Walt Disney World Tech News & Discussion- Magic Bands, Genie+, and more

[HandsomePete]

How bad has stand by been after 5 PM?

Can’t speak to post-Genie+, but in the interim period about 30-45 minutes.

In the end I don’t think Genie+ is going to be as big of a negative as I thought it could be… it’s a little annoying to see return times and then remember, oh right, I would have to pay to get access to those, but my typical theme park going experience is a couple hours max when it’s not crowded so the impact to me is minimal. Seems like this hurts the all-dayers who don’t buy more than someone like me.

The itinerary recommender is pretty much worthless though.

 

[rhino4evr]

I was looking at a trip in January, and I see the Genie Plus being offered right in the package, as expected.

I can purchase this later if I want correct? I'm not sure I'm sold on the idea. I kind of like the thought of going to Disney and not worrying about scheduling anything. I would definitely pay for the RotR lightning pass though.

 

[Alicia]

I was looking at a trip in January, and I see the Genie Plus being offered right in the package, as expected.

I can purchase this later if I want correct? I'm not sure I'm sold on the idea. I kind of like the thought of going to Disney and not worrying about scheduling anything. I would definitely pay for the RotR lightning pass though.

You could always buy it the day of if you don’t get it bundled with your tickets. Just open the app any time after midnight and you can buy it for that day in the Genie section of the app.

EDIT: Unlike Express, it will never sell out.

 

[Mad Dog]

It sure didn't take long for Disney to increase most of the individual Lightening lane attraction prices.
M&M.................$8 to $10
FOP...................$11 to $14
Frozen................$9to $11
Rat.....................$9 to $11
Space Mt.,,,,,,,,,,,,,$7 to $9
7Dwarfs..............$10 to $12....
A quote today from TPI frequent poster and sometimes writer, TH Creative. TH Creative is probably the the most pro everything WDW does poster on the internet. Almost 100%
supportive of Disney mgt. decisions and apologist for any of Disney's moves. He had this to say today on Niles Theme Park Insider column on the paid Lightening Lane attractions/system.
"Spoke with a CM from MK. He reports that today was a nightmare. A boatload of confusion. Angry guests berating frontline CM's. Management needs to step up fast."

 

[Alicia]

It sure didn't take long for Disney to increase most of the individual Lightening lane attraction prices.
M&M.................$8 to $10
FOP...................$11 to $14
Frozen................$9to $11
Rat.....................$9 to $11
Space Mt.,,,,,,,,,,,,,$7 to $9
7Dwarfs..............$10 to $12....
A quote today from TPI frequent poster and sometimes writer, TH Creative. TH Creative is probably the the most pro everything WDW does poster on the internet. Almost 100%
supportive of Disney mgt. decisions and apologist for any of Disney's moves. He had this to say today on Niles Theme Park Insider column on the paid Lightening Lane attractions/system.
"Spoke with a CM from MK. He reports that today was a nightmare. A boatload of confusion. Angry guests berating frontline CM's. Management needs to step up fast."

Can confirm MK today had some guest learning curve issues I didn’t see during the week. But CMs were handling it well.

 

[Mad Dog]

Can confirm MK today had some guest learning curve issues I didn’t see during the week. But CMs were handling it well.

The larger weekend crowds may be creating a new ballgame.

 

[Alicia]

The larger weekend crowds may be creating a new ballgame.

‘Twas very very busy.

 

[Mad Dog]

‘Twas very very busy.

It would be interesting to know what the actual issues were. Wondering if unlimited sales, with a big crowd, creates too long paid LL lines.

 

[GAcoaster]

It sure didn't take long for Disney to increase most of the individual Lightening lane attraction prices.
M&M.................$8 to $10
FOP...................$11 to $14
Frozen................$9to $11
Rat.....................$9 to $11
Space Mt.,,,,,,,,,,,,,$7 to $9
7Dwarfs..............$10 to $12....
A quote today from TPI frequent poster and sometimes writer, TH Creative. TH Creative is probably the the most pro everything WDW does poster on the internet. Almost 100%
supportive of Disney mgt. decisions and apologist for any of Disney's moves. He had this to say today on Niles Theme Park Insider column on the paid Lightening Lane attractions/system.
"Spoke with a CM from MK. He reports that today was a nightmare. A boatload of confusion. Angry guests berating frontline CM's. Management needs to step up fast."

I've always heard that the pricing would be based on attendance, with increases for weekends and holidays just like the ticket pricing. Expect busy days to be more expensive than slow ones.

 

[Mad Dog]

I've always heard that the pricing would be based on attendance, with increases for weekends and holidays just like the ticket pricing. Expect busy days to be more expensive than slow ones.

It will be interesting to see if it decreases for future weekdays, especially since the price increase went in effect during a weekday when only MK was mildly crowded.

 

[BigHouseFootball]

I cannot believe Disney is just going to keep selling Genie+ all day long regardless of what slots are still available. That seems like a major guest relations issue just waiting for those poor front line workers.

 

[Alicia]

I cannot believe Disney is just going to keep selling Genie+ all day long regardless of what slots are still available. That seems like a major guest relations issue just waiting for those poor front line workers.

It’s not too bad. I was still able to find pretty good rides to ride for the second half of the day at Magic Kingdom on a very busy Saturday. I saw one couple purchase it around 3pm and were happy to be able to book the ride they wanted. It’s priced low enough that if you were to get three rides, that’s still only $5 each which is like half of the individual LL costs so it seems worth it.

It’s still an annoying and stressful tool that adds very little value to my day, but I’m seeing more of the general public happy with it than not. :shrug:

 

[Frank Drackman]

I cannot believe Disney is just going to keep selling Genie+ all day long regardless of what slots are still available. That seems like a major guest relations issue just waiting for those poor front line workers.

I'd worry more about hotel guest that purchased in advance of their visit. I did not visit the parks during the FP+ days, but I recall the paper FP days when HS had one ride that everyone wanted to ride -- rope drop was a dash to Toy Story's FP machines. They could all be gone within 30 minutes on a busy day, if that is similar for slinky dog or the safari...I imagine those guest that start their day at 11 AM or later could end up really disliking their stay.

 

[PerceptiveCoot]

Family: Hey, what do we need to do to have a good time at Disney?

Me:

 

[Grabnar]

I haven't been super plugged in as far as planning everything with Genie goes now. I'm going from 1/4-1/10 for Marathon weekend. If the crowds are massive how big of a headache is this going to be with G+?

 

[Yabbadabba Doh]

I haven't been super plugged in as far as planning everything with Genie goes now. I'm going from 1/4-1/10 for Marathon weekend. If the crowds are massive how big of a headache is this going to be with G+?

A big pain in the ass. I was just there last week and it made some attractions that have been manageable with standby only pretty intolerable. It also doesn’t help when the ride goes down and now there is this massive backup of lightning lane folks to get through. Ratios on some of the rides were 7 or 10 to 1 standby guest. It was ridiculous.

 

[belloq87]

I thought wait times at Disney were pretty outrageous when I was there 11/10 - 11/15, but I can't fully quantify how much of that was specifically because of the Genie+/Lightning Lane nonsense, or if it was just an unusually busy week.

 

[Yabbadabba Doh]

I thought wait times at Disney were pretty outrageous when I was there 11/10 - 11/15, but I can't fully quantify how much of that was specifically because of the Genie+/Lightning Lane nonsense, or if it was just an unusually busy week.

That’s when I was there as well - 11/11-16.

 

[SkiBum]

This is a very interesting video on FP/FP+ and the overall program.

Sorry. This was covered in the "Defunctland" thread.

 

[Cup_Of_Coffee]

It’s not too bad. I was still able to find pretty good rides to ride for the second half of the day at Magic Kingdom on a very busy Saturday. I saw one couple purchase it around 3pm and were happy to be able to book the ride they wanted. It’s priced low enough that if you were to get three rides, that’s still only $5 each which is like half of the individual LL costs so it seems worth it.

It’s still an annoying and stressful tool that adds very little value to my day, but I’m seeing more of the general public happy with it than not. :shrug:

This last sentence is why I’m not sure I’d go to Disney anymore really. “Stress” and “vacation” should not be used in the same sentence. Genie+ almost seems like a great idea for locals trying to get on E tickets more frequently, and not for the hotel guests. Just an outside perspective. Even if charged, I just don’t see how they can’t get this to be a more simple system.