Disney Genie and Genie+ at Walt Disney World

[Fido Chuckwagon]

Wait.

DAS entitles a user to “free” ILL access? Whereas non-DAS members have to pay to access the ride?

I guess it’s not necessarily illegal, but this goes well beyond a reasonable accommodation.

Yes, the DAS system allows you to select return times for all rides with a line (not the VQ rides), including the ILL$ rides like ROTR, 7dmt, FOP. In addition to that, you get 3 preselects, made in advance of your trip, on top of what I just mentioned. That is the crazy part that goes well beyond a "reasonable accommodation." Having DAS is much better than purchasing genie+ for that reason.

 

[Fido Chuckwagon]

All the G+ lines extended into, and were blocking, the walkways and the standby queues were basically empty, what’s the end game for Disney? Just keep selling more and more G+ until 100% of the guests are in the G+ line, maybe swap the FP and standby lines around since the G+ lines now need more space than the standby?

Don't kid yourself, those people in the standby queues (even if they look empty) are waiting a lot longer than the people in the lightning lanes. They'll let 5 people in from the LL for every 100 they let in from the LL.

 

[LittleBuford]

Genie+ is definitely the superior system except that it's not included in admission. If both FP+ & Genie+ were included in admission Genie+ would be the clear winner.

I preferred FP+. The thing I most dislike about Genie+ is the way your selected time is prone to change once confirmed, sometimes by quite a bit. That shouldn’t happen (it never happened with FP+).

 

[Vegas Disney Fan]

Totally agree but lets face it. Disney has sadly been like this for a long time now. Its never been a true vacation and always required some type of extra work. Granted we are now on another level but to me while waiting in a line or heading for a snack/bathroom you can play the refresh game.

I think the difference is most the extra work used to be done ahead of time, now it’s done while you’re on vacation.

It’s like laundry, I could do it before the trip or on the trip, either way the chore needs to be done but I’d much rather do it at home rather than at the parks when I’m trying to have fun.

 

[Vegas Disney Fan]

Don't kid yourself, those people in the standby queues (even if they look empty) are waiting a lot longer than the people in the lightning lanes. They'll let 5 people in from the LL for every 100 they let in from the LL.

Oh I know they’re waiting, it’s just ironic the G+ people are now waiting too, Disney is selling so many G+ it’s essentially become the standby line, and the standby line has become the standby standby line. They went from a system that created a short wait and a long wait and replaced it with a system that creates a long wait and an even longer wait, and we get to pay extra for that privilege.

The short long line option doesn’t exist anymore, and if you have a disability that prevents you from standing in a long line you’re now just out of luck, you stand in the 20-30 minute G+ line with everyone else or you don’t ride.

 

[LittleBuford]

it’s just ironic the G+ people are now waiting too

Are they, though? Routinely, I mean. Several of us here have noted that that hasn’t been our experience at all.

 

[Disstevefan1]

@lentesta will give us the REAL data on Genie+ and ILL wait times.

I am really interested in the ILL times.

It’s one thing to throw away money on Genie+, it’s another to pay to ride an attraction once and have to wait an unreasonable amount of time.

I am being kind saying a reasonable amount of time for ILL as my expectation would to be able to walk on the attraction but I know that only happens when paying the really big bucks for the official Disney tour guides.

 

[nickys]

@lentesta will give us the REAL data on Genie+ and ILL wait times.

I am really interested in the ILL times.

It’s one thing to throw away money on Genie+, it’s another to pay to ride an attraction once and have to wait an unreasonable amount of time.

I am being kind saying a reasonable amount of time for ILL as my expectation would to be able to walk on the attraction but I know that only happens when paying the really big bucks for the official Disney tour guides.

VIP tours no longer offer front of line access. You have to wait in the ILL or G+ line.

 

[LittleBuford]

VIP tours no longer offer front of line access. You have to wait in the ILL or G+ line.

Which is revealing. If the G+ queues really did involve long waits, Disney surely wouldn’t make VIP guests use them.

 

[SingleRider]

VIP tours no longer offer front of line access. You have to wait in the ILL or G+ line.

Not necessarily. I’ve seen guides cut the LL line as well, especially at Soarin. They just walk the empty queue to the left hand side of the LL, then walk down the empty side going to their theater as well.

 

[Touchdown]

Universal's system is flawed in the sense that if you fail to bring supporting documentation with you on vacation, you are left scrambling trying to get your doctor to send it to you via email. Unless your doctor is particularly good, that will be a very hard task to accomplish, especially in a timely fashion, leading to some guests being unable to be accommodated. Disney recognizes this challenge, and has avoided asking for documentation for this reason, at least for now.

Separately from the third party adjudicator, they also require visiting guest services every day to receive a new paper pass for the that day, which is an astoundingly archaic way of handling it when they already have a fairly robust app built out which can accomplish the same function without wasting guests' time.

I don’t see how any of that is unreasonable you have to do similar things to get accommodations for planes or sporting events. Is it less convenient than what Disney does now? Yes but unfortunately human beings suck.

 

[LittleBuford]

Not necessarily. I’ve seen guides cut the LL line as well, especially at Soarin. They just walk the empty queue to the left hand side of the LL, then walk down the empty side going to their theater as well.

Soarin’ is the one attraction that, in my experience, really can routinely involve a long wait even with queue-skipping. It was that way with FP+ too.

 

[Splash4eva]

I think the difference is most the extra work used to be done ahead of time, now it’s done while you’re on vacation.

It’s like laundry, I could do it before the trip or on the trip, either way the chore needs to be done but I’d much rather do it at home rather than at the parks when I’m trying to have fun.

I personally loved FP+ i had much success using it with my pre booked attractions and day of as well. Dining was more of an issue because we always eat character meals and even that as painful as it was things always opened up as we got closer to the trip for the meals that were not “ideal” No matter what system they come up with there will be lines there will be people complaining etc. until capacity is added and not replaced this will continue to be an issue

 

[Wendy Pleakley]

I don’t see how any of that is unreasonable you have to do similar things to get accommodations for planes or sporting events. Is it less convenient than what Disney does now? Yes but unfortunately human beings suck.

I think the general reason for the rules as they are, is that people shouldn't have to jump through hoops in general to receive a necessary accommodation.

99% of the time, this is fine, because there's no advantage to it. If someone needs help getting an item from a tall shelf in a grocery store for example, they don't need a doctor's note but it's going to take them longer to shop because they need to wait on getting help. There's no advantage to lying about having a disability in these day to day situations.

Theme parks, are the rare exception to this rule. Disability supports have a benefit of shorter wait times and avoiding paying for Genie.

So what do you do? Requiring a doctor's note to weed out the cheaters sounds good in theory, until someone with a legitimate need cannot access necessary supports because they didn't bring their medical documentation with them.

Disney over the years actually did a good job of levelling the playing field. By changing front of the line access to a time based return system, DAS provided support without being disproportionally advantageous.

Disney could eliminate paid Fastpass, again making the systems more comparable. Seems unlikely. They could request documentation. This could be achieved by tying it to the ticket buying process. Just like you can't buy a ticket without including a date reservation, there could be two clear options to choose from - no accommodation necessary or a clear guideline that documentation is needed.

Generally, I'd like to see a system that give people with a disability some advantage. Someone with mobility issues, for example, will find it harder to rope drop or will take longer to get around. Everyday things like using the restroom will take longer. By all means, let those people spend less time in queues.

The challenge is doing that without running afoul of ADA laws and stopping cheaters from abusing the system.

 

[Disstevefan1]

VIP tours no longer offer front of line access. You have to wait in the ILL or G+ line.

Oh boy! THAT is a RIP OFF then!

 

[Disstevefan1]

Universal's system is flawed in the sense that if you fail to bring supporting documentation with you on vacation, you are left scrambling trying to get your doctor to send it to you via email. Unless your doctor is particularly good, that will be a very hard task to accomplish, especially in a timely fashion, leading to some guests being unable to be accommodated. Disney recognizes this challenge, and has avoided asking for documentation for this reason, at least for now.

Separately from the third party adjudicator, they also require visiting guest services every day to receive a new paper pass for the that day, which is an astoundingly archaic way of handling it when they already have a fairly robust app built out which can accomplish the same function without wasting guests' time.

For DAS at WDW they will not even look at your documentation. The decision is made at the whim of the random cast member on duty. Very bad.

Well, when there is an unfortunate event in one of their 120 minute queues, maybe they will change their policy.

 

[nickys]

Not necessarily. I’ve seen guides cut the LL line as well, especially at Soarin. They just walk the empty queue to the left hand side of the LL, then walk down the empty side going to their theater as well.

There will be a few exceptions but generally the guide drops you at the G+ or ILL entrance and waits for you.
It’s definitely a significant downgrade on what it used to be.

 

[SingleRider]

There will be a few exceptions but generally the guide drops you at the G+ or ILL entrance and waits for you.
It’s definitely a significant downgrade on what it used to be.

How does that work for rides where you have to scan a second time if they just drop you at the entrance?

 

[nickys]

How does that work for rides where you have to scan a second time if they just drop you at the entrance?

I haven’t done one but know several people who do. Pretty sure they said the guide scans them in. I can ask though.

 

[Vegas Disney Fan]

The US parks one size fits all approach is an interesting choice also, at Paris they offer different cards with different “perks” (for lack of a better term) based on ability, they‘ve also tightened their standards and it’s very specific what does, and doesn’t, qualify now, our first 3 trips we got the card (with doctors note) but this year they said the medical condition didn‘t meet the newer requirements and we were denied.

Despite being denied I still feel Paris has a better process, they even have a webpage specifically explaining the program, we just didn’t check it since we’d used the system a few years ago without issue.