Genie+ Is there anything good about it?

[loldis]

Originally Posted by gjdjud

I understand that as I’ve highlighted as in my first sentence if it were a free system how many would complain.

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Agree with this. They could have raised ticket prices by $15 per day and then included it "free" with nowhere near the same level of complaints. People expect ticket price increases. They weren't expecting a separate price for fastpass.

Yes, it will be a fairly significant extra cost for a larger family over a long stay. But fact is those guests are in the minority. And no business models around their minority.

[YorkshireT]

Yes, it’s great if you are a Disney exec, and it makes money, as you’ll get a bigger bonus. And possibly a shareholder, short term. Then again it’s done nothing for the share price which has gone down since the announcement and is only a small part of the Disney company income.
Interesting though it’s received some negative press in the investment and business publication community. This is from Business Insider:

“One agent, who chose to remain anonymous because they were not authorized to speak to the press by their agency, believes the cost is going to impact Disney-exclusive travel agents in particular because clients may want to offset the cost of Genie+. One way to do this is to book an offsite resort, which typically means less commission for the agent, but she has been encouraging her clients to do this to save money.”

[Floridarules]

Yes they could have increased the price and said fastpass is free, but basically they HAVE increased the ticket price, (they do this every year)- Plus now they have took away fast pass planning & you now pay for that too. 😳

It raises the price for every family surely?

[m8rty]

I don't have a problem with it, I think the free side of it could be quite handy.

People are going mad on the basis of it being an additional expense for a family of 4 @ $60 a day x 7 days plus in parks.
Its an option, not a must have, you don't have to use it and IMO its miles better than booking FP's 60 days out it gives you the option there and then based on where you are in the park at any given moment.

You've lost a couple free FP's which was a naff system anyway!

[Moorlandman]

Originally Posted by m8rty

You've lost a couple free FP's which was a naff system anyway!

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I assume you are a Disney shareholder/fanboy😀

[loldis]

Originally Posted by Floridarules

Yes they could have increased the price and said fastpass is free, but basically they HAVE increased the ticket price, (they do this every year)- Plus now they have took away fast pass planning & you now pay for that too. 😳

It raises the price for every family surely?

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Not every family, and not significantly. There are loads of visitors to WDW who didn't even realise FP existed when it was free. Therefore it being paid will make no difference to them.

Even people who use it, the main opinion I'm getting from US forums is they're not happy, but they'll pay it anyway. The main pushback I'm seeing is from British forums. This is to be expected due to the difference in average length of stays. It's obviously going to be a lot cheaper for a family only going 3-4 days compared to 14.

I know for me, a single person who only used FP at MK anyway, charging for it isn't going to make a significant dent. I'll purchase 1 day of Genie+ (no IAS as I don't do the coasters) at the most. I'll spend more on cookies than I do FP.

[Gill H]

Originally Posted by Floridarules

Yes they could have increased the price and said fastpass is free, but basically they HAVE increased the ticket price, (they do this every year)- Plus now they have took away fast pass planning & you now pay for that too. 😳

It raises the price for every family surely?

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Not if you don’t want to use them, or not use them every day.

For myself, as we are staying onsite I would be looking at getting in early every day and going straight to one of the additional-charge headline rides, to get that under our belt without paying. Then I would see how many LL rides I could do while the park was relatively quiet.

Once the lines got up to a certain length, I would consider whether to pay for Genie+ that day to get onto those rides more quickly, or alternatively whether to do other things (shows, meals, parades, walk-throughs, or an afternoon elsewhere).

[Moorlandman]

Originally Posted by loldis

Not every family, and not significantly. There are loads of visitors to WDW who didn't even realise FP existed when it was free. Therefore it being paid will make no difference to them.

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The difference is Genie + will be an upsell opportunity which will be promoted to everybody from the moment they purchase park tickets to when they get in the park. There will be pressure on families to purchase or have their kids moaning about queue lengths

I was happy with my daily guaranteed free fast passes to all the top attractions

[m8rty]

A 14 day ticket costs £469 right now on ATD for next year.
Go to the parks EVERY day for 14 days.
£33.50 a day, you're hardly being ripped off if you pay an additional $15 now and then.

Just for reference, FP tickets for Alton Towers cost from £30 a day to £105 PLUS park entry...

$15 BARGAIN by comparison!

[The Fatadder]

Having now had a little more time to digest the news, I am now quite interested to see how it does impact the in park crowds. It will be good to see how the Americans find it in action once it goes live.

In theory I guess if (and its a big if) there is wide uptake it should be pretty effective at avoiding long waits Fastpass style. The question is how much the paid lightning+ queue jumps impact this given you potentially have 3 lines of Standby, Genie+ and instant Lightning+. I assume the latter will enter through the exit and be in much smaller numbers (and hence will not materially slow down the queue for Genie+) but who knows...

Interestingly for the US perspective having Genie+ as an upcharge rather than just upping the base ticket price is probably a good thing, with a decent proportion of people being put off the extra expense meaning less people in the "fastpass" line. It gets a bit more difficult with our 7/14 day tickets and a much higher charge. I still hope that once we are actually allowed to travel there will be some sort of 7/14 day Genie+ price offering for UK guests, though whether this is there for 2022 or happens later based upon the response to the system is another question. I have a feeling that free Genie+ will be bundled with the dining credit for the 2023 promotion

I am still surprised that there hasnt been a follow up announcement saying that Disney resort guests will be offered something with Genie+.