Disney Genie+ and ILL$ Details & FAQ - Launches 10/19 at WDW, Paid "FastPass" at WDW and Disneyland (date TBD)

[DefnotDLav]

My thinking is Disney believes the majority of people will still get 3 rides at minimum with Genie+. If you get more its a bonus.

Probably, but I'm interested in the experience without paying extra.

To see if what I get for the same money is the same or if its diminished.

 

[glamdring269]

In both your examples for option 6 there will most likely always be LL options available. But, will any availability be for a ride you want to go on? One of the problems with FP+ was that after using your original 3 choices the available rides were not something I wished to ride or should never have needed FP. One of the best examples of this was SSE. Except for first thing in the morning the ride was almost a walk on until closing. Many times were would be leaving Epcot and could literally walk on SSE 5 minutes before closing. Even with FP+, after the initial morning rush, the standby usually was not more the 5-10 minutes.

They are supposedly reducing the number of attractions by a decent amount for LL vs what we had for FP+. One might assume this would be to remove the ones that simply don’t need it. Of course they might just remove all of the good ones in which case I guess not many would bother buying the new service.

It’s kind of an interesting scenario really. On the one hand if someone pays for something they need to at least perceive they got their money’s worth. On the other hand $15 per day is really not that expensive* so what value should one really expect?

*I know this varies by family situation but I’m comparing to something like Express Pass at universal that costs a lot more than Genie+. Really tough to provide a relative value until we know more I guess.

 

[NuJoy]

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[AnnaKristoff2013]

The cost doesn't really dissuade us from visiting at this point but we also need more information before making a decision. It's still not clear to me just how available attractions will be in this system. With FP+ we were able, even on Christmas trips, to sit in lines at Epcot and get our next "good" ride queued up for FP #7, 8, 9 etc. even after rope dropping that morning. Will this still be possible with Genie+? That is the part where I'm looking forward to some anecdotal evidence on once this rolls out.

These experiences have vastly different value to me:

Example #1:
1) Rope Drop MK
2) 7DMT
3) Standby whatever
4) Paid Space Mountain 11AM
5) LL Ride #1 11:30AM
6) Cannot get another LL until 6PM

Example #2:
1) Rope Drop MK
2) 7DMT
3) Standby whatever
4) Paid Space Mountain 11AM
5) LL Ride #1 11:30AM
6) Continual LL without much time gap in between experiences.

#1 has no real value to me. #2 obviously has immense relative value.

Totally separate topic. Talking about $200-300k in income is kind of meaningless without talking about cost of living and debt. Someone who makes $200k but has $1 left after bills is just as poor as the next person, it just doesn't look like it on the surface. Someone who makes $200k with no debt is in much better shape than someone who makes $50k with no debt (assuming certain other aspects like family size and location are similar). HCOL vs. LCOL areas like living in Cali vs. living in Mississippi make a big difference in how far $1 might go.

This right here is the rub. I agree with this post completely. If Scenario #1 is how this is going to work, this is worthless, especially to those of us who have no intention of waking up at 7 am, or rope dropping. If I can make my first fastpass at 8 am and by that time the earliest crappy ride available is like 4 or 5 pm, well then this system is terrible and I am done with Disney. If the only options are wake up at 7 am and rope drop or spend the day waiting in 2 hour lines for everything, then I'm going to the beach.

 

[Jrb1979]

Probably, but I'm interested in the experience without paying extra.

To see if what I get for the same money is the same or if its diminished.

I doubt you will be able to get on that many attractions without Genie+. Once they start adding people into what used to FP queues, it's going to cause standby to be very slow moving. Standing in hour plus lines all day will limit your experience.

 

[AnnaKristoff2013]

I doubt you will be able to get on that many attractions without Genie+. Once they start adding people into what used to FP queues, it's going to cause standby to be very slow moving. Standing in hour plus lines all day will limit your experience.

Yep, it's going to be this. Welcome back, 1 hour standby waits for Dumbo and IASW!

 

[Jrb1979]

Yep, it's going to be this. Welcome back, 1 hour standby waits for Dumbo and IASW!

They pretty much have made it that you will need Genie+ to enjoy your day.

 

[DefnotDLav]

I doubt you will be able to get on that many attractions without Genie+. Once they start adding people into what used to FP queues, it's going to cause standby to be very slow moving. Standing in hour plus lines all day will limit your experience.

That's my fear.

So 15% gate increase if I don't want a diminished experience.

And that's before any further ticket price increases.

 

[glamdring269]

This right here is the rub. I agree with this post completely. If Scenario #1 is how this is going to work, this is worthless, especially to those of us who have no intention of waking up at 7 am, or rope dropping. If I can make my first fastpass at 8 am and by that time the earliest crappy ride available is like 4 or 5 pm, well then this system is terrible and I am done with Disney. If the only options are wake up at 7 am and rope drop or spend the day waiting in 2 hour lines for everything, then I'm going to the beach.

That's a great point and honestly only reason I added the rope drop was to show a super efficient day where you ride everything and park hop elsewhere later. But the bolded portion is really the variable that matters. And to me one of the biggest concerns is that at least with FP+ you knew what 3 rides you had access to going in and could make a call on whether you want to RD or not. With this one you're only getting one at a time so who knows what the day will bring. I guess that's why we need data. Some set of people will be the brave pioneers on this one and hopefully it's an awesome implementation and well worth the investment.

 

[Disneyliscious]

*I know this varies by family situation but I’m comparing to something like Express Pass at universal that costs a lot more than Genie+. Really tough to provide a relative value until we know more I guess.

A large number of people who get EP at Universal just get a Premium hotel for 1 night and then get free EP for everyone in the hotel room for 2 days (or whatever the length of their stay is). It is extremely cost efficient doing it that way. Disney doesn't even come close to that.

 

[glamdring269]

A large number of people who get EP at Universal just get a Premium hotel for 1 night and then get free EP for everyone in the hotel room for 2 days (or whatever the length of their stay is). It is extremely cost efficient doing it that way. Disney doesn't even come close to that.

This is true and we always stay at HRH when at Universal so fully aware of the advantage. However, that is the only way you're getting it for "free" otherwise it's very expensive for a single day.

 

[Aluminum Falcon]

I don't think this is necessarily true, though it may have changed over time. At 28, I'm pretty sure I am in the youngest group of DVC buyers, but there is a lot of marketing aimed at young families growing into both DVC and Disney. I think it is less about age of the buyer and more about visit frequency and disposable income levels. DH and I don't have kids yet but see DVC as something we can both enjoy now and continue to grow into when we get to that point in a few years.

Good Points!, i am curious what is pulling you into doing DVC, I am 31, and my wife and I were looking into DVC at around 28 as well haha. I just couldn't find any added benefits that would justify the high price tag, not to mention you are locked in with Disney for a good chunk of time. We rent points, and have found that there are only a few benefits we are missing out on at WDW, (honestly none were all that enticing), I like the fact that i can still get a good price, and not have to commit long term. Not in anyway telling you what you should or shouldn't do, I completely understand what is right for someone may be wrong for another, just genuinely curious

 

[rmclain73]

Express Pass is a line-skipping up charge for immediate access to a line.

G+ wants you to pay to be in appropriately the same place in line as you would be if you had waited for free.

Genie will provide you a touring plan to simply find the shortest lines in the first place with no up charge.

I think you are getting confused at how G+ will work. G+ is just like the old paper FastPass. You come back to the attraction at a specific time and then go through the FastPass line, not the standby line.

What you are describing is a Standby queue which is what DLP has introduced.

 

[NuJoy]

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[Miffy]

It's possible that this has been discussed somewhere else--even somewhere on this thread--but I haven't been able to keep up with everything.

I think it's possible that die-hard Disneyites, like most of the people here on the DIS, will be able to take great advantage of Genie and G+. I think this because we knew how to work the FP+ system to our advantage and I imagine we'll do the same with G and G+.

I cannot count the times I talked to a fellow guest at WDW and they either didn't know FP+ existed, didn't know it was free, or didn't know that they were eligible to use it. Over the years, I've told countless other guests at WDW about FP+ and how to use it. I'm anticipating the same will be true of G and G+ and LL+.

Genie itself, which is free, may turn out to be very useful. Or not! Too soon to tell. But my guess is that G+ will be super useful, especially at MK and DHS.

I'm not talking about gaming the system. I'm talking about using the system to its best--and our best--advantage. Isn't that what the system is designed to do?

I could be totally wrong about all this, but these are my current thoughts on the topic.

 

[rmclain73]

No, I understand one enters LL after waiting the allotted time.

Yes, same as FastPass worked.

 

[Grasshopper2016]

Express Pass is a line-skipping up charge for immediate access to a line.

G+ wants you to pay to be in appropriately the same place in line as you would be if you had waited for free.

I have seen this sentiment expressed on this and other threads. It is possible that it is correct --- that G+ will virtually always offer you a next available LL time that will get you on the ride at roughly the same time as if you were to go and stand in the standby line immediately. But I don't think that is likely. Rather, I think it will operate more like the old fastpass+ system, without the option to choose particular times. Disney will set aside a certain number of LL slots for each ride for each hour of the day (perhaps replenishing them as the day goes on), and you will simply be offered whatever the next available time is. For many rides, especially early in the day, that could be more or less right away, even if the standby line is already quite long. (But, as the day goes by, the opposite will often be true --- the LL window offered for a more sought-after ride, like BTMRR or MFSR, will be farther away than the current standby time.) If G+ ends up just operating like a virtual standby line, then I think it will have been falsely advertised, and a lot of people will be very upset.

 

[Liquidice]

Good Points!, i am curious what is pulling you into doing DVC, I am 31, and my wife and I were looking into DVC at around 28 as well haha. I just couldn't find any added benefits that would justify the high price tag, not to mention you are locked in with Disney for a good chunk of time. We rent points, and have found that there are only a few benefits we are missing out on at WDW, (honestly none were all that enticing), I like the fact that i can still get a good price, and not have to commit long term. Not in anyway telling you what you should or shouldn't do, I completely understand what is right for someone may be wrong for another, just genuinely curious

I know you weren't asking me And a little off topic, plus I'm older than you both are but I bought DVC in November 2019 (right before the pandemic unfortunately) - so my POV at the time was a little different than today's world of the pandemic - however, I figured with my kids in the "prime" age for Disney (at the time they were 6 and 3) that we'd likely go at least once a year. One of the perks if you buy direct from Disney at the time (and hopefully will continue to be) is the ability to get a Gold AP which is cheaper than the Platinum pass. I figured if we decided not to go to Disney one year we could instead rent our points or maybe go to one of the other DVC locations like Aulani too.

Since then we found that we have taken a bunch of trips per year (roughly 3 or 4) and enjoy making quick shorter trips down to WDW instead of doing 1 big trip per year. The pandemic has limited international travel too - so having DVC has been a benefit to us in that we've gone maybe more often than we might in a different year.

One thing to consider as well is DVC resale, I ended up adding points and paid 56% less to add BLT points resale than the price that Disney charges. You don't get the Blue Card perks, but if the perks weren't all that enticing to you it may be worth the thousands you'd save.

The one positive on DVC is that resale values remain high and continue to appreciate over time - so you most likely don't lose your initial investment either if you decide to sell after owning it for 10 years.

I have seen a few people who had rented out their points every other year, sold after owning for 10-15 years and they made money off of it even after taking into account annual dues.

 

[NuJoy]

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[luv2cheer92]

I see your point. I see it as this is exactly what G+ is advertising, operating as a virtual standby line, therefore a lot of people are upset.

It's the exact same thing as FP and FP+, just with a new name.
Obviously the processes are different, but the way the line works is exactly the same.