Marriedatdisney
Active Member
Quite a lot of vitriol on the thread….. but I keep coming back to the incredibly poor consumer experience of the whole thing. It’s one thing to decide there is a larger market (demand) than you can supply, and raising prices. Let’s be honest, Apple has been doing this for decades. The margin on their iPhones etc is insane vs other offerings.
But everything they just rolled out is overly complicated, horribly branded and seemingly designed to off the maximum number of people! Pay at the gate, pay again for an app. Pay again for headliners. Button mash when you wake up… button mash all day at the park…. “Genie+“? Copying their streaming name? What’s the plus for? Why not just genie? “Lightening lane”? Is this a play on Lightening McQeen? Don’t like it? Don’t do any of it. But don’t plan on riding the rides you saw on the TV ad….or on the billboard coming into the park. Enjoy being in the molasses line.
I honestly think they laid off all the imagineers and let the accountants and finance team design the whole thing. There isn’t an ounce of UX in any of it.
Instead, eliminate annual passes and just raise the gate price by 30% and cut max capacity by 15%. Say you are permanently reducing overcrowding. Then add a paid fast pass for another 50-75% of gate price and reduce park capacity by 50% of headcount buying the fasasses…. If you are going to cash grab, just be up front about it. But add value. Would people understand paying more for less crowding? Yes, I think so. Unhappy about a higher price? Probably but it’s at least a value. Will some be ticked off as they watch people stroll by in the fast pass lane? Yes, but the pricing and value are clear and transparent. Those that paid for the fast pass get value and those that don’t are getting shorter standby lines.
Yes, the parks would be pricing more people out of the ability to go. But if and when they do go, it’s a better experience than wall to wall. And disney could always set these prices higher and lower based on seasons.
Lastly, design better. Design rides that can be duplicated to serve more riders. Why aren’t the dark rides built to scale out so more riders can ride? They added another track to toy story mania years after opening. Why not design rides that can be expanded. The R&D is paid for, just add capacity. You have the room.
I’m long time disney person….fortunate enough to be able to afford any of this. But this is sucking the enjoyment of going to parks dry. It was already running low after the constant crowding and over-engineering of experience, this just magnified It all. They won’t, but they should pull this all back and hire some creative people to start over.
But everything they just rolled out is overly complicated, horribly branded and seemingly designed to off the maximum number of people! Pay at the gate, pay again for an app. Pay again for headliners. Button mash when you wake up… button mash all day at the park…. “Genie+“? Copying their streaming name? What’s the plus for? Why not just genie? “Lightening lane”? Is this a play on Lightening McQeen? Don’t like it? Don’t do any of it. But don’t plan on riding the rides you saw on the TV ad….or on the billboard coming into the park. Enjoy being in the molasses line.
I honestly think they laid off all the imagineers and let the accountants and finance team design the whole thing. There isn’t an ounce of UX in any of it.
Instead, eliminate annual passes and just raise the gate price by 30% and cut max capacity by 15%. Say you are permanently reducing overcrowding. Then add a paid fast pass for another 50-75% of gate price and reduce park capacity by 50% of headcount buying the fasasses…. If you are going to cash grab, just be up front about it. But add value. Would people understand paying more for less crowding? Yes, I think so. Unhappy about a higher price? Probably but it’s at least a value. Will some be ticked off as they watch people stroll by in the fast pass lane? Yes, but the pricing and value are clear and transparent. Those that paid for the fast pass get value and those that don’t are getting shorter standby lines.
Yes, the parks would be pricing more people out of the ability to go. But if and when they do go, it’s a better experience than wall to wall. And disney could always set these prices higher and lower based on seasons.
Lastly, design better. Design rides that can be duplicated to serve more riders. Why aren’t the dark rides built to scale out so more riders can ride? They added another track to toy story mania years after opening. Why not design rides that can be expanded. The R&D is paid for, just add capacity. You have the room.
I’m long time disney person….fortunate enough to be able to afford any of this. But this is sucking the enjoyment of going to parks dry. It was already running low after the constant crowding and over-engineering of experience, this just magnified It all. They won’t, but they should pull this all back and hire some creative people to start over.