Disney Genie/Genie+ On Their Way to Anaheim

[Vegas Disney Fan]

They could have got away with just putting MMMR on Genie +. That might persuade families with young kids that are on the fence about buying Genie +. But TLM? Not a lot of upside there

It makes me wonder at what point they’ll reach the “straw that broke the camels back”?

Monsters used to be a reliable walk on, now it’s often 45 minutes or more thanks to Genie, if the same happens with TLM there will be no more walk up standby rides. Quickly getting on B and C tickets made the parks bearable between the longer waits for the D and E tickets, if we lose those the parks will just be a never ending (frustrating) queue. Hot summer days are going to be miserable.

Disneys famous guest service and standards are becoming worse by the day.

 

[mickEblu]

It makes me wonder at what point they’ll reach the “straw that broke the camels back”?

Monsters used to be a reliable walk on, now it’s often 45 minutes or more thanks to Genie, if the same happens with TLM there be no more walk up standby rides. Quickly getting on B and C tickets made the parks bearable between the longer waits for the D and E tickets, if we lose those the parks will just be a never ending (frustrating) queue. Hot summer days are going to be miserable.

Disneys famous guest service and standards are becoming worse by the day.

I wonder if it’s just a short term offering to go with the new discounted children’s tickets? At the very least I can see TLM going back to standby only when the promotion ends. MMRR was always destined for Genie +.

 

[truecoat]

The last couple of times I've been to DCA, I've seen lines at TLM that I haven't seen before. The last time I rode it, the line was in the extended queue going to the left of the building and was about a 25-minute wait. Right now it's at 20 minutes according to the app.

 

[Vegas Disney Fan]

The last couple of times I've been to DCA, I've seen lines at TLM that I haven't seen before. The last time I rode it, the line was in the extended queue going to the left of the building and was about a 25-minute wait. Right now it's at 20 minutes according to the app.

A 15-20 wait is fairly normal but we all know as soon as G+ is added it’s going to average 45.

All my AP friends wish they’d just drop G+ and ILL, bring back Maxpass, and raise ticket prices. The nickel and diming is really damaging the brand, it’s amazing with all their polling they are blind to this. We don't mind paying premium prices for a premium product but Disney is no longer a premium product.

 

[CaptinEO]

Maybe they will add fastpass back to pirates.

They are already reworking all of HM's queue to resolve the mess fastpass created. There is additional queue space between the treehouse and pirates that hasn't been used in a long time.

Seems Disney's goal is to make genie the mandatory purchase and have the parks be miserable without it.

 

[mickEblu]

A 15-20 wait is fairly normal but we all know as soon as G+ is added it’s going to average 45.

All my AP friends wish they’d just drop G+ and ILL, bring back Maxpass, and raise ticket prices. The nickel and diming is really damaging the brand, it’s amazing with all their polling they are blind to this. We don't mind paying premium prices for a premium product but Disney is no longer a premium product.

Agree and yet we continue to renew or in my case regret not renewing lol. Disneyland not being a premium product is debatable. I’d say they re far from what they used to be but definitely Premium in comparison to other Southern California theme parks. Not that that’s a high bar. One thing is for sure and that is that they offer a unique product and have a stranglehold (for now) on nostalgia due to 100 years of beloved IP and Disneylands unique place in Americana. For that reason they can get away with cutting corners.

 

[Californian Elitist]

Adding Genie+ to Mermaid is dumb as hell. But all know the motive and no one should be surprised.

 

[PiratesMansion]

Maybe they will add fastpass back to pirates.

They are already reworking all of HM's queue to resolve the mess fastpass created. There is additional queue space between the treehouse and pirates that hasn't been used in a long time.

Seems Disney's goal is to make genie the mandatory purchase and have the parks be miserable without it.

FastPass to Pirates is 100% coming the minute they can figure out where to put the queue that would result.

Heck, there's a Dream Suite just above the ride that appears to just be sitting there collecting dust that would seemingly fit the bill-and there's precedent for putting a Pirates queue upstairs in a similar building in Tokyo.

I imagine it'll be here within the next decade-it's easily the biggest attraction NOT on Genie, and you know they've got to be foaming at the mouth to get it there.

 

[CaptinEO]

FastPass to Pirates is 100% coming the minute they can figure out where to put the queue that would result.

Heck, there's a Dream Suite just above the ride that appears to just be sitting there collecting dust that would seemingly fit the bill-and there's precedent for putting a Pirates queue upstairs in a similar building in Tokyo.

I imagine it'll be here within the next decade-it's easily the biggest attraction NOT on Genie, and you know they've got to be foaming at the mouth to get it there.

The Dream Suite actually has been turned into a fake Club 33 dining experience called 21 Royal. IMO Disney could make way more money operating it as the Dream Suite. I miss when it was an art gallery though.

It's also funny to think about Indy, it has this amazing queue that fastpass ruined and makes you rush through the indoor portion. Fastpass was a mistake.

Something I don't get. The original intent of fastpass was that guests would spend more time shopping/eating instead of being in large lines. Now with Genie it seems they are encouraging the masses to be stuck in huge lines.

Wouldn't it be better for those standby people to move through a queue at the normal pace (no FP option) and be in the stores and restaraunts?

 

[SoFloMagic]

Something I don't get. The original intent of fastpass was that guests would spend more time shopping/eating instead of being in large lines.

It didn't work. They just rode more attractions. But genie plus is working. Gotta get that cash upfront.

 

[CaptinEO]

It didn't work. They just rode more attractions. But genie plus is working. Gotta get that cash upfront.

It didn't work? Why did they have free fastpass for 20 years then? It must've had success in getting spending up.

It seems weird they'd want people to be stuck in long queues for a chance to get 20 dollars a day. That's like one snack or souvenir if they were out in the park.

 

[SoFloMagic]

It didn't work? Why did they have free fastpass for 20 years then? It must've had success in getting spending up.

It seems weird they'd want people to be stuck in long queues for a chance to get 20 dollars a day. That's like one snack or souvenir if they were out in the park.

Fastpass+ makes average waits higher for all. Mymagicplus failed - couldn't recoup the billions spent - that's why magic bands never made it to the other parks.

If someone buys genie and two ILLs that's adding like $50 to the bottom line. Times what, like 10,000 maybe?

 

[Vegas Disney Fan]

It didn't work? Why did they have free fastpass for 20 years then? It must've had success in getting spending up.

It seems weird they'd want people to be stuck in long queues for a chance to get 20 dollars a day. That's like one snack or souvenir if they were out in the park.

Plus people having a good time stay in the parks and spend more. The only spending benefit I see from Genie over FP is alcohol sales, when I’m frustrated with lines the last thing I’m doing is giving Disney money for merch in the shops.

It must make money because they’re sticking with it, I just don’t see how.

We used to schedule our FPs for the afternoon when the lines were the longest, now we leave the parks and go back to the hotel for lunch, cocktails, and some swimming. Lunch and cocktails will be $75 for us, that’s money we used to spend in the parks, now we spend it at our hotel, if everyone was staying at a Disney hotel that wouldn’t be a problem but a lot of people stay offsite, I don’t see how it isn’t costing them a fortune to have people leave for a few hours. I guess we’re the minority that take breaks and most just stay and deal with the lines.

 

[truecoat]

I'm headed to California for a concert on Nov 12th. I'm hitting up Disneyland on the 11th and thought I'd get Genie+ so we could maximize our rides. I decided to look into which rides have Genie+ and in the end, it doesn't seem worth it to me.

• Autopia Not going to ride it
• Big Thunder Mountain Railroad Yes
• Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters Will just wait until the ride is short
• Haunted Mansion Yes
• Indiana Jones Adventure Yes
• “it’s a small world” ride it when lines are short
• Matterhorn Bobsleds back might not take it
• Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run this is a ride of opportunity. Don't need to ride it
• Roger Rabbit’s Car Toon Spin probably won't ride it
• Star Tours — The Adventures Continue Yes
• Space Mountain Yes
• MMRR (possibly by Nov) Yes

So that's 6 rides I'd definitely use Genie+ on but it's not enough for me to buy it. Especially since each ride is one and done and you can't get LL multiple times on the same ride. I'll just stand in line or not ride them and that's ok.

 

[chadwpalm]

FastPass to Pirates is 100% coming the minute they can figure out where to put the queue that would result.

Heck, there's a Dream Suite just above the ride that appears to just be sitting there collecting dust that would seemingly fit the bill-and there's precedent for putting a Pirates queue upstairs in a similar building in Tokyo.

I imagine it'll be here within the next decade-it's easily the biggest attraction NOT on Genie, and you know they've got to be foaming at the mouth to get it there.

Pirates had Fastpass in the very early stages for a few years, but abandoned it just before the 50th.

During the 2018 refurb when they added the new auction scene and updated the tunnel, they had everything in place to bring FP/MP to Pirates again, but ended up changing their minds for whatever reason.

Pirates of the Caribbean FastPass Preparations (several pictures) - The Geek's Blog @ disneygeek.com

It appears Pirates of the Caribbean at Disneyland will return with FastPass. This was tried years ago and abandoned fairly quickly.

blog.disneygeek.com

The problem with adding fastpass (Genie+) to Pirates is they have to use one side of the queue and would cause standby, which would then be longer due to Genie+, to maze all over NOS worse than it already does. I also doubt they will use the Dream Suite as they would have probably done that already.

 

[Purduevian]

Pirates had Fastpass in the very early stages for a few years, but abandoned it just before the 50th.

During the 2018 refurb when they added the new auction scene and updated the tunnel, they had everything in place to bring FP/MP to Pirates again, but ended up changing their minds for whatever reason.

Pirates of the Caribbean FastPass Preparations (several pictures) - The Geek's Blog @ disneygeek.com

It appears Pirates of the Caribbean at Disneyland will return with FastPass. This was tried years ago and abandoned fairly quickly.

blog.disneygeek.com

The problem with adding fastpass (Genie+) to Pirates is they have to use one side of the queue and would cause standby, which would then be longer due to Genie+, to maze all over NOS worse than it already does. I also doubt they will use the Dream Suite as they would have probably done that already.

Doesn't FP/LL make the physical standby line shorter (even if the standby wait time is longer?). Lets say Pirates can handle 2000 people per hour. If it has a 45 minute line, the line has to hold 1,500 people. If LL is a 4:1 ratio, those same 1500 people would have a wait time time of 225 minutes.

To build a 45 minute standby line, the line would have 300 people in it.

 

[PiratesMansion]

The Dream Suite actually has been turned into a fake Club 33 dining experience called 21 Royal. IMO Disney could make way more money operating it as the Dream Suite. I miss when it was an art gallery though.

I wasn't sure if those occupied the same space or not. Makes sense though-there's probably only so much space up there that isn't part of Club 33 already.

That 21 Royal charges an insane premium though, assuming people actually book it. I've never heard of anyone eating there, but surely someone must, right? To me the Dream Suite never fully made sense-I can understand why people would want to stay in Cinderella Castle. The Dream Suite never had the same allure, at least for me.

Wouldn't it be better for those standby people to move through a queue at the normal pace (no FP option) and be in the stores and restaraunts?

The problem is that the guest at this point is conditioned to assume that all lines are bad, and wouldn't it be a better value *for me* to wait in a shorter line instead of being stuck in this big queue with everyone else?

And, of course, now that it's an extra charge, Disney also makes a pretty penny of profit from it all.

I wish it would either go away entirely or be dramatically raised in price, but I suspect we'll be in awkward middleman land for the foreseeable future in terms of Genie pricing. It was honestly so much nicer to visit Magic Kingdom in October 2021 when it was standby only-the lines moved the way they were designed to move! But Disney can't monetize a problem they created if FP/Genie/etc go away, so...

 

[CaptinEO]

I wasn't sure if those occupied the same space or not. Makes sense though-there's probably only so much space up there that isn't part of Club 33 already.

That 21 Royal charges an insane premium though, assuming people actually book it. I've never heard of anyone eating there, but surely someone must, right? To me the Dream Suite never fully made sense-I can understand why people would want to stay in Cinderella Castle. The Dream Suite never had the same allure, at least for me.

I think to me the Dream Suite and even Club 33 don't have some crazy appeal to me. I've been lucky to go to Club 33 once and it was a nice experience but it's just a mid 2010s hotel lobby in the middle of Disneyland.

I think pre remodel it probably had a lot of character and appeal that is now lacking. But I get how the guests, which are mostly corporations, wouldn't be thrilled with a 60s club/bar.

Even the crow animatronic and fancy gold elevator are just sitting there non operationally. But don't worry there is a generic hotel elevator to use.

The problem is that the guest at this point is conditioned to assume that all lines are bad, and wouldn't it be a better value *for me* to wait in a shorter line instead of being stuck in this big queue with everyone else?

And, of course, now that it's an extra charge, Disney also makes a pretty penny of profit from it all.

I wish it would either go away entirely or be dramatically raised in price, but I suspect we'll be in awkward middleman land for the foreseeable future in terms of Genie pricing. It was honestly so much nicer to visit Magic Kingdom in October 2021 when it was standby only-the lines moved the way they were designed to move! But Disney can't monetize a problem they created if FP/Genie/etc go away, so...

I see what you mean. I guess both Disney and even Universal with their Horror Nights like overdoing capacity and charging the guest for a solution. Is this a really good business model? I'd like to think there are much better alternatives.

 

[PiratesMansion]

I guess both Disney and even Universal with their Horror Nights like overdoing capacity and charging the guest for a solution. Is this a really good business model? I'd like to think there are much better alternatives.

Right now, it's just the American way.

 

[CaptinEO]

Right now, it's just the American way.

It's just so strange to me everyone's settled on the business model of frustrating then upselling their customers. Surely there are better ways to increase profit?