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

[jimim]

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.

Maybe that's me. I don't like to go to other parks. Only time I do is if forced by my family. I like Disney because it's Disney not the rides. We have taken trips before kids that we would just hang out in the park and people watch. Literally do nothing. Go on a ride here and there.

But my life for those that know me is pretty much summed up in Disney (in general), beach, fish, and Legos. I used to like to plan for Disney trips. Maybe its cause we haven't been there since before COVID. Maybe our November trip will put me back in that mind set. I don't know.

 

[cakebaker]

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

We gave Universal a try on our trip in September. I still don't like it much at all, grandson loves it of course. But their hours compared to Disney was surprising. Much shorter and not totally because of the Halloween events. I imagine most any trip we make in the future, unless it's one with just me and him, will include at least a couple of days at Universal. We did not buy their access pass and didn't stay at one of their hotels that included it. That said, my grandson qualified for DAS or whatever Universal calls it and that more than took care of being able to ride with no waits so I can't speak to how their system works- except that I know it's expensive. Still, we would've bought it at least for the thrill riders had we needed to.

 

[Jrb1979]

We gave Universal a try on our trip in September. I still don't like it much at all, grandson loves it of course. But their hours compared to Disney was surprising. Much shorter and not totally because of the Halloween events. I imagine most any trip we make in the future, unless it's one with just me and him, will include at least a couple of days at Universal. We did not buy their access pass and didn't stay at one of their hotels that included it. That said, my grandson qualified for DAS or whatever Universal calls it and that more than took care of being able to ride with no waits so I can't speak to how their system works- except that I know it's expensive. Still, we would've bought it at least for the thrill riders had we needed to.

Most of the systems work the same. They usually give you a wrist band and unlike Disney, you get in the FP queue whenever you want. It's much simpler to use.

 

[set88]

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

They close at 6 even on days when not having the Halloween event!

I'm pretty sure I saw the hours not changing much soon except for the holiday weeks, but I hope they do.

 

[Boski]

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.

Elsa's alt account?

 

[Jrb1979]

They close at 6 even on days when not having the Halloween event!

I'm pretty sure I saw the hours not changing much soon except for the holiday weeks, but I hope they do.

A lot of parks are still struggling with staffing. Especially now that school is back.

 

[wilkydelts]

Saturday 10/15 is $22

 

[coronationday]

Disneyland Paris has Premier Access Ultimate which I bought for $137 on my one day visit back in July. I used it in both parks in every attraction that was available and got to do many more attractions that weren't included. The system works similar to universal express pass, you go to the attraction whenever you want and they scan the code in your phone. There is no selecting a time slot or wondering if you will be able to secure a ride. The line for Premier Access was always a walk on. WDW could do this also.

For me the most frustrating thing of Genie + is that you can't choose when to experience an attraction, you have to go when the Genie tells you even if it conflicts with others plans you may have. And that even though you pay to access the LL you aren't garantize that you will be able to access all of them in a day, not even all that are in the park you have a reservation for. That's why charging more for this service doesn't feel right to me because I'm paying more and I don't even know if I will be able to pull all the rides I want to experience. I would prefer the Disneyland Paris system to Genie+ at least that way I have more flexibility and control.

 

[DavidNYC]

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.

Again - that's an arbitrary restriction people are putting on themselves. You didn't have to "figure out" you wanted to ride anything at 1:50. You needed to think of three rides you knew you wanted and then you could book them for AM, PM a mix. All you had to was have some very very rough idea of whether you'd like to use passes early, late, or what part of the park you wanted to start at, etc. I have a hard time believing someone going to MK and knowing they had a reservations for certain rides at 3 times (and a 1:15 block at that) would really feel constrained at all on what they could do in the park that day especially when they'd know those times in advance and could work anything else around them.

And once again - the complaints you're bringing up about FP+ (didn't have much choice with timing for instance) are not solved at all with Genie+. And now if you don't like what you're offered you're stuck in the park that day with no other option. And now - you have to commit to a park in advance as well so you do have to plan in advance - and frankly much further in advance because you're at risk of getting locked out of parks if you don't. You didn't have to do that with FP+.

 

[greeneyedchick]

Most of the systems work the same. They usually give you a wrist band and unlike Disney, you get in the FP queue whenever you want. It's much simpler to use.

The official Universal policy is that if the line is 20 minutes or less, they allow the people with a DAS pass to get into the express line. If the wait is longer, they give you a return time equal to the wait time. You can only have a scheduled return time for one ride at a time. Sea World works the same way.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Again - that's an arbitrary restriction people are putting on themselves. You didn't have to "figure out" you wanted to ride anything at 1:50. You needed to think of three rides you knew you wanted and then you could book them for AM, PM a mix. All you had to was have some very very rough idea of whether you'd like to use passes early, late, or what part of the park you wanted to start at, etc. I have a hard time believing someone going to MK and knowing they had a reservations for certain rides at 3 times (and a 1:15 block at that) would really feel constrained at all on what they could do in the park that day especially when they'd know those times in advance and could work anything else around them.

And once again - the complaints you're bringing up about FP+ (didn't have much choice with timing for instance) are not solved at all with Genie+. And now if you don't like what you're offered you're stuck in the park that day with no other option. And now - you have to commit to a park in advance as well so you do have to plan in advance - and frankly much further in advance because you're at risk of getting locked out of parks if you don't. You didn't have to do that with FP+.

Sorry you had a hard time believing something that was well documented as a complaint. I also remember what it was like for me to be picking our FP+ times, it was not an arbitrary constraint. Maybe to you it felt that way but don't dismiss how it went for others.

As far as solving Genie didn't know that was what I was supposed to be doing. I was discussing how FP+ was with your comment.

 

[cakebaker]

The official Universal policy is that if the line is 20 minutes or less, they allow the people with a DAS pass to get into the express line. If the wait is longer, they give you a return time equal to the wait time. You can only have a scheduled return time for one ride at a time. Sea World works the same way.

As I recall, it was under 30 minutes, but yes, we loved that for shorter waits we could ride immediately.

 

[snikki]

It’s up to $22 today.

 

[Ricguz]

I am sorry but Genie + costing family at least an extra 20+ dollars per person plus Some add on rides are up to 22 per person on top of TS restaurants entrees over 50 per person, and then tickets, hotels etc. I don’t understand how families can afford this type of vacation. I am old enough to remember when Disney was struggling before HS and AK were built. Some of the present management may not. Eventually, all the price hikes will come back to them and I know Disney will make adjustments because they can but families may find other favorite places to spent their hard earned money.

 

[Jrb1979]

The official Universal policy is that if the line is 20 minutes or less, they allow the people with a DAS pass to get into the express line. If the wait is longer, they give you a return time equal to the wait time. You can only have a scheduled return time for one ride at a time. Sea World works the same way.

That's for DAS. For skip the line systems most other parks give you a wrist band and you join the line whenever you want.

 

[PaladinButters]

Most of the systems work the same. They usually give you a wrist band and unlike Disney, you get in the FP queue whenever you want. It's much simpler to use.

Simple to use but without the restrictions on time that Disney has you could find yourself spending hundreds for a pass that has you waiting in a line just as long (or longer) as standby.

 

[TwoMisfits]

As I recall, it was under 30 minutes, but yes, we loved that for shorter waits we could ride immediately.

It's b/c for longer waits, you end up waiting much longer than the posted stand by line.

For Universal, express pass lines are intended to be half the stand by wait. So, if you are always having to wait the stand by line and then wait the express line, you're waiting 1.5x the normal standby wait - thus, that gets evened out by letting folks ride the "low wait" (aka - lesser rides with 20-30 minute waits or less) right away in the express lines. for .5x the normal standby rate.

(1.5x + .5x)/2 = 1 (aka, the normal standby rate).

EDIT TO ADD: In Universal, Express Pass is much better than the Disabled Pass. Thus, the Disabled Pass doesn't tend to get a lot of abuse, b/c their system is truly set up to make the waits the same to normal stand by.

 

[PaladinButters]

I am sorry but Genie + costing family at least an extra 20+ dollars per person plus Some add on rides are up to 22 per person on top of TS restaurants entrees over 50 per person, and then tickets, hotels etc. I don’t understand how families can afford this type of vacation. I am old enough to remember when Disney was struggling before HS and AK were built. Some of the present management may not. Eventually, all the price hikes will come back to them and I know Disney will make adjustments because they can but families may find other favorite places to spent their hard earned money.

The same way we afford any other type of vacation - paychecks come in, $X amount goes in the vacation fund.

If the funds are not enough by the target date either move the target by saving another month or more or cut some of the price down - Don’t buy the optional ILL$. Don’t add the hopper option. Swap some table service for quick service. Stay value instead of moderate or Deluxe. Skip the desert party or tour. (Disney specific but obviously just switch out those specifics for any type of vacation).

 

[cakebaker]

I am sorry but Genie + costing family at least an extra 20+ dollars per person plus Some add on rides are up to 22 per person on top of TS restaurants entrees over 50 per person, and then tickets, hotels etc. I don’t understand how families can afford this type of vacation. I am old enough to remember when Disney was struggling before HS and AK were built. Some of the present management may not. Eventually, all the price hikes will come back to them and I know Disney will make adjustments because they can but families may find other favorite places to spent their hard earned money.

Honestly, I don't know how families who struggle to pay $15-$25 PP for Genie+ afford to eat at TS restaurants that can run hundreds of dollars for just a meal. We cut out TS meals almost entirely long before Covid. To spend that kind of money for just one meal seemed crazy to us and the money was much better spent on things that actually improved our experience. Even at qs, we watch what we spend- quite often the kids meal is more than enough for an adult to eat. So it's a matter of priorities- but if you're paying what it costs to eat TS meals. it's real hard to claim you can't "afford" the cost of Genie+. It's not a problem of affordability, it's an issue with priorities. For us, expensive meals are not as important as not waiting in long lines all day. So we skip high dollar meals and we buy thing like After Hours, Dessest Parties and Genie +. If you don't have unlimited funds for vacations, you set priorities and accept that you can't have it all.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

I am sorry but Genie + costing family at least an extra 20+ dollars per person plus Some add on rides are up to 22 per person on top of TS restaurants entrees over 50 per person, and then tickets, hotels etc. I don’t understand how families can afford this type of vacation. I am old enough to remember when Disney was struggling before HS and AK were built. Some of the present management may not. Eventually, all the price hikes will come back to them and I know Disney will make adjustments because they can but families may find other favorite places to spent their hard earned money.

Genie+ isn't putting people out if a trip but it's annoying none the less.

Families already have been going elsewhere but those with disposable income they don't mind parting with take their place which does include other families.