Disney Genie announcement

[fumanchu2488]

My biggest concern is the comparison to MaxPass. I went to DL for a day just before the pandemic while out there for a conference and bought MaxPass. IMO a big reason it works is that a lot of the park was AP guests who didn’t seem to be using it. Families with kids treating DL like the local playground. In WDW the audience is very different. Lots of longer stays with people wanting to cram as much in as possible. I think the demand is going to be so high that it might be pointless. You buy it and you go to the app to find an attraction at 9:00 and the first available time for Splash Mountain is 4:00 pm. That would suck.

Lastly, everyone comparing to Universal, I would love to see their reaction if Disney came out and said they were starting a program that was $150/ day or free for Deluxe guests. Which is essentially what universal has.

 

[ocdb8r1]

As with most things Disney in the last decade, they seem to be damned if they do and damned if they don't.

Pre-COVID people seem to forget that demand at Disney parks from 2015-2019 was simply unstoppable. Despite numerous ticket price increases and other cost adjustments, there seemed to be no end to the demand for both park attendance and on-site accommodations. "Slow" seasons virtually disappeared and Disney was blasted for the deteriorating guest experience in the face of increased costs and unbearable crowds during many times of the year.

I'm not sure exactly what Disney fans expect the company to do. We live in a demand/supply economy. What levers does Disney have other than creating new product segmentation and adjusting pricing to manage demand? The reality is that there seem to be plenty of people willing to spend increasing amounts of money on Disney experiences. Either they increase the costs to manage demand (either by decreasing it or evening it out throughout the year....or both) or they continue to spiral to an untenable guest experience.

I for one, don't think the Genie offering is all that bad.

For those willing to wait in traditional standby lines, the offering aims to better optimize your experience by looking at those things you want to do and making a suggested plan for the best way to do and see as much as possible (all for free).

For those that want to decrease wait times and are comfortable selecting certain attractions to attend and specify return times, $15/day gets you what was effectively the ORIGINAL Fastpass program (and is virtually identical to the Maxpass program in effect at Disneyland for some time). There was NO END to the complaints about having to try to manage the crazy hoops necessary to schedule your Fastpasses 60-days ahead of time and the inflexibility. Now you can choose day-by-day and no need to plan so far in advance.

Finally, for those wanting to splurge on shorter waiting times for certain attractions, there is yet another paid upgrade option with individual Lighting Lane purchases. For all of these you can opt for just standby (or Boarding Group reservation) for FREE or try to get a time with Genie+. To me this means there will only be an impact on the MOST in demand days....which to me is precisely what Disney needs to do right now.

Certainly COVID throws a very strange spanner into this whole approach....but I am betting the rapid demand return they saw as COVID restrictions were lifted made clear that if COVID continued to abate, demand would return more ferocious that the 2015-2019 period.

At the end of the day, I just don't know what people expect Disney to do. You can bet that if this does excessively decrease demand that they will make adjustments.

 

[itf]

YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! id like to ask who ever came up with this how they intend on selling this to international guests? Most of us book 2 weeks onsite....... 2 weeks of upcharge or 2 weeks of utter hell in lines. Well in Disney well in.

Im up at 6am crunching numbers, moving offsite will save me £1300 enough to drive in pay for few of these things and still pay for seaworld and Uni. I will miss Disney it gave me and family memories of a life time but enough is enough.

Yep - I'm international and have two weeks booked next year. I'm not being nickel and dimed for 14 days. Will look at my options for refunding my trip.

 

[Skippyboo]

You seem to be forgetting that Universals UNLIMITED Express Pass comes FREE to EVERY member in your hotel room if you stay at one of their Premier hotels. Mind you, I just paid $224 per night at one of their Premier Hotels (AP rate - reg rate was around $389 but STILL a deal) which came with an UNLIMITED Express Pass ($129 per person per day) for up to 5 people in our room for TWO DAYS (check in and check out days). Disney isn't even in the same league as this.

$224 at Disney is a standard room at Coronado Springs. I bought a UO Premier Level AP last summer for half the price of my Platinum WDW AP, I have a week booked in mid September at Portofino Bay on AP rate like $260 per night so still less than Disney moderate hotel price with a discount. Bought a Rush of Fear HHN pass with multiple admission to HHN for about $50 less than a Disney Holiday After Hours. Looking forward to no Park passes or restrictions on park hopping.

 

[BadPinkTink]

As with most things Disney in the last decade, they seem to be damned if they do and damned if they don't.

Pre-COVID people seem to forget that demand at Disney parks from 2015-2019 was simply unstoppable. Despite numerous ticket price increases and other cost adjustments, there seemed to be no end to the demand for both park attendance and on-site accommodations. "Slow" seasons virtually disappeared and Disney was blasted for the deteriorating guest experience in the face of increased costs and unbearable crowds during many times of the year.

I'm not sure exactly what Disney fans expect the company to do. We live in a demand/supply economy. What levers does Disney have other than creating new product segmentation and adjusting pricing to manage demand? The reality is that there seem to be plenty of people willing to spend increasing amounts of money on Disney experiences. Either they increase the costs to manage demand (either by decreasing it or evening it out throughout the year....or both) or they continue to spiral to an untenable guest experience.

I for one, don't think the Genie offering is all that bad.

For those willing to wait in traditional standby lines, the offering aims to better optimize your experience by looking at those things you want to do and making a suggested plan for the best way to do and see as much as possible (all for free).

For those that want to decrease wait times and are comfortable selecting certain attractions to attend and specify return times, $15/day gets you what was effectively the ORIGINAL Fastpass program (and is virtually identical to the Maxpass program in effect at Disneyland for some time). There was NO END to the complaints about having to try to manage the crazy hoops necessary to schedule your Fastpasses 60-days ahead of time and the inflexibility. Now you can choose day-by-day and no need to plan so far in advance.

Finally, for those wanting to splurge on shorter waiting times for certain attractions, there is yet another paid upgrade option with individual Lighting Lane purchases. For all of these you can opt for just standby (or Boarding Group reservation) for FREE or try to get a time with Genie+. To me this means there will only be an impact on the MOST in demand days....which to me is precisely what Disney needs to do right now.

Certainly COVID throws a very strange spanner into this whole approach....but I am betting the rapid demand return they saw as COVID restrictions were lifted made clear that if COVID continued to abate, demand would return more ferocious that the 2015-2019 period.

At the end of the day, I just don't know what people expect Disney to do. You can bet that if this does excessively decrease demand that they will make adjustments.

The thing is the hardcore fans will never be satisfied, as they want a Disney Parks experience that is THEIR Disney experience. They don't want things to change and they want everything to be same on every park visit. This is not a viable business model. Business are always changing, updating, introducing new technology. In order for a business to survive there has to be growth and change. A business has to continually be attracting new customers and adapting to the changing customer behavior.

 

[Froxfield]

To be clear, I have no particular love for FastPass+. All too often we got on the rides we had a pass for by arriving early and ended up cancelling the FastPass for later in the day. It was quite an inflexible system and required some forward planning. I think back now to our first trips in 1990 and 1993 when we could wander around picking up rides as we went, and even choose to eat at restaurants without planning months in advance! Never mind affording two weeks at the Contemporary!! Of course as others have said the demand has got insane and Disney hasn't really been able or willing to put in the number of attractions that would be necessary to soak up the park guest capacity. RoR is a distinctly flawed ride system in that it hasn't the technical capacity or reliability to handle the particular demand! The one thing I may miss more than anything next year is the pop-up entertainment around the parks and the live performers: what in another age one called "the packed park compensation plan". In many ways this is what made Disney different. The shows seem to be inching back but live stuff still seems to be much less in evidence: I hope I'm wrong.

 

[luv2cheer92]

You seem to be forgetting that Universals UNLIMITED Express Pass comes FREE to EVERY member in your hotel room if you stay at one of their Premier hotels. Mind you, I just paid $224 per night at one of their Premier Hotels (AP rate - reg rate was around $389 but STILL a deal) which came with an UNLIMITED Express Pass ($129 per person per day) for up to 5 people in our room for TWO DAYS (check in and check out days). Disney isn't even in the same league as this.

Just an anecdotal experience. But in March of this year I was looking at booking a UO trip for late June or early July. 3 different weeks/weekends I was looking at. Every single premier room was fully booked, so that was not an option. Unlimited express pass for those days was minimum of $325/day per person as much as $359/day per person. There was no option to get it included with a hotel stay, so it was pay that or nothing. We happily went to WDW instead and had a blast.
I absolutely adore both parks, I don't find one better than the other, especially when it comes to cost/value.

 

[Gordo Gato]

RoR is a distinctly flawed ride system in that it hasn't the technical capacity or reliability to handle the particular demand!

This. I will be extremely upset if we pay to ride it and are unable to due to breakdowns.

 

[Vacation44]

After taking off from our annual trips to DW for a few years, we (DH, DD22, DS21 AND myself) went back this past May (was suppose to be May 2020). Stayed 6 days then switched to Universal staying at the Hard Rock with the wonderful Express Pass for an additional 5 days. When we got home we all decided DW has changed so much and not really for the better to warrant how incredibly expensive it has gotten. We will go back in the far future when we have grandchildren and will start saving the ridiculous amount of money it will cost then. This last announcement, seals our decision. We will take our money elsewhere as we have been doing for the last few years. Will always have the memories of our children running ahead to grab the next paper fast pass.

 

[Lashed34]

I find it quite repulsive that Disney feels that the only way to control the overcrowding is to increase prices - and it's quite offensive too IMO.

If they are serious about crowd control then why have they built more and more hotels on site? All they are interested in is making more and more money.

I appreciate that they have lost a huge amount of money with the pandemic, especially from overseas visitors like myself, but they have options other than prices increasing, costly add ons etc.

Most people want to turn up and have a wonderful and memorable vacation, instead guests on site are encouraged to get up at by 7am, pre plan their vacation months ahead, including where to eat and when, they are also encouraged to spend most of the day looking at their phones, even more so now with the Genie.

Build a 5th gate, add more shows and experiences to spread people out. Yes this will cost money but in the long term it will make WDW more attractive to guests.

Right now, I'm loathed to want to return, which is a massive problem because I love WDW but will not continue to pay more and more for less and less.

If people are coming for a couple of days then $15 isn't a huge amount, but if you have a large family or a 1 or 2 weeks stay this is a huge financial add on and is just not fair - what's the point of having a value resort when you price the customers out from add ons etc. It makes no sense to me.

Disney have no idea of a direction, they are a rudderless boat at the moment, clinging onto anything that will help save them, yet making all the wrong decisions.

Yes it's a business and has share holders to answer to, but make a customer unhappy and you risk losing that customer for good and that's not something that ANY business should be happy with.

Overall, I feel that this is a hugely damaging announcement and we haven't even got to what cost the tier 1 rides will be.

It's just shameful and shows Disney up for being nothing but greedy - there is no magic left for the customer....none at all.

 

[itf]

Ya know.. I am not going to go with the crowd here..
I’m excited for this. I think that given a chance this could really be something good.
Yes it’s an up charge and the “I’m tired of paying more for less” crowd are going to struggle..

but I think this will overall make a more enjoyable expirence in the parks and just like everything else we will learn to navigate and strategize it.

Is it wrong to think that going to a theme park that you're already paying a fortune for shouldn't require months of research and strategizing?

 

[danissmart]

I always find it very funny when people say Disney want "less" people at the parks. That's why they raise prices. Uh, no. They want more people and more money. Pretty straightforward.

Anyways, this is the least surprising thing ever. Of course they are doing this. The $15 option is not even the big money maker here. The money will be made on the pay to ride option. Feel like riding Space Mountain, but it's a busy day, that'll be $28 per guest, family of four, over $100. For one ride. That's where the money will be really flowing.

 

[cdurham1]

Or you had 3 prebooked midday fast passes.

I guess if it was still 2019

 

[mi*vida*loca]

Disney could’ve changed FP+ to this new system with genie without charging $15 pp per day. I think that’s what’s irking people. Honestly if they went to this one FP at a time thing and it was FREE I wouldn’t be annoyed. I would just roll with it. It’s the paying for something I used to get for free and now I’m getting LESS on top of it.

 

[Froxfield]

The thing is the hardcore fans will never be satisfied, as they want a Disney Parks experience that is THEIR Disney experience. They don't want things to change and they want everything to be same on every park visit. This is not a viable business model. Business are always changing, updating, introducing new technology. In order for a business to survive there has to be growth and change. A business has to continually be attracting new customers and adapting to the changing customer behavior.

I don't mind change. There has been a lot of it since 1990 and most of it fine. But one does need to look at the nickel and diming of current Disney management and wonder how long they can go on doing this. As potential Disney guests, my wife and I will soon be far too old trek to the USA or be of direct interest to Disney! But we may potentially be paying for grandchildren or influencing family views. I am content that when the change goes beyond what I am willing to pay for, I will voluntarily move on. But I will comment that the constant mania for change in business is not necessarily a good thing. Customers turn over on a natural cycle related to ageing. Change is usually very capital intensive. If change outstrips the natural wishes of the customer base, trouble awaits. Tech wizards often fail to grasp the basics in their pursuit of change! For example, at the beginning of my career in finance, back in the 1970s we were consistently told by research gurus that cheques and cash were on the way out: cheques by 1985 if I remember correctly. Same with bank branches. Of course, these changes would come but countless millions have been wasted in trying to move the customer base before they were ready. Indeed, although the decently functional mobile phone of post-2010 has had something to do with it, it has taken a natural disaster (COVID) to deal what looks like the final blow to cash! Timing of change is everything, I hope Disney has got it right this time around.

 

[Lashed34]

Disney could’ve changed FP+ to this new system with genie without charging $15 pp per day. I think that’s what’s irking people. Honestly if they went to this one FP at a time thing and it was FREE I wouldn’t be annoyed. It’s the paying for something I used to get for free and now I’m getting LESS on top of it.

The add on costs will also help pay for the Genie, which probably cost them millions to develop - so they want guests to pay for a system they didn't want in the first place and then pay for the add ons to it too.

 

[Vacation44]

Hagrid's is an incredible ride, we absolutely loved it! And Velcoicoaster....one of the worst theme park rides in the last 30 years??? Seriously....no words other than....IT'S INCREDIBLE!!!

Absolutely agree 100%.

 

[TomorrowlandKD]

Imagine if they reintroduced ticket books from the “golden years” and you guys had to choose only one E ticket ride out of a bunch….. oh how the complaints would fly!

 

[cdurham1]

Disney could’ve changed FP+ to this new system with genie without charging $15 pp per day. I think that’s what’s irking people. Honestly if they went to this one FP at a time thing and it was FREE I wouldn’t be annoyed. I would just roll with it. It’s the paying for something I used to get for free and now I’m getting LESS on top of it.

I agree. They could have made Genie+ included for everyone and just raised ticket prices $15 over the course of a year. People would have seen Genie+ as something new and cool, and just complained about ticket increases like we normally do. Instead, now we feel like we are being charged extra for something that a lot of people see as inferior to FP+

 

[danissmart]

Imagine if they reintroduced ticket books from the “golden years” and you guys had to choose only one E ticket ride out of a bunch….. oh how the complaints would fly!

Would they reduce ticket prices down to those days as well? I doubt there would be many complaints if they did that. The complaints are stemming from the idea that I pay $600 a day for my family of four to get into the parks now. Now they are charging for rides on top of that. Tough scene.