Genie+ park based priced!

[itf]

In my opinion this is the first step of them bringing the ability to pre purchase genie+ for your vacation. If they get rid of the park pass reservations they can use some of the data from this to see what parks people might be going to on each day if they buy the non park hopper genie+.

Honestly that brings up another question, for the vast majority of Disneyworld visitors(not those of us on forums talking about planning our trips a year in advance) I wonder if the majority of people don't buy park hoppers, but there's no way for us to get that information.

The vast majority of UK guests who are doing more than 1 day will, as the 7 and 14 day tickets here are hoppers.

 

[Sacahara]

In my opinion this is the first step of them bringing the ability to pre purchase genie+ for your vacation. If they get rid of the park pass reservations they can use some of the data from this to see what parks people might be going to on each day if they buy the non park hopper genie+.

Honestly that brings up another question, for the vast majority of Disneyworld visitors(not those of us on forums talking about planning our trips a year in advance) I wonder if the majority of people don't buy park hoppers, but there's no way for us to get that information.

Aside from my very first visit, I don't buy PH. I don't see a value to them (especially now that you can't hop until 2). I imagine that it might be the same for others who don't know 'Oh! I can go to all four parks in one day if I want! That's a good deal!' Was my thought back then, not knowing that you can't do everything in one day (I VASTLY underestimated WDW back then!).

 

[TaraS29]

I love PH and we tend to do two parks each day - but we are Brits so get them included in our ticket deal.

 

[juxtapose]

Aside from my very first visit, I don't buy PH. I don't see a value to them (especially now that you can't hop until 2). I imagine that it might be the same for others who don't know 'Oh! I can go to all four parks in one day if I want! That's a good deal!' Was my thought back then, not knowing that you can't do everything in one day (I VASTLY underestimated WDW back then!).

Same here. Now we go longer and don't get PH but get more days on our tickets for cheaper and do several half pool, half park days instead of 2 parks in one day.

 

[Ricguz]

I really loved PH prior to the new rules. Staying at YC it was really nice to go to Epcot and HS when we wanted to. You still can do that obviously but it’s more morning for one, night for the other. But the thing I miss the most is walking through Epcot getting on the monorail and heading back and forth to MK. I know it’s not the fastest way to MK, but I liked the walk, monorail and boat ride. It was like getting free rides heading to the park. Now I can’t do that unless I wait until 2 pm.

 

[Kingoglow]

I stopped buying park hoppers when they put in the 2 o'clock rule. We used to rope drop a park and then hop to another for lunch. Without the flexibility of hopping when we choose, I will just spend less on our tickets and lesson our lunch; usually just eating at QS, instead of hopping to Epcot for a TS meal.

 

[dunhill76]

I loved those days. We were OG fast pass masters. I was usually the FP runner. It was awesome.

I was also the runner and long for those days. Plus I loved just deciding that you were done for the day and handing a family 4 fp's and feeling like you were the one giving out pixie dust.

 

[AustinTink]

Plus I loved just deciding that you were done for the day and handing a family 4 fp's and feeling like you were the one giving out pixie dust.

We did this ALL the time. The absolute best feeling.

 

[Disturbia]

Sadly, Disney keeps making planning your trip more complicated and more expensive. At some point, I would think this is going to have to have a significant impact on attendance.

I believe that is the goal (systematically reduce attendance while forcing guests to pay more) since the parks are currently packed and the guest experience is suffering.

 

[Disturbia]

We did this ALL the time. The absolute best feeling.

Our DD did this as well and teaches kids to share and give back. One kid gave our DD a favorite pin in exchange and it made the other kid’s day to get to ride something.

The parks used to bring out the best in kids and parents and now with all the stress and changes the parks feel different (we’ve been going at least once a year for over a decade).

We haven’t bought park hoppers in years now. We stick to one park and use any extra time to do things at resorts (ride ponies; horseback riding; carriage rides etc).

 

[AustinTink]

Our DD did this as well and teaches kids to share and give back. One kid gave our DD a favorite pin in exchange and it made the other kid’s day to get to ride something.

The parks used to bring out the best in kids and parents and now with all the stress and changes the parks feel different (we’ve been going at least once a year for over a decade).

We haven’t bought park hoppers in years now. We stick to one park and use any extra time to do things at resorts (ride ponies; horseback riding; carriage rides etc).

Yes, my son always wanted to be the one doing the gifting. It was so sweet. We would find another family our size and he would give the FPs to the other kid. Honestly, it's one of our favorite memories of days gone by at Disney.

The part of your post that I highlighted gave me lump in my throat. It really did feel different back when. I think 2008 and the "Year of a Million Dreams" will probably always be our favorite. It was magic around every corner that year.

 

[Fitzwoman27]

The more I read the more confused that I get sometimes. so questioning myself, you can just buy an $ILL WITHOUT BUYING genie+ , right?

 

[saraheliz]

The more I read the more confused that I get sometimes. so questioning myself, you can just buy an $ILL WITHOUT BUYING genie+ , right?

Yep! Two per day!

 

[scrappinginontario]

The more I read the more confused that I get sometimes. so questioning myself, you can just buy an $ILL WITHOUT BUYING genie+ , right?

Yes. You may purchase 2/day for 2 different attractions. You do not need to purchase G+ to purchase ILL$.

You may only purchase an ILL$ for an attraction once per day.

 

[slo]

The more I read the more confused that I get sometimes. so questioning myself, you can just buy an $ILL WITHOUT BUYING genie+ , right?

I can definitely understand how this can get confusing for some. Make YouTube your friend - AllEars.net, Mammoth Club, Resort TV1 and DFBGuide - they are very helpful. I watch some and my DD19 watches some so we are always prepared when we go.

As others have said - yes, you can buy an ILL without Genie+. I am a Genie+ fan, so we do buy it because we don’t visit WDW all the time (about once every year & a half to two years) so when we go I do not want to spend it waiting in line. We used Genie+ right after it was introduced in November 2021 and just recently this past June. It can be intimidating at first, but after you get the hang of it, it’s pretty easy.

 

[katyringo]

Just reporting that we were in the parks on the 27th and 28th and the per park pricing wasn't a big deal. We don't usually do hoppers so I can see where someone with a hopper would have to put more thought into it. Also as someone who doesn't hop the lower prices for Epcot and AK are welcome as we usually always buy for the day... but I do agree with others that I'm concerned the lower prices will encourage others to buy and thus it will start to drive it up.

 

[thevolcanogod]

The mega popular rides (TSMM, Space Mountain, Soarin) routinely ran out of Fast Passes by early afternoon with a large percentage of guests not able to ride at all without a very long wait.

You post a lot of things that ain’t true. I been going since 1979 and went lots in the 90’s and 2000s. We didn’t wait more than 45m-1h for any of the mountains and we often went during Christmas break. You could get paper fast passes for E ticket stuff for the most part up until late afternoon and if you didn’t get them it was no big deal cause standby wasn’t that big a deal. You could get paper FP for A-D tier until they closed the booths and after that it was pretty much walk-on anyways. There were simply less people in the parks. People gave FP away they weren’t using. No one stood 2 hours in a line unless it was like opening year of splash and they went in the afternoon and jumped on standby. You could always maximize your time and ride everything. We always rode everything we wanted - multiple times. This current system is garbage. I know a ton about WDW - but I read stuff about genie+ and am just surprised someone came up with this the way it is. It’s hard to understand and use and frankly if you don’t do it right you lose most of its value. No one likes paying for something that is easy to mess up. People paying $100 for a family of 5 for genie+ then booking a bunch of stuff they could just walk on because they didn’t know about it. They should call the system Genie- because it ain’t a plus. At all.

 

[dunhill76]

We did this ALL the time. The absolute best feeling.

Going in August and I don't think I can bring myself to purchase Genie+ for a family of 6. I am DVC and I am already in the hole for over 4k just for 10 day PH's. I honestly don't know how people do it if they are paying for the hotel. Been going every year or multiple times a year since 2007 and it just amazes me how its changed in terms of price and experience.

 

[AustinTink]

You post a lot of things that ain’t true. I been going since 1979 and went lots in the 90’s and 2000s. We didn’t wait more than 45m-1h for any of the mountains and we often went during Christmas break. You could get paper fast passes for E ticket stuff for the most part up until late afternoon and if you didn’t get them it was no big deal cause standby wasn’t that big a deal. You could get paper FP for A-D tier until they closed the booths and after that it was pretty much walk-on anyways. There were simply less people in the parks. People gave FP away they weren’t using. No one stood 2 hours in a line unless it was like opening year of splash and they went in the afternoon and jumped on standby. You could always maximize your time and ride everything. We always rode everything we wanted - multiple times.

Thanks for posting this because I was starting to think my memory was playing tricks with me. This was our experience too in the the 90s and 2000s. It was the best time ever to go to Disney. So easy to manage and maneuver.

One year, in the mid-00s we went during our son’s school spring break and the parks were empty. We kept running into other families from our school and we felt like we had the parks to ourselves. So empty it was almost spooky.

We will buy Genie+ because I refuse to wait in lines but will buy it through gritted teeth.

 

[Genie+]

Going in August and I don't think I can bring myself to purchase Genie+ for a family of 6. I am DVC and I am already in the hole for over 4k just for 10 day PH's. I honestly don't know how people do it if they are paying for the hotel. Been going every year or multiple times a year since 2007 and it just amazes me how its changed in terms of price and experience.

Tickets have gotten crazy! This year is the first time we decided to buy UK tickets. We were able to get 7 day hopper plus, includes photopass (and free magicbands if you pick up in Disney Springs) for $650usd each. Hoping not to have any issues but so far I have not come across reported problems from others sharing recent experience using. With tickets being electronic nowadays, mailing address is not the same issue it was even just a few years ago. You get a ticket number, put it in MDE and Good To Go!

ETA - for our Dec dates, WDW wants $827 for 7 day hopper, and BWticketing $785.