Disney Genie, Genie+ officially introduced along with confirmed details of how it will work

[Purduevian]

That could happen, I doubt it will often. Most people are going to pick something for close to when they are going to the park. I don't think most people will book something if the time available is not til late afternoon.

Why though? I wouldn't. If my options at DHS were
SDD at 7pm
TOT at 12
RNRC at 11
SWGE at 11
TSMM, Alien, and ST and anything else before 11

I would be grabbing SDD at 7pm and be able to pick my next selection at 11am just like all the other good options. It's my only chance to skip the SDD line and I would think at 11am I would still have a shot at one of the other good rides. (assuming a 9am opening)

 

[Patcheslee]

Getting up early "improves" the Guest experience

Disney definition of "improve" is sleepy=need coffee= more money for Disney

 

[DisneyCane]

The only question to be answered after launch is how intolerable Genie+ and IAS makes it for people who choose not to purchase either.

Genie+ at "only" $15 per ticket for the day is likely to have huge uptake. The IAS purchases I think will depend on the price and how long the line being skipped is.

If they give the same percentage of capacity to LL as they did for FP+, the standby lines are going to be bad for everything that has LL.

This system is bad for local and semi-local (like me) passholders. For the most part, when I make a trip (from 3 hours away) I will get to one park at opening time, spend a few hours then go somewhere for lunch. After lunch I will hop to another park again for a few hours go to dinner and either drive home or head to a hotel for a night. If I stay overnight then I'll hit a park at opening for maybe 3 hours the next day and drive home.

Paying $15 per person for so little use time is not a good value. With the time I spend in the park I'll end up spending at least $5 per ride I get to use it on. At least on the ridiculous IAS I'm getting "full value" for the purchase if I decide to use it. However, of all the rides that will have it, I'd only even consider it for FoP and only once or twice a year.

If the standby lines get to the point where I can't forego Genie+ and have somewhat reasonable (45 minutes or less) waits for the non-top headliners on average days then having an annual pass becomes pointless. If I have to spend $15 to ride HM with under an hour wait the value proposition just isn't there anymore.

 

[Waters Back Side]

Yeah, I don't see any reason Disney would care about this. Even with FP+ it required a person with a ticket, and now they'd also be getting the additional Genie+ revenue.

Me neither. Your not taking up an additional spot. You are using one reserved for someone else.

I one time had 6 FPs for Everest for my 3 kids, me and my wife. My Dad was the 6th but would not go on it. 4 of us went on. Then I went on again with my other son who waited behind with him using my Dads FP. In this case all 3 kids were able to sit next to a parent because the ride is only 2 per row. That's different then someone taking up a spot a 2nd time. That's using an existing pass (or in this new case LL). I rode in place of someone. Not a 2nd time along with them.

 

[MickeyLuv'r]

People used to do it with legacy FP for TSMM and Soarin on most days. Those rides would sell out for the day within an hour of park opening.

I agree this is all theoretic and may not be a problem, but the general point still stands... Why make these drop at 7am? I typically rope drop parks, but I don't want to get up at 7am for a 10am EPCOT opening.

There is a good deal of projection in this thread. Until this rolls out, we won't really know all the details.

Perhaps there will be no reason to be up at 7am, seems likely to me that the service will have some element of 'first come-first served' to it, just as hotel bookings, paper FP, FP+, and dining have that aspect. Generally, if you want something specific, WDW has a long history of rewarding the people who book things at the earliest opportunity.

Availability has to start somewhere. Perhaps the 7am start will end up incentivizing RD arrival. Or maybe it won't. We'll see.

 

[Nottamus]

Heres to Genie+ Being easier to DO than to READ about.

(actually more like hoping)

 

[GhostHost1000]

I feel bad for CMs and guest relations soon with all of this

the fact that it is even more complicated than before is mind boggling and many will be frustrated

 

[mightynine]

Heres to Genie+ Being easier to DO than to READ about.

(actually more like hoping)

In theory, using the service should be pretty easy. In practice, I'd be wary of trusting Disney's historically finicky IT backbone.

 

[MisterPenguin]

Will be interesting to see how this plays out -

If this be true, then this makes no difference if your first LL is scheduled for park opening.

Example:​

​

Park opens at 9:00a. At 7:00a, you grab a BTMR LL at 9:00a. When 9:00a comes around, your LL is due, freeing you up to grab a new LL as you head toward BTMR.​

If this be true, then it does indeed make a difference if your first LL is later in the day.

Example:​

​

Park opens at 9:00a. At 7:00a, you grab a BTMR LL at Noon. When 9:00a comes around, *then* the timer starts, and you can't make a new LL until 11:00a.​

 

[brettf22]

yes, because july is the dead of tourist season and all…. Spin all you want…. Hours were cut down… never mind the reduction in EMH

gone are the days of worries over the park not having enough downtime due to excessive late hours and early opening. And it’s not due to reduced forecasts…

I’m not trying to spin anything. I’m telling you facts. If you’re referring to post Covid…. Then yes. Hours have been cut for many reasons. But if you’re talking about pre Covid, not so much.

I've always wondered if hours have been cut over the past decade or so. The only historical park times I could find were on Touring Plans. So, picking 2011 and 2019 (to make the times all pre-COVID) I scraped the MK opening and closing times off of the Touring Plans daily crowd pages for every day in 2011 and 2019, and calculated the total hours MK was open in each year.

In 2011, MK was open for a total of 4940 hours

In 2019, MK was open for a total of 4651 hours.

So, a reduction of 289 hours, or -5.8%.

Some assumptions and caveats:
- I'm assuming Touring Plans' hours are correct. @lentesta, can you confirm you track actual hours in your historical data?
- These hours only include regular park hours. No parties, after hour events, nor Early Magic Hours.
- This does not address capacity increase/decreases. Without accurate hourly capacities (about which there is much disagreement), this figure is harder to calculate.

And while I'm no @ParentsOf4, this wouldn't be complete without a chart.

 

[mightynine]

If this be true, then this makes no difference if your first LL is scheduled for park opening.

Example:​

​

Park opens at 9:00a. At 7:00a, you grab a BTMR LL at 9:00a. When 9:00a comes around, your LL is due, freeing you up to grab a new LL as you head toward BTMR.​

If this be true, then it does indeed make a difference if your first LL is later in the day.

Example:​

​

Park opens at 9:00a. At 7:00a, you grab a BTMR LL at Noon. When 9:00a comes around, *then* the timer starts, and you can't make a new LL until 11:00a.​

Which makes sense, if you look at Genie+ as basically the old paper FP system- you couldn't get one until the park opened back then either.

 

[flynnibus]

I’m not trying to spin anything. I’m telling you facts. If you’re referring to post Covid…. Then yes. Hours have been cut for many reasons. But if you’re talking about pre Covid, not so much.

I'm not talking post Covid.. as I already said

Still no denying the reduced hours before pandemic and not just on party dates. The trend is real y0

And yes hours have been cut.. it's been illustrated countless times. Spin away.. fact is Magic Kingdom was closing at 9 and 10pm during normal tourist seasons when just a short period before it would run to at least 11. And again, this is all before taking into account how EMH were eliminated for guests.

I don't know how many times people need to keep posting calendars from prior years to defeat these stupid denials.

 

[dreday3]

I feel bad for CMs and guest relations soon with all of this

the fact that it is even more complicated than before is mind boggling and many will be frustrated

What is complicated? IT issues aside which obviously would muck things up....

Open the app, go to Genie +, select all your group from friends/family, pick the lightning lane ride you want from the times given to you, wait 120 minutes (or check in ride - TBD) rinse and repeat. Or open the app, buy the ride you want out of what is available and schedule your own time.

 

[Jrb1979]

What is complicated? IT issues aside which obviously would muck things up....

Open the app, go to Genie +, select all your group from friends/family, pick the lightning lane ride you want from the times given to you, wait 120 minutes (or check in ride - TBD) rinse and repeat. Or open the app, buy the ride you want out of what is available and schedule your own time.

Exactly. It's no different then whey you refreshed for FP+

 

[flynnibus]

Will be interesting to see how this plays out -

Hrmm... sounds really familiar...

i bet time before the park’s scheduled time won’t count for th cool down timer

 

[flynnibus]

So... why are they making people get up at 7am to book this? Why not just allow you to make your first LL at park opening?

They never were making anyone do it. It's people obsessing to figure out how to squeeze as much as they can from the system and believing that if they don't book at the first possible opportunity everything will be gone. Which people like me have been saying wasn't likely to be the case. Disney is incentized to keep availability open.. that means putting up usage limits. Which we keep seeing come into focus time and time again.

This isn't a race to consume - this is Disney stretching out the capacity.

 

[Waters Back Side]

Why though? I wouldn't. If my options at DHS were
SDD at 7pm
TOT at 12
RNRC at 11
SWGE at 11
TSMM, Alien, and ST and anything else before 11

I would be grabbing SDD at 7pm and be able to pick my next selection at 11am just like all the other good options. It's my only chance to skip the SDD line and I would think at 11am I would still have a shot at one of the other good rides. (assuming a 9am opening)

Agreed. On my Epcot day, I'll book my Soarin LL when I wake up. Between 7 and 9 am I'll book it. And potentially closer to 9am I'll book it because that will make it later in the day preferably. If I get it for 3pm I'll book it. Then wben I arrive at the park at 10 or 11 AM I have that one booked and I'll look for another. And believe it or not, (at least my strategy) I'll look for Test Track and jump on booking that. Even if that's at 4 pm or later. Now I have 2 rides booked for after 3pm. And now wait for 1pm to see if Spaceship Earth is available within the next couple of hours. If not I'll go on some of rhe rides that require no/minimal waits or we will do other things in the park or walk around the showcase.

This clarified rule about stacking is not the same as having to being in the park. It seems to be the 2nd one starts the 120 once the park opens.

 

[mikejs78]

or check in ride - TBD

That's confirmed.

 

[homerdance]

I feel bad for CMs and guest relations soon with all of this

the fact that it is even more complicated than before is mind boggling and many will be frustrated

It’s amazing how complicated they have made this new system.

 

[peter11435]

That is an interesting justification for the elimination of PM EMH.

I wasn’t referring to PM EMH at all