Disney Genie and Genie+ at Walt Disney World

[GoofGoof]

Except now you don't get a chance at that availability unless you use an early LL. That doesn't even include the extra inventory already being gone from T2s.

If the various posts from today are any indication of how this is going to work, much of the MK was gone before noon and that wasn't the case with G+. Being able to hold 3x the available inventory at once reduces availability much quicker.

It’s hard to judge this based on day 1 of operations. We don’t know if they released full capacity or refilled with full drops during the day. I assume we’ll need a few weeks to see how this is going.…and by we I mean someone smarter than me on the ground running the numbers.

That being said, the system for sure benefits guests at the parks early. For example, rides may have sold out by noon today but that doesn’t mean I couldn‘t still be holding 3 at noon plus have already used multiple LLs from 9-12. But, with genie+ at noon if I was not yet in the park I couldn’t be holding more than 2 reservations. 1 made between 7am and open and one made 2 hours after open at 11am.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

I thought I was good at this, but I find what appears to be conflicting information. My question is:
I'm an AP holder staying at the Boardwalk, and I have a park reservation.....when can I make LL reservations?

Per what Disney has said you will be able to book 7 days out from your Boardwalk checkin date

 

[bwr827]

So, lets play this out then. If you're worried about the $30 (times however many people) for LL MP, how is having to fight for every second of use somehow a better use of your time/money than saving potentially $500+ per night for dropping down a resort category? You realize it doesn't make sense, right?

I value convenience. So a closer room and easier time is worth more to me than just trying to steal every second of LL.

You’re arguing against no one, and a point that was never made.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Definitely think this benefits:
- those who want to minimize getting up for 7am
- those who like to pre-plan and have a rough structure to their day vs the "unknown" of booking day of and not be stuck with "next available time"
- those who get to the park early to use their first one within first hour or park opening to book their next
- park hoppers who can start booking at 2nd park after using first at first park
- those staying onsite, particularly with longer stays
- more casual users who are good with having their 3 prebooked ones and don't stress about getting more

Bad for:
- those staying off site
- those that enjoyed "sleeping in and stacking" (particularly a negative for DHS)
- power users of G+ that were able to get quite a few top tier rides in
- those that don't want to pre-plan/ability to change parks planned mid-trip/flexibility/etc

 

[Supertech65]

Personally I feel there are too many tier one rides in Mk. If they moved Thunder mnt and Space mnt to tier two, it would help the other two tier two rides like Haunted mansion and Pirates with a bit more availability later in the day. I don't remember there being that many tier one rides in Mk before free fastpasses

 

[nickys]

I haven’t seen this confirmed on here, so thought I would!

With split stays, it works like the FP+ system. In other words you can book for your whole vacation, across all reservations.

 

[bwr827]

This system is terrible and EXTREMELY inefficient........

I give it until year end MAX before they change it

Haven’t I seen this message from you three times in this thread today already?

It might be terrible, but maybe we should give it a little time? See how the kinks get sorted?

 

[bwr827]

Because when a poster says "even my 8 year could figure it out, why can't you??", they are going to get an equally rude response.

That’s what you interpreted. What I meant was maybe you’re exaggerating just a few too many notches.

 

[Jrb1979]

Haven’t I seen this message from you three times in this thread today already?

It might be terrible, but maybe we should give it a little time? See how the kinks get sorted?

Why? We already had this system and it was so bad they got rid of it and created Genie+.

The result will be the same. I will repeat for those in the back. THEY DON'T HAVE ENOUGH CAPACITY FOR IT TO WORK.

IMO they only brought this back to try to get people back to the hotels that are empty.

 

[JD80]

Why? We already had this system and it was so bad they got rid of it and created Genie+.

The result will be the same. I will repeat for those in the back. THEY DON'T HAVE ENOUGH CAPACITY FOR IT TO WORK.

IMO they only brought this back to try to get people back to the hotels that are empty.

They got rid of it so they can put in a system and charge for it.

 

[nickys]

Why? We already had this system and it was so bad they got rid of it and created Genie+.

The result will be the same. I will repeat for those in the back. THEY DON'T HAVE ENOUGH CAPACITY FOR IT TO WORK.

IMO they only brought this back to try to get people back to the hotels that are empty.

But not everyone will buy it.

All the people who believe the new system isn’t going to work won’t bother buying it. Leaving more capacity for those who do.

 

[bwr827]

Why? We already had this system and it was so bad they got rid of it and created Genie+.

The result will be the same. I will repeat for those in the back. THEY DON'T HAVE ENOUGH CAPACITY FOR IT TO WORK.

IMO they only brought this back to try to get people back to the hotels that are empty.

What’s the DAS factor in that timeline? Aren’t the recent changes to that program expected to change capacity?

 

[easyrowrdw]

The easiest (and most likely, in my opinion) near-term fix would be to add LL availability back for any character meet-and-greets that had LL previously. Adding more inventory with DAS better controlled is certainly another option, as you pointed out. I wouldn't be surprised if either - or both - happen by the end of the year.

Yeah. I really don't understand why they removed the characters if they're trying to make the service more appealing to guests.

One major thing they could do would be to eliminate the individual passes and roll them into the multipass service. Obviously it would cost them in the short term, but I imagine more people would buy the service overall and satisfaction would increase.

Personally, I'd probably buy the Multipass LL at Epcot and AK if Guardians and Flight were part of the service. As it stands, I will skip it - as I did with G+.

 

[ConfettiCupcake]

An obvious fix, in my opinion, and one I don’t think they’re ever going to do is get rid of single pass and run it all under multipass. That is a glaring difference between FP+ and this, and makes the tiers even worse.

 

[tonythetigerasn]

Couldn't agree with this more. This new system is extremely restrictive to the vast majority of guests and I think a vastly inferior product. To me it's the worst form of line skip they have had, below paper fastpass because you have to pay for this.

This new system is terrible.

This seems really premature and hyperbolic. I cannot understand how we're making these determinations based on one day.

I expect availability to evolve. Today there were many influencers trying a new product and EVERYONE was booking at 7:00, even hotel guests already there. I expect Disney to adjust # of LLs per attraction and maybe change if any are held back for later times. There will be many tweaks.

Also, don't discount that booking 3 LLs in advance may be a big improvement for the majority of people, even without 4th and 5th picks. I was so frustrated with G+ on my trips because of a lack of good options. This was during a busier time, but 3 pre books would've been a big improvement.

 

[GoofGoof]

But not everyone will buy it.

All the people who believe the new system isn’t going to work won’t bother buying it. Leaving more capacity for those who do.

Exactly this. The ride capacity today is exactly the same as it was yesterday with Genie+. If that system had plenty of capacity then so will this. The only way there’s an issue is if more people buy it, but if everyone thinks it sucks and is unhappy with it then we shouldn’t see that happen.

 

[JD80]

Exactly this. The ride capacity today is exactly the same as it was yesterday with Genie+. If that system had plenty of capacity then so will this. The only way there’s an issue is if more people buy it, but if everyone thinks it sucks and is unhappy with it then we shouldn’t see that happen.

Few things that are different:

1. People are basically able to have three LLs at the same time. This is not the same as stacking three for later.
2. Because people have 3 to hold, then they aren't as valuable so you may have unused LLs. Previously I would imagine most LL went used or modifying because you can only have one at a time. Those never used are "clogging" the system until ops has data on it.

 

[GoofGoof]

Few things that are different:

1. People are basically able to have three LLs at the same time. This is not the same as stacking three for later.
2. Because people have 3 to hold, then they aren't as valuable so you may have unused LLs. Previously I would imagine most LL went used or modifying because you can only have one at a time. Those never used are "clogging" the system until ops has data on it.

The 3 up front makes capacity go faster but it’s still the same number of lightning lanes available per day per ride.

I assume some level of unused with Genie+ too. You couldn’t pick return time so people may have booked a time they couldn’t use but held it hoping to modify later. Same as booking times at end of day and then leaving before the time was up. I agree that under the new system people could walk away with 3 unused in hand. One benefit of that if it turns out to be widespread will be less people using the lightning lane entrance so shorter standby lines, especially towards the end of the day. There’s always a silver lining

 

[lentesta]

It’s hard to judge this based on day 1 of operations. We don’t know if they released full capacity or refilled with full drops during the day. I assume we’ll need a few weeks to see how this is going.…and by we I mean someone smarter than me on the ground running the numbers.

That being said, the system for sure benefits guests at the parks early. For example, rides may have sold out by noon today but that doesn’t mean I couldn‘t still be holding 3 at noon plus have already used multiple LLs from 9-12. But, with genie+ at noon if I was not yet in the park I couldn’t be holding more than 2 reservations. 1 made between 7am and open and one made 2 hours after open at 11am.

100% endorse this.

So many weird things happened today that it just feels like it isn't sustainable. Let's see what happens over the next few days.

 

[JD80]

The 3 up front makes capacity go faster but it’s still the same number of lightning lanes available per day per ride.

I assume some level of unused with Genie+ too. You couldn’t pick return time so people may have booked a time they couldn’t use but held it hoping to modify later. Same as booking times at end of day and then leaving before the time was up. I agree that under the new system people could walk away with 3 unused in hand. One benefit of that if it turns out to be widespread will be less people using the lightning lane entrance so shorter standby lines, especially towards the end of the day. There’s always a silver lining

Regarding the 3 - you're assuming perfect usage for everyone. It easier to get more LLs per person now which is why you're seeing them get booked. There may be a higher adoption rate because it's the first day. Who knows.