. But, I’m sure that’s at least as bad as FOP. So, for me, it will likely be IALL or nothing for that.

 

[LSUfan4444]

I’m still confused on using park hopping and using Genie+ in park 1.

So I book Jungle Cruise at 7 am for 9-10; ride pirates 9:15-10:20; ride Big Thunder 9:40-10:40; then at 11 am book a 2 pm Test track? After booking that I can’t ride anything else with genie+ inbetween?

I believe that to be the case. If your first is in park 1 you can book your next once you have second tapped on your first reservation (or 120 minutes after park opening - whichever comes first). Thats what I mean when I say...you're still waiting. Maybe not technically in a standby line but you're still waiting.

at 7 am I book Test track for 2 pm. Then I go to MK and can only book a Genie+ starting 11 am; here the 120 min from park opening applies; I can only do standby, no Genie+ 9 am-11 am.

As I understand it, that is correct, you can either chose to book something in MK at 11 am OR refresh until something pops up over in Epcot (which is more likely if you wait until later in the day)

 

[DavidNYC]

Versus standby only, I can't see G+ and $LL doing anything other than helping reduce the rope drop crush. With SB only, the ONLY way to ride with low wait was to be at rope drop (actually up to 1 hour earlier than that even), or right before park close. Now with G+ and paid LL, guests can secure those coveted rides and not HAVE to be there at rope drop to have a low wait.

...and speaking from our experience this summer with SB only, there was no such thing as low waits for the first hour, like there used to be when FP+ was around. You were able to get one headliner in with low wait. By the time you got off that it was 30 minutes or more for other headliners. It was a marked difference from prior years when FP+ was around, when I would agree that the first hour truly had low waits.

Dan

There are still going to be HUGE numbers of people who know the only way they'll ride FoP or SDD or RoR or several others without paying is to do rope drop. And there will be large numbers of people who want to do certain rides multiple times and the only way they can do that is rope drop. Even with FP+, there were huge crowds at rope drop for the most popular rides. But also as I said, if rope drop and hit the 2nd tier rides - you can get 3-4 in before the times get to that 30+ minute mark. Rope Drop is a way of life - those who do it will continue to do it. The reasons and benefits are all still there whether it was FP+, standby only or LL. Nothing has changed. It won't be horrible now because we're still relatively light crowds but expect to see the 2+ hour standby lines for those headliners early in the day before they level off.

 

[MainMom]

I'm so surprised so many trying to use Genie+ like FP+ by trying to book their 3 most important rides each day. Booking rides at your 2nd park first makes no sense. Doing that you're most likely only getting 3 LL a day. Why pay $15 for only 3 rides.

It depends on how you tour. We take a mid day break since we go in the summer. I’ve figured out my main problem with genie+ & the way my family tours is not being able to make a second genie+ at 9am (2 hours after 7am) vs 11am. Making a second at 11 doesn’t really help me as we RD and are probably eating lunch around that time & then we head out for a break. Now if the parks open at 8 and I could book a second at 10 AND there was good availability then…maybe. If they change anything I hope it’s the 2 hour after park open restriction, but I’m not holding my breath. I do see how genie+ could be great for those who stay in the park all day. It seems those customers get the most. That’s just not us in the summer.

 

[hedg12]

It really takes any ability to be flexible with your day out of your hands.

Yep, that pretty much sums it up. That's the direction Disney's been heading for quite some time - fast pass +, ADR's, park reservations, and now this mess. Wondering how long it will be before you have to schedule your bathroom breaks in advance...

We have a trip planned for January with the extended family (10 total this time) and thinking about how this will affect things is really making me think about skipping it all together and letting someone else worry about it.