No the Magic isn’t gone but it’s at 25%

[DCLMP]

Uh, okay? All I was saying in my initial post was that despite the VIP tours being crazy expensive (just looked it up and it's quoted as being $425-850 an hour plus the tip for your guide), people are still willing to pay that and these tours book up very fast.

How many tours are booked a day? What percentage of WDW visitors take a private tour?

 

[MomOTwins]

But that's my question: are they buying it because they truly think it's a value or are they buying it because they feel like they have to? I would expect the majority of purchasers would far into the latter (would love to get access to Disney's survey data on this though!). If it's a value, wouldn't guest experience/reactions be much better after the fact then they seem to have been?

Bear with my example here, but I don't perceive $5/gallon to be a value, but I purchase it anyway because I have to.

Well, it certainly will be interesting to see if G+ buying patterns change now that you can't add it on to length of ticket. I suspect the average # of G+ users per day will go down, just because some people default into the ticket add on for convenience (i.e., not having to book it day-of and risk glitches etc.); habit (assume it is the same thing as FP+ which they liked), or uncertainty (i.e., they never used it before, and want to have it just in case). And of course, once people have it, they will use it because why wouldn't you. But if people have to buy it each day, they may realize on day 3 or 4 of their trip that they don't really need it and the sales will go down. If people do keep buying it at the same rates, it will prove me wrong that people are finding appropriate value in it. But if sales slide, I think that will be proof that people don't like it.

 

[HopperFan]

Say what you want about the 50th, but at least they didn't turn the castle into a cake...

I liked the castle, one of our favorite family pics is in front of it. I even own a piece of the cake. It was fun.

But I do understand why a once in a lifetime trip might not have welcomed the look.

I really disagree that Disney offered their product at a price point that is reasonable for most families for decades. It has nearly always been very expensive — at least for the past 20-30 years.

Yes and No.

Not all families can afford or will ever go to Disney World. It is an optional luxury vacation. Most will never spend that much on a vacation in their lifetime. Just like homes, cars and designer clothes - we get to enjoy what is in our budget. Disney's demographic is not most families.

In terms of those who have Disney vacations in their general budget - I do not find the tickets to be overly expensive. Look at what people pay for a single NFL game, a Broadway Show, a top restaurant dinner with drinks, a top name concert. All those are entertainment and per hour costs are often more than Disney tickets. It is possible to travel to Disney without spending buckets of money on hotels, dining and junk. Tickets have held their value since day one.

 

[DCLMP]

Well, it certainly will be interesting to see if G+ buying patterns change now that you can't add it on to length of ticket. I suspect the average # of G+ users per day will go down, just because some people default into the ticket add on for convenience (i.e., not having to book it day-of and risk glitches etc.); habit (assume it is the same thing as FP+ which they liked), or uncertainty (i.e., they never used it before, and want to have it just in case). And of course, once people have it, they will use it because why wouldn't you. But if people have to buy it each day, they may realize on day 3 or 4 of their trip that they don't really need it and the sales will go down. If people do keep buying it at the same rates, it will prove me wrong that people are finding appropriate value in it. But if sales slide, I think that will be proof that people don't like it.

Do we know why WDW stopped selling it as an add-on to the length of stay tickets? The only thing I can think of is maybe they are planning on getting rid of it and they don't want to have to deal with all the refunds down the road.

 

[leiaorgana]

Do we know why WDW stopped selling it as an add-on to the length of stay tickets? The only thing I can think of is maybe they are planning on getting rid of it and they don't want to have to deal with all the refunds down the road.

They’ve already allowed people from the U.K. to add it to their 2023 tickets up until the cut off point so that seems unlikely.

My personal guess is that they’ve either had too many people complaining it’s useless and want refunds on it for the rest of the days they’ve already bought it for or it’s because too many people are complaining about the lack of capacity at the E ticket rides and so they know it’s only going to get worse during the peak summer months and they’re preemptively trying to control the amount of people that have it each day by stopping people from buying it in advance so they can thin the LL heard a bit over summer.

 

[DCLMP]

They’ve already allowed people from the U.K. to add it to their 2023 tickets up until the cut off point so that seems unlikely.

My personal guess is that they’ve either had too many people complaining it’s useless and want refunds on it for the rest of the days they’ve already bought it for or it’s because too many people are complaining about the lack of capacity at the E ticket rides and so they know it’s only going to get worse during the peak summer months and they’re preemptively trying to control the amount of people that have it each day by stopping people from buying it in advance so they can thin the LL heard a bit over summer.

They're certainly taking a lot of heat for it. Do a google search and you'll find one negative article after another. I would be surprised if it lasts in its current form. It worked really well for us at Disneyland and were closer to Disneyland. If I need a Disney fix I'll head west instead of east at least until they get this figured out.

 

[Marionnette]

They’ve already allowed people from the U.K. to add it to their 2023 tickets up until the cut off point so that seems unlikely.

My personal guess is that they’ve either had too many people complaining it’s useless and want refunds on it for the rest of the days they’ve already bought it for or it’s because too many people are complaining about the lack of capacity at the E ticket rides and so they know it’s only going to get worse during the peak summer months and they’re preemptively trying to control the amount of people that have it each day by stopping people from buying it in advance so they can thin the LL heard a bit over summer.

...or they want to introduce dynamic pricing and selling G+ for a flat $15/day pp in advance leaves money on the table.

 

[leiaorgana]

...or they want to introduce dynamic pricing and selling G+ for a flat $15/day pp in advance leaves money on the table.

That’s another valid option and certainly in line with the current mindset of the current higher ups.

 

[Smugpugmug]

...or they want to introduce dynamic pricing and selling G+ for a flat $15/day pp in advance leaves money on the table.

This is what I think too. Disney wanted to get rid of Fastpass+ for a long time so there's no way they'll revert back to that system. Disney stopping people from pre-purchasing Genie+ in advance is the first step in them trying to make adjustments to the service whether those adjustments are good or bad.

 

[Skicks35]

Well, it certainly will be interesting to see if G+ buying patterns change now that you can't add it on to length of ticket. I suspect the average # of G+ users per day will go down, just because some people default into the ticket add on for convenience (i.e., not having to book it day-of and risk glitches etc.); habit (assume it is the same thing as FP+ which they liked), or uncertainty (i.e., they never used it before, and want to have it just in case). And of course, once people have it, they will use it because why wouldn't you. But if people have to buy it each day, they may realize on day 3 or 4 of their trip that they don't really need it and the sales will go down. If people do keep buying it at the same rates, it will prove me wrong that people are finding appropriate value in it. But if sales slide, I think that will be proof that people don't like it.

Yea, good point. I'm sure a lot of people simply clicked the add on box when purchasing tickets. I bet fewer people will do that each individual day going forward; or at least they will buy it for only specific parks.

What would be really interesting to know is the amount of, or interest in, repeat purchases. Would a family that just spent 10 days at the park do it again if they came back in two years, etc?

 

[leiaorgana]

If you believe the rumours about the alleged stacking changes coming soon then they’ve definitely got something in mind for it to help attraction availability last longer into the day.

 

[Jrb1979]

It seems like all the single people on here would love forking over 100 bucks for an express pass. Would you feel the same if you had a spouse and three kids. How about 500 a day that sounds awesome. So we want to make WDW completely unaffordable for families as if it's not already.

I think the disconnect in this conversation is not so much the money as it's those whose saying it's unaffordable are of the belief that you HAVE to have a FP to enjoy the parks. It's been said by a poster here that went to both parks recently that Universal guests accept that waiting in long lines is part of going to parks. I have gone to Universal many times and I rarely buy Express Pass.

 

[Aluminum Falcon]

But that's my question: are they buying it because they truly think it's a value or are they buying it because they feel like they have to? I would expect the majority of purchasers would far into the latter (would love to get access to Disney's survey data on this though!). If it's a value, wouldn't guest experience/reactions be much better after the fact then they seem to have been?

Bear with my example here, but I don't perceive $5/gallon to be a value, but I purchase it anyway because I have to.

In this case it's an optional add, it's more of do you want a free popsicle, or do you want to upgrade to an ice cream cone. Granted in this case you can argue that it isn't much of an upgrade, but people perceive it as such, otherwise why would they purchase it, again it is optional, and i don't believe that people don't recognize that. You can hate something and still find value in it, in your example you could hate gas prices but still find value in it because it's something that you need, and needs inherently have value

 

[john7994]

Yea, good point. I'm sure a lot of people simply clicked the add on box when purchasing tickets. I bet fewer people will do that each individual day going forward; or at least they will buy it for only specific parks.

What would be really interesting to know is the amount of, or interest in, repeat purchases. Would a family that just spent 10 days at the park do it again if they came back in two years, etc?

The point of the changes implemented today are precisely to limit it only to same day of the tickets already purchased (presuming you didnt pre-purchase Genie+ before now). And based on park reservations you made, it will be specific to the park that you are going to on that day, or others you hop too if you have that option purchased.

 

[Aluminum Falcon]

I think the disconnect in this conversation is not so much the money as it's those whose saying it's unaffordable are of the belief that you HAVE to have a FP to enjoy the parks. It's been said by a poster here that went to both parks recently that Universal guests accept that waiting in long lines is part of going to parks. I have gone to Universal many times and I rarely buy Express Pass.

It does seem to be a uniquely Disney problem, people just want what they have gotten for a while there, and don't seem to understand that things can't stay the same with the level of guests that want to go there currently

 

[Aluminum Falcon]

So you think Magical Express is coming back?
What about Dining plans?

I doubt ME will come back, but wouldn't be surprised if a different program was offered through Disney for a fee.
Dining plans i do believe will be coming back since Disney did say that, not sure why so many people are brushing that off

 

[Jrb1979]

It does seem to be a uniquely Disney problem, people just want what they have gotten for a while there, and don't seem to understand that things can't stay the same with the level of guests that want to go there currently

Agreed. Maybe cause I go to a lot different parks but I have learned that waiting in line is part of going to a park.

 

[john7994]

They’ve already allowed people from the U.K. to add it to their 2023 tickets up until the cut off point so that seems unlikely.

My personal guess is that they’ve either had too many people complaining it’s useless and want refunds on it for the rest of the days they’ve already bought it for or it’s because too many people are complaining about the lack of capacity at the E ticket rides and so they know it’s only going to get worse during the peak summer months and they’re preemptively trying to control the amount of people that have it each day by stopping people from buying it in advance so they can thin the LL heard a bit over summer.

I think there is a lot of truth to these guesses. I think it was way too easy to just add-it-on with some expectations and it created a flood of other problems as described. Then in an absolute moment of silliness (i could use stronger words), Disney suggests that 2-3 LLs a day is good enough.

Now, If I force you to select it daily - there are less "excuses", they can control the availability (extreme busy periods), and dynamically price it.

 

[Jrb1979]

I think there is a lot of truth to these guesses. I think it was way too easy to just add-it-on with some expectations and it created a flood of other problems as described. Then in an absolute moment of silliness (i could use stronger words), Disney suggests that 2-3 LLs a day is good enough.

Now, If I force you to select it daily - there are less "excuses", they can control the availability (extreme busy periods), and dynamically price it.

The easiest solution would be to cap sales each day. Limit the amount of people that can buy it. It amazes me it took Disney this long to realize you can't this many people have Genie+ and it work.

 

[leiaorgana]

The easiest solution would be to cap sales each day. Limit the amount of people that can buy it. It amazes me it took Disney this long to realize you can't this many people have Genie+ and it work.

That doesn’t make sense though because everyone had access to Fastpass+. How many rides you got to do with it each day just depended on how well you used the system.

We always stay offsite because I don’t think Disney hotels are worth what they charge in the slightest but we were always able to ride everything we wanted with it everyday and even get things like Frozen, SDMT and FOP at 30 days if you knew how to refresh.