Disney Genie announcement

[chalee94]

True, it's not new. But it [pricing most people out of the parks] is certainly accelerating.

Well, to be fair. It's trying to create more tiers.

There has been the option for a while to get a VIP tour for $3000 per person to get a better experience.

Now you can still pay for the ticket to get in and be done with it...or you can improve the experience by opening up your virtual wallet for a little (or a whole lot) over the course of your stay...

It does feel like nickel and dime-ing. It will be very frustrating for middle class families. But whether the park experience will feel like complete garbage for nonG+ visitors is still up in the air a bit.

 

[Miffy]

Individual Attraction Selection. The rides that cost extra, not part of Genie+, to get access to LL.

Thank you!

 

[Jrb1979]

True, it's not new. But it is certainly accelerating.



I agree, this does actually make planning more difficult. We are going to have to "trust" we will be able to do what we want based on whatever trend information is available from places like TouringPlans. Come to think of it, this could actually drive more people to 3rd party planning services. With the 3 per day advance FP's, a guest could at least make a skeleton of a plan they could be assured was in place. Now there is nothing you can do until day of.

That is until phase 2 of Genie+ is announced, where you can schedule LL attractions in advance again. For an additional fee of course. Or maybe it will be a Deluxe resort perk. But I can't see Disney not finding a way to further monetize the need some guests have to plan in advance. A need which Disney has cultivated for years now btw, with advance FP's, 6 month ADRs, etc.

Personally I didn't mind winging it after the initial 3 FP's were used. But I could still be sure we were going to get on the major rides at least once during each trip.

I doubt advanced booking comes back. Especially with the price of the individual rides changing in price depending on how busy the park is. The days of it being tied to resort stay is over.

 

[raidermatt]

I think she's saying that despite being a planner, she's okay with this.

I understand what she is saying. But if she is okay with this, she is not really a planner. Which is perfectly fine, many are not planners.

 

[raidermatt]

Well, to be fair. It's trying to create more tiers.

There has been the option for a while to get a VIP tour for $3000 per person to get a better experience.

Now you can still pay for the ticket to get in and be done with it...or you can improve the experience by opening up your virtual wallet for a little (or a whole lot) over the course of your stay...

It does feel like nickel and dime-ing. It will be very frustrating for middle class families. But whether the park experience will feel like complete garbage for nonG+ visitors is still up in the air a bit.

If you look only at Genie+ you can view it that way. But when taken with the acceleration of prices in all areas of the resort, in conjunction with reduced experiences/benefits in many areas, it is not only about tiering. That's a part of it, but that tiering is simply a part of the overall strategy of getting more out of guests, while reducing what is being offered. Which looks great on paper. We'll see how it translates to reality.

 

[EPCOT-O.G.]

A lot of people have been saying, "Genie+ is basically DL's Maxpass, which I liked and is no big deal." I think that's a bit of an apples and oranges comparison.

For one, I don't believe MaxPass had entire tiers of rides excluded. The conventional E-tickets will now be on an altogether more expensive tier.

Second, there were no functional barriers to rides. If you wanted to ride or experience an attraction like Splash or Soarin' or Radiator Springs Racers, you could stand in line for awhile or...that's it. Now, under this new scheme, at least one ride, and likely more once Tron, Remy, and Guardians open up, will have a limited lottery or a pay-to-play system.

Lastly, while the daily costs per guest are comparable b/w MaxPass and Genie+, I don't think that factors in the number of days one may spend at the respective parks. I'd venture to guess many do a 1, 2, or 3 day trip to DL on average, whereas the average stay at WDW (by some estimates) is 5-6 days in the parks. So the overall hit on the wallet is higher given the multiples of days.

 

[Victor Noriega]

It will be interesting to see what Disney values our time at. I expect the longer the standby line, the higher the Tier 1 LL cost. The cost per ride was probably always on their roadmap. VIP tours are $425-$850 per hour for 10 guests, so that puts a ceiling on cost per ride around $42-$85. I remember when Frozen opened to 6 hour lines, how many of those folks would now pay $42 per person to skip that line? Would you pay $252 (6x $42) to skip a 6hr wait? I don't mind that people will pay $$$ to skip the line, there are always going to be folks way more willing to part with their money than I am.

I feel the $15 LL/Genie+ was added on after the Genie app was created. Without FP we all saw the standby lines go down, and everyone was on an even playing field. If you have touring plans app, you could further plan your day and minimize line waits. Disney engineers created the app that helps everyone optimize their day probably more efficiently, as they have the real time data. Then the marketing folks stepped in and slapped a "+" to it for $15 per person.

With all this, Disney should have just used LL for pay per ride based on wait time for all rides, and not even done the Genie+. example: 0-30min wait pay $10, 30-60 min wait pay $30, 60-90min pay $60, 90+min pay $100. Maybe throw in 1 free LL passes for resort guests to get them hooked.

 

[raidermatt]

I doubt advanced booking comes back. Especially with the price of the individual rides changing in price depending on how busy the park is. The days of it being tied to resort stay is over.

They price the parks dynamically based on date, and park reservations are made in advance so they can do the same with attractions. They have plenty of data to forecast demand months in advance. If they chose to, they could still allow prices to fluctuate as the date approaches, as they do with hotel rooms, and like rental car companies, airlines, and may others do. Or they could just lock it in 30 or 60 days ahead. They can forecast pretty well within those timeframes.

If there is an opportunity to create a new revenue stream, or increase hotel bookings, we can be assured it will happen.

 

[HopperFan]

.

You're going to need a phone to book your Genie+ selections, unless they decide to put kiosks or CMs with ipads in the park for guests to consult. Too early to tell if they will do that. However I'm guessing you will be able to scan in for your lightning lane using your MB (too early to tell about that either)

I think the kiosks will be there along with CMs. If they don't the lines at the GR will be miles long and it would be a mess. Next upcharge will be renting hand held G+ devices for duration of your stay.

 

[Jrb1979]

They price the parks dynamically based on date, and park reservations are made in advance so they can do the same with attractions. They have plenty of data to forecast demand months in advance. If they chose to, they could still allow prices to fluctuate as the date approaches, as they do with hotel rooms, and like rental car companies, airlines, and may others do. Or they could just lock it in 30 or 60 days ahead. They can forecast pretty well within those timeframes.

If there is an opportunity to create a new revenue stream, or increase hotel bookings, we can be assured it will happen.

They could but doubt they will. I don't see them going back to that. Look it sucks for those that plan but I think the best you will get is room discounts or free dining to fill rooms.

Personally this announcement has made me interested in going back to Disney.

 

[Chris_T]

Apologies if somebody already stated this before, I've only got to page 50 or so Lots of people saying they will still try for the Virtual Queue at ROTR and any others flagged as Pri 1's, my view is that will not be active once this takes off, you will have the purchased LL from 7/park opening, there will be a standby at park opening (favouring the resort guests) which will then go to Virtual Standby once that is full, they aren't going to restrict paying guests that much, they can make too much out of it. (there that should start some interesting conversations )

 

[cdurham1]

https://blogmickey.com/2021/08/gues...y-genie-starting-at-midnight-on-day-of-visit/

I am a little confused by the "If guests have a date-based ticket or vacation package, they will be able to purchase Disney Genie+ as part of the package." I thought pretty much everyone had date based tickets now.

 

[raidermatt]

They could but doubt they will. I don't see them going back to that. Look it sucks for those that plan but I think the best you will get is room discounts or free dining to fill rooms.

Personally this announcement has made me interested in going back to Disney.

Has nothing to with sucking for planners. It has to do with the fact that Disney will now be able to charge them for giving them back the ability to plan. That is not something Disney will pass up.

 

[MakiraMarlena]

I thought pretty much everyone had date based tickets now.

Annual passholders don't.

 

[cdurham1]

I think they should have made Genie+ part of the ticket price for everyone. And then just raised ticket prices by $10-$15/day or so. We would have been a little more excited about G+. We would have complained about ticket prices going up, but we are used to that. This is an "add on," which feels different than just a price increase.

 

[chalee94]

I think they should have made Genie+ part of the ticket price for everyone. And then just raised ticket prices by $10-$15/day or so. We would have been a little more excited about G+. We would have complained about ticket prices going up, but we are used to that. This is an "add on," which feels different than just a price increase.

Yep. It's a class system.

You can be in the VIP tour class. Or the G+ class. Or the lower class with a base ticket only.

 

[cdurham1]

Annual passholders don't.

Besides annual passholders, though?

It seems annoying if you now have to get up even a little earlier so you can add G+ and be sure it is in place by the 7am window opening.

 

[LiteBrite]

I have no idea if those kiosks are still there, but I could see those kiosks being available for guests without a smart phone to purchase G+ and get their passes and/or buy $LL, much like how people could use the kiosks for FP+ if they didn't have a phone.

Yup, that's exactly what I was picturing.

 

[cdurham1]

Yep. It's a class system.

You can be in the VIP tour class. Or the G+ class. Or the lower class with a base ticket only.

Don't forget about the G++/IAS class, too. In between the VIP and the G+ classes.

 

[Cygnus 2112]

We got up in April twice to secure ROTR boarding groups (and were successful both times) but I have little interest in waking up that early every day on my vacation to do this. Excuse me: to PAY to do this.