Lightning Lane at Walt Disney World

[MrPromey]

Real dynamic pricing would mean that Disney offers actual deals part of the year. These days they operate like a cartel on their pricing.

You know, if they were smart and actually still cared about any sort of optics*, one would think they'd have started on the slightly more expensive day (weekend) to set that as the "standard" price in people's minds and then gone into the week with a lowering of the price so they could illustrate how the dynamic pricing meant lower prices on some days.

By doing it the way they did it, they set the lower price as the anchor for what people would expect out of the gate only to then hike it so of course, the change will now look like the "regular" price is the lowest one and then everything else is the more expensive prices to come on top of that when they had the opportunity to present it as the opposite and make the prices feel like they were working more with consumers rather than against them, even if they were charging just as much as they are.

This isn't just that they are after money-grabs anymore. They're not even trying to get us to look the other way as they slide their hands into our pockets, now. They're staring us in the eyes as they do it.

*I don't think they're stupid but it's mind-boggling how much they just don't seem to care how they're perceived anymore. Half the crappy things they've done in recent years, they still could have gotten away with but framed in a better way than they have but the way they've done it, they've turned a number of apologists on this forum and others like it against them and I've seen what has to be a record number of negative sounding pieces in more mainstream media - especially these last few months regarding the company's practices in general. Makes me wonder if some of their cost cutting has been coming out of PR.

 

[Walt d]

$15/day for some attractions plus more for good ones? LOLOLOLOL

Seems to be Maxpass, but pay more for good rides.

????????! $$$$$$$$$ more?

 

[hopemax]

I sense the winds are turning with people liking this versus hating it .....

All of these line skips work decently when crowds are low even on the busiest day in a low crowd period. Leading people to like it. Let's see how much people like it on days when all of the DHS rides you would want to use LL on are booked by 2PM. Which due to the pandemic, may take awhile to see while we wait for WDW's International guests to return. Ultimately, it's still just musical chairs, and when more people play, it's harder to grab that seat 5 rounds in a row.

 

[JAB]

All of these line skips work decently when crowds are low even on the busiest day in a low crowd period. Leading people to like it. Let's see how much people like it on days when all of the DHS rides you would want to use LL on are booked by 2PM. Which due to the pandemic, may take awhile to see while we wait for WDW's International guests to return. Ultimately, it's still just musical chairs, and when more people play, it's harder to grab that seat 5 rounds in a row.

It's certainly going to be interesting to watch how it plays out over the next few months. It will definitely be a balancing act as Disney tries to figure out the sweet spot between wait times and availability to maximize G+ sales. Too much availability, and LL wait times will get too long for many to feel it's worth the price; not enough availability and it similarly becomes a bad perceived value because people will feel they don't get enough LL passes for their money.

 

[el_super]

Too much availability, and LL wait times will get too long for many to feel it's worth the price; not enough availability and it similarly becomes a bad perceived value because people will feel they don't get enough LL passes for their money.

They can control how many people are using Genie+ by increasing the price. They don't need to indiscriminately increase availability.

 

[JAB]

They can control how many people are using Genie+ by increasing the price. They don't need to indiscriminately increase availability.

I never said anything about "indiscriminately" increasing availability - quite the opposite. What I wrote discussed a calculated adjustment of availability (increase or decrease) to find the point where the most number of people felt G+ was worth their money.

They certainly could raise the price to manage waits and availability, but that also shares a similar risk. Raise the price too high, and not enough people will buy G+ for the higher price to offset the lost revenue.

In the near term, it seems more likely that they would tweak availability before resorting to adjusting the price so soon after launch.

 

[hopemax]

They can control how many people are using Genie+ by increasing the price. They don't need to indiscriminately increase availability.

And, we were talking about how much people would like the service going forward. Price increases, which I think we all expect, tend to diminish people's enthusiasm.

 

[Rich Brownn]

Does everyones Tip Board default to Animal Kingdom until you change it to a different park?
That's an annoying pet peeve for me.

I believe it defaults to your next scheduled reservation park.

 

[el_super]

I never said anything about "indiscriminately" increasing availability - quite the opposite. What I wrote discussed a calculated adjustment of availability (increase or decrease) to find the point where the most number of people felt G+ was worth their money.

Any increase in availability though, is going to have a negative impact on return times. And we already know that people are willing to accept higher return times for less cost (like the free Fastpass).

So yeah, if you increase availability, the desirability of the produxt will go down as people end up waiting in linger lines.

They certainly could raise the price to manage waits and availability, but that also shares a similar risk. Raise the price too high, and not enough people will buy G+ for the higher price to offset the lost revenue.

I don't think they are implementing this service simply for the short term gains in revenue. They want an improved guest experience so people come back.

Maybe there is some room to add a availability and sell more slots, but once return times start creeping back to 10 mins, you end up invalidating it.

And, we were talking about how much people would like the service going forward. Price increases, which I think we all expect, tend to diminish people's enthusiasm.

Some people are willing to pay more for a better experience. If they have to curb demand thru pricing, to ensure the waits remain super short, it might be in their benefit for the long term.

 

[JAB]

Any increase in availability though, is going to have a negative impact on return times. And we already know that people are willing to accept higher return times for less cost (like the free Fastpass).

So yeah, if you increase availability, the desirability of the produxt will go down as people end up waiting in linger lines.

Which was exactly the point I made. If lack of availability became too big of an issue, they will need to increase it, but not so much that the increased wait times become a worse problem.

I don't think they are implementing this service simply for the short term gains in revenue. They want an improved guest experience so people come back.

Again, you misread what I wrote. I said nothing about "short term gains." What I said was that, in the first few months of G+ (i.e. "in the short term"), it seemed likely that they would adjust something like availability to fine tune LL queues before they would resort to doing it through price increases.

 

[Ldno]

????????! $$$$$$$$$ more?

I legit follow touring plans.com just because of their detailed insight on how rides work and operate which gives me more knowledge on how and what times to actually ride the rides Based on their load capacity per hour BUT Max pass was like 12 bucks extra to each ticket but you got to ride EVERYTHING, he’s right you do pay for each ride now and with a family of 6 I legit have to lower my budget be “resort” stay or merchandise I can’t pay for each ride since something will have to give but some are saying it’s a hack but it’s really not, maxpass was similar to the old Fastpass 1.0 in disney world, where I learned to stack them up once you caught on to their period to get another one. I used to wait in queue THEN by the return window of the ride I was there going in and out, In Disneyland I could do 6 rides in 1.5 hours with all my kids easily.

We will see.

 

["El Gran Magnifico"]

They can control how many people are using Genie+ by increasing the price. They don't need to indiscriminately increase availability.

Of course they could always introduce “Genie Premier” at an upgrade and give preferential return times to those that adopt. They’d keep the + revenue and create a new tier of guest that is willing to pay just a bit more.

 

[RoadiJeff]

I'm sure that Disney's price increase is just for this weekend and it will go back down for Monday. As an example, last week I bought a Universal Express Pass to use on Sunday for $170. I bought another one to use the following Thursday and the price was $150. Disney is just following their example because they see that people are willing to pay more when the parks are going to be more crowded.

 

[Virtual Toad]

Of course they could always introduce “Genie Premier” at an upgrade and give preferential return times to those that adopt. They’d keep the + revenue and create a new tier of guest that is willing to pay just a bit more.

Followed soon by the truly amazing “Magic Key +“(tm), a ticketing upgrade that allows guests to visit the parks— without making a reservation!

For a not-so-nominal add-on fee, of course.

Another way to raise prices under the guise of “responding to guest feedback.”

And creating yet another revenue source by offering guests a solution to a problem Disney themselves created.

Truly magical!

 

["El Gran Magnifico"]

Followed soon by the truly amazing “Magic Key +“(tm), and ticketing upgrade that allows guests to visit the parks— without making a reservation!

For a not-so-nominal add-on fee, of course.

Another way to raise prices under the guise of “responding to guest feedback.”

And creating yet another revenue source by offering guests a solution to a problem Disney themselves created.

Truly magical!

What happens is the mind has ways of rationalizing things. People can justify things a great many ways.

Right now you have two options : Free or Pay

By creating that third option you position + right in the middle. It becomes the “average” option. Thus you now have: Free, Pay, Upgrade.

Most people now view it differently. The rationale becoming. “Well, I’m not doing the cheap option. And I’m not doing the expensive one. I’ll do the one in the middle. The “average” one.

And of of course there will be those that opt for the “expensive” one. It’s all a matter of perception.

 

[Virtual Toad]

What happens is the mind has ways of rationalizing things. People can justify things a great many ways.

Right now you have two options : Free or Pay

By creating that third option you position + right in the middle. It becomes the “average” option. Thus you now have: Free, Pay, Upgrade.

Most people now view it differently. The rationale becoming. “Well, I’m not doing the cheap option. And I’m not doing the expensive one. I’ll do the one in the middle. The “average” one.

And of of course there will be those that opt for the “expensive” one. It’s all a matter of perception.

“It fires the imagination!”

 

[MrPromey]

What happens is the mind has ways of rationalizing things. People can justify things a great many ways.

Right now you have two options : Free or Pay

By creating that third option you position + right in the middle. It becomes the “average” option. Thus you now have: Free, Pay, Upgrade.

Most people now view it differently. The rationale becoming. “Well, I’m not doing the cheap option. And I’m not doing the expensive one. I’ll do the one in the middle. The “average” one.

And of of course there will be those that opt for the “expensive” one. It’s all a matter of perception.

For many businesses, this is the entire point of the "premium" option - to make the now middle option look more reasonable.

For anyone who's ever seen this three tier strategy and looked at the highest tier and wondered how they could justify the price they are asking for what seems like benefits that aren't worth it or which only would ever apply to a very small subset of customers, this is what's going on.

That top tier isn't the one they're trying to sell and any time they do, it's just gravy.

The term for it in marketing speak is anchoring.

 

["El Gran Magnifico"]

For many businesses, this is the entire point of the "premium" option - to make the now middle option look more reasonable.

For anyone who's ever seen this three tier strategy and looked at the highest tier and wondered how they could justify the price they are asking for what seems like benefits that aren't worth it or which only would ever apply to a very small subset of customers, this is what's going on.

That top tier isn't the one they're trying to sell and any time they do, it's just gravy.

The term for it in marketing speak is anchoring.

Look at Uni’s EP. Somewhere around a buck thirty per person/day for two parks.

They don’t really want you to buy it. They want you to stay at their Deluxe hotels - where they’ll give it to you for free. They want the incremental revenue you’ll give them by staying on site.

Of course, if you want to shell out the cash without staying at the hotel - they’ll take that too.

 

[MickeyLuv'r]

Look at Uni’s EP. Somewhere around a buck thirty per person/day for two parks.

They don’t really want you to buy it. They want you to stay at their Deluxe hotels - where they’ll give it to you for free. They want the incremental revenue you’ll give them by staying on site.

Of course, if you want to shell out the cash without staying at the hotel - they’ll take that too.

We here would do well get away from calling things that are 'included with purchase' just that, instead of calling them free. Maybe we can shorten to IW/P or something.

FP, ME, and parking were never 'free' those too were included with purchase. You couldn't use ME if you weren't staying at a WDW hotel, for example.

 

["El Gran Magnifico"]

We here would do well get away from calling things that are 'included with purchase' just that, instead of calling them free. Maybe we can shorten to IW/P or something.

FP, ME, and parking were never 'free' those too were included with purchase. You couldn't use ME if you weren't staying at a WDW hotel, for example.

Nothing is ever “Free”. Except - Beer Tomorrow.