You're going to pay to ride.

[mergatroid]

Those lovely folks at Universal are offering Express tickets for Volcano Bay. For just $39.99 per person you can skip the line once for all participating water slides. $25 to park, $80 to get in and then $40 to ride the water-slides you've just paid $80 to ride, what a wonderful deal. Perhaps their hope is that one day everyone will think paying to slide is 'normal'?

I think we can all agree though that paying extra to ride in any park you've just paid to enter is wrong be it Disney or Universal, using whatever terminology you want to.

 

[UNCgolf]

Those lovely folks at Universal are offering Express tickets for Volcano Bay. For just $39.99 per person you can skip the line once for all participating water slides. $25 to park, $80 to get in and then $40 to ride the water-slides you've just paid $80 to ride, what a wonderful deal. Perhaps their hope is that one day everyone will think paying to slide is 'normal'

I think we can all agree though that paying extra to ride in any park you've just paid to enter is wrong be it Disney or Universal, using whatever terminology you want too.

I don't care about water parks, but that actually sounds like a good deal to me. The Express Pass at the other Universal parks is absolutely wonderful. Disney's system is horrendously bad whereas the Universal one is quite good.

 

[marni1971]

Genie+ is failing too for the same reason. The ridiculous return time needs to go.

It’s failing for several reasons.

 

[Jrb1979]

Those lovely folks at Universal are offering Express tickets for Volcano Bay. For just $39.99 per person you can skip the line once for all participating water slides. $25 to park, $80 to get in and then $40 to ride the water-slides you've just paid $80 to ride, what a wonderful deal. Perhaps their hope is that one day everyone will think paying to slide is 'normal'?

I think we can all agree though that paying extra to ride in any park you've just paid to enter is wrong be it Disney or Universal, using whatever terminology you want too.

I disagree. I love skip the line systems. I don't look at it as paying for something that I already paid for. I look it as a way for me to ride with shorter wait, and depending on the park get to ride things multiple times. For instance last time at Cedar Point with Fastlane was able it ride Maverick 10 times in 2 days.

It’s failing for several reasons.

IMO part of the failure is keeping the stupid return time system

 

[mightynine]

It’s failing for several reasons.

Ooooh, do tell, do tell!

 

[Jrb1979]

Let me guess @marni1971 you like the return time idea

 

[marni1971]

Let me guess @marni1971 you like the return time idea

I have no interest in the system. I have little interest in current and future WDW anymore.

 

[Jrb1979]

I have no interest in the system. I have little interest in current and future WDW anymore.

Then why did you laugh at my post?

 

[marni1971]

Then why did you laugh at my post?

I think that about anyone who’s willing to pay for the new system.

 

[Jrb1979]

I think that about anyone who’s willing to pay for the new system.

I never said I would pay for it. I absolutely hate it as much as I hated FP+. I do pay for skip the line systems at other parks all the time. My time is money.

 

[Chris1031]

We paid for Genie+ on our current trip, twice. I hate it, it is frustrating, and I won't pay for it again. Yes, we got on rides way quicker than others, but were they the rides that we wanted? No. Those were "gone in a minute" as guest services told me when I stopped to complain (probably the minute I struggled to get my Genie+ to work!). Plus, it took TONS of work and my face in my phone throughout the day to make the rides we did manage to grab possible. Not an easy system. We have been to Disney multiple times in the past 20 years and know the past systems. This one is not user friendly or relaxing.

 

[mergatroid]

We paid for Genie+ on our current trip, twice. I hate it, it is frustrating, and I won't pay for it again. Yes, we got on rides way quicker than others, but were they the rides that we wanted? No. Those were "gone in a minute" as guest services told me when I stopped to complain (probably the minute I struggled to get my Genie+ to work!). Plus, it took TONS of work and my face in my phone throughout the day to make the rides we did manage to grab possible. Not an easy system. We have been to Disney multiple times in the past 20 years and know the past systems. This one is not user friendly or relaxing.

I wish everyone thought like that. We're going in March for 15 days and have no intention of using any pay to ride ticket for any park. As this thread shows though, many are going to pay for various reasons. Sad, but they absolutely have the right to do that and it's their choice and their money.

 

[Jrb1979]

I wish everyone thought like that. We're going in March for 15 days and have no intention of using any pay to ride ticket for any park. As this thread shows though, many are going to pay for various reasons. Sad, but they absolutely have the right to do that and it's their choice and their money.

Sad? Not really. If people find some value in it so be it. I'm guessing you don't buy skip the line at other parks either?

 

[Chi84]

I wish everyone thought like that. We're going in March for 15 days and have no intention of using any pay to ride ticket for any park. As this thread shows though, many are going to pay for various reasons. Sad, but they absolutely have the right to do that and it's their choice and their money.

I'm not sure why it's sad. Not everyone can - or wants to - get to the parks when they open or stay until they close. The choice then is between the paid systems, spending hours standing in lines or just skipping the more popular rides. This may be fine for people who visit all the time and for those who don't mind standing in lines, but for others the paid system is the best way to have a good vacation at WDW. I used Genie+ and I don't like it - for us FP+ was a better system and free - but I'm not going to screw up my vacation trying to avoid Disney's latest skip the line system. If enough people find no value in it, they won't buy it and it will have to change.

 

[Disstevefan1]

I wish everyone thought like that. We're going in March for 15 days and have no intention of using any pay to ride ticket for any park. As this thread shows though, many are going to pay for various reasons. Sad, but they absolutely have the right to do that and it's their choice and their money.

As was always the case, if you get to the parks for rope drop and/or use early entry, you will have no problems.

 

[mergatroid]

Sad? Not really. If people find some value in it so be it. I'm guessing you don't buy skip the line at other parks either?

No I don't, but I clearly said those that want to absolutely have the right to. I say it's sad only from the perspective of those who don't want to pay extra. If nobody paid extra then the companies wouldn't offer Genie+, LL, Express or whatever anyone else calls them. This would make it fairer as there'd be no danger of so many buying it, that those that don't miss out. It's a buyers market though so those who are happy paying it can go ahead and do so. I'd imagine though that if those doing so suddenly found they could no longer afford to, it would perhaps change their opinion? Again it's up to each person whether they pay or not, but if nobody did the option wouldn't exist and affect others.

I'm not sure why it's sad. Not everyone can - or wants to - get to the parks when they open or stay until they close. The choice then is between the paid systems, spending hours standing in lines or just skipping the more popular rides. This may be fine for people who visit all the time and for those who don't mind standing in lines, but for others the paid system is the best way to have a good vacation at WDW. I used Genie+ and I don't like it - for us FP+ was a better system and free - but I'm not going to screw up my vacation trying to avoid Disney's latest skip the line system. If enough people find no value in it, they won't buy it and it will have to change.

Again I'm not stopping you, it's just sad for those who don't want a paid option making their waits longer. I used to love fastpass when it was free. Some didn't like it when it was free as they didn't want the hassle of having to make a fastpass reservation. For those people it upset some of them to see me skip past them in the fastpass line. It was sad for them that they'd not bothered getting a fastpass and those that had were now making them wait longer. I'm not sure why saying it's sad is taken so personally or as a criticism, any form of official 'line jumping' be it free or paid is going to have a knock on effect to others.

As was always the case, if you get to the parks for rope drop and/or use early entry, you will have no problems.

Good to hear, we've always done that in the past and have no problem planning strategies to accomplish that. Hopefully this year we'll do the same.

 

[Chi84]

Good to hear, we've always done that in the past and have no problem planning strategies to accomplish that. Hopefully this year we'll do the same.

Those who have no problem using a system that doesn't provide for line skips are much happier without them. No question. Companies offer these systems to the people who don't want to spend their vacations getting to the parks the minute they open or standing in long lines all day. If Genie+ does not work well for those people, they will stop buying it (or just vacation elsewhere).

Differences between people and the way they choose to vacation are going to make some systems work better than others. There's another thread where a poster broke down the FP+ system into about 20 steps, making using it sound like Sisyphus pushing the boulder uphill. And for him, given his own personality and vacation preferences, that was probably true. For me, the planning was no problem so I loved FP+.

People are triggered by the word "sad" because it is often used as a criticism of the way they choose to vacation at WDW. That may not have been your intent here, but in other threads it's pretty obvious. If we need to be sad about anything, I think we should be sad about the direction taken by Disney that has led it to offer a poor product like Genie+ rather than being sad over the fact that people feel the need to buy it in order to make their vacation worthwhile.

 

[mergatroid]

People are triggered by the word "sad" because it is often used as a criticism of the way they choose to vacation at WDW. That may not have been your intent here, but in other threads it's pretty obvious. If we need to be sad about anything, I think we should be sad about the direction taken by Disney that has led it to offer a poor product like Genie+ rather than being sad over the fact that people feel the need to buy it in order to make their vacation worthwhile.

I believe that before the 'skip the line options' Disney was considered a worthwhile visit. I don't remember as a child people complaining that it was unfair if they chose to get there late that they couldn't get on everything, it was just accepted that was the way it was an you planned accordingly. If you only could last 5 hours then you did what you could in those 5 hours. Obviously if a 'cheat' is brought in to give you an advantage free or not, some are going to love it and choose to use it. The knock on effect is that those not using the 'cheat' will have to wait longer as others get an advantage over them. Whether that suits those using the 'cheat' depends on the cost, the effectiveness and the availability of that system.

I used to love using the free Fastpass system. I did however accept that for those unaware of it that it had a negative knock on affect to their waiting time. I'll accept that it was sort of selfish of me using it, but then I figured it's there and free for everyone to use. Now in effect you're paying for the same thing with Genie+. It can't be denied that affects others, again it's up to folks to decide whether they want to use it or not.

So I say it's sad because with free fastpasses, I think more people were happier. To use your own words 'the fact that people feel the need to buy it in order to make their vacation worthwhile' is more likely now that Genie+ exists. People are told "You won't ride without Genie+ or will wait 2 hours per big ride" on here makes them more likely to buy it. The fairest method is certainly no 'cheat the line system' but not everyone agrees depending on their circumstances

 

[Chi84]

I believe that before the 'skip the line options' Disney was considered a worthwhile visit. I don't remember as a child people complaining that it was unfair if they chose to get there late that they couldn't get on everything, it was just accepted that was the way it was an you planned accordingly. If you only could last 5 hours then you did what you could in those 5 hours. Obviously if a 'cheat' is brought in to give you an advantage free or not, some are going to love it and choose to use it. The knock on effect is that those not using the 'cheat' will have to wait longer as others get an advantage over them. Whether that suits those using the 'cheat' depends on the cost, the effectiveness and the availability of that system.

I used to love using the free Fastpass system. I did however accept that for those unaware of it that it had a negative knock on affect to their waiting time. I'll accept that it was sort of selfish of me using it, but then I figured it's there and free for everyone to use. Now in effect you're paying for the same thing with Genie+. It can't be denied that affects others, again it's up to folks to decide whether they want to use it or not.

So I say it's sad because with free fastpasses, I think more people were happier. To use your own words 'the fact that people feel the need to buy it in order to make their vacation worthwhile' is more likely now that Genie+ exists. People are told "You won't ride without Genie+ or will wait 2 hours per big ride" on here makes them more likely to buy it. The fairest method is certainly no 'cheat the line system' but not everyone agrees depending on their circumstances

Yes, skip the line systems provide a much better experience for those who previously had to accept that they couldn’t do everything they wanted because of the way they chose to vacation. That’s why they exist. Calling it cheating or sad or whatever doesn’t change that fact.

 

[Jrb1979]

Yes, skip the line systems provide a much better experience for those who previously had to accept that they couldn’t do everything they wanted because of the way they chose to vacation. That’s why they exist. Calling it cheating or sad or whatever doesn’t change that fact.

It's a big reason I don't see it ever going away.