No the Magic isn’t gone but it’s at 25%

[Aluminum Falcon]

I don't think that is the whole story. For me, what I've most often lamented about in the past couple years is the slow removal of the little conveniences that made Disney so much less stressful than it is today.

• Used to be your luggage was tagged before you traveled and delivered to your hotel room. No waiting around at baggage claim with squirmy kids, and then hauling luggage while pushing a stroller, just beeline from the airplane to DME and you were on vaycay. I would pay to get this service back, but it's just gone.
• No dining plan--yes this was partly way to save money, but for me, also just a real de-stresser on vacay. My kids want some more dole whips or a ridiculously large lollipop? DH or I want to sample some tiny but overpriced tidbit at the Epcot festival booths? Another character meal, why not? Don't have to think about the cost and start to feel stressed, it's all included in the budget. It's part of what I like about cruising--even if the cost of food is baked into the vacation price, it's nice to have the trip all budgeted and paid for ahead of time so you don't need to do mental math on the fly every meal and snack of the trip.
• ADRs at 180 days were a snap--the majority of people don't book vacations that far out, so I often was able to get everything I wanted even if I waited weeks or months after ADRs opened. Now I have to be awake at 4:45am my time at the 60 day mark just to have a chance at a few ADRs toward the end of my trip. And have to do that twice, with even more limited selection, if we have a split stay (which we often do). Just such an unpleasant way to plan for a trip.
• Reduced housekeeping at resorts (and for DVC, removal of the option to pay extra for daily housekeeping) = more work for me tidying up after my kids on vacation, sweeping up their crumbs from their breakfast/snacks in the room, having to chase down clean towels etc.
• And now for G+ specifically:
  • Some days I like to sleep in after walking 20 miles the day prior (shocking, I know). Say goodbye to that with 7am G+ wakeup calls every day.
  • In the old FP days, you could choose your return times, so it was great--book three in the morning, plan on a midday resort break, and have an evening FP waiting for you that doesn't conflict with dinner times. Now you're at the mercy of the system--that 9am time you thought you could book turns to 2pm, when you planned to be at the resort, or during a meal time, or late at night after the kids' bedtime. You are at the mercy of the schedule Genie+ chooses for you
  • Inability to plan 60 days ahead means going into the vacation with a lot of uncertainty and no way to manage kids expectations. We used to look together as a family at the 60 day mark and each kid would pick a ride they wanted. Maybe it wasn't their first choice because their first choice was taken, but it was an even playing field and they all had the same opportunity to choose something. Now I have to pit them against each other and against me. DS6 loves SDD but my DS10s think it is a kiddie ride, one wants TOT, and the other wants RORC. In the old days, if their favorites weren't available at 60 days, that wasn't my fault, that's just what there was to choose from. Now it's all on me to shoulder the blame if I choose to go for SDD first, get a late return time, and by the time 120 minutes rolls around the rides someone else wanted is gone.

Bottom line, if they had just given me the old system and charged me more for it, it'd be so much better than this new more stressful version they've created.

i would argue that most of the things (ADR's, Dining plan, reduced housekeeping) listed are pandemic responses, and will probably change in the days to come. I agree that the DME is going to be a loss, but it looks like there are plans behind the scenes to have this picked up by a private company, there will also be a train station at the airport which will shake things up a bit as well.

ADR's to me, don't mean much 60 days is still plenty a ways out for you to plan dining reservations, or change them, but I still think they will makes its way back

Genie in my mind has a long way to go, but i think it was necessary, FP+ was not working, and Genie+ does not work currently, but i do think there is still potential for it, we shall see.

 

[Aluminum Falcon]

I'm going to be completely honest when I say that I would be willing to pay for that Premier Pass Disneyland Paris has if it came to WDW, however it's easy for me to say that when I am a single person with no children. Larger groups and/or people with multiple kids would be reluctant to spend that kind of money on top of park tickets, flights and hotels. Just the thought of not having to deal with competing with other guests in booking rides at 7 am would be what makes me buy it.

i don't think it would work at WDW, too much demand in my mind. How and where would you cut it off.

 

[Jrb1979]

I'm going to be completely honest when I say that I would be willing to pay for that Premier Pass Disneyland Paris has if it came to WDW, however it's easy for me to say that when I am a single person with no children. Larger groups and/or people with multiple kids would be reluctant to spend that kind of money on top of park tickets, flights and hotels. Just the thought of not having to deal with competing with other guests in booking rides at 7 am would be what makes me buy it.

Again it comes back to that every one has this mindset that it needs to be accessible to everyone. Skip the line systems aren't meant to be accessible to everyone.

 

[Smugpugmug]

Again it comes back to that every one has this mindset that it needs to be accessible to everyone. Skip the line systems aren't meant to be accessible to everyone.

I'm aware and I agree with you. I was just saying that if WDW did have a service like that, I would buy it and I'm in an easier position to do so because I don't have children or a large group. If WDW had something like Paris's Premier Pass they would have to charge some crazy amount.

 

[Jrb1979]

i don't think it would work at WDW, too much demand in my mind. How and where would you cut it off.

You do it how every other parks does it. You cap sales and price it high enough that majority won't buy it. Like I said in my previous post, people need to accept that waiting in line is part of going to a park.

 

[DCLMP]

i don't think it would work at WDW, too much demand in my mind. How and where would you cut it off.

360 dollars a day for a family of four. No way would the demand be high. I would not buy it, and I got called a fool for spending 700 on ll and ILL for a family of four over six days. Over 6 days that would cost 2160. Actually more than that in dollars not euros.

 

[mercuryvenus]

Magical Express going away was, to my understanding, a result of the pandemic and the luggage delivery company not providing that service to Disney anymore. It was something Disney contracted out.

The dining plans are interesting to me — if folks were breaking even or saving money on dining plans, I get it, but my understanding is that the vast majority of people were not using all of their credits, or were simply spending more on the dining plan than they would if they just purchased food a la carte.

In terms of the skip the line system — people already talk about how expensive Disney is. If they started to charge so much for Genie+/FP that most people couldn’t afford it (thereby making it easier for people who do purchase it), I imagine there would be an enormous uproar. It’s interesting to me that this board was so against paid FP, and yet we now have folks lobbying for it to cost even more, so that fewer people buy it. There is no way we would spend hundreds of dollars a day to skip the line, despite being able to afford it. realistically, who would?

 

[Jrb1979]

Magical Express going away was, to my understanding, a result of the pandemic and the luggage delivery company not providing that service to Disney anymore. It was something Disney contracted out.

The dining plans are interesting to me — if folks were breaking even or saving money on dining plans, I get it, but my understanding is that the vast majority of people were not using all of their credits, or were simply spending more on the dining plan than they would if they just purchased food a la carte.

In terms of the skip the line system — people already talk about how expensive Disney is. If they started to charge so much for Genie+/FP that most people couldn’t afford it (thereby making it easier for people who do purchase it), I imagine there would be an enormous uproar. It’s interesting to me that this board was so against paid FP, and yet we now have folks lobbying for it to cost even more, so that fewer people buy it.

That's the point. Genie+ isn't working due to too many people having it. As one poster said at Universal while lines a long the majority accepted that it's part of going to a park. When at Disney it was the exact opposite. Many complaints about having to wait.

 

[mercuryvenus]

That's the point. Genie+ isn't working due to too many people having it. As one poster said at Universal while lines a long the majority accepted that it's part of going to a park. When at Disney it was the exact opposite. Many complaints about having to wait.

Most of the lines at Universal are not as long as they would be at Disney if virtually no one utilized Genie+ because it cost way too much. The exception, really, is Harry Potter World.

 

[Aluminum Falcon]

You do it how every other parks does it. You cap sales and price it high enough that majority won't buy it. Like I said in my previous post, people need to accept that waiting in line is part of going to a park.

i think Disney is a completely different animal, there would be a lot of demand, at least i believe there would be. Disney would probably have to block AP's from purchasing, people who make reservations late wouldn't even have a chance, ect. To me it just sounds like a nightmare, but i could be wrong

 

[Aluminum Falcon]

360 dollars a day for a family of four. No way would the demand be high. I would not buy it, and I got called a fool for spending 700 on ll and ILL for a family of four over six days. Over 6 days that would cost 2160. Actually more than that in dollars not euros.

look at how many people buy the high end tours, they're always sold out, and those are A LOT more money haha

 

[mercuryvenus]

i think Disney is a completely different animal, there would be a lot of demand, at least i believe there would be. Disney would probably have to block AP's from purchasing, people who make reservations late wouldn't even have a chance, ect. To me it just sounds like a nightmare, but i could be wrong

It would be a total nightmare. Basically, people are demanding a super exclusive program because they’re upset about having to compete with a lot of other people for Genie+ slots.

 

[heresabe]

i would argue that most of the things (ADR's, Dining plan, reduced housekeeping) listed are pandemic responses, and will probably change in the days to come. I agree that the DME is going to be a loss, but it looks like there are plans behind the scenes to have this picked up by a private company, there will also be a train station at the airport which will shake things up a bit as well.

What have you heard about a replacement for DME? The original DME was contracted out to Mears and Mears continues to provide the same service...for a fee.

 

[Smugpugmug]

In terms of the skip the line system — people already talk about how expensive Disney is. If they started to charge so much for Genie+/FP that most people couldn’t afford it (thereby making it easier for people who do purchase it), I imagine there would be an enormous uproar. It’s interesting to me that this board was so against paid FP, and yet we now have folks lobbying for it to cost even more, so that fewer people buy it. There is no way we would spend hundreds of dollars a day to skip the line, despite being able to afford it. realistically, who would?

Kind of similar but there are people who pay for the entire family to do the VIP tours that guarantee you access to skipping every single line at the parks. I've seen people on these very boards say that they do a VIP tour once a year or even every time they go. Those tours also sell out as soon as they're able to be booked. There is demand for skipping the line and I have absolutely zero doubt in my mind that if Disney offered a higher priced service like Premier Pass Ultimate in Paris, it would sell out and people WILL buy it.

 

[Aluminum Falcon]

What have you heard about a replacement for DME? The original DME was contracted out to Mears and Mears continues to provide the same service...for a fee.

ok, that could have been what i was hearing, but Mears isn't offering luggage i believe, please correct me if i'm mistaken

 

[mercuryvenus]

ok, that could have been what i was hearing, but Mears isn't offering luggage i believe, please correct me if i'm mistaken

My understanding is the luggage service was provided by a company that is no longer providing that service. Bringing that service back would require Mears to develop that service internally, or for Disney to do so (and obviously bring the transportation service back as well).

 

[Jrb1979]

i think Disney is a completely different animal, there would be a lot of demand, at least i believe there would be. Disney would probably have to block AP's from purchasing, people who make reservations late wouldn't even have a chance, ect. To me it just sounds like a nightmare, but i could be wrong

No worse then the nightmare now. Genie+ isn't working due to too many people buying it. I'm not denying there would be demand. They would have to change it to only available day of and when it sells out that that that's it.

 

[xipotec]

i would argue that most of the things (ADR's, Dining plan, reduced housekeeping) listed are pandemic responses, and will probably change in the days to come. I agree that the DME is going to be a loss, but it looks like there are plans behind the scenes to have this picked up by a private company, there will also be a train station at the airport which will shake things up a bit as well.

ADR's to me, don't mean much 60 days is still plenty a ways out for you to plan dining reservations, or change them, but I still think they will makes its way back

Genie in my mind has a long way to go, but i think it was necessary, FP+ was not working, and Genie+ does not work currently, but i do think there is still potential for it, we shall see.

I do not think so.

Corporations across the board are using the pandemic as an excuse now to regain “lost” revenue over the past two years.

Once a service is gone, especially the ones that cost Disney money, they will never be seen again.

Its been a great excuse for companies to reduce services, and blame something besides their own short sighted goals.

 

[Skicks35]

Here's the other wrinkle to this: Disney is going to be able to claim that Genie+ is so successful because of how many people are buying it, but it's incredibly deceiving.

People are buying it because they feel like they have to in order to have a good time or to keep up with the crowds, not because it's a good product.

 

[Jrb1979]

Here's the other wrinkle to this: Disney is going to be able to claim that Genie+ is so successful because of how many people are buying it, but it's incredibly deceiving.

People are buying it because they feel like they have to in order to have a good time or to keep up with the crowds, not because it's a good product.

Your last paragraph is exactly the problem Disney has. Ever since FP your average guest believes in order to enjoy the parks you can't wait more then 30 minutes a ride.