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

[Wakey]

So far, the only WDW rides I’m seeing as confirmed as not being included in Genie+ are Remy, RotR, and seven dwarfs. Even a ride like Smugger’s run is included. the other thing I think people need to keep in mind is how much these optimized itineraries could reduce your wait time on their own by showing you when the best time is to ride something.

im not sure where you get this from. They say there are around 40 attractions, but current fastpasses are for around 65. Disney’s own genie screenshot shows that Space Mountain, a 1970’s ride, for example, is an up charge.

 

[Mokat76]

The first time I went to WDW years ago it was truly a magical experience. It stayed that way for a few years, but that magic slowly started waning. Now it’s gone. Now that they are over-the-top blatant about their money grabs, it’s nothing but an overhyped, overpriced money pit. That’s a shame.

 

[chefski]

The first time I went to WDW years ago it was truly a magical experience. It stayed that way for a few years, but that magic slowly started waning. Now it’s gone. Now that they are over-the-top blatant about their money grabs, it’s nothing but an overhyped, overpriced money pit. That’s a shame.

Sad to say I don't think your far off the mark with this, I don't think the actual price is bad in honesty but when there was already something in place that was free then its just pure greed.
Park tickets are already expensive when you take into account the following

Disney Day Ticket $130 ((£95)
Universal Day Ticket $130-$140 (£95-£100)
Disneyland Paris Day Ticket $110 (£80.99)


Over here we have a park called Alton Towers now its not as big as Disney but has plenty of rides and more along the lines of Universal for thrill rides, this is one of the better parks we have and its half the price of Disney. I haven't been for a number of years but it has more rides than any of the Disney Parks at half the cost. Yeah 90% of the time we get rain but that's just the UK

Day Ticket $62 (£46)

Let me finish by saying I would rather go to Disney as our family love it but the increases in price are starting to make the decision harder.

 

[Garyjames220]

So can I purchase genie plus for my ticket next year in advance

 

[luv2cheer92]

What I don't think people get is that there is no longer free fast passes, which means everybody who doesn't buy a lightning pass will be in the standby line.

Where are you seeing that? I'm not getting that at all.

 

[luv2cheer92]

What I am not clear on is how much the tier one rides will cost. What the price tag to go on the SDMT per person on the FP line? $5, $10, $15, $20?!?

From what I saw, the projected range is $8-20

 

[luv2cheer92]

The first time I went to WDW years ago it was truly a magical experience. It stayed that way for a few years, but that magic slowly started waning. Now it’s gone. Now that they are over-the-top blatant about their money grabs, it’s nothing but an overhyped, overpriced money pit. That’s a shame.

I truly feel sorry for those that feel this way. As someone who has been going for over 30 years, that magic has only grown.

 

[BadPinkTink]

As an international solo visitor to Disneyland California I am actually excited and loving this.

I never used Maxpass as there was a free alternative which worked just as well. But now that its all paid, I am fine paying the extra $20 per day.

I am banned by a Presidential Executive Order from entering USA and my last visit was June 2019. I already have park tickets from my cancelled June 2020 trip, so basically on my next visit I will only have to pay an extra $20 per day.

Due to travel and other Covid restrictions in my country, I still have the money I had saved for my cancelled June 2020 visit. My financial situation has actually benefited from Covid, as I have worked all the way through but have had to cancel all travel and my day to day spending has been reduced. Therefore for my next Disneyland trip I am in a far better financial position than on any of my previous trips.

I know that I am a very different type of park visitor than most here on Diss, but I'm sure there are a lot like me, people who due to Covid have huge pent up demand AND are in a better financial position.

I know I am in a very lucky position to be part of the upper section of the "K-shaped economic recovery" I also work in the tech and internet industry where during Covid my job has been to help my clients pivot their business to eCommerce and mobile first, so I am excited to experience all the new tech experiences at Disneyland.

I guess maybe I have a different outlook as being able to keep up with and adapt to the rapidly changing tech and internet industry is part of my job The changes that Disney is making excite me, as I get to experience what a high end company can do when they have the huge resources that Disney have.

I am not resistant to change, I embrace it. To just get to Disneyland cost me over $2000, thats just flights and hotel, so the pay per ride system is not really a big expense to me.

This new change is the natural ebb and flow of the customer lifecycle.

For every family that has been going to Disneyland for the last 20 to 30 years that is priced out, there will be the new family that starts going to Disneyland.

Having been at the front of helping business survive Covid over the last 18 months, the way to survive is get rid of the fuzzy feel good and just concentrate on making money any way how. Yes I know this will anger many here on the Dis but thats the way it is now.

Disney don't care WHO is in the parks as long as people ARE in the parks.

Disney don't care that your family has been going to the parks for the last 20 to 30 years and now feel slighted that things have changed and its not YOUR Disney parks experience any more.

They will move forward and change things and its up to you whether you stay stuck in the past and resist the change and not go to the parks or whether you embrace the change, and enjoy the new Disney Parks experience.

I'm sure if you go back through the years on Dis, you will find the same types of discussions when Maxpass started, when Galaxys Edge was announced, when Carsland was announced, when Disney changed to making restaurant reservations through the website and App, when the dining packages with the exclusive viewing areas for Fantasmic and World of Colour were first announced.

Its all a cycle. People get used to THEIR way of experiencing Disney Parks, Disney as a company move forward with technology and new ideas, people complain and say they are done with Disney, the new changes become normal and accepted, and the cycle starts again, >>>>People get used to THEIR way of experiencing Disney Parks........

 

[igrsod]

I was thinking the same, but someone priced out $1,000 extra for their family! Yikes. I’m thinking when it’s the family, no genie + and lightening lanes; when it’s my wife and I, genie+ and lightening lane (lol),

But when you have kids, wouldn't you want to not have to wait in long lines? I would probably do it the opposite way so as to avoid grumpy kids. Just save a bit more before you take that family trip.

 

[igrsod]

Where are you seeing that? I'm not getting that at all.

I agree with what the OP was saying here. For tier one rides.... unless you purchase a LL, everyone will be in Stand by. So, we will have to wait and see how many people are willing to shell out the $ for this privilege.
I'm hoping not that many, and the SB lines will be quicker than with the free FP system. This will be the only way that I will "like" this Genie.

 

[luv2cheer92]

I agree with what the OP was saying here. For tier one rides.... unless you purchase a LL, everyone will be in Stand by. So, we will have to wait and see how many people are willing to shell out the $ for this privilege.
I'm hoping not that many, and the SB lines will be quicker than with the free FP system. This will be the only way that I will "like" this Genie.

That wasn't the part of the post I was disagreeing with. It was him saying that he doesn't think people realize that FP is no longer free. I haven't seen a single post that indicated someone thought otherwise.

 

[igrsod]

Someone in another post said you had to book genie plus for the day, then the LL tier 1 were add ons......but, if you have a specific ride you want to ride, buy genie plus for the day then there aren't any LL left for that ride you are really going to be out of luck...hoping that post wasn't right.

It's interesting, I haven't seen anything from official sources on this, but have seen both scenarios offered up by posters on this site. So I guess the real answer for now, is wait and see when Disney releases all the details.
I'm not sure which way I would prefer. There are times I might want to just purchase one LL for a big new ride and not the Genie+, but overall it would be better for stand by lines if only those that purchase genie + could book LL too, as that extra extra $ might deter some people, thus keeping wait times lower for us plebs.

 

[Liquidice]

So AP holders can’t purchase Genie + even if you’re staying on property? That doesn’t seem fair…

No this is not true, Annual Passholders CAN in fact purchase Genie+ through the app each day. However, MaxPass used to have an Annual option for AP holders, you paid $100 for MaxPass for the entire year. This is not going to be an option for AP holders or MagicKey holders at least initially - sounds like they may add it on later.

Where are you seeing that? I'm not getting that at all.

Free Fastpass is completely gone. There is no free paper option or free Fastpass option at WDW or DLR. There is an entire paragraph in the Disney Parks blog talking about how Fastpass is being retired...

You can check it out here: https://disneyparks.disney.go.com/blog/2021/08/introducing-disney-genie/

But here is the quote:

While the FASTPASS, FastPass+ and Disney MaxPass services will be retired, we’re incredibly excited about the flexibility and choices Disney Genie service provides. You can choose from all of our new options, a mix of them or none at all, and continue to have a great experience no matter how you decide to plan your best Disney day.

Note that they say you can choose from all of our new options - the new options are ONLY paid options (Genie+ and Lightning Lane for Tier 1).

 

[luv2cheer92]

No this is not true, Annual Passholders CAN in fact purchase Genie+ through the app each day. However, MaxPass used to have an Annual option for AP holders, you paid $100 for MaxPass for the entire year. This is not going to be an option for AP holders or MagicKey holders at least initially - sounds like they may add it on later.



Free Fastpass is completely gone. There is no free paper option or free Fastpass option at WDW or DLR. There is an entire paragraph in the Disney Parks blog talking about how Fastpass is being retired...

You can check it out here: https://disneyparks.disney.go.com/blog/2021/08/introducing-disney-genie/

But here is the quote:


Note that they say you can choose from all of our new options - the new options are ONLY paid options (Genie+ and Lightning Lane for Tier 1).

Not even close to what I was referring to, but thanks.

 

[Liquidice]

I'll continue to say my biggest gripe with this is that Genie+ doesn't include all of the rides. I don't mind paying the $15 per person per day, but now I have to pay for both Genie+ and individual rides if I want to have a shorter wait for Tier 1 attractions and some Tier 2 attractions.

Yes, we knew paid Fastpass was coming - however after Magic Key came out, we all figured it wouldn't be as bad as many had feared. Although there was the recent blog post from Len on TP that basically said this could be terrible - he also predicted a virtual standby line, which I'm surprised Disney didn't announce to be honest because that would dull the pain of a paid Tier 1 system. If you could get in a virtual standby line for Slinky Dog Dash and virtually wait 2 hours for the ride and then only wait maybe ~30 minutes in the actual queue, that is better imho than having to pay for it OR having to wait in the actual standby line for 2 hours.

I also was under the impression that Disney would provide some benefit to staying on site. Who knows, maybe they still will - but free Genie+ to onsite guests doesn't sound feasible except maybe as a promotion like free Genie+ instead of free Dining plan.

I also would have liked to have seen an annual option - like Genie+ with your annual pass for $100 per year, but they have stated they aren't doing anything like that at least initially.

 

[Liquidice]

Not even close to what I was referring to, but thanks.

Oh sorry, the message you were quoting said this:

What I don't think people get is that there is no longer free fast passes, which means everybody who doesn't buy a lightning pass will be in the standby line.

And you said:

Where are you seeing that? I'm not getting that at all.

So I thought you were asking where you're seeing that free fastpasses are no longer a thing. Sorry that I misunderstood!

 

[Marionnette]

So AP holders can’t purchase Genie + even if you’re staying on property? That doesn’t seem fair…

I took it to mean that APs cannot purchase an add on that covers the entire year of the AP. DL passholders could pay one fee and get MaxPass for the year. Now, AP holders will have to purchase day by day just like someone with a multi-day ticket.

 

[luv2cheer92]

Oh sorry, the message you were quoting said this:


And you said:


So I thought you were asking where you're seeing that free fastpasses are no longer a thing. Sorry that I misunderstood!

I was confused as to how he thought people were thinking they were still free.

 

[Cynner]

So everyone who visited this summer had an absolutely miserable time? Not what I heard but OK.

I think this summer is not a fair comparison. The beginning of the summer was just starting to increase capacity and even now it's not full capacity. The complete lack of Fastpasses makes the standby line go faster, adding back in the Lightning lanes will impact how fast those Standby lines go again as well. But even then, in July the lines were BAD and lots of people were complaining.

I guess it comes down to your experience with FP+ - my experience was always positive, the last trip I went where FP+ was available was January 2020 and I was able to get every Fastpass I wanted, including Tier 1 attractions. We did each park for 2 days some parks we went 3 times - so the rides got split over the week. We still did some rides early in the morning at rope drop and occasionally got additional fastpasses through the app, but never a Tier 1 attraction - but we were really happy with the result.

Now, even if I pay for Genie+ I know I won't get on any Tier 1 attractions without waiting in a standby line. I'd actually be OK if Genie+ was $15 or $20 per person per day and included all of the Tier 1 attractions like MaxPass - but having to pay for Tier 2 attractions and then pay per ride if I want to use the Lightning Lane for Tier 1 attractions just sounds expensive and I wouldn't be happy with the result. But hey, I also hate apps that do micro-transactions - this seems more geared towards those that like that. The difference though is an app with micro-transactions is usually free and then they try to entice you to pay while Disney World costs hundreds of dollars to get in and now they'll try to get you to pay again. Just feels like a cash grab all the while they're taking away more and more perks.

I really hate not knowing if I'll get the rides we want. It's going to be super hard to plan around restaurant reservations - or not hard maybe, but you'll possibly have to skip a Genie+ pass opportunity because of a reservation instead of being able to plan around it. I have played the chain Fastpass+ game after I've used up my first 3, and really, it was so intensive it took away from being able to relax and just enjoy the park. I guess it gives you something to do in line while you wait in Standby - mash that Find Pass button I have friends and families I serve as sort of a free park planner, and it's going to be very stressful trying to make sure I can get them on the rides they want - for some of them, this is a trip of a lifetime. So will probably pull the trigger on some paid passes for those trips, but I would not normally.
Though, I may always pay for FOP, I love that ride so much, and I definitely consider my hourly time worth more than $20. I'm that group that they had to limit the paid passes because of, I would have done at least one trip and chain rode FOP for a day

What I am not clear on is how much the tier one rides will cost. What the price tag to go on the SDMT per person on the FP line? $5, $10, $15, $20?!?

It's going to be like the HOT lanes around some cities, a sliding scale based on how crowded the park is and how popular the ride is. So Space Mountain may not be that much, but FOP sure will. And I think Space Mountain is only on the list because they really want 2 per park and MK doesn't have anything else you'd need it for until Tron comes out. Soon as Tron comes out I think Space Mountain will go into the Genie+ pool. But the range I've heard is $8-$18.

I also don't fully trust the free Genie planning service. Disney is totally going to use that to do crowd control - and I get it, I would to - but as someone who likes to go against the crowd I'm not a fan of the manipulation. I have a Touring Plan subscription for the next two years, and will continue to use that and compare it to the Genie free planning service - as I know the TP folks are going to as well. We all know the Disney reported wait times are massaged to make people not want to get in line to manage the crowds, Genie is definitely going to be an even more complex layer on that.

So my big complaints about the new services is my inability to plan before the trip. Forcing us to have to get up at 7am just feels mean. The $15 cost is not a big deal to me as much as not being able to lock those in ahead of time. The other is the lack of resort advantage - though I could probably do a WDW trip without Genie+ with just the 30m morning and extra extended hours and get all the rides I want at MK and EP. HS I think I'd pay for Genie+ - especially since it includes Millium Falcon and all the real thrill rides (Slinky is cute, but it's not a roller coaster), and I'd pay for an al-a-cart ticket for FOP, but don't need Genie+ in AK otherwise.

My stays are really going to look like this at this point:
Sat & Sun stay in a value or moderate on sale and maybe take advantage of .5 early morning and then just leave the parks.
Monday - switch to a deluxe resort - Epcot w/ EEH no Genie+, Virtual Queue Remy, Rope Drop Test Track, ride stuff all night
Tuesday - HS Virtual Queue RoTR (or Buy Ala Cart when friends who will never go again are w/ us) [Can you do both?!], would do Genie+ here
Wednesday - MK early .5 and EEH, no Genie+ or ala cart until Tron, ride stuff all night
Thursday - Check out of hotel - use resort 7am to Ala Cart FOP, rope drop Safari, no Genie
Move offsite or to a cheaper resort after and just take it easy the other days - pick a place with a nice pool and just pop into the parks for casual days with my AP.

Likely to become a big fan of the Swan & Dolphin, already got my Marriott awards card.

 

[igrsod]

I was confused as to how he thought people were thinking they were still free.

I don't think he was saying that people thought FP was still free... I think he was saying that people weren't thinking it through... that now that there is no free FP, the SB lines would be quicker.