Disney Genie announcement

[ccbloom]

WTH? What a mess. Those charge errors should not be going on. That's the bare minimum of service expectations.

I would stop by guest relations at the park when you have time (or look for one of the blue umbrellas in the park) and let them know how that all went down.

We did that and, luckily, she changed it for us for immediate entry. I think it was only because we had a conflicting dining reservation. So we got on the ride. Just an aggravating experience. She said it holds the time for less than 5 seconds even if you’ve selected it.

 

[mom2rtk]

We did that and, luckily, she changed it for us for immediate entry. I think it was only because we had a conflicting dining reservation. So we got on the ride. Just an aggravating experience. She said it holds the time for less than 5 seconds even if you’ve selected it.

Which isn't long enough clearly. And it's entirely within their control. I don't get it at all. Maybe try 15 or 30 seconds? Doesn't seem that complicated to test out.

 

[SMF_mom23]

Good heavens.... As time goes on and I read more and more about how the historically "slower" times are so crowded and Genie+ is frustrating to the point of being maddening, making it very difficult to enjoy a more relaxed WDW experience, the more I think, "Maybe we should just skip the WDW part of this trip and just hit USO; save the money and do an all-inclusive vacation or cruise over the holidays next year." *sigh*

I wonder how many people are "never going back" to WDW after their next (or last) trip.... I get that those on the boards are a small subset of the WDW fandom/parkgoers, but it's part of what makes me think so many "regular" WDW guests are going to stop going or take that once-in-a-lifetime trip and not only never go back, but spread the word of their dissatisfaction to the point that a significant amount of other people will no longer consider WDW vacations a must-do in the years to come.

Probably I'm thinking too much into it and giving G+ too much influence, but it seems the general trend of the stories/reviews I'm reading are that WDW just isn't worth it to more and more people.

 

[ccbloom]

I wonder how many people are "never going back" to WDW after their next (or last) trip.... I get that those on the boards are a small subset of the WDW fandom/parkgoers, but it's part of what makes me think so many "regular" WDW guests are going to stop going or take that once-in-a-lifetime trip and not only never go back, but spread the word of their dissatisfaction to the point that a significant amount of other people will no longer consider WDW vacations a must-do in the years to come.

It has definitely crossed our minds more than once this trip. And we’ve even talked at-length about what we might want to do instead, how much we could rent our points out for, and other details that hadn’t crossed our minds on past trips.

Something has just felt “off” this trip for me. I was trying to explain it to my husband. The spontaneity is gone. The little special things the cast members would do unexpectedly are few and far between if at all (the majority are pleasant, but there’s something missing), and the G+ stuff just put me over the edge a bit. We don’t get up at 7am on vacations. We didn’t care much about VQ’s. We loved knowing what rides we were doing and then hopping on something with a low wait as we passed by. I spent way too much time on my phone at MK yesterday, too.

All of this mixed with my daughter now being 15 and been here for most of her vacations, definitely has us thinking about other ways to spend our time and money. It’s a sad realization, and I may have even shed a couple tears.

 

[morrik5]

It has definitely crossed our minds more than once this trip. And we’ve even talked at-length about what we might want to do instead, how much we could rent our points out for, and other details that hadn’t crossed our minds on past trips.

Something has just felt “off” this trip for me. I was trying to explain it to my husband. The spontaneity is gone. The little special things the cast members would do unexpectedly are few and far between if at all (the majority are pleasant, but there’s something missing), and the G+ stuff just put me over the edge a bit. We don’t get up at 7am on vacations. We didn’t care much about VQ’s. We loved knowing what rides we were doing and then hopping on something with a low wait as we passed by. I spent way too much time on my phone at MK yesterday, too.

All of this mixed with my daughter now being 15 and been here for most of her vacations, definitely has us thinking about other ways to spend our time and money. It’s a sad realization, and I may have even shed a couple tears.

Just got in tonight after spending all last week at WDW. Even our daughter mentioned the difference in overflowing trash cans and the inability to enjoy free Fast Passes and constantly being on MDE to see lower wait times.

 

[Disturbia]

WTH? What a mess. Those charge errors should not be going on. That's the bare minimum of service expectations.

I would stop by guest relations at the park when you have time (or look for one of the blue umbrellas in the park) and let them know how that all went down.

Unfortunately we’ve been to the umbrellas and they don’t do anything for an error message. The error message was not for LLIA but for Genie+ RnRC. I was told maybe someone cancelled for fewer people and I was booking for more so it didn’t go through. Nothing they can do about it.

Now for conflicting reservations they will attempt to move it or you can ask a refund (we had to get a refund for ROTR because we had to leave and it conflicted with dining).

 

[Disturbia]

We did that and, luckily, she changed it for us for immediate entry. I think it was only because we had a conflicting dining reservation. So we got on the ride. Just an aggravating experience. She said it holds the time for less than 5 seconds even if you’ve selected it.

It doesn’t hold the time. In the video (at 7:28 mins) Molly selects 9:30 am and in her payment screen it’s 9:30 am but when she clicks final payment the LL books into the late evening- 7:25 pm, so you don’t have 5 seconds

If something like this happens with an LLIA (dining conflict), head down to the front desk at your resort (it will be a long line and took me 30 mins) but they changed SDMT to something that didn’t conflict with dining.

https://www.disboards.com/threads/the-genie-usage-tips-and-strategy-only-thread.3857056/page-206

 

[Kbrb]

It doesn’t hold the time. In the video (at 7:28 mins) Molly selects 9:30 am and in her payment screen it’s 9:30 am but when she clicks final payment the LL books into the late evening- 7:25 pm, so you don’t have 5 seconds

If something like this happens with an LLIA (dining conflict), head down to the front desk at your resort (it will be a long line and took me 30 mins) but they changed SDMT to something that didn’t conflict with dining.

https://www.disboards.com/threads/the-genie-usage-tips-and-strategy-only-thread.3857056/page-206

Thats shocking IT just awful. Disney are messing this up from top to bottom. Poor cast members having to deal with that every day. im sure 90% of people are cool but you know they are getting abuse.

 

[Lisann]

It has definitely crossed our minds more than once this trip. And we’ve even talked at-length about what we might want to do instead, how much we could rent our points out for, and other details that hadn’t crossed our minds on past trips.

Something has just felt “off” this trip for me. I was trying to explain it to my husband. The spontaneity is gone. The little special things the cast members would do unexpectedly are few and far between if at all (the majority are pleasant, but there’s something missing), and the G+ stuff just put me over the edge a bit. We don’t get up at 7am on vacations. We didn’t care much about VQ’s. We loved knowing what rides we were doing and then hopping on something with a low wait as we passed by. I spent way too much time on my phone at MK yesterday, too.

All of this mixed with my daughter now being 15 and been here for most of her vacations, definitely has us thinking about other ways to spend our time and money. It’s a sad realization, and I may have even shed a couple tears.

Well said.

If you can (and everyone else), take the time to write to guest services. When they hear enough of the same complaints over and over by the thousands, maybe they’ll do something.

Your sentiments have been echoed by so many. I do not want my face in my phone all the time, all day. It’s not enjoyable and I feel as if the “planning” never ends, even once you get there!

Disney… just give us back our three free Fastpasses…is that so flippin much to ask for??!!!

 

[BadPinkTink]

Disney… just give us back our three free Fastpasses…is that so flippin much to ask for??!!!

yes from a business point of view it is too much to ask for. Businesses are continually moving forward, making changes and embracing new technology and ways of doing things. A business which changes with market and world changes is a business that survives.

Disney have changed from the old Fastpass system to the new Genie system. As time progresses they will change and update this system but they wont ever go back to the old Fastpass system as it was in 2019.

Businesses expect customer churn when changes happen and new systems , policies and procedures are implemented. It is expected that a % of repeat customers will drop off and not come back and its expected that there will be a % of new customers to replace the lost repeat customers.

This is whats happening now. The parks are still full, customer spend is up but the type of people visiting have changed since 2019.

At the end of the day, Disney dont care if the family in the park is a repeat customer or a new customer, as long as when the park closes the spend per customer number hits the budget target.

 

[Lisann]

yes from a business point of view it is too much to ask for. Businesses are continually moving forward, making changes and embracing new technology and ways of doing things. A business which changes with market and world changes is a business that survives.

Disney have changed from the old Fastpass system to the new Genie system. As time progresses they will change and update this system but they wont ever go back to the old Fastpass system as it was in 2019.

Businesses expect customer churn when changes happen and new systems , policies and procedures are implemented. It is expected that a % of repeat customers will drop off and not come back and its expected that there will be a % of new customers to replace the lost repeat customers.

This is whats happening now. The parks are still full, customer spend is up but the type of people visiting have changed since 2019.

At the end of the day, Disney dont care if the family in the park is a repeat customer or a new customer, as long as when the park closes the spend per customer number hits the budget target.

I'm not talking from a change perspective of an old to a new system. I'm talking $$. I'm sure the day will come that we will have to pay more to get into Fantasyland vs Tomorrowland, or pay extra to get near the castle, or pay a premium to go to "fill in the blank". That's my point. These "a la carte" changes are so sad.

 

[Disturbia]

I think more likely we are getting the $90 12 ride pass coming soon (already started/announced in Paris). When pay per ride was launched there, the Genie+ was launched at WDW a few months later.

https://wdwnt.com/2022/04/confirmed...ultimate-to-skip-the-lines-at-12-attractions/

 

[BroadwayHermione5]

I think more likely we are getting the $90 unlimited pass coming soon (already started in Paris). When pay per ride was launched there, the Genie+ was launched at WDW a few months later.

https://wdwnt.com/2022/04/confirmed...ultimate-to-skip-the-lines-at-12-attractions/

So essentially like unlimited express pass at Universal. This is can get behind and was behind from the start. It should’ve been like Universal especially with hotels

 

[Disturbia]

Thats shocking IT just awful. Disney are messing this up from top to bottom. Poor cast members having to deal with that every day. im sure 90% of people are cool but you know they are getting abuse.

I wasn’t abusive (I had already screamed a few choice words trying to refresh); times disappeared completely but I knew of the second release between 7:15-7:17 am so I quickly made my way to the front desk. I can unequivocally say having to go to the front desk in my pajamas and crazy hair and stand there for 30 mins instead of getting ready to leave for the parks was extremely stressful for me (no wonder so many guests are mad).

In the video Molly has only 2 choices so I’m thinking she didn’t try exactly at 7 am. I did time it exactly at 7 am from our resort (AOA) and when I clicked 9:30 am all times were available; it was surprising and disappointing that I got SDMT conflicting with dinner. I didn’t stop to screenshot or anything but noticed the background said 9:30 am on my payment screen while it was grayed (payment was going through). So definitely there is no holding for a few seconds, which even 2 seconds would be a great improvement

 

[Disturbia]

At $90 a day and for our family of 5 it would be $3,150 for 7 days. It would force most people to shorten trips and Disney can make more money (less ticket discounts for longer trips). ADR availability would be better as well.

On the flip side, we would buy only for MK (2 day) and Hs (1 day) so it would be $1,350 (similar cost as Genie+ and LLIA for us right now). AK and Epcot would be a mess (long lines as it won’t be worth it to buy there).

We cancelled Topolinos dinner on HS day because of the uncertainty of Genie+ (Disney looses money on last min cancellations-$50 instead of $300).

Maybe they should also giveback after hours for AK (FOP tops ROTR for our family) and HS if they want to make more money. Also, give all resort guests extra magic hours for each of the parks. AOA suites cost more than some deluxe resort rooms.

 

[Smugpugmug]

I think more likely we are getting the $90 12 ride pass coming soon (already started/announced in Paris). When pay per ride was launched there, the Genie+ was launched at WDW a few months later.

https://wdwnt.com/2022/04/confirmed...ultimate-to-skip-the-lines-at-12-attractions/

I have a feeling that with WDW, knowing the demand and popularity of the parks, will have this cost more than $90. Or they will be forced to cap sales like Express Pass at Universal does. I could imagine a service like that costing the same or more than unlimited Express in the US parks.

 

[BroadwayHermione5]

At $90 a day and for our family of 5 it would be $3,150 for 7 days. It would force most people to shorten trips and Disney can make more money (less ticket discounts for longer trips). ADR availability would be better as well.

On the flip side, we would buy only for MK (2 day) and Hs (1 day) so it would be $1,350 (similar cost as Genie+ and LLIA for us right now). AK and Epcot would be a mess (long lines as it won’t be worth it to buy there).

We cancelled Topolinos dinner on HS day because of the uncertainty of Genie+ (Disney looses money on last min cancellations-$50 instead of $300).

Maybe they should also giveback after hours for AK (FOP tops ROTR for our family) and HS if they want to make more money. Also, give all resort guests extra magic hours for each of the parks. AOA suites cost more than some deluxe resort rooms.

This is a problem with express pass as well. We looked into it for USH this summer since we liked it at UOR…..even on the discount sight we use from our places of employment it was so expensive and not worth it

 

[Aluminum Falcon]

I think more likely we are getting the $90 12 ride pass coming soon (already started/announced in Paris). When pay per ride was launched there, the Genie+ was launched at WDW a few months later.

https://wdwnt.com/2022/04/confirmed...ultimate-to-skip-the-lines-at-12-attractions/

At WDW i would doubt that something like this is coming down the pipeline. It works for smaller/ less congested parks (ie Paris, and Universal). I just don't know how how a park as busy as WDW would be able to guarantee 12

 

[EPCOT-O.G.]

I wonder if they will break down different rides on an alphabetical classification system. For example, kiddie rides or less popular ones would be A, with the most sought after - Rise and the like- would be E’s. A digital ticket book, if you will.

When many point out the increased costs of park tickets, defenders will respond with, “yes, but park admission didn’t factor in the costs of attractions.” So when you went to Disneyland in 1955 and paid a dollar to get in, you still had to pay for the attractions. Since then, park admission prices have increased 15x the cost of inflation, and now they’ve brought back the per-ride cost through Genie+ and ILL.

 

[Aluminum Falcon]

I wonder if they will break down different rides on an alphabetical classification system. For example, kiddie rides or less popular ones would be A, with the most sought after - Rise and the like- would be E’s. A digital ticket book, if you will.

When many point out the increased costs of park tickets, defenders will respond with, “yes, but park admission didn’t factor in the costs of attractions.” So when you went to Disneyland in 1955 and paid a dollar to get in, you still had to pay for the attractions. Since then, park admission prices have increased 15x the cost of inflation, and now they’ve brought back the per-ride cost through Genie+ and ILL.

Supply & Demand. They can charge all they want if someone is willing to pay, you could also argue that they weren't charging enough when the park first opened