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

[amylevan]

There is a big difference between a front of the line pass at other parks and G+. The other systems require no planning, some allow re-rides (and some don’t for a savings), includes every ride that has the system and most have little waits once you do jump in line. You don’t have to worry about getting up at 7 am, reservations times, pulling up an app on a phone to see what’s available, etc.

You simply jump the line, for a hefty price, yes, but it’s a far superior system. If G+ ever approaches those prices, we really have a problem on our hands.

And if you are talking purchasing G+ at $25 and one LL at $25, there isn’t a whole lot of room to increase the price before they have those other systems as a direct competitor.

 

[xdan0920]

If Disney implemented a true pay to skip the line pass it would have to cost a fortune to keep demand low enough. If you’re a family of four it would add thousands per day. Since most people take multi-day trips to multiple parks it seems unrealistic.

Exactly. This is the entire point. G+ is not a front of the line pass, and it never will be. I assure you all, Disney knows about these Front of the Line passes. They don't want that. They want to milk you for a few extra bucks a day. That's all.

 

[Jrb1979]

Exactly. This is the entire point. G+ is not a front of the line pass, and it never will be. I assure you all, Disney knows about these Front of the Line passes. They don't want that. They want to milk you for a few extra bucks a day. That's all.

It's a big reason why guest satisfaction for Genie+ is so low. Yes many people are buying it but the most part it's hated.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

And if you are talking purchasing G+ at $25 and one LL at $25, there isn’t a whole lot of room to increase the price before they have those other systems as a direct competitor.

Long before MP came around I used to state with confidence that Disney didn't want to go to a paid system because they spent so much of their marketing on "included" for FP (whether it was Legacy or FP+). It was what they used marketing-wise to separate themselves from their competitor that your park admission came with something other parks did not. Then came around the industry standard speak for things like paid parking at the resorts, etc.

I don't really think Disney is as concerned about certain aspects of their competitors in the theme and amusement park industry as they used to be. Clearly I was wrong the many times I talked about Disney switching to a paid system. I think these days they would be better off PR-wise to dive head first into what their competitors have but talk it up (and perhaps tweak the base product) such that they can then say they are distinguished from their competitors in this way or that way.

 

[Genie+]

The disconnect in all of this is the thinking you need Genie+ or a skip the line pass to enjoy the parks. It's the reason other parks charge so much. It's not meant for everyone to have.

There is a reason most WDW visitors don’t want to stand in lines for every single ride. It is a premium experience. It is not a local theme park.

Say a high end restaurant had their dishes and silverware stolen and you have a reservation tonight. You have to eat all your fancy food off paper plates and plasticware. Not the same experience. Now the restaurant says we’re not buying replacements. Do you go back?

It’s not a matter of being spoiled. Some people gravitated to WDW vacations because of the line skipping system making a trip better, even if it was just some rides. Those people will buy Genie+ or go elsewhere. WDW is still trying to find the sweet spot between price and what G+ offers.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

There is a reason most WDW visitors don’t want to stand in lines for every single ride. It is a premium experience. It is not a local theme park.

Say a high end restaurant had their dishes and silverware stolen and you have a reservation tonight. You have to eat all your fancy food off paper plates and plasticware. Not the same experience. Now the restaurant says we’re not buying replacements. Do you go back?

It’s not a matter of being spoiled. Some people gravitated to WDW vacations because of the line skipping system making a trip better, even if it was just some rides. Those people will buy Genie+ or go elsewhere. WDW is still trying to find the sweet spot between price and what G+ offers.

I agree to a point but they aren't really setting themselves up as much as a premium experience any longer. So many people make complaints about what Disney represents now that it seems to have spurned it's own acronym on the Boards.."BYOM" or Bring Your Own Magic. I think it's debatable whether the perception is still there that Disney is such a premium product that you're willing to keep on going with the current iteration of the product.

 

[gorkt]

Yeah, the amount I am paying for this trip means it is likely my last family trip for many years, and maybe ever, barring a big windfall or something. It has just become too much for too little. Paying a base ticket price to ride a few rides then paying more to ride 2-3 more. Like others have said, I feel forced to pay for extras like after hours and such in order to get a pleasant experience for my family. Since this is my first real vacation since Covid, I am going to suck it up, but reading trip reports gives me a bad feeling. And having all of these last minute price increases just keep coming when I am past the time to change most of my vacation plans is also annoying. I was planning to get G+ for 4-5 days of my trip, and that extra $20-30 a day means one or two less ADRs most likely.

 

[DaviVascaino]

Yeah, the amount I am paying for this trip means it is likely my last family trip for many years, and maybe ever, barring a big windfall or something. It has just become too much for too little. Paying a base ticket price to ride a few rides then paying more to ride 2-3 more. Like others have said, I feel forced to pay for extras like after hours and such in order to get a pleasant experience for my family. Since this is my first real vacation since Covid, I am going to suck it up, but reading trip reports gives me a bad feeling. And having all of these last minute price increases just keep coming when I am past the time to change most of my vacation plans is also annoying. I was planning to get G+ for 4-5 days of my trip, and that extra $20-30 a day means one or two less ADRs most likely.

I think a lot fo that currently is related to time of the year.
I went this february 2022 and I absolutely loved it.

I am going again in Feb 2023. Given current pricing, I would never consider going on more crowded months. no way

 

[set88]

The disconnect in all of this is the thinking you need Genie+ or a skip the line pass to enjoy the parks. It's the reason other parks charge so much. It's not meant for everyone to have.

I know we've mentioned this before, but I continue to be surprised by how many comments act like paying for Genie+ and ILLs is mandatory. It's not. Not at all. You can go and stand in line. You can plan your day around being in the parks when lines tend to be shorter or plan your trip for days/weeks/months when crowds will likely be lower.

I genuinely do not understand the perspective that Disney is forcing people to pay for these extras to have a good trip. They're not. You can totally choose to go without them and still have a good time. Sure, if you believe you cannot have a good time standing in any lines, you likely won't have a good time... but at that point, I have to say that going to a theme park for entertainment isn't something you should do, because lines for attractions are part of the theme park experience. It's not possible for a theme park to make money letting so few people in the park each day that there are no lines.

The only validity to the complaints stems from the fact that LLs can make standby waits longer. This is an issue that has to be addressed by capping Genie+ usage until it's no longer an issue at all. I also don't think it's an issue that is any worse with Genie+ than it was with FP+. It should be significantly better because 50% less people are using Genie+ than were using FP+.

 

[snikki]

The disconnect in all of this is the thinking you need Genie+ or a skip the line pass to enjoy the parks. It's the reason other parks charge so much. It's not meant for everyone to have.

I’ve thought this a million times when reading threads and maybe typed it up once or twice. People throw out statements “I have to pay for a park ticket and then pay to ride the rides.” Or we’re back to ticket books for a pay per ride experience. Umm no you don’t (with maybe the exception of guardians if you don’t get a VQ).

 

[scrappinginontario]

It will be interesting to see if the number of people in the parks decreases with this change? I know it's not measurable as Disney does not give attendance stats but, based on feedback here, it seems many are in the process of adjusting not only how much they spend at Disney but also, how often they will/will not go.

That's our family. All of the changes that have happened in the past few years, even before these latest increases, had already changed the frequency that we go to Disney. These latest changes are not helping our desire to return when we normally would.

 

[snikki]

It will be interesting to see if the number of people in the parks decreases with this change? I know it's not measurable as Disney does not give attendance stats but, based on feedback here, it seems many are in the process of adjusting not only how much they spend at Disney but also, how often they will/will not go.

That's our family. All of the changes that have happened in the past few years, even before these latest increases, had already changed the frequency that we go to Disney. These latest changes are not helping our desire to return when we normally would.

We cancelled Boma breakfast and our MK fireworks dessert party when the increases were announced Tuesday. We have G+ added to our length of stay tickets for November but I still felt like I needed to save elsewhere for all of the food/drink increases.

 

[bluedolphin32]

It will be interesting to see if the G+ price increases affect ADR availability. It's been very hard to get what you want lately - maybe that will change? Probably not over the holidays, but maybe by 2023.

 

[Dis Dragon]

I would say Boma breakfast is one of the few values in comparison on property. It was mixed feelings when they announced the character return to Ohana breakfast and that price increase. Now the firework party... that is just an out of control train, but the crowds in the hub are crazy enough to almost make it worth it.

 

[snikki]

I would say Boma breakfast is one of the few values in comparison on property. It was mixed feelings when they announced the character return to Ohana breakfast and that price increase. Now the firework party... that is just an out of control train, but the crowds in the hub are crazy enough to almost make it worth it.

It went from $29 to $35 a person. For a buffet with no characters. After tip I’m going to be paying over $80 for breakfast for two people. It was the easiest ADR to cut since we do breakfast in the room the rest of the week and DD would prefer to sleep in anyway.

 

[CarolMN]

Looks like it’s $20 again today. Random Thursday in October makes this seem like $20 is the new baseline. I wonder what the outer limit will be? I guess we’ll find out on Thanksgiving.

Not a random Thursday. It's the Thursday of the Columbus Holiday week. Many southern schools have the entire week off as their fall break. It's one of the busier weeks for WDW.

Next week or the week after might be a better gage of "random Thursday" in October.

 

[PaladinButters]

I’ve thought this a million times when reading threads and maybe typed it up once or twice. People throw out statements “I have to pay for a park ticket and then pay to ride the rides.” Or we’re back to ticket books for a pay per ride experience. Umm no you don’t (with maybe the exception of guardians if you don’t get a VQ).

I think it's more that it FEELS like we are back to ticket books for some people just because they put a price on some rides.
I'm looking at plans for our Disneyland trip later this year and RISE is $25. For one single ride for one person. And I know I don't have to pay that. But holy cow is that a big number for the non-Dis types to see when they already feel like it's pay the price or suffer.

 

[Disneylover99]

I genuinely do not understand the perspective that Disney is forcing people to pay for these extras to have a good trip. They're not. You can totally choose to go without them and still have a good time. Sure, if you believe you cannot have a good time standing in any lines, you likely won't have a good time... but at that point, I have to say that going to a theme park for entertainment isn't something you should do, because lines for attractions are part of the theme park experience. It's not possible for a theme park to make money letting so few people in the park each day that there are no lines.

If you were used to FP/FP+ and used them to your advantage, attraction lines were not part of the theme park experience at Disney. And avoiding lines was a huge part of the enjoyment for many. For some, the ability to avoid lines was part of the magic.

So I understand why many people now feel the need to pay extra to avoid standbye lines.

 

[lugnut33]

I contend that this is NOT what Disney wants. They simply want to squeeze as much juice as possible out of the consumers as they can. They want the same or more people buying G+ AND they want them paying more for it.

If they wanted a better experience for those purchasing, they would simply double the price and cut the available volume in half. That's not the goal though. The goal is to maximize the ROI of G+.

I agree with most of what you say, but Disney doesn't have to raise the price to make it a better experience. They could just limit availability of G+ (GASP!). Not like I think they'd ever do that because you have to think about bottom line. It's way better to have thousands buying it even if the experience is bad. Helps with those executive bonuses.

 

[DCLMP]

Comfortable paying and being able to afford are way different things. I'm not wanting to spend $200 per night for All-Stars but I can afford it. I'm not comfortable spending $1,000 a night but I can afford it. When people talk about not being able to afford something and they actually mean that it truly means they can't like they wouldn't be able to pay their utility bill that month or get groceries or other basic needs. But being uncomfortable with the pricing and what that feels like in terms of value is usually what people actually mean when discussing Disney pricing. Been that way for years. They usually talk about what other vacation(s) they'll take instead.

To put it a different way people are too liberal with the phrase, especially on these Boards..

I think a lot of people say they are uncomfortable when in reality they can't afford it. If you have to neglect other things you need to pay for, reduce the amount you put into savings, use a credit card to pay for it, or stress over the cost than you can't afford it. A vacation should not cause financial anxiety. Yes I know there are people that can easily afford it, but think it's overpriced. That's not the majority of Americans. The majority of Americans cannot afford Disney at all.