Disney Genie and Genie+ at Walt Disney World

[BrianLo]

I don’t think this is temporary. I also expect Rat will join G+ (it’s new, but it’s not actually that low capacity and the sheen should wear off soon enough).

Genie Plus is marketed on the premise that a guest needs to be able to book AT LEAST 3 useful Lightening Lane a day. With low friction. Regardless of my personal experiences with the system, I can conclude easily from here that isn’t the case.

If you can’t book three based on how they’ve priced the product(s), it’s a rip off. I’m sure they even have data now that satisfaction is contingent on four.

Walt Disney Worlds biggest issue is capacity. Why anyone thought removing two of the most valuable attractions from each park and selling an iteration of their ride skip with less options than previously would be looked on favorably, is beyond me. Maybe they didn’t anticipate so much uptake. The biggest reason so many posters hate this is because of capacity. If there was no ILL I’d imagine significantly less dissatisfaction.

That said, I actually don’t think ILL is terrible if limited to one per park. There’s going to be less complaints about someone buying G+ with the expectation they can have the most popular attraction (only for it to sell out), versus not allowing them to specifically buy that a la carte option (because it is sold out).

Heck, G+ Might actually be worth it for Epcot eventually. It’s still not for AK.

 

[Rumrunner]

Maybe these decisions made Disney one of the worst if not the worst performing stock in the dow this year. Of course there are other factors and decisions in play but they are starting to add up. Not good signs.

 

[el_super]

I agree there legitimately giving up profit to try and save genie plus. Its a dramatic change...its not just because there feeling generous.

Doubtful. If they are making the change it's because they aren't making money on ILL purchases for Space Mountain.

Looking at the thrill data heat map for today, Space Mountain's demand is questionable:

Granted it is still on ILL until tomorrow, but it's telling that there is more demand for Big Thunder, Jungle Cruise and Splash than Space Mountain.

More likely they thought that having two ILL would appease guest who missed out on the first one. So if you didn't get a reservation for Mine Train, you could still get Space Mountain. I think the more realistic scenario here is that, people are willing to pay for Mine Train, but not Space Mountain. Mine Train sells out early and Space is just .... meh.

The truth is probably somewhere in the middle. Not only are they trying to add more to Genie+, since that seems to be where the attention is, there just isn't enough demand to have two ILLs in the same park. It will be interesting to see what the demand looks like tomorrow.

 

[wutisgood]

Hollywood studios would definitely benefit greatly from indy and fantasmic back as well as putting a more serious show in like frozen from DCA. If they could bring a fireworks show back it would be big as well. Add in a few more additions and it would prob be my favorite park in orlando.

 

[GhostHost1000]

When it comes down to it, Disney just needs more people eater attractions and shows.

When the parks become stagnant and they take 3-4 years to even build something new that becomes a problem and here we are

 

[Marriedatdisney]

I’ve been reading for months about Genie+. First day experience at the resort. The night before had a report employee help me purchase Genie+. Wake up at 6:30. Get ready to button mash. 7 am, offers start. I grab a paid rise of the resistance. Then try and get LL. Suddenly the app is sending me to purchase Genie+. I try several times. Meanwhile ride times go later and later. Finally I just buy Genie+ AGAIN. I finally get a ride at 3:30pm. Get to the parks. Hop in line for the Train ride in Hollywood studios. Mid queue ride goes down. They give a LL ticket. Meanwhile on the app, impossible to tell if I have Genie+ paid for. User interface says not a reservation in between what looks like a reservation and a suggestion. Complete visual mess. I should note, I’m a chief technology officer. I build systems for a living. The use cases and technology deployments are baffling and horrendous. Why you are creating a dependence on every single park visitor to hit your servers at exactly the same time, for what is perceived as make or break vacation outcomes? Especially when it’s clear you have no track record of successes with tech?

after one day, here’s my suggestions

1. Genie+ only for guests staying on property. Night before you have tickets, all Requests loaded BY 4pm. At 6pm, system allocated LL passes based on priorities set by guests and randomized allocations. Everyone requests by a time and everyone has a shot at LL passes.
2. Paid LL seats available starting IN park the next morning. Slots released randomly throughout the day. Your requests are captured and randomly allocated. You can set limits, ie times you will buy them.

meanwhile the product itself is a disaster. Shows, buildings and queues turned off, broken or closed. Our first two rides now have broken down while we were in line. It’s not a good situation.

 

[mikejs78]

I’ve been reading for months about Genie+. First day experience at the resort. The night before had a report employee help me purchase Genie+. Wake up at 6:30. Get ready to button mash. 7 am, offers start. I grab a paid rise of the resistance. Then try and get LL. Suddenly the app is sending me to purchase Genie+. I try several times. Meanwhile ride times go later and later. Finally I just buy Genie+ AGAIN. I finally get a ride at 3:30pm. Get to the parks. Hop in line for the Train ride in Hollywood studios. Mid queue ride goes down. They give a LL ticket. Meanwhile on the app, impossible to tell if I have Genie+ paid for. User interface says not a reservation in between what looks like a reservation and a suggestion. Complete visual mess. I should note, I’m a chief technology officer. I build systems for a living. The use cases and technology deployments are baffling and horrendous. Why you are creating a dependence on every single park visitor to hit your servers at exactly the same time, for what is perceived as make or break vacation outcomes? Especially when it’s clear you have no track record of successes with tech?

after one day, here’s my suggestions

1. Genie+ only for guests staying on property. Night before you have tickets, all Requests loaded BY 4pm. At 6pm, system allocated LL passes based on priorities set by guests and randomized allocations. Everyone requests by a time and everyone has a shot at LL passes.
2. Paid LL seats available starting IN park the next morning. Slots released randomly throughout the day. Your requests are captured and randomly allocated. You can set limits, ie times you will buy them.

meanwhile the product itself is a disaster. Shows, buildings and queues turned off, broken or closed. Our first two rides now have broken down while we were in line. It’s not a good situation.

Point one would be a horrible system. I don't want a system that tells me when I have to go on a ride.

 

[Rickcat96]

Just returned from a weeklong trip-December 12-18, wait times were never an issue. Did not use any Genie stuff, did use VQ for Rat and got BG 24 and the return time was at Noon. Sadly, as an example, Soarin was listed at 20 min for stand by, and a few folks were going through the LL which, to me, was not worth any value of using Genie.

 

[Chi84]

Just returned from a weeklong trip-December 12-18, wait times were never an issue. Did not use any Genie stuff, did use VQ for Rat and got BG 24 and the return time was at Noon. Sadly, as an example, Soarin was listed at 20 min for stand by, and a few folks were going through the LL which, to me, was not worth any value of using Genie.

They may have bought Genie+ to avoid a longer wait at TT and then just took advantage of it to skip the shorter lines (and in all fairness, Soarin' standby is usually longer than 20 minutes). It's a mistake to think anyone bought Genie+ to skip the lines at The Land or Journey Into the Imagination just because they happen to be going through the LL. If you already have it, skipping those short 20-minute wait times can add up.

 

[Rickcat96]

They may have bought Genie+ to avoid a longer wait at TT and then just took advantage of it to skip the shorter lines (and in all fairness, Soarin' standby is usually longer than 20 minutes). It's a mistake to think anyone bought Genie+ to skip the lines at The Land or Journey Into the Imagination just because they happen to be going through the LL. If you already have it, skipping those short 20-minute wait times can add up.

You are absolutely correct, folks SHOULD blindly purchase Genie+, without knowing what the wait times are or could be.

 

[Chi84]

You are absolutely correct, folks SHOULD blindly purchase Genie+, without knowing what the wait times are or could be.

No, I think there’s quite a bit of information out there on what wait times generally are. MDE has them listed and you can see them whenever you like. Even if those are inflated, Touringplans has a Lines app that shows wait times. And when you’re in the parks, there are signs at the rides showing wait times.

There’s plenty of information out there on how long you have to wait in lines at WDW. It’s fairly well-known.

 

[gerarar]

Today's my first day at the parks, so purchazed Genie+ to test it out and finally got to see first hand how fast things go.

ROTR immediately sold out as usual. Slinky ran out within 2 to 3 minutes. FOP sold out around 7:50am. My park res starts at AK today, but plan to hop to HS at 2pm, so I booked my first LL there for MMRR. Return times for it are around 4pm+ now. Everything else at AK/HS has return times within the hour, so didn't think it's too important to book those rn. Rope dropped FoP and entered the queue at an 80min wait.

Honestly, this requires more thinking then getting a BG at 6am for ROTR in December 2019. Only caveat there was to getting to the park early on time, but at least that lasted minutes to sometimes hours.

 

[danv3]

Today's my first day at the parks, so purchazed Genie+ to test it out and finally got to see first hand how fast things go.

ROTR immediately sold out as usual. Slinky ran out within 2 to 3 minutes. FOP sold out around 7:50am. My park res starts at AK today, but plan to hop to HS at 2pm, so I booked my first LL there for MMRR. Return times for it are around 4pm+ now. Everything else at AK/HS has return times within the hour, so didn't think it's too important to book those rn. Rope dropped FoP and entered the queue at an 80min wait.

Honestly, this requires more thinking then getting a BG at 6am for ROTR in December 2019. Only caveat there was to getting to the park early on time, but at least that lasted minutes to sometimes hours.

mAgiCaL!

 

[gerarar]

mAgiCaL!

I know right!

I am the Magic!!

 

[G00fyDad]

Today's my first day at the parks, so purchazed Genie+ to test it out and finally got to see first hand how fast things go.

ROTR immediately sold out as usual. Slinky ran out within 2 to 3 minutes. FOP sold out around 7:50am. My park res starts at AK today, but plan to hop to HS at 2pm, so I booked my first LL there for MMRR. Return times for it are around 4pm+ now. Everything else at AK/HS has return times within the hour, so didn't think it's too important to book those rn. Rope dropped FoP and entered the queue at an 80min wait.

Honestly, this requires more thinking then getting a BG at 6am for ROTR in December 2019. Only caveat there was to getting to the park early on time, but at least that lasted minutes to sometimes hours.

Not trying to belittle your experience but it is December 20th.

Per TP site:

 

[gerarar]

Not trying to belittle your experience but it is December 20th.

Oh I know. This is the only day I’m gonna get Genie+ for my trip. I just wanna experience how much the WDW park day has been butchered (since I have a recent trip during Xmas 2019 to compare to) after reading this thread for months lol.

Also was just reporting things in case anyone is planning on getting G+ Or ILL over the next couple days.

 

[G00fyDad]

Oh I know. This is the only day I’m gonna get Genie+ for my trip. I just wanna experience how much the WDW park day has been butchered (since I have a recent trip during Xmas 2019 to compare to) after reading this thread for months lol.

Also was just reporting things in case anyone is planning on getting G+ Or ILL over the next couple days.

You couldn't get me into a Disney park this week even if I were to tied to a team of Clydesdales.

 

[Touchdown]

You couldn't get me into a Disney park this week even if I were to tied to a team of Clydesdales.

You would have to pay me. I’ve warned my relatives about this. If you want me to guide your WDW vacation during the holiday week (weeks this year) you will need to pay my way.

 

[lentesta]

You would have to pay me. I’ve warned my relatives about this. If you want me to guide your WDW vacation during the holiday week (weeks this year) you will need to pay my way.

A friend texted me this morning: "Hey, I'm in Orlando. We're thinking about heading to the Magic Kingdom on Wednesday. What do I need to know?"

 

[Villains0501]

I don't think the park is hurting with 30 y/o shows. These are classics and people love to feel the nostalgia as they see them each time they go to disney. I am that way. I must see Lion King and BATB, for instance. It doesn't feel like a normal trip without these icons.
Nostalgia is one of the glues that keeps holding people to WDW. Without nostalgia, they just have some new IP's just like other parks.

I think there's absolutely something to this. I was amazed when we were there about two weeks ago by how packed BATB was. Twenty minutes before show time, and we were already being sat in the back row on the amphitheater. Now part of that may be due to a lack of things to do in other parts of the park, but I was taken by surprise by it nonetheless. Same with Frozen - packed to the gills each show!

That being said, I couldn't help but wonder how helpful it would have been to also have Indy and Mermaid open as well during that time, if only to alleviate some of the congestion throughout the rest of the park. That pinch point over by the ABC Commissary is a train wreck to navigate. Glad Indy's back open now, but I'd love to see other major people-eating theaters built both at DHS and at the other parks.