Is anyone feeling positive?

[thanxfornoticin]

The one gripe I understand is those with families struggling to budget the extra $$$ if they want to get Genie+ for their whole family. However, I think it's just part of the sad reality of price increase that will always continue so long as Disney offers a product attractive to the masses. I don't see any way of balancing demand other than to increase prices in some way; the fact they chose to move to a more "a la carte" pricing increase seems to have really struck a nerve. I've even seen some posts where people said they would have preferred if Disney just bumped up the price of tickets by $15/day and included Genie+. I don't see how this is any better and forces everyone to absorb the price increase.

I've thought about your 2 points here before, and there are a couple ways to look at it. I think about some unfortunate folks who will never have the budget to enjoy WDW. And then I think about how fortunate many of us are, where an extra $15 per person now and then might be an inconvenience, but won't stop us from going. But it is still a choice - an option. Folks can enjoy Disney and the parks without purchasing G+ or the 'extra' attractions. I'm with you and glad they didn't just include it in another ticket price hike and make everyone pay, whether they use it or not. Although, I'm sure ticket prices will continue to climb anyway! That's a different topic for a different day!

 

[Travelgrrl]

Universal charges a fortune for its pass.

Universals's Express Pass is superior because it allows you to go on any EP ride (most of their rides), all of the time, without reservations. Just scamper through that line. I agree that the cost is prohibitive if you're just buying it outright, but it's included in their top 3 hotels, the price of which are comparable to Disney mid range hotels.

I've never used EP at Universal, except for one day once in 2009 when it was a grand total of $20 upcharge per person. The fact that it's now exponentially more as an add on should give anyone pause for Disney's introductory price of $15 a day + LL charges (cost still undisclosed) with Genie+. I'm more of a get-up-early-take-a-break-tour-late person and that has worked for me.

I think it's going to work to get people off their phones

$15+ a day for Genie+ wouldn't kill me, but personally I HATE being on my phone when I'm in the middle of an experience. (Yes, I'm old.) I wouldn't be on my phone on the internet during a dinner, or at a party, or at Disney. I arranged FP+ from the comfort of my home on my computer, like I was in the sod house from On The Bands of Plum Creek! Genie basically forces you to be on your phone throughout the day.

You might think I'm a Luddite, but I work in a library and many of you would be shocked by how many people don't have smart phones, or have them and don't know how to use them for basic internet functions. What do these people do?

I think memories are short and/or people don't recall what the Disney experience was pre-Fastpass (of any kind). Waiting in 60-90 minute lines was simply the way it was for popular rides (or any ride during peak seasons)

I have a long memory and the diaries to prove it - but I remember the opposite: getting on WAY more rides prior to FP when everything was more equal. For n one morning in 1997, we rode 12 rides at MK, and 9 that evening at Epcot. Numbers for other days are comparable. And the characters! In three days we met Friar Tuck, Pooh, TIgger, Eeyore, Jafar, Mickey, Minnie, Maid Marion, Robin Hood, Goofy, Chip and Dale, King Louie, a Country Bear, Peter Pan, Captain Hook, Smee, Tweedledum, Tweedle Dee, The Queen of Hearts and the Fairy Godmother.

Also took trips when they were rolling out paper FP and begging you to try it (worked great because no one knew about it and you basically could zoom right on the ride), FP when everyone knew about it, and FP+. I know because I kept track, that the most rides, shows, parades and experiences we had per day was on trips before any version of FP.

 

[katyringo]

Hard to stay positive when the vloggers and you tubers aren't.

There is a lot of negativity from the Disney community lately. But I have found some gems that are more positive. My favorite being WDW prep school and living by Disney.

 

[pasta]

I’m looking at the G+ as an additional strategy for park planning. I love to rope drop, rest during the afternoon, and return at night for closing. If I can sprinkle in the tier 1 rides throughout the day, I think the 15.00 up charge will be worth it. My July 21st trip had 45+ minute waits for tier 2 rides. Literally, people mover was a 45 wait due to so many ride closures. I need more clarification from Disney about booking another ride. If it’s a 90 minute window to get a new attraction, it might not work for my touring style. Overall, I think it will decrease crowds throughout the park by dispersing crowds. I really just see it as an added paid option to tour. I’m Cautiously optimistic

 

[Absolute Coaster]

Hi! I am feeling positive about the changes happening at WDW. We can’t expect the Disney company to be investing billions of dollars fixing up the parks, and not have a price increase in some way.

Some people have mentioned the lack of services that we have become accustomed to, like no parades, no shows, reduced amount of restaurants. Many of these things were put on hold during the pandemic and haven’t made a return (yet). But I do anticipate the these things returning.

As for magic bands, I can’t say I’ll miss getting them. I usually butcher mine anyway by cutting off the band and attaching them to a retractable-leash-keychain. It’s too hot to wear a sweaty plastic band all day. Plus if you’ve been to the park before you can still use your old magic bands, I have 4 of them.

Disney had some artificial scarcity during the park closures last year. This drives demand, with less employees; which in turn will rise prices. I think Disney is in this “feeling the customers response”mode. Nothing is set in stone and we could still see modifications to the Genie app.

 

[sagosto]

I am confused about how any one can be happy or feel positive. As a whole, Disney is continuing to nickel-and-dime its customers at every turn. Now, you are losing a FREE service for a pay service that doesn't even provide ALL attractions. That will require ADDITIONAL monies.

I am lucky and could go to Disney 3-5X a year if I wanted to w/o financial worry. But, Minnie is hugging me while Mickey is in my back pocket going through my wallet. I am regretting my DVC purchase as I am disgusted over the constant focus of profit over customer experience. It sounds silly but what makes Disney great to me is the constant feeling that they care about every single person's experience. I was (AND) willing to spend a ton for that feeling. However -- I don't feel that anymore.

 

[pasta]

I am confused about how any one can be happy or feel positive. As a whole, Disney is continuing to nickel-and-dime its customers at every turn. Now, you are losing a FREE service for a pay service that doesn't even provide ALL attractions. That will require ADDITIONAL monies.

I am lucky and could go to Disney 3-5X a year if I wanted to w/o financial worry. But, Minnie is hugging me while Mickey is in my back pocket going through my wallet. I am regretting my DVC purchase as I am disgusted over the constant focus of profit over customer experience. It sounds silly but what makes Disney great to me is the constant feeling that they care about every single person's experience. I was (AND) willing to spend a ton for that feeling. However -- I don't feel that anymore.

Unfortunately, this is a problem for Disney. If enough people like yourself stop going 3-5x a year, it will hurt. I particularly don’t mind the extra money if it will help my experience, but you bring up some very good points. I also miss the magic of feeling valued. I was so miserable my past two visits this year I’m willing to take anything. Possibly, this was their strategy all along. Make me think I’m getting a positive, but it’s actually a negative

 

[MakiraMarlena]

not happy, but I can choose not to use it, and hope enough others use it to make the standby lines shorter. There were some incredibly long standby lines, several hours in each, up to 2020. Not so much after. I'm willing to wait to see how this works. If the individual ride purchase isn't bank breaking it would at least get my mother onto Rise if we don't happen to hit the virtual queue lottery. So she'd at least get to experience it.

I like my magic bands, but won't need to get any more of them, which is OK since I have plenty.

 

[Beckyb3]

I am super curious of all the DL people if Max Pass frequently has issues. I have only been to DL once and I actually really liked the Max Pass system and was hoping for something similar in the Fast Pass replacement because that could be worth paying for. That being said, we were there three days and didn’t get it once because we arrived too late, got it the second day and really enjoyed it, and the third day we got it, it almost immediately went down and was down the whole day. That was a real hassle because I didn’t want to spend a lot of time waiting in the insanely long guest relations line to get reimbursed. I sent an email and I don’t believe I was ever reimbursed for it and that’s a lot of money to be out for nothing. That’s where my concern lies. Can Disney really handle the IT lift of this system because my experience with Maxpass says they can’t but perhaps that was an isolated incident but their IT in general is not at all impressive and this is a big feat.

Also, I am not happy at all about the need to get the better rides at 7am on my vacation. I just won’t do that. We aren’t a rope drop family. We like to take our time on vacation and getting up early isn’t part of our plan. Like we are here now and doing Hollywood Studios today but I wasn’t up to try for the 7am boarding group for RoTR and half my party is still sleeping.

That being said, I am hoping for the best and willing to see how it goes before making any wide sweeping declarations. Losing magical express may have hurt more. That was what really got me into Disney. The convenience of not worrying about luggage with small children is a really beautiful thing and really makes for a great start for a vacation.

 

[catsinawindow]

As a "first-time" WDW guest, I'm feeling somewhat positive about the Genie+ announcement ("first-time" is in quotes since I went as a kid ~25 years ago, but this is my first time planning a trip and the first time taking my family).

For one, I'm glad that SOMETHING has been announced that will allow for scheduling rides rather than standing in line. The way standby lines were going this summer sounded awful, particularly with 3 young kids and an inpatient husband in tow. I guess I was expecting that there would be a paid component to it, as pretty much all other theme parks have this (I was actually surprised to find that FastPass was free when I initially started researching Disney!) Of course, I'd prefer free to $15 pp, but in the scheme of all things Disney, $15 pp really isn't that much. Plus the fact that it's paid at all, might give us an advantage in the parks since there will be a number of people who will elect to not pay for it. I do feel bad about saying this, but this trip is a HUGE expense for us and we won't be going frequently (maybe every few years at best), so I'd really like our park experience to go as smoothly as possible. With the Genie+ passes only available starting that morning, and the "pick as you go" model, maybe getting good spots won't be as competitive and stressful?

What I'm really most happy about is the option to pay for rides that we really, really want to go on. I'm talking about RoTR. My family are huge Star Wars fans and I know it'll be a massive let-down if we don't get to ride it. Reading about the process of getting boarding groups was already stressing me out, so knowing that I could likely pay some fee per person for us all to be able to ride it if we miss out on the boarding groups lottery is a bit of a relief! It stinks to have to pay for a single ride, but I guess it's better than paying to add a second park day at HS, which is what we were thinking about initially just to get extra shots at RoTR. I don't see us using LL$$ (or whatever the acronym is) other than RoTR, though. We plan to rope-drop, so we'll try and get on the Tier 1 rides that way.

 

[mi*vida*loca]

I will say I would probably be upset if we went as a family which would make the expense higher. Or if Disney was our only vacation destination.

Right now my son is in college and doesn’t want to go to Disney. I have been going with just DD and planning on going with my SO in 2 years or so. We also only go every 2-3 years and vacation other places. So the added expense isn’t that high and it’s not an every year or multiple times a year expense.

 

[ocdb8r1]

I am confused about how any one can be happy or feel positive. As a whole, Disney is continuing to nickel-and-dime its customers at every turn. Now, you are losing a FREE service for a pay service that doesn't even provide ALL attractions. That will require ADDITIONAL monies.

I am lucky and could go to Disney 3-5X a year if I wanted to w/o financial worry. But, Minnie is hugging me while Mickey is in my back pocket going through my wallet. I am regretting my DVC purchase as I am disgusted over the constant focus of profit over customer experience. It sounds silly but what makes Disney great to me is the constant feeling that they care about every single person's experience. I was (AND) willing to spend a ton for that feeling. However -- I don't feel that anymore.

It's hard to make people feel "special" when demand outstrips any ability to provide service. Disney is a for-profit corporation. Why do you not see a link between what Disney charges and customer experience? As a corporation I see Disney consistently investing enormous capital in the guest experience via new rides and experiences. YES, covid created a unique situation where some things have been pulled back, but overall I still see Disney investing in the customer experience....that capital has to come from somewhere. Their parks and hotels sat empty for months...and they continued to build new resorts and new attractions. They've got to recoup that somewhere or stop building....I personally prefer the former.

 

[sagosto]

It's hard to make people feel "special" when demand outstrips any ability to provide service. Disney is a for-profit corporation. Why do you not see a link between what Disney charges and customer experience? As a corporation I see Disney consistently investing enormous capital in the guest experience via new rides and experiences. YES, covid created a unique situation where some things have been pulled back, but overall I still see Disney investing in the customer experience....that capital has to come from somewhere. Their parks and hotels sat empty for months...and they continued to build new resorts and new attractions. They've got to recoup that somewhere or stop building....I personally prefer the former.

I am not alone in this mindset. Yes, Disney is spending money on the experience but the ratio of dollar vs value has fallen off a cliff.

 

[ocdb8r1]

I am not alone in this mindset. Yes, Disney is spending money on the experience but the ratio of dollar vs value has fallen off a cliff.

Yes, it's clear you're not alone....but it's also clear many still see "value" in Disney vacations and so long as there are sufficient people to visit the parks and fill the hotels, prices will continue to increase. If these changes result in an actual decrease in revenue for Disney, I am sure they will make adjustments.

I personally still think Disney offers good value for money despite the recent changes. Of course I'd LIKE things to be cheaper....but perhaps crowds will be more manageable on my next visit....or LL passes easier to get/navigate under the new Genie+ system. Perhaps I'll be able to be a bit spontaneous and do something different because I'm not locked into a schedule I felt compelled to build months in advance. Best of all we'll all get to see how it pans out exactly to decide whether or not to spend the money.

 

[sagosto]

Yes, it's clear you're not alone....but it's also clear many still see "value" in Disney vacations and so long as there are sufficient people to visit the parks and fill the hotels, prices will continue to increase. If these changes result in an actual decrease in revenue for Disney, I am sure they will make adjustments.

I personally still think Disney offers good value for money despite the recent changes. Of course I'd LIKE things to be cheaper....but perhaps crowds will be more manageable on my next visit....or LL passes easier to get/navigate under the new Genie+ system. Perhaps I'll be able to be a bit spontaneous and do something different because I'm not locked into a schedule I felt compelled to build months in advance. Best of all we'll all get to see how it pans out exactly to decide whether or not to spend the money.

I can see Disney being priced out for some families as the price continues to rise. For me, it's more of the perks/etc. being removed rather than the price. I am more than willing to pay top dollar when Disney includes perks like FP+/Magical Express/EMH/etc.. It is very difficult to justify paying top dollar to stay on property given all of the perks are gone. Time will tell...

 

[cakebaker]

I'm not feeling particularly negative regarding Genie+ or pay per ride, but I am about the fact that Disney is so willing to bring back things that raise revenue yet crowd people together, then tell us they can't bring things back like parades and shows and all the things that made Disney so special to us because of "safety" concerns. I worry they may never bring most of it back and I can't find valid reasons that they aren't doing it now. It's not lack of employees- they're choosing where to allocate what employees they have. It's pure cost cutting measures and that concerns me a great deal. If people are willing to accept these cuts, there's not a lot of incentive for them to return to what they were.

It's just a whole long list of things- full EMH's, extended park hours, After Hours, housekeeping..too much to list really.

 

[2Lunds]

I am. When I take all the new additions to WDW into consideration, I'm ok with paying more. I'm also highly into tech and have no problem using my phone throughout the day.

 

[Tyler's Dad]

I'm curious, for all of the people saying they don't want to be on their phones all of the time, what did you do with FP+? After you used your first 3, didn't you use MDE to book the next ones? Or did you go to the kiosks?

 

[Turksmom]

I'm curious, for all of the people saying they don't want to be on their phones all of the time, what did you do with FP+? After you used your first 3, didn't you use MDE to book the next ones? Or did you go to the kiosks?

We scheduled for our must do rides in advance of the trip, so we didn't feel the need to constantly refresh. We'd do what was scheduled and then sometimes we'd do stand by. Other times we'd look for a pass in line after scanning in or while sitting down eating

 

[kathy884]

Universals's Express Pass is superior because it allows you to go on any EP ride (most of their rides), all of the time, without reservations. Just scamper through that line. I agree that the cost is prohibitive if you're just buying it outright, but it's included in their top 3 hotels, the price of which are comparable to Disney mid range hotels.

For busy times the hotel prices at Universal seem prohibitive to me too (or at least they were super expensive for the spring break weeks I checked on last year).

Last year I did the math for Universal Express passes to get an idea of what they would run for next year. We have two doing a one day park to park. The least expensive of the hotels offering the express pass had a daily rate of $650 a night. Disney moderates were in the $340 range, so that's quite a difference. The unlimited two park express pass was $230 a day pp. The one time express pass (what we would have bought if needed and ouch was $170 pp and would have been our least expensive option.

With plans for two Universal days instead of one and more people, it is true that the hotel would have been the best of the options, but not for just two people doing just one day.