Date-Based Price Increases for Genie+ at Disney World
Walt Disney World has announced higher prices for Genie+ via date-based pricing for the paid FastPass service. This post covers details of how the cost will increase on higher-demand days, the price range for this month, and our commentary about whether this is a good or bad change from a guest experience perspective.
While we’ve seen a few tweaks since the start of fall, Walt Disney World hasn’t really made any big adjustments to curb demand for Lightning Lanes since Eliminating the Genie+ Ticket Add-On at Walt Disney World. Back when that change was made, Disney stated that it was being done because the goal from the outset has been to “launch, learn and evolve” after seeing how guests are using the “popular and in high demand” service.
The other notable change was that Walt Disney World permanently moved one Individual Lightning Lane attraction per park to the Genie+ service. Expedition Everest at Animal Kingdom, Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway at Hollywood Studios, Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure and Frozen Ever After at EPCOT, and Space Mountain at Magic Kingdom are all now included in the flat-rate Genie+ service after temporarily shifting there for the busy spring and summer seasons.
These aren’t the only changes Walt Disney World has made to the Genie+ service, both good and bad. Those value judgments depend upon your perspective and priorities, as every change creates winners and losers. This has all been in an effort to balance supply & demand, and has included “warning” guests that Genie+ essentially amounts to paid FastPass.
Other changes have been more well-received among fans, such as adding more entertainment and character meet & greets to Genie+ in an attempt to provide more capacity to the highly in-demand service. We’re not going to rehash all of that here, as even a short history of the changes to Genie+ and Lightning Lanes would be quite lengthy at this point.
In a nutshell, there have been two types of changes being made to Genie+ at Walt Disney World over the last several months: ones that theoretically rebalance supply & demand, and ones that alter the service to change its utility (improve or reduce, depending upon your perspective). This move to date-based pricing for Genie+ at Walt Disney World should, in theory, fall into the former category of reducing demand. Here are full details of the change…
Effective immediately, the Genie+ service prices will vary by date. Meaning that on days when demand is projected to be higher at Walt Disney World, Genie+ will cost more. This will function very similarly to the date-based ticket system, minus the pre-published calendar with ‘at a glance’ price points for each month.
However, this is not ‘pure’ demand-based or dynamic pricing. The prices are set in advance based on internal attendance and demand forecasts. Since Genie+ is now only for same-day purchase, you won’t know how much it’ll cost until logging into My Disney Experience each morning at 7 am. Think of it as a fun little game! 😉
For October 2022, Walt Disney World has revealed that Genie+ prices will range from $15 to $22, plus tax. That’s simply example pricing, and no details have been provided about the minimum or maximum over the course of the year.
However, it’s safe to assume that Genie+ pricing will more or less track with date-based ticket pricing. Single-day ticket prices this month max out at $154 on Saturdays, which are also presumably the $22 Genie+ days. In November and December, day ticket prices max out at $159, meaning Genie+ should cost no more than $23 on those days.
Of course, there’s always the possibility that Walt Disney World isn’t releasing a price range for dates beyond October 2022 because the ceiling has not yet been decided upon. If demand remains strong for Genie+ at $22, maybe the weeks of Thanksgiving or Christmas will hit $25.
Or, perhaps there was no ulterior motive with with the range only being released for this month. That might be the range for the entire year. I wouldn’t bet on that being Walt Disney World’s intentions in only releasing October, but that could still be the outcome.
The timing of this move to date-based pricing shouldn’t be too surprising. In last week’s wait times report, Fall Off-Season is Over at Walt Disney World, we addressed how wait times have worsened. Since then, fall break crowds have arrived in full force, with every single day of the holiday weekend having 9/10 or 10/10 crowd levels, with the worst wait times since Easter on 3 of 4 days.
The goal of all these changes is to avoid a repeat of the week before Thanksgiving last year, when Genie+ Collapsed in Crowds. With Veterans’ Day, Jersey Week, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s Eve all right around the corner, the time is right for more big changes to better balance the Genie+ service.
To that end, you might recall that we praised Walt Disney World’s decision to eliminated the Genie+ add-on. We argued that it would have the effect of reducing demand because rather than buying the add-on for the duration of their vacations as as a matter of convenience, people now have to deliberately purchase Genie+ each day. The end result is fewer sales, as many guests realize they don’t want or need (or both) Genie+ every single day. Others review their daily spending on vacation and decide it’s not a pragmatic purchase.
When the add-on was first announced, we called it a “savvy move” on Walt Disney World’s part because guests don’t know how many days they’ll want Genie+ before actually using it. Whether it’s a matter of overestimating its usefulness or peace of mind, there’s a high probability that consumers buying the Genie+ add-on will spend far more than those who would purchase it on a daily basis, even if they buy the Genie+ add-on option at a “discount.” It was like the Disney Dining Plan all over again! (That comparison wasn’t a joke–the idea is exactly the same behind the two product offerings.)
That more or less summarized my perspective on the Genie+ ticket add-on being eliminated. I also acknowledged that many Walt Disney World fans would nevertheless be upset about the change, preferring the ease of pre-purchasing rather than having to buy Genie+ each day.
Those fan frustrations were understandable, as buying Genie+ each morning adds another layer of friction to the whole process. There’s also the uncertainty about whether the paid FastPass service will sell out. (In my opinion, Disney’s biggest blunder with that announcement was the “subject to availability” asterisk, which suggested that Genie+ could sell out. That has yet to happen, and probably never will in light of today’s date-based pricing change.)
My take on eliminating add-on was a very unpopular opinion, with approximately 0 of the 100+ commenters on that post agreeing with my perspective. Nevertheless, I stand by every word of it. You might wonder why I’m rehashing it here…perhaps it’s because I relish playing the villain? (No, not at all.) Maybe because I’m a bootlicker who praises everything Disney does? (Some of you seem to think that!)
Rather, it’s to set the stage for wholeheartedly rejecting the contrarian perspective here.
The ‘unpopular opinion’ here about the date-based price increase for Genie+ is easy to foresee because it’s something we’ve seen before on countless occasions. The viewpoint is that price increases are actually good because they decrease attendance and help cut crowds. This was a go-to line of the Iger regime when raising ticket prices, and one that was mindlessly parrotted by a certain subset of fans.
We have rejected this perspective time and time again. And do so yet again. For one thing, there is ample evidence to the contrary, as attendance has increased by millions of guests per year in the pre-closure decade. For another, if Disney wants to reduce crowds, there are ways to accomplish that–building more attractions or not taking 84 years to open a cloned roller coaster in an otherwise empty warehouse. In reality, Disney has little desire to reduce attendance–they want to “optimize” wait times, staffing, and pricing.
When it comes to paid FastPass, there’s a variation of the above argument. This is more or less that Genie+ would be better if prices were higher since Express Pass works well at Universal Studios Florida and Islands of Adventure. That service costs significantly more but is included for free with stays at Universal’s three top-tier hotels.
For some Walt Disney World fans, the idea of Express Pass checks all of the right boxes. Exclusive but included with select on-site resorts, frictionless, and tech-free. To be sure, Express Pass is better than Genie+ from a usability perspective. We aren’t doubting or debating that. We’ve used Unlimited Express Pass extensively, and it’s far better overall. No question whatsoever. However, date-based pricing for Genie+ with the current cost range is not a move in that direction. (Not to go too far off-topic, but Walt Disney World could not replicate everything people love about Express Pass since its inputs differ.)
Whether it be for park tickets, resorts, or the Genie+ service, date-based pricing is an effective way for the company to its desired optimizations at Walt Disney World. There are certain times of year that experience higher demand for a number of reasons–school schedules, seasonal events, weather, etc.
Charging incrementally higher prices for these times of year allows Walt Disney World to capitalize on and profit from that inherently higher demand. That’s the goal–not redistributing attendance or whatever the talking point might be. There’s a reason spring break, summer vacation, and fall/winter holidays continue to see heavier attendance than any other time of year and have not leveled off with random dates in mid-January, early May, late August, etc. Increasing prices on that quasi-captive audience is simply savvy business or opportunism, depending upon your perspective.
The same thing will play out with date-based pricing for the Genie+ service. The more expensive dates won’t have a better guest experience; if anything, it’ll be worse. Demand for Lightning Lanes will be higher because crowds are higher, and the Genie+ date-based surcharge over the low or regular seasons will be relatively insignificant.
Worse wait times creates a higher incentive for bypassing lines, meaning higher uptake of Genie+ even when it costs more. Keep in mind, those visiting during these peak weeks are already paying more for their vacations. The difference between $16 and $24 (after tax) is relatively insignificant in the grand scheme of things, and won’t cause many guests to balk at pricing. What’s another “few dollars” on top of a multi-thousand dollar trip if it’ll offer a competitive advantage?!
None of this is particularly speculative. We’ve seen it play out for years with date-based pricing on everything else. Not only that, but Individual Lightning Lanes already have a rudimentary form of date-based pricing, and that form of line-skipping is more “popular” when it’s more expensive. Again, the rationale is simple–people are willing to pay more to skip lines when they’re worse.
This isn’t necessarily to argue against Walt Disney World moving to date-based pricing for the Genie+ service. It’s simply to refute the misconception that Disney is doing guests a favor with price increases by (supposedly) reducing demand, crowds, or whatever. That probably would be true if the cost jumped from $16 to $80 per day, but that’s not the case here. Instead, Walt Disney World is trying to thread the needle by incrementally increasing prices in an effort to keep demand relatively inelastic.
Ultimately, there’s no good quick fix to this issue for Walt Disney World. The immediate alternative that I could get behind is simply capping Genie+ at a reasonable level and letting it sell out at the current price on peak season days. However, as the backlash to eliminating the ticket add-on demonstrated, many people would not be on board with that. Another option would be a price jump so large that utilization of Lightning Lanes dropped dramatically, thereby improving the standby experience.
It’s also hard to fault Walt Disney World for not leaving money on the table. While we hate all of the price increases of the last 2-3 years and believe there will be negative long-term ramifications, it’s also patently obvious that Disney has pricing power and no shortage of demand right now.
Long-term, the solution to all of this is building more attractions. As noted above, queueing is a zero-sum game. No approach to lines–not all standby, not paper FastPass, FastPass+ or Genie–changes capacity. The only meaningful way to alter the equation is by actually increasing capacity.
That’s done by adding entertainment, attractions, or extending operating hours. Everything else is a matter of rearranging the deck chairs, and having different guests or demographics come out ahead or behind. In this case, the “winners” (air quotes) are those willing and able to spend more during the busiest times of the year at Walt Disney World.
If you have questions about the basics of using–or not using–the paid FastPass service, see our Guide to Genie+ at Walt Disney World & Lightning Lane FAQ for all of the foundational need-to-know info. This whole system is confusing and convoluted, so you might have a question or two-dozen. That answers all of the most common ones we’ve been receiving from readers.
Planning a Walt Disney World trip? Learn about hotels on our Walt Disney World Hotels Reviews page. For where to eat, read our Walt Disney World Restaurant Reviews. To save money on tickets or determine which type to buy, read our Tips for Saving Money on Walt Disney World Tickets post. Our What to Pack for Disney Trips post takes a unique look at clever items to take. For what to do and when to do it, our Walt Disney World Ride Guides will help. For comprehensive advice, the best place to start is our Walt Disney World Trip Planning Guide for everything you need to know!
YOUR THOUGHTS
What do you think of the move to date-based pricing for Genie+ at Walt Disney World? Disappointed that it’s happening, or do you see the upside from a lowered demand perspective? Thoughts on our perspective that demand for Genie+ will continue to be highest on the busiest/most expensive days? Any other considerations we failed to take into account or details we missed/got wrong? Will you purchase Genie+ or is $20+ too expensive for you? Do you agree or disagree with my assessment? Any questions we can help you answer? Hearing your feedback–even when you disagree with us–is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!
Is there some calendar chart that we can see what the prices will be in November 2022? A lot of price increases in the last two weeks!
Just back from Disneyland where we purchased Genie + with our Park Hopper tickets for entire stay. At first , it was distracting and annoying trying to keep booking rides all day in order to get our moneys worth. Was constantly checking my phone battery level and recharging with my battery pack . The biggest gripe and frustration we encountered was the older popular rides like Space Mountain and Thunder Mountain which we booked with Genie + were constantly shutting down before our booked time , resulting in having to wait for the window to close before we could book another ride .
The stand by wait times for the kiddie rides in Fantasyland were ridiculous . Standing in long lines in hot sun with irritable kids isn’t fun . I agree Universal Express Pass works great, but it’s expensive , and most people don’t spend as many days at Universal as DISNEYWORLD. Definitely missing old DISNEYWORLD. The “free” fast pass was terrific.
I find it not even necessary to waste words because it’s so obvious but here I go. This is so disgusting, opportunistic, capitalism at its worst and the opposite of the magic that Disney stood for. The nickel and diming at every corner at every opportunity is so ugly. If I hadn’t already bought tickets I wouldn’t be going.
You said this was the response to your post about the removal of the G+ ticket add-on: “with approximately 0 of the 100+ commenters on that post agreeing with my perspective.”
I went back and looked, and there are a number of positive comments on that post:
“I actually love this change.”
“In a vacuum it’s a positive change, but very ehhh – because the changes we want to see are much more sweeping.”
“This is a positive development IF it means they will limit G+ sales. The problem with G+ has been that it is oversold.”
“If making it available on the day of increases availability, then I like the change.”
” I feel very much in the minority but I like it and this feels like a pretty good change.”
“This is a good thing because the non-castle parks require a different ride reservation scheme than the Magic Kingdom.”
I know I also posted positively on your Facebook post (“I agree. I see people disproportionately irritated about this change, and I don’t see a downside at all.”), but the comments I quoted are all from the blog. It just smacks of “You all were wrong,” which while you’re now my favorite Disney blog (RIP Josh) and I really appreciate your take 99% of the time, you don’t have to “play the villain” becuase there were plenty of people who actually agreed with you.
Also, several people in those comments predicted this very change in pricing:
“Interesting. Could this change be a prelude to variable pricing for Genie+ (“surge” pricing)?”
“My take on this is that making G+ unavailable in advance will permit Disney to make radical changes to ride pricing, or even eliminate G+ completely, without having to refund guests who have already purchased G+ or honor a grandfathered-in system.”
“My initial thought was that they are setting up to have a variable cost for Genie+ depending on demands of the particular day”
“watch as the day after you can no longer buy it for a full stay, they announce they are moving to dynamic pricing like Express Pass at Universal.”
“…AND it will allow them to change the prices day-of if they’re expecting busy days.”
WOW!
Disney is being smart right now. A significant economic recession has been forecast for next year by many financial experts including the president of J.P Morgan Chase. Inflation is causing their operating costs to skyrocket and higher borrowing interest rates means their park investments to fall off significantly. Right now while there’s still high demand and unemployment remains low, Disney is going to grab every penny it can get from guests.
Stop acting like this is some strategically shrewd financial move by Disney. They’re just doing what they’ve been doing for 30 years now, jacking up prices knowing that the people who can’t afford the higher prices will be covered by ones who can and will pay more. They ain’t going to lower prices if/when a recession hits and, if they thought they could get away with selling 100 tickets a day at a million dollars each to people who would pay the price, they’d do it in a flash.
I understand there is no shortage of demand for all things Disney. I still think the extremely aggressive & very rapid piecemeal gouging that is attacking every single detail of the cost of a trip really lacks long term vision… slowly but surely people are becoming increasingly angered, among them a larger and larger group of formerly longtime Disney loyalists. Maybe demand will decrease. Maybe there will be a recession and Disney will start offering better deals. But you know what I’m not going to forget? Being angry now. Being angry at how this company is treating people who have shown up for decades and loved Disney.
And the exploding costs issues don’t even address the fact that you need a Ph.D in Disney planning to understand how to plan a vacation at Disney.
I grew up in Florida, worked at WDW as a cast member post undergraduate work at University of Florida, moved away but still raised my kids going to Disney several a year….and I just finished planning our first on site Universal hotel stay. I didn’t have to feel guilty about supporting a company that increasing feels morally questionable and nefarious, even in capitalistic society.
Free Unlimited Universal Express Passes for day of arrival and departure for 4 family members? Velocicoaster and Hagrid’s, the two best rides in Orlando? It was as easy as pie, and an excellent value with our….wait for it…new season passes. Which they are actually willing to sell to me.
I genuinely hope that this blog acknowledges the many longterm increasingly unhappy Disney comments and recognizes that it’s not just voting with your feet in terms of tamping down demand…it’s voting with what you choose to cover in this blog.
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“Maybe there will be a recession and Disney will start offering better deals. But you know what I’m not going to forget? Being angry now. Being angry at how this company is treating people who have shown up for decades and loved Disney.”
What I worry about is the fans who are angry now…and stop being fans as a result. All the deals in the world can’t lure back loyalists who have been alienated to the point that they’ve moved on.
The long-term goodwill and brand-damage is something we’ve covered repeatedly, in a multitude of posts about price increases and other negative changes. I would hope Disney leadership is also cognizant of this, and has a plan for pivoting once the economic environment starts to shift.
Beyond that, I’m not sure what we’re supposed to ‘choose to cover’ on the blog. I can’t just write “here’s what fans are complaining about today” posts. Even some borderline topics I’ve debated writing–like my suspicion that ride downtime is worse than normal and maintenance is shoddy–aren’t backed by anything more than hunches, which makes me apprehensive to dedicate full posts to them (especially since they might be objectively refutable with data).
Tom, I fully understand your need to have evidence before you present a hunch – that’s what I ask my 8th grade English students to do daily.
HOWEVER…
You are at WDW pretty much every day. I had a fangirl moment in late August when I saw you speeding by with your camera out, weaving through the crowd between Small World and Peter Pan…I was like, “Wow. He really IS here every day!”
If I had to make an educated guess as to who I might trust to give me the most accurate information, EVEN if it’s suppositional, it would be a person who experiences these things daily.
I only go once a year, but follow many blogs and Facebook groups, as well as having many friends/family who visit yearly. Even I could tell you that based on my educated guess, ride downtown has increased significantly – though of course anecdotal accounts aren’t always 100% truthful.
If you’re hesitant because you think people will jump down your throat for offering guesstimates based on experience – well, let’s be real – they probably will, because people suck. BUT that’s what we come to your blog for – your educated guesses and opinions based on your significant time spent there.
Now I fully understand you can’t address every single complaint, but I say go for it – whatever guesses/intimations/inferences you have, I can pretty much say with certainty that most who read your blog will appreciate it! :~)
Well said Amy! Agree completely. Go for it Tom!
Anyone who did not see this coming from day one should NOT be allowed to vote.
I love Disney like all of you and it is sad what has happened at Disney. It is not the experience our hearts remember. It’s too much planning, too much stress, too many people, decline in overall product and too expensive. We went to Universal studios in May and it was cheaper, no stress and pretty magical. I still will always love and want to go to Disney and probably will go in June. However for a truly fun and different experience I say look into Universal for the a nice change.
I agree. We too went to Universal in February. We had a great time and the hotel price was excellent for a deluxe plus having unlimited pass. We will do that again. Disney in Sept was good but it lost a lot of fun. Constantly looking at my phone for if there was openings to a ride and times. Thank goodness I only tried Genie+ once and Lightning Lane for Guardians. We ended up doing what rides we could and it wasn’t a lot due to crowds. With them increasing the costs and still no DDP, we might hold off next year with Disney and stick with Universal for a while. Looking forward to Epic Universe.
Just curious to know: Would you be likely to rationalize taking “advantage” of the following offer from Disney? Disney picks one 7 day period out of the year where there will be no LL, Genie+, no addons of any sort and the price of a ticket is $1000 per day with park hopper option adding $200 per day. Disney would also limit every park to 20% capacity. Any takers?
DVC member here. Haven’t been back since COVID hit. Won’t be going back, at least not to the parks. My family will enjoy our resorts, strolling through Downtown Disney, visit family & friends, and enjoy other Florida attractions and restaurants. Plenty to do without the stress and micromanaging my vacation. For those who enjoy the new Disney, great! For those who don’t, stop grumbling and let Disney know through the purse!
We visited last Sept after avoiding Disney during Covid. We had an excellent time (pre-G+) and we got home and started planning our next trip. We’ve since decided against returning, likely never will return. Prices increases, stories of how poorly CMs are being taken care of by the company, plus several public missteps and Florida politics have soured us on visiting again.
Ditto to all that you mentioned, zac!
Are there no grandkids or great grand kids of Walt that can step in and return it to Walt’s vision? It is just going more and more off the rails. The line skipping system seems to be the most greedy system, both for Disney and the people who want to skip the people who have been waiting patiently for their turn. I really don’t think that would have been in Walt’s vision and seems to be the most stressful and icky part of any Disney vacation.
You put your finger right on it when you talked about “leaving money on the table.” Sad fact is that it’s rational for Disney to set its prices as high as it believes its customers are willing to pay. If demand drops, so will prices. May leave a bad taste in the mouth, but it’s basic economics sadly.
Excellent analysis Tom as always. I appreciate your empirical review of these situations. In the end, these debates always boil down to the same thing. Super fans that are emotionally attached to this product, usually due to memories that were made as a child and a company that has zero emotional attachment to its loyal fan base. All of the decisions by Bob and the board boil down to shareholder-profit-maximization in the short-run. While the company does think of the long-term in attraction development, pricing is entirely based on profit maximization. So far, the Bob’s have been right; fans demand for WDW is inelastic, but this has occurred during a record period of easy monetary policies and 15 years of consistent economic growth. I think that you are spot on with the long-term issue. What happens when casual fans will not or cannot go to Disney with a major economic downturn, coupled with hurt super fans that will be in the same boat, less willing to spend money during a downturn. WDW is an economy of scale. It would force more of the cuts that have been profit-motivated until now that may send the company into a death spiral. As Jeff Bezos shocked Amazon investors with a few years ago; all things are impermanent. WDW will come to an end someday. Short-term profit considerations may prove to be the cornerstone of that decline, only time will tell. Look at Sears’ long collapse for reference. Great article Tom.
In addition to this price increase, how about paying full price for a “full day” at Magic Kingdom on the MNSSHP and Christmas Party nights, and having to leave 3 hours early? In January 2023, After Hours will start in both MK and HS with event starting at 7pm. I don’t understand why the ticket prices on these days are not adjusted for the reduced hours and shows, because it should be.
Just got back from a 8 night stay at Port Orleans French Quarter. My adult daughter and I. Had a fantastic time. I followed Tom’s advice and did not purchase Genie+ for this time of year. Since we already experienced every attraction Disney had in past visits and we had no children with us we just wanted to do our favorites. I did purchase LL passes for two rides. And later found out I did not even need to buy both of those. I got us passes for Cosmic and Rise. And after we got on cosmic I was able to get us in the afternoon queue so we rode it twice that day one paid one for free then we did another day at EPCOT and I was able to get us in the morning drop queue so we rode that wonderful amazing one of a kind attractions 3 times!! Yayeee only paying extra for it one time!. I paid for Rise of the Resistance lightening Lane and that was it. One time we got to ride that. Would have had to wait hours to ride it had I not purchased LL for it because even though you get a 30 min head start in the mornings as a resort guest they delay the opening for Rise on purpose. By the time we got up there even though we were at rope drop the line was already long. In fantasy land in the Magic Kingdom which was very busy and crowded we skipped just about every thing in Fantasy Land only riding Small world. I can’t visit with out riding that. And dwarf’s mine train. We rode space Mt once. We did 3 days in MK. We stayed mostly in Frontier Land, Adventure L. and Liberty S. We rode Pirates and Mansion 3 times because they are our favorites. Did every thing in these lands. But MK park was extremely crowded on both Halloween Party and no Halloween party days. In AK we rode flight of passage, one of our favorites, twice. We rode all the thrill rides in AK. We saw and did every single thing we wanted to do in all the parks and we saw the night time projection show in MK. Wow oh Wow! Loved it and the light show at night in EPCOT was amazing!. The buses were fast and always on time with very little wait. For those who have not experienced them yet if you visit Disney World do not leave the parks till you have ridden Cosmic Rewind, and Flight of Passage, Rise of the Resistance, Ratatoule, Micky and Mini’s run away train, Rockin Roller coaster, even if you have to pay extra for them. And we absolutely loved the food and wine festival. We ate and ate and drank and drank! LOL! We had a wonderful time and all the cast members were bright and happy and helpful. We did not come across a single one that was not. Oh! And try to book the 220 space res and lounge in EPCOT! Wow oh wow was that an amazing experience! We also booked Olga’s Canteana in EPCOT’s Star Wars land. It was worth it! The drinks do fun things when you get them and there are no other drinks any where that taste like these and the DJ is a really cute droid spinning records. You have to reserve this one. No walk ins allowed. We had an amazing time with out purchasing Genie+ Just like Tom said. We were at rope drop every day just like Tom said to do and we got to ride and see every thing we wanted. Some multiple times. Yes it was crowded and in the afternoons it was hot. But it was still wonderful and though expensive I have no regrets. The only thing I was not happy with was not having Mouse Keeping but only every other day and even then they no longer make the beds. We had a stopped up sink but I reported that and they came and fixed it right away. If I ever go back again it will be in early Oct.like this time. Or Nov. We totally enjoyed ourselves. Ladies, if you decide to splurge and buy one nice thing for yourself while you are there. Get a Disney Parks Lounge Fly back pack bag. They were all the rage and sooo cute and some of them cannot be purchased any where but in specific shops inside the parks. Some of them are in the shops and Disney Springs but some are only park specific and experience specific. They are soooooo cute! I got a park specific sparkly safari one in AK and my daughter got a flight of passage one in AK that has movable wings on it. Looks like the banshee! And these bags are collectors items. So be sure if you buy one you get a park specific one that can’t be purchased on line or any where else but a Disney theme park. Don’t look for them and the World of Disney store in Disney Springs because those can be purchased on line. Certain Loungefly bags were limited produced and those are the ones you want to get. Well thats my trip report. Tom’s suggestions and posts were all very helpful for me in planning this trip and I am so grateful to him for all his efforts in helping us get the most out of our Disney vacations! So Bright Suns and safe travels! And see ya real soon pals!
Wow!! I think you might have a future planning WDW vacations for others! You certainly have the right attitude and right smarts. Well done!
Why thank you Chuck!
Honestly, I feel like this all comes down to them overcrowding the parks. The amount of people per park per day should be realistically capped and would force people to plan way in advance . But there is no benefit to Disney in this- only the park goers- so its never happening.
I would gladly pay more money if it actually had a benefit but honestly we pay quite a bit extra for basically 2 line skips.
I truly believe the reason why the parks are so overcrowded all times a year now compared to how they used to be, say 15 to 20 years ago is because of the vacation club an other types of passes they have come out with. Any one with in a days drive to WDW can buy these passes and go as often as they like. I believe the majority of the guests in the parks these days are those people who do not have to pay for airfare. WDW has become a resort for Florida and its surrounding states. That is why boycotting the parks will never work. As long as there are that many people who live close by who can buy those passes Disney will never run out of guests and will always be filled to the brim and then some. And Disney Land in Ca is so much smaller and everyone in Cali wants to go there so same goes for that one.
We just went in mid-September, and you can put me in the “not going back for a long, long while” bucket. Constant chasing of Genie passes, ping ponging across the parks in 91+ degree heat to make our Genie times and dinner reservations, and then having to pay another fee for Individual LL, it was exhausting and I feel like I missed so much of the joy that I used to get from just exploring and discovering new things, taking my time and doing things at my pace. The newer rides are nice, the old rides are old and tired, food service for a quick snack or drink is depressingly chaotic and slow. You walk in a restaurant and they tell you to go back outside and do a mobile order instead. We were willing to overlook the cost of everything because we needed a post-pandemic vacation so badly, so they got our money this time. And we did enjoy ourselves overall. But I honestly think the Disney executives walk around the parks looking for ways to charge more. “Napkins?? Napkins are free?? Why aren’t we charging per napkin!?!?” “Excellent idea, Bob, we’ll set up a convoluted seasonal tiered dynamic pricing model for napkins with an upsell option for napkins+“. It’s enough, they’re alienating people who used to go yearly or every couple years, and it’s going to become a once-a-decade thing. People will find other ways and places to vacation.
I know I will. I go in December. I will not be buying cash grab Genie + Sad that people forced to. With planning you dont need it..but the average guest doesnt plan at that level. I will be focussed on memory lane..remembering the magic and relaxing and stopping to take in the small things combined with special experiences like Candlelight Processional. There is no ride worth having my face in my phone and racing around. After many many trips it is time to say goodbye. The money grab across the board is so sad I just cant watch anymore. I am a bit sorry I committed to this trip! I will spend a whole day just appreciating AKL, and other similar things and focus on the magic that is still there.
When I was a kid, we went every year, sometimes twice a year. We stayed at whatever hotel was new that year. We went at different times of the year to experience the different holidays. Obviously, I grew out of vacationing with my parents. Though my parents have been back several times on their own. My daughter is 5 years old. My parents wanted to view Disney through the eyes of their granddaughter so treated my family a trip to Disney World with them. We stayed at the Disney Yacht Club. For location, you can’t beat it. And now, with the addition of the Skyliner, transportation is the best. Both families had rental cars so we never used Disney buses. We were able to walk into Epcot, take the Skyliner to Hollywood Studios, quickly drive to MK and AK. The rooms were a bit depressing looking though. Dull beige everything. We had perfect rooms – ground floor, water view, view of the fireworks from our patio and perfect location for early morning run around the boardwalk. Not to mention evening walks for dessert and ice cream. Maybe because I never experienced DW as an adult with a family before but the whole experience just seemed chaotic and stressful. We had Genie+ add on to our tickets. We had park hopper + park tickets. We were there for 8 days. The waking up before 7 am to make ride reservations or to grab a lightening lane reservation was just so stressful. We got most of our wanted dinner reservations by booking 60 days in advance, just not the times that we wanted. We got tickets to the dessert party fireworks viewing at MK, just the pre party instead of the after party. We had perfect umbrella reservations at Typhoon Lagoon for a couple of days and my parents enjoyed their “beach days” tremendously. I couldn’t waste an entire day with a 5 year old at a pretend beach with entertainment that was either too old or too young for her to enjoy. We came to the conclusion that the choice to have an only child probably wasn’t the best when it comes to vacations. (Hopefully she will find a “best friend” whose parents will allow us to treat to vacations with our daughter!) My parents loved their vacation. They got up late, went out to a sit-down breakfast, maybe wandered the parks, went to character breakfasts with our daughter, took her shopping to the point that she even admitted that she got too much stuff to take home. Meanwhile, we got up early, grabbed breakfast in our room, packed snacks because we knew we weren’t going to get breakfast anytime soon in the park. We waited in lines for kiddie rides for what seemed to be forever that even made my daughter proclaimed “that’s it?” We were able to leave my daughter with my parents a few nights and made dinner reservations at restaurants that only adults would appreciate. We ate at Winebar George and Jaleo and Frontero Cocina. All were excellent. I just will never go back to Disney World again. There is no magic. It was hectic, frustrating, chaotic, crowded and in some places, just seemed run down. My daughter was excited to go and now never talks about it. As kids, we used to go during all the holiday seasons and I don’t remember it being as crowded as it was. And we went when crowds were “normal”. Just, for us, NEVER AGAIN.
Napkins+ ! LOL
Seems like Disney is walking in lock step with the fed reserve this year. Price increases across various areas/interest rate increases are out of control. Pockets of consumers only so deep.