Rumor My Genie Conclusions - The Future of WDW’s Ticketing

[Figments Friend]

Remember when Disney was an amazing brand, capable of building mind blowing, one of a kind attractions? Capable of developing the utopia-on-earth WDW Resort, full of distinctly themed and carefully curated theme parks, amazing, unique hotels, unparalleled experiences and entertainment, and so much more? A place that truly offered something for everyone?

A place without endless upsells, thoughtless IP intrusions, intrusive and tedious smartphone apps, and hyper-overplanning?

A place that treated its guests as much more than mere data points to be served up to the all-powerful gods of analytics?

Do you remember those glorious days when a vacation to WDW was relaxing, spontaneous, and transformative? Full of variety and value? An experience like no other?

I remember those days.

These are not those days.

Not by a long shot.

Not even close.

The brand is no longer what it was. If this is the path chosen by its current caretakers— if this is the best they can do, if this is all they care to do, if this is all they’re capable of doing— WDW’s heyday really has passed.

It has been changed, altered, reconfigured and misshapen— quite deliberately, carefully, and yet somehow also cynically, casually and recklessly— into something hardly recognizable.

Some will have fun staring into the eyes of the magic Genie in their cellphone while sleepwalking through their decision-free, pre-planned and oh-so-expensive vacation.

Maybe a few will stop to look around and remember a much different time. And a much different place.

Maybe the pendulum will swing back someday. Until then, I’ll continue to remember.

And smile for what once was.

Because it was great.

Great post, hard truth.
Sums things up rather nicely regarding what has become of WDW over the last couple of decades.

Well said, my friend.

-

 

[kong1802]

Me asking genie for a wish after I realize I can’t afford any of my other wishes:

 

[techgeek]

For example, if Space Mountain ends up being unexpectedly closed for the rest of the day, it will re-arrange a later day of your vacation to hop back to Magic Kingdom to ride Space Mountain, and it will re-arrange dining reservations so you don’t miss your dinner at Ohana. It’s THAT good. But you’ll be paying for it.

Has any new Disney IT initiative ever in the history of magic ever been THAT good and actually worked at volume? Skeptical.

 

[drizgirl]

Has any new Disney IT initiative ever in the history of magic ever been THAT good and actually worked at volume? Skeptical.

Remember all the promises about FP+? There were going to be all these surprise and delight fast passes show up to balance wait times across the parks. That’s all I could picture when I read this description of Genie. I’ll believe it when I see it.

 

[skypilot2922]

Remember when Disney was an amazing brand, capable of building mind blowing, one of a kind attractions? Capable of developing the utopia-on-earth WDW Resort, full of distinctly themed and carefully curated theme parks, amazing, unique hotels, unparalleled experiences and entertainment, and so much more? A place that truly offered something for everyone?

A place without endless upsells, thoughtless IP intrusions, intrusive and tedious smartphone apps, and hyper-overplanning?

A place that treated its guests as much more than mere data points to be served up to the all-powerful gods of analytics?

Do you remember those glorious days when a vacation to WDW was relaxing, spontaneous, and transformative? Full of variety and value? An experience like no other?

I remember those days.

These are not those days.

Not by a long shot.

Not even close.

The brand is no longer what it was. If this is the path chosen by its current caretakers— if this is the best they can do, if this is all they care to do, if this is all they’re capable of doing— WDW’s heyday really has passed.

It has been changed, altered, reconfigured and misshapen— quite deliberately, carefully, and yet somehow also cynically, casually and recklessly— into something hardly recognizable.

Some will have fun staring into the eyes of the magic Genie in their cellphone while sleepwalking through their decision-free, pre-planned and oh-so-expensive vacation.

Maybe a few will stop to look around and remember a much different time. And a much different place.

Maybe the pendulum will swing back someday. Until then, I’ll continue to remember.

And smile for what once was.

Because it was great.

Indeed it was great, emphasis on was great now I'm not so sure how I feel.

 

[HauntedPirate]

Wow. That’s a lot to process. But unsurprisingly, my initial reaction is - More $$$-driven ridiculousness from the Iger/Chapek era. I’ll not be using this if I can help it.

I can’t help but think of an old Mad Magazine cartoon I saw decades ago:

Retailer: “Buy! Buy!! Buy!!!”
Customer: “Bye bye…”

 

[Figments Friend]

Let's consider the character what this new digital tool is named after -
The Genie from 'Aladdin'.

Genie was a prisonor who longed to be free.
Remember that part of the story?
Recap - He wanted to break free of his bond tied to the lamp...and his golden wrist cuffs falling away near the conclusion of the story symbolized his success is finally doing so.

So .....
This 'digital' Genie will turn WDW Guests who were once able to 'be free' into 'prisoners'.
Digital tool will have these heavily marketed 'phenominal cosmic powers' to enhance / improve your visit ...yet Guests will feel the squeeze in the 'itty bitty living space' once the reality of all of the add-on charges and up-selling offers hit.
Instead of getting to experience the Park offerings with freedom, they will now be 'chained' to the service from a certain point of view.

Just found the above ironic ....and humorous in a cynical way.

-

 

[GhostHost1000]

Disney World’s new slogan - the happiest most challenging and expensive place to vacate on earth!

 

[lazyboy97o]

What will be more difficult, filing your taxes or booking a Walt Disney World vacation?

 

[TrojanUSC]

People don't seem to get it. Genie was pitched as an idea and bought off on by senior leadership as a way to monetize against other businesses (including websites) which had created lucrative businesses helping with trip planning. Then it was rushed into the D23 announcement long before they actually had any idea the details of what it would actually do. It's been a game of catch up ever since. This is why people on this board keep speculating that it will be X or do Y. Disney never really had any idea themselves. They might not still.

 

[flutas]

I wouldn’t be surprised if they actually launch Disney Genie as Genie+ or if Genie+ is some kind of upcharge version of regular Genie. I can’t confirm these names because these are just based on my gut, but the products seem real enough, so if I get some of this nomenclature wrong, don’t shoot the messenger.

I've made tons of "educated" guesses on this topic, but I'll back you up on that one. I *expect* that Genie will be for everyone, and Genie+ will be an upcharge (in some capacity, be it hotel based or just a fee) since they (at least had) have plans to include extra park hours with it.

Are we all ready for "Genie+" park hours?

Granted I've been wrong before as well (thinking what ended up being Standby Pass was going to be the "full" FastPass replacement and Premier Access was going to be Genie based).

What if FastPass as we know it is dead, but the new version is already in the parks, very publicly visible and "battle" tested?

Imagine a system similar (aka cloned from) the ROTR virtual queue system.

Based off of multiple factors then ops could decide to open a virtual queue to guests for attractions at various points throughout the day. Instead of hard FPs for certain rides you get X number of virtual queues per day that allow you to skip the physical line. Maybe you could even set a list of priority experiences and get an alert when a virtual queue for that ride is about to open.

It would solve the "60+ day planning" problem, and allow ops to decide how many "FastPasses" they can hand out for a ride at any one time. It would also allow them to speed up or slow down groups when they need them rather than having people show up at a set time... Best of all for a certain Bob, it keeps people wandering the park and potentially spending money instead of waiting in line.

Just a thought...

Of course I've also been correct on some...

Did anyone mention Disney Access+ () yet?

Asking for a friend.

View attachment 568207

Though, I guess marketing got a hold of it and added a "premier" tagline to it.

 

[skypilot2922]

I don't claim to be particularly in-the-know when it comes to Wall Street or economics, but I do think one cannot frame increased wages as an issue that will primarily impact abstract "overpaid CEO types". A quick Google search tells me that a single Disney park costs about 5 million to operate per day. Per day. You could cut all their top exec's salaries down to volunteer-level and you probably wouldn't have enough to operate the parks for a full week. And that doesn't count all of Disney's non-park businesses. Absorbing even a huge percent of exec salaries into paying increased wages for Disney workers would have a tiny, tiny impact.

I think it's fine to say that we should be concerned with increased wages because it's the right thing to do. But it's important to be realistic about it. It will almost certainly impact the cost of goods for the average consumer, as well as the growth of small businesses who in turn impact the community.

And at a pragmatic level, however you feel about it morally or ethically, at the moment, it's happening. And I think it will reign in spending significantly.

Yes, taking all the executive salaries would move the needle very little, However ending the 100's of billions spent on share repurchases across all industries would move the needle quite a bit.

Example the Airlines got a 50 billion dollar bailout from the taxpayer, Yet over the last 5 years the airline industry spent 50 billion dollars in share repurchases the only purpose of which was to artificially inflate EPS so executives could meet their bonus target.

Imagine how much healthier the Airline industry would have been if they had kept even half of that amount in the bank for a rainy day or to purchase attractively priced plant and equipment. It's this kind of spending which causes the current 'Profits without Prosperity' malaise.

To bring it back to Disney if Iger had not blown billions on share repurchases he could have paid cash for Fox and could have kept the WDW CM's on at reduced pay for 2 years if necessary instead of firing them all and wailing when WDW cannot find workers because Disney in firing everyone lost the trust of the labor market and became the 'employer of last resort' aka the company that no one wants to work for any longer.

And without cheap labor - the labor market reset is underway. It's especially noticeable in IT and accounting both of which industries would import cheap labor but now positions from entry level help desk to senior accountants are open with reasonable pay rates once again.

 

[mightynine]

How will it manage my 5 year old taking his shoes off in the stroller and is going on a 25 minute backtracking hunt to look for them?

It’ll show you the nearest gift shop selling shoes?

 

[jpinkc]

WOW that is alot to process. Its almost like they are holding a Gun to our heads to take the Genie+ (or whatever its called). There are some upsells my family likes Photopass is a must for my wife to get good pictures. Pre-ordering food Ok I can see the value if you dont ADR. The idea that it will re-arrange your itinerary on the fly is not something I would want. What if your family didnt have another day setup for MK if you were there with just 1 day per park?? How would that work?? What about if you have a dinner reservation say at Disney Springs at 7pm and that when it wants you to come back and get that ride for that closed attraction?? It sounds to me that Disney is trying to also downsize the reliance on CM's. This way they need less people actually working in the parks. They dont need the Emporium to actually sell anything it can just be a place to go in and look then order it on your phone and it will be I am sure for a charge be delivered to your onsite hotel if your not onsite who knows maybe they will offer to ship it to you for a fee. I dont want internet shopping when I can get it right in front of me to enjoy in the moment.

This whole process seems highly invasive to your vacation. I know plenty of people who cant function anymore without there phone. Most days I want to throw mine out the window while driving at 80mph screaming for it to SHUT UP!! I dont want to be staring at an App, I want to enjoy WDW,AK,HS,Epcot!! I enjoy being in the park, I dont want to be well gotta check the phone to find out what I can do next. NO NO NO NO that is not a vacation. I admit I wasnt sold on FP+ the first time we used it but, kinda got to like it. We could plan our day a bit more to figure our time to head back for the pool etc. (Was most valuable when kids were small)

I also see a problem when we come with family and friends who arent on our reservation. We plan on doing things together but if the App is telling Grandma and Grandpa hey we switched your Peter Pan ride to 2pm and the rest of us are scheduled for 10AM uhm thats gonna make my parents a bit mad, especially if they were planning to go back to the room to rest up to come back for the evening Fireworks. I dont want an Algorithm or Disney changing something because it sees a chance to move me to help with line length or some other Metric they invent.

Now for the 5000 lb Gorilla, Just what kind of STUPID price will this thing be!! I already think Premier or whatever is a COMPLETE money grab!! Its not my fault that WDW doesnt have the ride capacity it should (God knows I have probably paid them enough for a C ticket ride in the last 15 or more years). Its already gotten stupidly expensive to go and stay on property. What will this debacle cost. The IDEA that I have to BUY THIS FOR WHAT I AM ALREADY PAYING to go to WDW to guarantee we can get on a ride is LUDICROUS!! Park Admittance should be seriously lowered if we are expected to start having to PAY MORE to do what most of us come to Disney for to ride our favorite rides. It almost sounds like they are going to be telling us we HAVE TO DO THIS TO RIDE what we want to or sorry to bad you should have paid for Genie+ or whatever. I am just even more disgusted with this whole process.

 

[skypilot2922]

It’ll show you the nearest gift shop selling shoes?

With small fry that would actually be a useful feature (shoes, diapers, diaper rash balm, sunscreen etc), which of course why Disney IT will never implement.

 

[DisneyHead123]

Yes, taking all the executive salaries would move the needle very little, However ending the 100's of billions spent on share repurchases across all industries would move the needle quite a bit.

Example the Airlines got a 50 billion dollar bailout from the taxpayer, Yet over the last 5 years the airline industry spent 50 billion dollars in share repurchases the only purpose of which was to artificially inflate EPS so executives could meet their bonus target.

Imagine how much healthier the Airline industry would have been if they had kept even half of that amount in the bank for a rainy day or to purchase attractively priced plant and equipment. It's this kind of spending which causes the current 'Profits without Prosperity' malaise.

To bring it back to Disney if Iger had not blown billions on share repurchases he could have paid cash for Fox and could have kept the WDW CM's on at reduced pay for 2 years if necessary instead of firing them all and wailing when WDW cannot find workers because Disney in firing everyone lost the trust of the labor market and became the 'employer of last resort' aka the company that no one wants to work for any longer.

And without cheap labor - the labor market reset is underway. It's especially noticeable in IT and accounting both of which industries would import cheap labor but now positions from entry level help desk to senior accountants are open with reasonable pay rates once again.

Thanks for clarifying your post. I’m not familiar with share repurchases so thanks for introducing this point to me, I’ll try to read more about it.

 

[skypilot2922]

What will be more difficult, filing your taxes or booking a Walt Disney World vacation?

Booking a Disney vacation accounting for the inevitable web server crashes and Stitch appearing to eat the page.

 

[Missing20K]

Power is not a means; it is an end. One does not establish a dictatorship in order to safeguard a revolution; one makes the revolution in order to establish the dictatorship. The object of persecution is persecution. The object of torture is torture. The object of power is power.

 

[Dan Deesnee]

I just want to know how lines are going to work with the new paid skip option. Myself, along with 40 million other parents, are not going to wait in 1-2 hour lines with our kids for every decently popular ride.

I don't care if they're catering to wealthier guests, the paid skip option will not be very popular as the pricing is pure insanity. I mostly work with low millions (1-10) net worth individuals. They all loved the fast passes when they took their kids. Take that away and put it behind a rediculous pay wall and people simply won't go. Most people making 400k a year will still laugh in a cast members face when they're gleefully told their 5 person family can skip the line for ONLY $75 frigging dollars...

Actually, most wealthy people I know won't even get into that situation above. They'll be smart enough to realize Disney is now up charging horribly for something that used to be free and they'll take their family elsewhere.

This will hurt Disney. Losing magical express with luggage being taken care of will hurt Disney.

They're going down a reckless path with negative repercussion that will ripple out for decades to come. Less people going, less lifelong fans being formed. A slow death.

 

[TrojanUSC]

I just want to know how lines are going to work with the new paid skip option. Myself, along with 40 million other parents, are not going to wait in 1-2 hour lines with our kids for every decently popular ride.

I don't care if they're catering to wealthier guests, the paid skip option will not be very popular as the pricing is pure insanity. I mostly work with low millions (1-10) net worth individuals. They all loved the fast passes when they took their kids. Take that away and put it behind a rediculous pay wall and people simply won't go. Most people making 400k a year will still laugh in a cast members face when they're gleefully told their 5 person family can skip the line for ONLY $75 frigging dollars...

Actually, most wealthy people I know won't even get into that situation above. They'll be smart enough to realize Disney is now up charging horribly for something that used to be free and they'll take their family elsewhere.

This will hurt Disney. Losing magical express with luggage being taken care of will hurt Disney.

They're going down a reckless path with negative repercussion that will ripple out for decades to come. Less people going, less lifelong fans being formed. A slow death.

They were open for 30+ years with no Fastpass. Yes, some of the lines are longer now but people were waiting 60+ minutes for the E-Tickets in 1999. It's a theme park.