Disney Genie and Genie+ at Walt Disney World

[DisneyJoe]

Okay, maybe I'm in for a rude awakening next week when we get there, but I am a baffled at why everyone thinks this is so complicated. You don't like it - sure. But complicated? I think some of you are trying very hard to make it seem complicated...

Guess I'll find out.

It's change - people panic at change and their brain freezes and makes it be complicated.

It's not much different than paper FP was years ago (pre-2014), just now it is paid, electronic, and has an extra component for the more popular attractions.

 

[Disney Analyst]

Okay, maybe I'm in for a rude awakening next week when we get there, but I am a baffled at why everyone thinks this is so complicated. You don't like it - sure. But complicated? I think some of you are trying very hard to make it seem complicated...

Guess I'll find out.

It’s truly not complicated. FP+ was complicated. This is essentially a return to legacy Fastpass, through an app.

 

[Chip Chipperson]

Okay, maybe I'm in for a rude awakening next week when we get there, but I am a baffled at why everyone thinks this is so complicated. You don't like it - sure. But complicated? I think some of you are trying very hard to make it seem complicated...

Guess I'll find out.

I think it's a combination of it being a change in how things used to be and Disney not providing answers to a lot of obvious questions up front. They should have been able to predict that their customers would have certain questions about how it works beyond just the price, but they left a lot of questions unanswered.

 

[Communicora]

I think it's more complicated for people who are trying to figure out how to finagle it into what they are used to. Genie will be easier for people who are new to the parks or who just weren't as invested in maximizing their day in previous visits.

 

[jpinkc]

Meh. I don't think the everyday programmers will have that mindset. They are the ones that will catch hell if/when things go down/fail from lower/middle management. Could be senior mgmt is more lackadaisical about it; that wouldn't be surprising, sadly.

Oh no I dont think thats the programmers thought at all. I see Slappie drooling over there keyboards at the cash coming in, and the Bean Counters and Wall Street types patting each other on the back, over it though.

 

[Jeff4272]

Okay, maybe I'm in for a rude awakening next week when we get there, but I am a baffled at why everyone thinks this is so complicated. You don't like it - sure. But complicated? I think some of you are trying very hard to make it seem complicated...

Guess I'll find out.

Its complicated..Its actually very complicated

 

[Jeff4272]

It’s truly not complicated. FP+ was complicated. This is essentially a return to legacy Fastpass, through an app.

FP+ was easy....take 10 mins 60 days before your trip to book everything.....whats easier than that?

 

[arich35]

What time can you buy Genie+ for the day?

 

[Jeff4272]

What time can you buy Genie+ for the day?

midnight the night before?

 

[dreday3]

Its complicated..Its actually very complicated

For you.

 

[AmishGuy91]

Okay, maybe I'm in for a rude awakening next week when we get there, but I am a baffled at why everyone thinks this is so complicated. You don't like it - sure. But complicated? I think some of you are trying very hard to make it seem complicated...

Guess I'll find out.

I don’t think it’s going to be complicated for us DisBoarders but for the general public that struggled with Fastpass+, doesnt know how to figure out what the weather is going to be like in February, and doesn’t know how to spell dining, yeah it’s going to be extremely complicated.

 

[Disney Analyst]

FP+ was easy....take 10 mins 60 days before your trip to book everything.....whats easier than that?

Hated that method. Especially if you are not a resort guest.

I do not want to plan rides 60 days in advance. Legacy FP was always superior.

 

[Patcheslee]

I don’t think it’s going to be complicated for us DisBoarders but for the general public that struggled with Fastpass+, doesnt know how to figure out what the weather is going to be like in February, and doesn’t know how to spell dining, yeah it’s going to be extremely complicated.

What makes is seem complicated is how do we avoid zig zagging around parks to ride and be in the area we had TS reservations as well? Previously I could adjust FP times for 10am arrival and work our way around the parks without backtracking.
Also wonder can ILL and Genie+ LL times overlap? Will a scheduled ILL possibly mean losing out on a LL time?

 

[DisneyDodo]

But there is a disadvantage to not getting up at 7am and Disney apparently picked that time for no good reason. I'm thinking of the old TSMM issue where FP was sold out for the whole day within the first hour or so. Imagine if SDD sells out for the entire day by 7:15am. Even worse, if this happens on Test Track where the park doesn't even open for 3 more hours.

If there are more G+ users who want to ride SDD than there are SDD LLs available, there is no rule Disney could possibly implement that can prevent some people from missing out.

 

[Jeff4272]

Hated that method. Especially if you are not a resort guest.

I do not want to plan rides 60 days in advance. Legacy FP was always superior.

Not even close. Dining was already booked. We knew what parks we were in each day. Wake up once for 10 mins and your whole trip was done. Was awesome.

now every day at 7am and have to continue to update if you don’t get the return time you want? Plus pay for it?

 

[lentesta]

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.
View attachment 593462

Yes, we track actual park hours.

 

[dreday3]

Not even close. Dining was already booked. We knew what parks we were in each day. Wake up once for 10 mins and your whole trip was done. Was awesome.

now every day at 7am and have to continue to update if you don’t get the return time you want? Plus pay for it?

You are expressing what you don't like it about it. That's different from it being "complicated".

The mechanics of it aren't complicated. How you choose to use it may be complicated for you.

 

[flynnibus]

You’re wrong.

Plain and simple

Look at hours from the 90’s and see what time the park was slowing on non peak nights

Why are the 90s now more important than just the time before? Is the property the same now as it was in the 90s? No. Is the property the same as it was in 2015.. pretty much. You wanna keep cherry picking your references to deny what is right in front of everyone?

but regardless even more recently, the reason the hours shifted to 9-10 instead of 11 was attendance based. You can deny this… but you will remain wrong. Park hours are always based on forecasted park attendance.

No, based on what they want to spend. Deciding 'there isn't enough revenue here to justify keeping the park open' is not the same as arguing there isn't enough demand. All those 10 and 11pm+EMH weren't empty or unvalued or under used.. the company didn't want to keep doing it.

 

[MisterPenguin]

Thread by @ScottGustin on Thread Reader App

Thread by @ScottGustin: Let’s talk about Genie+ Lightning Lane and the 120-minute rule. If the next Genie+ LL time for a ride is 120+ minutes away, you are eligible to book a second LL attraction 120...…

threadreaderapp.com

 

[dreday3]

Thread by @ScottGustin on Thread Reader App

Thread by @ScottGustin: Let’s talk about Genie+ Lightning Lane and the 120-minute rule. If the next Genie+ LL time for a ride is 120+ minutes away, you are eligible to book a second LL attraction 120...…

threadreaderapp.com

For this part - does he mean each person has a hotel reservation and you are connected in MDE via friends/family (I manage their plans) or does this mean we all need to be on the same hotel reservation? Two of us are, two of us aren't. I would just tell the other two to make their own purchases then.

If you're staying at an eligible Disney Resort and you want to take advantage of the 7am early booking perk for purchasing Individual Lightning Lane attractions on Oct. 19, you should confirm NOW that everyone is listed on the hotel reservation in MDE.