Disney Genie and Genie+ at Walt Disney World

[Jrb1979]

I think that no matter how it plays out, when its busy its not going to be worth it and when its slow, you arent going to need it

The only way to fix that is either cap how many people can buy Genie+ or up the price so that most don't buy it. They need less people using it for it to work properly.

 

[Jeff4272]

The only way to fix that is either cap how many people can buy Genie+ or up the price so that most don't buy it. They need less people using it for it to work properly.

If the demand from this week is any indication, then they could easily double the price to $30 for Genie+ and $15-$35 for ILL depending on ride and crowd levels

 

[networkpro]

I hear you. And I'm very eager to see how Genie+ functions with normal crowd levels, normal staffing levels, and a full portfolio of open attractions. I just think we're not getting representative data points on a holiday week during the tail end of a pandemic.

What most hope to be the end, its going to be around for quite a while in some varient.

 

[flynnibus]

Suckers were more than happy to take Disney’s lies they were increasing park admission prices to improve guest experience…. They’ll surely buy into disney doing the same for LL prices.

 

[Jrb1979]

If the demand from this week is any indication, then they could easily double the price to $30 for Genie+ and $15-$35 for ILL depending on ride and crowd levels

It needs to be higher then that.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

If the demand from this week is any indication, then they could easily double the price to $30 for Genie+ and $15-$35 for ILL depending on ride and crowd levels

I think they want everyone to buy Genie+. I could see it going to $15 weekday, $20 weekend or something, but not much more than that. I think surge pricing for ILL will start when Tron and/or Guardians open.

 

[Jrb1979]

I think they want everyone to buy Genie+. I could see it going to $15 weekday, $20 weekend or something, but not much more than that. I think surge pricing for ILL will start when Tron and/or Guardians open.

They do and it's a big problem. Then it becomes no better then FP+. The issue has always been that they don't have enough attractions for everyone to have FP and it's no different now. Since they don't have enough attractions they need to limit Genie+ availability. There is no reason that a person who buys Genie+ should be limited to 1 or 2 attractions a day.

 

[HoustonHorn]

The only way to fix that is either cap how many people can buy Genie+ or up the price so that most don't buy it. They need less people using it for it to work properly.

That's one of the insidious parts of G+. IIRC, Chapek has said (I'm 99% sure I read this from an earnings call or something similar) that they are not going to limit the number of G+ they sell each day.

So assuming both the adoption rate and the amount of G+ LL remains constant, more people in the parks means more people who have access to the same number of G+ LL, which greatly devalues the utility of G+. Or, to paraphrase @Jeff4272, when it's busy, it doesn't work, and when it's slow, it isn't worth it.

On the other hand, I do agree with @CaptainAmerica that this week is somewhat anomalous and not really indicative of how G+ will work on non-holiday weeks. But empirically, it was awful this week. With the experience of a dozen visits, rope drop, persistence, stamina, and some incredibly gracious and helpful cast members, my family was able to ride almost everything we wanted to. But that was in spite of G+, and not because of it.

 

[Jeff4272]

They do and it's a big problem. Then it becomes no better then FP+. The issue has always been that they don't have enough attractions for everyone to have FP and it's no different now. Since they don't have enough attractions they need to limit Genie+ availability. There is no reason that a person who buys Genie+ should be limited to 1 or 2 attractions a day.

ROTR sold out in 30 seconds or less every day this week.............they could raise ILL for Rise to $100 pp and people would still pay it

 

[Jeff4272]

I think they want everyone to buy Genie+. I could see it going to $15 weekday, $20 weekend or something, but not much more than that. I think surge pricing for ILL will start when Tron and/or Guardians open.

I'd like to see them double the price and have half the people buy it........It doesn't work as currently constituted

and that would keep the standby lines moving if everyones projections are correct

 

[Waters Back Side]

ROTR sold out in 30 seconds or less every day this week.............they could raise ILL for Rise to $100 pp and people would still pay it

It was available 20 minutes later and sporadically after that until 8:30. But it required constant refreshing. And like what happened to you, it's possible if someone selected it by the time they were done it became unavailable. Here are two pretty good times today after 7.

 

[Jeff4272]

It was available 20 minutes later and sporadically after that until 8:30. But it required constant refreshing. And like what happened to you, it's possible if someone selected it by the time they were done it became unavailable. Here are two pretty good times today after 7.

Was that today? Because that wasnt the case prior

 

[Jeff4272]

It was available 20 minutes later and sporadically after that until 8:30. But it required constant refreshing. And like what happened to you, it's possible if someone selected it by the time they were done it became unavailable. Here are two pretty good times today after 7.

Gotcha, unfortunately im back home today

 

[Waters Back Side]

Was that today? Because that wasnt the case prior

Yes.

Gotcha, unfortunately im back home today

The thing is this happened all week up until about 8:30 for both SDD and Rise. But I can understand why a lot of people would not have noticed. The thing is at 7 AM the most you can do is select your first Genie + and 2 ILL's if you choose. And then there is no option but to wait until 11 AM for your next ride choice (if available). So it is really not like I am risking losing anything for the first hour refreshing constantly. Especially when sitting at home and not at the parks. this is why, on our first HS day I will set an alarm for 6:30, walk down to the food court, get myself some coffee, hang out and wait. And at 7:00 AM on my device I will start to look. I will book the first one I see (SDD with Genie + or Rise individually) and I will keep refreshing until I get a time. Then once done Ill keep refreshing until I get the other or have my wife user her phone to do so. There is nothing else we are looking for. We are not worried about settling for RNRC or ToT to secure it. Its a risk I'm willing to take that one of them is available at 11 am (which there has been at least 1 all week).

But you did bring up an interesting negative aspect where the times changed or a ride was no longer available when selecting it. So we will see.

 

[Jeff4272]

Yes.


The thing is this happened all week up until about 8:30 for both SDD and Rise. But I can understand why a lot of people would not have noticed. The thing is at 7 AM the most you can do is select your first Genie + and 2 ILL's if you choose. And then there is no option but to wait until 11 AM for your next ride choice (if available). So it is really not like I am risking losing anything for the first hour refreshing constantly. Especially when sitting at home and not at the parks. this is why, on our first HS day I will set an alarm for 6:30, walk down to the food court, get myself some coffee, hang out and wait. And at 7:00 AM on my device I will start to look. I will book the first one I see (SDD with Genie + or Rise individually) and I will keep refreshing until I get a time. Then once done Ill keep refreshing until I get the other or have my wife user her phone to do so. There is nothing else we are looking for. We are not worried about settling for RNRC or ToT to secure it. Its a risk I'm willing to take that one of them is available at 11 am (which there has been at least 1 all week).

But you did bring up an interesting negative aspect where the times changed or a ride was no longer available when selecting it. So we will see.

That's ONE of the many bad aspects of this system..............we had Genie+ overlapping with dining and couldnt change because there was nothing left right after we got it.......

Also if you plan on park hopping, you are out of luck if you get SDD return time of 6pm when you go to book at 7am

and forget anything at 11am........Every time is later if its not sold out

 

[Waters Back Side]

That's ONE of the many bad aspects of this system..............we had Genie+ overlapping with dining and couldnt change because there was nothing left right after we got it.......

Also if you plan on park hopping, you are out of luck if you get SDD return time of 6pm when you go to book at 7am

and forget anything at 11am........Every time is later if its not sold out

Never park hopped. No desire to. We spend a lot of time in one park a day and sometimes we do multiple parks more then once on a trip. For us its too much running around with 3 kids 14, 10 and 10.

My 2nd choice would have been either RNRC or Tower of Terror. Today ToT was available for 7:20 PM as of 15 minutes ago. And for me that would not have worked. I do not like going on a ride like that after eating dinner lol. It usually was only one of the two and much later into the day. Yesterday RNRC was available for 8 PM at 11 when I checked. But by the time 11am comes I can see people so aggravated or they settled for one of those rides at 7 AM instead of what they wanted.

My plan will be just being patient and constantly looking/refreshing the first 30 minutes and try to nail both SDD and Rise. If I do not get both it'll be because I spent too much time getting 1.

 

[Jeff4272]

Never park hopped. No desire to. We spend a lot of time in one park a day and sometimes we do multiple parks more then once on a trip. For us its too much running around with 3 kids 14, 10 and 10.

My 2nd choice would have been either RNRC or Tower of Terror. Today ToT was available for 7:20 PM as of 15 minutes ago. And for me that would not have worked. I do not like going on a ride like that after eating dinner lol. It usually was only one of the two and much later into the day. Yesterday RNRC was available for 8 PM at 11 when I checked. But by the time 11am comes I can see people so aggravated or they settled for one of those rides at 7 AM instead of what they wanted.

My plan will be just being patient and constantly looking/refreshing the first 30 minutes and try to nail both SDD and Rise. If I do not get both it'll be because I spent too much time getting 1.

We park Hop to Epcot almost every night b we love that park at night

 

[matt9112]

I hear you. And I'm very eager to see how Genie+ functions with normal crowd levels, normal staffing levels, and a full portfolio of open attractions. I just think we're not getting representative data points on a holiday week during the tail end of a pandemic.

Well we have zero idea when staffing will return or if it will return to normal.

 

[matt9112]

Never park hopped. No desire to. We spend a lot of time in one park a day and sometimes we do multiple parks more then once on a trip. For us its too much running around with 3 kids 14, 10 and 10.

My 2nd choice would have been either RNRC or Tower of Terror. Today ToT was available for 7:20 PM as of 15 minutes ago. And for me that would not have worked. I do not like going on a ride like that after eating dinner lol. It usually was only one of the two and much later into the day. Yesterday RNRC was available for 8 PM at 11 when I checked. But by the time 11am comes I can see people so aggravated or they settled for one of those rides at 7 AM instead of what they wanted.

My plan will be just being patient and constantly looking/refreshing the first 30 minutes and try to nail both SDD and Rise. If I do not get both it'll be because I spent too much time getting 1.

Patience.....its the new disney experience.

 

[DisneyDreamer08]

Question for those of you who have previously traveled during super busy times such as Thanksgiving or Christmas- how successful we’re you at booking 3 FP+ for rides and times you wanted? We’ve only gone during moderate times so obviously never had an issue. Since Genie+ is a paid service, to me it seems logical to think you should be able to use it better than FP+. Meaning at least 3 rides you want and maybe a bonus 4th ride. It seems like the last few days, that’s not nearly the case. That would be the big issue for me. Not necessarily paying but paying and getting less than what was previously free.