Disney Genie/Genie+ On Their Way to Anaheim

[Too Many Hats]

Would it be better or worse if we called it the Endless Walkway?

Too reminiscent of the Endless Hallway, which suggests something really cool.

Thematic Void
Miscalculation Lane
Blunder Blvd
Pressler Place

 

[PiratesMansion]

Too reminiscent of the Endless Hallway, which suggests something really cool.

Thematic Void
Miscalculation Lane
Blunder Blvd
Pressler Place

Counterpoint: that makes the name *perfect* for DCA.

Overpromise, underdeliver, while punning something from a better place.

Describes DCA to a tee IMO.

 

[Parteecia]

Counterpoint: that makes the name *perfect* for DCA.

Overpromise, underdeliver, while punning something from a better place.

Describes DCA to a tee IMO.

I call that stretch the Bataan Death March, especially on a hot day.

 

[CaptinEO]

I think the following are making Genie Plus even worse for standby lines:

Attractions Under Refurbishment
Constant Attraction Breakdowns

I seem to notice in standby lines they will go from moving nicely to slowing to a crawl. Yesterday Mickie and Minnie took 130 minutes with a 55 minute posted wait time. My guess is it had to do with Big Thunder and Indiana breaking down, meaning the paying Genie+ guests now take up capacity in another attraction.

Furthermore I'd bet Disney still sells the same amount of Genie+ passes despite Splash Mountain and Haunted Mansion being removed.

Seems something is bad operationally when a posted wait time more than doubles just for the benefit of upselling.

 

[Vegas Disney Fan]

Seems something is bad operationally when a posted wait time more than doubles just for the benefit of upselling.

Unfortunately you just described the current business model of Disney, make it worse so people will pay extra to make it what it used to be. They don’t need to spend money adding anything but they still make more money.

Buzz lightyear consistently had a 15 minute wait, there was zero need for G+, but they added it anyway and now it’s a 45 minute wait and as a result now requires G+ just to get the old wait time back, same with Little Mermaid, IASW, and many others.

G+ is intentionally creating long lines so it can sell itself.

 

[CaptinEO]

Unfortunately you just described the current business model of Disney, make it worse so people will pay extra to make it what it used to be. They don’t need to spend money adding anything but they still make more money.

Buzz lightyear consistently had a 15 minute wait, there was zero need for G+, but they added it anyway and now it’s a 45 minute wait and as a result now requires G+ just to get the old wait time back, same with Little Mermaid, IASW, and many others.

G+ is intentionally creating long lines so it can sell itself.

Surely they can just increase the price so not many people use it? If the point of FP was to get guests out of line and spending money, seems Genie is still ensuring a large portion of guests are stuck in line not spending money.

 

[Vegas Disney Fan]

Surely they can just increase the price so not many people use it? If the point of FP was to get guests out of line and spending money, seems Genie is still ensuring a large portion of guests are stuck in line not spending money.

It does seem counterproductive to food and merch sales but if enough people are paying for G+ it must cover the lost sales everywhere else.

I have no idea what Disney is thinking with G+ (beyond fleecing their guests) because it’s inferior to FP, FP+, Maxpass, and even 100% standby… it’s the most anti-guest line scheme ever devised.

 

[SuddenStorm]

It does seem counterproductive to food and merch sales but if enough people are paying for G+ it must cover the lost sales everywhere else.

I have no idea what Disney is thinking with G+ (beyond fleecing their guests) because it’s inferior to FP, FP+, Maxpass, and even 100% standby… it’s the most anti-guest line scheme ever devised.

Max pass rocked. And at $15 it was excellent. And since it was an optional upgrade to conventional fastpass, it didn't seem greedy.

 

[drizgirl]

Max pass rocked. And at $15 it was excellent. And since it was an optional upgrade to conventional fastpass, it didn't seem greedy.

At least G+ at DL includes Photopass. That softens the blow, even at the $30/day it is now.

 

[Purduevian]

Max pass rocked. And at $15 it was excellent. And since it was an optional upgrade to conventional fastpass, it didn't seem greedy.

Having never visited DLR during Max pass... other than price and ILL what are the main differences between it and G+?

 

[Vegas Disney Fan]

Having never visited DLR during Max pass... other than price and ILL what are the main differences between it and G+?

The 2 biggest differences for us were…

1) we are passholders and Maxpass had a yearly rate, I believe it was $100 to add it to your pass for the whole year. This made it a great value.

And

2) Maxpass was limited to the old FP rides so it didn’t create long lines on rides that used to have short lines. One of my biggest complaints of G+ is they’ve put it on too many rides, it’s created lines where they never existed before.

 

[CaptinEO]

Having never visited DLR during Max pass... other than price and ILL what are the main differences between it and G+?

Max Pass let you get fastpasses from your phone instead of walking to a machine and getting a paper ticket.

The return times were separate from the paper fastpass network for some reason. It was incredibly broken its first two weeks while this was fine tuned. We would get instant return times for almost everything.

 

[Purduevian]

The 2 biggest differences for us were…

1) we are passholders and Maxpass had a yearly rate, I believe it was $100 to add it to your pass for the whole year. This made it a great value.

And

2) Maxpass was limited to the old FP rides so it didn’t create long lines on rides that used to have short lines. One of my biggest complaints of G+ is they’ve put it on too many rides, it’s created lines where they never existed before.

So #1 is price. For number 2 what attractions have been added? I know Pirates was on and off Maxpass (currently is temperately on G+). I also know that Mermaid is a new one at DCA, what else was added?

 

[PiratesMansion]

2) Maxpass was limited to the old FP rides so it didn’t create long lines on rides that used to have short lines. One of my biggest complaints of G+ is they’ve put it on too many rides, it’s created lines where they never existed before.

That's how it started, but regular HM, regular IASW, and BLAB all added FP/MP prior to Genie+.

 

[Vegas Disney Fan]

So #1 is price. For number 2 what attractions have been added? I know Pirates was on and off Maxpass (currently is temperately on G+). I also know that Mermaid is a new one at DCA, what else was added?

I can’t remember exactly but I think Maxpass was primarily the E-tickets, all the mountains, some stuff like Haunted Mansion and Pirates used it but only during the busiest times like Christmas, stuff like Buzz, Mermaid, the fantasyland rides, etc never used it that I remember.

G+ fees like it’s changed the purpose of the line pass from trying to keep people out of long lines to trying to sell itself and make money.

 

[Vegas Disney Fan]

That's how it started, but regular HM, regular IASW, and BLAB all added FP/MP prior to Genie+.

That’s certainly possible, I just remember we probably used it 3 or 4 times a day on average, it wasn’t needed on most rides because they had lines less than 30 minutes so we wouldn’t bother. Now it feels like every ride has a line longer than 30 minutes, and most longer than 45.

 

[PiratesMansion]

That’s certainly possible, I just remember we probably used it 3 or 4 times a day on average, it wasn’t needed on most rides because they had lines less than 30 minutes so we wouldn’t bother. Now it feels like every ride has a line longer than 30 minutes, and most longer than 45.

To be honest, other than rides that have added G+ in the last few years, I haven't noticed dramatic difference in attraction wait times now vs. the old FP/MP days. Perhaps this is just because I have largely never waited standby for many rides and always utilized FP/MP/G+, but on paper (or as shown on the app whenever I typically peruse), wait times do not seem dramatically different to me than they were five years ago.

If there is a difference, I would point to the expanded pool of Multiple Experience Pass attractions-if Indy broke down with FP, there wasn't a universe in which I was being offered the opportunity to suddenly bypass the queue for PPF, an attraction that doesn't otherwise have G+.

 

[Disney Irish]

I can’t remember exactly but I think Maxpass was primarily the E-tickets, all the mountains, some stuff like Haunted Mansion and Pirates used it but only during the busiest times like Christmas, stuff like Buzz, Mermaid, the fantasyland rides, etc never used it that I remember.

G+ fees like it’s changed the purpose of the line pass from trying to keep people out of long lines to trying to sell itself and make money.

MaxPass was available on anything that had FP, here is a list (add Pirates on occasion) -

Disneyland

Big Thunder Mountain Railroad
Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters
Fantasmic!
Haunted Mansion
Indiana Jones Adventure: Temple of the Forbidden Eye
It's a Small World
Matterhorn Bobsleds
Roger Rabbit's Car Toon Spin
Space Mountain
Splash Mountain
Star Tours: The Adventures Continue

Disney California Adventure

Incredicoaster
Guardians of the Galaxy - Mission: BREAKOUT!
Goofy's Sky School
Grizzly River Run
Soarin' Around the World
Toy Story Midway Mania!
Radiator Springs Racers
World of Color

Its honestly not all that different than what is there for Genie+ today.

 

[Disney Irish]

To be honest, other than rides that have added G+ in the last few years, I haven't noticed dramatic difference in attraction wait times now vs. the old FP/MP days. Perhaps this is just because I have largely never waited standby for many rides and always utilized FP/MP/G+, but on paper (or as shown on the app whenever I typically peruse), wait times do not seem dramatically different to me than they were five years ago.

If there is a difference, I would point to the expanded pool of Multiple Experience Pass attractions-if Indy broke down with FP, there wasn't a universe in which I was being offered the opportunity to suddenly bypass the queue for PPF, an attraction that doesn't otherwise have G+.

There isn't a real difference is wait times with G+ compared to FP/MP.

 

[PiratesMansion]

There isn't a real difference is wait times with G+ compared to FP/MP.

Honestly, the biggest difference is that there are more people waiting in lines to use their G+, but even that was occuring in the FP/MP years when DL switched from giving you paper return tickets to having everything on your admission ticket. I remember waiting in a huge line to scan into Space Mountain when that happened in the MP days.

There is a lot to critique about the system, definitely, and a lot of ways it could/should be better. But I really don't think there's as big of a difference between now and then as many purport there to be. The big difference (other than the added rides, which was already occuring during the FP/MP timeframe) is that it's not free (or "free", depending on how one choose to look at it) anymore.