Disney Genie and Genie+ at Walt Disney World

[Ayla]

What a $hit show.

 

[kong1802]

I could be wrong on all of this.

The rumor is that we'll soon see per-park Genie+ pricing. So if you want to use G+ at two parks, it'll potentially be 2 separate purchases.

No word yet on prices.

I don't expect prices to drop, at least at MK and HS. For one thing, a price drop would essentially be a discount to guests who only visit one park per day. And there's already enough demand at the popular rides. A price drop would only make that worse.

I've heard (but not seen) that the MK price will be the same as "all four parks", which would encourage you to go somewhere else after the MK. That's another way of shifting demand.

I'd expect lower prices at AK and EP, in part to encourage people to go to those parks. Also, as we've shown with ETPE, there's really no need for G+ for resort guests using ETPE at AK. So this per-park strategy allows them to reprice the value proposition.

I still expect per-park prices to fluctuate every day.

I've not seen how IT will implement all of this. I'd expect that any sort of change/refund will require you to visit Guest Relations, since I doubt that will be built into MDE.

ETA: This is just for WDW, not DLR, which is not changing (I'm told).

To clarify, are you saying there will be an "all four parks" genie + pass? Potentially?

 

[jpeden]

Nothing official yet. I've heard AK and EP pricing might be lower as an incentive. I don't expect MK or HS pricing to drop much, if at all.

I was also told there wasn't an IT budget for scenarios like refunds or "I bought for this park but now we're headed to that park." So expect manual interventions there. I could be wrong.

So is there an option to buy it for multiple parks or is it a la carte only?

This is going to be an absolute cluster at Guest Relations.

 

[lentesta]

To clarify, are you saying there will be an "all four parks" genie + pass? Potentially?

Yeah, and I'm told it'll be the same (or close to) the price for just the MK. We'll see about that, but I'll be surprised if it's the same.

 

[lentesta]

So is there an option to buy it for multiple parks or is it a la carte only?

This is going to be an absolute cluster at Guest Relations.

Good question. I was told separate purchases for each park. But I don't know how accurate that is - it might be separate costs in the same shopping cart transaction, if that makes sense. We should know soon.

 

[Ayla]

I don't even know what to say about this, anymore. It's more along the lines of "what the eff are they THINKING?!"

 

[lentesta]

I have calls for most of the rest of the afternoon, so signing off for now. Godspeed, kids.

 

[mattpeto]

I was also told there wasn't an IT budget for scenarios like refunds or "I bought for this park but now we're headed to that park." So expect manual interventions there. I could be wrong.

Why would this be an issue? Nobody can pre-purchase Genie+?

Reservations are wide open for changes if needed.

 

[Figgy1]

I have calls for most of the rest of the afternoon, so signing off for now. Godspeed, kids.

Good luck!

 

[DisneyHead123]

Yikes. If true this is astoundingly out of touch. And I say that as someone who admires a lot about Disney and think people are much too hard on them with the armchair quarterbacking criticism. But this is just… wow. Read the room. Customers are already starting to stay home, and I’m convinced part of that has to do with word-of-mouth happening during post Covid trips (no ME, Genie, big price increases even as they suffered from labor and supply shortages.) I honestly didn’t hear a single positive review from anyone who went during that time span if they were a repeat visitor (the one exception was first time visitors). They are squeezing their golden goose to borderline chokehold levels to fund a streaming service with no clear path to ever making that profitable.

 

[dreday3]

Yikes. If true this is astoundingly out of touch. And I say that as someone who admires a lot about Disney and think people are much too hard on them with the armchair quarterbacking criticism. But this is just… wow. Read the room. Customers are already starting to stay home, and I’m convinced part of that has to do with word-of-mouth happening during post Covid trips (no ME, Genie, big price increases even as they suffered from labor and supply shortages.) I honestly didn’t hear a single positive review from anyone who went during that time span if they were a repeat visitor (the one exception was first time visitors). They are squeezing their golden goose to borderline chokehold levels to fund a streaming service with no clear path to ever making that profitable.

Yeah. I'm pretty shocked at this. I'm glad we have no trips planned.

 

[SamusAranX]

If this is true, yikes.

As others said: why? Are they really that dead set against expanding capacity to address the core of the problem? Who is upstairs with this boneheaded idea? They are playing musical chairs again with guests except there’s not as many chairs anymore

 

[Andrew C]

hah! What happened to making things eaiser...

 

[gerarar]

So there’s basically going to be 5 Genie+ packages?

Package A - MK, HS, EC, AK
Package B - MK
Package C - HS
Package D - EC
Package E - AK

Package A is what we have currently, and will be priced just about the same as in the current Genie+ dynamic pricing model.

But now there’s options (Packages B-E) for guests who are just doing one park one day, which are plenty if not the majority of guests (especially at MK). These are going to be priced similar to A or lower, giving a “discount” to those one-park guests.

Idk if it’s more confusing imo, it’s just more options. Definitely more price points to keep track of though lol.

Now if I misunderstood and they’re getting rid of Package A in this scenario, then I’ll be throwing hands. I love park hopping and the ability to schedule rides for other parks while I’m in a different one.

 

[jpeden]

So there’s basically going to be 5 Genie+ packages?

Package A - MK, HS, EC, AK
Package B - MK
Package C - HS
Package D - EC
Package E - AK

Package A is what we have currently, and will be priced just about the same as in the current Genie+ dynamic pricing model.

But now there’s options (Packages B-E) for guests who are just doing one park one day, which are plenty if not the majority of guests (especially at MK). These are going to be priced similar to A or lower, giving a “discount” to those one-park guests.

Idk if it’s more confusing imo, it’s just more options. Definitely more price points to keep track of though lol.

Now if I misunderstood and they’re getting rid of Package A in this scenario, then I’ll be throwing hands. I love park hopping and the ability to schedule rides for other parks while I’m in a different one.

Yeah if option A is gone it may be enough for us to cancel our trip. That would be insane if so.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

I definitely can see why they would want this and also to me there is a lot more value to G+ for MK and DHS days and if you are hoping, so I am sure they see much lower sales of G+ for people that have reservations at Epcot and AK

But yeah, adding another element of complexity is probably not what most people are looking for

 

[DCBaker]

Here's a look at the new pricing structure -

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Yeah if option A is gone it may be enough for us to cancel our trip. That would be insane if so.

Reading how Len wrote it, Option A will still be there and MK only would be same $ as Option A

Just would be cheaper if you are doing one of the other parks only (though probably means more that the MK or all parks option will be higher more often)

 

[dreday3]

Here's a look at the new pricing structure -

Will there still be dynamic pricing?

 

[mattpeto]

Will there still be dynamic pricing?

Oh yeah, I can't imagine it won't be.