Disney Genie and Genie+ at Walt Disney World

[brettf22]

A bit of info I haven't seen yet. Each day, any of your two purchased Tier 1 passes must be different. So no buying two passes for FoP.

 

[UNCgolf]

I really hope they make Living with the Land an Individual Attraction for $$$$$$. That ride is always packed, which I never understand. After a few months they will be able to afford the full EPCOT renovation.

Because it's one of the better rides at WDW! Which is how good all the old EPCOT rides were; even one of the lesser Future World attractions is now one of the better rides on property.

 

[brettf22]

Also, seems the 90 minute max between Genie+ pass selections might be in flux

 

[DisneyDodo]

I always find it hilarious that discrimination can never involve money.

Discrimination can certainly involve money. It’s called “price discrimination” and it implies you are charging different people different prices for the same good or service. Offering everyone a service for the same price is by definition not discrimination, just because some people are more willing or able to pay. Otherwise, selling *anything* would constitute discrimination.

 

[Wendy Pleakley]

If most people pay, won't that make the standby shorter, since everyone will be in the Lightning Lane (stupidest name ever)?

No because it's a reservation system, same as the old Fastpass. It's not a dedicated line one can enter whenever they want.

That would be more like Universal's Express Pass which offers far more access at a far greater cost.

 

[fngoofy]

Augmented reality lenses + audio experiences = Virtual streetmosphere! It's genius, Bobby C., genius! The kids love dat Pocketman Goin', right? They'll love this!

I don't get the snark. Those are complimentary little fun add ons. I thought the Mickey & Minnie examples they showed looked fun. If they have a Stitch one my son will love it.
Don't come on so heavy.

 

[Hawkeye_2018]

If Disney needed more money why don't they start selling booze at MK like all the other parks

 

[Wendy Pleakley]

Out of curiosity, what did MaxPass do to the standby lines at Disneyland?

There's always been the ongoing debate whether or not FastPass helped or hurt the standby lines. COVID removed FastPass giving us a better idea of how that would look, albeit with less than full capacity at the parks. With Lightning Lanes/Genie+, it's somewhat of a hybrid where, theoretically, significantly less people will be filling in the old FastPass lines to save $$$ every day.

Assuming Disney's algorithms are smart and they factor in variables to ensure distributed ride reservations are balanced, should the standby lines not be shorter? Is there not a chance that we will all finally get a "virtually" FastPass-less Disney experience? Obviously that all depends on how many people are willing to spend on this, but who knows, maybe?

MaxPass was just a digital version of the regular FastPass system I believe. One could do paper FastPasses for free or pay for the ease of digital access. The impact would have been negligible.

With this new system, not everyone will be using Fastpass. In theory, Standby lines will be shorter.

However, the people paying for Genie may be able to get more FastPasses than they could under the old system that everyone could use. It wasn't uncommon to see FastPasses run out for many attractions early in the day. Where I might have only gotten three FastPasses a day prior, maybe now I can get six or seven because less people are using the system. In which case Standby lines won't decrease so much.

 

[VJ]

But at least between this, the “not-a-parties,” and the SW hotel, the theme of Chapeks reign is crystal clear. Over was the IP acquisition guy. Chapek is the price gouge guy.

the funny thing is we pretty much knew this since he became head of parks

and no one expected him to become CEO

and then iger needed a fall guy

 

[LuvtheGoof]

No because it's a reservation system, same as the old Fastpass. It's not a dedicated line one can enter whenever they want.

That would be more like Universal's Express Pass which offers far more access at a far greater cost.

Sorry. Forgot to add the sarcasm tag. I'm just wondering how many they will allow people to reserve, and still keep at lightning speed to experience the attraction. If I pay $20 for each of my family members for an attraction, I better not have to wait more than a few minutes to experience it. You can bet if I wait even 10 minutes after paying that amount, I will be at guest services demanding an apology and a refund. Of course, I'll probably have to pay to do that as well.

 

[VJ]

I just called Disney and has a discussion on this.
I was told that charging for line skipping service is an industry standard. So.. There it is.

you know the old adage, "if it's good enough for six flags..."

 

[Wendy Pleakley]

I wonder...could Disney require some type of proof or records that prove a guests disability? At the least a Doctor's LETTER(not note) that explains why they need DAS?
If it meant weeding out those who WILL abuse it, I would be for it! I would have no problem obtaining a Dr's Letter as proof!

My understanding is proof is never required in order to ensure people with disabilities don't encounter barriers during everyday life.

This isn't an issue in terms of fraud, because in most situations there is no benefit in asking for an accommodation.

Theme parks are the exception to the rule. A disability in a theme park can be "advantageous" in terms of bypassing lines.

The rule of not requiring proof, however, remains in place because it makes no sense to modify a rule for the rare exception (theme parks) where requiring proof might make sense.

Requiring proof in a theme park would benefit those individuals. By weeding out the liars Disney could offer accommodations to the disabled without having to deal with fraud. As it is, what they've done is try and make the DAS access comparable to everyone else in terms of wait times, so there is less incentive to fake it and game the system. Requiring proof sounds logical in a theme park, but is simply inconsistent with the intent and everyday implementation of accomodation.

 

[Waters Back Side]

A bit of info I haven't seen yet. Each day, any of your two purchased Tier 1 passes must be different. So no buying two passes for FoP.

My family of 5 would never ride the same ride twice anyway if it cost money. This might affect someone solo or a couple more.

So far the only park for my upcoming trip I will not purchase an individual ride for LL access is MK. I've been on Space Mountain so many times I can live without paying almost or more than 100 dollars. and SDMT is too short and overrated for my money. All 3 other parks Ill have to. Of course the best luck would be scoring a BG for Remy and Rise. Then all id need to buy is Slinky and FOP of the individual non Genie+ rides. If I do not land a BG ill probably buy all 4.

A year and a half ago I could book a FP 60 days in advance and ride FOP for free. Those were some fun times.

 

[Donald Esq]

Sorry if this is a daft question, but why were boarding groups introduced in the first place? Surely the most efficient way to load a new ride is to let people queue.... those desperate will be prepared to wait, others won't.

Either I am missing something or the plan was always to go this way. As another UK visitor, I will happily pay to guarantee a go on RotR, rather than risk missing out due to the lottery involved. Can't say the same for every tier 1 ride through.

Boarding groups and virtual queues were developed for the same reason as anything else: $$$$. With a virtual queue from the beginning, the building doesn’t have to be as large, so save on construction costs. Additionally, if you’re physically waiting in line, you aren’t spending money at shops and restaurants. It’s more profitable for Disney if you’re killing time grabbing a bite to eat or browsing a store.

 

[ImperfectPixie]

My understanding is proof is never required in order to ensure people with disabilities don't encounter barriers during everyday life.

This isn't an issue in terms of fraud, because in most situations there is no benefit in asking for an accommodation.

Theme parks are the exception to the rule. A disability in a theme park can be "advantageous" in terms of bypassing lines.

The rule of not requiring proof, however, remains in place because it makes no sense to modify a rule for the rare exception (theme parks) where requiring proof might make sense.

Requiring proof in a theme park would benefit those individuals. By weeding out the liars Disney could offer accommodations to the disabled without having to deal with fraud. As it is, what they've done is try and make the DAS access comparable to everyone else in terms of wait times, so there is less incentive to fake it and game the system. Requiring proof sounds logical in a theme park, but is simply inconsistent with the intent and everyday implementation of accomodation.

It goes far beyond theme parks. People lie about their dogs being service animals so they can bring them anywhere.

 

[Missing20K]

Agreed. And in terms of meet and greets, I'm thinking of the potential for premium M&G experiences at Town Square Theater, Adventurers Outpost etc. Seems a no-brainer from Disney's side.

Ok, fess up. How much is Chapstick paying you to soften the blow on same day surge pricing for premium M&Gs?

the funny thing is we pretty much knew this since he became head of parks

and no one expected him to become CEO

and then iger needed a fall guy

This can’t be understated.

 

[3WaltFans]

So you pay to get into the park and then pay some more money $$ to ride the rides.
Greed at its finest!!

 

[arich35]

Yeah the list goes on.

Think of the kids damn it!

 

[Disney Analyst]

My family of 5 would never ride the same ride twice anyway if it cost money. This might affect someone solo or a couple more.

So far the only park for my upcoming trip I will not purchase an individual ride for LL access is MK. I've been on Space Mountain so many times I can live without paying almost or more than 100 dollars. and SDMT is too short and overrated for my money. All 3 other parks Ill have to. Of course the best luck would be scoring a BG for Remy and Rise. Then all id need to buy is Slinky and FOP of the individual non Genie+ rides. If I do not land a BG ill probably buy all 4.

A year and a half ago I could book a FP 60 days in advance and ride FOP for free. Those were some fun times.

We may be able to assume more people won’t be willing to pay for individual ride access so hopefully standby is more manageable with way less fastpass use on these individual pay rides.

So you may just wait in the regular line for some of those rides, and only pay the money for a line that is completely unreasonable and you just have to ride.

 

[mf1972]

this is reminding me of a few lines from the former world showcase players performance of a christmas carol. a mickey mouse puppet was the ghost of christmouse future & he says “i’ll charge u $50 bucks to park your car buddy! want dinner tonight?? take out a 2nd mortgage!” who knew that’ll come true.