I'm finding it difficult to rationalise what the business model is here. It seems to be aimed at the short-term high profit gain, whilst alienating their own long-term customer base. Reading a lot of responses to this Genie it appears to be virtually all negative, which isn't at all surprising. But it's not just the Genie app, it's also having to pay a premium on top of the app for some Lightening Lane rides as well as the removal of free parking, the ending of the Magical Express and the cropping down of Magic Hours for Disney Guests, that's before we throw in increased of turnstile prices and staying at resorts - of which there is no reason to stay there anymore.
A lot of people used to come to WDW almost religiously. For them, there is no place like any other. People come from all over the world to visit and stay at WDW, and have done repeatedly for years, if not decades. Surely, it's from them where the long term profits come from. But what has happened? Disney now appears to have priced themselves out of people's reach. It is no longer viable to come to WDW. Throwing in all the price rises, app and premium costs has made coming to the World outside their price range. All this extra people are being forced to pay is pushing people away to other places.
We were planning to come back to the world after a few years absence and looked forward to coming, right up until I saw that video of that very nice person trying to tell me I have to drag my phone around the park with me (which I don't want to) because an "old favourite" of Fastpass is being retired and for that, Mickey Mouse is going to shake out the contents of my wallet for me. This app is not a cheap minor add-on, it's going to add a considerable percentage to the whole vacation. Doing some totting up, to come to WDW as we always have done is going to cost us $3,600 on top of what we would normally pay (That is, app, parking, resort and tickets). And what are we going to get for this $3,600? We would be simply paying for everything which used to be free, but nothing which would add to our vacation. $3,600 is easily the cost of a vacation at another destination and it's far beyond acceptable. "We" could afford the extra, but we won't on pay it on principle and I can fully understand the reaction of those who want to come to WDW but can no longer afford it - because of a stupid app.
Of course, then there are the practicalities of using this stupid app, apart from helping Disney to empty my bank balance. Yes, you don't need to have it, but with the extortionate pricing of it, how many guests are going to resort to using the Standby lines? I expect line wait times to explode to maybe three or four hours long to save their $15/day/person. In other words, your time in the parks will be reduced to a few rides if you can't stump up the $. There again, if all the Lighting Lanes reservations go live at 7:00am, they will probably be taken long before the park actually opens. So you could turn up at the ticket office, buy your app and find there is nothing to pick from because everyone else has taken everything before you even showed up. And how many people actually want to drag a mobile phone around the park all day? I don't. Nor do I want to have my day regimented and be told where I have to go and when. I also don't want Disney tracking where I go and what I do.
Someone really needs to sit down and think very carefully about this and what they are doing to their customer base. If Disney wants to recoup after Covid, then incentivise people to come, NOT put them off. A full park will make money. An empty one won't.
