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

[Aluminum Falcon]

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

So from what I just looked into, you can only pick one ride at a time, so i feel like it would be counter intuitive for someone to grab a 5pm LL at 1pm, when there will be other rides closer to the current time they could nab. I just can’t see people using a LL for a ride that is 3 or 4 hours ahead. The 1 LL alone would make it very different from the paper fast passes

 

[DisneyAuntie12]

So from what I just looked into, you can only pick one ride at a time, so i feel like it would be counter intuitive for someone to grab a 5pm LL at 1pm, when there will be other rides closer to the current time they could nab. I just can’t see people using a LL for a ride that is 3 or 4 hours ahead. The 1 LL alone would make it very different from the paper fast passes

If it was a popular ride and LL might be full for the rest of the day if they waited, I can see it. Big Thunder, Splash, Haunted Mansion… getting the 5pm LL might save hours in line and they could head to the carousel and Country Bears in the meantime.

 

[Aluminum Falcon]

If it was a popular ride and LL might be full for the rest of the day if they waited, I can see it. Big Thunder, Splash, Haunted Mansion… getting the 5pm LL might save hours in line and they could head to the carousel and Country Bears in the meantime.

I just can’t imagine most people would cash in a full day of LL for one attraction, especially when they are paying for it. Also from what it sounds like, Disney decides what rides it offers for LL throughout the day, that may be a bit of a leap on my end . I just can’t see them letting a single ride get bogged down before the park even opens

 

[cakebaker]

So from what I just looked into, you can only pick one ride at a time, so i feel like it would be counter intuitive for someone to grab a 5pm LL at 1pm, when there will be other rides closer to the current time they could nab. I just can’t see people using a LL for a ride that is 3 or 4 hours ahead. The 1 LL alone would make it very different from the paper fast passes

I can. Back when we had FP+ and they had the garden viewing area for fireworks as a selection, we happily chose it knowing that we were locked out of anything past our 3 selections because we wanted it that badly- so were a lot of other people, because they always sold out in the first few days we were eligible to book.

It depends on how badly you want to ride something and honestly, I think by 1-2 pm, times are going to be later for the very most popular rides anyway. I don't believe Disney is going to ration availability and not just go by next available time for everything. And if they do use the 2 hour or expiration time window, then getting a later time is not that big a deal. There are a lot of people whose goal is not to get as many rides as possible, but rather ride what they want to ride, even if it means fewer rides. If you visit each park multiple times, it's much easier to get them all in anyway. If you're a 1 day and done, maybe not.

 

[Aluminum Falcon]

I can. Back when we had FP+ and they had the garden viewing area for fireworks as a selection, we happily chose it knowing that we were locked out of anything past our 3 selections because we wanted it that badly- so were a lot of other people, because they always sold out in the first few days we were eligible to book.

It depends on how badly you want to ride something and honestly, I think by 1-2 pm, times are going to be later for the very most popular rides anyway. I don't believe Disney is going to ration availability and not just go by next available time for everything. And if they do use the 2 hour or expiration time window, then getting a later time is not that big a deal. There are a lot of people whose goal is not to get as many rides as possible, but rather ride what they want to ride, even if it means fewer rides. If you visit each park multiple times, it's much easier to get them all in anyway. If you're a 1 day and done, maybe not.

The thing is, I feel like booking 1 LL for later in the day would be a very popular sentiment on these boards, and I think these boards make up a fraction of visitors any given day. I just can’t imagine the average guest paying $15 a day to experience one ride. Rationing is definitely something I see as a possibility, otherwise park hopping might as well be useless. I could be completely off base on everything I’m saying, it’s more of trying to guess ahead, and I can’t see Disney relaunching essentially the same program they had in place, (especially with how long they’ve been working on it for), and just monetizing it.

 

[Aluminum Falcon]

If it was a popular ride and LL might be full for the rest of the day if they waited, I can see it. Big Thunder, Splash, Haunted Mansion… getting the 5pm LL might save hours in line and they could head to the carousel and Country Bears in the meantime.

Do you really think that would be worth the $15 a day to most people?

 

[cakebaker]

park hopping might as well be useless

But that's exactly how it worked with paper fp, headliners were gone by mid afternoon most days at every park, but we park hopped successfully. I think most people who hop get in multiple visits to each park. For instance, we'd got to the MK for our morning park, then hop to HS for the evening after a break. On that day, we'd get paper FP's for headliners at the MK, ride secondary rides at HS, getting any available FP's and getting FP's for shows that never sold out until very late. Then on another day, we reversed it. You don't have to have headliners available in the evening if you hop because you can alternate park mornings and evenings.

I much preferred FP+ because we could ride secondary rides at our morning park and then schedule FP's for the evening park, but both systems worked.

We just won't know until they actually put out more details, but I would be beyond shocked if they held back availability and people who were in the parks during the morning and early afternoon weren't able to ride headliners while people in the evening could. That said, I've been shocked before. I do think they're going to have a problem in that people seem to think that just because they paid $15, they are somehow guaranteed the ability to ride whatever they want- and that's just not going to be the case no matter how they do it. They are going to run out of LL reservations or the LL is going to be slow and jam packed.

 

[Aluminum Falcon]

But that's exactly how it worked with paper fp, headliners were gone by mid afternoon most days at every park, but we park hopped successfully. I think most people who hop get in multiple visits to each park. For instance, we'd got to the MK for our morning park, then hop to HS for the evening after a break. On that day, we'd get paper FP's for headliners at the MK, ride secondary rides at HS, getting any available FP's and getting FP's for shows that never sold out until very late. Then on another day, we reversed it. You don't have to have headliners available in the evening if you hop because you can alternate park mornings and evenings.

I much preferred FP+ because we could ride secondary rides at our morning park and then schedule FP's for the evening park, but both systems worked.

We just won't know until they actually put out more details, but I would be beyond shocked if they held back availability and people who were in the parks during the morning and early afternoon weren't able to ride headliners while people in the evening could. That said, I've been shocked before. I do think they're going to have a problem in that people seem to think that just because they paid $15, they are somehow guaranteed the ability to ride whatever they want- and that's just not going to be the case no matter how they do it. They are going to run out of LL reservations or the LL is going to be slow and jam packed.

We shall see, I appreciate the conversation though, always like to see others point of view!

 

[CWTC]

do think they're going to have a problem in that people seem to think that just because they paid $15, they are somehow guaranteed the ability to ride whatever they want- and that's just not going to be the case no matter how they do it. They are going to run out of LL reservations or the LL is going to be slow and jam packed.

agreed. We haven’t been since fall 2019 (but have done a ton of trips prior and I considered us well versed in WDW) and I’m just trying to get caught up for our trip this fall.

Prior to landing here, I was reading a ton of blogs and Facebook pages/groups: many people have the belief the G+ means “I am walking by this ride right now and I can get in the LL now.” It’s being interpreted in several circles as immediate access when you want it, not as a reservation or FP.

if Disney doesn’t do a better job of communicating and managing expectations, the average guest is going to be really angry when they find out this is not InstaFastPass and the CMs are going to get eaten for breakfast.

 

[goaljira]

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

That won't work though as you don't have park reservations for the second park so you've no guarantee of being able to get in, and there's no way that someone without a park res for that day should be able to buy IA$ slots over people who do. Imagine if thats the case for ROTR and you're no longer just competing for normal BG with those who have HS park res, but every single guest onsite and off with *any* park res for that day who wants to pay for a IA$ for it?

 

[cakebaker]

That won't work though as you don't have park reservations for the second park so you've no guarantee of being able to get in, and there's no way that someone without a park res for that day should be able to buy IA$ slots over people who do. Imagine if thats the case for ROTR and you're no longer just competing for normal BG with those who have HS park res, but every single guest onsite and off with *any* park res for that day who wants to pay for a IA$ for it?

So far, I’ve not read one report of someone being unable to hop to another park due to capacity and that was with increased capacity limits and sold out parks. I don’t think that’s a significant concern.


Disney has already said that you can both reserve LL and purchase IAS at multiple parks. Whether you think people should be able to do it doesn’t affect whether you can do it. I don’t expect the demand to purchase rides will be so great it’s going to negatively impact those trying to purchase early in the morning. If Disney did not allow multiple park purchasing, park hoppers would be pretty useless.

 

[goaljira]

So far, I’ve not read one report of someone being unable to hop to another park due to capacity and that with increased capacity limits and sold out parks. I don’t think that’s a significant concern.


Disney has already said that you can both reserve LL and purchase IAS at multiple parks. Whether you think people should be able to do it doesn’t affect whether you can do it. I dint expect the demand to purchase rides will be so great it’s going to negatively impact those trying to purchase early in the morning. If Disney did not allow multiple park purchasing, park hoppers would be pretty useless.

There's a difference between being able to reserve LL and purchase IA$ at multiple parks and being able to do it in advance though. Once you've tapped into the second park you should absolutely be able to book whatever G+ or IA$ are currently available, but you shouldn't be able to do it until you're confirmed there.

The demand to purchase doesn't have to be great, but any level of additional purchasing is going to negatively impact on the non-IA$ quests.

We don't know whether they're going to say a set percentage of available BG are allocated to IA$, or whether there will be the standard level of BGs issued and then the later groups are bumped later[And potentially not getting to ride] the more IA$ are sold[Which are given return times, not BGs].

If its the former, then the more people that are able to purchase the IA$ version then the bigger pool will need to be allocated to that section reducing the number of free BGs and reducing all guests chances of getting one. If its the latter, then again whilst the chances of getting a BG aren't affected if they're letting people buy their way onto the ride at the expense of the higher number BGs then that will have a worse effect as you've then got people in high BGs in limbo all day not knowing if too many IA$ are going to be sold.

 

[Brocktoon]

Just wanted to thank the folks contributing to this thread, as this seems to be one of the most 'intelligent' (fact based) discussions I've seen from various boards ...

But, what this discussion also shows is just how much 'devil in the details' remains to be clarified. If Disney is planning to launch Genie and G+ soon (launch date is yet another unknown), shouldn't there be some more clarification by now? Should there be more official Q&A or FAQs from Disney? Or should we really be surprised with how vague this is considering it's another Disney IT rollout?

Personally I am 'slightly' surprised that a week after the announcement there doesn't seem to be much of a peep from Disney given all the questions floating about ... It doesn't exactly instill confidence in the system

 

[cakebaker]

Once you've tapped into the second park you should absolutely be able to book whatever G+ or IA$ are currently available, but you shouldn't be able to do it until you're confirmed there.

According to Disney, you can without checking into the 2nd park. From DPB- "You can even make them for other parks if you have a Park Hopper ticket."

The availability of the VQ's being affected by the number allotted to sell is an issue some are concerned about, but it is what it is. You're allowed to do it and it makes park hoppers more attractive. If I can't book anything at another park, I'm assured that by evening, there won't be anything to book- meaning no reason to park hop. Park Hoppers are money makers for WDW- they aren't going to destroy the benefits of having them so that more people can ride for free.

 

[Liquidice]

Just wanted to thank the folks contributing to this thread, as this seems to be one of the most 'intelligent' (fact based) discussions I've seen from various boards ...

But, what this discussion also shows is just how much 'devil in the details' remains to be clarified. If Disney is planning to launch Genie and G+ soon (launch date is yet another unknown), shouldn't there be some more clarification by now? Should there be more official Q&A or FAQs from Disney? Or should we really be surprised with how vague this is considering it's another Disney IT rollout?

Personally I am 'slightly' surprised that a week after the announcement there doesn't seem to be much of a peep from Disney given all the questions floating about ... It doesn't exactly instill confidence in the system

Maybe Disney themselves aren't 100% sure yet - and are looking to see what customer reaction is so maybe they can tweak things? But agree that things are somewhat unclear about Genie right now - although if you look at MaxPass, there were certain things that were not clear when it first launched (for example the 90 minute and then you can get a 2nd Fastpass was not known).

 

[Moliphino]

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

Is it wrong to hope for this?

 

[Liquidice]

Is it wrong to hope for this?

LOL - my hope is the opposite, there is such low demand for G+ and the Individual Attractions that there is no load on the servers - especially as crowds decline this fall (the re-opening of ASM is due to low demand) - and Disney is forced to reconsider their "pent up demand" signal and perhaps reinstate some perks to encourage more guests to come back to Disney.

However, reality I'm sure will be different and the system will crash due to extreme demand for G+

 

[boogienights]

I mean, if it had been like Universal, I would’ve been pretty upset. It’s hugely expensive there. Universal is charging $90/person per day for unlimited express pass. Compare that to WDW, where you pay $15/person per day for access to nearly all the rides.

Though more expensive, I far prefer US paid express pass. You get to go on all the rides (with exception of one or two of the newer ones) whenever you want. With unlimited EP, you can ride multiple times. My daughter and I always try to beat our daily Mummy record (11 times in one day so far, btw). There is no reserving one ride at a time or constantly refreshing your phone or waiting hours for your first reserved ride. For your $15 at WDW you will probably max out at 4 or 5 rides. I always stay at the US deluxe hotels for free EP but if I wanted to stay offsite I would shell out the extra bucks pretty quick for at least one day of easy touring.

 

[Jrb1979]

LOL - my hope is the opposite, there is such low demand for G+ and the Individual Attractions that there is no load on the servers - especially as crowds decline this fall (the re-opening of ASM is due to low demand) - and Disney is forced to reconsider their "pent up demand" signal and perhaps reinstate some perks to encourage more guests to come back to Disney.

However, reality I'm sure will be different and the system will crash due to extreme demand for G+

I think the majority of people will end up buying Genie+. I personally love this new system. Getting rid of the advanced booking was the best thing to happen IMO. It benefits people like me who rope drop all the time.

 

[AnnaKristoff2013]

LOL - my hope is the opposite, there is such low demand for G+ and the Individual Attractions that there is no load on the servers - especially as crowds decline this fall (the re-opening of ASM is due to low demand) - and Disney is forced to reconsider their "pent up demand" signal and perhaps reinstate some perks to encourage more guests to come back to Disney.

However, reality I'm sure will be different and the system will crash due to extreme demand for G+

I think there's going to be low demand and I think it's going to crash anyway.