Walt Disney World Tech News & Discussion- Magic Bands, Genie+, and more

[Brian G.]

Just adopt the damn UO model and call it a day (although I'd consider dropping the price for MK and DHS a little)

 

[UniversalRBLX]

A premium product deserves a premium price, but Disney has somehow managed to make the entire planning process a headache.

They need to rip the bandaid and only sell this new pass. Remove virtual queues (only utilized the first few weeks of a new attraction) & get rid of reservations. The parks are back to pre-Covid crowd levels and are staffed properly now.

Very surprised to see this new product sold only to WDW Deluxe resort guests. There's a significant amount of guests outside the bubble staying at premium resorts like the JW and Ritz that might be interested in this product.

 

[Alicia]

Very surprised to see this new product sold only to WDW Deluxe resort guests. There's a significant amount of guests outside the bubble staying at premium resorts like the JW and Ritz that might be interested in this product.

It’s a test phase slow rollout, so they have to start by limiting it somehow I guess.

 

[belloq87]

My gut reaction was I want the prices to be even higher to make sure even fewer people use it.

 

[GAcoaster]

It's flirting with the cost of a VIP Tour at this point.

 

[Parkscope Joe]

It's flirting with the cost of a VIP Tour at this point.

That's what they want not to undercut, which is why prices are closer to that than Universal's Express Pass options.

 

[Jake S]

Speaking exceptionally anecdotally: I’d never pay for this and I typically buy Genie+ (or whatever it is now) on every visit. I’d be curious to see how these numbers shake out moving forward.

 

[Cup_Of_Coffee]

I wonder if we underestimate, especially with Disney more than Universal, how much more the ultra wealthy dump money at Disney, and this is just another way to get them. I have a few friends with parents who are part of that crowd, are theme park people, and only go to Disney. I don’t know why comparatively the 2 resorts seem to attract differently in that regard. DVC probably plays a roll but idk, this is so outrageously expensive, who does this appeal to outside of that crowd?

 

[Parkscope Joe]

I wonder if we underestimate, especially with Disney more than Universal, how much more the ultra wealthy dump money at Disney, and this is just another way to get them.

It really is for the c-suite DINKs who have DVC.

 

[Cup_Of_Coffee]

It really is for the c-suite DINKs who have DVC.

Literally, cause they will absolutely spend on this. I also there is a small enough crowd that is either spending 1 or 2 days at a single park, who for their kids to be happy they’ll dump the money on this too. It’ll sadly work and Disney will never decrease pricing

 

[GA-MBIT]

It's announcements like these that make their consistent choice to replace rather than truly expand sting all the more. None of the four parks outside of MK feel like complete experiences currently, and MK's about to go under the knife again for a very long period of time from Frontierland 2.0 to Villains to the Tomorrowland redo. The capacity and variety of offerings in certain parks just stink, and paying close to $300 for direct access to those lineups is just concious theft at a certain point.

 

[Jake S]

I wonder if we underestimate, especially with Disney more than Universal, how much more the ultra wealthy dump money at Disney

I think we underestimate how many people are ultra wealthy and how much purchasing power they have compared to the vast majority of Americans.

And I don’t think most guests feel the Orlando parks are under built, with the exception of Animal Kingdom. They’ve been voting with their feet for more than 30 years.

 

[PerceptiveCoot]

I think we underestimate how many people are ultra wealthy and how much purchasing power they have compared to the vast majority of Americans.

Surely ultra wealthy Americans still experience the shame of being ripped off?

 

[Jake S]

Surely ultra wealthy Americans still experience the shame of being ripped off?

I think the perception of being “ripped off” is exceedingly different from what most regular Americans experience.

 

[kristenabelle]

I've bought every iteration of lightning lanes, including my recent September trip, and wouldn't spring for this. $300+ for only one time per ride at DHS? When I was just fine grabbing passes for the things I wanted to go on at less than $50 (ROTR and multipass)? Wild.

I'm sure there's a market for this. But I'm DVC, SINK, and it's not me. The only way I'd even consider it, and it'd definitely impact the amount of trips I take in a year, is if this severely diminished my ability to get lightning lanes for key rides - and the only way to get E tickets was with Premiere LL.

I have seen a lot of FB chatter about letting Deluxe resorts have this for free "like Universal" - I'm not sure if people realize how many Deluxe rooms there are at WDW, or that Universal isn't offering Express at its brand new premier hotel (for now, at least).

 

[Rhian]

It feels like they're been trying to convert Disney parks into a kind of top luxury brand, specifically one of those brands you'd only hear about if you ran in those circles. Sure they're getting new people to show up but they're also pushing others out and that shifting demographic has different expectations, so Disney has to contort itself to match. At some point I imagine they'll run out of whales but they're not there yet.

Disney has become the lobster (once easily available for regular folk, now out of reach).

 

[tyro]

I think we all knew this was inevitable, but the way this is rolled out is awful. On top of the obvious price comparisons to universal express, which for the most part will be much cheaper for the unlimited version than the Disney version at once per ride. Adding on the layer of only allowing deluxe resorts to buy this for now just adds another level of unneeded complexity. Add on the new DVC add on they are completed ruining any sort of value people thought they were getting.

In my mind the way to make this system work and have a decent value would be this:

Keep the premier pass at the price point, but allow it to be bought by everyone.

Remove the multi experience pass/Genie Plus option

Allow on site guests to have at least one free use LL using the same reservation system multi experience is using ( 1 for value, 2 for moderate, 3 for deluxe)

Disney is just setting themselves up for comparisons down the street and in almost every category universal is beating them out on a value perspective.

 

[HandsomePete]

Disney VIP Tours were already substantially more expensive than Universal VIP Tours for a normal 3-4 person family so I don’t really see the comparison to Express. Nor do I see this as any sort of grand thesis on Disney’s theme park business model other than filling a gap between a relatively inexpensive line skipping service and an extraordinarily expensive tour.

I also don’t think this is that much more valuable than just getting Multi Lightning Lane (or whatever it’s called now) and working your way through the day with return times, just seems like a bit of a sucker tax.

 

[UNIrd]

I've been hearing people say they need to move to Universal's Express model literally for decades now. Interesting that they finally do and the response is YEAH NEVER THANKS. I get it's expensive but like... what did you think it would be?

 

[rhino4evr]

For the price . It really should be unlimited.
Universal includes unlimited express pass on their deluxe hotels , and those hotel prices are typically cheaper than Disney’s deluxe hotels. Adding the cost on top of your stay makes it much more expensive compared. I do like that it will be “extremely limited” for now.

To me the biggest advantage is not having to plan or schedule your rides. That provides a level of freedom that’s been missing from Disney parks for years… I’m over the app management system.