Yes, paying for something that used to be free sucks, but I continue to think that for the price they're charging it's a steal.
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Disney Genie and Genie+ at Walt Disney World
- Thread starter wdwmagic
- Start date
Yes, paying for something that used to be free sucks, but I continue to think that for the price they're charging it's a steal.
Fido Chuckwagon
Well-Known Member
Let’s not go crazy…
Having watched Jenny Nicholson’s Star Wars Hotel video, it led me to follow her on twitter where people are ripping Disney a new one (rightly deserved, too). One thing I didn’t realize that has changed as I haven’t been a CM since covid is that monetizing fast passes has now made guest recovery reduced to practically nothing compared to what they used to do.
Here’s some quotes:
“Pre-Genie+ I used to make magical moments by walking guests up to the fastpass entrance all the time. Now that’s “stealing from the company””
“Our bus delayed our entry into DHS by two hours so we couldn’t get to rope drop and do rise of the resistance. The cast member at guest services actually apologized and said “I’d like to be able to give you a Fastpass for your inconvenience but the system doesn’t allow it.””
“Yea, a lot of cast are hesitant because they've put a lot of pressure on them about not abusing it. On top of that, in many areas frontline cast had the ability to issue them removed entirely and now only leaders/coordinators can do it.”
“One thing that's weird since Disney decided fastpasses cost money is they never give them out for inconveniences anymore. Yesterday they couldn't link my magicband to the hotel and said "I'm sorry this probably really ate into the time you needed to go on rides. Anyway bye"”
(She said this happened every day of her stay, and the only thing they suggested was for HER to go buy a new magic band. No offers to replace it for her).
Sounds like comped LL are given out incredibly rarely now, and front line CMs have either been deprived of that ability, and the few that DO have that power have to be able to account for each and every one passed out lest they get in trouble.
So I guess magical moments are a thing of the past? I used to love surprising guests with a random fast pass just to brighten their day, or using them as guest recovery.
Hey Disney. Genie+ SUCKS. Get your act together, good Lord…
Here’s some quotes:
“Pre-Genie+ I used to make magical moments by walking guests up to the fastpass entrance all the time. Now that’s “stealing from the company””
“Our bus delayed our entry into DHS by two hours so we couldn’t get to rope drop and do rise of the resistance. The cast member at guest services actually apologized and said “I’d like to be able to give you a Fastpass for your inconvenience but the system doesn’t allow it.””
“Yea, a lot of cast are hesitant because they've put a lot of pressure on them about not abusing it. On top of that, in many areas frontline cast had the ability to issue them removed entirely and now only leaders/coordinators can do it.”
“One thing that's weird since Disney decided fastpasses cost money is they never give them out for inconveniences anymore. Yesterday they couldn't link my magicband to the hotel and said "I'm sorry this probably really ate into the time you needed to go on rides. Anyway bye"”
(She said this happened every day of her stay, and the only thing they suggested was for HER to go buy a new magic band. No offers to replace it for her).
Sounds like comped LL are given out incredibly rarely now, and front line CMs have either been deprived of that ability, and the few that DO have that power have to be able to account for each and every one passed out lest they get in trouble.
So I guess magical moments are a thing of the past? I used to love surprising guests with a random fast pass just to brighten their day, or using them as guest recovery.
Hey Disney. Genie+ SUCKS. Get your act together, good Lord…
James Alucobond
Well-Known Member
I'm not saying this is wrong as I may have just randomly been dealing with someone who had the correct permissions, but my group was definitely given both a Lightning Lane and gift certificate cash for an inconvenience during my last visit in 2023. I didn't even push for it; I just asked for something minor to be corrected with my room reservation and, because it was going to take a day, they offered.
I’d imagine guest recovery can and DOES still happen. But I can also imagine it’s much more limited too.
Yeah when we went in January we had some issue with Genie+ at HS that day where it messed up our group. We were park hopping later to MK and the guest experience team gave us all free Peter Pan ILL plus an anytime experience pass because Slinky was down the whole time.
DisneyDreamer08
Well-Known Member
I was in Disney with my husband and 2 kids in March of 2023. There was a system wide outage on our DHS day that affected everyone for the first few hours of the day. After that, everyone had to sign back in and for a some reason, a small amount of people, myself included, couldn’t sign back into the MDE app for the entire day. I had to go to the blue umbrellas every time I wanted to make a LL. I couldn’t mobile order or fiddle faddle my times. It was infuriating and exhausting to say the least. I went to guest services at the end of the day simply because I didn’t feel I got my monies worth that day. The CM was extremely emphatic and not only refunded my entire family for the day but gave us Genie for free for the following day as well.
So it definitely still happens.
So it definitely still happens.
Ayla
Well-Known Member
Yes, there are plenty of guest reports saying how they were given LL for whatever reason as part of guest recovery that I don't believe the reports on twitter.
ChrisM
Well-Known Member
Recovery still happens and can be fairly generous.
In December my son and I were assigned to two broken seats on FoP. When they realized their error they whisked us out, gave us each 2 MEP LL's (which were valid for 2 days) for our trouble (including my wife and daughter who hadn't even woken up yet!), and escorted us back to the front of the line.
Squishy
Well-Known Member
NOW we can say the Epcot overhaul is complete.
Sirwalterraleigh
Premium Member
Back to fastpass on things that should never have it
Way to go with the old tricks, Bob
Way to go with the old tricks, Bob
Fido Chuckwagon
Well-Known Member
Our long national nightmare is over.
Purduevian
Well-Known Member
I realize that this negatively affects the general population at Disney. However, from someone that knows the ins and outs of Geine plus, the more things on it the better.
Sirwalterraleigh
Premium Member
That was fastpass plus…it collapsed
So they tried the same thing again with fee.
Now they have new “revenue”…but are losing people in the hotels, gates and restaurants
Brilliant all the way around
Purduevian
Well-Known Member
I'm not saying this is good for Disney or even most Disney guests, but from a personal perspective adding everything any anything to G+ is a win for me.
Fido Chuckwagon
Well-Known Member
This is an underrated bug of the new system. Under fastpass+ I didn't care how many rides I actually went on in a day and didn't feel like I was wasting money if I spent time at a table service. Now, on a day when I've purchased Genie+, you better believe I'm not wasting 2 hours at a sit-down meal given how much I paid for Genie+. I have to specifically plan our character dining for days when we are only doing lesser attractions.
Sirwalterraleigh
Premium Member
So what would they rather have? $100 for genie…or $200+ bill for lunch…way more if I have a line of sight to the bar at brown derby
Sirwalterraleigh
Premium Member
It’s a win for everyone if you don’t buy it. Especially Disney…they’ll just be the last to know
ConfettiCupcake
Well-Known Member
It was a “bug” for my family too. Genie+ really changed how we dine as well. Between the forced flexibility it made us have, and the extra cost, it was easy to cut out the ever increasing cost of scheduled sit down meals. We used to do at least one a day, sometimes two. We cut that significantly and most days we just do quick service. We shifted spending to some degree instead of just spending more where Genie+ came on the scene.