Lightning Lane at Walt Disney World

[mattpeto]

I guess I'm quite literally the only person who likes this?

Before the change, I wouldn't have bought Genie+ at Epcot and Animal Kingdom. Now I will.

No it's has pros, I laid it above your post.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

I guess I'm quite literally the only person who likes this?

Before the change, I wouldn't have bought Genie+ at Epcot and Animal Kingdom. Now I will.

It was only worth it in 2 parks…generally speaking

Now let’s see what plays? If it “loosens” up the availability of slots on the second park of the day?…may be some benefit…

But we do see what’s going on here?
It’s not needed and doesn’t appear to be for a long time - years most likely - so they’re trying to “cut it up” and sell it as a bait and switch.

Get people to buy dak or Epcot cheap, make it a habit and then buy combo tickets.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

I guess I'm quite literally the only person who likes this?

Before the change, I wouldn't have bought Genie+ at Epcot and Animal Kingdom. Now I will.

I think overall this is better .... For people that do see benefit to get G+ at AK or EP they will find it more "worth" it at the lower price vs the current of one price for all

Though for people that definitely want to hop or do mostly MK or don't feel the need for G+ at any price at EP or AK this will cost them more

 

[TheMaxRebo]

This what I think theyre after. So lets say it was $25 no matter what and they sold nothing at epcot and AK. Now they can keep hs and mk at $25 and make the other parks $15-$17 and actually sell alot more. They wind up making more money by lowering the price.

Or more likely, make MK/DHS/Multi now $30

And still overall sell more and make more total $

 

[the_rich]

Or more likely, make MK/DHS/Multi now $30

And still overall sell more and make more total $

Quite possible. Have to wait until it goes live or they give more pricing info. Tho I think they keep mk and hs as they are now and make the multi a little more. Otherwise why have an mk or hs option at all if the multi is the same price.

 

[Tha Realest]

Bob.

All this seems highly indicative of very low demand, and a way to juice the numbers for what will otherwise be a bloodbath for the Q4 revenue.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

All this seems highly indicative of very low demand

Genie+ generates as much profit at Disney Cruise Line.

 

[SamusAranX]

I don't understand this? They already have line skipping, why would switching from the current model to a very expensive, all in model not work? Paris is doing it...


ETA: Or do you mean for the other parks? I could see it only really working at MK and maybe Epcot.

I highly suggest watching this documentary; it’s explains it better then I ever could and is well worth the long runtime:

 

[MrPromey]

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).

Someone looked at a guest's trip to WDW and said "This still seems too easy and cheap. There must be something we can do to make our systems more complicated on the back end and the guest facing area more confusing with unwanted choices!"

I bet that's one of the people who survives these layoffs.

 

[jpeden]

Genie+ generates as much profit at Disney Cruise Line.

Surely this can't be true. Sales of the line-skipping program generates as much profit as the entire cruise line?

 

[CaptainAmerica]

Someone looked at a guest's trip to WDW and said "This still seems to easy. There must be something we can do to make our systems more complicated on the back end and the guest facing area more confusing with unwanted choices!"

I bet that's one of the people who survives these layoffs.

I'm sorry, nobody under 55 considers clicking a couple of buttons on an app "complicated."

 

[JohnD]

I suppose you may come out ahead if you bought regular tickets without park hopper. I'm traveling with friends and their 7 YO son in December who will have those tickets while I have my AP. For their sanity, I would rather they purchase G+ to get on attractions sooner. So AK will be less for them on one day while MK the most on the other. They won't be park hopping.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

Surely this can't be true. Sales of the line-skipping program generates as much profit as the entire cruise line?

 

[jpeden]

I'm sorry, nobody under 55 considers clicking a couple of buttons on an app "complicated."

It's not complicated per se - but it's adding layers that aren't necessary to the average guest. Plus you are going to have people that buy it for the wrong park, etc. and then they're going to have to stand in line at guest relations to fix it.

For me it's the continual degrading of thing that used to add value to a Disney stay, especially when you stayed on property (I think I calculated that a stay on property to get the same benefits you used to get for free in 2018 - FP, ME, and Magic Bands would cost the average family of four an extra $900 just for things that used to be free/baked into the resort cost already, and that doesn't include the years they charged for parking), AND the adding of extra steps/complexities that aren't necessary, such as park reservations and now this.

They took what used to be a fun vacation and turned it into a science project with G+, Park Reservations, 7AM G+ purchases, opening virtual queue drops, 2PM virtual queue drops, which resorts get what benefits for morning or after hours, etc. You used to literally land at MCO, get on a bus, and go straight to a park without thinking about ANYTHING else. Now, you gotta get your transportation arranged, take care of your bags, get your G+ figured out, have your park reservation, make sure you purchased your Magic Bands if you want them, etc. It's just taken what made them a vacation powerhouse into something that unless you're one of the people on this forums, you look at it and say "this really isn't worth the trouble."

I wrote a letter to guest relations about how this just adds another complexity to something that doesn't need to be this complex - I know it will do no good but it doesn't hurt and only took a few minutes of my time.

 

[Figgy1]

I'm sorry, nobody under 55 considers clicking a couple of buttons on an app "complicated."

Getting up to be online at 7 to make reservations while getting kids ready to be on a bus shortly thereafter isn't exactly a picnic. Maybe complicated isn't the right word but the one I'm thinking of can't be used in polite company

 

[MrPromey]

I'm sorry, nobody under 55 considers clicking a couple of buttons on an app "complicated."

THERE ARE OTHER PEOPLE IN THE WORLD THAN YOU, SUNSHINE.

I'm nowhere near 55 and I'm going to have to disagree with you...

It's called an accumulative effect. It's called making it easier to obfuscate pricing by throwing more options at people to make it require more work to figure things out on the fly when they're being up-sold every time they turn around.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

Getting up to be online at 7 to make reservations while getting kids ready to be on a bus shortly thereafter isn't exactly a picnic. Maybe complicated isn't the right word but the one I'm thinking of can't be used in polite company

You only have to be online at 7 if you want an early Lightning Lane time.

You only need an early Lightning Lane time if you're going to be in the park early.

If you're going to be in the park early, you have to wake up early anyways.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

With the bookings pillow soft, don't rule out some Bubble Perks returning from the grave. They won't keep running 40% promos seasonally without some changes that will benefit the consumer.

Is it cheaper to bolt on free Dining, Genie+ with packages or provide airport transfers than to discount rooms $100-400/night?

Yeah…they need to lure people in…not try elaborate tricks to get who’s there to purchase something they don’t actually need

 

[CaptainAmerica]

It's not complicated per se - but it's adding layers that aren't necessary to the average guest. Plus you are going to have people that buy it for the wrong park, etc. and then they're going to have to stand in line at guest relations to fix it.

For me it's the continual degrading of thing that used to add value to a Disney stay, especially when you stayed on property (I think I calculated that a stay on property to get the same benefits you used to get for free in 2018 - FP, ME, and Magic Bands would cost the average family of four an extra $900 just for things that used to be free/baked into the resort cost already, and that doesn't include the years they charged for parking), AND the adding of extra steps/complexities that aren't necessary, such as park reservations and now this.

They took what used to be a fun vacation and turned it into a science project with G+, Park Reservations, 7AM G+ purchases, opening virtual queue drops, 2PM virtual queue drops, which resorts get what benefits for morning or after hours, etc. You used to literally land at MCO, get on a bus, and go straight to a park without thinking about ANYTHING else. Now, you gotta get your transportation arranged, take care of your bags, get your G+ figured out, have your park reservation, make sure you purchased your Magic Bands if you want them, etc. It's just taken what made them a vacation powerhouse into something that unless you're one of the people on this forums, you look at it and say "this really isn't worth the trouble."

I wrote a letter to guest relations about how this just adds another complexity to something that doesn't need to be this complex - I know it will do no good but it doesn't hurt and only took a few minutes of my time.

THERE ARE OTHER PEOPLE IN THE WORLD THAN YOU.

t I'm nowhere near 55 and I'm going to have to disagree with you...

It's called an accumulative effect. It's called making it easier to obfuscate pricing by throwing more options at people to make it require more work to figure things out on the fly when they're being up-sold every time they turn around.

Is it confusing to you when you go to a restaurant and you can buy a hamburger for $12, a side of fries for $4, or a hamburger-with-a-side-of-fries for $14?

"Selecting from a menu of different goods and services with different prices" is one of the most basic economic interactions you can experience.

 

[JohnD]

You only have to be online at 7 if you want an early Lightning Lane time.

You only need an early Lightning Lane time if you're going to be in the park early.

If you're going to be in the park early, you have to wake up early anyways.

You forgot VQ in MK and Epcot.