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

[DCLMP]

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.

You could not overlap the times on you fast passes so it was more like 3 hours of your day. The standby lines were always too long to fill in the gaps waiting for the next fast pass. I am firmly in the I hated fast pass plus column. I had great success with Genie+ at WDW and DL and the standby lines were always manageable.

The planning in advance is a real complaint for both systems. No it's not required, but good luck riding anything if you don't. You don't have to make dining reservations 60 days in advance, but good luck eating if you don't . Yes Disney is very different than a lot of vacations. I don't have to plan my whole day out when I go to Universal, go on a cruise , go to the beach, or even go to Europe for that matter.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

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. 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.

You're right you didn't spell it out bluntly that the only reason they were going was you but you did make it about how you are funding more trips which translates to they go more because you afford it for them at least by what you said.

As far as opulence I was meaning in your face, big showy, go all out stuff isn't necessarily viewed as the priority. This is broad speak though. Absolutely instagram worthy mickey snacks are all over but that may be what the primary focus is of the trip that makes it or eating/drinking 'round the World, etc but not necessarily about staying at this place eating at this TS place and doing this hard ticket event, etc.

You say no one focuses on "how expensive a trip was in order to equate how good it was" but that is your definition of how good a trip is. I think everyone feels like Disney is an expensive place to visit but people vary on what makes the trip for them, how we feel about our trips are never dependent on the expenses but we value things differently on our trips. The thread is largely about Genie+ and ILL and while those can add up all the other expenses someone does is individual.

I get why people bristled as the PP's initial comments, I just personally didn't think a response should be more or less "listen here you whippersnapper" but admittedly that is just me personally There was no harm no foul however intended by my response.

 

[NavyDad]

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 seen people suggest this or even predict this for 13 years now on this site and it never happens. For every family that hits their own limit on what they are willing to spend at WDW there are many more who are ready, willing and eager to pay what it takes to go. Each person has their own value threshold for trips to WDW. Just because they have a different value/threshold than you doesn't mean they are mindless.

My wife and I and DD had our best ever trip to WDW last April. Our college age daughter is excited to go with us next summer to see all of the new stuff that has opened since her last trip. We love the new rides and attractions that have opened starting with Pandora and we are super excited about GotG and Tron. My wife and I still greatly enjoy going on couples trips to WDW - especially during the Arts Fest. We really liked using Genie+ and feel like it's worth the money for us.

For our family, a trip to WDW still holds great value. I have an MBA and my wife is a frugal accountant. Our value opinions may be different than yours but I assure you that we are not mindless sheep.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

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+?!

It's a bit funny thinking about to the conversations before covid change the world and so many people talked about how 180 days in advance for dining was crazy but also how in the past Disney had tried to drop it to 90 days or 60 days and people just didn't like it preferring to do that in advance.

People make reservations for dining on vacations all the time but there's something different about making it for a theme park vacation that just doesn't quite have the same acceptance because it does seem a bit more weird. That said clearly enough people complained in the past that they wanted more time to plan their trip so I guess 180 days stuck..until covid and now 60 days seems a bit much still to me but not quite as bad. I did notice on our trip in May being able to get on the wait list was nice via the app although we didn't use it. That wasn't a feature in the past.

Agree on the flexibility. Getting conflicting times (which I think primarily happens with ILL) with ADRs or other things does remove that user friendly feeling. It's like what's the point of pre-planning this when I get there and it ends up getting crossed with something else. So that part may not have been well talked about.

 

[cakebaker]

You're right you didn't spell it out bluntly that the only reason they were going was you but you did make it about how you are funding more trips which translates to they go more because you afford it for them at least by what you said.

As far as opulence I was meaning in your face, big showy, go all out stuff isn't necessarily viewed as the priority. This is broad speak though. Absolutely instagram worthy mickey snacks are all over but that may be what the primary focus is of the trip that makes it or eating/drinking 'round the World, etc but not necessarily about staying at this place eating at this TS place and doing this hard ticket event, etc.

You say no one focuses on "how expensive a trip was in order to equate how good it was" but that is your definition of how good a trip is. I think everyone feels like Disney is an expensive place to visit but people vary on what makes the trip for them, how we feel about our trips are never dependent on the expenses but we value things differently on our trips. The thread is largely about Genie+ and ILL and while those can add up all the other expenses someone does is individual.

I get why people bristled as the PP's initial comments, I just personally didn't think a response should be more or less "listen here you whippersnapper" but admittedly that is just me personally There was no harm no foul however intended by my response.

Again, you're just not understanding what I said, but that's fine. No need to continue this line of discussion.

 

[SLThomas318]

It's a bit funny thinking about to the conversations before covid change the world and so many people talked about how 180 days in advance for dining was crazy but also how in the past Disney had tried to drop it to 90 days or 60 days and people just didn't like it preferring to do that in advance.

People make reservations for dining on vacations all the time but there's something different about making it for a theme park vacation that just doesn't quite have the same acceptance because it does seem a bit more weird. That said clearly enough people complained in the past that they wanted more time to plan their trip so I guess 180 days stuck..until covid and now 60 days seems a bit much still to me but not quite as bad. I did notice on our trip in May being able to get on the wait list was nice via the app although we didn't use it. That wasn't a feature in the past.

Agree on the flexibility. Getting conflicting times (which I think primarily happens with ILL) with ADRs or other things does remove that user friendly feeling. It's like what's the point of pre-planning this when I get there and it ends up getting crossed with something else. So that part may not have been well talked about.

Oh yes... the 6 months out for dinning was insane. I can live with 60... I agree 30 would be better, but now with park reservations I can see where maybe 60 is better in case you want to move around park days.

We are fortunate that we go often and at this point nothing is a must-do. We balance park time with resort time. Another reason why fastpass+ worked well for us because we could lock in some favorites and anything else was icing on the cake.

Genie+ def needs improvements and change is always hard. It just feels yucky at the moment that they are squeezing a few extra bucks out of people and doing nothing to improve the system. Doing this after offering something (that I understand was also flawed) that was free stings even more for people. If it was expensive and worked well then great... people can determine the value for themselves.

 

[cakebaker]

Each person has their own value threshold for trips to WDW. Just because they have a different value/threshold than you doesn't mean they are mindless.

And that's it in a nutshell. I wish people would stop buying tickets to the holiday parties. I think they're oversold and are nothing like they use to be. The problem is, there are a lot of people who do think they still hold value. I don't think it makes them stupid or mindless- I just don't agree so I don't buy them. If Genie gets to a price I don't like, I'll quit buying that as well. I think sometimes we make it much too personal when it comes to Disney. They're a business and their goal is to make as much money as possible. Genie+ has more demand than supply and any company anywhere knows what that is telling them- it's priced too low.

 

[bloomcruisers]

I can theoretically afford to pay for Genie+ with the money I save by no longer staying at Disney hotels. Since they eliminated basically all the perks unless you stay deluxe (magic bands, magical express, free parking, evening extra magic hours), we have opted to stay offsite for a fraction od Disney's inflated prices and are quite happy with our choice. We tried Genie+ on our first trip after it was introduced and found it both aggravating to use and lacking in value for us. So even though the money is available to buy it, we chose not to on our subsequent trips. On days that the standby lines were longer than we liked, we took a midday pool break and came back in the evening. We always save the headline attraction and get in line right before park close to reduce wait time. The $120/day saved for our family of 6 feels better going towards a nice offsite meal before we return to the park for evening hours.

 

[greeneyedchick]

You are completely misunderstanding the reasoning behind saying line skipping services need to be priced higher!

Here's the basic issue: Everyone CANNOT skip the lines. Period. Not possible at a theme park. Standing in lines for popular attractions especially at peak travel times is part of a theme park experience. Short of cutting the park's capacity down by two-thirds (which would have to come with a corresponding triple cost ticket) there is NO WAY to run a theme park without some level of lines.

The problem with both FP+ and Genie+ is that it is offering line skipping to TOO MANY PEOPLE. That is problematic because it seriously increases the lines for those that DON'T use the system. If a huge percentage of people are "skipping" the line at a given attraction, not only will the "line skipping" line be longer, but the "non-line skipping" line will move MUCH slower, hurting the experience of those who didn't get the extra service. I've been saying that consistently. The fairness issue here is mostly about those that DON'T use the line skipping service and how their experience is hurt.

That's not even discussing how much better Genie+ would be if less people bought it. That is also true, but it isn't even my main point.

Having a super expensive line skipping service would mean that most people aren't going to buy it. Therefore, the standby waits are not going to be artificially inflated beyond what they would have been anyway. This is the best possible outcome for EVERYONE. It HELPS those that are going to choose not to buy the line skipping service.

Trust me when I say, you are SIGNIFICANTLY better off if Genie+ is so expensive that most people will never consider buying it. Everyone is better off. That's why I've also said consistently that the "ideal" line skipping service would be NO line skipping service.

Again... remember it is literally impossible for everyone to skip the lines. For every person that is skipping a line, those who don't have access to the line skipping are standing in line that much longer. Seriously limiting the amount of line skipping that is offered to anyone is the only way to combat this.

Some of this could be solved if Disney kept longer park hours like they used to have. That's one of the big differences. If people had 7am-2am to be in the Magic Kingdom, there would be a lot more Genie slots available. Unfortunately, Disney is too cheap to keep the parks open the way that they used to.

 

[Miffy]

And how would you determine which of the tens of thousands of daily guests at Disney would be the ones to get the amazing super limited line skipping service if you are NOT going to use price?

Seriously. Random lottery to a very lucky few winners every day? Signing up 5-10 years in advance? Those who have spent the most at Disney over the course of their lives? Those who have been fans the longest?

Please tell me how Disney can offer Genie+ to only a very limited number of people each day in a way that is fair to everyone that doesn't use price.

I'm not rich. I'm not spending tens of thousands of dollars on my Disney vacation. I'm not advocating higher prices for line skipping because I would pay them. I absolutely would not.

I'm advocating it because it makes by far the most sense for the reality that we live in - which is that Disney is going to try to maximize profit and that it is literally impossible to run a profitable, reasonably affordable theme park that offers genuinely worthwhile rides and attractions without it having long lines.

Any line skipping service makes those lines even longer. Therefore, the ideal line skipping service is one that only a very few people use... and the only way to limit the usage of it in a way that makes sense is by making it a high price.

I don't understand why that isn't obvious.

Let me see if I can condense this down to what you're getting at: That the only way to determine who will get the limited number of skip-the-line spots is by charging more and more. And more. Because then only those who truly "deserve" these spots will get them. Any other system would be unfair. Even though of course the pay-as-much-as-the-market-will-bear system is also unfair, since it eliminates anyone who doesn't have the cash to buy in.

In fact, there is no fair system. People who get up early on vacation and are at the front of the rope-drop line have an advantage over guests who do not do this. Now, of course, you could argue--and maybe you will argue--that only someone with advanced knowledge would RD, so that ruins your leveled playing field since you want this system, whatever system it is, to be exactly the same for every kind of WDW guest, whether they're onsite or off, whether they've ever been before or not, whether they've done any research or not.

In that case, the best system would be a totally random lottery that you wouldn't even know you'd entered. Anyone who tapped into the park would automatically be entered into this lottery and would receive a push notice on their phone (uh-oh, this eliminates anyone who doesn't have a smartphone, but I think even you might acknowledge that WDW without a smartphone is all but impossible these days). The push notice would let them know that they had a skip-the-line access to attractions X, Y, and Z. Or maybe just attraction X. Too bad if it's not something they'd like to experience . . . because this is the level playing field, which means you take what you can get. No one has an advantage over anyone else. Anyone who's entered the park with you that day and who's linked to your MDE will also get this lottery-based skip-the-line award. And they can charge whatever they want for this and you'd have X minutes to accept or decline it. And--I realize you don't like this idea--but it could be free.

Maybe it's not an award, like winning the lottery. Maybe in order to even participate you have to pay them something and, if you win, you have to pay them even more! Is that better?

Or how about this: The first X number of guests to enter the park on any given day receive the right to purchase a G+-type service. This is fair to everyone--well, everyone who could pay for it--because you would get a push notification on your phone the night before (after all, you have a park reservation so they know you'll be there) letting you know exactly how this system works and, in case you didn't read it last night, you'll get the push again that morning. You'll have X minutes to purchase this and make your reservations. If you miss the deadline, too bad, you lost. A countdown on your phone would let you know just how many minutes/seconds you had left to purchase this.

No? This favors people who get up early? Or people who look at their phone?

Or they could just put it on sale at midnight--the same time that G+ goes on sale--and the first X number of people to purchase it would be the only ones who'd get it. Of course this favors people who stay up late. Or people who know this is how it works.

Or they could just start offering G+ as a perk to one's onsite resort reservation when, inevitably, so-called revenge travel dies down and WDW realizes that the glut of guests they're currently experiencing couldn't last forever and they have to lure people back. Think that'll never happen? Riiiight.

 

[Jrb1979]

Let me see if I can condense this down to what you're getting at: That the only way to determine who will get the limited number of skip-the-line spots is by charging more and more. And more. Because then only those who truly "deserve" these spots will get them. Any other system would be unfair. Even though of course the pay-as-much-as-the-market-will-bear system is also unfair, since it eliminates anyone who doesn't have the cash to buy in.

In fact, there is no fair system. People who get up early on vacation and are at the front of the rope-drop line have an advantage over guests who do not do this. Now, of course, you could argue--and maybe you will argue--that only someone with advanced knowledge would RD, so that ruins your leveled playing field since you want this system, whatever system it is, to be exactly the same for every kind of WDW guest, whether they're onsite or off, whether they've ever been before or not, whether they've done any research or not.

In that case, the best system would be a totally random lottery that you wouldn't even know you'd entered. Anyone who tapped into the park would automatically be entered into this lottery and would receive a push notice on their phone (uh-oh, this eliminates anyone who doesn't have a smartphone, but I think even you might acknowledge that WDW without a smartphone is all but impossible these days). The push notice would let them know that they had a skip-the-line access to attractions X, Y, and Z. Or maybe just attraction X. Too bad if it's not something they'd like to experience . . . because this is the level playing field, which means you take what you can get. No one has an advantage over anyone else. Anyone who's entered the park with you that day and who's linked to your MDE will also get this lottery-based skip-the-line award. And they can charge whatever they want for this and you'd have X minutes to accept or decline it. And--I realize you don't like this idea--but it could be free.

Maybe it's not an award, like winning the lottery. Maybe in order to even participate you have to pay them something and, if you win, you have to pay them even more! Is that better?

Or how about this: The first X number of guests to enter the park on any given day receive the right to purchase a G+-type service. This is fair to everyone--well, everyone who could pay for it--because you would get a push notification on your phone the night before (after all, you have a park reservation so they know you'll be there) letting you know exactly how this system works and, in case you didn't read it last night, you'll get the push again that morning. You'll have X minutes to purchase this and make your reservations. If you miss the deadline, too bad, you lost. A countdown on your phone would let you know just how many minutes/seconds you had left to purchase this.

No? This favors people who get up early? Or people who look at their phone?

Or they could just put it on sale at midnight--the same time that G+ goes on sale--and the first X number of people to purchase it would be the only ones who'd get it. Of course this favors people who stay up late. Or people who know this is how it works.

Or they could just start offering G+ as a perk to one's onsite resort reservation when, inevitably, so-called revenge travel dies down and WDW realizes that the glut of guests they're currently experiencing couldn't last forever and they have to lure people back. Think that'll never happen? Riiiight.

IMO people would less upset if they can't afford it over them just capping sales. Skip the line system are not made for everyone to have. It's why every other park charges so much.

I don't understand why so many have a hard time understanding that. The only thing I can guess is the majority of you only visit Disney.

 

[lowlight]

IMO people would less upset if they can't afford it over them just capping sales. Skip the line system are not made for everyone to have. It's why every other park charges so much.

I don't understand why so many have a hard time understanding that. The only thing I can guess is the majority of you only visit Disney.

The issue with this is the precedent it sets. Maybe they get rid of 60+LOS ADRs and it’s whoever is willing to pay most to sit down and eat. I understand what you’re saying and I know that the problem with Genie won’t be fixed without pricing or limiting, but it still doesn’t sit right with me.

 

[Jrb1979]

The issue with this is the precedent it sets. Maybe they get rid of 60+LOS ADRs and it’s whoever is willing to pay most to sit down and eat. I understand what you’re saying and I know that the problem with Genie won’t be fixed without pricing or limiting, but it still doesn’t sit right with me.

I don't think they would do that with ADRs. IMO they are trying to play catch up with everyone else

 

[jvalic33]

They said "meaningful cap" and they are correct. I've been going to the Halloween Parties since 2006. I'd do two parties each year. We had it down pat. There is a HUGE difference in number of tickets sold then and now. I actually didn't go for two years before COVID specifically because the crowds had become so big that it was not exclusive. I went again last month. We got maybe HALF done than we used to do specifically because of making our way through the crowds and the lines for special things. Since I started going the early dates party ticket prices are now more than double than when I started and almost 4x more by the end of the parties. While you can say the Hocus Pocus show is an upgrade, there is much less being offered than used to be, much less change in decor - all the lighting and smoke is gone and much less character meets. We are paying lots more for less with lots more people.

We went back to the Magic Kingdom on Tuesday for the regular day and I'm sure there were less people in the park Tuesday than there was at the party.

This was the hub for fireworks, only a fraction of the people. Wish I took a panorama, a sea of humanity in every direction. I put my son inside the fence at the side turrets. While not a great view I didn't feel he would be safe out in the large mass. When you are looking for safe places ...

Wow! I'm so glad I'm not crazy! We were doing the Halloween Parties since 2008 and we TOTALLY found a difference in the last few before COVID and then stopped going.

It was insane, we could barely walk through the parks and couldn't get anywhere near seeing the parade (without lining up 2 hours in advance in which case what is the point of a party).

I would much rather pay more, have less crowds, have my kids be able to see a parade without people being mean to me for not wanting to waste my money and not line up 2 hours early than deal with all that stress. Plus, time is money and if you are spending but having to wait on lines anyway, it doesn't make sense.

I used Genie + and if the increased price means less spinny spinny on my phone and I actually get the rides I want then I would definitely give it a try. You're already spending so much money on a Disney trip, why not spend a little extra on a fast pass system that works? Whether I spend 15 or 20 per day, if I spend 15 and it stinks or 20 and it works, I'm definitely going to complain less about spending more.

 

[set88]

Let me see if I can condense this down to what you're getting at: That the only way to determine who will get the limited number of skip-the-line spots is by charging more and more. And more. Because then only those who truly "deserve" these spots will get them. Any other system would be unfair. Even though of course the pay-as-much-as-the-market-will-bear system is also unfair, since it eliminates anyone who doesn't have the cash to buy in.

In fact, there is no fair system. People who get up early on vacation and are at the front of the rope-drop line have an advantage over guests who do not do this. Now, of course, you could argue--and maybe you will argue--that only someone with advanced knowledge would RD, so that ruins your leveled playing field since you want this system, whatever system it is, to be exactly the same for every kind of WDW guest, whether they're onsite or off, whether they've ever been before or not, whether they've done any research or not.

In that case, the best system would be a totally random lottery that you wouldn't even know you'd entered. Anyone who tapped into the park would automatically be entered into this lottery and would receive a push notice on their phone (uh-oh, this eliminates anyone who doesn't have a smartphone, but I think even you might acknowledge that WDW without a smartphone is all but impossible these days). The push notice would let them know that they had a skip-the-line access to attractions X, Y, and Z. Or maybe just attraction X. Too bad if it's not something they'd like to experience . . . because this is the level playing field, which means you take what you can get. No one has an advantage over anyone else. Anyone who's entered the park with you that day and who's linked to your MDE will also get this lottery-based skip-the-line award. And they can charge whatever they want for this and you'd have X minutes to accept or decline it. And--I realize you don't like this idea--but it could be free.

Maybe it's not an award, like winning the lottery. Maybe in order to even participate you have to pay them something and, if you win, you have to pay them even more! Is that better?

Or how about this: The first X number of guests to enter the park on any given day receive the right to purchase a G+-type service. This is fair to everyone--well, everyone who could pay for it--because you would get a push notification on your phone the night before (after all, you have a park reservation so they know you'll be there) letting you know exactly how this system works and, in case you didn't read it last night, you'll get the push again that morning. You'll have X minutes to purchase this and make your reservations. If you miss the deadline, too bad, you lost. A countdown on your phone would let you know just how many minutes/seconds you had left to purchase this.

No? This favors people who get up early? Or people who look at their phone?

Or they could just put it on sale at midnight--the same time that G+ goes on sale--and the first X number of people to purchase it would be the only ones who'd get it. Of course this favors people who stay up late. Or people who know this is how it works.

Or they could just start offering G+ as a perk to one's onsite resort reservation when, inevitably, so-called revenge travel dies down and WDW realizes that the glut of guests they're currently experiencing couldn't last forever and they have to lure people back. Think that'll never happen? Riiiight.

I'm not even sure if you are actually attempting to offer something you think is a reasonable solution or not.

I'm not in favor of line skipping being a lottery. There's not even a reason to reward only a random few people with a perk that actively hurts everyone else by making standby lines longer. At least if Disney is making money off it, they can (theoretically) invest that money back into the parks.

In case I wasn't clear on this in my previous replies to you - I have said that by far the fairest system would be NO line skipping system at all. People show up when they show up and stand in the lines that happen to be there for the things they want to do. The way theme parks worked for decades before recent times.

But if a skip the line system has to exist, it SHOULD be highly limited and making it limited based on price makes by far the most sense for a theme park to do. It creates extra profit for them (remember, the goal of Disney is to make money).

I also genuinely think that most people are ok with the idea that there are lots of incredible things out there they can't afford. Almost none of us can afford every single experience we'd love to have and there are some that will likely always be out of reach. I'm not going to spend time being bitter about that. If Disney creates a hugely expensive skip the line system that I can't afford - so what? It's better than FP+ or Genie+ clogging standby lines. I'm also not staying at the Grand Floridian or eating 3 table service meals a day or flying first class. Why should I care that other people get to do it if it doesn't affect me?

I don't think there's much point in continuing this discussion, though, because I don't get the impression you are trying to understand anything I'm saying, and I genuinely don't understand what point you were trying to make in this reply. Unless it's "rich people shouldn't be able to afford something I can't afford" which is a fact of life I don't think is worth being upset about.

 

[set88]

Some of this could be solved if Disney kept longer park hours like they used to have. That's one of the big differences. If people had 7am-2am to be in the Magic Kingdom, there would be a lot more Genie slots available. Unfortunately, Disney is too cheap to keep the parks open the way that they used to.

Wow, that sounds so crazy to me! It's hard to believe those ever were MK hours. Funny but I was actually pleased to see that Disney hours were so long in comparison to most other theme parks. Obviously they are not normally likely to get the crowds Disney gets, but most theme parks seem to have very short hours. My local Busch Gardens is 10-6 right now which feels very short (and sad not to be able to go in the evening).

I definitely wish Disney would bring back longer hours knowing that's something they used to do.

 

[jimim]

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.

I travel all over. I still love Disney. In anything I enjoy I don’t mind spending money but to just keep paying more and more and more and more is pretty nuts. I work pretty hard for the money I make and I don’t like to just to throw it away or being juiced for every little penny. Maybe you have endless money to throw away. I don’t. Again I don’t mind paying but it’s getting pretty nutty. I’ll pay for ills or whatever they are called for rides I haven’t done but for me paying to ride the genie rides I have rode forever and paying more each time is nuts.

 

[SeasonneRose]

Isn't that normal? You compare established things to what they used to be. That restaurant used to serve good food and had incredible service, now it doesn't. On one hand I understand what you're saying, things change and what they did 5-10 years ago isn't how they run things now, but you also can't be flippant and just dismiss it.

It’s just complaining then. I could compare gas to what it was in 1997 but that doesn’t change anything. At some point you stop and accept the changes. Disney is not going back to Fast Passes. Let it go.

 

[jimim]

I have seen people suggest this or even predict this for 13 years now on this site and it never happens. For every family that hits their own limit on what they are willing to spend at WDW there are many more who are ready, willing and eager to pay what it takes to go. Each person has their own value threshold for trips to WDW. Just because they have a different value/threshold than you doesn't mean they are mindless.

My wife and I and DD had our best ever trip to WDW last April. Our college age daughter is excited to go with us next summer to see all of the new stuff that has opened since her last trip. We love the new rides and attractions that have opened starting with Pandora and we are super excited about GotG and Tron. My wife and I still greatly enjoy going on couples trips to WDW - especially during the Arts Fest. We really liked using Genie+ and feel like it's worth the money for us.

For our family, a trip to WDW still holds great value. I have an MBA and my wife is a frugal accountant. Our value opinions may be different than yours but I assure you that we are not mindless sheep.

It’s a saying people. The internet takes everything so literal. Relex.

 

[Jrb1979]

Wow, that sounds so crazy to me! It's hard to believe those ever were MK hours. Funny but I was actually pleased to see that Disney hours were so long in comparison to most other theme parks. Obviously they are not normally likely to get the crowds Disney gets, but most theme parks seem to have very short hours. My local Busch Gardens is 10-6 right now which feels very short (and sad not to be able to go in the evening).

I definitely wish Disney would bring back longer hours knowing that's something they used to do.

To be far to Busch Gardens they close early to have their Halloween event each evening