Genie+ Per-Park Pricing Debuts at Disney World (…And Already Dropped on Day Two!)
Walt Disney World has announced per-park pricing is coming to the Genie+ service starting this summer. This post offers details and our commentary about all of these changes, the amount of cost jumps, motivations for the new approach, and more. (Updated June 28, 2023.)
Let’s start with the press release from Walt Disney World announcing the change:
As we recently shared, we are working on ways to simplify the Disney Genie+ service, including offering the ability to plan before the day of your visit, which many Guests have asked for.
We plan to share more news in the future, but in the meantime, we also want to improve the experience for guests using the service as it exists today, so we will be making an update as we continue to listen to guests.
Beginning June 27, Guests at Walt Disney World will now purchase Disney Genie+ service based on how they want to visit. Guests will be able to select either a single-park option or a multiple-parks option, subject to availability.
With this update, prices may now be lower at some Walt Disney World theme parks compared to others. Guests will continue to be able to purchase Disney Genie+ service through the My Disney Experience app on the day of their visit.
We will continue to listen to guest feedback, and look forward to sharing more information about updates to Disney Genie+ in the future.
Here’s a look at costs for the first two days of per-park Genie+ pricing at Walt Disney World:
Note that pricing for Genie+ was $25 on June 26, when crowd levels were 7/10. That was down to 4/10 on June 27 and real-time crowd levels (subject to change since the day isn’t over) are 5/10 on June 28, 2023. Despite this, pricing for all parks decreased from $27 yesterday to $25 today, with Magic Kingdom and Hollywood Studios also each dropping by $2, while EPCOT and Animal Kingdom are unchanged.
Obviously, this is just two days and it’s premature to draw any definitive conclusions. Our expectation is that prices increase over the holiday weekend and maybe through Independence Day (although with the weird weekend and holiday trends, there’s no guarantee that those days will end up being busier) before dropping again on July 5, 2023.
Prior to per-park pricing, Genie+ costs in the last two months (since April 23) have ranged from $15 to $25. This per-park pricing is higher than that for Magic Kingdom and all parks, about equal for Disney’s Hollywood Studios on the high end, and average to below-average for Animal Kingdom and EPCOT.
On another note, it appears that guests can purchase any version of Genie+ so long as they have a Park Pass reservation or are not required to have reservations–meaning Annual Passholders or those with 4-Park Magic tickets. (Note that we use the wiggle word “appears” because it allowed us to proceed through the purchase process without an error message–but we did not actually complete the transaction.)
In any case, the true test of Genie+ per-park pricing will be when Walt Disney World is actually busy. As has been discussed in our recent crowd reports (and by Disney executives), Walt Disney World is in the midst of a slowdown as compared to last summer. It’s probably safe to say that Magic Kingdom will exceed the current $35 high water mark come Columbus Day, Veterans Day, or Thanksgiving week.
Turning to commentary, how you feel about this announcement is going to be a bit of a Rorschach test. My strong suspicion is that most Walt Disney World fans will react negatively to this news, because that’s basically the baseline for any changes to Genie+ and Lightning Lanes. Any news is bad news. At least, in the eyes of fans who yearn for the days of free FastPass and won’t be satisfied with anything less than a return to that.
We’ve tried to be a bit more objective about Genie+ than that, recognizing that it’s here to stay and that constant complaining is unproductive. There is no going back to free FastPass–the genie is out of the bottle, and there’s no putting it back. There comes a point where you accept reality, and either adapt or move on. Against that backdrop, our reaction to this change is that it’s mixed to (mostly) bad.
Walt Disney World is already spinning this as saying that prices are going to be lower at some parks. Because of course they are. It’s likely that they’ll also claim this offers maximum “flexibility” and “customizability” to guests as they can simply choose to visit where and when Genie+ is less expensive and save. We know this will be how it’s marketed because we’ve seen this movie before.
This is exactly how per-park date-based pricing for tickets was spun ~7 years ago when it was introduced. More recent press releases and comments from Disney spokespeople strike the same familiar notes about date-based pricing for Genie+ and other price increases, mirroring this language.
This is quite literally a page out of that playbook. You might notice that each year when ticket prices increase, Walt Disney World highlights how 1-day admission still starts at only $109. To Disney’s credit, that has been the base price since the introduction of the date-based system back in October 2018. That’s a long time for the starting price to remain unchanged, especially as inflation and all other prices have increased.
In reality, that low starting price is only available at Animal Kingdom, and only for a scattering of weekdays two months out of the year. What isn’t mentioned is that the maximum ticket price has skyrocketed for all parks and the distribution of dates has skewed towards the higher end of the spectrum. Meaning that most guests who are doing a single day in the parks (or multiple days) are paying more. It’s likely that 1-day tickets to DAK don’t account for a tremendous amount of ticket sales, so the ‘static base price’ talking point is largely marketing. (We discuss this phenomenon in Disney Doesn’t Want Lower Crowds if you want to read more.)
It’s a very similar idea here, except even more exaggerated. Although that $109 ticket starting price is almost illusory and more about marketing, it’s undeniable that you can spend $109 and receive something of value–admission to Animal Kingdom. Sure, it’ll be during a slow weekday in August or September, but it’s not nothing.
By contrast, the argument could be made that the value of Genie+ at Animal Kingdom on those same slower days is totally illusory. I’ve done Animal Kingdom during the fall off-season–the crowds are nonexistent. Aside from Avatar Flight of Passage, Lightning Lanes are practically useless (and Flight of Passage isn’t included in the Genie+ service, anyway).
Even on busier days, you do not need Genie+ at Animal Kingdom with even a scintilla of strategizing. Regular readers of this site know this, as we’ve hammered home time and time again that Genie+ is a waste of money at Animal Kingdom. This is discussed in countless posts, including in our Best Time-Saving Strategies for Walt Disney World, which says all you need to know for DAK is “don’t go during the middle of the day and stand in long lines.”
Seriously, that’s about it. Arriving early or staying late work perfectly fine for beating the crowds because most guests still treat it like a half-day park and attendance is significantly lower at Animal Kingdom than any other park at Walt Disney World. As a result, a lower advertised base price for Genie+ by virtue of Animal Kingdom is almost meaningless. You shouldn’t be wasting your money on Genie+ there in the first place. It’s the paid equivalent of a “Bonus FastPass” for PhilharMagic. It might make you feel good, but you’re arguably being played.
Additionally, as the above graph from Thrill-Data demonstrates, Walt Disney World has done a couple of ‘soft resets’ on Genie+ pricing in advance of this per-park pricing change. Obviously, there was the introduction of date-based pricing last year that increased costs above the board. That’s not what we’re talking about, as that was an actual reset.
If you look closely at that graph and compare wait times from peak season last year to this spring break, you’ll see that the ceiling was raised–despite comparable (and often lower) crowd levels. Look again at the low to moderate wait times since Memorial Day weekend and contrast those with last fall or this winter on dates with comparable crowds. You’ll see that the floor has also been adjusted upwards.
That’s part of the “flexibility” that date-based pricing offers to Walt Disney World. It was a big story over spring break when the maximum price of Genie+ increased to $35. As it should’ve been. Genie+ had reached a new high and still sold out despite that. (In retrospect, it almost feels like that was laying the groundwork to “justify” this change.)
However, it’s equally as significant that the average price has increased in the last month despite lower crowd levels. There’s been scant coverage of that since it’s more difficult to explain–and doesn’t make for as punchy of a headline. (We’ve mentioned this trend in a couple of crowd reports and I don’t recall anyone even commenting on it–whereas the increased maximum garnered a ton of reactions.)
Basically, the change to per-park pricing for Genie+ is a price increase in disguise. Where and when Lightning Lanes are useful, the cost of using Genie+ is going to increase. The average guest will spend more, not less, on Genie+ over the course of their Walt Disney World vacation. The company can spin it how they want–that’ll be the most likely outcome in practice.
As with date-based pricing on Genie+ or park tickets, rolling out per-park pricing gives Walt Disney World the ability to adjust average pricing upwards at the parks where demand is highest: Magic Kingdom and Disney’s Hollywood Studios.
This will effectively amount to a price increase on Genie+ at those two parks. Anyone who is more inclined to purchase Genie+ at Magic Kingdom, Disney’s Hollywood Studios, or when Park Hopping is likely to pay more, on average, for Genie+ than in the absence of the per-park pricing scheme.
Our expectation is that EPCOT prices will be more or less unchanged as compared to earlier this year. Maybe its average price will decrease slightly as compared to pre-spring break, which would amount to a win for guests who use Genie+ at EPCOT but no other parks.
As discussed above, the average price will likely decrease at Animal Kingdom. In our view, that is completely illusory. There’s a reason the price of Genie+ is going down at DAK, and that’s because the service offers far less value and far fewer people use it there. With that park already struggling and no prospects in the near or medium term, that’s one park where Walt Disney World should just bring back free FastPass+ if they really want to get people through the gates! (Obviously, that isn’t going to happen, but that would actually be the kind of change that’s needed there–not ~$10 off Genie.)
With all of that said, in the interest of fairness, guests who only purchase Genie+ at EPCOT and Animal Kingdom will likely come out ahead with the change to per-park pricing. You won’t spend less money on the paid FastPass service than you did at the same time last year when it cost $16 everywhere–or four years ago when it was free everywhere–but you will pay less as compared to 2-3 months ago, on average. So that’s a win for probably about 4% of all Walt Disney World guests!
Beyond this, there’s a certain amount of price inelasticity when it comes to paid line-skipping. This is something we discussed at length when explaining past price increases and the record-setting $35 price for Genie+ over spring break, so I don’t want to beat a dead horse.
In a nutshell, my position is that demand for Genie+ is relatively inelastic with incrementally higher prices for the line-skipping service. This is because Genie+ is still a relatively minor cost in the grand scheme of the price of a Walt Disney World vacation for current guests. This isn’t being dismissive of the expense–Genie+ increases the cost of a vacation significantly and it all adds up.
Instead, think about it this way: if you already spent $8,000 for your family to visit Walt Disney World and were willing to pay peak season room rates for hotels and tickets, are you going to balk at paying even more to avoid long lines and crowds? Or are you going to spend ~$80 more (on top of what you already budgeted for Genie+) for your family to have Genie+ and “ensure” your experience is good and that $8,000 wasn’t wasted?
As was demonstrated over spring break, plenty of people are going to pay the extra money. That was evident with Genie+ selling out on some of those $35 days, and it was apparent to us based on our days in the parks, seeing the lengthy return lines for Lightning Lanes, and the high standby wait times.
However, as we’ve also discussed, there are limits to this. One likely applies to those who are not already on vacation, and balk when pricing out the trip. That group can do the math on Genie+ and also can see the trajectory of price points before making a decision about even booking a vacation in the first place.
For those already on vacation, there’s also the strong possibility that the satisfaction scores of Genie+ are low and people are less likely to purchase on subsequent days of their trip as a result. This is partly based on observed patterns on Monday and Tuesday versus later in the week, and partly theoretical.
Personally, I can’t imagine dropping $35 per person (plus tax!) for Genie+ at Animal Kingdom on a day when crowd levels were 3/10 for that park (that happened April 9). Or even dropping $20+ any of the many days since when crowd levels have been 1/10 or 2/10 in Animal Kingdom. Experiences like those, and the resulting assumption that Genie+ is “useless,” have probably hurt sales at Magic Kingdom and DHS–where Genie+ actually is useful!
In various ways, we’ve seen all of this play out for years with date-based pricing at Walt Disney World. Per-park pricing is just a different spin on the exact same underlying idea. Both are effective ways for the company to accomplish its desired optimizations at Walt Disney World. There are certain places and times that experience higher demand for a number of reasons–school schedules, seasonal events, weather, etc.
Charging incrementally higher prices where or when possible allows Walt Disney World to capitalize on and profit from that inherently higher demand. That’s the goal–not preserving the guest experience, offering maximum flexibility, or whatever the talking point might be. It’s a way to price with surgical precision, capturing more revenue where demand allows.
Turning to other impacts, this will likely result in reduced Park Hopping away from EPCOT or Animal Kingdom. Think about it–if you purchase Genie+ at one of those parks at a lower price point, you will have a financial disincentive to leave. That’s good for Walt Disney World, which wants to keep people in DAK longer because of its attendance woes. Per guest spending is also likely higher at EPCOT because of festival booths and booze, so it’s also good for them there.
Conversely, there will be the incentive to leave Magic Kingdom or Disney’s Hollywood Studios–the two parks that struggle the most with crowds–because those guests have already paid the premium pricing for the Genie+ service. My guess is that the impact of this will be slight, but it won’t be nothing. (Perhaps one silver lining of this change will be that it paves the way for the restoration of full Park Hopping! Instead of that rule being “needed” to limit movement, the per-park pricing of Genie+ will indirectly accomplish the same.)
Another disappointment of this change is the complexity it adds to the already overly complicated and convoluted Genie+ system. Lately, there’s been far less confusion and fewer questions about all things Genie+ and Lightning Lanes. This is partly due to the guest-friendly changes that Walt Disney World started rolling out last fall. Many of those were positives, and made paid FastPass more intuitive and easier to use. We repeatedly praised Walt Disney World for continuing to iterate upon and improve Genie+ with those changes!
It’s also likely in part because Walt Disney World regulars have taken trips in the last couple of years, “learned by doing,” and as a result no longer have the same trepidations and worries as before when Genie+ was still an unknown quantity to them. But the reality is that, even now, there are thousands of people using Genie+ for the first time ever each day, and they are every bit as confused as Walt Disney World regulars were back in Fall 2021.
Per-park pricing reintroduces more complexity to the Genie+ system, and is a step in the wrong direction as a result. Walt Disney World is already way too confusing and complicated–especially for first-timers–and this is absolutely something that is coming up in guest surveys. The company should be doing everything possible to reduce friction points at Walt Disney World, rather than introducing additional opportunities for headaches.
In fact, the removal of problem-points has been exactly what has been happening since CEO Bob Iger returned to the helm. It was pretty clear that Bob Iger wasn’t wild about how things had gone under dearly departed CEO Bob Chapek and the degree to which there was disillusionment among fans.
A little over a month after returning, he started moving on that sentiment by announcing 3 Big Changes at Walt Disney World to Improve Guest Experience & Value. A few months later came the announcement of 5 Major Improvements for 2024 at Walt Disney World. Those were all major steps in the right direction, and moves that helped to win back fans. Iger and D’Amaro had been doing so well this year!
Until now. This Genie+ change is at odds with all of that. It might seem minor or insignificant in the grand scheme of things, but it kills the momentum Iger had established and undermines the narrative of positive changes under the new Iger regime. If Walt Disney World needs to win back diehards with “revenge travel” winding down, this is the exact opposite of how to accomplish that.
Ultimately, moving to per-park pricing is frustrating to us, but it will also help with some of the capacity issues that have plagued Lightning Lanes…while conveniently padding the company’s bottom line. As we’ve said before, there’s no easy fix to the Genie+ issue for Walt Disney World. No perfect solution exists that balances supply and demand in all of the parks and keeps everyone happy (both those who purchase Genie+ and those who opt against it).
There’s also the company’s obvious short-term desire to maximize revenue and profits, which is precisely how it ended up on the current path–going from free FastPass to Genie+ costing $16 to date-based pricing with Genie+ maxing out at $35 to per-park pricing with ??? being the maximum Magic Kingdom and all parks cost.
If a family visiting for summer vacation spent $10,000 on the trip as a whole, I don’t think ~$100 extra is going to be the balking point for many of them. Now, what could happen is that those visiting any park that is not Magic Kingdom or DHS end up feeling like Genie+ was a waste of money, and opt against purchasing it on future days. Maybe lower prices for Animal Kingdom and EPCOT will “help” offset that.
But who knows. Maybe that added cost for Magic Kingdom, DHS, and Park Hopping finally will be what results in enough families hitting their breaking point, and perhaps higher per-park pricing will be the straw that breaks the camel’s back and hurts numbers–whether it be Genie+ sales or vacation packages. Given what we’ve seen thus far with Genie+ pricing, that feels like wishful thinking (if not fully delusional). I can hold out hope, though.
We’ll “sign off” this post the same way we’ve done for many previous changes to the Genie+ system. The real solution to all of this is building more attractions. This once again lays that bare, as both Animal Kingdom and EPCOT offer fewer compelling reasons (read: popular rides) to purchase the Genie+ service and, unsurprisingly, it’s less popular and less valuable at those parks.
Beyond that, queueing is a zero-sum game. No approach to lines–not all standby, not paper FastPass, FastPass+ or Genie–changes capacity. The only meaningful way to alter the equation is by actually increasing capacity. That’s done by adding entertainment, attractions, or extending operating hours. Everything else is a matter of rearranging the deck chairs, and having different guests or demographics come out ahead or behind.
Here’s hoping that Bob Iger actually is serious about wanting to build big park expansions at Walt Disney World and Disneyland–and ones that have more than just a single E-Ticket and upcharge offerings. At the end of the day, capacity-adding additions are precisely what’s needed at Walt Disney World.
Some fans salivate at the (fictional) prospect of a 5th gate, but what’s really needed is building out the existing parks so they don’t have this type of issue in the first place. Despite significantly higher attendance, there’s a reason this isn’t as big of a problem at Magic Kingdom as the other 3 parks. There’s also a reason why Genie+ will soon cost the most at MK. In short, building more rides is better for guests…and the company’s coffers!
If you have questions about the basics of using–or not using–the paid FastPass service, see our Guide to Genie+ at Walt Disney World & Lightning Lane FAQ for all of the foundational need-to-know info. This whole system is confusing and convoluted, so you might have a question or two-dozen. That answers all of the most common ones we’ve been receiving from readers.
Planning a Walt Disney World trip? Learn about hotels on our Walt Disney World Hotels Reviews page. For where to eat, read our Walt Disney World Restaurant Reviews. To save money on tickets or determine which type to buy, read our Tips for Saving Money on Walt Disney World Tickets post. Our What to Pack for Disney Trips post takes a unique look at clever items to take. For what to do and when to do it, our Walt Disney World Ride Guides will help. For comprehensive advice, the best place to start is our Walt Disney World Trip Planning Guide for everything you need to know!
YOUR THOUGHTS
What do you think of Walt Disney World introducing per-park pricing for the Genie+ service? Disappointed that it’s happening, or do you see the upside? Thoughts on our perspective that this is effectively a price increase for Genie+ at Magic Kingdom and DHS? Any other considerations we failed to take into account or details we missed/got wrong? Will you purchase Genie+ going forward, or is expensive for you? Do you agree or disagree with my assessment? Any questions we can help you answer? Hearing your feedback–even when you disagree with us–is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!
Tom….I don’t agree with the argument that if you paid $8,000 for a vacation that $80 isn’t a lot more to pay to skip the lines. If you are paying $8,000 then are likely to have multiple park days. For a family of 4 to purchase Genie+ for a day it’s around $100, then times that by 5 park days and thats an additional $500, or an increase of over 6% and that doesnt count any ILL’s that you might buy (which are really the ones you should be buying due to the longest lines),pushing the price increases to 10%+
The point is not whether $80 (or whatever number) on top of $8,000 is a lot or not.
It’s that people who have already spent a ton of money on a vacation are likely to spend even more to make sure the original investment wasn’t wasted. It’s more about inelasticity of demand and the sunk cost fallacy (or a twist on that) than it is the actual numbers.
I understand that…….We went in April of this year for 8 days after vowing not to cave to the greed of Genie+……..I’ve been to WDW over 20x in my life (I’m 53 and live in Boston) and that trip was so expensive compared to any other one we have been on that we cannot afford to go back there……..I’m glad I went because now I know what I WONT be missing when we do not go again……..It just wasn’t the same and it felt like that for the first time ever
“are you going to spend ~$80 more for your family to have Genie+ and “ensure” your experience is good and that $8,000 wasn’t waste”
What a sad commentary.
Check me if I am wrong, but by splitting Genie+ into four buckets, it will increase overall sales. Under the current format, on days when it would sell out, it was probably based on the capacity of the most busiest park – Magic Kingdom. Because of that, there may have been people visiting the other parks that may have purchased it but couldn’t, leaving excess capacity at those parks. With this change each park will now have its own inventory of Genie+ to sell. The lower price for those parks is an incentive with the illusion of a discount.
Just let us buy it in advance like DL. I don’t want to be worried with it on vacation.
I loved the picture of the dancing fountains at EPCOT. I will never forget being in awe of those things as a kid falling in love with WDW in the nineties.
I appreciate the objective, nuanced take vs. just proclaiming this sucks for consumers. Because I’m not as eloquent, I think this is pretty lame. I find it interesting how in the past couple weeks Disney has been dropping fall discounts juxtaposed with TEA report that Universal’s Florida parks (generally) beat out DHS, DAK, and EPCOT last year. This move to increase prices seems out of step with what else has been going on. Oh well.
“This move to increase prices seems out of step with what else has been going on.”
Yep.
To me, both this and Jollywood Nights have an “oh crap, per guest spending is in freefall, what do we do to fix that?!” vibe to them.
I don’t think this is going to end the way they think it’s going to end.
We’ve used Genie+ on our last three visits and were pleasantly surprised. The app has setup issues with multiple families and accounts, but at the parks we didn’t have a day when we scheduled less than six rides with no waiting. Even if the actual wait times would have been a mere 30m, cutting that down to 5 minutes ads up over multiple rides. With Fast Pass you’d usually only get two a day (although I understand there was a way to get more.).
On this past trip during the second week of June, the LL queue for the Haunted Mansion was down the street. just rescheduled it for an hour later, and the line was gone, and we walked right on.
Tom is right, I probably didn’t need Genie+ for DAK and EPCOT, but it was worth every penny at MK.
“Tom is right, I probably didn’t need Genie+ for DAK and EPCOT, but it was worth every penny at MK.”
FWIW, my perspective has evolved on Genie+ at EPCOT as compared to Fall 2021. In large part, that’s because two hugely popular attractions are now on the service that weren’t then. I still don’t think it’s strictly necessary for anyone who arrives early and/or stays late, but it’s no longer in the same “useless” league as it is at DAK.
I will NEVER pay for Genie+ … or ANY kind of priority pass system. One of the perks of being an AP is that if we don’t do it this time … we’ll do it another time. (FYI – We are NOT local. We’re based in PA.)
But the problem is, your trips to go down more frequently and *not* have to use Genie+ are probably costing you a little bit more…that’s where Disney gets us APs ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
We also live in PA, are AP holders and don’t use Genie+. We’ve been going to Disney World since it opened so our park philosophy is a bit different. We do the new rides and some favorite attractions each day, but we concentrate more on dining at our favorite restaurants, enjoying AK and behind the scenes tours. Genie+ is pretty much worthless to us.
Also pretty disappointed by the park hopper thing. We already pay extra to park hop and still cannot park hop whenever we want, so let’s say I want to start at Animal Kingdom, where I don’t need a park hopper, then head to HS for some rides. I’d just want to purchase the Hollywood studios and start stacking for after two. Then, if I did end up doing a third park I again wouldn’t really need Genie because the lines are generally shorter when you pop into a park two hours before close. We aren’t going for awhile, but I have a set ceiling for tickets all in – park hopper plus, and then genie or individual lightning lanes. If genie plus was $15-25 per person, I’d still consider buying Genie and an individual lightning lane. As it stands now, if my only choice is to buy a park hopper genie plus or nothing, we will likely choose to buy one individual line a day or nothing. And I agree with the point of it being too confusing and too expensive for newbies. Vacations shouldn’t be stressful.
I’m guessing your scenario is a common one, and people like you will have to make tough decisions about allocating their vacation budgets. Walt Disney World is already seeing this play out, so I’m honestly a bit surprised they’re doing this. It could end up backfiring, with the “tough choice” being that more and more people opt against buying Genie+.
We’re APs and back when prices stayed between $15 to $20 a day we would buy pretty much every time we visited because it made our day easier with younger kids. Now, unless it’s around $20 we don’t even bother. Our kids are used to standing in line longer now and only riding what we can get to in a day. It’s to a point that even on $20 days, which are rarer and rarer, we still sometimes don’t buy. If we’re feeling this way you know many others are too. These changes have to be hurting Disney. I looked this morning for availability at Christmas when it’s 40% off for APs and there’s still way more availability at most the resorts and various views than I would’ve expected with such a deep discount. Maybe the tide is finally starting to turn……
I agree with the park hopping problem — we routinely hit two (and often 3) parks per day because of dining/entertainment goals. Fast passes/Genie+ made that more feasible because we’d make up our park-to-park travel time by not spending as much time in lines. If we’re trapped in one park per day (not wanting to purchase multiple Genie+’s), we’re probably just going to spend fewer days at Disney and hit Universal, etc., instead.
I can see how this is just a price increase in disguise. I know this is a business but some honesty would be refreshing. A first time family of 4 could spend 85 more per day on a 5 day vacation. I think the price of admission should be enough. A base ticket in July for a five day trip is already 135 per day. Add in round trip airport transportation for another 200 and you have a 625 dollar increase for things that not so long ago were still included. I find Genie plus useful and I don’t really like doing the parks without it. I would rather be looking around versus standing in line. I find that many guests in lines don’t have as much time to spend money on merchandise and food. And if they do the sheer cost of being there prohibits their purchasing what they want or having a meal in the restaurant where they really want to eat. I love Disney and I want to continue going, but I am starting to consider how much less I get for my money these days.
“I know this is a business but some honesty would be refreshing.”
What, do you NOT believe that this is a simplification that guests having been asking for?!?!?!?
Chapek sucked, but at least he was blunt about this type of thing when he said they’d keep raising prices as long as consumers kept paying higher prices. Sugar-coating announcements and spinning them as positives for guests is infuriating and condescending.
Tom, I recommend you revise your math for families into a more realistic use case. Your suggestion of $100 extra is too low. For example, if I’ve spent $8000 on a week long trip for my family of five, I’m probably going to buy G+ at least 2 or 3 park days. $30 for G+ times 5 people times 3 days = $450. That’s a lot of money that I won’t be spending on character dining, deluxe resort stays, souvenirs, etc.
To clarify, the math is the extra cost versus the baseline–meaning that families had already budgeted for Genie, but it’ll now cost $X more as a result of price increases, per-park pricing, or whatever.
For what it’s worth, those numbers are also a bit arbitrary and not actual math. We simply do not know how much more someone visiting this Thanksgiving (or a random date in the future) will pay as compared to what they budget today.
I came with the exact same point. I feel all these articles where he states that most families won’t balk at an extra “$80” need to be adjusted to at least “$100” and quite possibly “$140” if you’re talking about MK or DHS during any middle to high crowd times. Triple-digit amounts can be meals, can be the difference between booking an All-Stars instead of Pop Century–or just heading to Flamingo Crossing and skipping Disney resorts altogether. I’ve pretty much written off doing an entire stay at a Disney resort unless there is Free Dining. (When dining plans are “free,” the math on having to stay at Disney and buy PH tickets works out for my family.)
It’s funny, at Universal, we choose their deluxe hotels to get line-skipping privileges included. At Disney, it looks like we will choose to SKIP their hotels so we can afford line-skipping privileges.
I understand your original statement better now. You were saying that the $8000 trip already factored in G+ at previous prices. Now a family will pay a bit more for the same thing. Similar to gas prices going up. If a gallon of gas costs a dollar per gallon more than when I booked my trip, I’m still going on the trip.
This is not happy news for sure. I was really holding out hope that the changes to Genie+ were going to be perks for onsite guests like getting to select 3 lightning lane times in advance of the trip or something along those lines. The fact that we already pay more money to park hop AND we can’t do it until 2:00 pm plus we have to pay for a special priced genie+ ugh it just makes me sad. However, I go once a year (if I am lucky) with a large group. We will 100% be using genie+ every day. While I hate paying for it, I hate standing in lines even more.
Fingers crossed they still decide to give some GOOD news about Genie+ changes for next year.
This is so disappointing. Every year, Disney charges more and more and provides less and less for the cost. We’ve purchased Genie+ in the past, but it’s not likely we’ll be doing that on our next trip in a couple of months, not since we can’t park hop without paying extra to use it. We don’t do the thrill rides like Tower of Terror, Rock ‘n Roller Coaster, Space Mountain, and so on. We would use the Genie+ for Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway, Slinky Dog Dash, and Toy Story Mania, then park hop over to Magic Kingdom and use it for Big Thunder Railroad, Pirates of the Caribbean, and Haunted Mansion. It will no longer be cost effective for us to do that if we have to pay for. They already charge extra for the park hopping option. They shouldn’t punish the people who’ve paid extra by charging them an additional fee.
I agree. I already paid for park hopping, now I have to pay the highest dollar amount for genie +
I am a huge Disney fan, but the amount of $ I’m spending per trip traveling from Wisconsin every year. Something has to give. This makes me sad. I love Disney World.
Never been a fan and never will be a fan of Genie+. They are so much like the airlines who nickel-dime you to death for every aspect of travel, obviously, Disney Magic no longer exist. What is suppose to be a stress free vacation never turns out that way. My wife and I have a week planned in December, but most days will be outside of Disney… AKA Give Kids the World and most likely, Universal – I thought I would never say that… 🙂 Should be an interesting time…
I think the best case change for genie+ is being able to buy ahead of time and not day of; this new dynamic pricing model doesn’t really allow any actual option of saving money when someone has locked in plans at a particular park. If you already have dining booked at MK you’re not really going to be incentivized by lower AK/any other park’s genie+ pricing to switch parks for the day. Or if you do a split stay and match your parks based on that, you’re not likely to change plans. Really hooking you into genie+ at whatever price it is when you plan a trip ahead of time. One could try to gauge pricing based off park tickets which is not an easy feat I guess and try to plan that way.
You know, this is just making Disney WAY too confusing for folks. We’re now pretty experienced park goers (but don’t use Genie+ or LL out of principle, LOL,) but we’ve had four families approach us as the “Disney folks,” and after questioning them on their basic plans and goals, they’re pretty much decided against going to WDW because it’s too overwhelming and expensive once they start hearing about transportation (buses, or Skyliner — when it’s running in good weather, monorail — when it’s running, boats — when there’s enough water to support them running, LOL,) buying Genie+/LL earlier than day guests if staying on property, staying late if deluxe or SOG/Swan/Dolphin, hard-ticketed events, avoiding or strategizing parks during hard-ticket events, ADRs 60+10, cancellation policies for different restaurants (character/signature dining? Pay/penalized if don’t cancel early enough. Regular restaurants, no penalty if within two hours.) Are snacks and drinks included in your hard-ticketed event, or not? (Jollywood?)
I think you see where I’m going with this. It’s not just the crazy expense, but bringing a power brick to charge your phones, charge MB+, update MB+, assign avatars and MBs to each member of the party, making reservations to make a light saber, etc., it’s a LOT of complication for a newb. We enjoy some strategizing, but even we’re burnt out on all the shifting changes. Disney is burning bridges with new families trying to A, afford to go in the first place, and B, figuring it all out! You shouldn’t need a semester of online coursework to take a “vacation” with your kids.
You’re 1000% right – we have young kids & Magic Keys to Disneyland – we toyed with stacking the $99 ticket deal in September with the Hotel deals + Southwest’s crazy sale last week but once we factored in the now mandatory Rental car to get to WDW – we still couldn’t get the pricing anywhere close to our week long trips to California and that’s without even getting into all the scheduling DRs and & prioritizing LL hiccups that simply aren’t that big a deal in CA on any given day. In general I love WDW, but the logistics of it right now, especially with young children, just doesn’t sound like fun to me.
well said.
You’re 100% right, obviously. Some of that was touched upon deep into the commentary, but it just scratched the surface–and the thing is, you also only scratched the surface. There are SO MANY things that Walt Disney World take for granted or assume are “common sense” but are actually the result of years of lived experience.
We often say that if you can master visiting Walt Disney World, you can travel anywhere. Navigating public transit, other languages, and massive cities is absolutely nothing compared to Walt Disney World.
Fantastic post and very very true. Just this week my youngest son and I found ourselves some time to spend four days in Orlando. I haven’t been to Disney in a while after being an annual park guest for about 20 years. We have a brief thought into visiting Disney for those days. After going though all of the details as you have mentioned, we decided that getting a few nights as Lowe’s Royal Pacific at Universal with free express passes was just to simple to pass up given the 500 course Buffett menu that Disney offers. It’s to complex and it’s complex by design so that they can disguise cost.
Yes!!! This!!!
I’ve tried to help a few people plan and the overwhelm instantly takes over. Those families opted not to go. “How can I enjoy myself when I’m the planner? Aren’t you always on your phone?” Yes…yes I was. And I hated it.
The long lost days of Fast Passes – where a vacation felt like a vacation. The new WDW sort of sucks.
Disney, just stop. All of it. You’re losing lifers and their kids (and their grandkids).
I realize that we have to accept that free fast passes are gone. I wouldn’t even mind paying for those guaranteed fast passes so I can plan in advance. How does one plan with genie + after already making dinner reservations 60 days in advance? I always like to know where I will be at what time so I know I won’t be rushing for dinner reservations. This is getting too complicated
In case you haven’t noticed, Disney no longer does things primarily to please customers, it does what it does for its own convenience and profit.
I think that it is an unfair system for those people that purchased park hopper tickets that cost them extra money and may have expected to purchase Genie+ to use for the entire day. With the exception of Magic Kingdom, it looks like the park hopper tourists will now pay more money to get Genie+ for the day. That is a double whammy.
So the change is just useful for park hoppers right? If you do not par hop you just buy genie plus as before?
So the change is just useful for par hoppers right? If you do not par hop you just buy genie plus as before?
Huh.
Well, all I can say is I am looking forward to my trip to Universal next March which I have planned for a while.
still wont be using it it is robbery