Disney Genie and Genie+ at Walt Disney World

[Chip Chipperson]

I see 2 quick solutions to the LL Availability issue. It is simply a supply vs demand issue.
1)Decrease Demand: Raise price of G+ and ILL so less people will buy it.
2)Increase Supply: Increase the LL to standby ratio, thus giving more G+ and ILL availability. This would cause standby lines to slow down further than they currently are

Obviously people would prefer other things (more capacity, turning the system off, ect) but Disney is making money from this and probably just spent a lot of money to get it running. G+ is here to stay for awhile.

Another option: Limit it to resort guests and Passholders. It frees up some inventory being used by off-site guests and steers people towards booking resort stays since it's a semi-perk for staying on property. Local Passholders won't use it as often, anyway, so it limits who can buy it while steering more money into the hotels. Some out-of-state Passholders might slip through the cracks and stay off-site and still use G+, but I don't think it would be any more than are doing that now.

 

[Patcheslee]

Wait, we’re saying that having a lot of ticket options is bad?

For first time visitors the multiple options is a bit overwhelming. Hopper or not, include waterparks or not, how many days, photopass add, not add genie or not.

 

[Casper Gutman]

For first time visitors the multiple options is a bit overwhelming. Hopper or not, include waterparks or not, how many days, photopass add, not add genie or not.

Compared to the current system, having a buffet of genuine options would be simplicity itself - and would benefit the guests. Hopper, photo pass, water park options - all those are very quickly understood by first time guests very easily, but it makes them harder to rip off.

 

[Jrb1979]

That doesn’t fix the underlying issue of insufficient capacity.

No but we all know that isn't changing anytime soon. The system as is doesn't work. So the only solution for now is to limit how many buy Genie+.

 

[Jrb1979]

With Universal there are 6 separate Express Pass options not counting Volcano Bay. Single park vs both parks, limited vs unlimited all at different price points. To implement similar with all park combinations would turn Genie+ into the same people run into with all the ticket options: which one to purchase.

For Disney it could be simple. You make it 2 options. One for single parks and one for hoppers. $150 for a single park and $200 for a hopper pass.

 

[dreday3]

For Disney it could be simple. You make it 2 options. One for single parks and one for hoppers. $150 for a single park and $200 for a hopper pass.

So your suggestion is instead of $15 a day per person, change it to $150 a day per person? You think that will make customers happy with Disney?

Outside of Thanksgiving and probably Christmas (any big holiday week) Genie + works decent. You may not like paying, you may not like getting up early, you may just not like it all but most times of year you would be able to tour without even buying Genie + if you don't want to. And most times of year plenty of rides are available with your $15 per person purchase.

 

[Casper Gutman]

No but we all know that isn't changing anytime soon. The system as is doesn't work. So the only solution for now is to limit how many buy Genie+.

You can’t fix a broken system by breaking it differently. You can only fix it by fixing it.

 

[nickys]

Tried talking to guest services they just were kinda like oh well its genie. Now I waited about 30 min to even talk to a guest services rep.

I’ve seen other reports saying Guest Services were advising people to keep their ADRs and then explain at the ride entrance if it caused you to miss your entry time. That was always the case with the Boarding Groups for Rise and should still apply. The only potential issue should have been a delay to when you could book your next G+ ride.

Did Guest Services advise you differently? If so I would email them and express your disappointment. In fact I suggest you do that anyway.

 

[nickys]

They should be able to buy it at 12:01, but I'm running into a glitch. I have a theory on what that glitch may be, but need to check a few more things during the trip.

The way it's going to work though, is I'm actually not going to purchase it for tomorrow as it's an Animal Kingdom day and my pregnant wife can't do much, so I'll just use her pass for the applicable attractions.

Do some people in your party have different ticket types? I’ve seen that reported as an issue.

 

[Jrb1979]

You can’t fix a broken system by breaking it differently. You can only fix it by fixing it.

You're right you can't fix it by breaking it different. You want more capacity it's an easy fix. Plop down a bunch for flat rides and some B&M's in every park. Boom capacity problem fixed.

So your suggestion is instead of $15 a day per person, change it to $150 a day per person? You think that will make customers happy with Disney?

Outside of Thanksgiving and probably Christmas (any big holiday week) Genie + works decent. You may not like paying, you may not like getting up early, you may just not like it all but most times of year you would be able to tour without even buying Genie + if you don't want to. And most times of year plenty of rides are available with your $15 per person purchase.

As you know I go to many other parks a lot. I know you have been to other parks too. I'm sure you know how skip the line systems work at other parks. They are limited and cost a lot. Cause of that they work. Disney has drilled into people's heads that everyone should have access to it. Visit other parks and you will see how it should work in reality.

 

[dreday3]

You're right you can't fix it by breaking it different. You want more capacity it's an easy fix. Plop down a bunch for flat rides and some B&M's in every park. Boom capacity problem fixed.


As you know I go to many other parks a lot. I know you have been to other parks too. I'm sure you know how skip the line systems work at other parks. They are limited and cost a lot. Cause of that they work. Disney has drilled into people's heads that everyone should have access to it. Visit other parks and you will see how it should work in reality.

Hey, I love skip the line passes and I pay for it happily at other parks.

I just don't think those that are offended by the mere idea of now having to pay for Genie + when fast pass used to be free will go for your idea either.

 

[doctornick]

I mean, it's pretty obvious that Walt knew what he was doing when he built Disneyland...why these people insist on deviating from a formula that worked beautifully is beyond me.

"If it ain't broke, don't fix it."

Eh. I think the difference has nothing to do with Walt era DL but what has been done since then. At DLR, they rarely reduce capacity, instead they have been squeezing out more and more out of the same space and adding anything wherever they can. Even when they do replacement attractions, the capacity of the new ones has tended to at least be comparable.

Meanwhile, in WDW, with the "blessing of size" they often replace - and do so with inferior capacity attractions - rather then build new. Heck, they even have stuff shuttered without replacement (e.g. Stitch, Primeval Whirl, WoL) and the massively long building times exacerbate this (how long have we been without the MKRR and lost Energy's capacity?). Not to mention the loss of parades, shows, streetsmosphere. Heck, they shuttered SotMK earlier this year - how much could that possibly have cost to run?

 

[Casper Gutman]

You're right you can't fix it by breaking it different. You want more capacity it's an easy fix. Plop down a bunch for flat rides and some B&M's in every park. Boom capacity problem fixed.


As you know I go to many other parks a lot. I know you have been to other parks too. I'm sure you know how skip the line systems work at other parks. They are limited and cost a lot. Cause of that they work. Disney has drilled into people's heads that everyone should have access to it. Visit other parks and you will see how it should work in reality.

It is an easy fix. You use a fraction of the $33 billion Disney is spending in one year on streaming content and build a lot of high quality rides. Don’t pretend there is any reason WDW can’t fix the problem they’ve spent decades creating.

 

[Jrb1979]

Hey, I love skip the line passes and I pay for it happily at other parks.

I just don't think those that are offended by the mere idea of now having to pay for Genie + when fast pass used to be free will go for your idea either.

I agree. The problem Disney has is they don't have enough attractions to make Genie+ work at its best. It also comes down that Disney created this problem by drilling into people's heads that everyone should have access to Skip the line.

 

[lazyboy97o]

You're right you can't fix it by breaking it different. You want more capacity it's an easy fix. Plop down a bunch for flat rides and some B&M's in every park. Boom capacity problem fixed.

Turning your product into something else is also not a fix.

 

[Jrb1979]

It is an easy fix. You use a fraction of the $33 billion Disney is spending in one year on streaming content and build a lot of high quality rides. Don’t pretend there is any reason WDW can’t fix the problem they’ve spent decades creating.

While true, you and I both know the Parks are on the back burner now. It's all about Disney+.

Turning your product into something else is also not a fix.

People want more capacity. Disney takes years to finish things. If they built new attractions as fast a Universal does, they could fix it quickly. Tron should be opened by now and so should Guardians.

 

[el_super]

It is an easy fix. You use a fraction of the $33 billion Disney is spending in one year on streaming content and build a lot of high quality rides. Don’t pretend there is any reason WDW can’t fix the problem they’ve spent decades creating.

Adding new rides doesn't fix the capacity issues. It just moves them to the new rides so the old rides can finally be retired.

 

[lazyboy97o]

Adding new rides doesn't fix the capacity issues. It just moves them to the new rides so the old rides can finally be retired.

This is just flat out not true.

 

[el_super]

This is just flat out not true.

It's true. That's why adding new attractions has never solved the crowding problem. How many new attractions have been added since 1955 and here we are, 60 some years later still complaining the place is too crowded.

I almost thought that Fastpass documentary would have settled this.

 

[Casper Gutman]

Adding new rides doesn't fix the capacity issues. It just moves them to the new rides so the old rides can finally be retired.

This is nonsense. Demand isn’t infinite, nor does it increase automatically regardless of the nature of the ride or the way it is marketed. And new rides don’t obliterate demand for the old - it may reduce it somewhat, but it’s still a net gain in capacity. Do you honestly think Tron will eliminate demand for Pirates?