Walt Disney World Tech News & Discussion- Magic Bands, Genie+, and more

[Skipper Justin]

I just don’t get the hate. The original fast pass was so broken and the tier system was awful. Just like dining reservations, it caused you to have to plan so far in advance that it really wasn’t “fun.” I used Max Pass at DL and much preferred this system.

 

[Tbad556]

I just don’t get the hate. The original fast pass was so broken and the tier system was awful. Just like dining reservations, it caused you to have to plan so far in advance that it really wasn’t “fun.” I used Max Pass at DL and much preferred this system.

I think the issue isn't necessarily the removal of FP (which many would agree was a mess) and rather the replacement itself. Disney is just becoming an absolute nightmare to plan for, no matter how "in the know" you may be. The mega-fans and mods on this site struggling to grasp how it works shows just how confusing this all will be for the general public. Especially once you mix in the ever-growing boarding passes. It's just becoming too much for a day in the park.

It also doesn't help when their current business optics look the way they do. This is coming on the heels of many other cost-cutting moves, an incredibly controversial and pricey Star Wars hotel, etc.

 

[UniversalRBLX]

One thing people aren't considering is that on busy days you probably won't get a return time until a few hours later.. especially at a park like Animal Kingdom with so few "worthy" Fastpass attractions. It works at Disneyland because passes don't run out as fast as they do because of how many attractions that park has.

 

[Parkscope Joe]

I just don’t get the hate. The original fast pass was so broken and the tier system was awful. Just like dining reservations, it caused you to have to plan so far in advance that it really wasn’t “fun.” I used Max Pass at DL and much preferred this system.

Well part of the actual "answer" is something they never want to do it seems: actual expand and flesh out the parks.

 

[Allison]

Yea, the more I learn the less confident I feel I know anything at all anymore!

Walked into work today and one of the first things my boss said to me was "Ok explain what Genie is!" We then spent 10 minutes going over everything.

One of my childhood best friends is coming down early next year with her husband and kids and I can’t wait to get the inevitable “what’s a Disney Genie text????”

Dead serious about to tell her it’s just Disney catering only to the characters of The White Lotus now and hoping it sticks.

 

[SailwiththeTide]

One thing people aren't considering is that on busy days you probably won't get a return time until a few hours later.. especially at a park like Animal Kingdom with so few "worthy" Fastpass attractions. It works at Disneyland because passes don't run out as fast as they do because of how many attractions that park has.

This should be shouted from the rooftops because this is how max pass worked at DL and often times on busy days there were no more fast passes available after 2:00 pm for any attraction. Plus the pool of fast pass available rides is smaller since some of them are going to pay only scheme. Maybe it will be a little better but I am not holding my breath.

 

[belloq87]

RUMOR: Full Attraction List for Paid Disney Genie+ and Lightning Lane Services

Walt Disney World news, photos, and reviews! We provide you with daily news from the Walt Disney World theme parks and beyond

blogmickey.com

 

[frank_1991_]

We just came from MK on Tuesday. First time since 2017. The family consensus was MK and Disney was no longer worth it for us unfortunately. And after I explained this hot mess they were even more turned off. There wouldn’t be a need for all this planning if Disney properly invested in their theme parks over the years.

 

[shiekra38]

This app was clearly designed by Ryan from The Office

 

[TheGentTrent]

One thing people aren't considering is that on busy days you probably won't get a return time until a few hours later.. especially at a park like Animal Kingdom with so few "worthy" Fastpass attractions. It works at Disneyland because passes don't run out as fast as they do because of how many attractions that park has.

IIRC, the original Fastpass model let you pick a new reservation either two hours later or as soon as your return time was called, whichever came first. I'm assuming this will work the same way.

 

[kingcooger]

IIRC, the original Fastpass model let you pick a new reservation either two hours later or as soon as your return time was called, whichever came first. I'm assuming this will work the same way.

While I am assuming the same as you on that front I will say this, having to PHYSICALLY walk to the next attraction you want a Fastpass for made a difference in crowd flow. People going over to redeem a pass in Tomorrowland were usually not grabbing a Fastpass for Splash Mountain on their way over since they were on opposite ends of the park. Making it so you have access to ALL rides at ALL times will make certain passes disappear quicker.

This was an issue with MyDisney+ too, but will only be heightened by this Genie+ system

I am going to miss the old Fastpass system at Disneyland as it seemed the most fair to all guests.

 

[OrlandoGuy]

While I am assuming the same as you on that front I will say this, having to PHYSICALLY walk to the next attraction you want a Fastpass for made a difference in crowd flow. People going over to redeem a pass in Tomorrowland were usually not grabbing a Fastpass for Splash Mountain on their way over since they were on opposite ends of the park. Making it so you have access to ALL rides at ALL times will make certain passes disappear quicker.

This was an issue with MyDisney+ too, but will only be heightened by this Genie+ system

I am going to miss the old Fastpass system at Disneyland as it seemed the most fair to all guests.

This is just looking for something to complain about IMO.

It’s $15. The exclusivity will help with standby lines but the charge still isn’t excessive (even getting premium rides on peak days will likely come out lower than a Universal Express, Cedar Fair Fastlane, etc.).

I’m not happy because I liked the Fastpass+ system on the app. But nobody else did…isn’t this what everyone wanted?

 

[JoeCamel]

So they had a problem with too many people coming to their parks I think they found a solution

 

[OrlandoGuy]

Dead serious about to tell her it’s just Disney catering only to the characters of The White Lotus now and hoping it sticks.

It’s….$15?

At my job I have to deal with a lot of C-suite level leadership at different companies. One particularly up-his-own-you-know-what exec at a certain credit card company got into a discussion with me about the parks once, and his exact words:
“I like how capitalistic Universal is. You can pay more to have the best experience. Disney makes it too fair for everyone.”

I guess you see what you want to see.

 

[DeadSexeh]

My biggest problem with this system is that I think it will have the same effect as fastlane at Cedar Point does. I think this is priced way too low, so there is a noticeable degradation of your day ticket experience, yet for those who purchase it they won't feel like they are getting a premium experience as there are too many people who purchased causing it to feel like the old fastpass system. The best move they made so far was to not offer a pass addon as it will at least cutdown on some of the people using the product making it better for the ones who do purchase it. I also believe that if there was a pass addon, within a week passholders would have found a way to break the system.

 

[Nick]

Honestly I kinda wish it was a little more than $15/person per day. I think $15 is just low enough that people will pay it without caring and the system will still be relatively clogged. I wish it was priced a bit more like Express is.

 

[Allison]

It’s….$15?

At my job I have to deal with a lot of C-suite level leadership at different companies. One particularly up-his-own-you-know-what exec at a certain credit card company got into a discussion with me about the parks once, and his exact words:
“I like how capitalistic Universal is. You can pay more to have the best experience. Disney makes it too fair for everyone.”

I guess you see what you want to see.

It’s $15 per person, per day, with Individual Rides (Space Mountain, Mine Train, Rise, Slinky Dog, Remy, Test Track, Flight of Passage & the Safari) anywhere between an extra $4-$24 per person, per ride. If you think a family of 5 planning a once in a lifetime trip isn’t gonna add all that up in addition to their park tickets, Memory Maker, airfare, transportation, hotel stay, dining plan, and souvenirs and have to think long and hard about it then maybe you’re the one that’s seeing what you wanna see.

 

[OrlandoGuy]

It’s $15 per person, per day, with Individual Rides (Space Mountain, Mine Train, Rise, Slinky Dog, Remy, Test Track, Flight of Passage & the Safari) anywhere between an extra $4-$24 per person, per ride. If you think a family of 5 planning a once in a lifetime trip isn’t gonna add all that up in addition to their park tickets, Memory Maker, airfare, transportation, hotel stay, dining plan, and souvenirs and have to think long and hard about it then maybe you’re the one that’s seeing what you wanna see.

That’s still below the market rate for these things in amusement parks all over the world lol.

Is per person per day supposed to make it seem worse somehow? I’ve never seen a multi-day or group option for skip-the-line passes, unless you count the deluxe UO hotels which are the exception and still come in much pricier.

 

[Nick]

It’s $15 per person, per day, with Individual Rides (Space Mountain, Mine Train, Rise, Slinky Dog, Remy, Test Track, Flight of Passage & the Safari) anywhere between an extra $4-$24 per person, per ride. If you think a family of 5 planning a once in a lifetime trip isn’t gonna add all that up in addition to their park tickets, Memory Maker, airfare, transportation, hotel stay, dining plan, and souvenirs and have to think long and hard about it then maybe you’re the one that’s seeing what you wanna see.

If a family of 4 wanted to buy Express Pass at Universal today, they'd have to spend $80 minimum (or $110 for the unlimited Express) per person, so we're looking at somewhere between $320 and $440 total just for one day not including tickets or anything else you mentioned, so tbh, I don't think the price Disney is charging is all that ridiculous.

 

[Allison]

That’s still below the market rate for these things in amusement parks all over the world lol.

Is per person per day supposed to make it seem worse somehow? I’ve never seen a multi-day or group option for skip-the-line passes, unless you count the deluxe UO hotels which are the exception and still come in much pricier.

When you factor in a base price of an extra $375 (not including the individual purchase rides) tacked on to an already $3,206.45 spent just to get through the turnstiles for people that are budgeting to go and aren’t executives with a six figure salary, then yeah it will make things worse.

If a family of 4 wanted to buy Express Pass at Universal today, they'd have to spend $80 minimum (or $110 for the unlimited Express) per person, so we're looking at somewhere between $320 and $440 total just for one day not including tickets or anything else you mentioned, so tbh, I don't think the price Disney is charging is all that ridiculous.

Agree to disagree.