Is Genie the step that stops you going to WDW?

[gjdjud]

Originally Posted by WDWMAD

We bought into DVC in 2017 and haven't used it yet due to illness and Covid, so obviously it won't be stopping us from going.

I guess, as a family we are different to the majority on here as we love Disney World for, being Disney World, we cannot get the same feeling from any hotel we have stayed in around the world than the feeling we get when we walk into our Disney World Hotel, the atmosphere, the friendly welcome, the smells etc. The rides are a big part of our holiday, but, as long as we are at our Disney World resort hotel that's fine by us.

I've spent around £700 to do ONE day at Universal and IOA with Express Passes, taxi fares and food etc.because my daughter was so desperate to go there being an Harry Potter fan and I've got to be honest it is the most annoyed I have ever been at spending such a ridiculous amount of money for one day at a theme park ever, so this definitely will not put me off. Just remember Universal had the clever idea of putting Harry Potter in both parks (2 entrance fees) and inventing Express Passes, it is always all about money with theme parks, they don't spend millions on new rides just to make people happy.

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That’s a great point. How many on here buy 14 day Universal tickets at £250 a pop with Deluxe hotel and go to the universal parks maybe 2 to 3 days? Cost per day per person at Universal I bet is massively more than we spend at Disney per person per day.

[Orlandoguy]

It’s not gonna stop me going, I will build in the cost into my budget for my trips it is what it is, I would much prefer the old fastpasses way but times change and that’s life sadly

[quartergill]

We are planning to go next year. It has been 10 years since we have been to WDW (done Disneyland in that time and Universal plenty) and next year will probably be the last as a family. We will go with the flow and not let it bother us. Have fun and make the most of it.

[Cath24601]

Originally Posted by gjdjud

That’s a great point. How many on here buy 14 day Universal tickets at £250 a pop with Deluxe hotel and go to the universal parks maybe 2 to 3 days? Cost per day per person at Universal I bet is massively more than we spend at Disney per person per day.

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Yep, we used to get 14-day Universal tickets, stay off-site in Kissimmee, and only use them twice as we were in WDW the rest of the time. Sounds ridiculous when you see it written down like that but we didn’t think twice!

[Buzz n' Piglet]

Originally Posted by loldis

And we pay $30 per day for entry on UK tickets. $15 for Genie+ which covers almost all the attractions. Unknown amount for the e-tickets but all rumours are similar to DLP prices so say $30 for two.

$75

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yeah but you need to multiply that by 14 - $1050 per head. $4200 for a family of four.

Gate price is more like $150 for a normal day pass, so $195 for the day

[Shinealight]

Yes, yesterday I cancelled our 10 day package stay for next May, still going to Florida but will stay off-site (apart from four comped days at CBR). The Genie was the deciding factor.

[loldis]

Originally Posted by Buzz n' Piglet

yeah but you need to multiply that by 14 - $1050 per head. $4200 for a family of four.

Gate price is more like $150 for a normal day pass, so $195 for the day

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I'm not claiming it's not an extra cost for families. That price example was purely to show it's not that different from what Walt was charging. Because he loved the money too.

Thousands extra is a worst case scenario though, I don't think the costs will work out that high in practice. Most people on 14 day tickets aren't even in the parks every day between pool days, waterparks, shopping, Universal, Discovery Cove, etc. But even on Disney days, you shouldn't need paid passes every day.

For example on a MK day, most of the Genie+ attractions don't get super long queues unless you're there on a particularly busy day. You could probably get away with only paying for 7DMT, choosing your most popular ride to rope drop (e.g. Peter Pan) and doing the rest in standby. Or dedicate one day to rides where you do purchase the pass, and focus on shows/entertainment the next.

There will be plenty of ways to optimise your plans to reduce how much you pay. It won't be an all or nothing situation.

[Buzz n' Piglet]

Originally Posted by loldis

I'm not claiming it's not an extra cost for families. That price example was purely to show it's not that different from what Walt was charging. Because he loved the money too.

Thousands extra is a worst case scenario though, I don't think the costs will work out that high in practice. Most people on 14 day tickets aren't even in the parks every day between pool days, waterparks, shopping, Universal, Discovery Cove, etc. But even on Disney days, you shouldn't need paid passes every day.

For example on a MK day, most of the Genie+ attractions don't get super long queues unless you're there on a particularly busy day. You could probably get away with only paying for 7DMT, choosing your most popular ride to rope drop (e.g. Peter Pan) and doing the rest in standby. Or dedicate one day to rides where you do purchase the pass, and focus on shows/entertainment the next.

There will be plenty of ways to optimise your plans to reduce how much you pay. It won't be an all or nothing situation.

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If we stayed on site we would go into a park pretty much every day, but we would see what we could get fast pass for and go in for a few hours' do the fast passes and some stuff in between and then leave. Over the two weeks it was fairly relaxed and we did everything we wanted to.

We would go shopping or the pool, mini golf or whatever for the rest of the day. Maybe go back to a park in the evening for a show.

That type of holiday is firmly confined to the dustbin now, mainly due to how much it would cost to stay on site, need to pay for parking, need to pay this fee for Genie plus etc etc.

Its awful

[Taffy1959]

We’re booked for a week at CSR next May I spoke to my husband about it this morning and we’ve decided to go ahead with our trip (fingers crossed).
We’ll probably pay the $15 each for Genie + or whatever it’s called but we won’t pay extra to ride the headliners we’ll arrive for rope drop and take our chances the only exception would be paying to go on Tron which would be his birthday present from me and it would be once only.
As I said to my husband this morning it’s $30 per day less that we’ll be spending in the shops at Disney we have a spending budget and will stick to it.
As for future trips we’ll wait and see how we get on next May.

[sully301]

It may be the step that stops me staying onsite. What actually is the benefit? I can get a villa for less than the price of a value room and only $10 more to park per day