The big G+ rides at HS gone by 1:07!

[kilik64]

The new 2-3 line is proper Wessel words. Rather than making changes they are trying to lower expectations for a paid service. In any other company heads would roll for this failure

What failure? Doing exactly what it is designed to do.

Make more money.

What do people want for 15 bucks? To ride every single ride when they want with no wait?

 

[Westerner]

Yes, that is likely what the average vacationer wants to do before their vacation. RESEARCH like they are planning their senior thesis.

I wasn't responding to the average vacationer. I was responding to a fellow DIS user who had a specific critique about G+ that was not actually true. None of the solutions I suggested qualifies as senior thesis level work - but if you think it does, then I suggest reading post 21 of this thread where it's laid out pretty clearly. If you refuse to research information readily available on DIS, then that's on you.

 

[Westerner]

For us, the amount of time we can save is much more important than the number of experiences that we get with Genie+.

If you can get even one LL with Genie+ that saves close to an hour or more in line that is a good start. Then add one or two more with moderate waits (30-40 minutes) and we’ve saved 2 hours in line.

On our recent trip we got the following key LL:

Day One : JC (60 minutes), Soarin (50 minutes), SE (30 minutes because ride had been down), Living With The Land (15 minutes, only got it because we could use it right after Soarin).

Day Two- MFSR (80 minutes), Peter Pan (60 minutes), HM (45 minutes), Speedway (30 minutes)

Day Three- Safari (40 minutes, allowed us to enter shortly after ride opened at 8:30 without getting in line that formed ahead of time), Lion King (didn’t really need it, but we compressed our schedule because of impending storms and wanted to catch show right after doing Safari and FOP), BTMRR (45 minutes), IASW (30 minutes.). We spent less time in the parks this day because of rain and stopped doing rides early to go to fireworks dessert party).

Day Four- SDD, Aliens, Star Tours, and TSMM all done in a little over an hour as described earlier in this thread.

So, I estimate that we saved over 2 hours in lines each day. More accurately, we did some things that we probably wouldn’t have done otherwise because we wouldn’t have waited in all of those lines.

I was satisfied that we got good value from Genie+, but it did require some advance knowledge of how things work. I happen to enjoy planning for trips.

I liked being able to reserve some things in advance with FP+. But, Genie+ does provide more flexibility because of how you can use it at two parks in a day, decide each day if and how you want to use it based on weather and how previous days have gone, and overlap return times to do more things in less time.

I also did nothing with refreshing, so I didn’t have to have my face in my phone all day. When I used my phone for WDW related things it was to make LL reservations when windows opened, to check standby wait times, and do mobile food orders. The last two of those have nothing to do with Genie+.

Thanks for the info. I agree and also use my phone much more for non-G+ things like navigating around the parks, and checking wait times and weather. There is definitely an 80/20 rule about using the phone for G+. You really only need to use it just before it's time to book your next LL and setting an alarm every 2 hours takes care of that. I feel there are some folks who just don't want to use the phone at all on a vacation - a bit behind the times IMO - but it's a gross exaggeration to say G+ requires you to have your face in the phone all day.

 

[Westerner]

But isn’t that the supposed argument why FP+ needed to change? Because it wasn’t fair to the casual vacationer? If we are going to favor the “researchers” anyway, FP+ was far superior. I don’t see how people can argue this is remotely equal to FP+, even if it were free. But it’s not free, and it’s inferior.

There's always going to be a disparity between those research and know the system and those who do not. But the disparity is less under G+ than FP+ especially for offsite guests. This is covered at length in the Defunctland FP history video.

 

[DG-12]

The only other theme park I can compare Disney to is six flags and their skip the line system is $70-125 per person per day. Disney’s is $15. I think people are expecting way too much out of $15. To get more than 2-3 rides prices will have to go up so less people purchase it.

On the other hand, admission to Six Flags is half the cost of a Disney ticket. And our local Six Flag season passes are a fraction of the Disney cost. AND I can pay the $85 at Six Flags and go to the front of almost anything multiple times. At any time I choose. There's no having to schedule "what's available."
I agree, it's only $15 but it's $15 in conjunction with top tier park ticket pricing and you have to know how to use the system and you can only choose from what Disney makes available. The two systems are not comparable AND not in Disney's favor either.

 

[DisneyFive]

On the other hand, admission to Six Flags is half the cost of a Disney ticket. And our local Six Flag season passes are a fraction of the Disney cost. AND I can pay the $85 at Six Flags and go to the front of almost anything multiple times. At any time I choose. There's no having to schedule "what's available."
I agree, it's only $15 but it's $15 in conjunction with top tier park ticket pricing and you have to know how to use the system and you can only choose from what Disney makes available. The two systems are not comparable AND not in Disney's favor either.

Agreed, and it’s actually more like $16 with the taxes. …and it’s $16 per person, per day. That adds up to a LOT of money with a weeklong stay for a family

Dan

 

[ChipTheRescueRanger]

What failure? Doing exactly what it is designed to do.

Make more money.

What do people want for 15 bucks? To ride every single ride when they want with no wait?

To make extra money they should have just adapted FP+ and charged for it. As If you used FP+ correctly you could ride most rides with no wait and no cost.

G and G+ was suppose to make navigating the parks easier and more convenient, The next big thing for theme parks. This hasn't happened and its made guests enjoyment of the park drop. With 7Am booking windows, Guests glued to phones hoping for a LL.

The fact G+ gets constant bad reviews and complaints means something is not right. User feedback is so important.

The stupid thing is they only have to make some small tweaks to the process and people would enjoy it more. Even something as basic as being able to book your first ride x amount of days ahead if you pre book G+.

Release ride times during the day. To stop things like SDD being full by 7:01am

I have no issue with Disney charging for skip the lines. But they way they have gone about it hasn't been great.

 

[ckelly14]

Agree 100%; it wasn't ONLY about the money but the perceived difficulty of FP+ and complaints about having to book rides so far in advance. Current system is significantly worse.

 

[kilik64]

To make extra money they should have just adapted FP+ and charged for it. As If you used FP+ correctly you could ride most rides with no wait and no cost.

Define most rides. There were tiers on fp+ and you could only get one per tier.

G and G+ was suppose to make navigating the parks easier and more convenient, The next big thing for theme parks. This hasn't happened and its made guests enjoyment of the park drop. With 7Am booking windows, Guests glued to phones hoping for a LL.

What glued to phone? You book your first one before you even get to the park, and you have no reason to mess with phone for G+ until 1) you rode your first ll or 2) its been two hours after park open.

The fact G+ gets constant bad reviews and complaints means something is not right. User feedback is so important.

People like to complain. Im sure there are lots of people who use g+ and were happy with the service.

The stupid thing is they only have to make some small tweaks to the process and people would enjoy it more. Even something as basic as being able to book your first ride x amount of days ahead if you pre book G+.

People also complained about this with FP+, having to book in advance. Even if they did that people would still complain about their return time they got.

Release ride times during the day. To stop things like SDD being full by 7:01am

They do, have you not seen all the reports regarding SDD having more times that come up 10 mins or so after 7:01am? Also why is it a problem that the most popular ride for G+ sells out so fast? If you dont get it, rope drop it, you're already up early to try to get a g+.

I have no issue with Disney charging for skip the lines. But they way they have gone about it hasn't been great.

For you maybe. We went earlier this month and had a great time BECAUSE of g+. If we hadnt had that and known how to use it properly, would have been a pretty awful trip as far as riding what rides we wanted to do.

 

[Westerner]

On the other hand, admission to Six Flags is half the cost of a Disney ticket. And our local Six Flag season passes are a fraction of the Disney cost. AND I can pay the $85 at Six Flags and go to the front of almost anything multiple times. At any time I choose. There's no having to schedule "what's available."
I agree, it's only $15 but it's $15 in conjunction with top tier park ticket pricing and you have to know how to use the system and you can only choose from what Disney makes available. The two systems are not comparable AND not in Disney's favor either.

I'm not so sure. To be precise, doesn't Six Flags gives you a Flash pass gizmo to "book" a ride and then wait via a virtual queue until the gizmo tells you it's your turn? And you can book one ride at a time? That was our experience. There are 3 tiers of Flash Passes at Six Flags:

• Regular ~$80/pp/day and 0 savings on wait time, meaning if posted wait is 2 hours you get a return time 2 hours after booking and can do something else meanwhile
• Gold ~ $100/pp/day and 50% savings on wait time - return time would be 1 hour after booking in this example
• Platinum ~$150/pp/day and 90% savings on wait time - return time 12 minutes after booking

Only platinum can truly be called a line skipping system. It costs way more than G+ but has the advantage of booking what you want when you want.

 

[pens4821]

Define most rides. There were tiers on fp+ and you could only get one per tier.



What glued to phone? You book your first one before you even get to the park, and you have no reason to mess with phone for G+ until 1) you rode your first ll or 2) its been two hours after park open.



People like to complain. Im sure there are lots of people who use g+ and were happy with the service.


People also complained about this with FP+, having to book in advance. Even if they did that people would still complain about their return time they got.


They do, have you not seen all the reports regarding SDD having more times that come up 10 mins or so after 7:01am? Also why is it a problem that the most popular ride for G+ sells out so fast? If you dont get it, rope drop it, you're already up early to try to get a g+.


For you maybe. We went earlier this month and had a great time BECAUSE of g+. If we hadnt had that and known how to use it properly, would have been a pretty awful trip as far as riding what rides we wanted to do.

I agree with everything you said. We too were there earlier this month and thought genie+ was a great thing to have. It could use some tweaks but all in all we liked it.

 

[Love Tink]

I'm not so sure. To be precise, doesn't Six Flags gives you a Flash pass gizmo to "book" a ride and then wait via a virtual queue until the gizmo tells you it's your turn? And you can book one ride at a time? That was our experience. There are 3 tiers of Flash Passes at Six Flags:

• Regular ~$80/pp/day and 0 savings on wait time, meaning if posted wait is 2 hours you get a return time 2 hours after booking and can do something else meanwhile
• Gold ~ $100/pp/day and 50% savings on wait time - return time would be 1 hour after booking in this example
• Platinum ~$150/pp/day and 90% savings on wait time - return time 12 minutes after booking

Only platinum can truly be called a line skipping system. It costs way more than G+ but has the advantage of booking what you want when you want.

Ok, compare it to Universal. I have reservations at the Royal Pacific at the beginning of May for $305 per night after taxes/fees. That gives five people unlimited front of the line access on check in day and check out day. No senior thesis needed.

 

[ChipTheRescueRanger]

Define most rides. There were tiers on fp+ and you could only get one per tier.



What glued to phone? You book your first one before you even get to the park, and you have no reason to mess with phone for G+ until 1) you rode your first ll or 2) its been two hours after park open.



People like to complain. Im sure there are lots of people who use g+ and were happy with the service.


People also complained about this with FP+, having to book in advance. Even if they did that people would still complain about their return time they got.


They do, have you not seen all the reports regarding SDD having more times that come up 10 mins or so after 7:01am? Also why is it a problem that the most popular ride for G+ sells out so fast? If you dont get it, rope drop it, you're already up early to try to get a g+.


For you maybe. We went earlier this month and had a great time BECAUSE of g+. If we hadnt had that and known how to use it properly, would have been a pretty awful trip as far as riding what rides we wanted to do.

As I dont think we will agree on multiple points. No point us clogging up the forum.

Im glad you has success using G+ on your last trip.

 

[Westerner]

Ok, compare it to Universal. I have reservations at the Royal Pacific at the beginning of May for $305 per night after taxes/fees. That gives five people unlimited front of the line access on check in day and check out day. No senior thesis needed.

I used G+ over the holidays and Express Pass in March, here are my thoughts.

Universal Express is a lot more $. For my dates advance rates started at $140/day for 2-park unlimited, which allow rerides and can be used in both Universal parks. Prices rose to $160-$180 a few days ahead and reportedly can go much higher day of. You can get a discount by buying through UT. They are nonrefundable which poses a risk if you can’t go for some reason. This compares to a more stable ~$30/day for G+ and 1 $ILL.

Yes, you can get UEx for cheaper on a net per person basis by booking a deluxe room for 1 night and using it on checkin+checkout days. That’s what we did at HRH for $750 for 5 which worked out to $75/pp/day and was cancellable with 5 days notice to boot. It did require 2 trips to front desk.

UEx is more flexible. I don’t have to plan or crisscross the parks as much and there are no reservations to make. If we feel like going on ride X now, we can. I feel like the bigger and more diverse your party, the more valuable UEx is relative to G+/$ILL. We were 5 including DW, DD, bro and his GF, and me. Bro/GF sometimes wanted to do their own thing - no problem with UEx. With G+/$ILL it would have been harder to coordinate as they are first timers and earlier risers.

UEx has longer Express lane waits than G+/$ILL. I was often waiting 15-30mins with UEx. Sometimes more for the Hogwarts Express train which was inconvenient as that’s what you typically use to hop between the parks. With G+/$ILL most waits were very short, 5-15 mins typically.

 

[lynch34]

Leaving for Disney tonight and will be in the parks for the next week. First time with G+. I have a cousin who goes as often as I do and he got back a couple of months ago and said G+ was the worst thing WDW has ever done. I am interested in my perspective. He said he's done with them until they fix it or come up with something else and his wife (unapologetic Disney lover) has actually said the same.

 

[ScarletFire]

I've been micro-managing from KY my DD24 DHS day. It's been successful!

LL 7am: SDD 3:05 and RISE 4:25.

Rope Drop ToT, RnRC and MMRR. All completed by 9:00! I've trained my DD24 well!!

LL 10:30am: RnRC 2:40. Wants to ride again.

Will try to make another selection at 12:30pm. We have low expectations.

This is my first try using Genie+. It's not all bad. Disney should consider allowing guests to modify times after selections. That's my number one gripe! I originally balked at the cost but I'm over that now.

Edited to add:

LL 12:30: MMRR 8:00. DD24 could've gotten TSM but she loves MMRR.

LL 2:30: TSM 4:10. We refreshed.

 

[ENJDisneyFan]

Just back from a one day visit (3/31) to DHS. We used G+ and I was able to get the following:

7am - MMRR for 3:25pm
10:30am (2 hours after park opening) - RNRC for 5:25pm
12:30pm - TSMM for 8:10pm
2:30pm - Star Tours for 5:25pm

When we used the LL for each of these, the posted wait times were as follows:
MMRR - 75 min
RNRC - 80 min
TSMM - 25 min (but would probably have been 15 or less)
ST - 15 min (but was really walk on)

So the LL probably saved us about 2 1/2 hours in line. For $15, I believe it was worth it. However, you DO need to know how to use the system properly to maximize it's use. We were traveling with another family who only ended up getting one pass. She waited until she arrived at the park (around 9am) to get her first one, then by 11am the only times left were late in the evening (and they didn't plan on staying until park close).

Having now used G+ on multiple occasions, I can say without a doubt that I prefer FP+. I HATE being on my phone all day keeping track of times to book the next attraction.

 

[Stephy811]

Yowza…today looks rough at DHS…all the “good” rides were out of LL before 10a when I was I checking for my trip next month (I’ve been watching to get idea of when times extend for stacking etc)…anyways…this would indicate to me that people maybe got 1 good ride and only the ones that lucked out with early return times got a second headliner.

 

[godfather927]

Yowza…today looks rough at DHS…all the “good” rides were out of LL before 10a when I was I checking for my trip next month (I’ve been watching to get idea of when times extend for stacking etc)…anyways…this would indicate to me that people maybe got 1 good ride and only the ones that lucked out with early return times got a second headliner.

There's something odd about the data I'm seeing. Almost always, the return times progressively become later times up until park close, prior to a ride selling out. Today, rides like MMRR, ToT, and MFSR all had return times between 4-5pm prior to selling out. This seems to indicate that the park is closing at 5pm today, or there is an issue with the G+ service that IT is hopefully working on.

EDIT: Just checked the TP Lines app and confirmed HS is closing at 5pm today.

 

[Princesca]

I just watched Molly's latest video about skipping all the G+ lines in one day, and she was able to, plus an attraction or two that don't have G+, but it looked *miserable*. She was constantly 'fiddle faddling' on her phone, and worse (IMO) having to pinball all around the parks to get the rides she needed. And for the most part she seems to have relied on snacks, except for one salad, and stayed until after fireworks to ride one or two more. She says in the video that she doesn't recommend it as a way to tour the parks.