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

[kanerf]

They should just let you prepay for Genie+ based on a WDW resort reservation. Do it like they used to do dining plan. That way they would know how many folks are paying for the plan on any given day and can adjust pricing based on that usage.

 

[xdan0920]

They will keep increasing the price and making it scarcer until they hit a sweet spot.

I disagree 1000%. They will keep increasing the price. They will not make it scarcer. They don't want less people buying it.

 

[nikem3]

I disagree 1000%. They will keep increasing the price. They will not make it scarcer. They don't want less people buying it.

Of course not, they'd love to charge a billion dollars a day and a billion people buy it. But realistically, they are just going to raise until they hit that sweet spot where crowds are fairly stable. Its a supply and demand thing. They obviously want to continue making money, but they would much rather be in a spot where they can offer discounts to bring in additional guests and adjust their pricing on the fly. Less guests making them the same amount of money as before means they can cut overhead and operate with less staff.

 

[leeniewdw]

Here is a quote from a poster on another board about how Genie+ was supposed to work.

" If the system were operating as intended, you could just open the app up at 4pm and get a 5pm. That's the freedom it was supposed to offer. The planning is literally what they wanted to remove from the experience.

You shouldn't even have to think about reservations, there should just be availability all day long that you would be comfortable knowing that you didn't have to race to get a 5pm - but simply that it would be there whenever it came time."

Due to too many guests using it a day its not working.

Exactly. They have to a) charge more, way more. and b) cap the amount sold. That’s the only way it will work how it should. If they do that then it will greatly reduce the amount of people in the LL, thereby reducing the wait in the standby line. It seems like that would prove to be a win-win situation. I mean not for people who want it for free, but that’s unrealistic and those days are way behind us anyways.

I admit I'm not that smart, and I understand how a ton of LL people make the Standby line slow, but how does shifting people from the LL to Standby reduce wait time. Isn't this just an offset?

I know Disney has stats and researchers and experts in queueing theory but I've always wondered what the goal is -- how long do they expect people paying just the entrance fee to wait? What is acceptable. Same for G+, what are the parameters that define a "successful" balance of revenue and ride availability?

 

[nicksinger8]

Of course not, they'd love to charge a billion dollars a day and a billion people buy it. But realistically, they are just going to raise until they hit that sweet spot where crowds are fairly stable. Its a supply and demand thing. They obviously want to continue making money, but they would much rather be in a spot where they can offer discounts to bring in additional guests and adjust their pricing on the fly. Less guests making them the same amount of money as before means they can cut overhead and operate with less staff.

Yes it is a question of economics. They can’t keep increasing the prices and keeping the numbers the same and if they did people will stop buying it. But they will try to maximise profits and squeeze as much out of the lemon as possible. But @lentesta - do we have data to resolve this?

 

[nikem3]

I admit I'm not that smart, and I understand how a ton of LL people make the Standby line slow, but how does shifting people from the LL to Standby reduce wait time. Isn't this just an offset?

I know Disney has stats and researchers and experts in queueing theory but I've always wondered what the goal is -- how long do they expect people paying just the entrance fee to wait? What is acceptable. Same for G+, what are the parameters that define a "successful" balance of revenue and ride availability?

The issue is the rate at which LL gets to move versus Standby. They had a few lists of rides on how many LL for every 1 standby and it can be anywhere from like 4 to 1 all the way up to like 16 to 1.

 

[Praying Colonel]

IMHO those expecting Disney to use price increases to reduce demand for G+ or anything else will be waiting a long time. I've only been going to the parks since 04, but I can't remember a time that demand decreased, except for the years following the Great Recession. Disney has continued to raise prices for various products (park admission, parties, DDP, etc.) but not in a way that decreases the demand for the product. I don't think they're going to start now with Genie+ or any other product they sell.

 

[0FF TO NEVERLAND]

In florida now and even the cab drivers are saying how Disney has changed. The guy I had said Walt would be ashamed of what they have been doing.

I stayed in universal for a few days. Great hotels and staff

 

[0FF TO NEVERLAND]

I also don't understand this Genie+ needs to be more expensive to work when FP+ was FREE and worked fine.

BINGO

Fast passed my entire trip with all rides, more than once. Just took some dedication and time, which I’d rather do than pay more money on a week trip

 

[nikem3]

IMHO those expecting Disney to use price increases to reduce demand for G+ or anything else will be waiting a long time. I've only been going to the parks since 04, but I can't remember a time that demand decreased, except for the years following the Great Recession. Disney has continued to raise prices for various products (park admission, parties, DDP, etc.) but not in a way that decreases the demand for the product. I don't think they're going to start now with Genie+ or any other product they sell.

Of course not. Because for the people saying today that they are done, once Tron opens up they will be right back in the park. Or once "x" opens up, they will be right back in the park. And they certainly can't wait in the 2 hour line, so they'll pay the $20 for a LL. It never changes. Everyone complains that Disney is getting bad and changing for the worse, but every year seems to get more and more crowded.

 

[nikem3]

BINGO

It didn't work fine though. It just changed the dynamic and people complained about it as well all the time. You'd wake up at midnight 30-60 days ahead of your vacation and be scrambling to grab a fast pass to ONE of the good rides. People complained about it, so then Disney changed to a system where they had tiered rides. And then people complained about THAT. So they moved to Genie+, and now people complain about this, so they will adjust the system or raise the prices.

Heck, even the first Fast pass system where you had to put your ticket into the machines people complained about. It was a rush to get to the attraction you wanted and trying to plan and time it to get the most out of your fast passes. Its always been this way, people just have short memories and obviously getting charged for something that was once free sucks.

 

[LSUfan4444]

From 1971 to 2005 (34 years) the ticket prices went from $3.50 - $59.75.
From 2005 to 2019 (14 years - ball-parking averaging holiday, peak, low, etc) the cost went from $59.75 to $130.

APs were first introduced in 1982 at a cost of $100 and in 2005 they cost $395. As of February 2020 they were up to $1195.

Look at the price of other goods like gas, bread, milk. Look at wages in the same timeframe. Then look at prices of luxury items like travel (airfare, hotels, etc.).

The increase of a WDW Park Ticket is in on a scale all to its own. For the time being we can still swing the tickets and associated G+ and ILL's by reducing our spending in other areas (staying off-site, dining off-site, less table service meals, no after hours events, no memory maker, etc) but I don't know how long that's sustainable.

 

[MikeandReneePlus5]

Of course not. Because for the people saying today that they are done, once Tron opens up they will be right back in the park. Or once "x" opens up, they will be right back in the park. And they certainly can't wait in the 2 hour line, so they'll pay the $20 for a LL. It never changes. Everyone complains that Disney is getting bad and changing for the worse, but every year seems to get more and more crowded.

I started reading these boards in 2010 and there were lots of threads back then about how Disney has lost it's magic, the place isn't the same, Walt would be spinning in his grave, it's gotten so expensive etc.

My theory is that people connect with the place early and fall in love with it. Maybe when the kids are little, or just when it's fresh and new an unexplored. Then the kids grow and/or you keep going and it's great for a while, but then it starts to become more about nostalgia and less present enjoyment.

And nostalgia is a funny thing. There is a sense of sadness attached to it. And so people lament and say "it isn't the same".

 

[MikeandReneePlus5]

From 1971 to 2005 (34 years) the ticket prices went from $3.50 - $59.75.
From 2005 to 2019 (14 years - ball-parking averaging holiday, peak, low, etc) the cost went from $59.75 to $130.

APs were first introduced in 1982 at a cost of $100 and in 2005 they cost $395. As of February 2020 they were up to $1195.

Look at the price of other goods like gas, bread, milk. Look at wages in the same timeframe. Then look at prices of luxury items like travel (airfare, hotels, etc.).

The increase of a WDW Park Ticket is in on a scale all to its own. For the time being we can still swing the tickets and associated G+ and ILL's by reducing our spending in other areas (staying off-site, dining off-site, less table service meals, no after hours events, no memory maker, etc) but I don't know how long that's sustainable.

I blame the boomers. They wreck everything.

 

[bullcat_02]

Guys, it is over.

The old Disney is gone. Due to high demand, they don't care about lower income people affording or not X, Y and Z. they will continue to push and increase prices as long as there is demand.

This whole thing has been going on even before Covid. Slowly they have been stripping privileges and services.

This price increase is just one of many that will continue to come.

I am sorry, but that is just the reality. It sucks because I will be going for the first time to a Disney resort in Feb 2023. Horrible timing lol. Now everything is more expensive, however I decided to do that for my family. I won't be able to do the same thing in the future most likely. Too expensive.

Sadly, this is the way I feel too. I haven't been in nine years due to buying a house and illness. My brother, mother, and I will be returning at the end of November for my mother's retirement and boy have things changed! My trip for the same amount of days, same hotel is twice as much as my trip in 2013. I am unfortunately having to look at this trip as my last for a long, long time. I'm not sure when/if as a single person on a pretty maxed out income will be able to afford to make a trip again.

 

[nikem3]

From 1971 to 2005 (34 years) the ticket prices went from $3.50 - $59.75.
From 2005 to 2019 (14 years - ball-parking averaging holiday, peak, low, etc) the cost went from $59.75 to $130.

APs were first introduced in 1982 at a cost of $100 and in 2005 they cost $395. As of February 2020 they were up to $1195.

Look at the price of other goods like gas, bread, milk. Look at wages in the same timeframe. Then look at prices of luxury items like travel (airfare, hotels, etc.).

The increase of a WDW Park Ticket is in on a scale all to its own. For the time being we can still swing the tickets and associated G+ and ILL's by reducing our spending in other areas (staying off-site, dining off-site, less table service meals, no after hours events, no memory maker, etc) but I don't know how long that's sustainable.

Can you compare this to crowd sizes in the same timeframe. I'm curious to see how much demand has shot up over this same time period.

 

[leeniewdw]

We had a long gap (a decade+) between the last time we took our kids (middle school age-ish) and when we went for an early March weekend trip (using REALLY old paper park hoppers with a few days left) as empty nesters in 2018. We thought it was an amazing getaway to warmth and fun. We returned 3 more times since 2018 and have a 6 person adult trip (kids first return since they were young) scheduled next month.

After that, I'd love to say we'd return to annual 'snowbird' like trip, but the reality is that the cost for 3 nights at WDW would be as much to cover a condo at the beach for a week. Since we're retiring at the end of this year, we don't have to worry about PTO and such and we'd be foolish to spend our vacation funds on WDW.

Where we fall in the visitor demographics, I'm not sure. I'm sure there are many like us who brought their kids many times and then had to pause for teen sports and activities and college/tuition. I guess I'm headed toward the "take your grand kids" demographic, but we've said that unless we win the lottery, that's unlikely to happen!

 

[boogienights]

We just returned and did not purchase Genie+ for any of our days. I do not like it at all. Being glued to my phone all day is awful and even if I'm perfect at getting on every two hours I still may only get 2-3 of the rides I want. I can do rope drop and park closing for zero extra dollars and get at least 2 high demand rides done with minimal waits. ILL on the other hand I did purchase for Guardians because there were only two in my party and I felt like riding that was worth the $34 and there was no standby line. Disney is charging more and more money for the products that are inferior to it's competitors products. Universal express pass is more money, but is a far superior product in my opinion. I don't have to get on my phone or plan times. I just get in the express line whenever I want. If I go to Universal at a time when an express pass is necessary, I can just stay at a resort that includes an express pass. Yes, these are the most expensive of the Universal resorts, but still at sometimes half the rate of a Disney deluxe resort. The Disney parks used to wow me, but how does the castle or the other wonders that the imagineering team created wow you when you can't see past the sea of humanity to take it all in. When did we start watching fireworks from behind the main street buildings because they cram too many people in the Magic Kingdom? I'm getting off track lol. Disney is becoming overpriced for us. We will go back spring break and use the 3 day tickets we have left for the parks(without Genie+ of course). After that, we will spend the money elsewhere because even though we can afford it the product is now diluted for many reasons including Genie+ and overcrowded parks. We will use our DVC for the beautiful resort stays and do Epcot or a party here and there. Of course, there will be someone behind me coming in that will spend the money and love the product they receive and that's the way it goes. I enjoyed the years I spent loving the parks. Now I will have more time to love the restaurants and resorts.

I'm not a WDW apologist (far from, truth be told) but I just don't understand how G+ doesn't work or how people are only getting 1 or 2 rides out of it. I was at WDW last week and G+ worked great. Day 1 - booked ROTR LL, GOTG LL, GOTR VQ x 2 (at 7 a.m. and 6 p.m.) and TT at 7 am. Throughout the day we used G+ to ride everything else we wanted even rides with lower waits because we didn't want stand in any lines. We saved RnRC and TOT for next day. We rode everything in Epcot except Mexico boat ride and Frozen (not interested in Frozen but we could have rope dropped it ...rope dropped MS instead). Day 2 - booked ROTR LL, GOTR LL and TOT at 7 am. We slept in a bit and rope dropped RNRC with about 10 minutes left in early entry. Used G+ for everything else except SDD which we weren't interested in. Hopped to Epcot in the evening and rode a bunch of rides including TT, Soarin, Mexico using G+. Day 3 - AK early entry. Rode EE 3 times (once with g+) and KS twice (once with g+). Bought FOP. Did everything else using G+ except for Navi because...meh. Hopped to MK at 7 and used G+ to ride JC, HM, POTC before watching fireworks. Used extended evening hours to ride SM and BTM (our favourites) over and over again. We skippwd 7DMT but ILL was def available to buy if we were interested. We didn't wait longer than 20 minutes for anything. It was awesome. If we had one more day we could have ridden every single ride in all the parks by hopping and using G+ and ILL. Was it expensive? YES!!! But worth it if you hate lines, have limited time in the parks and can budget for it. So many people say it's worthless in Epcot or Animal Kingdom but we got to do favourite rides more than once without waiting AND we took time out on Day 2 for a pool break at our hotel (Swan) and a resort break at AKL and Boma for 3 hours on Day 3 between AK and MK. Day 1 was pretty much go go go Ep-HS-EP. I did watch a lot of videos on how to use G+ ahead of time. I wasn't glued to my phone either. I'd check after we rode something to see if I was eligible to book something else and if yes, would find something we all wanted to do. I didn't bring fuel rods for my phone and still had 30 to 40% battery life by the end of the day. I think my kids were on their phones more than I was. Yes, I had to get up early to book, but we had to get up anyway to make early entry. I was up even earlier than that at USO in order to get to IOA at 7 am to ride Hagrid and VC during early entry at 8. My family brought me coffee and joined me at the front of the line at 7:45. So there is also no sleeping in at USO if you want to ride Hagrid. Having said that, I love the unlimited EP you get staying at their deluxe hotels and would never ever stay anywhere else.

 

[SLThomas318]

I know people reference fastpass+ and how it didn't work or wasn't fair. I watched the defuntland video on fastpass+ and did find it interesting. I just can't believe they couldn't make some tweaks to improve it.

I would also argue that the guest who is planning their vacation and staying on-site should have some sort of advantage... hence why you stay on-site, plan a little (I don't think 2 months is crazy, but hey change the booking windows to 30 days), or stay longer. I would have thought those were all positives to Disney? Just like now the guest who wants to get up at 7am and pay extra should be at an advantage with genie+. I just don't feel like there is much advantage with genie+. Who wants to get up at 7am every day of vacation and participate in some sort of gambling like rat-race to hopefully get some rides at times that work with whatever else you had planned that day.

 

[ajollyholidaywithjo]

There are plenty of wealthy people who are not “priced out” by these changes, but who don’t like being treated like marks. Just because you can afford something doesn’t mean you’ll be happy or willing to pay it. At this point, our money is sunk into our trip in two weeks, but we’re done after this. Vacations are investments in family happiness and memories, and WDW has gotten to the point where the ROI isn’t there. If my kids didn’t already know about our upcoming trip and I could recoup all my costs, I would happily cancel it.

This. I took this year off from Disney, and I decided to go back in January. I literally just booked my plane ticket before they made this change. If I wasn’t traveling with others and hadn’t already sunk money into this trip, I would be cancelling.