Lightning Lane at Walt Disney World

[GhostHost1000]

When does it tip back to needing their base?

after the return to the parks since Covid and people are frustrated at the prices and difficulty in planning and enjoying it the same as before pattern is over

 

[Disney Glimpses]

I think that is a reflection of how broken the system actually is. It isn't a simple fix, and can't be done by a simple price hike. The system needs reworking and I expect re-pricing. It then needs a relaunch to win back guest confidence.

100%.

I mentioned this earlier, but AFAIK, that will be surveyed to guests in the coming days, weeks, months. Lately they've been focusing on trying to understand why guests may or may not be satisfied with 50th anniversary and new nighttime spectaculars. Those more granular surveys will transition to Genie+ and will ultimately define the new program.

 

[Dad 2 M & M]

There is no slow part of the year, that's what I was saying before. In the middle of the day, the lines are long all year.

Gee

The Ticket prices/resort prices differ during the year….insert different wording of your choice….pricing going to fluctuate during the year

 

[Thepuma]

Interesting. I would have figured they would want the money up front from folks.

So another thing we have to do in the mad scramble at 7am on a vacation morning.

 

[Disney Glimpses]

I should reiterate, they too believe that Guardians opening at EPCOT will help alleviate Genie+ substantially at the other parks (since you need to have an EPCOT Park Pass to either purchase ILL or join a VQ).

 

[Jeff4272]

come on, tell us Martin

Please tell us something good is coming

 

[Dad 2 M & M]

You mean the fools buying $195 a point timeshares at the $49 a night caribbean beach?

Yes

That’s the big one (one of the biggies)

 

[Disney Glimpses]

The Ticket prices/resort prices differ during the year….insert different wording of your choice….pricing going to fluctuate during the year

Correct, but that's precisely my point. The prices are flexible to ensure a baseline level of attendance. That baseline means that Genie+ demand is roughly the same all year (with exception to notable holidays).

 

[wdwmagic]

Talking about price rises, I also expect to see some discounting of Genie+ for some categories. I know APers have an issue with Genie+ even at $15, so I wouldn't be surprised to see some limited quantity made available to some levels of AP at a lower price point.

 

[Jeff4272]

So another thing we have to do in the mad scramble at 7am on a vacation morning.

no, at midnight the night before and THEN at 7am, the next morning

 

[Joel]

90% of the reason they changed the program (and name) was not because the old system didn't work well (though they did want to remove the pre-planning aspect) - but it was because they wanted to make something that looked, sounded and felt different enough from the free version so that guests couldn't complain that they are paying for something that used to be free.

This almost makes sense initially, but it shows either how dumb they are or how dumb they think we are. If everybody understood the game that was being played -- and we all did -- how did they expect this to be an effective way to avoid dissatisfaction?

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Talking about price rises, I also expect to see some discounting of Genie+ for some categories. I know APers have an issue with Genie+ even at $15, so I wouldn't be surprised to see some limited quantity made available to some levels of AP at a lower price point.

Are you suggesting the “hotel theory” that I was assured would happen before this was rolled out and absolutely was not?

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

This almost makes sense initially, but it shows either how dumb they are or how dumb they think we are. If everybody understood the game that was being played -- and we all did -- how did they expect this to be an effective way to avoid dissatisfaction?

We are dumb and they know it…but they don’t realize how bad they are at their jobs. That’s the X factor

 

[Dad 2 M & M]

after the return to the parks since Covid and people are frustrated at the prices and difficulty in planning and enjoying it the same as before pattern is over

That MIGHT be when the base returns….but when will Disney NEED their base? Approaching 3 to 1 for replacements to base….

 

[monothingie]

So the beast is once again uncontrollable. With FP+ they could at least fudge limits based on availability. With G+ the capacity quagmire really has an impact because now people are paying for it. So the obvious bandaid answer limit it and raise the prices. Meanwhile more guests get shoved to standby lines and guest satisfaction skyrockets*.

*For the select few who are able to get G+ and don’t have to wait while the rest of us are stuck on standby lines for the rest of eternity.

 

[kalel8145]

 

[Dad 2 M & M]

Correct, but that's precisely my point. The prices are flexible to ensure a baseline level of attendance. That baseline means that Genie+ demand is roughly the same all year (with exception to notable holidays).

Got it….just hadn’t heard the “there’s no slow time of the year” in a while…..thought that went without saying

We are dumb and they know it…but they don’t realize how bad they are at their jobs. That’s the X factor

dont have to be good at their jobs with “us” in the mix

We self-inflict

 

[GhostHost1000]

That MIGHT be when the base returns….but when will Disney NEED their base? Approaching 3 to 1 for replacements to base….

Not sure but I have been noticing some of the blog/vlog folks beginning to be more negative on Disney changes

 

[golden6911]

At this point, I honestly think the plan is they want a certain level of dissatisfaction from people who aren't going to spend "enough" at the parks. I think they are actively cultivating it. They want a limited number of people to be in the parks that spend a lot of money each day, because that increases the chances that those same "whales" will return year after year.

 

[Joel]

Anybody who expects Disney to magically make things better is kidding themselves. There is no solution here (well, there is, but they couldn't do it at this point even if they wanted to), just different sets of tradeoffs. Lots of people are going to be disappointed no matter what they do now.