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

[Mousey0324]

what I would say to this, is
1 supply and demand.
2. Unless Disney was adding a new benefit every year, you are always getting less value for your dollar. It’s why pricing on everything goes up from year to year, for instance a bag of chips, same bag, higher cost year over year.
3. I would argue that Disney has created value by adding to their parks, Star Wars land, the skyliner, toy story land, new fantasyland, countless restaurants, and hotels… and I feel like I’m just scratching the surface.

Just because you personally feel like value hasn’t been added, doesn’t mean you are correct

Ref #2 you clearly don’t understand inflation

 

[Aluminum Falcon]

Ref #2 you clearly don’t understand inflation

I guess the point I was attempting to make is that value is perception.

 

[wdwobsessed]

Express is very dependent on demand. I’ve seen it go for 300 dollars on bust days, and I think with that version of express versus the one you get at their deluxe resorts, it’s only one time per ride versus unlimited with the resort included one

depends on which version you buy

 

[Moliphino]

It's funny, with FP+ the complaint was always that people who put out the effort to be there at opening weren't rewarded. Looks like the tables have turned. I'm up and at the parks at opening regardless. I can sleep at home for free.

They were rewarded with short standby lines in the morning.

 

[Liquidice]

They were rewarded with short standby lines in the morning.

Agree - we have kids that wake up early every day and have always been rewarded with rope dropping, being able to get on at least 2 rides with short waits, sometimes 3 - but they usually don't like to ride those "Tier 1" rides, they want the rides with the least amount of thrill, even Seven Dwarfs is too much for them

With FP+ I could usually book myself a Tier 1 thrill ride for later in the morning and ride it then. Now I might have to do the Tier 1 rides at rope drop (if it isn't a virtual queue) and hope for shorter standby times for the rides the kids like or suck it up and pay for Genie+.

 

[ChipnDale79]

I guess the point I was attempting to make is that value is perception.

Value is always perception.

its different for everyone.

for me, disney has lost its value, because they're charging more and offering less services, and now i can do other big vacations for the same price or cheaper than i can disney, when i couldnt before.

For others, value is completely different. For some, the value of paying more is that they get less people in the parks.

 

[cakebaker]

They were rewarded with short standby lines in the morning.

I didn't agree with the idea, but that was certainly the complaint I heard over and over again. Now people are complaining that they won't get the best experience if they aren't there early and I don't agree with that either.

No one gets penalized or rewarded (nor should they ) for when they arrive at a park. How they operate is how they operate, what you choose to do as far as visiting is your choice and you get the experience you get. Do I think you get more out of the parks if you're there early? Yes, and we have always been at one of the parks at opening, but we don't believe that WDW is where we go to relax and sleep in. If I want to sleep in and relax, I'll go to the beach and that's been true with every ride system they've ever had.

 

[Moliphino]

I didn't agree with the idea, but that was certainly the complaint I heard over and over again. Now people are complaining that they won't get the best experience if they aren't there early and I don't agree with that either.

No one gets penalized or rewarded (nor should they ) for when they arrive at a park. How they operate is how they operate, what you choose to do as far as visiting is your choice and you get the experience you get. Do I think you get more out of the parks if you're there early? Yes, and we have always been at one of the parks at opening, but we don't believe that WDW is where we go to relax and sleep in. If I want to sleep in and relax, I'll go to the beach and that's been true with every ride system they've ever had.

I mean, I don't consider sleeping until 8 "sleeping in". That's what we usually do in Disney, but it is not early enough to rope drop. We're definitely not relaxing, we're just not morning people.

 

[Roxyfire]

I didn't agree with the idea, but that was certainly the complaint I heard over and over again. Now people are complaining that they won't get the best experience if they aren't there early and I don't agree with that either.

No one gets penalized or rewarded (nor should they ) for when they arrive at a park. How they operate is how they operate, what you choose to do as far as visiting is your choice and you get the experience you get. Do I think you get more out of the parks if you're there early? Yes, and we have always been at one of the parks at opening, but we don't believe that WDW is where we go to relax and sleep in. If I want to sleep in and relax, I'll go to the beach and that's been true with every ride system they've ever had.

People absolutely want it both ways. So many were commenting that the FP+ system was unfair due to the complexity and advance planning leading to less spontaneity or just the fact that some were able to stay longer therefore have a better shot at "higher value" fast passes. Cost aside, using a one-at-a-time system is more fair and it levels the playing field across on-site vs off-site. I would prefer a system where everyone gets 1 or 2 free and anything additional requires money but that's not how it shook out. I plan to find a way to make the new system work, but ultimately I really won't have an opinion until we see it in action.

 

[cakebaker]

I mean, I don't consider sleeping until 8 "sleeping in". That's what we usually do in Disney, but it is not early enough to rope drop. We're definitely not relaxing, we're just not morning people.

I guess my definition of sleeping in is not getting up early enough to be at the parks by opening. But, the point really is, it's not a reward or penalty situation. It's just a matter of deciding what's most important to you and doing what makes your vacation as enjoyable as possible. Disney can't create a system that both favors early risers and those who aren't morning people.

I much preferred FP+, not because we sleep later but because we park hop and trying to get same day FP's was near impossible for the best rides later in the day. We'll just have to figure out a strategy that works best with hopping- most likely choosing later times for our IAS's and then just riding whatever is available in our evening parks. Alternating mornings/evenings at each park will help as well.

 

[ZeeWP]

I'm pretty sure we will see this rolled into hotel discounts to replace the meal plan discount.

Offering this as a as a discount instead of the meal plan improves their margin per guest since there is no longer a food cost associated with the discount - while still being able to charge the family for the food they are going to eat.

Simultaneously; as a discount they don't have to offer it to their captured audience (DVC) - increasing the spend there too.

This is exactly what I think. Instead of Free Dining Plan "Free Genie+ With a package" Promotion.

I can also see a package with Memory Maker. "Get Genie+ for the duration of your stay and get 10% off of Memory Maker."

A less likely scenario would be rolling into a park hopper+. I personally like that cause it's with the number of days tickets rather than a hotel stay, but then they would make less money and why would they want that? Ha ha.

 

[NuJoy]

()

 

[OhDannyBoy]

Bear with me as a lot of this is really confusing, but why does everyone keep saying they have to be up at 7AM everyday of their vacation?

I get that you can start picking LL at 7AM. So is the idea that all the reservations for the LL are going to be gone by 7:05AM? Like how boarding passes for the star wars thing are gone in seconds?

 

[JETSDAD]

Bear with me as a lot of this is really confusing, but why does everyone keep saying they have to be up at 7AM everyday of their vacation?

I get that you can start picking LL at 7AM. So is the idea that all the reservations for the LL are going to be gone by 7:05AM? Like how boarding passes for the star wars thing are gone in seconds?

People are concerned that LL's for the better rides may be gone, or only late times remaining, if they wait. Of course we have no way to know that just yet.

 

[AnnaKristoff2013]

I can also see a package with Memory Maker. "Get Genie+ for the duration of your stay and get 10% off of Memory Maker."

I thought Genie+ included Memory Maker?

 

[JETSDAD]

I thought Genie+ included Memory Maker?

Only at DL, not WDW.

 

[Waiting2goback]

As a fan of 25 years I am done going. I have a weekend trip scheduled this weekend. Had this news broke before I booked it I wouldn't be going this weekend either but I had disney gift cards to use and I booked my flight so I can't get out of it now without losing money.

I never used FP anyway so while this wouldn't impact me at all, I am still tired of the direction the company is taking. They have been making cuts since 2016 when Shanghai was over budget. No evening parade at MK since then and more and more has been stripped away since, and prices have only gone up. I hate that IP is taking over everything too. Feels like Disney has lost their originality to me. Walt's idea of "plussing" things has certainly disappeared.

I'll be watching from afar and I assume I will be back eventually. Once Chapek is out of his job at some point I will hopefully be back. If he wants to lower crowds by jacking up prices I will happily oblige. I can afford these prices but the value isn't there for me. If all the same stuff that used to be at the parks, along with the service that used to accompany the prices, I would happily pay it. But, to get on the monorail and have to pray you make it to the your next stop alive (exaggerating obviously), along with everything else, I find that unaccpetable. We have monorails breaking down, the skyliner seems to have an accident weekly, on top of everything else that people are not enjoying just no longer seems like a good use of my vacation dollars.

My wife is a fan of Disney but not the same level as me. She keeps asking me to start trying other places for vacations so to keep blowing her off in favor of spending even more money at Disney for less value, I can't even justify that anymore.

We went to either WDW or DL a combined 5 times in 2019. I am just glad I got those last trips in.

I know there will always be people that pay whatever Disney charges. I get it. Some people must love Disney more than me and that is great for them. I just know that with the virus last year, and no ability to go to Disney I was forced to save that money. I was able to pay down some bills MUCH quicker than i had planned. It was eye opening to me just how much money I have been spending on Disney the last 5 years or so. I love Disney but I love paying down bills even more.

 

[cakebaker]

I get that you can start picking LL at 7AM. So is the idea that all the reservations for the LL are going to be gone by 7:05AM?

I think for people who don't want to get to the parks until after noon or so, they may find their availability limited on the most popular rides, but you can't expect to come in hours after opening and find everything available. You never could with paper FP and while you could do that with FP+, it's not here anymore so I guess expressing your frustration is good, but it won't change anything.

And it does depend on exactly how it's going to work- are offsite guests going to have to be in the park? If so, they're more limited, but if you can book the first one outside the park, it's easy to get a time that works for you.

 

[jade1]

At 7:00am anyone can begin their day, booking only what G+ ride options are available or what Genie deems most desirable to one’s Tip Board plans at that exact moment. After riding the first selection, one chooses another in the same way, and so forth throughout the touring day. Since each booking is an at-the-moment available selection, one can hop into or out of the system at any time using the same method. There will be no sold out LL passes that anyone can see. Everyone using G+ will equally be at the mercy of whatever is offered them all throughout the process.

Yea it's going to be interesting for sure.

In theory what you are saying (I think) is G+ maybe mid morning will only offer you at MK-Aladdin or LMermaid-take it or leave it. Then maybe when you check later maybe H Mansion, on occasion a big hitter like BTMRR etc?

It will never allow a selection later at all? Like Aladdin now-or BTMRR in 45 minutes from now?

 

[CWTC]

At 7:00am anyone can begin their day, booking only what G+ ride options are available or what Genie deems most desirable to one’s Tip Board plans at that exact moment

I know this is all theoretical since no one has live experience with it but does the bolded part suggest that G+ won’t show all available ride/pass option but only the ones it thinks we would like? I’d like to make my own choice about what I’m interested in and don’t want to miss a pass because G+ thinks I won’t want it.