The difference between $300 and $400+ an hour is significant. There's the rich and then there's the filthy rich. Look at HHN, doesn't look like increased Express Pass prices impacted VIP tours.
Walt Disney World Tech News & Discussion- Magic Bands, Genie+, and more
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The difference between $300 and $400+ an hour is significant. There's the rich and then there's the filthy rich. Look at HHN, doesn't look like increased Express Pass prices impacted VIP tours.
As someone who just recently went for the first time and only did Hollywood Studios for my 1 day at WDW…
If I didn’t pay for Genie+ I feel like I wouldn’t have been able to ride much at all since standby queues were quite long. It seems like a weird system but hey I was able to book most the rides I wanted and LL queues were short when I arrived at my scheduled time. For one day it totally worked.
I understand the need for more hotel perks and such but the old system favoring hotels for 60 days advanced booking and non resort guests only 30 days, etc… It’s so hard to plan entire days out that far in advance. That always put me off visiting. At least the system now feels somewhat better since you do it all the day you’re visiting.
The whole thing just falls apart though since standby queues are way too long and rides going down unexpectedly makes it all worse screwing up LL reservations and making standby even worse as a result.
$15 per person the day I went seemed like a small amount to make the day totally worth it but felt like an unfortunate necessity otherwise my day would have been so much worse.
If I didn’t pay for Genie+ I feel like I wouldn’t have been able to ride much at all since standby queues were quite long. It seems like a weird system but hey I was able to book most the rides I wanted and LL queues were short when I arrived at my scheduled time. For one day it totally worked.
I understand the need for more hotel perks and such but the old system favoring hotels for 60 days advanced booking and non resort guests only 30 days, etc… It’s so hard to plan entire days out that far in advance. That always put me off visiting. At least the system now feels somewhat better since you do it all the day you’re visiting.
The whole thing just falls apart though since standby queues are way too long and rides going down unexpectedly makes it all worse screwing up LL reservations and making standby even worse as a result.
$15 per person the day I went seemed like a small amount to make the day totally worth it but felt like an unfortunate necessity otherwise my day would have been so much worse.
- Jan 30, 2013
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I think we need to look at what Disneyland Paris is doing. They currently sell 1000 of similar passes per day. I have a feeling one day that model will be brought over state side. People will complain about the price, but there will be less frustration about people “cutting the line” or having a poor wait experience. No one will ever be 100% happy.
First Look at "Hey Disney!" In-Room Voice Assistant at Disney World
Disney World has shared a first look at the Hey Disney in-room voice assistance system that has been under testing for months
blogmickey.com
Changes to the Park Pass are coming soon so that AP's will not need one if entering a park or park hopping after 2 PM:
Beginning in the next few months, Walt Disney World Annual Passholders will be able to visit the theme parks after 2 p.m. without needing a park reservation, except on Saturdays and Sundays at Magic Kingdom Park. Pass blockout dates will continue to apply like they do today. While the theme park reservation system remains important to manage attendance in our parks, especially on busier days, we realize our Passholders enjoy more spontaneous visits – and this change will make that possible.
We’ll share a start date with Passholders soon for when these offerings will become available.
blogmickey.com
Beginning in the next few months, Walt Disney World Annual Passholders will be able to visit the theme parks after 2 p.m. without needing a park reservation, except on Saturdays and Sundays at Magic Kingdom Park. Pass blockout dates will continue to apply like they do today. While the theme park reservation system remains important to manage attendance in our parks, especially on busier days, we realize our Passholders enjoy more spontaneous visits – and this change will make that possible.
We’ll share a start date with Passholders soon for when these offerings will become available.
Park Pass Reservation Requirements Changing for Annual Passholders
According to a memo from Disney Parks Chairman Josh D'Amaro, Walt Disney World Annual Passholders will not need to make Disney Park Pass Reservations for afternoon entry on most days
blogmickey.com
This, and other guest friendly changes by Disney (free parking for hotel guests & hotel discounts open to all), to reverse the negativity they've been receiving, might be good for Universal guests also. Universal, in 2022,
seemed to have a cavalier attitude on pricing and capacity issues, with all that easy stimulus money burning holes in customers pockets. Disney should be getting some of their wayward AP'ers
and former patrons back. So Universal might have to work a bit harder to keep their attendance near that 2022 level. Hopefully, Universal returns to their former customer friendly outlook before Irwin, and
moves away from becoming Disneylike.
seemed to have a cavalier attitude on pricing and capacity issues, with all that easy stimulus money burning holes in customers pockets. Disney should be getting some of their wayward AP'ers
and former patrons back. So Universal might have to work a bit harder to keep their attendance near that 2022 level. Hopefully, Universal returns to their former customer friendly outlook before Irwin, and
moves away from becoming Disneylike.
They'll get me back easier if I don't need to book a Park Pass past 2 (I never go before 2 anyway). I reupped my AP in October and i've been to the parks roughly 2-3 times since then. Just no interest currently.
- Feb 15, 2012
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Keep going. No reservations, don't be afraid to keep that phased opening approach. Bring back Magical Express and actually start talking about future projects again. With all those controlled leaks about how Iger was so angry about Chapek raising prices and cutting the product it's time to put up or shut up.
- Feb 15, 2012
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- Jul 8, 2019
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The purpose of park pass is yield management, but there's nothing to yield from annual passholders showing up after 2pm other than their discretionary spend on a snack or drink or whatever. Glad someone finally got that point across.
This was a bizarre one to me because if it was a good idea that was worth operating for so long then why did it suddenly become a bad idea worth shutting down. Ubers have gotten insanely expensive from the airport recently too.
- Feb 15, 2012
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They have to have some sort of ME replacement ready by end of 2024 for Epic Universe. Don't want guests deciding to get off on 528 and not even make it to I-4.
Still waiting for them to start selling three of their four annual pass options before I get too excited about new annual passmember perks.
Park specific Genie+ prices going into place. Here's what it looks like on June 27th:
- Multiple parks: $27
- Magic Kingdom only: $27
- EPCOT only: $18
- Hollywood Studios only: $24
- Animal Kingdom only: $16
Example Prices Released for New Park-Specific Disney Genie+ Pricing Structure
Disney World has released a park-specific pricing example for the June 27th Disney Genie+ change. We take a look at what to expect
blogmickey.com
I recognize that their reporting is suspect but Screamscape is reporting that WDW is planning on bringing back pre-trip reservations for Genie+. They stated that WDW President Vahle shared the news with 400 travel agencies. I don't know if this is going to happen or not, obviously, but it feels like a misstep.
I recall back in early summer Iger mentioned they were looking at adjustments to Genie+ in early 2024. So that info may well be correct....Like you, I don't personally care for it, unless you can buy it and make attraction selections on My Disney Experience like it was for Fastpass, in advance.
- Sep 12, 2019
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I would hate this! I’ve used Genie+ on two separate trips and love that the spontaneity was back. Checked into one ride then saw what was available. Also I got far more passes going one by one then back when I could preselect 3 then had to wait for the last to try to get another.
But I’m seeing this as a way for Disney to get an idea for park crowds with them dropping park reservations. It’s a park reservation without calling it that. Disney will have a great handle on anticipated guest numbers.
But I’m seeing this as a way for Disney to get an idea for park crowds with them dropping park reservations. It’s a park reservation without calling it that. Disney will have a great handle on anticipated guest numbers.
- Sep 15, 2012
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Just visited since the first time since 2019 so had my first run in with Genie+. While I possibly, maybe prefer this system to the previous FP+ reservation system where non-resort guests had basically no shot of shortcutting the lines of the major E-tickets due to the extended booking window for resort guests, it's still a hilariously wack system to me. Went to DHS so naturally Slinky is the only real pick for your first LL, but you gotta play the 7am lottery which had me stressing the f out the night before. Tapped as soon after 7am as I could and got a return time of 10:20 (park opened at 9). I immediately tried to play the slots and modify the time just for the heck of it, and the times ranged from 4-6pm at like 7:01. The fact that you can even play the slots over and over to potentially move up your return window is also wack and the entire system takes up more of my headspace than just enjoying the park and riding rides, the woes of a habitual minmaxer I guess.
So it was 10:15am, I was ready to tap in for Slinky but the ride was down. I asked a CM at the entrance what I should do since I would normally be able to tap in at this time and immediately book my next LL for Tower of Terror. I'm not sure he even understood the system since he just said to make sure not to tap in for Slinky or book another LL. I Googled and saw that my Slinky LL would convert to a multiple experiences LL, which didn't happen until like five minutes into my window (which was 10 minutes after I realized there was an issue), so I was starting to get a little concerned but whatever. By this time I had hopped in the standby line for Toy Story Mania and saw that my LL converted to a multiple experiences LL. Some number of minutes after all this the app tells me that I'm eligible to book another LL, which also confused me because I hadn't tapped in for Slinky, nor had it been two hours after park opening to get a stackable LL. I wasn't sure if booking another would cancel the multiple experiences LL, so after some furious Googling I learned that multiple experiences LLs exist in a different pool than regular LLs and that you can hold both at the same time. I was able to book ToT at that point, but not until after wasting a decent amount of time, again, on my phone doing on the fly research.
I also rose RotR for the first time and it was really impressive! Unfortunately purchasing an individual LL for it was...I think the first time in my life that I've essentially paid separately to ride an individual ride at a theme park. I can't help but feel this influenced my perception of the ride somewhat, as while I found it extremely impressive, I'm not sure it was necessarily worth the $25 to skip a two-hour line.
Massive wait time inflating also seems to be a thing to some extent? I hopped in line for MMRR at like 9:20am with a posted 75-minute wait and waited only 20 minutes to get to the preshow. Only did this because I heard from a friend that they do this particularly badly on MMRR to try and sell Genie+. Kinda scummy?!
So overall I had fun (ToT carries this park so hard) but holy hell the Genie+ system can be very complicated and confusing. I don't want to be "that guy" and say that any system with a little bit of a learning curve or friction is automatically "too complicated," but between the 7am lottery, playing the slots constantly for a chance at a better time, multiple experiences LLs that aren't explained well enough imo, and the amount of optimization you can feel compelled to do by tapping in five minutes before your return time and immediately booking another LL, it's just a lot. And on top of all this, you have to pay extra $$ to have the privilege of stressing out over it. As a regular schmuck I don't see why Disney doesn't just copy Universal's Express system and just sell like a $150/day once-per-ride express ticket that gets you in the LLs. I would ultimately prefer no line skipping option at all, but what I like about Express is that you either have it or you don't. Once you have it, there's no scheduling to consider, no slots to play, you just walk up and ride. For most of the day at DHS I feel like my brain had to be switched on to a higher degree than what makes sense when you're on vacation (though admittedly I'm a local ). I also have no idea how a first timer is supposed to understand any of this or benefit from it? Like if you don't know that you need to make a good LL pick at 7am sharp, you're just kinda screwed for that ride unless you're good with waiting in a long line.
So it was 10:15am, I was ready to tap in for Slinky but the ride was down. I asked a CM at the entrance what I should do since I would normally be able to tap in at this time and immediately book my next LL for Tower of Terror. I'm not sure he even understood the system since he just said to make sure not to tap in for Slinky or book another LL. I Googled and saw that my Slinky LL would convert to a multiple experiences LL, which didn't happen until like five minutes into my window (which was 10 minutes after I realized there was an issue), so I was starting to get a little concerned but whatever. By this time I had hopped in the standby line for Toy Story Mania and saw that my LL converted to a multiple experiences LL. Some number of minutes after all this the app tells me that I'm eligible to book another LL, which also confused me because I hadn't tapped in for Slinky, nor had it been two hours after park opening to get a stackable LL. I wasn't sure if booking another would cancel the multiple experiences LL, so after some furious Googling I learned that multiple experiences LLs exist in a different pool than regular LLs and that you can hold both at the same time. I was able to book ToT at that point, but not until after wasting a decent amount of time, again, on my phone doing on the fly research.
I also rose RotR for the first time and it was really impressive! Unfortunately purchasing an individual LL for it was...I think the first time in my life that I've essentially paid separately to ride an individual ride at a theme park. I can't help but feel this influenced my perception of the ride somewhat, as while I found it extremely impressive, I'm not sure it was necessarily worth the $25 to skip a two-hour line.
Massive wait time inflating also seems to be a thing to some extent? I hopped in line for MMRR at like 9:20am with a posted 75-minute wait and waited only 20 minutes to get to the preshow. Only did this because I heard from a friend that they do this particularly badly on MMRR to try and sell Genie+. Kinda scummy?!
So overall I had fun (ToT carries this park so hard) but holy hell the Genie+ system can be very complicated and confusing. I don't want to be "that guy" and say that any system with a little bit of a learning curve or friction is automatically "too complicated," but between the 7am lottery, playing the slots constantly for a chance at a better time, multiple experiences LLs that aren't explained well enough imo, and the amount of optimization you can feel compelled to do by tapping in five minutes before your return time and immediately booking another LL, it's just a lot. And on top of all this, you have to pay extra $$ to have the privilege of stressing out over it. As a regular schmuck I don't see why Disney doesn't just copy Universal's Express system and just sell like a $150/day once-per-ride express ticket that gets you in the LLs. I would ultimately prefer no line skipping option at all, but what I like about Express is that you either have it or you don't. Once you have it, there's no scheduling to consider, no slots to play, you just walk up and ride. For most of the day at DHS I feel like my brain had to be switched on to a higher degree than what makes sense when you're on vacation (though admittedly I'm a local ). I also have no idea how a first timer is supposed to understand any of this or benefit from it? Like if you don't know that you need to make a good LL pick at 7am sharp, you're just kinda screwed for that ride unless you're good with waiting in a long line.
- Aug 5, 2018
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Sunk cost at this point, they spent an insane amount of money developing out Genie et al and can’t admit they were wrong
