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

[Smugpugmug]

I have a question for everyone (not trying to start an argument, was just curious): would you be willing to pay for a system like Disneyland Paris where you get to ride everything once but it costs around 120 euro (around $115)? Obviously with demand this would have to be increased but I was just wondering what others thought.

 

[godfather927]

Ugh, I knew this was coming. $15 was way too cheap. Now I gotta find out how much extra this is gonna cost us for our 10-day trip. Joy.

 

[Jrb1979]

Agreed with this. They need to find the correct price point. I always find it funny that the two biggest complaints are price and crowds, which directly contradict each other. I would love to pay old prices, but I also understand that if they don't raise prices, it will start to get out of hand and not be worth it. My only complaint about Genie+ is that there is no guarantee you can get the rides you want. That is the biggest drawback to it all. If you can guarantee that I can obtain the rides I really want, I'd gladly pay more for it. As it is right now, I don't use it very often. Every once in a while I will.

That goes back to the amount of people using Genie+ a day. The less people who have it the better it works.

 

[set88]

I think this is where I would tap out. 30 dollars per ticket per day, I can possibly justify and take from something else. 50 dollars per ticket per day, I'm not sure.

If this is how most people feel, then the price would unfortunately HAVE to be more than $30 per day to keep people from buying.

Disney should be doing research on what people consider their "max price".

 

[nikem3]

I have a question for everyone (not trying to start an argument, was just curious): would you be willing to pay for a system like Disneyland Paris where you get to ride everything once but it costs around 120 euro (around $115)? Obviously with demand this would have to be increased but I was just wondering what others thought.

I think this would be preferable. Some sort of system that guarantees you can ride all the rides. Hell, if Genie + just created a schedule for you with 1 hour windows for all your rides, that would probably be better than not being able to ride the things I want. (Although obviously would have having Disney tell me when and what time I can do things)

 

[mjkacmom]

my goodness.

does anyone know if the pricing difference is based on day of the week or month of the year?? I am going to WDW in Feb (low season), wondering if all the days would be $15 or $22.

Hoards if folks from the northeast will be descending on 2/18 for the week.

 

[lugnut33]

There's no conceivable way they would have raised the prices to $50-150 per person for the holiday season this year. The backlash on that would have been unthinkable.

Contrary to what you seem to be saying, Disney is not unaware that Genie+ has to offer people a satisfying experience with real benefits in order for it to be worth the money. With 50% of guests buying it on the most crowded days, Genie+ becomes much less useful which really hurts guest satisfaction. Disney does NOT want this.

Disney is not so completely unsavvy and incompetent that they don't recognize that people won't pay a significant upcharge per person for a system that is too crowded to provide much benefit. They have been watching Genie+ carefully since its introduction. They, like most people here, recognized that too many people were buying it for it to be useful.

A price increase makes much more sense than a capacity cap at the same price. Will it take time to get that price up high enough that people stop buying it? Yes. Is that the ultimate goal? Most likely. Will the system be better for those who are willing to pay the price when significantly less people buy it overall? Yes. Disney knows this.

Is everything Disney does ultimately about increasing profit? Of course it is. Does Disney realize that guest satisfaction DOES matter for increasing profit? Of course they do.

I really don't think it matters to Disney what we experienced park goers think, it really only matters what that first timer's opinion is of G+. For all we know they love G+.

 

[DaviVascaino]

Hoards if folks from the northeast will be descending on 2/18 for the week.

yep, will be gone before that week lol

 

[set88]

I have a question for everyone (not trying to start an argument, was just curious): would you be willing to pay for a system like Disneyland Paris where you get to ride everything once but it costs around 120 euro (around $115)? Obviously with demand this would have to be increased but I was just wondering what others thought.

To be honest, I think Disney made a mistake not just starting with a system like this and trying to keep the "fast pass" stuff but charging for it.

Considering this is the system most theme parks use and it works well, I have no reason to doubt it would work well for Disney also.

Personally, that price would be too steep for me. But if - big if - they keep the number of those express passes sold to a low enough number that the standby wait isn't drastically impacted, everything would be better for everyone.

 

[lugnut33]

I have a question for everyone (not trying to start an argument, was just curious): would you be willing to pay for a system like Disneyland Paris where you get to ride everything once but it costs around 120 euro (around $115)? Obviously with demand this would have to be increased but I was just wondering what others thought.

They kind of already offer it through the VIP tours.

 

[set88]

I really don't think it matters to Disney what we experienced park goers think, it really only matters what that first timer's opinion is of G+. For all we know they love G+.

I think for most months, it was probably pretty favorable, but for the super crowded days like the holidays last year and spring break this year - or the past few days for that matter - I think it would have been tough to be satisfied.

It can be assumed that most newbies did not wake up at 7am to book their first ride and may not have even bought Genie+ until midday when lines started really picking up. At that point, they would have missed out on a couple crucial picks. Hard to believe that wouldn't have hurt their impression.

You're correct though, this board is a very poor place to get an idea of what the general public's opinion of Genie+ is, lol.

 

[Smugpugmug]

To be honest, I think Disney made a mistake not just starting with a system like this and trying to keep the "fast pass" stuff but charging for it.

Considering this is the system most theme parks use and it works well, I have no reason to doubt it would work well for Disney also.

Personally, that price would be too steep for me. But if - big if - they keep the number of those express passes sold to a low enough number that the standby wait isn't drastically impacted, everything would be better for everyone.

That's what I thought too but I saw someone ask the same question in a Disney Facebook group I'm in and most of the responses said they would pay for this even at $115. Right now I do think Disney parkgoers will pay whatever price but I don't know how long that'll last especially with the recession and the decreased value of the pound and euro.

 

[snikki]

I have a question for everyone (not trying to start an argument, was just curious): would you be willing to pay for a system like Disneyland Paris where you get to ride everything once but it costs around 120 euro (around $115)? Obviously with demand this would have to be increased but I was just wondering what others thought.

We only go to Disney once every 2.5-4 years so when we go we want to do everything we want to do since we won't be back for a while. I would MAYBE pay this for one day at DHS but definitely not at the other parks. We take longer trips and spend about 2 or more days in each park so we can get everything we want done without G+.

We've paid for the skip the line system at Six Flags many years ago. I believe it was about $100 and we waited in ZERO lines. But that was just for a day and we didn't have kids with us.

 

[SLThomas318]

I really don't think it matters to Disney what we experienced park goers think, it really only matters what that first timer's opinion is of G+. For all we know they love G+.

I can't believe any first timer enjoys genie+? We have a family trip coming up with some first timers and I didn't even bother trying to explain genie+ because I didn't even know where to start!

 

[BamaGuy44]

Agreed with this. They need to find the correct price point. I always find it funny that the two biggest complaints are price and crowds, which directly contradict each other. I would love to pay old prices, but I also understand that if they don't raise prices, it will start to get out of hand and not be worth it. My only complaint about Genie+ is that there is no guarantee you can get the rides you want. That is the biggest drawback to it all. If you can guarantee that I can obtain the rides I really want, I'd gladly pay more for it. As it is right now, I don't use it very often. Every once in a while I will.

It's like the old joke about restaurants: "Nobody likes that place any more, because it's just too crowded!" Right now it doesn't seem like price is scaring anyone away , or if it is those people are being replaced. Eventually demand will drop (presumably). I think we're past the point of saying "revenge travel" is a big part of demand, so I'm not sure why it's so high right now. Eventually it will drop off due to economy, natural cycles, pent up demand finally being satisfied, or whatever. Well, in theory it will anyway. When that happens it will be interesting to see what they do.

 

[sponica]

If this is how most people feel, then the price would unfortunately HAVE to be more than $30 per day to keep people from buying.

Disney should be doing research on what people consider their "max price".

But the value also gets weird, I'd probably pay a boatload in DHS if I knew fewer people would be buying Genie+ and I would get decent return times.

 

[lowlight]

If I were to guess, we are headed to the 75$ range as our final destination, probably in increasing intervals. Unless they tier it out and make a Genie+ Ultimate level.

 

[SLThomas318]

I feel like they are going to slowly rise the price and maybe add some features back so that in another year or so we'll be back to the old fastpass+ system, but paying wayyyyyyyy more. After dealing with the ****-show that is genie+ we'll all be so thankful to pre-select our rides and times that we won't care what they are charging us lol!

 

[HopperFan]

I think this is where I would tap out. 30 dollars per ticket per day, I can possibly justify and take from something else. 50 dollars per ticket per day, I'm not sure.

I've been saying this since they announced Genie+ and watch prices go up all around the resort. Maybe I'm the odd bird but each trip - my budget is my budget - and monetizing something or raising a price doesn't mean I will give them more money, I will just take it from somewhere else. Tickets are tickets. I prefer offsite now where I get more for my money. I have an AP so I don't pay to park. I like special upsells so each trip have at least one of those but I don't like the nickel and diming and creeping prices.

If I have to spend hundreds on Genie+ then I will pay for that with dining or souvenir money. My trip next week I actually cancelled all ADRs except my Harmonious Dining Package. Last trip we started to split some quick serve meals, they are big enough and it worked well. I have gotten more picky about what has value and am happy to drop stuff to pay for something else. They are getting the same amount from me, some trips less, because I'm not going to accept mediocre for outrageous prices anymore.

Once the pent up demand has passed ( we've taken 7 trips in a year, next year we plan only 3) will the traditional crowds continue to pay these increased prices or will they begin to select some and drop some to stay in a budget? Can the once in a lifetime guest make up for the repeat guests who are now cutting their visits way back?

 

[scrappinginontario]

All these changes has greatly affected our frequency of trips. We used to visit 2-3 times a year. Only went once this year and no trip booked. We will go back but not sure when and definitely not as often.

I also agree with @HopperFan. Our budget is our budget. During our 1 trip this year we shared the vast majority of meals, packed breakfast foods and ate in the room. Found new ways to tour but didn't spend more, and quite likely less because I was consciously finding ways to cut back our Disney spending.