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

[Kingoglow]

call me cynical. But I think Disney want less people to buy it. Then when the smash the price up again they have reason to justify its worth.

If so, dont you think they would just discontinue LLs?

 

[DaviVascaino]

call me cynical. But I think Disney want less people to buy it. Then when the smash the price up again they have reason to justify its worth.

they are pricing people out and profiting at the same time. win -win for them

 

[ChipTheRescueRanger]

If so, dont you think they would just discontinue LLs?

They will keep 1 ride per park as a LL+ and just push the price up. Easy money.

Think if you have all ready spend say $200 to skip the lines. If Rise is still an extra $50 more than likely people will pay.

G+ will be like any other expensive skip the line type pass the more you pay the more you play.

That can be Bob Chapek's new slogan: the more you pay the more you play

 

[HopperFan]

What makes you think they don't cap the attendance for the parties? MNSSHP sold out very fast this year and the crowds are nothing like a normal park day. They could sell a LOT more of those tickets if they weren't capping it.

They said "meaningful cap" and they are correct. I've been going to the Halloween Parties since 2006. I'd do two parties each year. We had it down pat. There is a HUGE difference in number of tickets sold then and now. I actually didn't go for two years before COVID specifically because the crowds had become so big that it was not exclusive. I went again last month. We got maybe HALF done than we used to do specifically because of making our way through the crowds and the lines for special things. Since I started going the early dates party ticket prices are now more than double than when I started and almost 4x more by the end of the parties. While you can say the Hocus Pocus show is an upgrade, there is much less being offered than used to be, much less change in decor - all the lighting and smoke is gone and much less character meets. We are paying lots more for less with lots more people.

We went back to the Magic Kingdom on Tuesday for the regular day and I'm sure there were less people in the park Tuesday than there was at the party.

This was the hub for fireworks, only a fraction of the people. Wish I took a panorama, a sea of humanity in every direction. I put my son inside the fence at the side turrets. While not a great view I didn't feel he would be safe out in the large mass. When you are looking for safe places ...

 

[sponica]

Thanks, Disney, I hate it. Genie+ is already awful, a ridiculous money grab that creates problems rather than solves them. I'll stick with early entry and rope drop.
What I hate most about it is the feeling that you *need* to have it--watching people sail past you makes you feel like you're missing out, but buying it just perpetuates it.

If I had older kids, I'd be way more tolerant of the waits. Or heck, if I went kid free, I'd be way more tolerant of the waits.

 

[xdan0920]

What do you think would lead to people purchasing in a less indiscriminate way? Charging a quite low ratio to park admission for a get ahead of the line system or charging a high one?

Maybe I wasn't clear....

Disney doesn't want less people buying G+. They want more people buying it, at a higher price point.

 

[xdan0920]

They said "meaningful cap" and they are correct. I've been going to the Halloween Parties since 2006.

Exactly. This is my whole point. Disney has quadrupled the price of the parties in the past 15 years, while simultaneously increasing the attendance. Which is the goal with G+ as well. More people, more money.

 

[cakebaker]

I've been going to the Halloween Parties since 2006. I'd do two parties each year. We had it down pat. There is a HUGE difference in number of tickets sold then and now. I actually didn't go for two years before COVID specifically because the crowds had become so big that it was not exclusive.

This is pretty much my experience as well. When they first started, it was an amazing experience. We did both holidays and loved them. Our last one was 2019 after a several year break, hoping things had improved. They had only worsened. So we quit. We could've gone this year. I watched the reports coming out and while there were people praising how wonderful they were, most were from those who had never gone when they first started and many it was their first time with nothing to compare it to. I saw the telltale signs of wait times for everything and opted out again. The parties have been oversold for years now and nothing has changed. The claim that sales are capped means nothing- they are capped every single day.

 

[cakebaker]

Maybe I wasn't clear....

Disney doesn't want less people buying G+. They want more people buying it, at a higher price point.

I think there's no question but that Disney would be happy to have fewer people in the parks. If they can make the same money with less people, it's a win for them.

 

[sponica]

I'm not sure what the price point is for us to pass on Genie+, with my tall enough for e-ticket kiddo who hates e-tickets and a non ticketed kiddo, we'd probably still buy it as I hate waiting standby for Safari and Jungle Cruise....and when we're already paying a zillion dollars, the daily price point would have to be A LOT for us to skip it....maybe once it gets to that 30 to 50 dollar per ticket per day range?

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Maybe I wasn't clear....

Disney doesn't want less people buying G+. They want more people buying it, at a higher price point.

A point I don't disagree with but that is absolutely nothing to do with what your post said, was talking about, what you were conversing with other posters about and what I responded about.

Your comments were refuting the idea that people have said that the low price=more people buying it creating a negative experience and the idea that if it was priced higher less people may buy it but the park experience likely being better.

People were discussing how other parks price their pass, you brought up the price of parties. Parties are about admission to the parks. Would you ever see a Halloween party at $15 per day for time after the parks have closed? No you wouldn't. In relation to a get ahead of the pass system it's is normal for parks to price it high in ratio to the park admission for the day and this tends to lead to less people purchasing it. If SDC priced theirs at $10 a day when it was $99 to get into the parks you'd see a lot more people paying for it. But at a ratio of over 83% of the park admission (for our day at least) it helps reduce the enticement.

Frankly I don't think Disney cares about the park experience much they would rather have an attainable product bought by more people, but what people are referring to is their own park experience, the guests park experience and the price point that Disney has put it at. That was the point you were refuting in your comments.

 

[xdan0920]

I think there's no question but that Disney would be happy to have fewer people in the parks. If they can make the same money with less people, it's a win for them.

This is wrong think. They want more people AND more money. They don't want "same" money. They want "more" money.

 

[xdan0920]

A point I don't disagree with but that is absolutely nothing to do with what your post said, was talking about, what you were conversing with other posters about and what I responded about.

Your comments were refuting the idea that people have said that the low price=more people buying it creating a negative experience and the idea that if it was priced higher less people may buy it but the park experience likely being better.

People were discussing how other parks price their pass, you brought up the price of parties. Parties are about admission to the parks. Would you ever see a Halloween party at $15 per day for time after the parks have closed? No you wouldn't. In relation to a get ahead of the pass system it's is normal for parks to price it high in ratio to the park admission for the day and this tends to lead to less people purchasing it. If SDC priced theirs at $10 a day when it was $99 to get into the parks you'd see a lot more people paying for it. But at a ratio of over 83% of the park admission (for our day at least) it helps reduce the enticement.

Frankly I don't think Disney cares about the park experience much they would rather have an attainable product bought by more people, but what people are referring to is their own park experience, the guests park experience and the price point that Disney has put it at. That was the point you were refuting in your comments.

I was refuting the idea that the current price increases will decrease the amount of G+ sold. I was also refuting the idea that Disney WANTS to do this. If they wanted to do it, it wouldn't be $22 or $50, it would be $150pp. They don't want that. They want to keep the same or more people buying, and raise the price point to increase profit.

 

[cakebaker]

This is wrong think. They want more people AND more money. They don't want "same" money. They want "more" money.

I agree, you are right in that they want more money, of course they do. No company wants profits to be stagnant. But it is entirely possible to find a price point that not only decreases crowd levels, but increases profit- fewer people mean less maintenance, fewer staff and much more. Chapek has as much as said they're goal is to increase profits while reducing the number of people at the parks: "We have much more demand than there is supply. What we will not bend on is giving somebody a less than stellar experience in the parks because we jammed too many people in there. If we're going to have that foundational rule, you have to start balancing who you let in. … Our ticket prices and constraints we put on how often people can come and when they come is a direct reflection of demand. When is it too much? Demand will tell us when it's too much." This was in regards to AP sales and limitations, but equally applies to regular ticket prices and expenses as well.

Translation? Higher prices, reduced crowd levels is their goal. They just have to figure out how high they can go to strike that balance.

After our first trip using Genie+, we started cutting back and not buying it every day- simple because of the $15 price tag per person. I'm sure we're not alone and that action reduces the demand for Genie+- a price increase on it allows the relief while not losing the profits. I do agree though, I don't think the current increase is going to significantly affect how many people buy. I have no doubt, the price will go up even more, but to jump a huge amount in one blow would not go over well. People will gripe at a $5 increase and still buy in the droves. They're just doing it slowly over time. The last thing they want is to jump the prices so high that they have to back up and reduce them.

 

[xdan0920]

Translation? Higher prices, reduced crowd levels is their goal. They just have to figure out how high they can go to strike that balance.

Let me know when this becomes reality. That’s their stated goal. But I believe it to be BS.

 

[set88]

I was refuting the idea that the current price increases will decrease the amount of G+ sold. I was also refuting the idea that Disney WANTS to do this. If they wanted to do it, it wouldn't be $22 or $50, it would be $150pp. They don't want that. They want to keep the same or more people buying, and raise the price point to increase profit.

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.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

I was refuting the idea that the current price increases will decrease the amount of G+ sold. I was also refuting the idea that Disney WANTS to do this. If they wanted to do it, it wouldn't be $22 or $50, it would be $150pp. They don't want that. They want to keep the same or more people buying, and raise the price point to increase profit.

I don't disagree in an opinion that Disney probably would rather have a lot of people purchase it although it's hard to tell if they would be fine with a significantly higher price point with less purchasing it, they don't seem to mind that on other things with less sold but higher price point so they do consider profit ratios at times. But you did bring in the parties as a reason why pricing higher would not lead to less purchasing, parties are about park admission not about an add on product of getting through the lines quicker, a different consumer product with a different consumer frame of mind.

I would agree with you that not likely to be a measurable drop in purchasing with a present variability in pricing (well the new present but you get what I mean). Disney often likes to inch (relatively speaking) the price increases. However, we do see how other parks price their get ahead of the line and the general consensus across different brands of companies is that seems to work out more favorable on all sides with the company, guests who don't purchase it and guests that do with a much much higher overall price point in relation to the park tickets. I don't think that people's opinions are unfounded in that philosophy.

 

[set88]

I agree with pretty much everything you,said. Although, with so many people buying, even at the increased cost, you’ll still have the “will I get the rides I want“ stress every day.

True. The system is clearly in flux right now. I don't think they went high enough on the price increase - of course, they could still wind up going higher in November and December.

I'm not saying I WANT to pay more money. I am saying that if increasing the prices $5-7 doesn't stop people from buying, which it won't, all that's going to happen is that people are going to be paying MORE money for the stress of not getting the rides they wanted, which just sucks.

I'm just not sure at what price point people WILL stop buying. $30? $40? $50? Disney is going to be trying to figure this out.

To me personally, $30 for Genie+ with maybe only 1/3 of guests buying it instead of 1/2 would be great. $50 would be too steep for me.

 

[sponica]

To me personally, $30 for Genie+ with maybe only 1/3 of guests buying it instead of 1/2 would be great. $50 would be too steep for me.

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.

 

[nikem3]

True. The system is clearly in flux right now. I don't think they went high enough on the price increase - of course, they could still wind up going higher in November and December.

I'm not saying I WANT to pay more money. I am saying that if increasing the prices $5-7 doesn't stop people from buying, which it won't, all that's going to happen is that people are going to be paying MORE money for the stress of not getting the rides they wanted, which just sucks.

I'm just not sure at what price point people WILL stop buying. $30? $40? $50? Disney is going to be trying to figure this out.

To me personally, $30 for Genie+ with maybe only 1/3 of guests buying it instead of 1/2 would be great. $50 would be too steep for me.

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.