"Its WAY cheaper than Universal....". It is today.
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Out of curiosity, I did a quick search to see how much an express pass at Universal is. It said $30-$40 per day depending on when you go.
So $20 for genie + and then $17 a piece times 2 rides for lightning lane = $54 per day. I can't see how everyone says that is cheaper than Universal's express pass. Doesn't Universal's pass cover ALL the rides?
And isn't it included if you stay at a Universal deluxe resort?
For the times we go it would be WAY cheaper than Express Pass. 2 days of Express Passes this last time we went to Universal would have cost fully of 4 over $800 and no not all rides are included in Express Pass. It's "included" in the Deluxe resort stay but trust me you're paying for them. 7 days of Disney Genie without paying for the "non included" rides would only cost us a little over $400....so half the cost.
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[emoji2368] and we have the choice to pay it or not. Everyone hated FastPass+ when it came out. Most everyone will hate this but you bet your butt they'll still pay for it because people want instant gratification and the thought of waiting their turn in line is unheard of. Truth be told this is why we space out our trips so that we can spend at least 7 days in the parks. We're good with waiting.
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Don't get me wrong...I am in the group that hated fastpass +. I did like the old system. I do not like that they are now charging for something that was once included in the price of admission and that they are charging resort guests for it to boot. Sure we can choose to pay it....but it was included in the price of admission and now it is not. It is not a deal when compared to anything because it was free and now it is not. And....to add to the money grab they want to charge again to skip the line and ride the more popular attractions. So you have the opportunity to chose to pay three times for something that was at one time included in the price of admission. The whole thing stinks.
From what I understand Genie+ is a lot like Maxpass at Disneyland (which it is also replacing)
Maxpass was new when I visited DL in 2017, but let me break it down how it worked.
It worked the same way (and alongside) the “old” paper fast pass system (remember FP+ never made it to DL)
You could use the old Fastpass system for free or you could pay $15/day to use the app to book your fastpasses—the exact same fastpasses that you could have gotten by walking to the attraction. Tickets were always being distributed for the “next available” time at each attraction. Regardless of whether you went and got a paper ticket or booked on the app your return time would be for the same time, and when that reservation came around or 2 hours passed (whichever came first) you could book another one. Maxpass did not allow you to get a digital Fastpass and paper Fastpass at the same time… trust me I tried.
I think Genie+/lightning lane is basically the old fastpass system on your phone (that you had to pay for) I say this because I want to point out that it seemed like EVERYONE (including myself) was purchasing Maxpass despite the free option being available. It was so great being able to be in line for Splash Mountain and being able to get a fastpass for Space Mountain without walking clear across the park.
Overall I’m happy about this. I never went to WDW in the Fastpass+ days, but it was kind of a deterrent. Yes I know FP+ had its fans but i didn’t like the planning aspect. I don’t even like making commitments for the weekend, why would I want to make them for a vacation (which is supposed to be a vacation) 60 days in advance. Then of course the reservations for the good rides all disappear within a few minutes, so they put Fastpass+ on rides where it wasn’t needed so they could make sure there were enough to go around.
I will say I do NOT like the individual attraction aspect of this. Maxpass didn’t exclude anything, it sounds like it’s going to exclude the most popular rides at each park. But that just means those attractions will be your rope drops and 11th hours.
I have to say it, but I'm with you in this one. We'll be going there soon so we'll see how it works, but on previous trips you're right, it was basically a job getting everything we needed using FP+ and issues with the way they were allocated made it difficult to actually use it to get on the rides we wanted.
As I said we're visiting again soon and it's still pretty much a job getting reservations at 60 days (the Disney site stinks for doing this smoothly), plus there's STILL no guarantee on Rise of the Resistance once we have our scheduled day in DHS. DW and I were up at the exact start of our window and still didn't get a few ressies at reasonable times, but at least we got 'em. It'll just be a little iffy on a couple of things when we get there because of the park-hopper restrictions.
Hopefully things will be smoother in the standbys with FP+ gone, and also hopefully the Genie app will help maneuver through the parks more smoothly (still on the fence for Genie+) but I'm still somewhat skeptical. I guess we'll find out.
With all of the other things that really reduce the fun-quotient of going, it's getting harder and harder to justify the time and expense of a formerly-magic Disney vacation, which makes this former CM quite sad.
So if you want to purchase Genie + ahead of your vacation, you have to buy it for every day of your ticket. If you want to just do some days, you have to wait for that day to arrive and the you can purchase it at 7 am. Am I correct in thinking that?
I think I’m in the minority, regarding FastPass+. In the beginning, I didn’t like picking my rides 60 days out (and there’s always the threat of bad weather that ruins a “locked-in” day and you can’t know that 60 days out,) but I became comfortable with it. It became a challenge — a Rubik’s cube that needed solved.
[THINKING PROCESS]
— 9-Day Trip
— This/these ride(s) won’t be available on first four days.
— First attempted FastPass: “Flight of Avatar” on Day Five of trip. Then Soarin’ Day Six. Then Splash Mountain Day One. And so on. Needed a strategy BEFORE the window opened!!
But I became proficient and figured how to schedule my ADRs 180 days out and line them up with impending FPs at the 60-Day Mark. Whew!!
I would map out the trips in advance in my head, being as precise as I could. After a bit, it became quite fun. I enjoyed it!
Now, I’ll need to learn a new system. Learn the pitfalls while on the next vacation. Probably ruin one vacation as I learn the new intricacies. Knowing me, I’ll reluctantly pay for the convenience, but then expect more on delivery. We will have to see if the trip is more enjoyable. Or less.
I kinda have an aversion towards giving Disney any MORE money to be honest with you. I can see using it if you knew you wouldn't be going back to a Disney Park in the near future though.