Disney World Genie+ No longer sold pre-arrival, subject to availability

[qwerty2k]

The option has been removed from the uk site when purchasing tickets (at least for my date in February 2023), the option was there an hour or so ago when i looked, can no longer select genie+ addon.

 

[Marionnette]

But why not just keep the same system and charge $15 for that? And leave the 60 and 30 day booking schedule. I wish they would have done that. I would have paid for the old system because at least I knew it worked and we liked it. But now people here are saying they need to make genie plus even more exclusive so even less people can afford it/get it? We’re going so far away from what fast pass was now it is really disheartening.

G+ is just a digital version of the legacy FP system. I suspect that someone in the C-suite decided that calling it FP- and charging for it would be bad optics.

 

[lcmckenzie2022]

Disney has always been expensive and unattainable for millions. It’s just that they’re raising the threshold a bit so now people who were on the cusp of affordability are now falling below that line.

I guess that's pretty sad then. Our household income is pretty high... - and I still can't justify spending that kind of money on DW if it keeps going in this direction. I think it's not just about the physical affordability, but about how much it makes sense anymore. It just doesn't look worth it anymore. We could "afford it" - but it looks like a giant waste of money because the ROI just does not look good enough anymore. So we'll spend our vacation money elsewhere. Is that what Disney is aiming for? Because that's what's happening.

 

[PalmettoPath]

Disney World is way too expensive - WAY too expensive. The idea that it might be even more difficult and more expensive to get on rides going forward is a huge turn off. Why did I just drop thousands of dollars on tickets then…was that not good enough? and thousands on a Disney resort…and thousands on Disney food? I have to consider the ROI on our end, too. And I feel like this is getting out of control. I would cancel our upcoming 2023 trip if I didn’t already have a non refundable voucher for a dvc rental …but even then, my husband is urging me to just throw the voucher/$ away and forget about it so that we don’t have to drop any more money (the thousands and thousands and thousands more that Disney World requires). This is going to be our last trip if we do go. But I’m starting to want to just walk away from our voucher too… I can’t justify it anymore. It’s becoming too stressful in combo with too expensive. Not worth it anymore.

Like a lot of people here who have been saying something similar - I didn’t mind spending the money before because I knew we were taken care of at Disney World - from the magical express, to fast pass where we could for sure grab the handful of rides everyone wanted ahead of time, etc - it was all the little things that just made everything seem more like a seamless and positive experience. I just can’t believe that we’re all supposed to now be on our phones on the day of our vacation at 7am (when it is supposed to be a vacation) fighting each other like wild animals to get something - and for the rest of us who don’t? How do we walk away from that expensive trip feeling good about that? Not to mention - this is always an IT disaster!!!! When you have that # of people trying to do the same thing, it’s just going to crash.

I don’t know - maybe if fast pass had never existed, it be easier to look at the Regular line ups with a different lens…but I can’t now. I liked Fast Pass. It worked for us. It was part of the vacation planning - which is where this sort of thing needed to live.

Can someone please tell me what was wrong with Fast Pass that they needed to get rid of it and replace it with this horrible sounding system?? We went to DW in 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018 and we never had a problem with it and it seemed to be working ok??

Another challenge with FP+ was that it didn't take long for crafty individuals to learn how to game the system (won't bother with the details as it's not relevant anymore) so that enterprising individuals could access virtually unlimited FP+ (I was told by a VIP Tour guide how CMs figured it out first and it spread quickly, lol). Anyway, not sure if that's a reason why (aside from earning revenue), but this system certainly shut down the ability to game the system in the way the old one could be played (making it unfair for most guests who did not do that).

 

[SeasonneRose]

I guess that's pretty sad then. Our household income is pretty high... - and I still can't justify spending that kind of money on DW if it keeps going in this direction. I think it's not just about the physical affordability, but about how much it makes sense anymore. It just doesn't look worth it anymore. We could "afford it" - but it looks like a giant waste of money because the ROI just does not look good enough anymore. So we'll spend our vacation money elsewhere. Is that what Disney is aiming for? Because that's what's happening.

What sad is the millions of underprivileged kids who would be happy to be in the position that so many on these boards are in and have a fighting chance to ever experience Disney. Disney is now and always has been a luxury product. The pricing is going to continue to reflect that truth. People have just taken for granted that they’ve always had access to Disney and now they feel slighted because the price is rising.

No one thinks twice if Louis Vuitton raises their prices or the cost of a Mercedes goes up year over year. Start thinking of Disney as the luxury product that it is.

 

[BrianL]

I guess that's pretty sad then. Our household income is pretty high... - and I still can't justify spending that kind of money on DW if it keeps going in this direction. I think it's not just about the physical affordability, but about how much it makes sense anymore. It just doesn't look worth it anymore. We could "afford it" - but it looks like a giant waste of money because the ROI just does not look good enough anymore. So we'll spend our vacation money elsewhere. Is that what Disney is aiming for? Because that's what's happening.

Yeah, it's not the money. Disney is exepnsive - it should be. It's what we're getting now for that money. All the cuts do make it hard to swallow.

The real problem though is that Disney has become a victim of their own success - they are too popular and demand is too high. The problems with the old FP system (and the new one), is that too many people wanted the same thing. Only so many people can ride Flight of Passage in a day - those FPs would disappear almost immediately for every day. Of course, at least Stand-By was always an option then. Now, I could book a day to go to Epcot, get park reservations, and STILL not get to ride Guardians of the Galaxy because my fingers/phone weren't fast enough at 7 AM to beat out everyone else! It adds a level of risk to it all. It's one thing to pay high prices and guarantee that I get to do what I want to do (well, practically), but even the paid systems are so stressed that they sell out completely in seconds. What can they really do though?

Well, there's one thing - build, build, build! The people WANT it - clearly they do. Management needs to invest heavily into more park bandwidth. Certainly they have been adding stuff, but too slowly and not enough to sate demand.

 

[Kir]

Disney World is way too expensive - WAY too expensive. The idea that it might be even more difficult and more expensive to get on rides going forward is a huge turn off. Why did I just drop thousands of dollars on tickets then…was that not good enough? and thousands on a Disney resort…and thousands on Disney food? I have to consider the ROI on our end, too. And I feel like this is getting out of control. I would cancel our upcoming 2023 trip if I didn’t already have a non refundable voucher for a dvc rental …but even then, my husband is urging me to just throw the voucher/$ away and forget about it so that we don’t have to drop any more money (the thousands and thousands and thousands more that Disney World requires). This is going to be our last trip if we do go. But I’m starting to want to just walk away from our voucher too… I can’t justify it anymore. It’s becoming too stressful in combo with too expensive. Not worth it anymore.

Like a lot of people here who have been saying something similar - I didn’t mind spending the money before because I knew we were taken care of at Disney World - from the magical express, to fast pass where we could for sure grab the handful of rides everyone wanted ahead of time, etc - it was all the little things that just made everything seem more like a seamless and positive experience. I just can’t believe that we’re all supposed to now be on our phones on the day of our vacation at 7am (when it is supposed to be a vacation) fighting each other like wild animals to get something - and for the rest of us who don’t? How do we walk away from that expensive trip feeling good about that? Not to mention - this is always an IT disaster!!!! When you have that # of people trying to do the same thing, it’s just going to crash.

I don’t know - maybe if fast pass had never existed, it be easier to look at the Regular line ups with a different lens…but I can’t now. I liked Fast Pass. It worked for us. It was part of the vacation planning - which is where this sort of thing needed to live.

Can someone please tell me what was wrong with Fast Pass that they needed to get rid of it and replace it with this horrible sounding system?? We went to DW in 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018 and we never had a problem with it and it seemed to be working ok??

You expressed my sentiments exactly. Disney used to work just fine for us and our last trip in 2018 was a blast. I understood the Fastpass system and liked that I could select a few rides ahead of time and plan our day around it. We’ve been so looking forward to our next trip, which is in November, but with all this Genie + chaos, I’m having second thoughts. To cancel or not? To add Genie + to our tickets or to not? Ugh!!! I had intended to try our luck without it, and add it a day or two here and there, if necessary, but now I have no idea. And if a lot of people are going to begin adding it to their 2022 tickets because they’re nervous about a price increase, won’t it make Genie + even further useless?

 

[BrianL]

What sad is the millions of underprivileged kids who would be happy to be in the position that so many on these boards are in and have a fighting chance to ever experience Disney. Disney is now and always has been a luxury product. The pricing is going to continue to reflect that truth. People have just taken for granted that they’ve always had access to Disney and now they feel slighted because the price is rising.

No one thinks twice if Louis Vuitton raises their prices or the cost of a Mercedes goes up year over year. Start thinking of Disney as the luxury product that it is.

Disney is a luxury product, but they also need to reflect that in the experience, which one might argue they are close to not doing. This luxury product might not deliver every experience that I want, and if they can't, then I don't want to pay luxury prices.

 

[SeasonneRose]

Disney is a luxury product, but they also need to reflect that in the experience, which one might argue they are close to not doing. This luxury product might not deliver every experience that I want, and if they can't, then I don't want to pay luxury prices.

Being there is the luxury experience. Disney is it’s own monopoly. They dont have to do anything as long as they keep selling.

You have the choice to not pay and not go. If you don’t like the price of the Louis Vuitton bag, don’t buy it - someone else will.

 

[BrianL]

Being there is the luxury experience. Disney is it’s own monopoly. They dont have to do anything as long as they keep selling.

You have the choice to not pay and not go. If you don’t like the price of the Louis Vuitton bag, don’t buy it - someone else will.

Well, the monopoly part is the real problem. It was good for the past many years where Universal lit a fire under Disney and they were keeping up. The Wizarding World put the pressure on, though Dinsey responded strongly with Avatar and Star Wars and kind of out-Universaled them. Popularity surged and outstripped supply. This will cause prices to rise - and that's not the problem. The problem is that "being there" isn't enough.

It's one thing to want to buy that Louis Vuitton bag, and if you have the money and want to spend it, then you get one. It's another thing if Louis Vuitton said that everyone needs to come to this location and line up for the bag, pay a fee to enter the store, and only have enough bags for half of the people who showed up! That wouldn't be a luxury experience at all!

 

[Moliphino]

Disney World is way too expensive - WAY too expensive. The idea that it might be even more difficult and more expensive to get on rides going forward is a huge turn off. Why did I just drop thousands of dollars on tickets then…was that not good enough? and thousands on a Disney resort…and thousands on Disney food? I have to consider the ROI on our end, too. And I feel like this is getting out of control. I would cancel our upcoming 2023 trip if I didn’t already have a non refundable voucher for a dvc rental …but even then, my husband is urging me to just throw the voucher/$ away and forget about it so that we don’t have to drop any more money (the thousands and thousands and thousands more that Disney World requires). This is going to be our last trip if we do go. But I’m starting to want to just walk away from our voucher too… I can’t justify it anymore. It’s becoming too stressful in combo with too expensive. Not worth it anymore.

Like a lot of people here who have been saying something similar - I didn’t mind spending the money before because I knew we were taken care of at Disney World - from the magical express, to fast pass where we could for sure grab the handful of rides everyone wanted ahead of time, etc - it was all the little things that just made everything seem more like a seamless and positive experience. I just can’t believe that we’re all supposed to now be on our phones on the day of our vacation at 7am (when it is supposed to be a vacation) fighting each other like wild animals to get something - and for the rest of us who don’t? How do we walk away from that expensive trip feeling good about that? Not to mention - this is always an IT disaster!!!! When you have that # of people trying to do the same thing, it’s just going to crash.

I don’t know - maybe if fast pass had never existed, it be easier to look at the Regular line ups with a different lens…but I can’t now. I liked Fast Pass. It worked for us. It was part of the vacation planning - which is where this sort of thing needed to live.

Can someone please tell me what was wrong with Fast Pass that they needed to get rid of it and replace it with this horrible sounding system?? We went to DW in 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018 and we never had a problem with it and it seemed to be working ok??

That's where I am now, too. Every change they've made in the past year or so makes me want to come back even less. My last trip was in May 2021 and I don't have another one even booked over a year later. That hasn't happened since the 90's for me.

 

[Brocktoon]

Of course, at least Stand-By was always an option then. Now, I could book a day to go to Epcot, get park reservations, and STILL not get to ride Guardians of the Galaxy because my fingers/phone weren't fast enough at 7 AM to beat out everyone else!

I've never been a fan of the virtual queue system. Just my opinion, but it seems to create way more demand for some attractions then you would have seen with a stand-by option. Like the original days of Flight of Passage, if someone really wants to ride, they can get their butt up early and wait well before rope drop, or the option to wait 3+ hours in line ... but you would at least be able to ride.

I think there are a lot of folks who would never want to rope drop or wait in long lines, but they have no problem hopping on their phones at 7AM and trying to snag a VQ pass. Not a fan of that personally ... if you really want to ride, get up early or wait in line. They say the VQ system gives everyone a equal shot, but you have way more people battling for the VQs than would be willing to rope drop or stand-by, and now you may not even get the option ride on your park day.

 

[SeasonneRose]

Well, the monopoly part is the real proiblem. It was good for the past many years where Universal lit a fire under Disney and they were keeping up. The Wizarding World put the pressure on, though Dinsey responded strongly with Avatar and Star Wars and kind of out-Universaled them. Popularity surged and outstripped supply. This will cause prices to rise - and that's not the problem. The problem is that "being there" isn't enough.

It's one thing to want to buy that Louis Vuitton bag, and if you have the money and want to spend it, then you get one. It's another thing if Louis Vuitton said that everyone needs to come to this location and line up for the bag, pay a fee to enter the store, and only have enough bags for half of the people who showed up! That wouldn't be a luxury experience at all!

That’s not a fair analogy. Louis Vuitton is the commodity. Entering the park is the commodity. Entering Louis Vuitton is not the luxury. And no one is being forced to buy a LV bag or go to Disney

Louis Vuitton does not have unlimited product. They’re just priced so high that everyone that wants one can’t afford it. Which is the nature of a luxury item.

 

[Jrb1979]

The following is the main problem with Genie+ and everything that goes with it.

How is it bad to say only those who pay a lot can skip lines? That's how every theme park that isn't Disney works.

When I'm in line in those parks and see someone skip the line I understand they paid a lot of money for that purpose.

Disney park goers need to stop the idea that everyone needs to skip lines. The more people that skip lines, the worse it is for both the standby guests and line skippers.

It's best when something like this is priced at a level where most do not get it. Everyone wins vs this pseudo "line skipping" glued to your phone planning Genie + 15 dollar thing.

 

[BrianL]

That’s not a fair analogy. Louis Vuitton is the commodity. Entering the park is the commodity. Entering Louis Vuitton is not the luxury. And no one is being forced to buy a LV bag or go to Disney

Louis Vuitton does not have unlimited product. They’re just priced so high that everyone that wants one can’t afford it. Which is the nature of a luxury item.

But entering the park and not being able to do anything is of little value. Sure, the parks are nice and all, but the key term attractions is the real draw. At least when they charged for ticket books, the cost of entry was significantly lower.

My point is that Disney has to provide a luxury experience for luxury pricing. In the past they have more or less, but these days it is markedly less. I'm not even one to say they have reached the point where it has no value to me (in fact I really want to go in the near future!), but I can understand where for some people it has. The experience with VQs etc. is miserable!

Again, if I go to Louis Vuitton with my money, they can more than likely get me the bag that I want. Sure, it's not unlimited, but the supply generally meets the demand. With Disney, they are not meeting their demand. Of course it's not as simple as just making more product - they are dealing with more of a service - but they desperately NEED to increase bandwidth and continue to deliver on that service promise in a way that is commensurate with the prices they are charging.

 

[SeasonneRose]

The following is the main problem with Genie+ and everything that goes with it.

How is it bad to say only those who pay a lot can skip lines? That's how every theme park that isn't Disney works.

When I'm in line in those parks and see someone skip the line I understand they paid a lot of money for that purpose.

Disney park goers need to stop the idea that everyone needs to skip lines. The more people that skip lines, the worse it is for both the standby guests and line skippers.

It's best when something like this is priced at a level where most do not get it. Everyone wins vs this pseudo "line skipping" glued to your phone planning Genie + 15 dollar thing.

Exactly. Disney has just been giving these people this very premium experience for free for years and now they’re mad.

No other theme park in America has a free fast pass system. And most are more than $15. This needs to be priced way higher. In fact, there needs to be some kind of level between genie+ and the vip tour.

 

[BrianL]

I've never been a fan of the virtual queue system. Just my opinion, but it seems to create way more demand for some attractions then you would have seen with a stand-by option. Like the original days of Flight of Passage, if someone really wants to ride, they can get their butt up early and wait well before rope drop, or the option to wait 3+ hours in line ... but you would at least be able to ride.

I think there are a lot of folks who would never want to rope drop or wait in long lines, but they have no problem hopping on their phones at 7AM and trying to snag a VQ pass. Not a fan of that personally ... if you really want to ride, get up early or wait in line. They say the VQ system gives everyone a equal shot, but you have way more people battling for the VQs than would be willing to rope drop or stand-by, and now you may not even get the option ride on your park day.

This exactly! VQ's are inherently flawed in that manner. The fact that I can click on it at 7:00:00:00:01 and STILL NOT GET A BOARDING GROUP is problematic. With Rope Drop, I could get there 90 minutes early and be first in line, but I could also get there an hour early and be in teh first couple hundred in line. And, yeah, for those who came later, they still had the choice of getting in a multi-hour long line if they so chose.

Man, I went once during the pandemic when there was no Fastpass at all and it was great! Even the longest lines only took like 30 minutes. I'll take that all day!

 

[SeasonneRose]

But entering the park and not being able to do anything is of little value. Sure, the parks are nice and all, but the key term attractions is the real draw. At least when they charged for ticket books, the cost of entry was significantly lower.

My point is that Disney has to provide a luxury experience for luxury pricing. In the past they have more or less, but these days it is markedly less. I'm not even one to say they have reached the point where it has no value to me (in fact I really want to go in the near future!), but I can understand where for some people it has. The experience with VQs etc. is miserable!

Again, if I go to Louis Vuitton with my money, they can more than likely get me the bag that I want. Sure, it's not unlimited, but the supply generally meets the demand. With Disney, they are not meeting their demand. Of course it's not as simple as just making more product - they are dealing with more of a service - but they desperately NEED to increase bandwidth and continue to deliver on that service promise in a way that is commensurate with the prices they are charging.

Disney doesn’t HAVE to do anything except make their shareholders happy. Just because you don’t consider it a luxury doesn’t mean that it isn’t. There is no decline in people going to Disney so there is no incentive to do anything differently. What they are doing is still wildly profitable.

The supply at Lv only meets the demand because it is priced outside of what most people can afford. You control demand with price - which is what Disney is doing with genie+ If Lv was only $100 they wouldn’t be able to keep up with supply.

 

[BrianL]

Exactly. Disney has just been giving these people this very premium experience for free for years and now they’re mad.

No other theme park in America has a free fast pass system. And most are more than $15. This needs to be priced way higher. In fact, there needs to be some kind of level between genie+ and the vip tour.

It certianly wasn't free - it was just baked into the already high prices. Again, the price increases aren't the problem, it's the inability to deliver on the promise those prices engender. Based on many experiences I have heard about Genie+ they are not doing that, at least not consistently.

 

[SeasonneRose]

It certianly wasn't free - it was just baked into the already high prices. Again, the price increases aren't the problem, it's the inability to deliver on the promise those prices engender. Based on many experiences I have heard about Genie+ they are not doing that, at least not consistently.

Disneys ticket prices are not as expensive as many theme parks.
They are changing the price structure. Making it more exclusive with less people and then they can deliver better service.