Disney Genie/Genie+ On Their Way to Anaheim

[SSG]

Looking at social media posts from people using Genie, I saw a couple of things certain to rile people up.

Disney neglected to mention the tax on LL buys. So that $9.00 ticket for Frozen is closer to 10.00 with tax. For sure you expect to pay taxes on what you buy, but this popping up on top of the increased costs of your trip seems like the actual definition of nickel and diming people.

I've also seen posts that when Rise broke down no refunds were given to LL buyers--their entry time was just extended. Which could throw a wrench in the plans you have for later.

Sounds like carnage out there

 

[truecoat]

Looking at social media posts from people using Genie, I saw a couple of things certain to rile people up.

Disney neglected to mention the tax on LL buys. So that $9.00 ticket for Frozen is closer to 10.00 with tax. For sure you expect to pay taxes on what you buy, but this popping up on top of the increased costs of your trip seems like the actual definition of nickel and diming people.

I've also seen posts that when Rise broke down no refunds were giving to LL buyers--their entry time was just extended. Which could throw a wrench in the plans you have for later.

Sounds like carnage out there

I did see someone getting a refund but only in the form of a gift card.

 

[Ryan120420]

Looking at social media posts from people using Genie, I saw a couple of things certain to rile people up.

Disney neglected to mention the tax on LL buys. So that $9.00 ticket for Frozen is closer to 10.00 with tax. For sure you expect to pay taxes on what you buy, but this popping up on top of the increased costs of your trip seems like the actual definition of nickel and diming people.

I've also seen posts that when Rise broke down no refunds were giving to LL buyers--their entry time was just extended. Which could throw a wrench in the plans you have for later.

Sounds like carnage out there

Not sure why people are complaining or surprised about the tax being added on top of the Genie+ and Lighting Lanes. Florida has had a sales tax on all tickets and add-ons for years. When you buy Universal Express in Orlando or any front of line add-on at the other parks they charge tax on top of the listed price.



Good news for us at Disneyland is that California doesn't have a sales tax on tickets, the listed price for Genie+ and Lighting Lanes here will be the price you pay.

 

[DrAlice]

When Braydon shows up in a suit, you know he's going to tell it like it is. Wow.

 

[DrAlice]

If the reporting is accurate, it is exactly what I feared: Disney manipulates the standby lines to push people into the pay per ride. Notice how many "standby not available" rides there were in the video? That doesn't happen now. How much will it happen now that they can connect with your wallet?

This is my breaking point. If this comes to California in this form, I'm out.

 

[TrojanUSC]

If the reporting is accurate, it is exactly what I feared: Disney manipulates the standby lines to push people into the pay per ride. Notice how many "standby not available" rides there were in the video? That doesn't happen now. How much will it happen now that they can connect with your wallet?

This is my breaking point. If this comes to California in this form, I'm out.

It only shows that in that on Rat, which does not have a standby line at all - only a VQ and LL. They have not done away with or closed standby on any attraction at WDW. In fact, ROTR came off the annoying VQ boarding group system and started offering standby for the first time a few weeks ago.

 

[DrAlice]

It only shows that in that on Rat, which does not have a standby line at all - only a VQ and LL. They have not done away with or closed standby on any attraction at WDW. In fact, ROTR came off the annoying VQ boarding group system and started offering standby for the first time a few weeks ago.

Haunted Mansion showed standby was not available.

 

[TrojanUSC]

Haunted Mansion showed standby was not available.

The only time it shows that is if 1) it's before park open 2) the ride is down.

 

[Californian Elitist]

When Braydon shows up in a suit, you know he's going to tell it like it is. Wow.

As he stated, not enough people are going to refrain from taking part in this BS. Look at the new Magic Keys. Less benefits for more money and people still bought them. Way too many shills and folks drinking that magical Kool-Aid for any sort of resistance (no pun intended) to actually go anywhere.

$15 on top of admission to ride Rise??? Loooollll, kiss my ***. But, what you allow, you accept. I don’t feel bad for people who pay extra money to ride certain attractions quicker and can’t because the ride is down for whatever reason. Disney is taking advantage of folks and the same folks are allowing them to. So why would I feel bad?

Disney Parks is going in a very sad direction without no signs of stopping. Let the shills have at it though.

 

[DrAlice]

The only time it shows that is if 1) it's before park open 2) the ride is down.

I'm just going by what was shown in the video. This could've been the case. But.... Does it matter?

The huge take-home point for me is that Disney admits that their standby times are BS and these BS numbers are RIGHT NEXT to the "pay here" button. That kind of manipulation to separate me from my wallet is just over the top. And there is nothing to stop them from manipulating the standby lines further. In fact, as Brayden points out, they are INCENTIVIZED to do just that. Again, if this comes to California in this form, I'm out. And, to be clear, it isn't this one thing. It's this plus waiting for hours to get through security plus not being able to eat because mobile order doesn't work correctly plus waiting in long lines to ride attractions that may or not be operating properly. All this for the same HUGE entrance fee to get into the park AND overinflated hotel room prices (off property too!). I'll be brutally honest and say that our last trip to DL was the least fun we've had on a Disney trip in awhile. We chocked it up to COVID, but the more I think about it, there were so many of these engineered hurdles that it sucked the fun out a bit for us. So now they want to take what was basically MaxPass, but remove some of the rides we used to have access to AND mess with the standby lines too? Yeah, no. It's the last straw. They've gone too far with this.

To @raven24's point, I DO feel for the people that got fleeced. They are victims of Disney's engineered BS. They fell for it. And they fell for it because "the Disney of old" would NEVER have stooped so low as to charge you a giant fee to ride a ride and not give you a refund if it went down. I mean, if your bubble wand breaks, they give you a new one! That's the Disney most people expect. Not this carnival cheat game kind-of shenanigans.

 

[Californian Elitist]

To @raven24's point, I DO feel for the people that got fleeced. They are victims of Disney's engineered BS. They fell for it. And they fell for it because "the Disney of old" would NEVER have stooped so low as to charge you a giant fee to ride a ride and not give you a refund if it went down. I mean, if your bubble wand breaks, they give you a new one! That's the Disney most people expect. Not this carnival cheat game kind-of shenanigans.

Yep. Apparently if guests pay for a ride that breaks down, Disney will give you credit in the form of a Disney gift card. So either way, that money is going back to Disney. Rise is charging $15 per person. Let’s say a family of four pays and can’t use their LL privilege because the ride breaks down. That’s $60 you can use to get dinner outside the parks, for a weekend movie at the local cinema, or for literally anything else besides Disney. But that’s not an option. The decent thing to have done is to have a ‘Refund’ option that appears when rides you’ve picked for are no longer available. The swindling is a cycle and it’s so blatantly in your face.

As I’ve stated before, I’m not necessarily a theme park fan, but if I’m going to visit one, it’s Universal. I may or may not go for Grinchmas this season. I love Disneyland, but I refuse to accept the current management of the parks.

 

[DavidDL]

Micechat's newest articles definitely don't inspire hope. It was disappointing to hear what had happened to the standby line waits. I was sort of hoping that the outlandish price per ride, per rider, would deter a decent amount of folks and keep waits reasonable. But with attractions like RotR selling out in the opening hour of operation, it appears this'll be the future we can expect out here in SoCal.

I guess I sort of understand the logic if it's mainly out of towners buying them up. When I visit Orlando for the week, I always purchase the Universal Express Pass because I cram both parks into one day. -and with the infrequency that I visit, the price isn't really so bad given the convenience and what you gain in return. That said, Universal's offers all day, unlimited admission to all attractions for a one time, expected fee while Disney took something that used to be free and started charging for it. It's a hard context to look past.

 

[lazyboy97o]

I guess I sort of understand the logic if it's mainly out of towners buying them up. When I visit Orlando for the week, I always purchase the Universal Express Pass because I cram both parks into one day. -and with the infrequency that I visit, the price isn't really so bad given the convenience and what you gain in return. That said, Universal's offers all day, unlimited admission to all attractions for a one time, expected fee while Disney took something that used to be free and started charging for it. It's a hard context to look past.

Ever notice that up until relatively recently it was actually Express Pass Plus? It is widely forgotten but Express Pass was originally free and pretty much the same thing as FastPass. Also, Express Pass only offers admission to each participating attraction once and it is the more expensive Express Pass Unlimited that offers unlimited riding.

 

[DavidDL]

Ever notice that up until relatively recently it was actually Express Pass Plus? It is widely forgotten but Express Pass was originally free and pretty much the same thing as FastPass. Also, Express Pass only offers admission to each participating attraction once and it is the more expensive Express Pass Unlimited that offers unlimited riding.

To your first point: No, I have never noticed. Perhaps because when I was younger I didn't frequent Universal as much as I did the Disney parks.

To your second: Yes, I am aware of the difference between the two and always go with the unlimited option. $109 for unlimited line skips, at both of their parks, whenever I want/without time restrictions is a big draw for me when I visit Orlando because I only do so every couple years. It's not something I consider getting at USH due to the much lower attraction count and being a local.

Meanwhile, WDW's service has at least two attractions in each park that are "Individual Lightning Lane only", which means you'll need to cough up $15 per person for only one time through. Which means, provided you only do one park a day and don't hop, you could spend $15+$15+$15 per person for access to those two rides and Genie+ for the day. Cheaper? At $45 per person, technically, sure. But you still need to go through the trouble of scheduling out return times throughout your day and only get to hold or do so many attractions at a time. You'd have to pay again if your kids really liked RotR and wanted to go a second time around, provided you were willing to skip the line and even then, it may be sold out for the day. -and if a group park hops and decides to do the other ILL attractions in that park for the day? Another $30 from each person. Still technically not as much as a Universal Pass but getting awful close. -and again, the freedom from return times and endless usage I think gives it way more value. If I really like Escape from Gringotts, Express Pass lets me go around as much as I want, at any time that I want to.

I understand why to a certain demographic, the option is so popular at WDW. If I didn't live so close to Disneyland and had only heard about RotR and was on my "once every 5 or so years" trip with my family, I'd absolutely pay for the line skip if the wait was unbearable. I just still don't think it's comparable to Universal's options. Heck, even if you go the "one time only" Express Pass for the day, you still get all rides for the cheaper $80 and without the need to constantly be on your phone picking out return times and having them control your day. You have a ticket in your pocket, you explore the park at your leisure, however you want and if you discover something you'd like to do, you just do it.

 

[DavidDL]

I guess for me, it really comes down to, "just do one of two things, Disney".

1) Replace the Fastpass system with an "Express Pass"-style system where you pay a one time fee and are given the option to ride everything either once each, or an unlimited amount and remove return times entirely. Limit the sales of it the same way Universal does and charge an exorbitant fee. Guests then couldn't draw as much of a comparison between the new system and what was taken away from them. Disney can point to the unlimited usage or lack of return times any time someone says "you're just making me pay for Fastpass now!". Additionally, since buyers would be free from return times, this means there isn't always going to be someone in the Express line at certain attractions, which would allow some of them a chance to breathe and better pulse stand-by Guests through. Especially true later in the day when those "one time each" buyers have used up their rides for the day. This would mean locals would start to figure out the best time to visit to get the most of their passes and tourists can still pay to line skip.

2) Just keep Fastpass gone. Don't offer any sort of line skip. The standby waits have been super bearable out here with the combined lack of line skips and park reservations. Guests are enjoying it, keep it that way.

I'd prefer option 2. But we know realistically, Disney will follow the money.

 

[Californian Elitist]

Genie+ is a failure to rich folk that want to skip the line and not be bothered.

Good luck telling a millionaire how he can skip lines but needs a PHD in research and planning and needs to have his face in his phone all day.

Disney could just sell line skip passes without inconveniencing rich people.

If the idea is to spend money to save time, why make the system so time consuming and confusing.

It should be as simple as "I dont want to wait in lines, heres a sum of money". "Thank you sir, enjoy your day of not waiting in lines".

Wealthy folks already have that option. All they have to do is go to Guest Services and purchase the option to have a Plaid escort them around the park and skip standby lines. Celebrities do this.

 

[truecoat]

From the looks of it, the pay for play LL is working well today for the newer rides.

7DMT $12 next slot 7:55 pm
SM $9 next slot 11:05

Frozen $11 next slot 12:40
Rat $11 next slot 3:20

ROTR none available
MMRR $10 next slot 3:20

Avatar $14 next slot 3:40
EE $7 next slot 11:10

It looks like all are making money except SM and EE. When Tron opens, you know it will be added and SM will go to regular LL. My guess is they'll now be encouraged to add a ride to Animal Kingdom that people will pay LL cash for.

 

[Californian Elitist]

The good thing is we only have, what? Three rides that are under the Lightning Lane option? That’s not too bad, especially in comparison to WDW.

 

[DrAlice]

From the looks of it, the pay for play LL is working well today for the newer rides.

7DMT $12 next slot 7:55 pm
SM $9 next slot 11:05

Frozen $11 next slot 12:40
Rat $11 next slot 3:20

ROTR none available
MMRR $10 next slot 3:20

Avatar $14 next slot 3:40
EE $7 next slot 11:10

It looks like all are making money except SM and EE. When Tron opens, you know it will be added and SM will go to regular LL. My guess is they'll now be encouraged to add a ride to Animal Kingdom that people will pay LL cash for.

What do the standby lines look like?

 

[DrAlice]

We may end up skipping out on Disneyland all together until this goes away. I'm totally fine with skip the line passes, but not if I have to be glued to my phone all day AND pay them money.

Exactly. I said the same thing about the "plan your rides 6 months in advance" garbage at WDW. I haven't been there since before that craziness was implemented. For WDW, this is a marginal improvement over that system, but is still nuts.

But, for me, it all depends on the standby lines. If they have a reasonable wait, I can opt out of the crazy Genie stuff. If they are horrendous (or worse MANIPULATED), then I am out. For me, nothing at the parks is worth standing in line for 2 hours. I'd rather do something else with my money.