Tha Realest
Well-Known Member
This should put to permanent rest the notion that Bob I really cared about how expensive the parks experience had become, or that Daddy Josh was just reluctantly following orders under Bob C.
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Lightning Lane at Walt Disney World
- Thread starter wdwmagic
- Start date
To continue with the food metaphor - When you change from a buffet to an a la carte menu, and charge more for it than you did the buffet, people tend to get upset.
And that's exactly what they've done here.
Tha Realest
Well-Known Member
Or, when you look online at a menu beforehand and they don’t show prices or have “market rate”
Chip Chipperson
Well-Known Member
I typically hop between parks, so this change adds a new level of complexity. I usually passed on buying G+ and have used ILL more, but have used G+ before, too. Now, we have a 4-day trip coming up with family that doesn't usually get to go with us. The plan had been to buy G+ for 2 days with an Epcot After Hours and MNSSHP on the other 2 days. Now we're going to spend time trying to figure out if we should buy the multi-park G+ or stick with just the single park version for our 2 full days. The plan was to park hop on the non-event days (starting at DHS 1 day and AK the other) and use G+ to make sure the kids had a good shot at riding all or most of what they want to without spending all day in the parks during swamp butt season while having some flexibility to use it for another park later in the day after a mid-day break. So instead of a (relatively) simple choice of "buy or don't buy," it's now "buy 1 park, buy multiple parks, or don't buy at all." This was never an issue with FP+ and was slightly less of an issue with G+.
CaptainAmerica
Well-Known Member
1997, so 25 years.
Probably around 30 full week-long trips.
Plus 3 years as a local, with loads of one-night and day trips.
Plus 12 years as a cast member.
They literally didn't.
The sample pricing shows Magic Kingdom and the "bundle" staying roughly the same as it has been, and Animal Kingdom and Epcot getting quite a bit cheaper.
But even if they did, fine. If you don't like Genie+ because it feels like a price increase, fine. It is a price increase. "Disney vacations are more expensive than they used to be" is 100% a legitimate thing to be upset about. I'm pushing back on the "this is too complicated" complaint, not the "this is too expensive" complaint.
As with everything, if it doesn't affect you personally, it's a good thing.
If you love to hop, like we do, it's not great.
We had many days were we did AK then hopped to Epcot. Now I either will have to buy the more expensive 4 park Genie + or pay for Epcot and then AK.
Or just pick one park a day to use Genie + for, which the most likely scenario.
If you love to hop, like we do, it's not great.
We had many days were we did AK then hopped to Epcot. Now I either will have to buy the more expensive 4 park Genie + or pay for Epcot and then AK.Or just pick one park a day to use Genie + for, which the most likely scenario.
SamusAranX
Well-Known Member
I now see even more why Florida APs are persona non grata at WDW. Because we won’t be purchasing these…not that we needed another layer of evidence on the mound.
MrPromey
Well-Known Member
No but it's confusing when they ask you if you want a booth or a table. The booth is an extra $2 unless you're at the bar in which case it'll only be $1 because they want more people to sit in that area.
Do you want a hamburger, a cheese burger, a burger with bacon or both? Most restaurants just have different kinds of burgers on the menu but we like to give you options... 'cause we care so dang much. (
)Do you want cheddar instead of american cheese? The cheese is $1 extra, the bacon is $2 extra, the cheddar is an upcharge on the american +$.50.
Do you want a side of fries? If so, cheese fries or cajun or cajun cheese? (fries are $4, cheese added $1, cajun $1, cajun cheese $2.50*.
Now, we used to have a waistline special where for an extra $3, we'd give you 20% less food to help with your dieting but due to recent management changes, that's been scrapped and we just put a $3 service charge on every meal so despite what people are saying, we're working hard to make things easier for everyone!
Okay, on to your drink. You said you wanted tea. Would you like strawberry ($$), mango ($$), hard ($$$) or hard with flavor ($$$$)?
Oh you just want regular($)? You know, most people don't get regular but if that's all you want I guess we can do that.
Sweetened or unsweetened? Don't worry, they're the same price... unless you want the organic conflict-free crystal sugar or the the artificial sweeter that isn't known in the state of California to cause cancer (yet, anyway) in which case it's $1 or you can do a sugar/cancer-free substitute combo for $1.50.
Let me tell you about the desert menu, now. This one's simple; we only have one item: vanilla ice cream, starting at $8. Now on that ice cream would you like....
BTW, the kitchen is a little busy tonight and we anticipate it may take over an hour to get your meal out. We have an option where your order can go ahead of most and we can probably have your food out in 30 minutes. That's only ($$) and I suggest you take it because see that family of 10 over there waiting to be seated? They've got at least another 15 minutes before they even get a table and start looking at a menu but if they opt for this and you don't, you'll be waiting for your food longer since we'll be making theirs first.
Oh - almost forgot(!) - all of these prices are subject to change daily with premiums on weekends, holiday weeks/seasons, the month of April, and the king of Norway's birthday - he's just so cool! how could we not honor him?
... When the check comes out at the end of the meal, it'll be nice and simple and fully itemized, just like a cell phone bill.
Don't ask - just put the card in the machine on the table (It'll be a $2.50 handling fee if you want your server to run the card for you).
Most importantly, don't worry about the money. You're on vacation after all.
... This isn't about the burger or the fries. It's about the burger and the fries and everything else around them that everyone looking to ignore what the restaurant is doing doesn't want you to focus on when you say the change they just made to the cost of choosing paper towels over a blower in the restroom is making things more complicated.
In the case of our restaurant, how do you even figure out before you head out if you can afford to cover your meal?
The answer of, course, is if you don't have more than enough credit available on that card of yours and you even need to question the price, we don't want you here.
It's because we think we're running Capital Grill and we're not... Also, Capital Grill's menu is a heck of a lot more straight-forward because most real fine dining doesn't have to trick their customers into spending more.
*yeah, why is it more to get cajun AND cheese than both seperately? Because studies of menu pricing have shown if you make it complicated, it's possible to slip little things like this in with guests often not noticing or bothering to question when they do. Also, some of the most expensive up-charges on the menu (just like at Disney) are really only there to make the lesser up-charges seem more reasonable even though we'll still push to get you to go for the top ones anyway in hopes you'll settle on the "middle" option when all is said and done. - citation with real world retail examples of this kind of work in action if you think I'm just making this up as a thing Disney and others do in an effort to manipulate their customers into spending more than they intend to.
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SamusAranX
Well-Known Member
Your illustration just made think of how bad I need Casey’s corn dog nuggets.No but it's confusing when they ask you if you want a booth or a table (the booth is an extra $2 unless you're at the bar in which case it'll only be $1 because they want more people to sit in that area). Do you want a hamburger, a cheese burger, burger with bacon? Do you want cheddar instead of american cheese? The cheese is $1 extra, the bacon is $2 extra, the cheddar is the price of american +$.50. Do you want a side of fries? If so, cheese fries or cajun or cajun cheese? (fries are $4, cheese added $1, cajun $1, cajun cheese $2.50*.
Now on to your drink. You said you wanted tea. Would you like strawberry ($), mango ($), hard ($$$) or hard with flavor ($$$$).
BTW, the kitchen is a little busy tonight and we anticipate it may take up to an hour to get your meal out. We have an option where your ticket can go ahead of most and we can probably have your food out in 30 minutes. That's only ($$)...
And we'll pretend you don't notice that part of the reason the food is taking longer is that if you don't pay the up-charge and someone comes in after you and does, you'll be waiting while they make their food instead of yours.
Now your check comes out at the end of the meal - nice and simple like looking at a cell phone bill.
Don't ask - just put the cart on the tray.
You're on vacation after all.
*yeah, why is it more to get cajun AND cheese? Because studies of menu pricing have shown if you make it complicated, it's possible to slip little things like this in with guests often not noticing or bothering to question when they do.
Dammit. They got me.
Big T 1963
Member
Wait are they serious?? It can't be true... In the name of fast pass Mickey help us out here.... LOL 
SamusAranX
Well-Known Member
even IF you as a guest don’t find this annoying or “money grabbing” you still are enabling bad behavior by Disney…their refusal for whatever reason to invest and build up the parks into what they truly need and deserve to be.
Chip Chipperson
Well-Known Member
You can't really say it's not more complicated when it's yet another barrier to flexibility. Maybe in the morning g, you wake up and thi k you're only going to want to visit AK so you only buy the AK G+. Now, I'm an AP, so I don't have to worry about buying a park hopper add-on and maybe this particular day my wife and I decide AK is too busy or hot or maybe we've just done all we want to do earlier than we thought so we head back to the resort for a pool break. After dinner, we decide to hop over to DHS but we only bought the AK-only G+ so now we either can't use it at DHS or we have to pay again and then waste a good chunk of time waiting at Guest Services to get a partial refund, thus negating much of the time saved via the Lightning Lanes (and also eating up time that could have been spent on rides, shows, or - and this would make Bob I cry - shopping).
Meeko77
Well-Known Member
This is just sad - pure and simple. It's all too confusing. They need to kick Genie+ to the curb and bring back FastPass where the most stress you encountered in the old days was when you couldn't get your ticket to print out of the machine and needed a cast member's help.
MagicHappens1971
Well-Known Member
“In an effort to make G+ simpler, we’re making it more complicated”
the_rich
Well-Known Member
Ahh the old days when you had to run to the most popular ride to make sure they still had availability. No stress there at all.
GhostHost1000
Premium Member
Disney just can’t come up with a fastpass system that works well for all
CaptainAmerica
Well-Known Member
That's fringe behavior.
The vast (vast, vast, vast) majority of guests don't change parks spur-of-the-moment. They either pick one park per day and stick with it, or they plan to park hop.
Disstevefan1
Well-Known Member
Sirwalterraleigh
Premium Member
A little on the young side…but ok. 1999 was the high point of the property - by the way. I can prove it with a PowerPoint presentation and a laser pointer
Then you should have retired your “excuse bucket” by now
Hmmm…curious. As Robin Williams said: “I got 2 heads and only enough blood for one at a time”
This was about a girl, wasn’t it?
That’s awesome! What year? Did I ever give you a reprimand?
It’s much worse…if I understand:
Pay for a la carte fee
Switch park, pay second a la carte fee
Go to pest services and ask for partial refund?
…somebody confirm that before the big one comes, Elizabeth?
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SamusAranX
Well-Known Member
At this point, guests should probably put their itinerary and the Genie options into ChatGPT and go with what pops out