Disney Genie and Genie+ at Walt Disney World

MisterPenguin

President of Animal Kingdom
Premium Member
Not sure if this has been discussed before, but I just realized how much Disney emphasizes "Theme Park" when addressing Animal Kingdom. I know DAK struggled initially to convince people it wasn't just a zoo, but are they still finding that as an issue?
Yeah, that is funny. Especially if you think that anyone who doesn't know DAK is a theme park is probably scratching their head wondering "What's an "EPCOT"?"
 

monothingie

Turn those machines back on!
Premium Member
Odd. The longest wait time right now is 7DMT with a relatively reasonable 65 minute wait. I sense some shenanigans afoot.
 

JD80

Well-Known Member
I was talking about this on a discord server this morning about the next evolution of G+. I wonder what would be the reception of something like "G+ Limited" for resort guests. They would get it for free and it would provide 1 or 2 free LL selections per day. All rides would be tiered and the free version wouldn't include top tier attractions.

Then you get the options of paying for G+ as it is today and upgrading it.

I'm surprised they haven't done this already. It amounts to a free trial like you see in other industries/products and it highly incentivizes you to purchase the product where you may not have anyway.
 

Andrew25

Well-Known Member
I was talking about this on a discord server this morning about the next evolution of G+. I wonder what would be the reception of something like "G+ Limited" for resort guests. They would get it for free and it would provide 1 or 2 free LL selections per day. All rides would be tiered and the free version wouldn't include top tier attractions.

Then you get the options of paying for G+ as it is today and upgrading it.

I'm surprised they haven't done this already. It amounts to a free trial like you see in other industries/products and it highly incentivizes you to purchase the product where you may not have anyway.
If they're seeing demand drop for onsite resorts, that'll be their next move. But it seems like they're trying to push free dining plans instead.
 

Chip Chipperson

Well-Known Member
Not sure if this has been discussed before, but I just realized how much Disney emphasizes "Theme Park" when addressing Animal Kingdom. I know DAK struggled initially to convince people it wasn't just a zoo, but are they still finding that as an issue?
Given the stupidity of some people, they probably just want to make sure people understand it doesn't let them cut the line for a table at Jiko.
 

Andrew25

Well-Known Member
You're paying to get into the park and paying to ride don't understand why people keep throwing money away on this
Because an extra $25-35 a person a day is a rain drop compared to the cost of a total WDW vacation. What's an extra $25 to secure a few attractions when you are spending thousands on hotels, airfare, etc.?

Don't get me wrong, as a local I'm lucky to not have to ever consider the purchase of it... buy boy do I laugh (then get a bit angered) when I hear people mention how if it weren't for the $25 a day, they wouldn't have been able to enjoy their visit.

What I find deplorable is often times you'll see VQ sell out for Tron or GOTG and there's still availability for Lightning Lane. Not too mention how many empty seats are being dispatched in the first and last hour of operations.
 

Lirael

Well-Known Member
You're paying to get into the park and paying to ride don't understand why people keep throwing money away on this
Not everyone is going enough times to disney that they know this is bad. Everyone I know either rarely goes to disney, or is going for the first time. These people get there and don't want to miss out on stuff because they dont know if or when they'll ever be back, which is even harder when you need to explain that to a little kid.

So they pay up, come back and tell me happily how they did everything they wanted... but then acted shocked at the frequency I go to disney. Because to them it was a way expensive experience that isnt worth going back too soon

Disney succeeding in squeezing more money in the short run... but in the long run they've given guests the impression that disney is not feasible repeatedly, as its so expensive, so they decrease the times they go back, if they ever do.
 

Andrew25

Well-Known Member
Not everyone is going enough times to disney that they know this is bad. Everyone I know either rarely goes to disney, or is going for the first time. These people get there and don't want to miss out on stuff because they dont know if or when they'll ever be back, which is even harder when you need to explain that to a little kid.

So they pay up, come back and tell me happily how they did everything they wanted... but then acted shocked at the frequency I go to disney. Because to them it was a way expensive experience that isnt worth going back too soon

Disney succeeding in squeezing more money in the short run... but in the long run they've given guests the impression that disney is not feasible repeatedly, as its so expensive, so they decrease the times they go back, if they ever do.
Bingo. It's the reason why dining packages and dessert parties are popular as well. Why worry about getting a seat at Fantasmic when you can just purchase a dining package that guarantees it. Don't have to worry about shelling $5K on a trip and miss out on something.

The issue with WDW is that they haven't build up enough capacity, so if you missed out on just one experience you feel like you wasted money/time for the entire trip.
 

Purduevian

Well-Known Member
Not sure if this has been discussed before, but I just realized how much Disney emphasizes "Theme Park" when addressing Animal Kingdom. I know DAK struggled initially to convince people it wasn't just a zoo, but are they still finding that as an issue?
It might be because it's the only park that shares a name with a hotel (Animal Kingdom Lodge)? I think Disneyland is usually referred to "Disneyland Park" on a lot of official stuff since there is also a "Disneyland Hotel".
 

HauntedPirate

Park nostalgist
Premium Member
Not everyone is going enough times to disney that they know this is bad. Everyone I know either rarely goes to disney, or is going for the first time. These people get there and don't want to miss out on stuff because they dont know if or when they'll ever be back, which is even harder when you need to explain that to a little kid.

So they pay up, come back and tell me happily how they did everything they wanted... but then acted shocked at the frequency I go to disney. Because to them it was a way expensive experience that isnt worth going back too soon

Disney succeeding in squeezing more money in the short run... but in the long run they've given guests the impression that disney is not feasible repeatedly, as its so expensive, so they decrease the times they go back, if they ever do.

And they want those of us with history and memories of what used to be to just go away. But we are the ones who created the current crop of park guests they so fervently want to milk of every possible dollar. What happens when those people stop going, and more importantly, their kids don't take their families in the future? Who cares, there's always more people wanting to go... right? My family has been lucky enough to have gone a lot over the last 20 years. Based on their comments, my kids have no intention of bringing their families there.
 

"El Gran Magnifico"

Bring Me A Shrubbery
Premium Member
Once upon a time Disney charged a very nominal amount to enter the park. They relied on people paying for the rides they wanted to experience by purchasing these nifty little ticket booklets and assigning an attraction value to the rides themselves. Concept was simple. The more you ride, the more you pay.

Then some exec said, let's just gouge the price and up the charge for them for coming into the park. Don't care if they ride one ride or ten. Heck, let them ride whatever they want as many times as they want.

A few minor tweaks here and there. The gouging continues, and now they also want you to pay for the rides again.

Got to hand it to them. They've mastered how to ever so slightly turn the lukewarm water into a boil without people even blinking an eye.
 

HauntedPirate

Park nostalgist
Premium Member
Once upon a time Disney charged a very nominal amount to enter the park. They relied on people paying for the rides they wanted to experience by purchasing these nifty little ticket booklets and assigning an attraction value to the rides themselves. Concept was simple. The more you ride, the more you pay.

Then some exec said, let's just gouge the price and up the charge for them for coming into the park. Don't care if they ride one ride or ten. Heck, let them ride whatever they want as many times as they want.

A few minor tweaks here and there. The gouging continues, and now they also want you to pay for the rides.

Got to hand it to them. They've mastered how to ever so slightly turn the lukewarm water into a boil without people even blinking an eye.

This!

I've said similar things for years. Put a frog into boiling water and it tries to jump out. Put it into cold water but slowly turn up the heat and it never notices. Remember when $100/ticket was a threshold neither Disney nor Universal wanted to cross? Once they crossed that line, there was no more psychological barrier to worry about so prices could be moved upwards with impunity.

Can't wait for the dusted defenders to claim, "Yeah, well... Eisner raised prices 30% back in 1983!!!" as if it's some kind of apt comparison.
 

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