Genie+ Price Plummets Post-Peak of Spring Break at Disney World
Genie+ reached a new record high price at Walt Disney World during the weeks around Easter 2023, before plummeting post-peak of spring break. This post covers when the paid FastPass service sold out (and didn’t!), crowds, Lightning Lane availability, and our commentary about this pricing structure and what it could mean going forward. (Updated April 15, 2023.)
For starters, let’s talk crowds. That the week leading of Easter was busy should come as little surprise. Our Spring Break 2023 Crowd Calendar for Walt Disney World predicted that this past week would be the second-worst of spring break. As discussed in our most recent report on wait times and crowds in the parks, that likely will be wrong–because we’re now expecting Easter week to be worse.
During the peak of the Easter holiday at Walt Disney World, crowd levels hit 10/10 with an average wait time at Walt Disney World of 59-61 minutes. That may not seem bad if you’re thinking about headliners, but it’s the average–factoring in perpetual low waits for films and walkthroughs with thrill rides. We’ll be back with a full post mortem crowd report on spring break, but it was more or less as expected.
April 15, 2023 Update: The Genie+ service was first priced at $35 on April 4. Between then and April 6, Genie+ sold out–that’s three consecutive days. On all three of those days, the service sold out at or around 10 am. For those keeping score at home, April 6 was a new record for the earliest Genie+ has ever sold out, going unavailable at around 9:45 am.
Previously, our expectation was that prices would drop over the weekend of Easter. As we noted back when originally published this, during previous weeks of spring break, wait times peaked between Monday and Wednesday, with Thursday plateauing and Friday starting the downward trend before significant drops Saturday afternoon and throughout Sunday. Genie+ has tended to follow suit, with lower prices Friday through Sunday (which is essentially the opposite of how the service had been priced last Christmas season).
However, that did not happen. Genie+ has not sold out since April 6, but wait times have declined significantly. As predicated, the Saturday and Sunday of Easter weekend were significantly less busy than the heart of the week leading up to the holiday. Despite that, the price of Genie+ held at $35. That continued throughout the most recent week, which was still technically part of the spring break season, but is post-peak.
Finally, the price of Genie+ has plummeted today and is now back down at “only” $25 per person. This amounts to a drop of $10 overnight, which is the largest decrease we’ve ever seen for the Genie+ service–another new record! (Although this “record” feels like one about which no one will care.) It’s also still $10 higher than the paid FastPass service was at this time last year, and $25 higher than FastPass+ cost ($0).
From our perspective, the more interesting angle of this news is the fact that Genie+ prices did not drop last week. Based on crowd levels and past pricing precedent, Genie+ should’ve been reduced to the $22 to $29 range last weekend and throughout the past week, with most dates at $25 or $29. What we’re seeing today is really just a delayed reduction of what should’ve occurred gradually (and did as other busy weeks wound down.)
Again, that was post-peak of spring break, which is relatively common knowledge–including internally at Walt Disney World, as reflected in pretty much all other pricing schemes. So it’s not like their forecasts were predicting attendance and they got caught by surprise when crowds were lower. (And even if they did at first, they could’ve reduced the price of Genie+ by mid-week.)
There are a few possibilities as to why Walt Disney World maintained the $35 price point for the last week. One possibility is that the company has found the “sweet spot” for pricing during popular tourist seasons, and it’s $35. Another is that price points have been “reset” and $35 is now the baseline for busier days, with the number only going higher when we enter the next big holiday season. (Thankfully, no week as busy as Easter should arrive until October or November.)
A final possibility is that, after 3 huge days when Genie+ sold out so quickly, Walt Disney World decided to “set it and forget it” until the end of spring break season. That technically happens on April 17, but with the weird weekend fall off we’ve been observing thus far in 2023, the price was instead (appropriately) lowered today instead. The fact that the price dropped down to $25 rather than ‘stair-stepping’ down to $29 first is itself slightly reassuring (although given anticipated crowd levels the next two days, $22 would be more keeping with pre-April 2023 precedent).
Regardless, it’ll be interesting to watch Genie+ pricing play out over summer and into the holiday season. If crowd levels on April 9 or 13 justified $35 pricing for Genie+ (and that wasn’t just a ‘set it and forget it’ oversight), there are going to be a lot of $35 days this summer. More importantly for fans of the Halloween and Christmas season, it’s possible–if not probable–that there are days when Genie+ hits $50 in October through December.
Anyway, what follows is our original commentary about Genie+ pricing, availability, and so forth at Walt Disney World…
I bought and tested Genie+ one day that it sold out and others when it (presumably) came close during spring break, and it was a mix of good and bad. On a positive note, Lightning Lane availability was much better than I had expected–or experienced on past peak dates.
However, Genie+ did not work better at EPCOT or Disney’s Hollywood Studios than conventional strategy. On top of that, the return lines for Lightning Lanes were longer than normal (discussed at length in What Went Wrong During Spring Break at Disney World) and I ended up spending significantly more on Genie+ than the last time I did a week of testing. For me, the negatives outweighed the positives–except at Magic Kingdom (as usual).
When it comes to commentary, the short and simple of it is that there’s a certain amount of price inelasticity when it comes to paid line-skipping. Most guests who don’t balk at the $29 price point also are unlikely to be dissuaded from buying the service when it’s priced at $35.
With that said, we’re now getting to the point where that may no longer be true for many guests. It wasn’t that long ago that Walt Disney World switched to date-based pricing for the Genie+ service; prior to that, every day was priced at $15 plus tax. Many of the people traveling today likely planned their trips back then, budgeting for the old price.
That means the $35 price amounts to an increase of over $20 (post-tax) per person. For a family of 4, that’s a difference of more than $80 per day. That could be a significant added expense in the grand scheme of things, especially since the Genie+ price increase did not occur in a vacuum–everything else increased, too.
However, it is still not a major cost when compared to the cost of a Walt Disney World vacation as a whole, which has been precisely my concern with the company incrementally increasing prices like this, in search of a ceiling. I’m not sure they’re going to find one anytime soon, and worry about where it could eventually end up.
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.
Think about it this way: if you 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 a few dollars extra to avoid long lines and crowds? Or 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 wasted?
Worse wait times creates a higher incentive for bypassing lines, meaning higher uptake of Genie+ even when it costs more. Demand for beating crowds increases as crowds increase, and as such, Genie+ will always be a relatively small price to pay in the grand scheme of things.
Complain as they might, most people will reluctantly fork over the extra money rather than risk a bad trip. They’ve already spent so much–what’s another “few dollars” on top of a multi-thousand dollar trip if it’ll offer a competitive advantage?! (Another way to think of Genie+ is like an insurance policy–it’s not cheap, but $80 is a small price for peace of mind to safeguard the value of that $8,000 vacation.)
In various ways, we’ve seen all of this play out for years with date-based pricing on everything else at Walt Disney World. Whether it be for park tickets, resorts, or the Genie+ service, date-based pricing is an effective way for the company to accomplish its desired optimizations at Walt Disney World. There are certain times of year that experience higher demand for a number of reasons–school schedules, seasonal events, weather, etc.
Charging incrementally higher prices for these times of year allows Walt Disney World to capitalize on and profit from that inherently higher demand. That’s the goal–not preserving the guest experience or whatever the talking point might be. Increasing prices on that quasi-captive audience is simply savvy business or opportunism, depending upon your perspective. I could go on and on. This already isn’t exactly an “in a nutshell” explanation as promised, so I’ll cut it short. (Sorry, it’s a sore subject for me and I let myself get carried away.)
The alternative to continually incrementally increasing prices in search of a ceiling is determining a fair price that balances demand with guest satisfaction, and letting Genie+ sell out at that level. Due to the aforementioned price inelasticity, who knows what the limit is for Genie+ during peak season.
When it moved to date-based pricing, I was inclined to believe $25 would be the magic number. As I sit here today, I truly wonder how much sales would even slow down at $40 or $50. People are willing to throw a lot of money at making problems on vacation go away; long lines and high wait times are the ultimate problem at Walt Disney World.
The problem with that line of thinking is that it also comes with higher expectations. I still remember the first two months after Genie+ first launched up until the week of Thanksgiving; it worked amazingly well and was priced at $15 per person after tax. Even then, diehard fans were understandably upset at going from free FastPass+ to paid line-skipping.
Today, Genie+ is more than double that price, and most average tourists will score fewer worthwhile Lightning Lanes. But at the same time, their expectations for a $35 per person expense will be significantly higher. This isn’t idle speculation; we’ve seen exactly this happen as costs have increased all around Walt Disney World. Guests didn’t magically become more entitled, stressed out, etc–it was all a direct result of higher prices and rising expectations resulting therefrom.
With this comes greater tensions among everyone (guests and Cast Members; guests and other guests), which negatively impacts the overall mood. (Not to go on too much of a tangent, but this is one of the great things about Disneyland–everything is much more laid back and lower stakes, and the energy is obviously different and better as a result.)
Unsurprisingly, that also impacts guest satisfaction scores and intent to return metrics. Since his return, Bob Iger has taken a keen interest in this, already empowering leaders at Walt Disney World and Disneyland to make changes and roll back previously-made and unpopular decisions. Genie+ pricing would seem to fit squarely within that initiative.
Ultimately, there’s no easy fix to this issue for Walt Disney World. No perfect solution exists that balances supply and demand and keeps everyone happy (both those who purchase Genie+ and those who opt against it). There’s also the company’s obvious and understandable 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 $35 per person per day (plus tax).
It will be interesting to see whether Genie+ increasing by $6 overnight–and costing over $20 more than it did during these same dates last year–moves the needle on demand, sales, or anything else in a meaningful way. Personally, I’m skeptical. I think Genie+ will still sell out today, and be priced at $35 again tomorrow. (If history is any indication, it’ll drop on Friday or Saturday.)
If a family visiting this week spent $10,000 on the trip as a whole, I don’t think ~$85 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 today end up feeling like Genie+ was a waste of money, and opt against purchasing it tomorrow or Thursday. (Again, if history is any indication, it won’t sell out later this week.)
But who knows. Maybe that added cost finally will be what results in enough families hitting their breaking point, and perhaps $35 will end up being the equilibrium price of sorts for Genie+ at Walt Disney World. My foolish hope is that it’ll be rejected outright at $35, and Disney won’t broach the $30 mark again. 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!
Long-term, the solution to all of this is building more attractions. 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!)
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 Genie+ selling out at Walt Disney World today despite hitting a new record high price of $35? Disappointed that it’s happening, or do you see the upside from a lowered demand perspective? Thoughts on our perspective that demand for Genie+ will continue to be highest on the busiest/most expensive days? Any other considerations we failed to take into account or details we missed/got wrong? Will you purchase Genie+ or is $35+ after tax per day too 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!
My family of 8 will be going to WDW next month for a week only because my husband and I promised the kids and grandkids prior to covid that we would take them. Promise fulfilled, next year, my husband and I are going to Europe for five weeks for less money than next month’s “vacation” will cost. Disney has finally broken the “spell” that we were under, automatically vacationing there every year. I will not say that I will never go back, but I will say that ten/fifteen years will be soon enough for me as I don’t see Bob Iger (not the knight in shining armor everyone makes him out to be) making any positive changes any time soon and everyone knows any type of ride takes approximately five years and even then it’s a ride based on a movie instead of something unique and creative. The magic is finally gone and, I surprise myself when I say this, I am happy and excited about it. I have a whole new world to explore, not the same frustrating, expensive, app driven, crowded one that I have been subjecting myself to for 30 years. As Genie says in Aladdin, “I’m free”.
I will never pay extra for this! They took the Fastpass system and turned it into a money grab for people with more money than brains. Think about it, you just paid major bucks to get in he park and now they want you to pay extra to see the rides quicker Forget it. You have to be up at the rack of dawn, get on your phone and HOPE you can get a time. Vacation is a time I want to be away from my phone
If you hate G+, the price increase is good news because fewer buy it, and more go standby.
As Tom’s post points out, Genie+ sales are highly price inelastic; after the price increase, sales increased rather than decreased, to the point of selling out.
If guests max out Genie+ at this time of year at these prices, it could hit $70 per person per day in December. (Seriously, if I was the type to spend the money to be at WDW on Christmas or New Year’s Day, I’d really consider it.)
Tom, I went to DW during spring break. Genie + was $29. I have been before to Disney before Genie and paid extra for the Park Hopper. This time b/c of price for Genie. I decided to not do Park Hopper. I am curious if others are like me and are moving money from one expense to another. We also opted out of character meals as a way to offset cost b/c we felt we had to do Genie to be able to ride what we wanted. We did one day in each park and didn’t do genie in AK and Epcot. Disney is so expensive without being nickled and dimed. This will probably be our last trip as a result.
I had the same thought, that the increase will pull from dollars that would have otherwise been spent at WDW anyway. I liked G+ and will use it again if we return, even at higher prices. But if so we would definitely drop any character meals, probably all table service in fact, and limit gift shop spend.
I’m here now and yes we still bought it with the price increase- but then we also pushed our toddler too hard and too long to “get our money’s worth”, resulting in an early evening that was just no fun for anyone. I’m a lifelong Disney fan but to someone’s earlier point, I certainly wouldn’t be had this week been my first experience. This is certainly a step backwards and really throws into question Bob Iger’s comments on pricing. Something has to change. They are losing long term repeat business from loyal fans that they are disenfranchising. While we will come back, we won’t be returning nearly as frequently- and I doubt our first time family that is here with us is being bitten by the magic to feel like they have to come back.
This really makes me sad that they are charging so much for what used to be free. We take our whole family once every two years on a vacation to WDW ( there are 27 of us in all including our kids, grandkids, and great grandkids) We are DVC members so lodging is taken care of. To add $35 a person for Genie+ along with the price of our tickets is mind boggling. It is becoming almost impossible for families to be able to vacation at WDW. We could take the family to Europe for less money. We have been going to WDW since it opened and our family really enjoys it. I sure hope that they can come up with a plan to make it more affordable. I agree with others that when people are spending so much money to do everything, they get very tense on getting their money’s worth and the magic leaves. Genie+ has not been an easy app and I really don’t like the fact that you have to always be on your phone and not enjoying the moment. At least the free fast pass system let you plan your trip ahead of time and not while you were there.
I thought my family had become lifelong fans after our last trip in November 2019. I kept putting off our next trip due to wanting things as close to “normal” as possible including BBB reopening.
So we’re headed back the week of Memorial Day right after our young children get out of school. Our trip will cost around $8,500 with genie+ probably adding at least another 600. No, it’s not going to “break the bank” but it’s still absurd., especially if we find it adds little value.
Like you said, I don’t want to spend any more of our family’s vacation time in lines than we have to, and we’ll pay “whatever we have to” to “save” this trip. But I’ll tell you where we won’t be spending 9k on next year’s vacation is Disney World.
Same here. We booked a Royal Caribbean cruise for less than just what tickets to Disney cost us last trip. We’ve moved on.
Unfortunately, I think a trip to Disney has become like buying a Harley in some ways…if you have to ask the price, it’s not for you. For a lot of people, once they have decided to spend/splurge on the trip, there isn’t a lot of strict budgeting going on. Add-ons, fees, etc. are shrugged off, added to the bill, and paid for later.
All of this just makes me yearn for the Walt Disney World of 10 years ago. I go frequently enough to not get too out of sorts if I can’t ride attractions one after another. I am very content to enjoy the atmosphere especially at night, But things just seem off these days.
I stand in solidarity with you.
So much for Iger bemoaning the fact that prices rose too quickly, too often. At what point do the lightening lanes wait times = standby wait times. With the constant breaking down of rides, return lines are often horrific for a paid service.
We are going next week to stay at a resort and enjoy the pool but are not visiting the parks. It would be ~$700 for our family of 4 just to get into MK for a single day. Then, you add another $120 or so for Genie+ because… nightmare-ish crowds. So, $820 before we spend a dollar on food.
We went to the parks in January with lower crowds, and even that experience was stressful to “make the most” of the money we spent. Broken down rides, incredibly long standby lines that barely moved, constantly scanning Genie+ options to see how best to use our time.. It made it easy to decide not to go back this time.
It’s surprising to me that WDW doesn’t face larger backlash re: the value proposition in how the parks are currently operating.
To comment on the need for increased capacity, something I’ve been thinking about lately (particularly after reading your post on Moana’s journey of water) is that I wish Disney would add more play/rest space to the parks. Not necessarily big attractions, just space to be. One of my fondest memories of wdw as a kid was the now-defunct honey I shrunk the kids playground. I think a themed play area like that with shaded seating for adults could do a lot for satisfaction relative to cost, and I don’t even have kids. I get that e ticket attractions draw people, but it seems like demand is plenty high?
I still wonder how much of this is in a vacuum. While I completely agree that on an overall $8000 per trip, paying $35 per person for Genie+ might not be the balking point, I still wonder how much of an effect it has on spending elsewhere. Like what if a family originally planned on about $100 per kid per day for snacks and souvenirs, but now that Genie+ is 20 bucks more, they’re instead only planning to spend 80? Sure, Disney is still getting their money, but they’re not ultimately getting 20 per person more. With costs rising across the board, I have to think these individual purchases are shrinking, even if guest spending is up right now just because of the overall cost. It starts to have a mental impact, especially when deciding between skipping lines, something that could have a real impact on your enjoyment of the day, versus opting out of a specialty milkshake to get a free water with dinner because you feel you’ve spent too much. That’s how we (admittedly quasi-local APs who are far from once in a lifetime guests) handle it. Since we can usually only visit on weekends/holidays, we’ve pretty much resigned ourselves to getting Genie+, but our spending on other stuff has decreased significantly and we include it in some of our other calculations (for example, we’ve been staying offsite much more often than usual to keep hotel costs down and then use what we save to cover Genie+ . . . meaning Disney might get our $35, or $70 for two people, but not our $200 per night and whatever else we might have spent at the hotel quick service and gift shop after getting back from the parks).
This is exactly what happened for us at out September trip. We stayed at a moderate instead of our usual deluxe resort. We ordered door dash for dinners instead of going to the WDW restaurants. We didn’t buy any snacks. We brought granola bars into the parks. It wasn’t all that much fun because we never scrimped before. We always felt we bought value when visiting Disney but now it just isn’t there. At these current genie plus rates we would have spent an extra 175 bucks on a lousy app.
That’s how my last trip went. Because we knew we would add one ILL and three days of Genie+, we cut back on food costs. We did zero table service, which I have;*never* done before, always relishing one nice sit-down meal a day. Basically spent half as much on food. Now, I would never have taken that path if it was my first trip, but I think you’re right that repeat visitors will try to level their spending with cuts in other areas.
Warning, math.
Before tax, the lower price of a 5-day ticket is $492, but for today would be $620, about a 25% increase over the “starting at” price. The highest price is $709, 44% above the lowest price and 14% higher than today. If price fluctuations for tickets could predict increases in Genie+, we would hit a peak Genie+ of $40 in December.
Given how much Genie+ has increased in price so far, $40 as a peak is probably too low an estimate.
“Given how much Genie+ has increased in price so far, $40 as a peak is probably too low an estimate.”
I would agree with that.
My guess is it goes to $50.
So, everybody was so happy to hear that parking at the resorts is free of charge again. Just imagine a family of four at a moderate resort a year ago: Genie plus $15 each plus $20 parking = $80
Today Genie plus $35 each = $140
But, hey, parking is free again, even for those who arrive without a car (like me…) !
Personally, I was happy because of what elimination of the parking fee symbolized–a step in the right direction and a move away from nickel and diming.
Sadly, this symbolizes more or less the opposite and is a step back in the wrong direct.
I wouldn’t get bogged down in the specific numbers, as both parking and Genie+ are expenses that not all guests are incurring. We’d also then have to look at dining costs (higher) and effective hotel rates (lower due to better discounts). On balance, the overall cost for the average family is almost certainly higher for the same dates this year than last year.
I agree with your statement but at the same time when they had Magic express that was “free” and people that drove had to pay parking and still had to pay that built in cost for that free bus ride to and from airport.
I wonder too if Disneyland still feels more relaxed for runDisney weekends. I’ll find out next January. I already feel like I can be more relaxed since there are so many rides and I don’t feel pressure to get Genie+ right away. I do at WDW since the parks only have so many attractions, and you can’t park hop until the afternoon. I can entertain myself in DL for a full day without feeling rushed.
Doesn’t it seem likely that the equilibrium price for Genie + looks a lot like this?
https://www.universalorlando.com/web/en/us/tickets-packages/express-passes
My long answer is here: https://www.disneytouristblog.com/universal-express-pass-lightning-lanes-genie-plus-disney-world-comparison/
The short answer is that they’re fundamentally different products (with Express Pass being far superior if pricing is equal), and also that both demand and supply differ at Walt Disney World. As a result, it’s very difficult to say.
I would definitely defer to you. You are clearly very thoughtful and realistic about all of your topics. It’s why your blog is the best planning tool out there, in my opinion, so thanks. (Your beautiful photos are icing on the cake.)
With that said, I assume that the original concept for Fastpass was to spread crowds and line-ups efficiently, and hence why it was free. As I understand it, the reason they started charging was as much or more because it was no longer having that effect, or it was diminishing (making money icing on cake for Disney). Vs Universal Express Pass was solely about making money. Again, I assume this: I don’t have any knowledge about any of this. But if those two things are generally true, and Genie + is effectively a complete failure at more efficiently distributing crowds, doesn’t it seem like that Disney just decides to “cash in” and (would this seem correct), a significant salutary effect is that line-ups go back to being much more reasonable / fair / equitable for Standby, assuming the take-up for $100-$300 genie + is negligible?
I’m reminded of the scene in the movie War Games when the computer says, “A strange game. The only winning move is not to play.”
After attempting to join the virtual queue for GOTG yesterday and being shut out again, (this is our third trip and I have been unsuccessful each time) I bought the ILL. Tomorrow, I will probably buy ILL for Tron.
I bought Genie+ for one day on the last two trips and found it useless. I won’t be buying it again.
I used to enjoy WDW because it was hassle free (Magical Express with a young child was like gold with luggage delivery). You knew going in if you had fastpass+ or not and could adjust plans and itineraries accordingly. Now, you must have a park reservation and it might turn out to be worthless if you can’t secure a virtual queue boarding group. But you can’t just go to a different park when it doesn’t work out.
Genie+ itself is more hassle.
Basically, the level of hassle makes the park experience not worth the trouble. To add insult to injury, it is much, much more expensive than it was.
We have the coveted annual passes that no one can purchase right now. When they expire shortly, we don’t plan to renew.
It’s time for a break until conditions improve. We already spoken with our daughter and even at her young age, she is in agreement. If the mood strikes we may occasionally purchase an after hours ticket or hit a water park. But otherwise, we are done for the foreseeable future. I’m flexible enough to never say never and to keep my ear to the ground in case there’s improvement. But for now, we need a break.
My husband and I haven’t been to Universal, but our daughter went on a school trip and loved it. We will likely bring her there and see if that’s more our speed.
When I see these reports and hear about the crowds, I think about how much our love for the parks is influenced by having been fortunate enough to go during non peak times.
I can’t imagine if our “once in a lifetime” trip had been during these types of crowds, we would have gone back/become big fans.
I could see managing the crowds now having been several times, but I think I would have been put off if that was our initial exposure.
“I can’t imagine if our ‘once in a lifetime’ trip had been during these types of crowds, we would have gone back/become big fans.”
That’s an interesting and great point.
I wonder what the ‘lifelong fan formation rate’ is right now versus May, September, etc. I’m also curious as to when it’s lowest and highest. My bet would be that the peak of summer is when it’s lowest and early December is highest.
But if your first trip is during a busy or “worse” time of year, you also don’t have a frame of reference. I suspect the majority of first time visitors take whatever happens in the parks in stride because to them, that’s just what Disney World is. And I think most people who are Disney Parks fans were going to be fans regardless of what their first exposure to the parks were. (They certainly keep going regardless of how expensive/bad they claim the parks have gotten!)
“this is one of the great things about Disneyland–everything is much more laid back and lower stakes, and the energy is obviously different and better as a result.”
very much this. we visited disneyland in september and had a fantastic time with very little stress, like a disney vacation should be. we rope dropped every morning and did everything we wanted without genie plus. this genie pricing just makes me feel gross. on principle from the beginning i was never going to purchase it and this only cements that decision further. we’ll stick with disneyland, disney cruises, and maybe even disney overseas for now (as well as non-disney). can get more for similar pricing and less stress.
Disneyland has been very busy and has some of the same issues as Walt Disney World, but it’s nowhere near as pronounced–and the crowds are still very “beatable” in California with even the slightest bit of strategy and planning. (And thankfully, that planning is not nearly as complex as WDW.)
This is so true. There is a laid back air to DL that I just love. It’s a much mellower experience.
This is so true. There is a mellow laid backness and spontaneity to DL that I just love.
I must say that being at Disneyland doesn’t feel like I’m truly on “vacation.” The theme parks are fun and have the requisite charm and great weather of course, but the immersive experience at Disney World is not comparable. When you enter the gates of Disney World, you get a feeling that quite frankly you can’t experience in Anaheim. Being inside the DW “bubble” is tangible, and its themed resorts and their corresponding dining, among many other things are game changers. Simply enter your gondola at the Skyliner with your family as a mode of transportation over to EPCOT, descend upon the architectural wonders of France at the entrance of the World Showcase and tell me I’m wrong.
building attractions takes time… expanding park hours could be done tomorrow. 8AM to 1AM for MK during spring break used to be normal, today it’s 9-11. 3 more hours at MK (and maybe 2 at the other parks) allows for more rides and people to spread their day out a bit.
Related to Genie+, we visited DLP between Christmas and New Years and again for a day and a half during our spring break. We really did *not* miss Geine/MaxPass/Fastpass while we were there. Just look at wait time on the app, pick a ride and get in line. It was refreshing.
Staffing still isn’t there for Magic Kingdom operating 8 am to 1 am as it should this time of year. But I totally agree that would be the optimal short-term solution.
Another fix that actually COULD be implemented is having 2 nightly performances of Happily Ever After this week. I’m guessing it’s too late to add those to the schedule since Walt Disney World doesn’t just have excess pyro lying around, but someone should’ve foreseen that.