Disney Genie/Genie+ On Their Way to Anaheim

[SuddenStorm]

They should have just made all the Genie + rides individual lightning lanes and price accordingly. That way people on vacation etc are ensured a ride and stress free day and everybody else has decent wait times as less people would be compelled to buy it on the average visit. But that would require a mega corporation to not be greedy.

That's a great idea. And they could have divided rides into different tiers- with tickets for the bigger rides costing more than smaller rides.

And for someone who wants a good variety, they could sell a book that has each ticket type.

 

[waltography]

They should have just made all the Genie + rides individual lightning lanes and price accordingly. That way people on vacation etc are ensured a ride and stress free day and everybody else has decent wait times as less people would be compelled to buy on the average visit or would buy just a couple select rides. But that would require a mega corporation to not be greedy and really care about the customer experience.

Premier Access. We really should've just got Premier Access.

 

[mickEblu]

Premier Access. We really should've just got Premier Access.

Is that what Universals is called? Yeah I guess what I’m saying is similar except I think it would be better for the average guest as not ALL rides would be accessible to skip the line. Only the headliners.

 

[waltography]

Is that what Universals is called? Yeah I guess what I’m saying is similar except I think it would be better for the average guest as not ALL rides would be accessible to skip the line. Only the headliners.

It's the system in place currently at Paris and Shanghai Disneyland. Essentially pay per ride FastPass.

 

[CaptinEO]

Visited Disneyland today. Gambled on Genie plus because
1) It's the only way to get unlimited photos
2) There were only two of us
3) I figured since the system was new no one would be using it

I was totally right. Up until 5pm every fastpass I wanted was available within 5-10 minutes of the current time. And the fastpass lanes had no one in them too.

Even to buy Genie Plus required me to get 10 screens deep and took me 15-20 minutes to locate in the app.

This is awesome. Same thing as the first month of maxpass. Enjoy this system before others figure it out. I'll be back annually each Christmas, I'm sure by then it wont be as quick to use as this.

I paid 40 dollars total to skip lines on every major ride, and rode all the others early in the morning. By 1pm we had nothing to do and just hung out until the fireworks (that ended up being cancelled).

 

[aaronml]

It's important to note that the Defunctland video is approaching the debate from WDW's angle and not DL's. I agree in the long run that Genie+ is probably a better system for WDW, but it's because it's simply undoing FastPass+'s worst sins.

Especially at Disneyland, I really disagree Genie+ is really optimizing for the the infrequent guest anymore than MaxPass did since they're in essence the exact same system. If anything, the Genie/Genie+/ILL family simply complicates the MaxPass system further. If out of towers weren't willing to learn the ropes for MaxPass, they certainly won't for Genie+.

Fair, though the lack of an AP add-on is either intended to “tilt the scales” against APs, or they are just hoping that enough APs are willing to pay-up for G+ every visit (or most visits), or both.

 

[FAIRIEDUST78]

Visited Disneyland today. Gambled on Genie plus because
1) It's the only way to get unlimited photos
2) There were only two of us
3) I figured since the system was new no one would be using it

I was totally right. Up until 5pm every fastpass I wanted was available within 5-10 minutes of the current time. And the fastpass lanes had no one in them too.

Even to buy Genie Plus required me to get 10 screens deep and took me 15-20 minutes to locate in the app.

This is awesome. Same thing as the first month of maxpass. Enjoy this system before others figure it out. I'll be back annually each Christmas, I'm sure by then it wont be as quick to use as this.

I paid 40 dollars total to skip lines on every major ride, and rode all the others early in the morning. By 1pm we had nothing to do and just hung out until the fireworks (that ended up being cancelled).

My family was also there yesterday. We used the Genie+ and had absolutely no problems with app or gaining entry to the LL. By the end of the day my kids were saying how much they had missed being able to skip ahead. As soon as we were in what little wait we had I signed up for the next ride. We shopped in between rides and snacked. We did more yesterday than we have in a long time. It is our annual tradition to go with them at Christmas time. Only bummer was the cancellation of the fireworks.

 

[CaptinEO]

My family was also there yesterday. We used the Genie+ and had absolutely no problems with app or gaining entry to the LL. By the end of the day my kids were saying how much they had missed being able to skip ahead. As soon as we were in what little wait we had I signed up for the next ride. We shopped in between rides and snacked. We did more yesterday than we have in a long time. It is our annual tradition to go with them at Christmas time. Only bummer was the cancellation of the fireworks.

Glad you were able to take advantage of it too. I'm not an AP member, visited 3 times this year. Totally worth it if this holds up.

My guess is since it's new it probably won't be as exclusive in the future. But at least you can guarantee less people will be using this than free fastpass, so standy should be shorter than it was when FP was free.

We were standing on Main Street for 45 minutes to see the fireworks. We're so sad they had to cancel it. It seems like wind started maybe 10 minutes before showtime.

 

[chadwpalm]

Disney knows that standby waits are longer with Genie+ so they are hoping that the longer wait times means more people buying the product. That's the trap...and it's cumulative. As more people buy Genie+ the standby waits get even longer and more people buy. Cha-ching! Perfect snowball effect for Disney.

They should have just made all the Genie + rides individual lightning lanes and price accordingly. That way people on vacation etc are ensured a ride and stress free day and everybody else has decent wait times as less people would be compelled to buy on the average visit or would buy just a couple select rides. But that would require a mega corporation to not be greedy and really care about the customer experience.

The tough part is figuring out how to price each attraction. Is it by ticket-level? Meaning A, B, C, D, & E ticket rides rise in price from A to E? Or do you price according to demand? Longer wait times are more expensive?

The problem is, if you price it too cheap then everyone will jump on it and that will increase standby waits and/or just fill up all the slots and the reservations will run out early. If you price based on demand, then you could get the same snowball result I mentioned above and ALL rides will have long waits and high prices. No matter what the system is, Disney wins.

I still think the best system is no system. Standby only with park reservations capping the overall crowd size. Sure, you can't jump to the front of lines, but you also don't have to pay more and greedy Disney doesn't get more money out of you.

 

[CaptinEO]

Disney knows that standby waits are longer with Genie+ so they are hoping that the longer wait times means more people buying the product. That's the trap...and it's cumulative. As more people buy Genie+ the standby waits get even longer and more people buy. Cha-ching! Perfect snowball effect for Disney.



The tough part is figuring out how to price each attraction. Is it by ticket-level? Meaning A, B, C, D, & E ticket rides rise in price from A to E? Or do you price according to demand? Longer wait times are more expensive?

The problem is, if you price it too cheap then everyone will jump on it and that will increase standby waits and/or just fill up all the slots and the reservations will run out early. If you price based on demand, then you could get the same snowball result I mentioned above and ALL rides will have long waits and high prices. No matter what the system is, Disney wins.

I still think the best system is no system. Standby only with park reservations capping the overall crowd size. Sure, you can't jump to the front of lines, but you also don't have to pay more and greedy Disney doesn't get more money out of you.

Another thing too to keep in mind, the more people that buy Genie plus, the longer the fastpass line. Which is fine pre 2021 when its free, but not when it's a paid product. Theres a balancing act.

 

[aaronml]

Another thing too to keep in mind, the more people that buy Genie plus, the longer the fastpass line. Which is fine pre 2021 when its free, but not when it's a paid product. Theres a balancing act.

Technically that is tied to Genie+ Lightning Lane / FP inventory, rather than how many people purchase Genie+. It doesn’t matter how many people buy G+ unless Disney starts increasing LL / FP inventory accordingly.

 

[CaptinEO]

Technically that is tied to Genie+ Lightning Lane / FP inventory, rather than how many people purchase Genie+. It doesn’t matter how many people buy G+ unless Disney starts increasing LL / FP inventory accordingly.

Well that ends up being the issue. If too many people are purchasing it then the return times will either suck or run out.

When we used it return times were 5-15 minutes away for whatever selection we made. You are right in that Disney did mention something about potentially shutting down standby if needed for lightning lane, which is bonkers but I can see it happening.

Its value will decrease if more people buy it.

 

[el_super]

Between the ridiculous changes we've gotten over the last couple years and this kind of stuff it really feels like TDA is trying to 'break' Disneyland.

It's been broken for years now. Anything they do now, isn't going to break it any more.

 

[Vegas Disney Fan]

Just got back from a DL weekend and I have mixed emotions, some rides we walked right on, but... Soarin lightning lane was 40 minutes, Space Mtn LL was 25 minutes, Guardians LL was over 30 minutes (although a shaft was down), Indy LL was so long we left and rode it later… I’m hoping these were just growing pains because I’ve never seen FP lines as long as some of the LLs were this weekend.

We are long time APs (now dream keys) and thought we’d try it out but we weren’t happy we paid extra and then ended up in long lines anyway. If you’re going to ask people to pay for a premium service it better feel like a premium product… this weekend it didn’t.

 

[Vegas Disney Fan]

No way I’m renewing Believe Keys for the family if this holds up. At best I move down to Imagine keys, go 6-8 times a year and buy Genie + every time.

My gf said similar, we have Dream Keys and were already annoyed with how hard reservations have been but after dealing with so many long lightning lane lines this weekend she commented she‘d rather take a couple WDW trips next year (and visit more new cities) instead of renewing our keys, we’ve averaged probably 9 DL weekends a year since 2013 but our last couple DL trips have left us questioning the value.

Disney will still get a lot of our vacation dollars but DL will probably be a once a year trip from now on while the rest goes to WDW, DCL, and visiting new places.

 

[shambolicdefending]

If you’re going to ask people to pay for a premium service it better feel like a premium product… this weekend it didn’t.

This is where I get to be annoying and point out that non-locals have been saying this about Disneyland for quite a while.

The new pricing and ops models have just spread the love around a little more now.

 

[Stevek]

We used the paid version in Orlando last week (just for MK and DHS) solely because we don't believe we will ever go back. I hated doing it knowing FP was previously a free offering but felt it was the only way we would be able to minimize wait times while maximizing the overall value we got from the trip. I can't see ever using it at Disneyland.

 

[Stevek]

Just got back from a DL weekend and I have mixed emotions, some rides we walked right on, but... Soarin lightning lane was 40 minutes, Space Mtn LL was 25 minutes, Guardians LL was over 30 minutes (although a shaft was down), Indy LL was so long we left and rode it later… I’m hoping these were just growing pains because I’ve never seen FP lines as long as some of the LLs were this weekend.

We are long time APs (now dream keys) and thought we’d try it out but we weren’t happy we paid extra and then ended up in long lines anyway. If you’re going to ask people to pay for a premium service it better feel like a premium product… this weekend it didn’t.

I don't think we had any long LL waits at WDW...maybe 10 minutes max.

 

[truecoat]

It's the system in place currently at Paris and Shanghai Disneyland. Essentially pay per ride FastPass.

One thing is that these parks are around half the price to get in compared to the US.

 

[DavidDL]

The stories I have heard thus far about Genie+'s effect on the standby lines and what others have been able to do with it if they do want it have given me some hope. Like @CaptinEO said, it will fully depend on how many people buy it up on any given day.

But I'll say this, in the two days I spent there this month (3rd and 4th, just before Genie went live), we hardly waited for anything (other than RotR and an extended queue for our dinner selection). We rode over 30 attractions within the two days we were there and on average, their wait times were about 20 to 25 minutes each. The reservation system plus lack of any sort of Fastpass really made the day feel enjoyable, manageable and had a liberating degree of freedom involved. If we wanted to do something, we just did it without having to worry about any sort of return times or fear of super long waits.

Hopefully, given the reality I experienced, maybe less people feel the need to shell out the extra cash for the Lightning Lane options. Sure, it leads to an expeditated experience overall but if the difference between shelling out an extra $60 for a party of 4 is only 15 to 20 minutes more of a wait per attraction, then I could totally see why less people would feel the need to spring for the upcharge. If things remain the way they've been for the foreseeable future, then I certainly won't need to. My last experience was awesome.

I also remain hopeful this to be the case because I know how booked the Magic Keys are at Disneyland right now. The maximum amount of allowed Magic Key holders are currently in the park each day and I believe these to be fans who are "in the know" enough to know that Genie+ is live and available to them. @CaptinEO's experience leads me to hope that this isn't actually a matter of dreading when more people will figure it out. Maybe, just maybe, the controlled crowd levels and lack of free Fastpass will be enough to keep wait times and crowd levels at a level enjoyable enough that most Guests will decide they don't even need the Lightning Lane to begin with to get the most out of their day.