Genie+ Speculation: Thoughts On Disney Axing The Pre-Purchasing Of Genie+
Banter 19-May-2022
From a customer point of view, Genie+ is bizarre because it's better value the less other people use it. When it replaced Fastpass+, some guests assumed that Genie+ would be required otherwise they'd be waiting in long queues all the time. Assuming it was just some sort of backhanded ticket price increase. I'm not surprised at this, because Disney has, for example, removed Disney's Magical Express service - which was priced into your hotel stay - leaving you to find your own way there, while not reducing the cost of the hotel stay. So I don't blame people who think they've essentially taken Fastpass+ out of the tickets and charging for them separately thinking it's required. That perception has to change though.
Over the very busy Easter of 2022, it was shared over social media that guests were paying (including those who prepaid) for Genie+ and only getting one ride out of it because all the Lightning Lanes were all booked up. This resulted in many guests visiting the guest services umbrella locations queuing to complain, resulting in guests who needed help with other things having to endure long waits.
Currently, Disney does not limit how many people can purchase Genie+ on any given day. You could turn up 5 minutes before closing and purchase it. The way they manage capacity is - just like with Fastpass+ before - is to cap the Lightning Lane availability.
Why? Disney recently updated their Genie+ help page to say guests could realistically expect to achieve "2 or 3 attractions" using Genie+ in a day, if the first one is booked first thing. Starting June 8th 2022, they're now also saying that Genie+ will be "subject to availability".
This could result in Disney capping the sales of Genie+ on any given day, but also introduce what they've been implemented a lot recently, and that's dynamic pricing. We could see the base price of Genie+ go up to $20 a day and the price actually fluctuate depending on how busy it will be in the park that day (using their infamous park reservation system). We could see on busy days Genie+ costing north of $30, but with less people being able to buy it.
Remember though, Genie+ is not required for you to have a good Walt Disney World holiday. Many people - even here on Mickey From The UK - have said that Genie+ was simply not needed on a good chunk of the days. With higher prices, we should see fewer people use it, which means less impact on standby. Maybe I'm just too optimistic, we'll see.
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