ImperfectPixie
Well-Known Member
The 19 "incident"?
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Lightning Lane at Walt Disney World
- Thread starter wdwmagic
- Start date
JoeCamel
Well-Known Member
Current times.....
Sirwalterraleigh
Premium Member
Correct…fundamental disruption to the travel/entertainment business
what is going on now…exploiting that crisis to “recenter pricing”…is NOT the same thing. It’s cynical/bad taste/bad business
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ImperfectPixie
Well-Known Member
LOL...it always sticks in my brain as being a '20 thing...the "19" threw me.
Gotcha. I guess my mind wasn't thinking back that far for the first two. Yeah, 9/11 was definitely a threat (that was the trigger, but the resulting recession was worse than the actual event for the parks), and the hostile takeover would have altered the course of the parks irrevocably. The novel coronavirus allowed Bob to implement all the money-making/consumer-UNfriendly schemes he'd only been dreaming of doing the past 6 years. He's replacing the solid foundation of the parks with a foundation of sand, thinking it will work the same and be just as strong. It is my sincere wish that he's unceremoniously dumped on his bald head, along with his pretty boy mouthpiece, before his new foundation washes away and destroys the house.
My wife, who is very intelligent and knows more about the park visiting experience than I do these days, was introduced to G+ today. She's less than impressed.
TikibirdLand
Well-Known Member
We started going in the late '90's. As kids came along, we hit 9/11 and that really shook Disney up. We got some great pricing on Deluxe resorts and ME+Bags was introduced. It was a perfect storm for us. Prices were low, Disney left the parks alone so that we could enjoy MGM Studios and EPCoT in some semblance of past glory. Then, the Great Recession hit. It helped keep the prices in check and we took advantage of that. For us, 2017 was a watershed year. We noticed how the prices had gone up considerably and there were less "deals" offered by Disney. But, my DW was able to come up with a plan and we enjoyed our last trip to WDW. Due to family issues, we missed going in 2019 and had a big plan for DLR in 2020. And, -- well you know. So, we cancelled that and scheduled WDW. And, then -- ditto. With the prices going through the roof and removal of all the things we hold dear about WDW being removed, we've been sitting on the sidelines. Still haven't done "the big trip" with my two oldest graduating from HS. My last one will be out of HS this summer. They're just not excited to go when their favorite entertainers aren't there (along with the masking, no trams, no ME, etc). It looks to be a big hassle. So, we're going to figure out something to do. Too bad it's not WDW or DLR...
TikibirdLand
Well-Known Member
My DW is our planner too. She's only read a few articles about G+. Not a fan either.
ImperfectPixie
Well-Known Member
We were fortunate in that we spent 11 days at WDW for our honeymoon in 2000...it was glorious. I don't think we waited more than 20-30 minutes for anything the entire trip, and even though I only made 3 dining reservations, table service availability was never a concern. We just showed up, were seated, and had a nice meal everywhere we went.
Sirwalterraleigh
Premium Member
There was a travel recession prior to 9/11/01…and it was overdue
I agree with the rest
Disney has updated the Genie+ page with these additions -
See Mickey at Town Square Theater (beginning January 26, 2022)
See Princess Tiana and a Visiting Princess at Princess Fairytale Hall (beginning January 26, 2022)
See Cinderella and a Visiting Princess at Princess Fairytale Hall (beginning January 26, 2022)
See Olaf at Celebrity Spotlight (beginning January 26, 2022)
See Mickey at Town Square Theater (beginning January 26, 2022)
See Princess Tiana and a Visiting Princess at Princess Fairytale Hall (beginning January 26, 2022)
See Cinderella and a Visiting Princess at Princess Fairytale Hall (beginning January 26, 2022)
See Olaf at Celebrity Spotlight (beginning January 26, 2022)
Sirwalterraleigh
Premium Member
More “pay to play” (after you paid)
Creathir
Premium Member
I view this more as Disney attempting to increase the value of Genie+.
I’m not at all a fan of the concept of Genie+ (have yet to use it though, so I’ll have more to say about it after my next trip) but this is not pay to play after you paid entirely.
You can stand in line to see the characters. You don’t have to pay. It is optional.
pdude81
Well-Known Member
It's about time. I was wondering when this would start as they were on FP+ previously
Sirwalterraleigh
Premium Member
I’m gonna say someone that is completely different, but ends up in the same place:
they’re going to methodically “normalize” it as part of the standard deal and this is a step towards this. Then when it becomes “standard” the fees will increase on a schedule. We have a prime example already on the books.
so it will become “it’s just what you do”…and then the “you don’t have to pay if you don’t want to” will also become useless
and we end up exactly where we were always going to be.
simple and you have to admire the efficiency of it.
Sirwalterraleigh
Premium Member
…it was cheaper back then
I’m surprised that they actually went back to two ILLs per park. I really thought the “temporary” change for the holidays would stick around longer.
My guess would be that expanding the G+ lineup didn’t increase G+ sales enough to compensate for the decrease in ILL revenue.
Based on their adding “Sightings” though to G+ now, they clearly still want/need to increase the value proposition of it.
My guess would be that expanding the G+ lineup didn’t increase G+ sales enough to compensate for the decrease in ILL revenue.
Based on their adding “Sightings” though to G+ now, they clearly still want/need to increase the value proposition of it.
pdude81
Well-Known Member
They also likely noticed as soon as they brought back paid line skips that there were wide swings in usage for these M&G experiences. They don't like having 4 mickeys at Town Hall when the line is only 5 minutes. Now the line will always be at least 30.
Sirwalterraleigh
Premium Member
That’s free money…literally free cash. Why on earth would they not revert/expand it?
they had a PR disaster brewing around Christmas…even slappo isn’t ballsy enough to test that. The parks business is under greater scrutiny from the financial world as they have started to see more and more bleed.
just today…Disney’s stock was down $7 a share this morning…and had fo use all of its “rally juice” for the week to get back to where it started. So it’s gonna bleed the rest of the week…just a hunch. There’s reasons behind that and interest in parks is a big one.
Disstevefan1
Well-Known Member
You can stand in line to see the characters for free...... For now
Creathir
Premium Member
When that happens, that will be a different discussion.You can stand in line to see the characters for free...... For now
For now, you can still stand in line, or take advantage of your express pass and skip some of the line.