Genie+

Walt Disney World
21

This is very sad news.

After these next 2 trips that have been booked for a while, we will be on hiatus at my house as well for at least 18 month

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22

I have! And I got a call back from someone allegedly in D’Amaro’s office who said they were all reading the emails they are getting and taking feedback seriously and if I had any other issues, she gave me her name and direct line extension…this was probably 3 months ago. I gave the information to a Liner who was having a serious technical issues only to find out the extension is not in use. Whether they gave me the wrong number (I read it back to them, so I know I didn’t hear it wrong) or they are gone, I have no idea.

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23

Our last trip was three weeks ago, and while we hadn’t been going as often as we used to, we still had the next trip tentatively planned. DH and I agreed that we won’t be returning for at least 5 years, and like you Genie+ was only a small part of that.

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24

I agree w/ others here about contacting Disney, but see you already have written to them. While they might be listening to you and others the crowds in the parks are confirming that saying, “A fool is born every minute”. I guess I’m one of them. I have not used G+ or any part of it, I don’t intend to b/c I refuse to spend more than the cost of my AP to access the parks or rides. I guess I’m part of the problem then :thinking:

25

I feel like locals don’t need to use G+ though. You can go anytime.

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26

agree… that’s why I wouldn’t use it… I’ll just come back another day.

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27

This is an important point to note.

Those who go often or who are local have less “pressure” involved in the vacation and making sure to maximize time there. It’s easier for those people to skip the extra cost and choose which standby to do today and which to save for next go.

Not so easy for people who come infrequently - or who see this as their one and done.

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28

very true

29

Yes exactly. I haven’t been since Aug 2019 and after July I don’t know if I’ll ever be back. I need to do all the things! All the things we care about anyway.

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30

I guess I am one of the “fools” who still will go to the parks and will still pay for Genie+ or maybe even whatever they come up with next to replace it, simply because my family still loves to go and make the amazing memories that we make there. Like has already been said, those who have been dozens of times or those who are local AP holders cannot speak to what is best for those of us who can’t go as often. We pay for Genie+ because (whether we like it or not) it is the best way right now for us to ensure that we maximize our time. Do I wish it was still free? You better believe I do, but I wish my mortgage was lower and gas was still $1 a gallon like it was when I was 20, and I wish a lot of things were different. The question we all have to ask is, do I still feel like it is worth it for my family? For me, the answer is still yes. For some of you the answer is obviously already no. It may be no for me soon, but I don’t think either of us are fools. At least not yet :wink:

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31

oh boy… I NEVER meant to call anyone a fool :grimacing: I was trying to say that Disney can see all the ppl paying for it and don’t see the need to stop charging for it. Liners are very informed but there are many many more that go to the parks blind; some are expecting to see Harry Potter at WDW for heaven’s sake :woman_facepalming:

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32

I refuse to pay for it and I love the challenge of planning days with low attraction waits and no Genie+ or ILL. Most people do not have the ability to look at the parks, and attractions, the same way I do. I have already “done it all” (multiple times). I will not be sad if I have to skip something because it is not my priority and I know there most likely will be another chance for me to do that skipped attraction in the future.

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33

We are in the same boat. For our upcoming trip in December, there are actually very few rides we ultimately care about. We were just talking last night about AK. We have a half of a day devoted to AK specifically so that we can see Pandora at dark, eat at Yak and Yeti, and watch Awakenings. If we don’t get on anything, we’re fine with that. But we can say that because we have done it all already, so our focus is quite different.

34

I’ve read this before. While I understand how to work on tech, such as work, social media, apps. I am not understanding this. Why are they not able to make a duplicate and run it for the old FP+?
Can a duplicate process not be run at the same time or did the original creators jump ship?

35

I honestly have zero idea.
But we are talking about Disney IT so I don’t have a ton of faith in them :laughing:

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36

Actually, I suspect it is a mean, or both a mean and a mode. There are several types of G+ users contributing to these numbers, and the “two to three on average” could feasibly work out as a mean and not a mode.

Informed users who are aggressive and want to max out Genie+'s value often report getting 5-7 LLs a day except when it’s ultra-crowded (think Thanksgiving weekend ultra-crowded). Informed users who aren’t as aggressive would get less than that but probably still slightly more than Disney’s reported average.

At the other end of the spectrum are the uninformed users who added Genie+ to their entire ticket package without really knowing what it is or how to use it. They might figure it out well enough to get one or two LLs at MK, but they won’t bother at DAK or Epcot even though they have it, and they won’t be aggressive enough to make it work at DHS. This group will have a lot of zero-LL days in their trip despite the fact that they paid for it, and they’ll pull Disney’s average down.

Then there’s a semi-informed group in the middle who know how it works but not how it works best. They’re probably the largest group, and they probably do get 2-3 LLs on average if they’re at the park all day, and fewer if they’re not. This is why it doesn’t sound surprising to me that Disney would announce that the average is 2-3.

I think it’s unquestionable that their announcement is about managing expectations. I’m more curious about what’s financially driving them to do that, though. Is it because complaints at guest relations are getting too expensive? Are there other reasons that downplaying G+'s effectiveness would be more profitable than playing it up?

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37

Maybe they’re getting ready to add another “tier” to G+? You know, maybe a “pay more, get more” level? :laughing:

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38

Genie+ Ultimate! :slight_smile:

(Starting to sound like hair spray hold levels!)

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39

Genie+Lamp+Carpet+Jafar+…

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40

It’s already got a touch of Jafar that they need to eliminate.

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