Disney Genie and Genie+ at Walt Disney World

[Basil of Baker Street]

But the Uni pass is like ONE FOURTH the price of a Disney one.

And right now, Disney doesn’t offer crap extra. They have fireworks again, Uni had them months ago.

Magic Kingdoms last E ticket was SPLaSH MOUNTAIN! And Tron isn’t one, and is such a theming fail, the fact they cloned it to put right next to another roller coaster in a box speaks volumes about Imagineering outside RotR.

Top uni pass is over $600. Its about half compared to disneys plat.

 

[flynnibus]

I don’t even know what you’re arguing against here, because it isn’t anything I said.

Actually it is...

WDW reduces staffing and runs rides at lower capacity to cut costs. [...] The upshot is still a diminished, artificially prolonged experience for guests.

You're trying to draw a correlation between Disney's operations and people's length of stays -- inferring Disney is manipulating operations to prolong and benefit from longer stays.

Disney doesn't want you one and done in WDW - they also aren't going to realistically convince you to stay longer because you know it's more crowded in June then Feb. People book stays based on their activities - not expected wait times.

 

[flynnibus]

But the Uni pass is like ONE FOURTH the price of a Disney one.

And right now, Disney doesn’t offer crap extra. They have fireworks again, Uni had them months ago.

Magic Kingdoms last E ticket was SPLaSH MOUNTAIN! And Tron isn’t one, and is such a theming fail, the fact they cloned it to put right next to another roller coaster in a box speaks volumes about Imagineering outside RotR.

None of this is on point.. so now you're just flailing.

 

[Hawg G]

One fourth? I think your math is a bit off.

Your opinion is that Tron is not at E-ticket?

Season passes are $1300:for people in 49 states.

Is Tron open? And no, a bad quality coaster system in a box with random lights and absoutly nothing FROM Tron, except the ride vehicle is not an E ticket.

SPLASH MOUNTAIN, Dude. 1989

 

[peter11435]

Season passes are $1300:for people in 49 states.

Is Tron open? And no, a bad quality coaster system in a box with random lights and absoutly nothing FROM Tron, except the ride vehicle is not an E ticket.

SPLASH MOUNTAIN, Dude. 1989

Yes. And the comparable universal pass is considerably more than 1/4 of that.

Did I say tron was open? Obviously it’s not open. But it absolutely is an E… regardless of your opinion.

Splash Mountain opened in 1992, Dude.

 

[Hawg G]

Yes. And the comparable universal pass is considerably more than 1/4 of that.

Did I say tron was open? Obviously it’s not open. But it absolutely is an E… regardless of your opinion.

Splash Mountain opened in 1992, Dude.

Yup, 1989 was DL. 1992 is nowhere near as bad.

 

[peter11435]

Yup, 1989 was DL. 1992 is nowhere near as bad.

You should get your facts straight if you’re going to attempt to make poor arguments.

 

[Casper Gutman]

Actually it is...


You're trying to draw a correlation between Disney's operations and people's length of stays -- inferring Disney is manipulating operations to prolong and benefit from longer stays.

Disney doesn't want you one and done in WDW - they also aren't going to realistically convince you to stay longer because you know it's more crowded in June then Feb. People book stays based on their activities - not expected wait times.

For some reason you are passionate about this issue, but you are being blatantly dishonest about what I am saying, and you need to stop. In my short post you felt the need to edit, it specifically notes that the purpose of reduced staffing is to reduce costs, and extended stays might be a byproduct. Nowhere do I say or imply that the primary motive behind inadequate staffing is extending stays.

 

[Casper Gutman]

I think that's the opposite of what Disney wants.. and I mentioned it way back earlier in the thread. Disney won't want 'commando paid mode' to result in people making shorter trips. Disney wants those bodies on site. Yes, there is a gradient between someone who has less funds remaining vs someone with freshly stocked wallets so you don't want people OVERstaying their time... but Disney also doesn't want to become a 2-3day wonder. There is a balance point between length of stay and optimizing spend. Disney wants all your dollars... not for you to spend 2-3 days and then go spend elsewhere.

The uni comparison from the other poster is also just a really bad one. UNI doesn't have the product to support a 5-10 day trip and their pricing model reflects that. It's also why they've been adding parks and not just making their existing parks 'better'. So pointing out UNI's ticket model vs Disney's is very much apples and oranges. And I love people that use one price to justify the other... the prices have been artifically linked for ages. Disney would raise prices, and UNI would slide in right behind them just because they could. It's only been recent years where UNI was bold enough to stop following Disney's price points and instead venture out in front of Disney.

Your entire comment that Uni "doesn't have the product" is utter nonsense. You are trying to artificially limit this discussion to the time it takes a guest to experience every experience exactly once, as though that is the only thing that determines how long people want to stay at a resort and thus determines the actual value of a pass. That's absurd. I regularly stay at Uni 5-10 days because I LIKE BEING THERE. People on these boards stay at WDW for weeks because they LIKE BEING THERE, not because they want to ride everything exactly once. Both Uni and WDW are massive, theme-park-centered resorts. They are comparable, and what determines their comparable value goes far, far beyond a tallying of attractions and shows. You're avoiding this very obvious point for some reason.

 

[flynnibus]

Your entire comment that Uni "doesn't have the product" is utter nonsense. You are trying to artificially limit this discussion to the time it takes a guest to experience every experience exactly once, as though that is the only thing that determines how long people want to stay at a resort and thus determines the actual value of a pass. That's absurd.

Stop crossing conversations to suit your purpose. The guy talked about daily ticket prices - that is based on length of stay, not AP revisit value. Keep your thoughts straight.

Two, I'm not limiting the discussion to only do things once - we're talking people's visiting patterns. If you think people are normally visiting UNI 5-10 days at a time as the norm.. you should race over to NBC right away and tell them they are giving away hundreds of millions of dollars because no one in their company realizes they are basically giving away days 5+. Yes, I'm sure you're the first person to realize that ...

..or.. reality is that's not the norm and the second largest theme park operator in the country does know what they are doing with their ticket prices and they are set based on actual visiting patterns.

I regularly stay at Uni 5-10 days because I LIKE BEING THERE. People on these boards stay at WDW for weeks because they LIKE BEING THERE, not because they want to ride everything exactly once. You're avoiding this very obvious point for some reason.

You staying 5-10 days at UNI doesn't make it common or the norm.

If people were already doing that, UNI wouldn't be spending billions to add more theme parks and hotels to house those guests.

 

[flynnibus]

For some reason you are passionate about this issue, but you are being blatantly dishonest about what I am saying, and you need to stop. In my short post you felt the need to edit, it specifically notes that the purpose of reduced staffing is to reduce costs, and extended stays might be a byproduct. Nowhere do I say or imply that the primary motive behind inadequate staffing is extending stays.

If there was no association intended - there is no point in bringing it up or bringing the points together.

 

[Casper Gutman]

Stop crossing conversations to suit your purpose. The guy talked about daily ticket prices - that is based on length of stay, not AP revisit value. Keep your thoughts straight.

Two, I'm not limiting the discussion to only do things once - we're talking people's visiting patterns. If you think people are normally visiting UNI 5-10 days at a time as the norm.. you should race over to NBC right away and tell them they are giving away hundreds of millions of dollars because no one in their company realizes they are basically giving away days 5+. Yes, I'm sure you're the first person to realize that ...

..or.. reality is that's not the norm and the second largest theme park operator in the country does know what they are doing with their ticket prices and they are set based on actual visiting patterns.


You staying 5-10 days at UNI doesn't make it common or the norm.

If people were already doing that, UNI wouldn't be spending billions to add more theme parks and hotels to house those guests.

I was talking about length-of-stay as well, not revisits. Again, you are distorting what I said.

At the beginning of this discussion, you wrote:

Because we already know no one needs more than three days in uni per trip.

That isn't about visitation patterns of the masses who aren't on the boards. That is a declaration of a fact - a very disputable fact.

You then went on to reject the idea that Uni and WDW ticket prices could be compared. You say Uni "doesn't have the product to support a 5-10 day trip" - not "most guests don't spend 5-10 days at Uni," but a straight up statement of fact. You then elaborate that comparing the tickets is useless because it takes longer to experience each experience once at WDW then at Uni. I argue that is an absurdly simplistic way to consider the value to the consumer of a park pass.

You are not arguing in good faith.

 

[MrPromey]

I think that's the opposite of what Disney wants.. and I mentioned it way back earlier in the thread. Disney won't want 'commando paid mode' to result in people making shorter trips. Disney wants those bodies on site. Yes, there is a gradient between someone who has less funds remaining vs someone with freshly stocked wallets so you don't want people OVERstaying their time... but Disney also doesn't want to become a 2-3day wonder. There is a balance point between length of stay and optimizing spend. Disney wants all your dollars... not for you to spend 2-3 days and then go spend elsewhere.

The uni comparison from the other poster is also just a really bad one. UNI doesn't have the product to support a 5-10 day trip and their pricing model reflects that. It's also why they've been adding parks and not just making their existing parks 'better'. So pointing out UNI's ticket model vs Disney's is very much apples and oranges. And I love people that use one price to justify the other... the prices have been artifically linked for ages. Disney would raise prices, and UNI would slide in right behind them just because they could. It's only been recent years where UNI was bold enough to stop following Disney's price points and instead venture out in front of Disney.

I fully agree and if you were wondering why that post was uncharacteristically short for me, it's because I changed my mind around writing it just as I'd gotten started but apparently still accidentally published it.

The discussion I was going to get into was the murky nature of guest's best interests vs. Disney's (again) regarding the time guests spend waiting vs. actually doing things in Disney's parks and how, while they have them built out more in terms of space, in regards to raw attraction capacity, I don't believe they're as far ahead as it seems and that if the wait times were to come under control, it would become more obvious that only one of their parks might be a two day experience for most but even that one might not be if lines are short and it's not closing early for an up-charge event.

Not saying they planned it this way as a part of some evil scheme but this is where things are through their action and inaction and looking at it from a numbers perspective (which we know just from how they talk publicly is the only focus of upper management) investing in improving that situation could cost them money rather than make it for them - at least in the next 5 years - so I don't see a strong incentive for them to go about fixing it.

It felt like me going back to stuff I've already said though so I changed my mind about repeating it.

Yet here I am.

Anyway, Universal's showing a strong willingness to grow. The third gate feels like the biggest threat to Disney's lock on vacation dollars since they showed up in town.

Will be interesting to see if Disney responds or continues to hold onto their blue ocean strategy.

 

[grandad to 4]

So does anyone know whether you have to pay for Genie+ for all days on your ticket or can you pick and choose?

Does anyone know if everyone in the same group all have to get genie+ or can only one get it?

 

[flynnibus]

You say Uni "doesn't have the product to support a 5-10 day trip" - not "most guests don't spend 5-10 days at Uni," but a straight up statement of fact.

Correct - and Uni confirms it with their own pricing model. If they could support the model they wouldn't give the cow away after 3 days.

There is a reason Disney's per-day price drops radically at 5+ days while UNI's drops radically after 2.

That's basically the point where the company is trying to upsell you to extend your stay with steep discounts. The bulk of people are not staying 5+ days at UO. That's the upside UO is chasing with adding the new parks.

 

[Hawg G]

You should get your facts straight if you’re going to attempt to make poor arguments.

You’re right. I mean having the last E ticket open 29 years ago is completely understandable, unlike opening it 32 years ago. That would be just crazy.

Just think, all the folks who only visit every 25 years will be amazed how much has changed since the Cakestle. A Little Mermaid omnimover, small coaster Dwarf Hill, and a Buzz Lightyear shooting dark ride. It’s really like stepping into the future.

 

[ThistleMae]

Does anyone know if everyone in the same group all have to get genie+ or can only one get it?

You don't have to buy for every ticket day, and you will be able to pick and choose who in your party wants it. At least this is my understanding from all the different information I've been getting. We still need to wait and see when the official info comes out in full.

 

[TiggerDad]

You don't have to buy for every ticket day, and you will be able to pick and choose who in your party wants it. At least this is my understanding from all the different information I've been getting. We still need to wait and see when the official info comes out in full.

I would assume that only those members in the party with it would be able to use its features, however. I don’t think you can buy it for one and then invite the rest of your friends to cut the line with you.

 

[GimpYancIent]

I would assume that only those members in the party with it would be able to use its features, however. I don’t think you can buy it for one and then invite the rest of your friends to cut the line with you.

Are there going to be Taser armed CM's at the LL's to prevent line cutting?

 

[ThistleMae]

You could pick and choose who in your MDE Genie + will want to purchase, but everyone who uses the LL through Genie + will need to pay.