WDW updates Genie+ guidance, average of 2-3 rides per day

[AnnaKristoff2013]

Genie+ is not long for this world. Tripadvisor is currently hundreds of pages of scathing & horrific reviews of Disney World, primarily as a result of how awful Genie+ is. It is not sustainable.

 

[Bibbidi_Boo]

Genie+ is not long for this world. Tripadvisor is currently hundreds of pages of scathing & horrific reviews of Disney World, primarily as a result of how awful Genie+ is. It is not sustainable.

I agree its going to change and probably sooner than later, but I do fear the price tag of whatever will come next.

 

[Jrb1979]

Genie+ is not long for this world. Tripadvisor is currently hundreds of pages of scathing & horrific reviews of Disney World, primarily as a result of how awful Genie+ is. It is not sustainable.

I agree it will change considering Disneyland themselves posted saying not to buy it. I don't think the changes will be drastic. What I see happening is Disney changing the ratio of LL to Standby as well as upping the price so less people buy it.

 

[Bibbidi_Boo]

I agree it will change considering Disneyland themselves posted saying not to buy it. I don't think the changes will be drastic. What I see happening is Disney changing the ratio of LL to Standby as well as upping the price so less people buy it.

It may start to switch to more of Universals stance where express lanes goal is to cut the standby wait in half. Upping the price will work too a point but with how low genie is it would take a big hike to make less buy it. They really just need to limit how many a day in some form.

 

[middlechild]

Just went to the tripadvisor reviews, at the suggestion posted above. Quite illuminating, the vitriol spewed in TWDC direction. I am only guessing that cast members know the word on the street, and guests find out very quickly. But does the highest management levels know the tarnish to the reputation?

 

[Jrb1979]

Just went to the tripadvisor reviews, at the suggestion posted above. Quite illuminating, the vitriol spewed in TWDC direction. I am only guessing that cast members know the word on the street, and guests find out very quickly. But does the highest management levels know the tarnish to the reputation?

To be honest they don't care. The parks are not the focus any more. It's all about Disney+ and media.

 

[Bibbidi_Boo]

To be honest they don't care. The parks are not the focus any more. It's all about Disney+ and media.

Now this is the truth.

 

[dreiwhit]

Does anyone else see the link between this new disclaimer about 2 - 3 rides and the results of a survey taken years ago? The survey that asked how many rides were a minimum for a "good" day at Disney? The answer was about three, if memory serves. Amazing to me how this number, three headline rides to make a good day, keeps coming back up. Now Genie+ will assure you of three, if you start early. Disney can sell multiple copies, as long as statistically any one individual gets three rides. Hang on to your hats, the parks will get even busier until the people who pay extra for Genie+ cannot get their three rides in over the course of a day. A new high water mark can be targeted and the general admission only guests will get their three only by complaining to customer service for a free upgrade to Genie+.

IMHO, 2-3 rides a day would be fine if DIsney is charging $20 per ticket to enter the park. However, since the price per ticket is substantially more, 2-3 rides for what you pay would be an absolute rip off in my book.

I've actually heard people complain that they spent all this money on tickets and only got to ride two rides.

 

[dreiwhit]

Genie+ is not long for this world. Tripadvisor is currently hundreds of pages of scathing & horrific reviews of Disney World, primarily as a result of how awful Genie+ is. It is not sustainable.

Just went to the tripadvisor reviews, at the suggestion posted above. Quite illuminating, the vitriol spewed in TWDC direction. I am only guessing that cast members know the word on the street, and guests find out very quickly. But does the highest management levels know the tarnish to the reputation?

Disney has been getting horrible ratings for years on the trip advisor type websites. I remember reading them back before our last trip in 2018. IMHO, Disney seems to be only concerned about getting the folks who have never been to Disney before, and not the repeat customers. Management doesn't really seem to care about how bad experiences are, as long as they can wring every dollar possible out of the parks.

IMHO, the problems at Disney aren't due to Covid. They have been happening for a while. If anything, Covid just made them visible to much more people.

 

[New Mouse]

Disney has been getting horrible ratings for years on the trip advisor type websites. I remember reading them back before our last trip in 2018. IMHO, Disney seems to be only concerned about getting the folks who have never been to Disney before, and not the repeat customers. Management doesn't really seem to care about how bad experiences are, as long as they can wring every dollar possible out of the parks.

IMHO, the problems at Disney aren't due to Covid. They have been happening for a while. If anything, Covid just made them visible to much more people.

Disney strategy about 10 years ago was this exactly. I forget the exact numbers, but the spend per guest with a one time family is staggering compared to a repeat visitor, even if visit 2 is 10 years later.

 

[shafke]

Here is the way I look at it... this may be the cynic in me but...
This has been going on for a very long time... way more that 10 years.
Start off by getting rid of things they are losing money on even though the "guest experience" may suffer. At the beginning Disney had enough Good Will built up they could afford to take a hit.

Next... get rid of under-performing things... things that do not generate enough profit but do not cause a loss on the books.
End of the day... they have no "loss leaders"... things to entice guests to show up... since the parks were always full they did not need them.

Now... let's take this to the guest level... at some point the bean counters decided a good measurement was 'spending per guest'... ie: on average... how much would each guest need to spend for us to make x amount of profit.

You will have guests that spend over the average and some under the average but why would you want guests spending under the average... they are costing money.... let's keep raising prices until these lower spending guests are pulling their weight or don't come.

 

[fla4fun]

My main frustration with Genie+ is paying for the privilege of having no guarantee of being able to use it at all. It’s a gamble. Even that 2-3 rides they speak of are not guaranteed, let alone getting 2-3 rides you actually want to ride. If I am paying for something, I expect to get value guaranteed for that money. Genie+ is not that product.

 

[theMoreDisneytheBetter]

At HS I think of the cost of Genie+ as basically paying for a second ILL for slinky above and beyond the ILL for Rise. Anything else (usually only Mania and a show or two at that point) is gravy.

 

[FunnyLady1966]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1508992394380861440

Disney World updated their website recently ( https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/genie/lightning-lane/#drawer-card-drawerRecommender ) to add that "On average, guests can enter 2 to 3 attractions or experiences per day using the Lightning Lane entrance if the first selection is made early in the day."

It seems like Disney is admitting defeat that Genie+ is not better than Fastpass+ in fact it may actually be worse if on average guests are only getting 2 attractions per day.

Have to wonder if Disney really intends for Genie+ to work like this and if they are at least considering changes to the system.

I wonder if there is any chance of going back to the old FP+ system even if still costs money.

One can HOPE!

 

[BaybeeYoda]

They still struggle to sell Deluxe hotels.

I do think Genie + will be tweaked and changed over time, but whether it is good or bad who knows. We did it once to check it out and it was okay I got decent stuff and it saved some time but I doubt we will buy it often. I didn't like having to zig zag back and forth with the times and then we we ended up sitting around for ackward 30 mins waiting for slot to open.

Nothing will be perfect for all, or really perfect in general. I kinda like Universals system , but only if staying at the higher hotels or have it with the ap with after 4pm. But Universals system is only geared to cutting wait in half so on some rides you still end up waiting decently based on how busy, plus the newer rides aren't on it. Then half the rides most days you don't need it.

Are they still struggling with deluxe hotels? I had thought they were all almost at capacity, esp the near park resorts?

 

[Marionnette]

Are they still struggling with deluxe hotels? I had thought they were all almost at capacity, esp the near park resorts?

They have been converting deluxe hotel rooms to DVC rooms because they can't sell them out. AKV- Jambo, CCV, PVB and most recently VGF2.

 

[Bibbidi_Boo]

They have been converting deluxe hotel rooms to DVC rooms because they can't sell them out. AKV- Jambo, CCV, PVB and most recently VGF2.

Yes this! At the rate they are going there won't even be that many deluxe rooms left to sell.

 

[Aluminum Falcon]

They have been converting deluxe hotel rooms to DVC rooms because they can't sell them out. AKV- Jambo, CCV, PVB and most recently VGF2.

Just based on availability on the Disney website, there does seem to be limited availability on Deluxe rooms.
I think there is 2 ways of looking at this, the first being the way you described it. The other being that Disney has such a high demand for DVC at the present that in order to capitalize immediately on potential customers, they are converting rooms to sell. Otherwise they would have to build new rooms, which could lead to missed sales in the present, and i am making an assumption that a luxury like the DVC is something that ebbs and flows, so the faster Disney can take advantage the better

 

[disneyseniors]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1508992394380861440

Disney World updated their website recently ( https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/genie/lightning-lane/#drawer-card-drawerRecommender ) to add that "On average, guests can enter 2 to 3 attractions or experiences per day using the Lightning Lane entrance if the first selection is made early in the day."

It seems like Disney is admitting defeat that Genie+ is not better than Fastpass+ in fact it may actually be worse if on average guests are only getting 2 attractions per day.

Have to wonder if Disney really intends for Genie+ to work like this and if they are at least considering changes to the system.

I wonder if there is any chance of going back to the old FP+ system even if still costs money.

I wonder if this statement has to do with avoiding lawsuits. They have painted this D+ as a great thing and good for everyone. Which it's not, so maybe I'm skeptical but maybe it's just CYA.