Rumored Changes to G+

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

That's partly because Universal's product is effectively much more expensive, and so correspondingly fewer people use it. Disney could do the same thing, but it would cost even more, and fewer people would be able/willing to buy it. If you think people are upset now...

> That's partly because Universal's product is effectively much more expensive

...and the same is true at Dollywood, another Herschend park (same ownership as SDC). Dollywood's product is $60 for five uses, but excluding the two attractions with the longest waits. It's $80 per person per day for the full monty.

For comparison, a signle-day ticket to Dollywood is only $92, so the full VQ is close to doubling the admission cost. WDW would charge at least as much as a single-day ticket, and probably more.

I very much want Disney to increase their costs on their get ahead of the line system even as much as I bemoan what MP was and what Genie+ is now. It would have been interesting if they revamped to that with the pandemic as the excuse. It's a lot easier on guests to reduce the price of something if you need to tweak it after its implemented than to continuously raise the price of something that still upsets people so now they pay more and are still frustrated with the program. Some will moan and groan regardless but you don't build a program off those people.

In past conversations I have very much talked about how other parks price their get ahead of the line system so you're preaching to the choir.

I think the hardest part of the conversations on these boards comes from the fact that people compare with what Disney is. But that sorta is like the chicken vs the egg. Disney created the monster, hard to blame the people on that.

 

[Brian Noble]

It's not necessarily true that a planner is experienced, but it sure does help. My first visit to the "four park" WDW was back in the TourGuideMike days, and I pretty much memorized his touring plans for each park. I suspect that if I put the same advance effort into my first trip as a G+ guest, I'd still have some (small) advantage. For example, I would know which attractions sell out first. I would also know about the "thrown back" inventory that happens ten minutes or so after the first wave, etc.

(Is that still a thing? I haven't been in a while, so have not kept up on my planning!)

 

[Brian Noble]

In past conversations I have very much talked about how other parks price their get ahead of the line system so you're preaching to the choir.

I suspect that choir will get small very quickly if Disney priced it where it would need to be to work the way Universal's does.

 

[Smugpugmug]

Disney created the monster, hard to blame the people on that.

Yeah, Disney created an expectation that everyone could skip lines so when everyone can't anymore, then it becomes a problem. It sucks to have to pay but it is what it is. I've accepted that it won't be free ever again. Genie+ has been selling out for the past 2 days so the price isn't too high.....yet.

 

[HokieRaven5]

But aren't you still doing that with Genie+, it's just last-minute planning that begins at 7am and continues all day?

I would call that a normal theme park day, with the added ability to add skip the line passes along the way vs having a good portion of my day pre-structured and having to fit where I go around that pre-structured day.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

I suspect that choir will get small very quickly if Disney priced it where it would need to be to work the way Universal's does.

IDK. I think it's just people used to Disney the way it was. People were clamoring for MP to make its way to WDW, not me, but a lot of people on the Boards were.

It's a bit moot because Disney didn't go that route when they could have. But I also think talking about this on the Disney side of the Boards is very difficult. You need a wider base of people who aren't just either Disney-only park goers or a larger group of people who have been to other parks more. And you'd also see more crabbiness at Disney regardless because their park tickets are high in costs. Disney would need to go stagnant on the ticket pricing for a bit to ease consumer willingness on an increased get ahead of the line cost.

 

[mamaofsix]

Not really. In this scenario planners have an advantage.

Not sure how planners have an advantage if it's 50-50 split between advanced and same day availability?

 

[mamaofsix]

When.... and also what, if any changes - all the posts are just rumors, speculation, and some wishful thinking (based on how we personally would like to see it!!) at this point. But with G+ selling out right now for the highest prices so far - Disney can't be in too big a hurry to make changes to something that's working for them.....

Disney has already announced that they are introducing advanced selection G+ (see post #1 of this thread), so it's no longer a question of if, but when and how.

 

[starlite_]

Not sure how planners have an advantage if it's 50-50 split between advanced and same day availability?

Because planners would arrive with a LL selection already made. Which means that they can get another one at 7am same as everyone over at WDW or when they arrive at the park over at DLR. That's one LL they didn't have to wait for, so it's one LL more that everyone else.

Unless they let planners select it but then forbid them from getting another till 9am or 2 hrs after arriving at DLR but that would make things a lot more complicated and I don't think that is what Disney is going for.

 

[Tom_E_D]

Because planners would arrive with a LL selection already made. Which means that they can get another one at 7am same as everyone over at WDW or when they arrive at the park over at DLR. That's one LL they didn't have to wait for, so it's one LL more that everyone else.

Unless they let planners select it but then forbid them from getting another till 9am or 2 hrs after arriving at DLR but that would make things a lot more complicated and I don't think that is what Disney is going for.

I don't think it would make things any more complicated if they let people make one LL reservation before day-of, and then make them follow the current rules for when they can make their next one: tap in, cancel, expire, or 120 minutes after park open. You're just moving the 7:00 AM time earlier for those who take advantage of it. I don't expect that to happen, but that is an easy solution to the don't-make-people-get-up-at-7:00 problem.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

What Brian said is what I mean. Planners = experienced guests that know how Genie+ works. Those people have an advantage over those that aren't as familiar with Genie+.

Like, for example someone that understands how stacking works will utilize Genie+ better than someone that doesn't.

To that point I think using FP+ helped me use MP when I was at DL. I was already used to using my phone to get FPs although there were slight differences because with MP you couldn't select a time like you could with FP+.

I suspect people who used FP+ and MP probably have an easier time with Genie+ although just using FP+ would do that to a great extent as well.

 

[Smugpugmug]

To that point I think using FP+ helped me use MP when I was at DL. I was already used to using my phone to get FPs although there were slight differences because with MP you couldn't select a time like you could with FP+.

I suspect people who used FP+ and MP probably have an easier time with Genie+ although just using FP+ would do that to a great extent as well.

Yeah, even people who were familiar with Fastpass+ style of booking would be more experienced than someone who has never been to WDW before. There is an advantage with Genie+ if you understand how to use it, I mean that's why there are hundreds of videos on Youtube teaching you how to do so (despite the fact that those videos needing to be made in the first place due to Disney doing a bad job explaining how Genie+ works is.............not great).

 

[thanxfornoticin]

Disney has already announced that they are introducing advanced selection G+ (see post #1 of this thread), so it's no longer a question of if, but when and how.

Yes, you're right. That paragraph does seem to indicate something with 'advanced booking' will be coming. I really should go back to 'page 1' of more of these longer threads!

On the other hand, the bulk of speculation around "this is coming" or "that's going away" is often rumor or wishful thinking..... Hopefully, we hear something soon.....

 

[Brian Noble]

And you'd also see more crabbiness at Disney regardless because their park tickets are high in costs.

Maybe. I go to a lot of amusement parks. At the moment I am holding valid annual passes to parks from three different operators. It's not hard to see the value in a day at Disney, even at current prices.

Plus, things are expensive all over. The four of us are going to Ohio State/Michigan this weekend. The "get-in" price at TicketIQ as I type this is $550 per person. I have a bad feeling about this one...but there's no way I'd miss it.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Maybe. I go to a lot of amusement parks. At the moment I am holding valid annual passes to parks from three different operators. It's not hard to see the value in a day at Disney, even at current prices.

Plus, things are expensive all over. The four of us are going to Ohio State/Michigan this weekend. The "get-in" price at TicketIQ as I type this is $550 per person. I have a bad feeling about this one...but there's no way I'd miss it.

Value is subjective but one thing that stays true and has for years is people gripping about the ticket prices. It's exponentially worse though in years with Disney especially once they switched to dynamic pricing. If you asked me about value I'd say the season pass for my regional park both in transportation, lodging and cash costs way outpaces Disney. For less than a 1 day ticket to Disney I could get in to the regional park here for the whole season which also includes the water park and for all the Halloween events plus parking is included. SDC holds that value too even though it's a several hour drive away. For Universal I find their hotels to be far above and away from Disney in cost and value including location. Universal's tickets as well which presently is running a deal for buy 3 day pass get 2 days free.

It's so tiring hearing the whole "it's expensive everywhere" thing. Maybe that makes people feel better IDK, maybe it makes people be able to rationalize their Disney trips IDK. When it comes to cost I compare like to like. What a weekend getaway costs is in no way related to the cost of a theme park trip unless that weekend get away is the theme park trip (insert concerts, sporting events, etc all of which people have compared in the past). You might compare them because that's how you roll but the relation isn't an equal tit for tat.

 

[thanxfornoticin]

It's so tiring hearing the whole "it's expensive everywhere" thing. Maybe that makes people feel better IDK, maybe it makes people be able to rationalize their Disney trips IDK. When it comes to cost I compare like to like. What a weekend getaway costs is in no way related to the cost of a theme park trip unless that weekend get away is the theme park trip (insert concerts, sporting events, etc all of which people have compared in the past). You might compare them because that's how you roll but the relation isn't an equal tit for tat.

But it IS expensive everywhere! And for those who feel Disney is now too expensive or not the value they wish to spend their money on - there's a choice! And we view our budgeting as "need" and "want". "Want" includes leisure and vacation time - sometimes that's a theme park, sometimes it's a trip to the beach, sometimes it might be something international - but we look at the cost and value, and then make our choices. If Disney isn't offering the value, then don't go!

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

But it IS expensive everywhere! And for those who feel Disney is now too expensive or not the value they wish to spend their money on - there's a choice! And we view our budgeting as "need" and "want". "Want" includes leisure and vacation time - sometimes that's a theme park, sometimes it's a trip to the beach, sometimes it might be something international - but we look at the cost and value, and then make our choices. If Disney isn't offering the value, then don't go!

That whole "expensive" thing though has been said ever since I joined the DIS 8 years ago. And I'm sure it was said for eons before. At some point you gotta use a different viewpoint because all it ever does is masks what others viewpoints and feelings and experiences are.

To tell a family that is priced out "yeah well it's expensive everywhere" doesn't really do much to validate how they feel about trying to go to Disney. It's an eye roll moment in truth or more like yes yes we get it. Some things are expensive compared to the past, some things aren't, some things stay true to their pricing for a while other things don't. Look at Costco who says they raise their membership pricing about every 5 or 6 years. They don't shy away from raising it but they also don't raise it every year or multiple times a year. Could they raise it yearly and still maintain their 90%+ renewal rate? I'm sure they could. SWA ticket prices from my home airport have gone down a TON with respects to Business Select and Anytime Fares. What used to be no matter what $500-$700+ are now more the $300-$500. That is def. a case where it's gone down in pricing over the years.

Also I absolutely agree with don't go if the value is gone but where would the conversation be especially when it comes to hearing other people and how they feel? If a person is interested in the discussion, and also as it relates to changes in the programs a place is using it's not really going to do much if your answer is just don't go.

 

[TCRAIG]

I know I’m in the minority- but I hope they make the price significantly higher (less interruptions to the standby line) and allow you to choose your time for a selected ride.

 

[thanxfornoticin]

That whole "expensive" thing though has been said ever since I joined the DIS 8 years ago. And I'm sure it was said for eons before. At some point you gotta use a different viewpoint because all it ever does is masks what others viewpoints and feelings and experiences are.

To tell a family that is priced out "yeah well it's expensive everywhere" doesn't really do much to validate how they feel about trying to go to Disney. It's an eye roll moment in truth or more like yes yes we get it. Some things are expensive compared to the past, some things aren't, some things stay true to their pricing for a while other things don't. Look at Costco who says they raise their membership pricing about every 5 or 6 years. They don't shy away from raising it but they also don't raise it every year or multiple times a year. Could they raise it yearly and still maintain their 90%+ renewal rate? I'm sure they could. SWA ticket prices from my home airport have gone down a TON with respects to Business Select and Anytime Fares. What used to be no matter what $500-$700+ are now more the $300-$500. That is def. a case where it's gone down in pricing over the years.

Also I absolutely agree with don't go if the value is gone but where would the conversation be especially when it comes to hearing other people and how they feel? If a person is interested in the discussion, and also as it relates to changes in the programs a place is using it's not really going to do much if your answer is just don't go.

I'm always open to discussion! I find most discussions out here very interesting. I find your point of view interesting! I learn things most days, and scratch my head most days! But in some ways, I think you're confirming the fact that everything/most things are more expensive. If you've seen a situation where flight prices have declined recently - that is really good news for you. We've seen mostly an upward trend there, with the occasional 'sale' that might pop up.

For us personally, we still love the magic at Disney, feel the value is there for us, and we make the choice to spend our vacation dollars enjoying it - like thousands of other people. I'm looking forward to seeing what adjustments they'll be making to G+ and see if/how it might impact our upcoming trips. And if we feel the value isn't there for G+, we won't buy it. And for all the talk of expense and pay-to-play at Disney, our observations have been that once we're at WDW, we find almost everyone we encounter to be friendly, relaxed, and having a fun time - cast members and guests.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

I'm always open to discussion! I find most discussions out here very interesting. I find your point of view interesting! I learn things most days, and scratch my head most days! But in some ways, I think you're confirming the fact that everything/most things are more expensive. If you've seen a situation where flight prices have declined recently - that is really good news for you. We've seen mostly an upward trend there, with the occasional 'sale' that might pop up.

For us personally, we still love the magic at Disney, feel the value is there for us, and we make the choice to spend our vacation dollars enjoying it - like thousands of other people. I'm looking forward to seeing what adjustments they'll be making to G+ and see if/how it might impact our upcoming trips. And if we feel the value isn't there for G+, we won't buy it. And for all the talk of expense and pay-to-play at Disney, our observations have been that once we're at WDW, we find almost everyone we encounter to be friendly, relaxed, and having a fun time - cast members and guests.

The airline pricing was starting pre-pandemic. I'm in the SWA pinned thread and remember feeling like how in the world everyone else gets these better pricing on the higher fares. Because truly it didn't seem to matter much where you went SWA Business Select and Anytime Fares were stagnant.

I pulled up a screenshot a while back on another discussion (dunno why I saved it) and for our Sep 2017 trip at the time of that screenshot in Feb 2017 to get to MCO the Business Select range was $561 to $574 with Anytime Fares $539-$552 with WGA $186 to $217. To get back home from MCO the range was $561-$570 for Business Select, $539-$548 for Anytime Fares with WGA $186-$235. I'm not saying that pricing there isn't up but as it speaks to SWA and my home airport you're getting a huge break with those two higher end fares compared to the past.

If you're looking at Europe the airfare jumped in pricing for 2022 and 2023 but is now showing a reduction overall in costs steadily going back down.

I don't think I'm confirming what you think I am. Or maybe you're looking at it from a confirmation bias. Me saying Costco increases their membership pricing every 5 to 6 years you take that to mean "well that's an example of how something is more expensive". One could expect the price to increase as one would on theme park tickets but Costco as an example (presently speaking) chooses not to increase them yearly but rather every 5 to 6 years.

There's a lot of magical feelings one can get with Disney (or Universal for that matter depending on the person) but I also think there's validity to a lot of people's points they make. Disney is overly complicated for a theme park vacation. Does that mean that someone has a big problem with the planning? Not necessarily. But it is still just a theme park not a trip to Europe. Getting a visa to enter another country can be easier than figuring out the MDE app

One of my good friends is a CM, CMs aren't always having a fun time, but it's like any job with the public, it can be a nightmare to deal with people even if they enjoy the workplace of it being Disney (well for the most part). It goes with the territory and the conditions. It happens at other parks as well it just was observationally much worse at Disney than any other park I've been to. Even DL full of locals didn't have that type of behavior although I was there when they had MP where you still had paper FPs included so I'm not sure if having Genie+ and MB+ made things feel different there. In the 7 days were in the WDW parks last year we saw a lot of very out there angst, disappointment, yelling, screaming, tears and fierce frustration I rarely saw people relaxed honestly but the relaxation part isn't new back in Legacy FP days I'm sure it wasn't relaxing for the runners to get the FPs. That doesn't mean there weren't people like you saw but no not everyone is having a fun time or being pleasant.

I found people to be much friendlier when we were in WDW in 2017 with the hurricane. There was a lot of stress a lot of locals who came to Disney for the day because their home didn't have power or they needed a break but the entire atmosphere was like a 180 compared to 2022. And I can't blame it on the pandemic as this excuse because we didn't experience the same vibe at Universal where that vibe was much more similar to 2017. We too choose to go to Disney but we also go infrequently by this Board's standards (roughly every 5 to 6 years) we go to many other places besides Disney because there's a lot of places to explore and we love exploring

At the end of the day I think multiple things can coexist together. People can feel those certain feeling when they step foot in the park and overall enjoy doing the parks and they can feel that it is quite costly to go. They can say they don't mind paying for Genie+/ILL but also talk about how user friendly or not user friendly it is and certain aspects could be improved. They can ponder what another program might be like there while understanding Disney is going to do what Disney wants to do. At least for the love of all that is Disney they haven't tried again on those $650 MK tents

Obviously this is quite long in comment so apologies on that!