Genie+ And Ticket price increase 10/11/2022

[Harmacist]

That's your nostalgia talking - making money for the shareholders IS the brand. The emotions tied to owning all our childhoods just makes it easy to forget that.

It's the American stock market way. I've worked for huge companies, every year would be "the profitable year ever" and our reward was having staffing cut the next year and more work to do. That's an easy way to get to be more profitable and appease the stockholders. But that's a little off topic.

I'm more of a WDW person, but plan on taking my partner to Disneyland for her first time next summer. These annual price increases with inflation wouldn't sting so much if you they didn't take away the nice perks and little touches with the parks. At WDW they took away free busing from the main airport to WDW hotels, but the thing I missed the most last trip was free shipping of in park purchases to your hotel. There were quite a few things I did not buy because I didn't want to lug them around the park all day and by the end of the day I didn't feel like running to the gift shops to purchase.

I guess I wouldn't feel as bad paying these high prices if I didn't know what they took away and felt less being nickel and dimed along the way. That being said, in my mind this upcoming Disneyland trip will be my last Disney trip in a while, there's many more economical trips I can take and not feel as bad spending my money on them.

 

[Angel141925]

But ... a lot of people paid for MaxPass. It was the same price ($20, which was the same as Genie+ until recently). Disney made money on MaxPass and people who didn't want to pay could still get fast passes, just not as quickly or conveniently. Everyone was happy. The standby lines were much better under MaxPass compared to Genie+. I still can't figure out why this is.

This!!!! Being in an insanely crowded park this weekend using genie+ it just didn’t work. I for the life of me couldn’t figure out why it didn’t work when in reality it’s not really that different than before but it just wasn’t the same. One thing I wish they would do is open up the whole day and let you select whatever time you want. Keep the 2 hour wait before next selection but at least let me select the time I want. It made it very difficult to use when you have dining reservations and nighttime entertainment to schedule around. Idk what it is about it but it just doesn’t feel the same. I can’t explain it or pin point exactly why. I’ve kind of just gone with the conclusion it’s just because the parks were so busy and we had stuff to schedule around. I’ll see how it goes out next trip. I’m hoping for a better result.

 

[StormyCA]

I''m beginning to wonder if one factor in all this is Disney's desire to reduce the frequency &/or length of people's visits thereby hopefully reducing crowd levels. Locals may end up feeling the price of a pass isn't worth it or they're priced out, and reduce the frequency of visits, using day tickets. Tourists may either be 'priced out' or they'll reduce the number of trips per year, or reduce the number of days for those trips. Any of that will theoretically reduce the crowds.

I normally would go 2 times per year, onsite with 5 day hoppers. Now I'm contemplating once per year onsite with a 3 day hopper OR just buying the occasional day ticket when I visit family in So Cal. That does take one body out of the parks for 7 days that I might have been there.

Of course we have no way of knowing how many people will choose to reduce their days in the park because of the increase of costs. Could be a dozen, could be a large number. But I doubt if it'll be enough to really make a noticeable difference. And I doubt more than a handful will really stop going to DL simply out of spite or to 'prove a point'.

 

[HIRyeDVC]

I''m beginning to wonder if one factor in all this is Disney's desire to reduce the frequency &/or length of people's visits thereby hopefully reducing crowd levels. Locals may end up feeling the price of a pass isn't worth it or they're priced out, and reduce the frequency of visits, using day tickets. Tourists may either be 'priced out' or they'll reduce the number of trips per year, or reduce the number of days for those trips. Any of that will theoretically reduce the crowds.

I normally would go 2 times per year, onsite with 5 day hoppers. Now I'm contemplating once per year onsite with a 3 day hopper OR just buying the occasional day ticket when I visit family in So Cal. That does take one body out of the parks for 7 days that I might have been there.

Of course we have no way of knowing how many people will choose to reduce their days in the park because of the increase of costs. Could be a dozen, could be a large number. But I doubt if it'll be enough to really make a noticeable difference. And I doubt more than a handful will really stop going to DL simply out of spite or to 'prove a point'.

This is exactly the goal, for people to come less but spend more while we’re there because we’re there less often. We used to be MK holders from Hawaii that visited 2-3 x a year. Now we will only go once a year. No biggie though. There is more to life than Disney!

 

[Snap Crackle Pop]

I definitely think that even though people are complaining about the price increases we know they will still pay to go. Disney knows people will still come. Do I think it's worth the ticket price right now? No, but I have a magic key and I have to reevaluate when it comes time to renew next September. Disney isn't what it used to be, but I still enjoy it and I view it as a theme park more.
I do think right now Knotts Berry Farm has a better experience compared to Disney.

 

[Aurora0427]

I do think right now Knotts Berry Farm has a better experience compared to Disney.

We went to Knotts on Friday… had an early dismissal from school. I have a platinum pass so free parking. We showed up at 2, parked for free, and pretty much walked on all of the rides we wanted to do. Very light crowds, my kids did the trick or treating, no lines for food. Completely different experience from Disneyland…. We couldn’t have gone to Disneyland if we’d wanted because reservations had been booked up for weeks. Forget being able to show up at 2 and walk on rides.

 

[sammybk]

I'm going to be a contrarian here, but the park experience was so much better in the months before Genie+ was released. The standby lines actually moved.

I would be 100% for them raising the price of Genie+ up to $60/person and cutting the number of LL slots for each ride by 75%. Make the standby lines move 3x as fast and let the people who can afford to get a very quick lightning lane pay a lot.

Right now the standby experience is miserable, and the LL experience isn't great either.

 

[maleficent55]

It looks like today in Genie+ is still $20 a person. I don’t want to read through this entire thread but when does it go up to $25?

 

[GoofyGoofyGoofy]

DL does not really need defenders - we’re all here because we love the place! But we are allowed to criticize, and we are allowed to feel - and to express - that what we love about it is, at present, offering diminished returns for ever more investment.

The hotels have literally doubled their prices, and only recently gave us back daily housekeeping, plus literally half the on-site early entry perk they used to offer. Ticket prices are up sharply, and yet more people are packed in than ever. A once-free fastpass system that rewarded planning is now a $25 per-person, per-day “add-on” that is - given the aforementioned wall-to-wall hip-to-hip park-packing - now the only way to ride more than 4 rides in a day, and thus an essential. The big entertainment spectacles are diminished, damaged, or canceled altogether. The attractions are poorly maintained and break all the time. Every change in policy seems to make things worse - more money for less magic.

People are going to feel disappointed, or even like suckers for continuing to hope - like Charlie Brown trying one more time to kick that football - that their beloved place will change for the better, and this is a space where we can talk about that.

Well said. The cost of parking is highway robbery too! Disney has officially turned the corner on living up to the high standard they themselves have set for value to price. Now, it feels all they want to do is take every single penny they can from anyone who decided to go to the happiest place on earth. Value is long gone. They have coasted on their name too long and have forgotten what value is.

 

[twodogs]

I'm going to be a contrarian here, but the park experience was so much better in the months before Genie+ was released. The standby lines actually moved.

I would be 100% for them raising the price of Genie+ up to $60/person and cutting the number of LL slots for each ride by 75%. Make the standby lines move 3x as fast and let the people who can afford to get a very quick lightning lane pay a lot.

Right now the standby experience is miserable, and the LL experience isn't great either.

I think the problem is, “they” don’t care about the stand by experience. In fact, I would argue that Disney wants the SB experience to be miserable so that people will buy G+ and feel is it “valuable”. Sad but true.

 

[SOCALMouseMommy]

I think the problem is, “they” don’t care about the stand by experience. In fact, I would argue that Disney wants the SB experience to be miserable so that people will buy G+ and feel is it “valuable”. Sad but true.

I believe this. I also think this is why they will overstate wait times for certain rides (here’s looking at you Rise of the Resistance).

 

[Aurora0427]

I believe this. I also think this is why they will overstate wait times for certain rides (here’s looking at you Rise of the Resistance).

Good point. We’ve never waited the full posted wait time for Rise…. It’s always been much shorter. Unless of course, it breaks down.