BREAKING: Walt Disney World Introduces Date-Based Variable Pricing for Genie+ Service

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

https://wdwnt.com/2022/10/breaking-...ne-access-prices-will-increase-based-on-date/

The same for ILL too.

Wasn't this already the case for ILL? It varied based by day of the week already. Perhaps the difference is they are using a different metric for the variability in pricing.

 

[xdan0920]

the main problem with G+ is that it's too cheap.

Really?

 

[xdan0920]

They need to cap sales along with this new rise in price.

Sure, If the goal was guest satisfaction.

 

[nikem3]

They need to cap sales along with this new rise in price.

No benefit for them to cap sales (even though consumer friendly). They will just continue to raise prices until it levels off to what they feel is an acceptable level. The issue is that I don't know when people will call it quits and stop buying it. I would have rather them just went straight to a Universal model and charged 1-3x ticket price for an express pass for all rides and it probably wouldn't be as bad as it is now.

 

[Jrb1979]

Really?

Yes really. There is a reason every other park charges so much for it and limit sales. The biggest complaint against Genie+ is there is too many people using it each day.

 

[xdan0920]

I believe they could raise the price by $50 and people would still have to buy it.

This is 100% true. The goal isn't to make less people buy it, it's to max out the ROI. I giggle every time some one says Disney wants less people to buy G+

 

[xdan0920]

Yes really. There is a reason every other park charges so much for it and limit sales. The biggest complaint against Genie+ is there is too many people using it each day.

Disney isn't going to limit sales. So this is a pointless line of reasoning.

 

[BamaGuy44]

Really?

Yes really. Have you seen the price of Universal's Express Pass? That's what it takes to limit demand enough for it to be a viable system. They'd rather sell fewer G+ at a higher price. They make the same, and guest satisfaction will be higher. Same reason they are limiting park attendance, but doing everything thing they can to squeeze more dollars out each guest. They actually do want satisfaction scores to be high. Not because they love us, because they make more money that way.

 

[Jrb1979]

Disney isn't going to limit sales. So this is a pointless line of reasoning.

They will just keep increasing prices til they get the number of Genie+ sold daily to the number they want it to be. At $50 some will buy it but there will be many that will be priced out.

 

[Kingoglow]

I agree. frustrating. specially since even with genie plus, you need a bit of luck and strategy to reserve highly sought rides. if someone is not a "tech savvy" person, they might get genie plus and still miss out on popular rides

Most of the non 'tech-savy' generation is gone, some are in long term homes, and only a small number are still vacationing. This wont be an issue much longer.

 

[set88]

Wow. I thought they probably wouldn't raise the prices this year, but can't say it's shocking. Unfortunately, I would have to say that this is a small enough price increase that it is highly unlikely to cut down on the number of people who buy Genie+ this holiday season... therefore, it's unlikely that this change is actually going to benefit guests by improving capacity. I'm pretty confident this will not be the last price increase we see - they just can't do it drastically at one moment. I imagine they will keep increasing the price of Genie+ UNTIL significantly less people buy it.... and at that point, the service will improve for those willing to spend the money.

I will say - I STRONGLY prefer price increases to capping capacity and making buying Genie+ essentially a stressful lottery for those willing to stay up until midnight and race to purchase... just like getting ADRs or SDD. I would rather know I CAN get Genie+ if I want to budget for it than have each day be a stressful "what if I can't get it today." Of course, price increases also make significantly more sense for Disney, and I'm not going to blame them for not leaving money on the table. People have proven this year that they are willing to pay whatever Disney asks. Until that's no longer true, prices will go up.

Also wouldn't be shocked to see Disney go back to offering Genie+ as a discounted whole stay add-on at some point. People may ultimately spend more money buying it for days they don't need it, but they'll FEEL like they saved money. The exact same racket that the dining plan is.

 

[OkanaganAmanda]

No big surprise here - but so frusterating. As soon as they announced the end to prepurchasing Genie+ it seemed like this was the reason for. I am just super annoyed because I DID email our Dreams agent in May to have Genie+ added to our tickets and she said she would. She claimed that "Disney tech messed it up" and so it never added. If I'd booked independantly I would have just done it myself. Now with the Canadian exchange rate it is already so $$$. We are going after Thanksgiving but before Christmas, so I am just hoping it is still $15. Family of 4, from Canada, so really don't want to have to pay more.

 

[Kingoglow]

They will just keep increasing prices til they get the number of Genie+ sold daily to the number they want it to be. At $50 some will buy it but there will be many that will be priced out.

I think $50 is about the breaking point. Certainly between $50 - $75 per person per day. If Genie+ is still an issue at $75 per person per day, Disney might as well increase gate prices by $100 to deter people.

 

[cakebaker]

Really?

Clearly it's priced too low for Disney's purposes. Too many people are buying, reducing the benefit of buying it at all. Until it reaches a price point where more people will say no, there's no negative to raising the price. No one is saying it's beneficial to the customer, other than fewer people will buy, making it a better experience.

 

[xdan0920]

They will just keep increasing prices til they get the number of Genie+ sold daily to the number they want it to be. At $50 some will buy it but there will be many that will be priced out.

Sure! This has been the case, when, exactly?

Clearly it's priced too low for Disney's purposes. Too many people are buying, reducing the benefit of buying it at all. Until it reaches a price point where more people will say no, there's no negative to raising the price. No one is saying it's beneficial to the customer, other than fewer people will buy, making it a better experience.

This is a popular, and normally reasonable line of thought.

However there is nothing to back it up. Look no further then the insanely priced Halloween and Christmas parties. There is no meaningful cap on attendance, and the price point is legit outrageous, and it just doesn't matter.

 

[wilkydelts]

I think this will have a significant impact on those still willing to buy Genie+ on EPCOT and Animal Kingdom park days. Those are the first parks people will decide not to buy them at in order to balance costs.

 

[BamaGuy44]

I think $50 is about the breaking point. Certainly between $50 - $75 per person per day. If Genie+ is still an issue at $75 per person per day, Disney might as well increase gate prices by $100 to deter people.

$50 is probably pretty close, and we'll be there within a couple of years unless they come up with a different system. Universal's pass is $100+ per day and people pay it. If Disney offered something similar with no booking times, no 7 am BS, no rides selling out of passes at 9 am... I don't know how much people would pay, but it would be a lot.

 

[set88]

Clearly it's priced too low for Disney's purposes. Too many people are buying, reducing the benefit of buying it at all. Until it reaches a price point where more people will say no, there's no negative to raising the price. No one is saying it's beneficial to the customer, other than fewer people will buy, making it a better experience.

There's a reason that every other theme park's fast pass system is significantly more expensive with significantly more benefit.

Genie+ will likely eventually end up there. Disney honestly probably should have just started with a system more like Universal's than start with this low price and gradually increase it. People are going to balk at Genie+ going forward (at least for a while) because "it used to be only $15!!" It never should have been $15. It should have been much higher with much higher benefit or not existed at all.

I don't blame Disney for not magically knowing what that breaking price point is, though. They clearly haven't put the prices high enough on anything yet to make the demand go down. I'm thinking of the Halloween and Christmas parties in particular - those prices are insane and yet they sold out. That may be a surprise even to Disney.

 

[gharter]

As others mentioned, frustrating, but not surprising. I expected to see the price increase, was just hoping it would be after our trip. No such luck. At least we only buy it for a few parks at most. Wonder how much they'll push the ILL$ prices?

 

[Kingoglow]

Sure! This has been the case, when, exactly?

This is a popular, and normally reasonable line of thought.

However there is nothing to back it up. Look no further then the insanely priced Halloween and Christmas parties. There is no meaningful cap on attendance, and the price point is legit outrageous, and it just doesn't matter.

I don't want to get argumentative, this is for discussion purposes...

Obviously there is a point when pricing matters. If I were to say to you that Disney just raised their gate price to $300 per day and no more AP's will ever be sold. Would that cause you not to go? Maybe you one of the people that could afford it, so sure, you can still go. But you wont see park attendance the way it is today.