[Gill H]

Yes, it was available to all onsite guests.

The original paper FP system advantaged early risers (hello Brits adjusting to the time difference!) but otherwise was open to all on the day. Disadvantages were the power-walk over to Toy Story Mania or the fact that you had to criss-cross the parks to get your favourites. And that if you turned up late, FPs might all be gone.

Then came FP+ which gave onsite guests a huge advantage when it came to booking the big headliners.

Disadvantages were that at least part of your holiday was ‘set in stone’ if you wanted to be sure of riding the really popular rides. And that there was little room for spontaneity, at least for a few rides (not for everything, we changed our FP+ on a whim many times while there).

Advantages were that you knew before you got on the plane that (barring breakdowns) you would definitely get to ride your favourite.

The big disadvantage was that if a guest turned up out of the blue knowing nothing, they could expect to wait in the hot sun for over an hour because they didn’t know they should have booked this ride months ago.

The advantage of Genie+ I guess is that you can decide on the day whether you want it. The disadvantage is that you’re paying to skip the queue, which is new to WDW.

Once the system beds down, expect to see a host of YouTube videos showing you the best way to do the parks without paying for Genie+.