Disney Genie and Genie+ at Walt Disney World

[JIMMYEDDIE]

Ideally, for fairness of the system, #1 is the way it should work. You get the advantage of pre-booking but with restrictions and only once you book #4 and forward the restriction are dropped. The original 3 maintain the restrictions. As you said that would make a 9am or park open reservation a wise play. You tap in close to 9am and book #4 and maybe snag a second tier 1.

Logistically I’m not sure the system is setup to handle that. If you try to modify an existing pre-book it would need to remember the original tier and park (which would obviously be known) and ensure you only pick another ride from the same tier and park. A simple flag on the reservation would do that but I have no clue if the system actually has that flag. Your option #2 is much easier to implement. It’s all time based so at park open time the restriction drop for all reservations. That’s the easiest option but with a definite loophole for those in the know.

SO this severely penalizes people who dont rope drop?

 

[Rhinocerous]

Agree 100%....this just brings back the "broken" part of FP+....I honestly dont understand why they did this after reading about it

They're not not going to sell line skips for rides that you could get on for free if they weren't selling line skips.

 

[Purduevian]

Agree 100%....this just brings back the "broken" part of FP+....I honestly dont understand why they did this after reading about it

I don't think this will increase G+/LLMP sales. However, rumor is that G+'s unpredictability was actually hurting table service restaurants. People were hesitant to book a 1+ hour long sit down meal when their #1 LL choice might have spat out the same time for it. (Yes modifying is a thing, but not everyone knew that).

 

[Purduevian]

SO this severely penalizes people who dont rope drop?

I cant think of any theme/amusement park skip the line system where someone that gets to the park later gets the same number/quality of line skips in a day.

G+ made it closer than all and LLMP is still better than any other system for this I can think of

 

[Splash4eva]

I don't think this will increase G+/LLMP sales. However, rumor is that G+'s unpredictability was actually hurting table service restaurants. People were hesitant to book a 1+ hour long sit down meal when their #1 LL choice might have spat out the same time for it. (Yes modifying is a thing, but not everyone knew that).

Im sure it had nothing to do with their overpriced menus and offerings & decreased quality

 

[ConfettiCupcake]

SO this severely penalizes people who dont rope drop?

As it should, IMO. I’d word it as rewarding people who are in the parks riding instead, but similar enough. One of the parts of Genie+ I find to be most frustrating is the way it rewards staying out of the parks and stacking more than it does using a rolling LL in the parks (while also trying to not backtrack). The latter can be very frustrating to do.

 

[Splash4eva]

As it should, IMO. I’d word it as rewarding people who are in the parks riding instead, but similar enough. One of the parts of Genie+ I find to be most frustrating is the way it rewards staying out of the parks and stacking more than it does using a rolling LL in the parks (while also trying to not backtrack). The latter can be very frustrating to do.

Altho i see your point regarding stacking etc and getting to parks early should be “rewarded” but in a place where a good amount of guests have toddlers who cant rope drop its a tough sell to yes kind penalize people because of that. Listen admittedly no system will benefit everyone the same way and it will negatively impact certain people etc. i think we can all agree on that

 

[Purduevian]

Im sure it had nothing to do with their overpriced menus and offerings & decreased quality

Definitely possible. Just looking this Saturday July 20th (should be the busiest day of the week).

CRT (I think this is the most popular restaurant on property) has the following for a table of 4:
8:30, 9:00, 9:20, 9:30, 11:05, 11:25, 11:35, 2:00, 2:20, 2:35.

Not what Disney wants to see.
If the family of 4 eats at Cosmic rays (2 adults and 2 kids) they spend about $50 for the 4 of them.
If the family of 4 eats at CRT (2 adults and 2 kids) they spend $266 for the 4 of them.

For every 1 family that does CRT instead of cosmic rays, they gain ~$215 in revenue. The same as 7 or 8 people buying G+. (yes, I know there would be some expense differences)

 

[ConfettiCupcake]

Altho i see your point regarding stacking etc and getting to parks early should be “rewarded” but in a place where a good amount of guests have toddlers who cant rope drop its a tough sell to yes kind penalize people because of that. Listen admittedly no system will benefit everyone the same way and it will negatively impact certain people etc. i think we can all agree on that

I think the little guys are easier to get moving for rope drop than older kids and even adults, but YMMV.

Regardless, I don’t think it’s rope drop this system rewards more than just being in the park in general which I think is a good thing. I think having the 3 in advance actually alleviates the need for a true rope in that you don’t need to be at the front of the pack to get the advantage of the system, just arrive reasonably early and not hours later like Genie tended to favour. I also think it’s possible it works well with afternoon breaks which is a win in that toddler parent column.

I agree that no system favours everyone nor can they ever. I personally prefer ones that are less frustrating in park, Genie IMO is the worst one so far in terms of in park usage (unless you’re a few hours in the evening kind of user).

 

[Splash4eva]

I think the little guys are easier to get moving for rope drop than older kids and even adults, but YMMV.

Regardless, I don’t think it’s rope drop this system rewards more than just being in the park in general which I think is a good thing. I think having the 3 in advance actually alleviates the need for a true rope in that you don’t need to be at the front of the pack to get the advantage of the system, just arrive reasonably early and not hours later like Genie tended to favour. I also think it’s possible it works well with afternoon breaks which is a win in that toddler parent column.

I agree that no system favours everyone nor can they ever. I personally prefer ones that are less frustrating in park, Genie IMO is the worst one so far in terms of in park usage (unless you’re a few hours in the evening kind of user).

& i found success with each version & honestly Genie was great assuming you knew the drop times

 

[ConfettiCupcake]

& i found success with each version & honestly Genie was great assuming you knew the drop times

Agree to disagree I guess. I’ve used drops for both Genie and FP+ and still found FP+ less annoying in terms of the on the fly planning and walking.

 

[Splash4eva]

Definitely possible. Just looking this Saturday July 20th (should be the busiest day of the week).

CRT (I think this is the most popular restaurant on property) has the following for a table of 4:
8:30, 9:00, 9:20, 9:30, 11:05, 11:25, 11:35, 2:00, 2:20, 2:35.

Not what Disney wants to see.
If the family of 4 eats at Cosmic rays (2 adults and 2 kids) they spend about $50 for the 4 of them.
If the family of 4 eats at CRT (2 adults and 2 kids) they spend $266 for the 4 of them.

For every 1 family that does CRT instead of cosmic rays, they gain ~$215 in revenue. The same as 7 or 8 people buying G+. (yes, I know there would be some expense differences)

I do character meals every day for breakfast/dinner & i assure you these past few trips the places have been “empty” for disney standards and literally were openings everywhere every day. It was extremely noticeable. I asked a couple workers & were told this has been the semi norm & one even blamed the weather.. i joked & asked of she was related to Bob. She didnt get it so i simply said n/m lol

 

[Splash4eva]

Agree to disagree I guess. I’ve used drops for both Genie and FP+ and still found FP+ less annoying in terms of the on the fly planning and walking.

I had great success w fp+ as well so its splitting hair's guess

 

[DCLcruiser]

Definitely possible. Just looking this Saturday July 20th (should be the busiest day of the week).

CRT (I think this is the most popular restaurant on property) has the following for a table of 4:
8:30, 9:00, 9:20, 9:30, 11:05, 11:25, 11:35, 2:00, 2:20, 2:35.

Not what Disney wants to see.
If the family of 4 eats at Cosmic rays (2 adults and 2 kids) they spend about $50 for the 4 of them.
If the family of 4 eats at CRT (2 adults and 2 kids) they spend $266 for the 4 of them.

For every 1 family that does CRT instead of cosmic rays, they gain ~$215 in revenue. The same as 7 or 8 people buying G+. (yes, I know there would be some expense differences)

Please don't take little kids to CRT. People get engaged there. Go to Cosmic Rays and buy $216 elsewhere in MK.


...but I get your point.

 

[Purduevian]

Please don't take little kids to CRT. People get engaged there. Go to Cosmic Rays and buy $216 elsewhere in MK.


...but I get your point.

Did you just suggest people shouldn't take their kids to a princess themed restaurant, where princess come to your table, inside a fairytale themed land, inside a theme park?

Thats a new take for me.

 

[DCLcruiser]

Did you just suggest people shouldn't take their kids to a princess themed restaurant, where princess come to your table, inside a fairytale themed land, inside a theme park?

Thats a new take for me.

Depends on their age, or attitude.

It's the formal restaurant of MK. A place to get dressed up for. It's not Chef Mickey's.

 

[GoofGoof]

SO this severely penalizes people who dont rope drop?

Depends on what those guests want. If the only goal is to maximize the number of fast passes in a day and you plan to spend the whole day at a park then yes, it penalizes people not there at park open, but not everyone is focused on ride count or how many front of the line passes. Not everyone not there at rope drop wants to wait until the evening to enter the parks. Here are reasons someone not going at rope drop would benefit:

• If someone wanted to sleep in, no 7am wake up to reserve a ride anymore
• They can book 3 advance reservations in the afternoon or whenever they plan to arrive or even that evening if that’s what they want. Less will be available once booking #4 on but still possible to use. For example:
  • Maybe someone plans to be at the park from 10-1 in the morning, then an ADR for lunch, then back to resort for break with a return to the parks at night. They could book 3 advanced reservations between 10 and 12. At 10am after using #1 they can book reservation #4 for the evening even in a different park. In theory by the time they have used reservations 1-3 (around noon) they could have 3 new evening reservations booked based on availability. They end up with 6 reservations for times they actually want.

 

[GoofGoof]

Regardless, I don’t think it’s rope drop this system rewards more than just being in the park in general which I think is a good thing. I think having the 3 in advance actually alleviates the need for a true rope in that you don’t need to be at the front of the pack to get the advantage of the system, just arrive reasonably early and not hours later like Genie tended to favour. I also think it’s possible it works well with afternoon breaks which is a win in that toddler parent column.

I agree with this. When my kids were very little (infant and 3) we were at DHS when it was still paper FP, a few years before FP+ and we arrived at the park a little after opening and went straight to TSMM which was the top FP back then for younger kids too little for TT or RnRC. It was also before the extra track so the waits got insane. We pulled a fast pass with a 3PM return which we never ended up using since they both ended up back at the room taking a nap at that time. Advance reservations do help to plan around nap times or afternoon pool breaks and ADRs too.

 

[C33Mom]

Please don't take little kids to CRT. People get engaged there. Go to Cosmic Rays and buy $216 elsewhere in MK.


...but I get your point.

This is the kind of advice that makes people hostile to “Disney adults.” At first I was sure CRT must have meant something other than Cinderella’s Royal Table, but from subsequent context it appears I did read it correctly.

It’s a make believe restaurant with Cinderella and her princess friends that is geared towards children (complete with kids menu and kids pricing)— it is objectively unreasonable to go there expecting an adults only experience. If you want to get engaged somewhere without children, pick one of the places or activities where children are excluded by Disney.

My daughter liked CRT best around age 4 or 5 through age 7 and at age 9 she finds it less magical now that she knows the princesses aren’t real. I would hate for some other family to miss the magic of taking their kids to CRT because a stranger told them it should be saved for adults.

 

[Fido Chuckwagon]

Please don't take little kids to CRT. People get engaged there.

Lol, what? It’s a princess meal inside the Magic Kingdom. Go get engaged at Victoria & Albert’s if you don’t ant to be around children.