Touring plan blog and recommendations for using Genie+

[Nimbus]

Originally Posted by vampiress88

Am I right in thinking the genie app is basically the same as touringplans?
Then the genie+ is the pay for fastpasses
The there is a la carte for high level rides.

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Yes.

Although whereas Touring Plans are mostly guessing when they provide their personalised plans, Disney will be using live data to prioritise where to go based on what others are doing.

So, for example, Disney might know on the day that lots of people have Genie+ and LL slots booked for 2pm to 4pm for a certain ride and adjust other people's plans accordingly. Whereas TP will be using historic data only, most of which they've got from Disney in the past prior to Genie/Genie+ (at least to begin with).

[Leia77]

Originally Posted by vampiress88

Do you think that disney will manipulate the genie touring guide to manage the lines?
Rather than touringplans who are independent so just follow the data

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This is exactly my take 😊

[kikimouse]

Originally Posted by Nimbus

Yes.

Although whereas Touring Plans are mostly guessing when they provide their personalised plans, Disney will be using live data to prioritise where to go based on what others are doing.

So, for example, Disney might know on the day that lots of people have Genie+ and LL slots booked for 2pm to 4pm for a certain ride and adjust other people's plans accordingly. Whereas TP will be using historic data only, most of which they've got from Disney in the past prior to Genie/Genie+ (at least to begin with).

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I am looking forward to see this in action. I think it’s a good thing if Genie will manage to spread the crowd in real time. That will hopefullu translate to shorter queues.

[Nimbus]

Originally Posted by vampiress88

Do you think that disney will manipulate the genie touring guide to manage the lines?
Rather than touringplans who are independent so just follow the data

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Yes, probably. But that's a good thing, isn't? You want it to manipulate your tour guide to steer you towards the time when a ride line is predicted to be shorter and away from when it's longer, I assume?

TP will be using historic data, which may not be valid, and then adjusting according to current data (Does TP adjust people's tour plan on the day?).

Whereas Disney will be recommending rides and times when the crowds/lines are lower based on future data that they'll know about, as well as historic data.

TP was always restricted by the amount of available data they had. Most (>95%) of their wait time data came from what Disney posted and only a very small amount came from people submitting wait times using their Lines app or from staff members experiences. Once the Genie serice is rolled out and people are using it, then Disney will have access to more data. They will therefore be able to give better recommendations on where to go and when.

I'm sure sometime in the future TP will do a comparison of their tour plan versus the Genie tour plan and show (in certain circumstances) that their tour plans are 'better'.

[Shifu]

I read ‘manipulate’ as meaning ‘tricking’, so to Disney’s benefit( what ever that might be at the time) and not necessarily to the ticket holders advantage.

[loldis]

Originally Posted by Shifu

I read ‘manipulate’ as meaning ‘tricking’, so to Disney’s benefit( what ever that might be at the time) and not necessarily to the ticket holders advantage.

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It's a bit of both. If they manage to convince enough people that Philharmagic is a better choice than 7DMT because it's also a family friendly attraction but has a shorter wait, they get their crowd control and the guest feels like they've saved time. Win win.

Btw, I know I pick on Philharmagic a lot in these examples. I do actually like that attraction. It just amuses me how some people think they've beat the system when they get a FP for it.

[Shifu]

Originally Posted by loldis

It's a bit of both. If they manage to convince enough people that Philharmagic is a better choice than 7DMT because it's also a family friendly attraction but has a shorter wait, they get their crowd control and the guest feels like they've saved time. Win win.

Btw, I know I pick on Philharmagic a lot in these examples. I do actually like that attraction. It just amuses me how some people think they've beat the system when they get a FP for it.

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Yep- My thoughts exactly on the whole Genie spin.

[Nimbus]

Originally Posted by Shifu

I read ‘manipulate’ as meaning ‘tricking’, so to Disney’s benefit( what ever that might be at the time) and not necessarily to the ticket holders advantage.

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I don't think Disney will be trying to "trick" anyone.

If you don't know what attractions you want to do and so have simply selected "family friendly attractions" in Genie and then ask it to give you the attraction with the shortest waits then of course it's going to suggest Philharmagic over 7DMT. There's no trickery there - the app is simply using the available data to provide you the best outcome based on your selection.

However, from the demo I've seen, you can specifically select the attractions you want to do. So if you select 7DMT then it will arrange your plan to provide the "best" time to ride it within your plan.

So, it all comes down to what you do with the app and how you use it.

[mostlybobbins]

The perception is that there's some physical overlord that's overlooking Genie+ and pushing people around with a white cat on its lap trying to make guests have a bad time - but it's just data and algorithms. Disney want people out of queues and (potentially) spending money, so yes, they are manipulating us into going to shorter lines but we'll still get more done than if there was no TP or no Genie and no more money is spent whatsoever necessarily.

Whilst Disney's aim is undoubtedly to makes money (business in money making shocker!), it is genuinely trying to help guests negotiate the parks quicker, faster and in turn make us happier. Many won't believe that, I can see why, but it's just Disney analysing data and making suggestions accordingly. Many will just fly in the face of Genie just to be spiteful but we won't know it until we try it.

If people genuinely believe that Disney wants unhappy and fewer guests as a result of using Genie then so be it.

[dan223]

I agree, I think Disney are trying to do it to generally save time get people out of queues, and spend money elsewhere. Though that was also my theory before in why Disney gave fastpass for free, but I guess they are trying to do the middle ground of make money from genie+ and try and keep people out of the queues where they can with genie. The more people aren't queuing the more people are enjoying there day, want to come back, and are spending money somewhere else in the park.