BREAKING: Walt Disney World Introduces Date-Based Variable Pricing for Genie+ Service

[disneyseniors]

I giggled just a little at the idea that Disney is for younger people more plugged in. Ask my kids who it is that sends them all the latest breaking news from twitter, the dis, a dozen different websites. Ask them who makes the reservations, who buys the tickets, the special events, plans out each day for which park and when. They work, they're busy. You can also ask them who it is that has the ability to help them fund more trips than they could ever afford on their own. The answer to all those questions is ME. I keep them up to date, not the other way around. It is a bit insulting, but it's more funny than anything else.

LOL, I know what you are saying!
I guess I shouldn't have gotten my feathers so ruffled over that post, but it rubbed me the wrong way. When people assume that a certain group can't do things then I just have to respond

 

[DavidNYC]

I don't think making dining reservations in advance is unreasonable (the previous 180 days certainly was but 60 days is more reasonable). However, I'm definitely not a fan of the fact that ADRs so heavily favor those doing long onsite stays. There's not a good reason for this to be true other than as a perk for spending more money on a Disney hotel. I would probably change it to no more than 5 days out at a time - certainly not 10. No onsite advantage at all would be more fair. So... in short, yes, I do think ADRs suffer from the same issue. I also think they are less important overall than attraction capacity.

I don't think literally anyone in this thread has said that they believe a few dollars increase on the price of Genie+ will cut demand. I definitely haven't said it. I don't think it's going to cut demand at all, especially not for people who have spent the last several months planning their end of 2022 trip (myself included).

The price is going to have to go a lot higher than it currently is to cut demand. I think Disney knows that, and as such, the current price increases to Genie+ fall into "because we can" rather than because it will help availability.

If Genie+ really struggles under the weight of holiday crowds this year, I think/hope Disney will make adjustments to it that will improve capacity. We haven't seen those adjustments yet.

This in itself shows that fairness to all wasn't the focus at all of Genie+ over FP+. People complained you couldn't get good FP if you stayed off site. Well - you if you stay off site a lot of popular dining reservations aren't available either. But here's the key - there's no logical way for them to monetize the dining part. So they don't care about the unfairness to those offsite because there's no benefit to them of correcting it. (I guess they could charge for dining reservations but they probably figure that's so far off from practice anywhere it would result in too much backlash so just easier raising the prices of all food).

 

[Uncle Coaster]

People have to just start saying no. Don't be mindless sheep being led to slaughter. It's all only going to keep going up if people keep paying for it. Your kids will forgive you if you don't give them the "magical" trip they assumed they would have. They will still take care of you when you get old. Really they will.

I have to say something here.

People who enjoy Disney are not mindless sheep being led to slaughter. They are people who find more value in a Disney trip than you do. I’m sorry you don’t find value in a trip any more. I’ve been there with other places and hobbies. But I do not owe it to you or anyone else to change my habits to somehow match yours so that Disney changes their strategies to match your desires.

Seriously, go find other places to travel. Enjoy yourself. Let others do the same.

 

[Jrb1979]

This in itself shows that fairness to all wasn't the focus at all of Genie+ over FP+. People complained you couldn't get good FP if you stayed off site. Well - you if you stay off site a lot of popular dining reservations aren't available either. But here's the key - there's no logical way for them to monetize the dining part. So they don't care about the unfairness to those offsite because there's no benefit to them of correcting it. (I guess they could charge for dining reservations but they probably figure that's so far off from practice anywhere it would result in too much backlash so just easier raising the prices of all food).

Here is the other thing. Believe it or not but there is more guests who stay off-site that visit WDW then those who do stay on-site

 

[DavidNYC]

While I love planning, I absolutely agree. One only has to go back pre Genie+ and read a few threads about FP+. It was a major complaint that a lot of people hated pre-planning. They constantly bemoaned the inability to be spontaneous, to just see what the day brought. I will never fully understand how anyone ever thought WDW could be spontaneous and fun at the same time but.....

I'm sorry but this whole "planning your entire day" was a RIDICULOUS and fake complaint about FP+. You had to pick three rides you wanted to ride. Period. That's it - no more. You had to plan about 1 hour of your entire day. If you're can't figure out 3 rides you'd like to book then no system is going be good for you. And you could go to whatever parks you wanted before, after, etc.

Genie+ has not only not solved that issue but has made it worse. Now you have to commit to a park months in advance. And you know all that planning you had to do 30-60 days in advance? Well now you get to do it starting at 6:55 am every single morning of your trip and constantly during the day. "But you don't have to use it" you may say. Well guess, what? You didn't have to use FP+ either. So no difference there.

The whole planning in advance was always a fake and overblown complaint. Every trip you take anywhere you can either plan or not plan - up to you. Disney was never any different than other other vacation when it came to planning. But now - not only can't you plan - but you have to pay extra for a crap shoot as to what you can accomplish using what you've paid for.

 

[DCLMP]

I think eventually we'll see more significant resort discounts. I think the days of perks added to resort stays may be over, but they'll have to do something to justify the prices they charge for resort stays- especially at the Deluxe level. I love the Yacht Club- in no way does anything it offers justify $700 and up a night. For now, people are just happy to be there. They want to recreate what they experienced pre-covid. I know we did. But been there, done that and now I want something that makes me want to shuck out a ridiculous amount of money to stay Deluxe especially.

Not that long ago a middle class family could scrimp and save to go to WDW even stay deluxe if they were diligent enough. I don't think that's even possible with the cost of food and energy these days. Inflation doesn't seem to effect the upper class at this point. Nothing makes a lot of sense these days and I feel like just about anything could happen.

I think we'll see discounts come back. at this point there doesn't seem to be any benefit to staying onsite. We rented points in May. I paid 1675 for a week at SSR booking a reduced confirmed reservation through *******. I expect to see more DVC owners renting out there points one to make money and two because they aren't happy with Disney.

 

[Jrb1979]

I'm sorry but this whole "planning your entire day" was a RIDICULOUS and fake complaint about FP+. You had to pick three rides you wanted to ride. Period. That's it - no more. You had to plan about 1 hour of your entire day. If you're can't figure out 3 rides you'd like to book then no system is going be good for you. And you could go to whatever parks you wanted before, after, etc.

Genie+ has not only not solved that issue but has made it worse. Now you have to commit to a park months in advance. And you know all that planning you had to do 30-60 days in advance? Well now you get to do it starting at 6:55 am every single morning of your trip and constantly during the day. "But you don't have to use it" you may say. Well guess, what? You didn't have to use FP+ either. So no difference there.

The whole planning in advance was always a fake and overblown complaint. Every trip you take anywhere you can either plan or not plan - up to you. Disney was never any different than other other vacation when it came to planning. But now - not only can't you plan - but you have to pay extra for a crap shoot as to what you can accomplish using what you've paid for.

It all comes back to too many people using Genie+ each day. There is only so much capacity available each day. When everyone is competing for the same rides this is what happens. The biggest issue is lack of attractions.

To put in perspective Cedar Point has 71 attractions in 1 park. WDW has 48 in 4 parks.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

I giggled just a little at the idea that Disney is for younger people more plugged in. Ask my kids who it is that sends them all the latest breaking news from twitter, the dis, a dozen different websites. Ask them who makes the reservations, who buys the tickets, the special events, plans out each day for which park and when. They work, they're busy. You can also ask them who it is that has the ability to help them fund more trips than they could ever afford on their own. The answer to all those questions is ME. I keep them up to date, not the other way around. It is a bit insulting, but it's more funny than anything else.

IDK I don't think people should be making generalized comments anyhow.

Even in your above comment you're talking like the only reason your kids are going is because you're funding the trip. Maybe that's true in your family. A lot of the newer visitors to Disney are the younger generation who are fine with spending their disposable income at Disney (which is really all Disney is after those who have money to spend there) and they aren't taking their parents--hence all the "why is the parks being made for Millennials" complaints.

I don't really want nor need my parents to get me these trips you say couldn't be afforded on one's own. I'd rather make my own trips that aren't about how much money one is spending. If you ask a lot of youth they are far more about the experience than the opulence or expense of a trip, they don't focus on that equating to how good of a trip it was.

Everyone's circumstances are different. And for ours our parents have really no interest in Disney never really did. It was us younger that were the ones who wanted Disney and Universal...and we funded our own trips even in our early 20s.

It's all just the individual dynamics of the family so I agree comments should keep that in mind, but that goes for all.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

If you're can't figure out 3 rides you'd like to book then no system is going be good for you.

It was more figuring out that you wanted to ride 7DMT at 1:05pm in Magic Kingdom on September 5th. Sometimes you really didn't have much choice with timing so you took what you got. And talking like "figure out 3 rides you'd like to book" is there another theme park that for the parkgoers they do this? I'm not talking about DAS, not talking about other facets of planning for a vacation. But that someone pre-books rides for the theme park they are going to be attending. Because it's not really the norm not sure it's a fair jab to say no system is going to be good for you. It's the only time I've ever had to pre-book an attraction and I had been to enough other theme and amusement parks.

You should have seen the news that covered in big flashy stories this summer when one of the attractions at our amusement park was undergoing renovations while remaining open and was subject to booking a reservation time. We just don't have that normally and they made sure to say this was not going to last beyond the renovations. Never seen them do that type of thing before.

I do agree Genie+ removed the pre-booking aspect and pushed it to the day of so that pre-planning complaint was removed by doing that.

 

[cakebaker]

Even in your above comment you're talking like the only reason your kids are going is because you're funding the trip. Maybe that's true in your family. A lot of the newer visitors to Disney are the younger generation who are fine with spending their disposable income at Disney (which is really all Disney is after those who have money to spend there) and they aren't taking their parents--hence all the "why is the parks being made for Millennials" complaints.

I don't really want nor need my parents to get me these trips you say couldn't be afforded on one's own. I'd rather make my own trips that aren't about how much money one is spending. If you ask a lot of youth they are far more about the experience than the opulence or expense of a trip, they don't focus on that equating to how good of a trip it was.

You made some assumptions there all on your own. I never said the only reason they were going is I was funding the trips. I have no clue where you got that from. What I said was I gave them the ability to take MORE trips. They are perfectly capable of making 1-2 trips per year on their own dime and they do. I want to make more trips and I can afford to. I want them to come along. I willingly will pay for extras they wouldn't so that I can do them and not do them alone. It's me needing them, not the other way around. When I say I buy the tickets, I reserve the special events- that doesn't mean I'm paying for them always. I will if it's something I want to do that they wouldn't do otherwise, but my point was- I do the legwork. I watch for when sales are released, when discounts are made available and I book. They more often than not, pay me back. I don't even have a clue what you mean by being more about the experience than the opulence. lol WDW is not opulent no matter how much you spend. We are all about the experience and making great memories- and for us, a better experience costs more. It just does. I wish it didn't of course, but no one here focuses on how expensive a trip was in order to equate how good it was. Clearly you took my comments in a way that fit a narrative, but it's nothing I said.

The way I look at it is they're paying for it in the end regardless. After all, it's their inheritance I'm spending!

 

[cakebaker]

I'm sorry but this whole "planning your entire day" was a RIDICULOUS and fake complaint about FP+. You had to pick three rides you wanted to ride. Period.

I always thought it was ridiculous, but that doesn't change the fact that it was a major, constantly repeated complaint.

 

[DL1WDW2]

Wait CedarPoint has 71 attractions in One theme Park and WDW with 4 theme parks has only 48 ???
Im 100%shocked
Does this take into consideration the closed and waiting for announcement , the never ending refurb updates that are still sitting in blue sky?
And the attractions that aren’t functioning and keep closing through my day ?

 

[Jrb1979]

Wait CedarPoint has 71 attractions in One theme Park and WDW with 4 theme parks has only 48 ???
Im 100%shocked

It's true. Thats the biggest reason Genie+ and FP+ didn't work. Not enough attractions for everyone to get an equal share. It's why so many attractions on Genie+ are gone so quick

 

[set88]

Wait CedarPoint has 71 attractions in One theme Park and WDW with 4 theme parks has only 48 ???
Im 100%shocked
Does this take into consideration the closed and waiting for announcement , the never ending refurb updates that are still sitting in blue sky?
And the attractions that aren’t functioning and keep closing through my day ?

I will also add to the conversation about Cedar Point that they have two tiers of Fast Lane passes that range from $110-200 depending on the day and whether you want the biggest and most popular rides included. One pass has 18 rides on it and the other has 22. Rides are completely unlimited. Per Cedar Point - "A very limited number are available each day so buy yours today!"

No idea how often they sell out, but I have to imagine they do on the busiest days.

 

[cakebaker]

It's true. Thats the biggest reason Genie+ and FP+ didn't work. Not enough attractions for everyone to get an equal share. It's why so many attractions on Genie+ are gone so quic

But if one goes in expecting an amusement park experience at WDW, they are bound to be disappointed. Cedar Point has a ton of rides- how many parades, quality shows and dining experiences do they have? I don't neccesarily think the definition of success is that everyone gets an equal share on rides. Even Cedar Point has a version of a fotl pass, not giving everyone equal access to rides.

 

[SLThomas318]

It was more figuring out that you wanted to ride 7DMT at 1:05pm in Magic Kingdom on September 5th. Sometimes you really didn't have much choice with timing so you took what you got. And talking like "figure out 3 rides you'd like to book" is there another theme park that for the parkgoers they do this? I'm not talking about DAS, not talking about other facets of planning for a vacation. But that someone pre-books rides for the theme park they are going to be attending. Because it's not really the norm not sure it's a fair jab to say no system is going to be good for you. It's the only time I've ever had to pre-book an attraction and I had been to enough other theme and amusement parks.

You should have seen the news that covered in big flashy stories this summer when one of the attractions at our amusement park was undergoing renovations while remaining open and was subject to booking a reservation time. We just don't have that normally and they made sure to say this was not going to last beyond the renovations. Never seen them do that type of thing before.

I do agree Genie+ removed the pre-booking aspect and pushed it to the day of so that pre-planning complaint was removed by doing that.

We loved fastpass+, but I will say the first time a friend explained it to me I had the same reaction.... what do you mean I have to pick rides ahead of time?! Once we used it though, we loved it. We were not fastpass+ super users. We rarely used more then 4... our initial 3 and then we'd maybe pull something for the evening if we were hopping.

But you still need to reserve dining and now you have to reserve parks. And now if I want to maybe save some time on 1 or 2 rides I have to pay extra, get up at 7am, and hope the genie gives me a time that works. While they fixed 1 problem they created a lot of others. Wasn't more flexibility part of the initial marketing with genie+?!

 

[Jrb1979]

I will also add to the conversation about Cedar Point that they have two tiers of Fast Lane passes that range from $110-200 depending on the day and whether you want the biggest and most popular rides included. One pass has 18 rides on it and the other has 22. Rides are completely unlimited. Per Cedar Point - "A very limited number are available each day so buy yours today!"

No idea how often they sell out, but I have to imagine they do on the busiest days.

They sell out quite a bit.

But if one goes in expecting an amusement park experience at WDW, they are bound to be disappointed. Cedar Point has a ton of rides- how many parades, quality shows and dining experiences do they have? I don't neccesarily think the definition of success is that everyone gets an equal share on rides. Even Cedar Point has a version of a fotl pass, not giving everyone equal access to rides.

What I meant was Disney offers a skip the line system that's available to everyone yet doesn't have enough attractions for everyone to enjoy it the same.

In the end this back and forth goes no where because of the disconnect. Many here don't visit parks like Cedar Point and others so have no idea how these systems actually work.

 

[Scalemaster34]

Wait CedarPoint has 71 attractions in One theme Park and WDW with 4 theme parks has only 48 ???
Im 100%shocked
Does this take into consideration the closed and waiting for announcement , the never ending refurb updates that are still sitting in blue sky?
And the attractions that aren’t functioning and keep closing through my day ?

Yeah it's the whole Theme Park vs Amusement Park argument.... Our nearest Amusement Park isn't that large but it mostly a mix of spinning "fair rides" with number of Thrill Coasters - was ok when I was younger and had kids, but I'm beyond that.

But do think part of the problem is that Disney has failed to expanded a few of their parks fully... and at this point there really should be a 5th Gate. As many of these "issues" is a result of too much demand and too little product to go around. And their inability to grow revenues in an organic way... so they are having to charge for things they once they didn't charge for.

 

[Jrb1979]

Yeah it's the whole Theme Park vs Amusement Park argument.... Our nearest Amusement Park isn't that large but it mostly a mix of spinning "fair rides" with number of Thrill Coasters - was ok when I was younger and had kids, but I'm beyond that.

But do think part of the problem is that Disney has failed to expanded a few of their parks fully... and at this point there really should be a 5th Gate. As many of these "issues" is a result of too much demand and too little product to go around. And their inability to grow revenues in an organic way... so they are having to charge for things they once they didn't charge for.

My point wasn't to compare Theme Park vs Amusement park. More so the amount of attractions. There is no reason WDW should have that few attractions in 4 parks. They need to fill the parks they have before adding another gate. Unfortunately that's not coming anytime soon.

 

[rmclain73]

I just can't tolerate people who include groups of people in something they know nothing about and make comments which are not true at all.

Unfortunately, you just described most of the internet.