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

[cakebaker]

So we can select a time for the IAS? If we have MK reservations and then plan to hop to EPCOT, we could in theory buy an IAS for Remy after 2pm?

That's my understanding and my exact plan too. Any we purchase would be for a park we hop to in the evening.

 

[cakebaker]

Is that something that you know, or are speculating on? I haven’t seen anything that describes it that way, but maybe I missed something

That's what WDW said in their release about it I believe. And someone here who has had training confirms that as well.

 

[cakebaker]

I do not think they will mask attractions from users. I feel like that would be a bad precedent, especially considering that users are paying for this. If I pay and want Haunted Mansion, I better be able to get it and not have it be hidden from me even though it's available.

Same here. It's going to take enough time on our phones just selecting which ride to do next. To have to start pounding the app to see if something hidden pops up sounds like torture to me and I just can't imagine they'd do such a thing. It might be great to stretch out availability, but it would be incredibly frustrating for users in the park.

 

[JoeA]

I haven't seen too many people mention this but was is the level of confidence that Disney IT can actually pull something like this off? I can just imagine the chaos for the first year!

 

[Liquidice]

I haven't seen too many people mention this but was is the level of confidence that Disney IT can actually pull something like this off? I can just imagine the chaos for the first year!

They've been testing it for months, probably would have liked to have launched it much sooner - but hopefully since they've been testing it for awhile it will be a little bit better? But - yeah, like anything else Disney IT related expect it to be a disaster the first day this launches and probably will take months to get it to be "stable".

I think the only Disney IT launch that I've seen in recent history that hasn't been a complete disaster at first was the launch of Disney+ it wasn't perfect for sure but it was much better than others. They had tons of issues the first morning, but IIRC by the afternoon things were mostly working (maybe it was the next day?) They bought another company (MLBAM or BAMTECH which funny enough was created by Major League Baseball to build their streaming platform) for Disney+ though.

The Disney Vacation Club website still has major issues, and they recently took a 3 day outage to supposedly upgrade the software and afterwards the issues still exist - and the only fix is to call in and wait to talk to someone. And there is no app for DVC either.

 

[IceSkatingPrincess]

I haven't seen too many people mention this but was is the level of confidence that Disney IT can actually pull something like this off? I can just imagine the chaos for the first year!

The only thing I'm confident about is that it is going to break. It is just a matter of how soon and how badly.

Signed, a person who had a somehow corrupted profile that didn't allow my FP+ to work when it came out leading to me needing to visit guest services for "Golden tickets" every 3 rides. Interesting trip.

 

[Liquidice]

The only thing I'm confident about is that it is going to break. It is just a matter of how soon and how badly.

I predict 7am on day 1 when Genie+ launches and everyone tries to go grab their first Lightning Lane pass that it will fold over and die - probably bringing down the Rise of the Resistance and Remy's Ratatouille virtual queue with it

 

[Brocktoon]

I thought someone on here said they would only allow selections of immediate available attractions-not necessarily a future time stamp window like your saying.

Just pure speculation on my part, but I think the system will sort of work like that. Where G+ will differ from the old paper FP system is that G+ may only offer 'relatively immediate attractions' ... let's say something with a 1-2 hour window. Unless the system allows you to hold multiple LL passes, I don't know if G+ would allow you to pull an evening pass in the morning, otherwise you could be locked out of G+ passes for the rest of the day.

But if G+ ends up holding multiple passes after a certain time window passes ... like the old paper FP system ... then all bets are off

 

[ZeeWP]

I blatantly stole this image from James Craig in the Walt Disney World Adults Only Facebook Group, so I apologize for stealing it - but I think it is worth reposting to show how ticket prices have changed over the last 15 years or so but this goes back all the way to 1971 and is adjusted for inflation...

View attachment 598801

What you can see is that ticket prices adjusted for inflation in today's dollars have remained relatively stable from 1971 to 2005 or so (around $60-80 in today's dollars) and then have continuously gone up since then.

Note the pricing used is the most expensive 1-day ticket for that year.

It doesn't show or account for increases made to lodging, food, etc - but I think if you looked at those numbers too you'd see that those also have increased above inflation.

Now with perks being cut, it just backs up what I've been saying - you're getting less value for more money.

Yes, Disney is a business and yes they have a right to make money ... I've heard all that before. I'm not necessarily trying to shame Disney for making money - but what I'm trying to say is - you're getting less value for your dollar at Disney. If you're cool with that - then more power to you. But if this announcement didn't sit right with you - this is why imho. Its because over the past 15 years you've slowly but surely been getting less value for your dollar - even when you account for inflation.

BTW- What this also tells you is that Chapek isn't solely to blame - Iger is just as much to blame. Chapek is just doing it in a way that is more obvious to us

Thank you so much for this chart. It proves the disappearing middle-class customer. Adjusting for inflation the rate of costs at Disney as gone exponentially up.

Of course, this has been the case for many businesses in general. Few and fewer people can afford what we consider "necessities" for living. Makes me sad

 

[AnnaKristoff2013]

I don't know, that's not what I was talking about. I was saying when you choose an attraction, it will be for the next available time slot. You can't schedule a LL reservation like you can IAS. I do think they're going to allow you to select from anything available and not ration througout the day. But that's just what makes sense to me and I've really seen nothing definitive one way or the other.

So you're staying at Animal Kingdom lodge, you wake up at 7 am, grab a Splash Mountain LL, you have no choices, it gives you 8 am, and then you have to figure out how to make it in time? That doesn't seem right either.

 

[Liquidice]

So you're staying at Animal Kingdom lodge, you wake up at 7 am, grab a Splash Mountain LL, you have no choices, it gives you 8 am, and then you have to figure out how to make it in time? That doesn't seem right either.

This is a good point - if I don't make it to my time slot for whatever reason, with Fastpass+ it was no big deal because I wasn't paying for them - I wonder what it will be like once I'm paying for those passes? Especially the Lightning Lane Individual Attractions.

 

[cakebaker]

So you're staying at Animal Kingdom lodge, you wake up at 7 am, grab a Splash Mountain LL, you have no choices, it gives you 8 am, and then you have to figure out how to make it in time? That doesn't seem right either.

It could be they do like they use to do with paper FP and not have them up and running right at opening? Say AK opens at 8am, times may not start being available until 9. That's my guess at least. It doesn't make sense to issue times that it would be impossible to get to in time plus no need for any reservations that first hour at least- standby times will be fairly short.

 

[AnnaKristoff2013]

I predict 7am on day 1 when Genie+ launches and everyone tries to go grab their first Lightning Lane pass that it will fold over and die - probably bringing down the Rise of the Resistance and Remy's Ratatouille virtual queue with it

Easiest prediction ever.

 

[Sandisw]

So you're staying at Animal Kingdom lodge, you wake up at 7 am, grab a Splash Mountain LL, you have no choices, it gives you 8 am, and then you have to figure out how to make it in time? That doesn't seem right either.

If someone is choosing a selection at 7 am for a park opening at 8 am, would they not have already decided to go to park at opening?

It sounded like you will be given a window to return time and I have to assume that it will be the hour like it was with FP.

I know for us, if we aren’t planning to go at rope drop, we won’t plan on choosing something until we have decided on the time we would be arriving to prevent what you mention.

 

[JETSDAD]

If someone is choosing a selection at 7 am for a park opening at 8 am, would they not have already decided to go to park at opening?

It sounded like you will be given a window to return time and I have to assume that it will be the hour like it was with FP.

I know for us, if we aren’t planning to go at rope drop, we won’t plan on choosing something until we have decided on the time we would be arriving to prevent what you mention.

The problem that could arise is if you wait and then the next available times are later in the day (hopefully that is not the case).

 

[cakebaker]

The problem that could arise is if you wait and then the next available times are later in the day (hopefully that is not the case).

Nevermind that no one needs an LL reservation at park opening- especially when the top 2 rides are only available by VQ/purchase or purchase only. I just don't seem them starting up Genie + right at opening. There would be a mass exodus from the resorts with people trying to make it to their first LL. I'm betting they don't have start times until an hour after park opening. I don't remember now with paper fp, was it an hour or half hour before you could get your first one?

 

[JETSDAD]

Nevermind that no one needs an LL reservation at park opening- especially when the top 2 rides are only available by VQ/purchase or purchase only. I just don't seem them starting up Genie + right at opening. There would be a mass exodus from the resorts with people trying to make it to their first LL. I'm betting they don't have start times until an hour after park opening. I don't remember now with paper fp, was it an hour or half hour before you could get your first one?

They started FP+ at opening (and we'd set our first one for park opening).

 

[Sandisw]

Nevermind that no one needs an LL reservation at park opening- especially when the top 2 rides are only available by VQ/purchase or purchase only. I just don't seem them starting up Genie + right at opening. There would be a mass exodus from the resorts with people trying to make it to their first LL. I'm betting they don't have start times until an hour after park opening. I don't remember now with paper fp, was it an hour or half hour before you could get your first one?

IIRC, I think it as 45 minutes! I agree it won’t start right at opening.

The problem that could arise is if you wait and then the next available times are later in the day (hopefully that is not the case).

That is very true, but my point was more that if a park is opening at 8 am and you are trying for GP+ at 7 am then it seems odd to me that someone would not already be planned to go at rope drop.

 

[cakebaker]

They started FP+ at opening (and we'd set our first one for park opening).

Yes, but unless I'm just remembering wrong, paper fp didn't start at opening.

 

[JETSDAD]

That is very true, but my point was more that if a park is opening at 8 am and you are trying for GP+ at 7 am then it seems odd to me that someone would not already be planned to go at rope drop.

People will on the app at 7:00 even if they don't plan to ropedrop because they'll also be getting any VQ's that they're wanting and LL$. I think it's quite possible that someone would also make a LL at the same time even if they are just planning on going a bit later.

I don't think it will be an issue but we really don't know what to expect yet. Will people be able to stroll into the park 1-2 hours after park open and grab a decent LL for a close time or will good rides fill up early? My hope is that there will be good availabilty throughout the day but who knows.