working out for Disney

[Songbird76]

There are pros to Genie+, but I generally don't love having to pay for something that was previously free and I really don't like the added charge if you want to ride a high demand attraction. I did prefer the original legacy fastpass over fastpass+, but we learned how to make both of them work to our advantage. What I'm waiting to see is how many people actually buy into Genie+ and how this could impact lines, because we won't know the real value until that happens. I've been to theme parks like Six Flags, where it seemed like very few people bought into their fast pass-like charged add on. So, those that did really did see a true advantage when they went to attractions. On the flipside, I remember being at Universal in CA a while back and it seemed like everyone bought in, making it no great advantage with lines. I guess if we add a day at Disney, I could always drop the extra $30 and get it for the kids, but then how much more is Ratatouille going to cost? IDK...just not loving the idea.

Yeah, I think it's the money that most people are upset by. I think if it were free, everyone would be excited by it being more spontaneous rather than planning months in advance. I don't mind the extra so much with the top rides because we don't really do most of those. My husband does, but then we can just spend the money on the ones he wants to do, IF he goes, which he's asked that we go by ourselves. And I HATED that tiered system where you have to pick one tier 1 and two tier 2s. I don't do most of the tier 1 attractions, but HAD to get a FP for one so I could get more later. If there had been an option to get all 3 in tier 2, I would have liked that better. I hated taking a fastpass from someone who actually wanted to ride Tower of terror, when I wasn't going to use it. The old system just didn't work well for us. And I like that this system will level out the playing field for people staying off property, too. But honestly, I'm hoping not everyone buys it, because then there's not much value in it, although at least everyone has the same opportunity to get one. Previously, everyone could get a fastpass, but all the high demand ones were gone so quickly that if you weren't staying on property, or you weren't staying for at least a week, you weren't going to get a fastpass for Soarin', or for Flight of Passage, etc. Now, everyone will have the same opportunity for all the rides. I do wonder if it will affect prices for off property hotels. With fewer and fewer "perks" to staying in the bubble, demand for off property might increase, and law of supply and demand means that prices will increase as well. And if more people are staying off property, will Disney have to drop their own prices to compete? Or offer huge deals? I'll be curious to see how it all plays out, but for now, I'm optimistic about how it will work, at least for us.

 

[Sans Souci]

You do lose it if you have to change your flights. We were in a bad car accident on the way to the airport one time. We weren't able to make our original flight, but were able to pull enough together to stick with the trip and just take a later flight. The early bird I paid for did not carry to our new flight. My husband was limping a bit from the accident, so they told us to "use that as an excuse so he can pre-board" and then see if he can save seats without having anyone call him out for it. So, they don't allow it, yet they advised us to do this.

I think it was when we were flying back from Branson, MO, the FAs were having to demand that people move and not save seats as some people who were currently boarded were trying to sit with their kids. So, they were trying to hold seats for people in boarding group C vs. allow a mom to sit with her two preschool aged kids. Ultimately, it's why I prefer the airlines that offer assigned seating.

Funny you say that...I have a friend that loves SWA, but he always flies alone. The solo traveler never has to deal with this.

That's really poor that they wouldn't move your Early Bird, seeing you had been in a FREAKING CAR ACCIDENT. They probably could have given you A1-15. I have never seen anyone in that position. Instead they told your husband to limp and save seats, when they could have done "one time goodwill gesture" for a family that uses SWA frequently. I am sure they could have done something if they'd wanted. Good grief, you were in a car accident and then dealing with the stress of trying to get to the airport.

 

[Sans Souci]

There are pros to Genie+, but I generally don't love having to pay for something that was previously free and I really don't like the added charge if you want to ride a high demand attraction. I did prefer the original legacy fastpass over fastpass+, but we learned how to make both of them work to our advantage. What I'm waiting to see is how many people actually buy into Genie+ and how this could impact lines, because we won't know the real value until that happens. I've been to theme parks like Six Flags, where it seemed like very few people bought into their fast pass-like charged add on. So, those that did really did see a true advantage when they went to attractions. On the flipside, I remember being at Universal in CA a while back and it seemed like everyone bought in, making it no great advantage with lines. I guess if we add a day at Disney, I could always drop the extra $30 and get it for the kids, but then how much more is Ratatouille going to cost? IDK...just not loving the idea.

I don't want to pay extra for something that was once free, either. Then toss in the dynamic pricing to ride the headliners. It's just tacky. People are always like, "Cedar Fair/Six Flags/Uni do it, why not Disney?" I don't consider Uni and regional parks in the same league as WDW; it's a sui generis. Don't be tacky. Then I have to get up at 7 to do this? Naw, I'm good. It's vacation, I stay up late and I sleep in late.

It's clever, because they can raise ticket prices and genie+ prices, because it's not going to be $15pp/day forever.

It's clear they aren't going to leave anything on the table anymore. What's next? The transportation within the WDW resort? Is that safe? Is there going to be a little fee on that eventually, separate from the ticket? They've started breaking out things that were once included in the resort pricing--the Magical Express, parking--do they have a resort fee yet?

 

[Sans Souci]

So I'm joining the sinus infection club with @Sans Souci

I went into urgent care to get a Covid test because I'm going to a concert on Friday. They took my temperature and I had a fever and when they examined me, they were like, uh, you have a major sinus infection. It's going into my lungs so they put me on an antibiotic. Fun. All I wanted was the dang covid test. Although I was feeling run down, so maybe that's why.

Boo. I am on a 6 day course of prednisone and he told me to start taking Allegra at bedtime. My infection was viral and I think flying brought it on. I could feel pressure in my sinus change as we were descending.

Will you be able to still go to your concert on Friday. Hopefully, once you've got a dose or two in ya, you'll feel back to normal.

 

[StarWarsGirl]

Boo. I am on a 6 day course of prednisone and he told me to start taking Allegra at bedtime. My infection was viral and I think flying brought it on. I could feel pressure in my sinus change as we were descending.

Will you be able to still go to your concert on Friday. Hopefully, once you've got a dose or two in ya, you'll feel back to normal.

Yeah, unless something weird happens and the covid test comes back positive, I still plan on going. My mom is going with me, so she can drive, and I work from home so I can get some rest. I don't think it will; that Moderna shot it highly effective after just one shot, and I haven't been running a fever anymore (without any Advil or anything), plus I don't have much of a cough or anything! I'm just run down. But terribly dizzy. Seriously, if I stand up too quickly, I get dizzy.

They put me on 40 mgs of Prednisone a day plus the antibiotic since they were hearing a rattle in my lungs. I find they're usually quicker to give asthmatics antibiotics. I think the same thing probably happened, though where I was congested and flying shoved everything up. I already take Allegra plus Nasocort, so unless I start throwing Xyzal in the mix, not much more I can do for the allergies.

 

[Sans Souci]

Hello-

I did a 45 min "as many reps as possible" class on one my fitness apps. I might go back to yoga. I really like higher intensity workout, but I'm not sure my body does. I am always so bloated whenever I ratchet up the intensity. I'll give it a week or two and see how I feel. I could be water retention from something I ate. It's a shame, because I do love working hard, lifting heavy weights and pushing myself.

I started using my light box this AM. There is less sunlight and I can notice it with my food cravings--simple carbs and sugar. Hopefully after a week or 2 of regular use, I'll feel better. I just feel like crying for no reason and this underlying feeling of dread. I usually feel like the worst of it is over after the holidays.

 

[Songbird76]

I don't want to pay extra for something that was once free, either. Then toss in the dynamic pricing to ride the headliners. It's just tacky. People are always like, "Cedar Fair/Six Flags/Uni do it, why not Disney?" I don't consider Uni and regional parks in the same league as WDW; it's a sui generis. Don't be tacky. Then I have to get up at 7 to do this? Naw, I'm good. It's vacation, I stay up late and I sleep in late.

It's clever, because they can raise ticket prices and genie+ prices, because it's not going to be $15pp/day forever.

It's clear they aren't going to leave anything on the table anymore. What's next? The transportation within the WDW resort? Is that safe? Is there going to be a little fee on that eventually, separate from the ticket? They've started breaking out things that were once included in the resort pricing--the Magical Express, parking--do they have a resort fee yet?

I'm not sure there's a resort fee, but they started charging for overnight parking at the resorts in 2019 which had always been free.

 

[HouCuseChickie]

They did Algebra I and II in a row when I was in school and then a year of geometry, then moved onto trig. Made more sense that way given how the SATs are. Geometry they have to cover because it's on the SATs, but it should be after Algebra. And sorry, but your daughter's teacher sounds like a tool. The difference in college from what your daughter's teacher is saying is that there's more resources in college for those classes. Professors have office hours, there's on campus tutoring for free...your daughter's teacher is ridiculous by pulling the "well, college will be tough too" mentality. That's just an excuse for being a bad teacher. And the other difference is that college professors want their students to be successful so they do what they can to make that happen. This teacher just doesn't seem to care.

Hated AP World. It was my first AP class and it made me crazy. In my school district, they had Standard, Honors, GT (gifted and talented), and AP. After Junior year, GT dropped off for most classes and you either took AP or Honors, and most kids took honors. We'll, Sophomore year they had both AP and GT World History, and I had the brilliant idea of taking AP world. It was a really, really terrible idea. I should have just waited and taken AP US history the next year, but it was a competitive school and peer pressure stuck me in there. I ended up with a 4 on the AP exam, but still.

By the way, have her keep up with those AP exams. None of them were as bad as world (I took five of them; none of them science so I can't speak for that) but I ended up with the President's Scholarship to my school, which was the highest you could get minus a free ride, and I ended up graduating a semester early; probably could have done two semesters early if I really had timed it right (although looking back, I really needed that last semester there). Saved a ton of money and I went to private college instead of a state school.

I'll be honest, I don't think she's necessarily AP level for all of the classes she's in. She'd likely be level 2 math if she grew up with the system I had and honors or GT where you were. We're just limited to those two options. So, I'd rather put her in with the accelerated classes with other college minded kids. That's not to say that all kids in our district's on-level courses aren't considering college, but every teacher and parent I encountered told me to keep the girls out of on-level as much as humanly possible. Again, just awful to only have two options.

I'm not sure which she hates more...AP World or AP Human Geography that she took last year. She got a really good grade in last year's class, but bombed on the AP exam. I understand that this can be reflected on her transcript, so I'm not sure how I want to go with this. Obviously, her course grade not aligning with the AP exam grade would say that the teacher failed to adequately prepare the kids for the test. If she doesn't take any future AP exams, it could also make a school wonder why she didn't bother, but I've read that most schools aren't looking at that. It's been ages, but when I was in school, it was very common for people to take AP courses for the perceived course rigor, but skip the AP exam. I can't recall how many APs I took, but never took a single AP exam.

I've also seen mixed feelings and results on using it for college credits. I know some people that it's worked out great and it cut costs, others whose majors forced them to convert these to extracurriculars since it wasn't close enough to their major or minor requirements, and it can actually hurt you if you are going to try and play a sport in college. So, we'll see. Right now, I just want to get these grades up.

 

[StarWarsGirl]

I'll be honest, I don't think she's necessarily AP level for all of the classes she's in. She'd likely be level 2 math if she grew up with the system I had and honors or GT where you were. We're just limited to those two options. So, I'd rather put her in with the accelerated classes with other college minded kids. That's not to say that all kids in our district's on-level courses aren't considering college, but every teacher and parent I encountered told me to keep the girls out of on-level as much as humanly possible. Again, just awful to only have two options.

I'm not sure which she hates more...AP World or AP Human Geography that she took last year. She got a really good grade in last year's class, but bombed on the AP exam. I understand that this can be reflected on her transcript, so I'm not sure how I want to go with this. Obviously, her course grade not aligning with the AP exam grade would say that the teacher failed to adequately prepare the kids for the test. If she doesn't take any future AP exams, it could also make a school wonder why she didn't bother, but I've read that most schools aren't looking at that. It's been ages, but when I was in school, it was very common for people to take AP courses for the perceived course rigor, but skip the AP exam. I can't recall how many APs I took, but never took a single AP exam.

I've also seen mixed feelings and results on using it for college credits. I know some people that it's worked out great and it cut costs, others whose majors forced them to convert these to extracurriculars since it wasn't close enough to their major or minor requirements, and it can actually hurt you if you are going to try and play a sport in college. So, we'll see. Right now, I just want to get these grades up.

At least have her take the English ones. My AP English literature class was an absolute joke, and I still got a 4 on the AP exam. You basically just have to read some books and do some prep for that one. Heck for English, she can take the exams even if she doesn't take the courses, and trust me, she doesn't want to sit through English comp and lit in college.

You can pick and choose which scores to send to colleges. You only send them once you're accepted, and you don't have to send the bad ones if you don't want to, but even a 3 will sometimes get you credit. Try to stick with the gen eds. For instance, I got out of History, English, and tested upward for Spanish (so no foreign language requirement) so I only needed the science gen eds and a psych gen Ed. Then I took econ, which since I was a Business major allowed me to jump ahead on some of my major coursework. For instance, a woman who I now work with but graduated ahead of me had classes with me because I didn't have the econ pre reqs. Then I took higher level econ courses along with my major requirements.

Also, whatever she does, don't take AP statistics. And when she gets to college, if they say there's an easier version and a harder version, take the easier version. @Figgy1 remembers the whining with statistics.

 

[HouCuseChickie]

Yeah, I think it's the money that most people are upset by. I think if it were free, everyone would be excited by it being more spontaneous rather than planning months in advance. I don't mind the extra so much with the top rides because we don't really do most of those. My husband does, but then we can just spend the money on the ones he wants to do, IF he goes, which he's asked that we go by ourselves. And I HATED that tiered system where you have to pick one tier 1 and two tier 2s. I don't do most of the tier 1 attractions, but HAD to get a FP for one so I could get more later. If there had been an option to get all 3 in tier 2, I would have liked that better. I hated taking a fastpass from someone who actually wanted to ride Tower of terror, when I wasn't going to use it. The old system just didn't work well for us. And I like that this system will level out the playing field for people staying off property, too. But honestly, I'm hoping not everyone buys it, because then there's not much value in it, although at least everyone has the same opportunity to get one. Previously, everyone could get a fastpass, but all the high demand ones were gone so quickly that if you weren't staying on property, or you weren't staying for at least a week, you weren't going to get a fastpass for Soarin', or for Flight of Passage, etc. Now, everyone will have the same opportunity for all the rides. I do wonder if it will affect prices for off property hotels. With fewer and fewer "perks" to staying in the bubble, demand for off property might increase, and law of supply and demand means that prices will increase as well. And if more people are staying off property, will Disney have to drop their own prices to compete? Or offer huge deals? I'll be curious to see how it all plays out, but for now, I'm optimistic about how it will work, at least for us.

I'm with you on the spontaneity, but I guess I was willing to sacrifice it for a service already built into the price of our tickets. It really will only work and give you an advantage if enough guests choose not to buy it. Honestly, all good points that will be interesting to observe. I used to stay offsite all the time as a kid, but vowed to always stay onsite after we started bringing our own kids. Now I may be going back on that, because I see less bang for the buck with an onsite stay. We shall see.

 

[Figgy1]

I'm still neck deep in canning/freezing season at least it's just apples from here on out and some dehydrating. It's raining again so just getting my steps in inside and will do a practice before bed

 

[Songbird76]

I'll be honest, I don't think she's necessarily AP level for all of the classes she's in. She'd likely be level 2 math if she grew up with the system I had and honors or GT where you were. We're just limited to those two options. So, I'd rather put her in with the accelerated classes with other college minded kids. That's not to say that all kids in our district's on-level courses aren't considering college, but every teacher and parent I encountered told me to keep the girls out of on-level as much as humanly possible. Again, just awful to only have two options.

I'm not sure which she hates more...AP World or AP Human Geography that she took last year. She got a really good grade in last year's class, but bombed on the AP exam. I understand that this can be reflected on her transcript, so I'm not sure how I want to go with this. Obviously, her course grade not aligning with the AP exam grade would say that the teacher failed to adequately prepare the kids for the test. If she doesn't take any future AP exams, it could also make a school wonder why she didn't bother, but I've read that most schools aren't looking at that. It's been ages, but when I was in school, it was very common for people to take AP courses for the perceived course rigor, but skip the AP exam. I can't recall how many APs I took, but never took a single AP exam.

I've also seen mixed feelings and results on using it for college credits. I know some people that it's worked out great and it cut costs, others whose majors forced them to convert these to extracurriculars since it wasn't close enough to their major or minor requirements, and it can actually hurt you if you are going to try and play a sport in college. So, we'll see. Right now, I just want to get these grades up.

Do they offer AP for every subject? We didn't have any "AP" classes in school....not any that had a separate exam or anything. We had the Advanced Math Program, which was just taking the regular classes a year ahead of schedule, and we had a choice between Physics or Natural Science our senior year, Natural Science being more like basic science with a little bit of each of the main sciences. I wasn't "allowed" to take natural science, but I'm pretty sure I remember the kids who did talking about geology, dissecting, and maybe doing some basic chemistry experiments. Physics was considered an Advanced class, but it wasn't an AP class. Our school was so small that very few kids would have ever qualified for an AP class, and then it's too expensive to get teachers who can teach the AP material, AND teachers for the regular classes. The teachers couldn't fit an extra class into their schedule without giving up their planning hour, so they would have had to hire a whole new teacher for each AP class. So we just didn't get anything but the basics...it's why we also didn't have any unique things like....the next town over got things like Psychology, or Poetry, or Russian along with the standard Biology, Chemistry, English Lit, Spanish. We had Spanish and German for languages, we had the standard Social studies classes....nothing different or unique, because that would mean having to have someone to teach it, and no money was ever wasted on our small school where there were only 250 kids when that money would benefit 1200 kids in Gillette. Gillette always got the new facilities or enhancements...they ripped out our asphalt track to put in an all-weather track, got to the stage with putting down a shale layer, and then Gillette said it would benefit more kids if they replaced THEIR track instead....so they abandoned ours and replaced the existing all-weather track in Gillette with a fresh one. Ours never got fixed....it's still shale. They just didn't invest in our school because we didn't have many students. So I'm curious how other schools do that. Is every class offered as an AP? Can you take a mix of regular or AP classes? What happens when you finish an AP class but don't take the exam? Is there some sort of special notation on your transcript? Are the grades weighted more heavily on your report card for AP classes? It doesn't seem like a very good system if the "on level" classes are so bad...it doesn't sound very "on level" if average students are avoiding them because they are too easy. And what happens to kids who fail a regular class? Do they have to repeat it? Is there a remedial program for them?

 

[Songbird76]

I'm with you on the spontaneity, but I guess I was willing to sacrifice it for a service already built into the price of our tickets. It really will only work and give you an advantage if enough guests choose not to buy it. Honestly, all good points that will be interesting to observe. I used to stay offsite all the time as a kid, but vowed to always stay onsite after we started bringing our own kids. Now I may be going back on that, because I see less bang for the buck with an onsite stay. We shall see.

Yeah, that's the thing, and I do agree with @Sans Souci about nothing being off limits anymore. They've gotten rid of SO many of the perks of staying on site. We couldn't afford to stay on property when I was a kid, but you didn't NEED to. There was no such thing as a fastpass, there were no 180 day ADR booking windows.....you just went. I don't remember any transportation but the ferry from the TTC to MK and the monorail between Epcot and MK and TTC. That was it. But that was before HS, before AK, before DS....it was a much different experience back then. But now with so many different resorts, parks, the transportation, theming....it's really intensive touring. There's stuff to do even at the resorts. We stay on site now pretty much for 2 reasons. Number one is the ADRs....you can book for 10 days as soon as your window opens, and it's the only way to ensure you will get ADRs for the more popular restaurants. My strategy has always been to put the more hard-to-get ADRs in the last half of the trip, before the booking window opens for people with shorter stays, so we're more likely to find availability. Number 2 is the transportation. Without me having a drivers licence, my husband has to do all the driving. He used to like to have a beer with his dinner on vacation, but hasn't been able to do that for YEARS because he had to drive. At Disney, he doesn't, so he can have a beer or two. It was funny last time we were there, because he had 2 beers with dinner and was already feeling a little buzzy because it had been so long since he had had alcohol. It affected him more. And with ME, we also didn't have to pay a parking fee. But I have to admit, with fastpasses going away, more fees, no more sending stuff back to resorts to pick up so you don't have to carry stuff around all day, ME being gone, etc, I'm considering off property for next trip. I should have my license by then, and my husband won't be there anyway, and most places DO offer a shuttle, it just doesn't go as frequently. We'll see, but I just don't think Disney can compete with the off property prices unless they ramp up perks again, and they've been going in the opposite direction. They are going to have to do one of two things to increase revenue. Either they are going to have to incentivize staying on property again so the resorts are more full, OR they are going to have to increase prices for things not connected to the resorts. Either way, people will have to pay more. Either they pay more for their lodging or they pay more for the services and facilities in the parks. I wish it wasn't that way, but it is. And then I'd rather pay $15 per day for Genie+ than pay an extra $100 per night for an on property hotel. But like I said, I have to wonder if so many people will start staying off property that those prices will go up with the demand, and then it won't be cheaper than staying on property anymore. It really will depend on how many people buy into the lightning lane system and whether Disney has other means of incentivizing their own hotels.

 

[Sans Souci]

Yeah, that's the thing, and I do agree with @Sans Souci about nothing being off limits anymore. They've gotten rid of SO many of the perks of staying on site. We couldn't afford to stay on property when I was a kid, but you didn't NEED to. There was no such thing as a fastpass, there were no 180 day ADR booking windows.....you just went. I don't remember any transportation but the ferry from the TTC to MK and the monorail between Epcot and MK and TTC. That was it. But that was before HS, before AK, before DS....it was a much different experience back then. But now with so many different resorts, parks, the transportation, theming....it's really intensive touring. There's stuff to do even at the resorts. We stay on site now pretty much for 2 reasons. Number one is the ADRs....you can book for 10 days as soon as your window opens, and it's the only way to ensure you will get ADRs for the more popular restaurants. My strategy has always been to put the more hard-to-get ADRs in the last half of the trip, before the booking window opens for people with shorter stays, so we're more likely to find availability. Number 2 is the transportation. Without me having a drivers licence, my husband has to do all the driving. He used to like to have a beer with his dinner on vacation, but hasn't been able to do that for YEARS because he had to drive. At Disney, he doesn't, so he can have a beer or two. It was funny last time we were there, because he had 2 beers with dinner and was already feeling a little buzzy because it had been so long since he had had alcohol. It affected him more. And with ME, we also didn't have to pay a parking fee. But I have to admit, with fastpasses going away, more fees, no more sending stuff back to resorts to pick up so you don't have to carry stuff around all day, ME being gone, etc, I'm considering off property for next trip. I should have my license by then, and my husband won't be there anyway, and most places DO offer a shuttle, it just doesn't go as frequently. We'll see, but I just don't think Disney can compete with the off property prices unless they ramp up perks again, and they've been going in the opposite direction. They are going to have to do one of two things to increase revenue. Either they are going to have to incentivize staying on property again so the resorts are more full, OR they are going to have to increase prices for things not connected to the resorts. Either way, people will have to pay more. Either they pay more for their lodging or they pay more for the services and facilities in the parks. I wish it wasn't that way, but it is. And then I'd rather pay $15 per day for Genie+ than pay an extra $100 per night for an on property hotel. But like I said, I have to wonder if so many people will start staying off property that those prices will go up with the demand, and then it won't be cheaper than staying on property anymore. It really will depend on how many people buy into the lightning lane system and whether Disney has other means of incentivizing their own hotels.

I really haven't been following the Genie+ thing too much because those types of threads attract the resident obnoxious know it alls and the drama they love to create. But I think you can book your rides once you are in the parks if you are staying off site. You can do that at 7 AM if you are on site. But you get an entire 30 minutes of park time before the park opens to every one else. They took away EMH for all levels of resort except deluxe and villas for now. (Someone posted they were glad they did that so he wouldn't have to be around "All Stars people." Wow, jerk much?) I like staying on site and my preference is for the crescent lake resorts. But it's getting harder for me to justify the price. I'm not trying to be negative, but I don't see the difference in service between Disney hotels and regular hotels I've stayed at in my non-Disney travels. I don't think there is a "Disney difference" anymore.

I am sure once this genie+ thing is up and running, we'll see more them introduce more variations on its usage.

 

[Sans Souci]

Hello-

Today, I did a yoga practice that was themed to "Fall Ayurveda." I chose this since Fall started yesterday. There was some chatter about Fall being the time to let go of things and a time to eat warm foods like soups and stews in the Ayurvedic practice. It was pretty mellow as far as yoga practices go and was a nice foil to the high intensity stuff I had been doing.

I took Allegra for the first time ever before bed last night. It was so nice to wake up without upper teeth pain and post nasal drip. I am used to coughing my head off when I get up, but there was none of that today.

 

[HouCuseChickie]

I don't want to pay extra for something that was once free, either. Then toss in the dynamic pricing to ride the headliners. It's just tacky. People are always like, "Cedar Fair/Six Flags/Uni do it, why not Disney?" I don't consider Uni and regional parks in the same league as WDW; it's a sui generis. Don't be tacky. Then I have to get up at 7 to do this? Naw, I'm good. It's vacation, I stay up late and I sleep in late.

It's clever, because they can raise ticket prices and genie+ prices, because it's not going to be $15pp/day forever.

It's clear they aren't going to leave anything on the table anymore. What's next? The transportation within the WDW resort? Is that safe? Is there going to be a little fee on that eventually, separate from the ticket? They've started breaking out things that were once included in the resort pricing--the Magical Express, parking--do they have a resort fee yet?

I think we saw the writing on the wall as previous perks became monetized add-ons. I don't like it, but I'll have to see how it goes. We're not planning on a true Disney trip any time soon, so I have time to watch and wait.

That's the angle I'm seeing. The more they dismantle the things previously included in ticket prices, the more they can raise the prices on these now ala carte components...as well as ticket prices. With the way they like to raise prices, I could see Genie+ nearly doubling in price in the next 5 years.

No resort fee yet, but I see that coming too. Onsite transportation was another I could see carrying a fee at some point. The sky's the limit! And as long as enough people will pay it, they'll find a way to charge it.

 

[StarWarsGirl]

I really haven't been following the Genie+ thing too much because those types of threads attract the resident obnoxious know it alls and the drama they love to create. But I think you can book your rides once you are in the parks if you are staying off site. You can do that at 7 AM if you are on site. But you get an entire 30 minutes of park time before the park opens to every one else. They took away EMH for all levels of resort except deluxe and villas for now. (Someone posted they were glad they did that so he wouldn't have to be around "All Stars people." Wow, jerk much?) I like staying on site and my preference is for the crescent lake resorts. But it's getting harder for me to justify the price. I'm not trying to be negative, but I don't see the difference in service between Disney hotels and regular hotels I've stayed at in my non-Disney travels. I don't think there is a "Disney difference" anymore.

I am sure once this genie+ thing is up and running, we'll see more them introduce more variations on its usage.

Swolfin are included in the deluxe EMH. Just putting that out there.

 

[HouCuseChickie]

Do they offer AP for every subject? We didn't have any "AP" classes in school....not any that had a separate exam or anything. We had the Advanced Math Program, which was just taking the regular classes a year ahead of schedule, and we had a choice between Physics or Natural Science our senior year, Natural Science being more like basic science with a little bit of each of the main sciences. I wasn't "allowed" to take natural science, but I'm pretty sure I remember the kids who did talking about geology, dissecting, and maybe doing some basic chemistry experiments. Physics was considered an Advanced class, but it wasn't an AP class. Our school was so small that very few kids would have ever qualified for an AP class, and then it's too expensive to get teachers who can teach the AP material, AND teachers for the regular classes. The teachers couldn't fit an extra class into their schedule without giving up their planning hour, so they would have had to hire a whole new teacher for each AP class. So we just didn't get anything but the basics...it's why we also didn't have any unique things like....the next town over got things like Psychology, or Poetry, or Russian along with the standard Biology, Chemistry, English Lit, Spanish. We had Spanish and German for languages, we had the standard Social studies classes....nothing different or unique, because that would mean having to have someone to teach it, and no money was ever wasted on our small school where there were only 250 kids when that money would benefit 1200 kids in Gillette. Gillette always got the new facilities or enhancements...they ripped out our asphalt track to put in an all-weather track, got to the stage with putting down a shale layer, and then Gillette said it would benefit more kids if they replaced THEIR track instead....so they abandoned ours and replaced the existing all-weather track in Gillette with a fresh one. Ours never got fixed....it's still shale. They just didn't invest in our school because we didn't have many students. So I'm curious how other schools do that. Is every class offered as an AP? Can you take a mix of regular or AP classes? What happens when you finish an AP class but don't take the exam? Is there some sort of special notation on your transcript? Are the grades weighted more heavily on your report card for AP classes? It doesn't seem like a very good system if the "on level" classes are so bad...it doesn't sound very "on level" if average students are avoiding them because they are too easy. And what happens to kids who fail a regular class? Do they have to repeat it? Is there a remedial program for them?

I know math, history, English and science (every variety) are AP in her school. All are supposed to be prep for said exams, as well as core subject requirements implemented by the state and district. Ultimately, since they don't offer any kind of non-AP version of these classes...like AP vs. Honors vs. on level...any kid who is above average needs to take AP courses because they just don't offer anything else for our kids.

It's hard for me to have a real frame of reference here. Where I grew up in NJ, it seemed like every town was its own school district, so each school district had one high school. So, any funding was fed right back into the school I attended. The district we're in now has six high schools. I do see complaints here and there how some schools get more attention than others. The town we live in has two of those high schools. The other high school in our town is more highly rated, but it's larger (around 3,000 students). For that reason, some people zoned to that school request a change to our school, which has a better student to teacher ratio (1,900 students). On the flipside, some people change to the larger school because it can look a bit better on college transcripts. Both of our schools have nice facilities, so I can't really gripe about that, but the way these courses are offered is a concern. I know it's also not just our district. When we lived on the other side of the Houston area, the courses were this way as well, which leads me to believe that some moron in Austin decided this was a good plan.

You can take a mix of regular and AP classes, but it's sort of the kiss of death for a lot of kids. Not only does it not look good on your transcript (a C in AP counts more than an A in on level), it's a matter of the kind of kids that are in those on-level classes. While there are some kids in there who legitimately don't have the academic capabilities to perform in an AP class, you've also got the kids who just don't care...and act like it. So, now your kid's academics are suffering because of some of the deadbeat kids in her class. Let's be honest, it also exposes them to kids you'd never want in their social circles. As for kids that fail, I have no idea. I do know there are usually summer school opportunities and it's extremely rare for a kid to be held back a grade.

 

[HouCuseChickie]

Yeah, that's the thing, and I do agree with @Sans Souci about nothing being off limits anymore. They've gotten rid of SO many of the perks of staying on site. We couldn't afford to stay on property when I was a kid, but you didn't NEED to. There was no such thing as a fastpass, there were no 180 day ADR booking windows.....you just went. I don't remember any transportation but the ferry from the TTC to MK and the monorail between Epcot and MK and TTC. That was it. But that was before HS, before AK, before DS....it was a much different experience back then. But now with so many different resorts, parks, the transportation, theming....it's really intensive touring. There's stuff to do even at the resorts. We stay on site now pretty much for 2 reasons. Number one is the ADRs....you can book for 10 days as soon as your window opens, and it's the only way to ensure you will get ADRs for the more popular restaurants. My strategy has always been to put the more hard-to-get ADRs in the last half of the trip, before the booking window opens for people with shorter stays, so we're more likely to find availability. Number 2 is the transportation. Without me having a drivers licence, my husband has to do all the driving. He used to like to have a beer with his dinner on vacation, but hasn't been able to do that for YEARS because he had to drive. At Disney, he doesn't, so he can have a beer or two. It was funny last time we were there, because he had 2 beers with dinner and was already feeling a little buzzy because it had been so long since he had had alcohol. It affected him more. And with ME, we also didn't have to pay a parking fee. But I have to admit, with fastpasses going away, more fees, no more sending stuff back to resorts to pick up so you don't have to carry stuff around all day, ME being gone, etc, I'm considering off property for next trip. I should have my license by then, and my husband won't be there anyway, and most places DO offer a shuttle, it just doesn't go as frequently. We'll see, but I just don't think Disney can compete with the off property prices unless they ramp up perks again, and they've been going in the opposite direction. They are going to have to do one of two things to increase revenue. Either they are going to have to incentivize staying on property again so the resorts are more full, OR they are going to have to increase prices for things not connected to the resorts. Either way, people will have to pay more. Either they pay more for their lodging or they pay more for the services and facilities in the parks. I wish it wasn't that way, but it is. And then I'd rather pay $15 per day for Genie+ than pay an extra $100 per night for an on property hotel. But like I said, I have to wonder if so many people will start staying off property that those prices will go up with the demand, and then it won't be cheaper than staying on property anymore. It really will depend on how many people buy into the lightning lane system and whether Disney has other means of incentivizing their own hotels.

Exactly. We were fairly frequent visitors between 1985-1998 and there was never any need to stay onsite. There were no fastpasses, dining was sort of a luck thing, and outside of the monorail and ferry, you just parked and likely took a tram to the front of the park. It wasn't until a 1998 trip did I notice all of the Disney resort buses. That would also be the trip where our offsite hotel stranded us at Epcot. It's hard to miss all of the Disney buses when you're stuck waiting for hours.

The whole ADR thing has also created an environment where people book lodging to game the system. I have used a similar strategy for ADRs. I used to book around EMH, but with that being whittled away, we started to just use an end loaded approach for hard to get stuff. And when that stopped working, I started looking at ADRs the night before to see what good last minute drops I could snag. For our Dec 2017 trip, I spent months trying to get a well timed 'Ohana dinner. I didn't get it until the day before we wanted to eat there.

Honestly, while I am a licensed driver and can drive to the parks, I don't enjoy it. I think that's part of what made this last trip less magical. Our Epcot and HS days were fine, but MK and AK were me behind the wheel and it made it less enjoyable. While it's been over 23 years since it happened, I am still scarred from being stranded by our offsite hotel shuttle. A good friend of mine had something similar happen (different hotel). So, it makes me really apprehensive about all of it. I may be more willing to try if it's a Good Neighbor property. I do like Swan as well, but I have to keep an eye on their prices in all of this.

That's definitely the funny thing with Genie+. For the longest time, people have argued (and rightly so) that the most expensive lodging options Disney offers aren't truly luxury. I could stay at the Four Seasons in July for $585 a nt. The Grand Floridian for the same dates is $791-794 a night. A bit farther, but in the same price point as the Four Seasons is the Ritz Carlton at $509 a nt. Here's my pick...the Waldorf Astoria, about 1.5 miles farther than the Four Seasons, but about 5 miles closer than the Ritz and it's only $252 a night. The Waldorf also has the Bull & Bear restaurant, which supposedly beats the heck out of every steakhouse on Disney property. So, that's a 5-star resort, only 3.15 miles off property, with a nightly rate below all of the Disney deluxe resorts, all of the Disney moderate resorts, and even below value Pop Century and AOA's Little Mermaid rooms. Obviously, their shuttle probably doesn't run as often as Disney's buses, but they have one for the parks and Disney Springs. I still would be bugged that my Disney park tickets previously included FastPasses at no extra charge, but I can get behind having to buy into Genie+ a bit better if I'm getting superior lodging at a much better price. At least that would make it feel like less of a fleecing. I guess now we just sit back and watch to see how the public responds to these changes.

 

[Sans Souci]

Swolfin are included in the deluxe EMH. Just putting that out there.

I know. I just think it's shady to exclude the other resort levels. I always thought that the differences between the levels were strictly hotel-based (amenities/location, etc), but I didn't think they should affect park access. I totally get this is a capitalistic country and WDW is beholden to it's shareholders, but the naked drive to suck up every cent they can just feels incredibly crass and gauche. If you want to be a premium vacation destination, act like it. This is Six Flags-level tactics.