Disney Genie App

[Disney Donna]

I'm not happy about the introduction of the genie + but at least it isn't $100+ a day each, I was hoping they would just bring back the old fast pass plus.
Given that I would be bringing my family over from the UK I would maybe pay for genie + but I wouldn't be happy about it. I'm pushing my trip back a few years now so I can see how the wait times pan out with the new app and may postpone it even longer as me and my husband can handle a 3 hour plus queue for flight of passage but I doubt my children could even if it was just the older one.
There is no way I would pay per ride though, that is just money grabbing and not a good move on Disney's part, I get covid has had an impact on the company but it has on every company and some may not be able to come out covid fully and will have close, I doubt that would happen to Disney even without all the extra up charges they are bringing in. I hate all this charge em more and give em less attitude that seems to be going on.

May I suggest you look into how much it would cost for you to go to Universal Orlando. I just crunched the numbers and we may look into that instead. Staying at a Premier hotel which includes their version of a fast lane and all access to all 3 parks is about the same price (within $200) for our family to stay at a value resort (Pop Century) @ Disney without the park hopper or upcharge for Genie+. That is if you would like the rides @ Universal !

I am seriously considering Universal Orlando, my oldest son is a massive Harry Potter fan so I do feel a bit mean planning on going all that way and him not seeing The Wizarding World, he's watch the odd live stream from there and even had Jenna give him a shout out which he loved, so all these price hikes may have made a decision for me. I did a quick check and the Hard Rock Hotel with park tickets was coming out at £1000 cheaper than Disney, so it definitely something I'm going to research a bit more. Is there enough there for younger children do you think? My youngest would be 4 if we were to go next year.
Thanks for the suggestion, you've really got me thinking.

[CH-GenX]

I'll just through this out there. The ration of likes to dislikes for the youtube disney genie video is interesting. This was at 8/22/2021. It's 1.2 k likes to 12k dislikes.

This Disney Genie burns my biscuits.

[Happy2012]

I'll just through this out there. The ration of likes to dislikes for the youtube disney genie video is interesting. This was at 8/22/2021. It's 1.2 k likes to 12k dislikes.

This Disney Genie burns my biscuits.

Funny I just checked the likes and dislikes for the YouTube Disney videos just before checking this forum and noticed all the videos that were put out about the Disney Genie had 3-4 times more dislikes to likes
You and I seem to really be on the same page

[downscale]

Here's my idea for rebranding Genie+.
What do you think?

[CH-GenX]

I put like 30 seconds worth of effort into this...but you get the idea.


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[Liquid Ice]

The first thing to point out is that they say this is not a mandatory charge but to be honest it really is. Any introduction of a fastpass system means you will buy it or you won't be getting your money's worth. The introduction of line skipping of any kind means the stand by queues will be absolutely destroyed. Don't want to pay to avoid lines, fine the wait for the less popular attractions is just 2 and half hours per ride. And let's not talk about the popular rides. Bottom line is you will be shelling out the money or not go to Disney world at all.

The other thing is the perks for staying on property are quickly disappearing. The only benefit is that you can book your genie plus rides at 7am. Really Disney that's all I get for paying $300/night to stay in a room that's about the same quality as staying in a Holiday Inn for $120 per night. There are basically no perks to staying on property now except the Disney buses which are increasingly unreliable. I guess that will probably be the next to go away. Watch them replace that with the Disney Bus plus system where you pay $30 per person per day. Seems to be the new business model. At any rate I can no longer justify staying at a Disney resort for the price. The benefits are all but gone and the costs are still rising.


As others have pointed out, Disney has always been expensive. It's more of a luxury destination than an affordable one. However they have recently offered enough of an experience that it still felt like it's worth the extra cost. I am willing to pay more for more. I am not willing to pay more for less and that's what they are offering right now. It would be different if there were extras and benefits that I can see justify the increased costs but there aren't. I'm paying more for 1/3 of the experience. It's not the affordability that is the issue. The issue is that it's starting to feel like a rip off.

100% agree - paying more for less is exactly what I don't like about this move. If they had given us 3 free FP's and then charge for the 4th, I think most of us would have been OK with it - or offer something for free, not just that standby will be free!


Just a an FYI - the onsite benefit of 7am is only for Lightning Lane Individual rides like Seven Dwarfs Mine Train. Everyone, whether they are staying onsite or not gets to book Genie+ Lightning passes at 7am. So you're really just given the "right" to pay even more at 7am.

Surrounding hotels will be the ones to benefit from the lack of onsite perks.

[Brewbud]

Genie+ is similar to what Maxpass used to be at Disneyland. The top-tier passes had it included though. You could also add it to an AP for a one time fee. It also included photopass. I haven't seen anything mentioned about how they will treat this with Genie+ though.

[AlexisW]

Genie+ is similar to what Maxpass used to be at Disneyland. The top-tier passes had it included though. You could also add it to an AP for a one time fee. It also included photopass. I haven't seen anything mentioned about how they will treat this with Genie+ though.

The big difference from MaxPass is that Disneyland still had the old-style FastPass system in place-- given availability, you could always walk to the attraction and get a FastPass at a kiosk for free; the paid MaxPass just let you do this remotely from an app.

[jm1670]

Stealing this from a FB post I made on another group - after thinking about it for awhile - here is my opinion on Genie+ ...

Saw lots of posts in support of Genie+ and Lightning Lane - I've taken some time to think about it since the announcement, I couldn't quite put my finger on why I hated the announcement so much - but I think I've started to put together why...

1. Recently we haven't had much good news out of Disney, in fact in terms of perks we've mostly lost perks:
a. Magicbands not included with on-site stay
b. Airport shuttle (Magical Express) not included with on-site stay
c. Extra Magic Hours no longer an on-site benefit (30 min mornings for all guests and Evenings for Deluxe only)
d. Fastpass no longer included with entry ticket
e. Restricted Park Hopping (2pm begins park hopping) - with no discount to the park hopping option
f. Restricted Park Passes for AP holders not staying on site (only 3 at a time, versus show up whenever you want).

2. A lot of the announcements have come down to controlling park overcrowding. But there is actually a few solutions to this problem that don't involve charging more or taking away perks
a. Build a 5th gate - when park overcrowding is an issue - you can invest some of those profits you've been making to construct something new that will help relieve park overcrowding. Maybe Galaxy's Edge should have been its own park? A 5th gate would help spread out crowds. Yes it costs Disney money, I think most of us would gladly pay more money, stay longer or make more trips to visit a 5th gate. At least we would see the money we pay to Disney at work to add some more value.
b. Reduce park crowds using Park Pass, you've already proven you can do this.

Ultimately what it comes down to for me is value - it isn't about the money, but Disney is in my opinion giving us less value and charging us more money - and it puts a sour taste in my mouth. While previously I feel like Disney would invest money into new an exciting things to earn more of our money - now it feels like Disney is taking away perks or charging for the right to use them and calling that guest satisfaction and value.

You cannot continually offer less and charge more and expect to continue to increase profits. Yes, Disney is a business and yes Disney needs to make money - I'm not saying they should be losing money. But what they should be doing is making us as customers feel like they're getting more value when they charge us more money instead of the current situation where I feel like they're taking away things and charging us more - and that is what gives me pause with this most recent announcement for Genie+. Yeah $15 per person per day doesn't sound that expensive, but if you visit Disney for 2 weeks a year, and have a family of four, does spending an extra $840 per year sound like a lot more? It isn't that I can't afford it - it is just that I don't think I'm getting the same value I got from Disney as before.

I know some people will say - just don't pay for Genie+ - you have that option. But this was an included perk we used to have and was taken away. Don't act like this is something new that we've never had before. I work for a company that is extremely customer focused as well - and one thing we try not to ever do is offer something for free and then take it away or try to charge customers for something that was previously free - because we've found you lose a lot of customers that way.

Ultimately Disney is making us pay for their problems with overcrowding, rides breaking down and not being reliable or being able to handle enough riders per day (looking at you RoTR). It is an experiment to see just how much we're willing to continue to pay for things - and if it works, expect more up charges in the future.

What is the next upcharge that we'll see? Free parking at the parks for On-site guests? Being charged to ride the transportation? Being charged just to ride the rides at the parks? Expect the microtransactions to continue if this is successful.

Anyway that is my very long diatribe - thanks for reading if you made it this far

I'll give you another one. When staying at a Disney resort you used to be able to opt out of Mousekeeping. In doing so you would get a $10 per night coupon that you can use in the park. Now you have been automatically opted out of Mouse Keeping and have no ability to opt back in. And you don't get the coupon now. Not only is it yet another $10 perk that's gone but something basic like house keeping even Motel 6 does.

And let's talk about the stuff you can't directly put a price on. Yeah Haw Bob, the Grand Floridian orchestra and others.

[Brewbud]

Genie+ is similar to what Maxpass used to be at Disneyland. The top-tier passes had it included though. You could also add it to an AP for a one time fee. It also included photopass. I haven't seen anything mentioned about how they will treat this with Genie+ though.

The big difference from MaxPass is that Disneyland still had the old-style FastPass system in place-- given availability, you could always walk to the attraction and get a FastPass at a kiosk for free; the paid MaxPass just let you do this remotely from an app.

Yep. I never used it after MAxpass came out. Maxpass worked so much better. Regardless my pass had it included. Fingers crossed they do something similar eventually.

[jbletheby]

I may be one of the few, but i like the GEnie app announcement, and dont mind the genie +. it is not required, and I am confused on how this will change the experience. I think it will only help enhance areas we want improved. I do agree i wish they wouldnt add 5% costs to our trips but I feel this is a barrier that might actually make the standard line work a little better. Fastpass just didnt work in my opinion.

I would rather see them implement a more virtual que.