MAJOR changes to Genie+!

[Madame]

Corporations and Wall Street seem to think they are somehow deserved to “make up” the profits lost during the pandemic. It pretty sickining to see record high “inflation” along with record high profits, and the excuse being “the pandemic did this”.

However , for now, people are paying up, next year , and the following years, they will not be able to.

I just saw hotel prices in a local tourist town, which used to run 150-250 a night are currently 350-600……there is literally no reason for the same property to have tripled in price, except owners expecting to get their lost profts back.

Its gonn bite them back hard after all the disposable income banked the last 2 years dries up……

They only care about the immediate future and today's profits, then surprise and demands for bailout when the inevitable crap hits the fan. Rinse, repeat, ad nauseam.

 

[NavyDad]

This is really (literally) keeping me up at night. I have a 7 day ticket. Was only planning to get Genie+ for 4 days but now I'm wondering if I should take the plunge. And it's like $21 cdn a day.

Do you think the price will increase as well? Or just mean the limiting of how many people will get genie+?

I know you can still get it in advance till June 8th (I think). Are you able to add it to tickets online? Or do you have to call? I have the tickets and resort separate not a package.

Any help would be great while I try to decide if it's worth the $63 more lol

If you are that worried about it, and you can afford it - just go for it.

 

[MyTwoPrincesses]

I did think it was strange too considering they are limiting (how much IDK) the number of people in the park with the park reservation system but I do think part of that might have been to allow fluidity in adding park reservations to bucket. At the same time you'd think they would have wanted a lower than capacity they were allowing in number to be able to purchase it just to further limit the pool of guests even able to buy it. Perhaps they wanted their cake and eat it too? without realizing potential impacts to guests in general.

My conspiracy theory is that they are having legal issues related to Genie +. First, they added in the disclosure that guests will typically be able to access 2-3 attractions if they make their first reservation early in the day. Second, in busy times, they moved four attractions from ILL to the G+ bucket so more real attractions are available with G+. And now, they are trying to limit capacity and preparing to shift to a "While Supplies Last" model so they can start limiting the percentage of guests with G+. All of this points to the possibility that they are worried about lawsuits.

 

[lugnut33]

If you are that worried about it, and you can afford it - just go for it.

I firmly believe the only price increase that will legitimately make a difference in crowds is a 4 digit increase. Otherwise, these $50 and $100 increases (though price increases or add-ons) will do nothing as people have shown they are more than willing to pay them.

 

[NavyDad]

Corporations and Wall Street seem to think they are somehow deserved to “make up” the profits lost during the pandemic. It pretty sickining to see record high “inflation” along with record high profits, and the excuse being “the pandemic did this”.

However , for now, people are paying up, next year , and the following years, they will not be able to.

I just saw hotel prices in a local tourist town, which used to run 150-250 a night are currently 350-600……there is literally no reason for the same property to have tripled in price, except owners expecting to get their lost profts back.

Its gonn bite them back hard after all the disposable income banked the last 2 years dries up……

Welcome to capitalism - its seems as if many people have just discovered this is how things work.

Disney is a public company ran by a board whose legal obligation is literally to maximize shareholder value, which means, to make as much money as possible.

I have been coming to these boards for almost 15 years and every year people say that eventually people are not going to pay the prices anymore. Guess what? People keep paying the higher prices. When demand dips a bit, they start throwing out deals and incentives. When demand is back to it's highest, they don't have to do that.

The true irony of these boards is the amount of people who complain about how crowded the parks and ALSO about how Disney charges crazy high prices. LOL.

 

[xipotec]

Welcome to capitalism - its seems as if many people have just discovered this is how things work.

Disney is a public company ran by a board whose legal obligation is literally to maximize shareholder value, which means, to make as much money as possible.

I have been coming to these boards for almost 15 years and every year people say that eventually people are not going to pay the prices anymore. Guess what? People keep paying the higher prices. When demand dips a bit, they start throwing out deals and incentives. When demand is back to it's highest, they don't have to do that.

The true irony of these boards is the amount of people who complain about how crowded the parks and ALSO about how Disney charges crazy high prices. LOL.

Corporations does not have to be beholden to only shareholders, this is pretty new thinking historically and its why our country is in such a mess.

Corporations have responsibility to thier work force, society and thier customers as well.

The narrow view that profits for Wall Street is all that matters is destroying much of the middle class….never mind the poor.

It is possible to have BOTH profits and a well run company that pleases customers and employees….you just have to reinvest a percent back into the business, and be ok to tell Wall Street that your not going to meet the imaginary projections set by random people….

Disney WAS the shining example of this type of moral capitalism for decades….

 

[TheDailyMoo]

Corporations and Wall Street seem to think they are somehow deserved to “make up” the profits lost during the pandemic. It pretty sickining to see record high “inflation” along with record high profits, and the excuse being “the pandemic did this”.

However , for now, people are paying up, next year , and the following years, they will not be able to.

I just saw hotel prices in a local tourist town, which used to run 150-250 a night are currently 350-600……there is literally no reason for the same property to have tripled in price, except owners expecting to get their lost profts back.

Its gonn bite them back hard after all the disposable income banked the last 2 years dries up……

It's a self fulfilling prophecy in the midst of a "manufactured" crisis. The whole supply chain thing might've been real during most of 2020 but at this point it's being kept going as an excuse to keep prices artificially high as you mention bc "everyone is doing it so I will too".

 

[Grasshopper2016]

Disney is a public company ran by a board whose legal obligation is literally to maximize shareholder value, which means, to make as much money as possible.

This is a very modern, 21st-century, understanding of the legal obligations of a corporate board. Historically, corporations were understood in very different terms. And society was better off for it.

In any event, the notion that the best (and only) way to maximize shareholder value is to make as much money as possible is remarkably shortsighted. I don't mean to point the finger at you in particular; this is a much-heard mantra these days. But it is hardly a given precept of capitalism. Not that long ago, a board that sought to maximize short-term profits at the expense of long-term value would be accused of gross mismanagement -- by the shareholders!

 

[TheDailyMoo]

And now, they are trying to limit capacity and preparing to shift to a "While Supplies Last" model so they can start limiting the percentage of guests with G+. All of this points to the possibility that they are worried about lawsuits.

I spoke to an IT rep this weekend about fixing some MDE issue (shocking I know!) and we got to speaking about Genie+ amd I mentioned something about "oh once it's not available for presale that means it'll be limited right?" and she without hesitation said nope...like a resounding nope. Take it FWIW.

 

[katied]

To be clear… labor costs, fuel costs, food costs, and raw material costs have all had massive increases. This will increase costs on about everything we buy - tangible goods as well as services.

 

[MyTwoPrincesses]

I spoke to an IT rep this weekend about fixing some MDE issue (shocking I know!) and we got to speaking about Genie+ amd I mentioned something about "oh once it's not available for presale that means it'll be limited right?" and she without hesitation said nope...like a resounding nope. Take it FWIW.

I think the language "while supplies last" was very intentional. Disney was very clear at launch that while ILL was limited, Genie + as a product was not. It doesn't make much sense to not do advance sales unless they want to have the ability to turn off the spigot - otherwise they risk selling out of Genie + months in advance for busy dates and only resort guests having access to Genie +.

 

[xipotec]

To be clear… labor costs, fuel costs, food costs, and raw material costs have all had massive increases. This will increase costs on about everything we buy - tangible goods as well as services.

exactly why did those raw material have those increases thou? It was decreased availability due to worker shortages from the lockdown, which lasted only a few months for the majority of manufacturers of raw supply. That did trickle down, but its been two years since the start of the pandemic. Manufacturers could have hired back faster at higher wages and met demand, without a huge prices increase. They just jumped on the inflation band wagon to regain the lost profits over that year…..and didn't increase any labor. All intentional to increase profit to offset the “loss” , which in most cases was no actual loss…..

Its not hard to see….look at coprorate profits over last year though today.

 

[TheDailyMoo]

exactly why did those raw material have those increases thou? It was decreased availability due to worker shortages from the lockdown, which lasted only a few months for the majority of manufacturers of raw supply. That did trickle down, but its been two years since the start of the pandemic. Manufacturers could have hired back faster at higher wages and met demand, without a huge prices increase. They just jumped on the inflation band wagon to regain the lost profits over that year…..and didn't increase any labor. All intentional to increase profit to offset the “loss” , which in most cases was no actual loss…..

Its not hard to see….look at coprorate profits over last year though today.

Yup, like I said all "manufactured"...at this point anyway. None of those issues are organic in nature but more contrived through those in power. It's free market by name only.

 

[katied]

Just a few facts…

The cost of agricultural chemicals such as fertilizers and pesticides has risen 50% over the past year, with the war in Ukraine adding further pressure as Russia is a major exporter of nitrogen, potassium and phosphorous fertilizers.

Another factor driving up food prices: the worst outbreak of avian flu since 2015, which is impacting commercial and backyard flocks in 29 states, according to a federal tally. It's also already pushing egg prices higher, and poultry costs may not be far behind. The USDA said it now expects poultry prices to rise between 6% and 7% and egg costs to increase from 2.5% to 3.5% this year.

The price of softwood lumber alone has jumped about 85% in just the past three months after the U.S. doubled tariffs on Canadian lumber and wildfires disrupted lumber production.

 

[Disney mac]

To be clear… labor costs, fuel costs, food costs, and raw material costs have all had massive increases. This will increase costs on about everything we buy - tangible goods as well as services.

Yeah it also will increase the members like me who will come take up space for an hotel stay we already paid for with our DVC and then who will take up time, space, and resources as we don't spend a dime on property and just order food out of the bubble and then go to Universal.

 

[ckelly14]

This is a very modern, 21st-century, understanding of the legal obligations of a corporate board. Historically, corporations were understood in very different terms. And society was better off for it.

In any event, the notion that the best (and only) way to maximize shareholder value is to make as much money as possible is remarkably shortsighted. I don't mean to point the finger at you in particular; this is a much-heard mantra these days. But it is hardly a given precept of capitalism. Not that long ago, a board that sought to maximize short-term profits at the expense of long-term value would be accused of gross mismanagement -- by the shareholders!

Best response, ever. Thank you for sharing this.

 

[NavyDad]

This is a very modern, 21st-century, understanding of the legal obligations of a corporate board. Historically, corporations were understood in very different terms. And society was better off for it.

In any event, the notion that the best (and only) way to maximize shareholder value is to make as much money as possible is remarkably shortsighted. I don't mean to point the finger at you in particular; this is a much-heard mantra these days. But it is hardly a given precept of capitalism. Not that long ago, a board that sought to maximize short-term profits at the expense of long-term value would be accused of gross mismanagement -- by the shareholders!

Maximizing shareholder value is definitely not a 21st century concept. It was commonly accepted and taught in economics and corporate finance classes in the most prominent business schools in America at least as far back as 1970 and has been a mandated bedrock principle of stakeholder governance by the SEC and other government entities for at least that long.

There is definitely a point to be made regarding the differences between long term shareholder (or stakeholder) value versus short term. In the age of people checking their stocks hourly on a smart phone, cooperate America has certainly gone from being focused on annual reports to quarterly reports to now monthly reports.

You seem to make the point that suggests that Disney is sacrificing long term value for short term profits. I ask this question: where is the proof of that? Is there any proof that the changes that have come to Disney Parks over the last 10 years (Fast pass plus, MDE, Genie Plus, etc...) have hurt Disney's long term value? Other than a global pandemic that was accompanied by some government restrictions to operations has shown a long term trend of strong attendance resulting massive revenue and profits. Even after the same complaints year after year from Disney message board super fans for the last 10+ years the parks continue to be packed, the Disney resort hotels continue to be filled and Disney keeps making money.

People have to realize that just because a Disney super-fan doesn't enjoy WDW as much as they did in the 80's and 90's, that does not mean there are not literally millions of other people lined up behind them that can't wait to take their first ever trip to Disney. Way too many message board Disney fans mistake their own nostalgia regarding the way things used to be for the only way things can be done to make people happy.

For those of us in our 40s, 50's and 60's who have visited WDW 10+ times, we may not like to be on our phones all the time and maybe we would prefer to walk into the park and just walk up to a kiosk to get a fast pass, but there is a whole generation of potential WDW customers for the next few decades that have gone their entire life with a handheld computer in their hands who are very comfortable ordering food on their phone, shopping on Amazon and existing in a world of micro transactions. There is a strong argument to be made that Disney has created a digital infrastructure, and is transitioning to a mode of operations that represents massive value in 2030 even if it doesn't look much like our fond memories of 1975-2005.

 

[NavyDad]

Best response, ever. Thank you for sharing this.

Sometimes saying, reading or typing things that are incorrect make us FEEL better.

 

[NavyDad]

Yeah it also will increase the members like me who will come take up space for an hotel stay we already paid for with our DVC and then who will take up time, space, and resources as we don't spend a dime on property and just order food out of the bubble and then go to Universal.

If your are a DVC member, Disney already made a lot of money off of you a long time ago. They are much more worried about the next family they can get to buy into DVC or the next first time visit family they can bring in. That's just the way it works.

 

[Grasshopper2016]

Sometimes saying, reading or typing things that are incorrect make us FEEL better.

That's just obnoxious.