So i think it works great when it's slow, but then do you even need it when it's slow?
It definitely does not work when it's busy and thats like 95% of the time it seems
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Disney Genie and Genie+ at Walt Disney World
- Thread starter wdwmagic
- Start date
It definitely does not work when it's busy and thats like 95% of the time it seems
what is GSAT?
Guest Satisfaction, generally in the context of GSAT surveys.
crazy4disney
Well-Known Member
- In the Parks
- No
Totally agree regardingbusy times and honestly in regards to whenit is not busy thats up to the userfor me even w DAS i still would pay to use it the way i did this last trip. Was worth the $500 extra i cost me when in theory it probably wasnt needed but w the heat andthe convenience. Worth it
That makes sense
allgiggles
Well-Known Member
What about it do you feel doesn't work when the parks are busy? We were there in late June -- definitely a busy time, though not as busy as holidays. We were a party of 11 (party of 4 in our immediate family unit) there for 8 days, had park hoppers, and pre-purchased G+ for the length of stay. We were FP+ power users and based on what I had read before we arrived, I was sure we were going to HATE Genie+. I watched a few videos on how to effectively use Genie+/ILL, watched a few message boards/FB groups to gather information, and practiced using Genie+ for a few days before we left. By day 2 of our stay, I was a fan. I found it easy to use and took advantage of both methods of use -- stacking for a later arrival and book/ride/book/ride to blow through things quickly. And I wasn't looking at my phone constantly. We hadn't been at Disney since 2018 (3 trips cancelled between 2020-2022) and we had a lot of catching up to do -- lots of new things to experience. I wasn't sure we were going to get to do everything we wanted to on this visit. I was wrong. Thanks to G+ and ILL, we did everything we hoped to and more by day 5. G+ and ILL allowed us to spend a lot less time standing in line and we could spend more time either relaxing at the resort or just stopping and smelling the roses in the parks...something I didn't think we'd get to do on this trip. And by combining Genie+ and ILL with 3 rope drop days and 2 late nights, we rode most of the headliners 2 or 3 times during our stay. We didn't need to rush from one thing to the next and we didn't wait more than about 10-15 minutes for any ride and most rides were less than 10 minutes. Meanwhile, standby lines were horrendous...even some of the "meh" rides had at least a 20 minute standby line (I know Disney inflates the posted standby times -- but even SSE had most of the outdoor queue filled so it certainly wasn't a 5 minute wait) and the headliners were 1-2 hours. We will definitely buy it again and will probably cut our length of stay back to 7 days because we now know we can accomplish a lot in a day with G+.
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LSLS
Well-Known Member
I mean, come on. Can you call it easy to use if you needed to watch multiple videos, research on multiple message boards, and have practice runs on how to use it effectively? The problem with Genie is that in a park like Epcot, there are only what, like 2 rides you even need it for? And for that reason, they go super fast. If you get like Soarin' at 1:00, you might get a Frozen one at 8:00, and Test track is already gone by the time your 2 hour booking wait is up. Same with DAK really.
pdude81
Well-Known Member
If you got Soarin at Epcot for 1pm then I hope you've already scored 1-2 other passes already, but that's more of a distraction.
The current system is confusing but not difficult. It may be tough to figure out what the best choice is at the moment, but you're not agonizing over it months in advance and trying to guess whether you'll even be in the park that day. It also doesn't tell you to pound sand if one lightning lane is 40 minutes after another. All of the systems have required some research and understanding to do well.
Disstevefan1
Well-Known Member
WDWmazprty
Well-Known Member
LOL! I'm guessing that the majority of people want FP back? I haven't been to Disney since Genie started, but I did love the FP system.
Correct me if i am wrong, but the popular rides "sell out" at HS, EPCOT and AK early during busy times. And even if you get one, the chances are that it's at a preferable time are very slim. If i want to ride FOP and get to AK early and my return time is 4pm, thats what im talking about because i am usually gone from AK by 2pm...........
So what i mean is, 3 of the parks do not have enough capacity and not being able to pre select a return time really ruins a lot of touring plans
And that doesn't even take into account that stacking cannot happen any longer, the fact you have to be up before 7am and be on your phone all day. And anyone that says you don't is either lying to themselves or has never used it because it is 100% necessary to be on your phone all day long
Ben_since_1971
Well-Known Member
I just got back from a 1 week trip (6th-13th). Let me start by saying I can see how G+ would not generate the same successes if the parks were any busier than they were (highest TP park level was a 5 for EP, most of the rest ranged from 1s at MK to 3s at HS). But I enjoyed using G+. Like some other users, I did my homework prior to leaving (thanks @lentesta) and employed some of their strategies (Becky's columns at TP were invaluable). Monday at HS I golfed in the morning, and then via stacking was able to attain LL passes for ALL major attractions. I had so much time available I was able to see the Mickey short movie, and saw One Man's Dream twice (I fell asleep during the first viewing lol). I did both stacking and book, tap, book and both worked well for me. I am usually on my phone anyways as I use the Lines app to follow touring plans and I am giving them data anyways. With G+ I didn't think I was on it any more than I usually do.
Did not use it at AK, but both MK and EP days. I was on the fence about using it at EP (I did buy ILL for GotG), but the time savings I did realize for the attractions I did get LL for (primarily Remy and TT) pushed me over the top. I wasn't planning on using it at MK yesterday (go home day) as I planned EE the park, but I decided to sleep in and then purchased it. I was able to get 4 LLs for my short visit (10:00-4:00) and felt I wouldn't have been able to do what I did without it. Maybe I could have, but I know I saved at least an hour of wait times with it.
All that said, I was a solo traveler who was savvy to all the strategies and tips to maximize use. I was there during the lowest attendance time of year (according to TP). Where folks would be lucky normally to get 2 of the big 3 at EP (Remy, Frozen, TT), I was able to get all 3. Genie+ worked for me. However, I can see how it would not be a value proposition for families, or for busier times, and those that I did see use it did not seem to grasp how to use it (based on what I saw while in the parks). I think I would be singing a different tune if my wife and I went during our normal time (early December). Paying for it for one person per day wasn't that bad, and I was getting good value from it (if calculating cost per attraction used). Paying for two, and not using it nearly as much (my wife is not a parks commando like I am so we would not be as aggressive) would definitely dim the cost/value proposition.
Did not use it at AK, but both MK and EP days. I was on the fence about using it at EP (I did buy ILL for GotG), but the time savings I did realize for the attractions I did get LL for (primarily Remy and TT) pushed me over the top. I wasn't planning on using it at MK yesterday (go home day) as I planned EE the park, but I decided to sleep in and then purchased it. I was able to get 4 LLs for my short visit (10:00-4:00) and felt I wouldn't have been able to do what I did without it. Maybe I could have, but I know I saved at least an hour of wait times with it.
All that said, I was a solo traveler who was savvy to all the strategies and tips to maximize use. I was there during the lowest attendance time of year (according to TP). Where folks would be lucky normally to get 2 of the big 3 at EP (Remy, Frozen, TT), I was able to get all 3. Genie+ worked for me. However, I can see how it would not be a value proposition for families, or for busier times, and those that I did see use it did not seem to grasp how to use it (based on what I saw while in the parks). I think I would be singing a different tune if my wife and I went during our normal time (early December). Paying for it for one person per day wasn't that bad, and I was getting good value from it (if calculating cost per attraction used). Paying for two, and not using it nearly as much (my wife is not a parks commando like I am so we would not be as aggressive) would definitely dim the cost/value proposition.
MickeyLuv'r
Well-Known Member
IMO G+ is a bit like gambling. In MK it works pretty well. In Epcot, we didn't bother.
If HS studios though, it is a total gamble. On slower days, it is possible to get Slinky and Rise, on busier days though odds are iffy. If you get early passes, then you win. If you don't your day completely bites, because you shelled out the same amount of $, but didn't get (much of) anything to show for it.
The other big problem with G+ is all the OTHER things we sorta need to be doing at 7am. This is especially clear on AK days. If you are stay onsite at WDW, AK opens at 7:30am. If you want to be in the park for the early morning half hour, that means you have to headed to the park by 7:10am at the latest.
But Disney's food courts don't start serving breakfast until 7am.
AND 7am is also when you are need to choose your first G+ or ILL.
On top of that, we also now have another new Disney device we need to manage every morning- the Magic+bands. More or less, they also need to be charged every night. Which = having to remember to put them back on every morning and make sure they pair properly. Now, these aren't essential, so they are less a concern that the items above, just worth a mention.
The other big thing about G+ that is very iffy is that on busier days/times there is - as of last month- still times when you THINK you have chosen a 9am pass, that suddenly changes to a completely different time like 1pm. That WDW now hides the times from the first screen from 7-7:30am is a odd non-solution to the problem.
The one thing WDW sorta fixed is the availability of 2pm to 11:59pm passes. Previously, people who planned to hop were booking up afternoon/evening passes early in the day. So come 4pm, G+ was just about sold out for the entire day. now if you can't be in the park before 2pm, you have to wait until return times are later than 2pm.
allgiggles
Well-Known Member
In hindsight, I didn't need to do most of the prep work that I did. I could have easily gotten by with one video and reading a few key posts on message boards/websites. But I had no way of knowing that before actually being able to use it. I was so nervous the first day (due to reading so many horror stories) that I couldn't even sleep. I was awake at 5:30 a.m. and couldn't get back to sleep because I was so worried about screwing things up (again, thanks to all the horror stories). When 7:00 finally came around, I booked an ILL for GoTG and a LL for Remy. At 7:02 I was sitting in a chair saying to myself, "That's it???? That's what I was so worried about??? What did I miss??" We didn't even arrive at Disney until about 10:00 a.m. that day and we headed over to EP at 2:00. Over the morning/early afternoon hours I was able to stack Frozen, Soarin, and Test Track in addition to Remy and GoTG. We were able to do all of those rides, hit a few standby lines, have dinner, and meander through a few gift shops and be back at our hotel by 8:30. We never accomplished that much on arrival day with FP (and I *loved* FP). With DAK, we did rope drop and I booked FOP and Safari at 7:00 (both with early return times). We then did book/ride/book ride to cover EE, FOTLK, Nemo, and KRR. We were back in our room by 2:00 relaxing in the a/c. We had no issues getting on every ride we wanted in every park during a busy time. I guess maybe all of my prep work paid off. I was happy to pay for the convenience of not having to wait in long lines. Yes, we could have gotten by without using G+ but we would have been spending *a lot* more time waiting in lines and a lot *less* time relaxing.
Solo traveler in the slowest season of the year says it all
Ben_since_1971
Well-Known Member
Agreed.
DCLcruiser
Well-Known Member
Yup, if we still had Pleasure Island, maybe they wouldn't be solo.
allgiggles
Well-Known Member
We weren't there at a "slower" time, so we really needed to use Genie+ to accomplish everything we wanted to do. We had no issues getting Slinky and Rise on 2 different days. One day they were late return times so we did rope drop, hit some standby lines, had an early lunch, and then went back to the resort while stacking more rides for late afternoon/evening. We went back to the park around 3:30 and did all of our stacked LL rides and had dinner. The 2nd day we got morning times for both but didn't bother with rope drop. We spent a few hours doing rides at DHS and then hopped to AK to ride FOP again (booked at 7:00) and grab another Dole Whip float.
As far as the breakfast issue...we purposely eat breakfast in the room on days that we do rope drop so we don't have that conflict. There were two days I was booking G+ rides while standing in line for or on the bus and one day that I was in line for the Skyliner. No big deal...everyone else was doing the same thing. All the other days, we were still in the room.
We had two instances of our reservation time not being what we *thought* we were booking. Thanks to my overly extensive and not really necessary prep work, I knew to just stop at a blue umbrella when we got to the park. They took care of the situation very quickly.
I'm glad the MB+ weren't available when we went in June. I have no desire to have them. But if we did, I would expect that we'd charge them right next to our phones every night so it doesn't seem like it would be a big issue for us. We don't wear our magic bands at night so we're already in the habit of putting them back on every morning.
Your experience is the blue lobster, EXTREMELY RARE
to the point where theres 12mm people per year that visit Epcot and if they all tried that, less than 5,000 would have even close to that success
In Epcot, getting even 2 of the 5 (GoTG, Remy, Frozen, Soarin, Test Track) is impossible 95% of the days so you got lucky on a slow day. You might get one for noon and a second for 8pm and thats it.
AK you would never get both FOP and Safari and you might get one of the others you mentioned