Disney Genie and Genie+ at Walt Disney World

[Wendy Pleakley]

It goes far beyond theme parks. People lie about their dogs being service animals so they can bring them anywhere.

True, but that doesn't have the same impact as people faking a disability in a theme park.

If someone has a fake service dog, it's not stopping someone with a true service dog from using theirs or accessing services.

At Disney, it has been reported that disability lines often ended up being longer than the regular lines, because so many people were waiting in the wheelchair load area for example. People with actual disabilities are impacted by those faking it.

 

[wedenterprises]

Resorts are going to have a lot of 7am mickey wake up calls to schedule.

 

[DCLcruiser]

I can't imagine "IAS" is going to be a lasting thing. It needs a branded name to avoid confusion.

It should just be:

MDE w/ Genie (AI wizard)
Fast Pass ($15 T2)
Premier Pass ($xx T1) (Like Premier Access on D+ for movies).

 

[mightynine]

This isn't that complicated.

MDE = The app we use
DG = The AI wizard w/in MDE for scheduling/questions
DG+ = $15 access to use Lightning Lanes (aka FP Entrances), one at a time, except IAS rides
LL = Old FP Entrance
IAS = Paid ticket to a specific tier 1 ride at a specific time, enter using LL

Your Disney planning apps are sponsored by Spaghetti-Os. Don't make decisions on an empty stomach!

 

[incorrigible]

This blatant money grab is hilarious to me given Disney's comments re: Scarlet Johansson's lawsuit. Just as a reminder, they said "The lawsuit is especially sad and distressing in its callous disregard for the horrific and prolonged global effects of the COVID-19 pandemic."

So they think a millionaire suing a billion dollar company is sad and distressing during COVID for possible beach of contract, but using COVID to take begin charging for something that had previously been included with admission is ok. In other words, millionaire vs billion dollar company... sad and distressing; billion dollar company nickel and diming us peasants, the people most affected by COVID....no problem.

One other point, and please forgive me if this has been discussed, but have they considered the animosity that will be created amongst those waiting in line watching those who paid just skipping to the front and slowing the line down and what behaviors that might lead to?

 

[JusticeDisney]

Enjoy that heaping platter of gruel

Hey, thanks for the well wishes, friend!

 

[moorish]

Looks like, no.

View attachment 580865

Everything is next available time (even if that available time is much later in the day).

it's interesting that the LL$ says "starting at X:XX" and the G+ just has the time. To me, that leans more towards being able to choose time slots for the LL$ and not for G+.

 

[dreday3]

One other point, and please forgive me if this has been discussed, but have they considered the animosity that will be created amongst those waiting in line watching those who paid just skipping to the front and slowing the line down and what behaviors that might lead to?

That's silly.

If someone waiting in the regular line picks a fight with someone walking through the LL line - then that person is an idiot.
There is no justifiable reason to be a jerk to others at Disney.

Do they pick fights at Universal for those who get the benefits of staying at deluxe hotels and skipping the lines?

(although I recall I was going to throw rotten tomatoes at the deluxe guests getting to stay for extra magic hours at the parks.... )

 

[DisneyDodo]

Which is rather dumb and unfair as what if for each new attraction they do VQ and BG? Imagine if Tron and GoTG open with this as well. That’s FOUR e-tickets that even after the hundreds or even thousands you’ve paid for this vacation, you now have no guarantee or getting to ride and have to drop another $60 per ride (family of four) or more for each ride. And that’s if you get them before the Genie determines the VQ is full for the day.

Aye carumba.

If the daily capacity of the ride is lower than the number of guests who wish to ride on a given day, there is no possible system that Disney could use to satisfy everyone. The only question becomes who gets to ride and who doesn't. With VQs, it's random. With LL$, it's based on willingness to pay. With standby, it's based on willingness to wait. YMMV on which approach is best.

 

[TimeTrip]

It should just be:

MDE w/ Genie (AI wizard)
Fast Pass ($15 T2)
Premier Pass ($xx T1) (Like Premier Access on D+ for movies).

The gotcha on the D+ comparison is that you don't need FastPass to purchase premier pass. If I'm not mistaken, you need a D+ subscription before you can purchase premier access.

 

[jeanericuser001]

I wonder if over time they will add dg+ discounts to certain annual passes. Eventually even going so far as to have it automatically included free as part of the pass. Yet another way for the fantastically wealthy to enjoy extra benefits while the rest of us plebs watch from afar. Oh well. Once universal opens the new theme park and business tilts to aid universal then disney will have to scale this back a little or else they will see low attendance for the foreseeable future.

 

[Muffinpants]

One other point, and please forgive me if this has been discussed, but have they considered the animosity that will be created amongst those waiting in line watching those who paid just skipping to the front and slowing the line down and what behaviors that might lead to?

People were already peeved when they thought fp+ was paid when it was free... All the dirty looks and "they get to cut like cuz they payed"... Welp.. now it's true.

 

[Chi84]

One other point, and please forgive me if this has been discussed, but have they considered the animosity that will be created amongst those waiting in line watching those who paid just skipping to the front and slowing the line down and what behaviors that might lead to?

I'm sure they gave this scenario all the consideration it deserves.

 

[DisneyDodo]

The 7 AM LL$ is only for those staying at a Disney Resort. If you haven't checked in yet, you might not be able to get it. OR, Disney knows you'll be checking in and they'll let you do it... we don't know yet which one they'll opt for.

I would guess the latter - resort perks have generally applied to check-in and check-out day

 

[doctornick]

I'd also say the loss of non-ride attractions - World Showcase entertainment, Jack Sparrow, the Sorcerer game, etc. etc. equates to a lot less hourly "capacity" because there's significantly less people enjoying things that aren't rides. (And this isn't even taking into account the loss of capacity due to replacements having less hourly capacity than their predecessors.)

Yeah, I still don’t understand why they haven’t reopened the Pirates game or started the Ducktales Agent P replacement yet. They would cost very little to run and are pandemic friendly and add some small but easy capacity

 

[LovePop]

That's silly.

If someone waiting in the regular line picks a fight with someone walking through the LL line - then that person is an idiot.
There is no justifiable reason to be a jerk to others at Disney.

Do they pick fights at Universal for those who get the benefits of staying at deluxe hotels and skipping the lines?

(although I recall I was going to throw rotten tomatoes at the deluxe guests getting to stay for extra magic hours at the parks.... )

have they considered the animosity that will be created amongst those waiting in line watching those who paid just skipping to the front and slowing the line down and what behaviors that might lead to?

I've thought of that back when we had fastpass, here I am getting ahead of other people. But I didn't feel bad because everybody else got fastpass too. Sometimes I get ahead of others, other times they get ahead of me, I didn't mind it either way. Totally fair. It's a fun game for me. Everybody gets a share of getting ahead. Very democratic.

But now I am paying to get ahead of other people, so I'm seriously doing "the rich trampling on the poor" thing. It's not going to feel as fun. Disney has always had ways of paying more to have more privilege, but it was never so blatantly in your face. Unless, of course, nearly everybody buys the Genie+ so that they only people who wait in line are people who don't mind it. Then we are just back to the same old paper fastpass, with park tickets being $15 more than is advertised, that's all. Except for the paid fastpasses, of course. Depends on how many rides are classified in the paid category. Are most popular rides going to requirement direct payment, that is, not included in the Genie+? Then it's not worth it.

 

[Patcheslee]

That's silly.

If someone waiting in the regular line picks a fight with someone walking through the LL line - then that person is an idiot.
There is no justifiable reason to be a jerk to others at Disney.

Do they pick fights at Universal for those who get the benefits of staying at deluxe hotels and skipping the lines?

(although I recall I was going to throw rotten tomatoes at the deluxe guests getting to stay for extra magic hours at the parks.... )

Not Uni or Disney but I have been harassed including ppl following me for having a Fastlane band before.

 

[brettf22]

So when they say you can grab one at a time..that's motnactually true. You can have two at a time. This is good because there is no need to worry when it comes time to grab your next one as to when it will be available. You can still get a other in 90 minutes.

Yes, assuming it's handled like MaxPass. While technically true you can only "grab" one at a time, you can *hold* multiples, given enough time between selections.

I imagine this will be one of the the main "insider scoops" we'll see touted on blogs/vlogs in the near future. Kind of like the fact that, with FP+, you could get a 4th FP after using your 3 preselected passes. I was amazed how many people had no idea you could do this. I guess it's just another small level of complexity that can elude folks with vacation brain.

 

[Jeff4272]

We still love Disney BUT there really is no value in staying on property. If you stay at hard rock and go to universal, what you gain is 100x better than what you give up.

you get the experience of being on property at universal, express pass included and well as prices as little as 1/3 the cost of deluxe at Disney.

it’s a no brainer to stay at universal and just visit wdw now. There’s a TON of value in booking a top tier universal resort and day visit to wdw

 

[Patcheslee]

Where will rider swap work into all this for Individual Paid Attractions? Say a family of 6 has 1 too short for Space Mtn, would that mean anyone wanting to ride twice would need to pay twice for the access? Or will it be purchase 5 for Space Mtn, parent 1 and 3 children ride, then swap and parent 2 with same 3 children get to ride again without incurring another charge?