MAJOR changes to Genie+!

[PaladinButters]

I think one thing that would make G+ better would be dropping the 2p hopping rule. If I could rope drop Epcot, and be booking HS from jump, it would be a much better experience. Would make the hopper option a better value, and make G+ a better utility. The way it now, it stinks.

Hmmmmm.....from a completely Genie based perspective, if we're going to limit (allegedly) sales, then the park hopping restriction is needed to "protect" a few hours of the LL pool for the guests with DHS reservations. (Like how you have to be in park for the second drop of VQs for example), no?

I haven't read through the pages here, but I'm sure many of us think it's possible for genie+ dynamic pricing.

A lot of people are speculating that. It's odd that they would block out all of next year for pre-purchase though. They already have the different ticket and hotel pricing set out, why not throw the new Genie prices out when they release the packages?

 

[SeasonneRose]

Thanks for your thoughts.
To decide...just purchase it now, or don't bother and hope they add some kind of discount.
Am thinking we just bit the bullet and purchase it, and it's just part of our overall budget.

For now that strategy works. After June 8 you can’t book it early.

 

[SeasonneRose]

Yeah I was just commenting on your "entice people to book deluxe" The times that people will truly be enticed won't be that much unless they were on the fence anyhow.

That’s just one moving piece in what is likely a giant web of ideas. I don’t think the strategy is just one or the other. I think there are several strategies that they point to to offset any loss of revenue due to selling less genie+

And it may not be just “deluxe” it could be an incentive added to entice people to book onsite - which I know is something they’re trying to capitalize on.

 

[Jrb1979]

Hmmmmm.....from a completely Genie based perspective, if we're going to limit (allegedly) sales, then the park hopping restriction is needed to "protect" a few hours of the LL pool for the guests with DHS reservations. (Like how you have to be in park for the second drop of VQs for example), no?



A lot of people are speculating that. It's odd that they would block out all of next year for pre-purchase though. They already have the different ticket and hotel pricing set out, why not throw the new Genie prices out when they release the packages?

I wouldn't be surprised there is changes to G+. I don't see it going back to advanced booking but there is things they can do to tweak it.

 

[snoopboop]

Yeah I was just commenting on your "entice people to book deluxe" The times that people will truly be enticed won't be that much unless they were on the fence anyhow.

Thinking about my strategy when vacationing at Universal…. I would never, EVER, EVER pay RP/HRH/PBH prices for a hotel…. BUT when UO throws the Unlimited EP in with the stay, that changes everything and my rules totally change. I definitely am not someone who would be “on the fence” about staying at a Deluxe just for the amenities/room size/etc… but if WDW starts including a perk like UO’s Unlimited EP, I’d 100% pony up and stay there.

So I’m at least one anecdotal example of someone who is very much not on the fence anyhow but would be enticed to book Deluxe with a skip-the-line perk.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Thinking about my strategy when vacationing at Universal…. I would never, EVER, EVER pay RP/HRH/PBH prices for a hotel…. BUT when UO throws the Unlimited EP in with the stay, that changes everything. I definitely am not someone who would be “on the fence” about staying at a Deluxe just for the amenities/room size/etc… but if WDW starts including a perk like UO’s Unlimited EP, I’d 100% pony up and stay there.

So I’m at least one anecdotal example of someone who is very much not on the fence anyhow but would be enticed to book Deluxe with a skip-the-line perk.

Yes but that's exactly why I said especially if we're talking more than one night.

We did a split stay just a few weeks back. 2 nights at Endless Summer Surfside and 1 night at Royal Pacific. In terms of cost no way would we have stayed more than 1 night at Royal Pacific, the ratio would have been basically 3 nights at Endless Summer=1 night at Royal Pacific. However in order to compare tit for tat Universal includes EP for your length of stay. 1 night at Royal Pacific netted us 2 days of EP.

Also in order to compare you really have to look at the pricing for Universal's top tier that get EP and WDW's price points. From there you'll see it's not going to entice those very much who wouldn't have already been looking at Deluxe and now would be swayed and when you're looking at multiple days.

ETA: Also when comparing USO resorts with EP many here at least on the Boards do the high tier for 1 night (some even do a throw away where they don't even physically go there other than to get their EP/hotel key card) because financially speaking they may have been considering EP or they wanted to try it out (like we did since all of our other trips have been without EP). Price points of EP is a lot higher than WDW's Genie+.

When you just look at it unless Disney is going to go straight to USO's EP pricing where a Saturday could be $189.99+tax/pp for Unlimited (like it was for the Saturday where we got EP) or even $299.99+ tax/PP the math doesn't work out much for someone to be truly swayed by spending so much more money for a deluxe on Disney's property for the purposes of getting a low Genie+ price vs a dynamic pricing unless they were already considering Deluxe.

 

[robinb]

For those who have problems buying G+ in the morning there is a work around. I didn’t know it yesterday, but I know it now.

https://www.disboards.com/threads/t...gy-only-thread.3857056/page-212#post-64014300

 

[SeasonneRose]

Yes but that's exactly why I said especially if we're talking more than one night.

We did a split stay just a few weeks back. 2 nights at Endless Summer Surfside and 1 night at Royal Pacific. In terms of cost no way would we have stayed more than 1 night at Royal Pacific, the ratio would have been basically 3 nights at Endless Summer=1 night at Royal Pacific. However in order to compare tit for tat Universal includes EP for your length of stay. 1 night at Royal Pacific netted us 2 days of EP.

Also in order to compare you really have to look at the pricing for Universal's top tier that get EP and WDW's price points. From there you'll see it's not going to entice those very much who wouldn't have already been looking at Deluxe and now would be swayed and when you're looking at multiple days.

ETA: Also when comparing USO resorts with EP many here at least on the Boards do the high tier for 1 night (some even do a throw away where they don't even physically go there other than to get their EP/hotel key card) because financially speaking they may have been considering EP or they wanted to try it out (like we did since all of our other trips have been without EP). Price points of EP is a lot higher than WDW's Genie+.

When you just look at it unless Disney is going to go straight to USO's EP pricing where a Saturday could be $189.99+tax/pp for Unlimited (like it was for the Saturday where we got EP) or even $299.99+ tax/PP the math doesn't work out much for someone to be truly swayed by spending so much more money for a deluxe on Disney's property for the purposes of getting a low Genie+ price vs a dynamic pricing unless they were already considering Deluxe.

You’re basing your analysis on genie+ pricing as it stands now. I really think they raise the prices. And not an insignificant amount. And I think they make it available to deluxe guest as an early purchase option with everyone else having to wait (and pay higher).

I also don’t think it’s an apples to apples comparison. Disney is not universal so how they structure their fast pass may be entirely different but I think the end result is the same: deluxe guests will have higher priority and financial incentives to genie+. The way they do that is up for interpretation.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

You’re basing your analysis on genie+ pricing as it stands now. I really think they raise the prices. And not an insignificant amount. And I think they make it available to deluxe guest as an early purchase option with everyone else having to wait (and pay higher).

I also don’t think it’s an apples to apples comparison. Disney is not universal so how they structure their fast pass may be entirely different but I think the end result is the same: deluxe guests will have higher priority and financial incentives to genie+. The way they do that is up for interpretation.

I'm not sure if you're just reading into something that isn't there.

1) I'm actually not basing my analysis on how the pricing is right now at $15 because my assumption is that it won't stay that price for long. MP was $10 then raised to $15, Genie+ at DLR right now is $20 and at WDW $15. Disney+ didn't stay low for long either. So no I'm under no illusion it was stay this price for all forever
2) I said a "low genie+ price" whatever that means to Disney is whatever it means
3) I literally said unless they are going to USO's EP pricing
4) I never said they weren't going to raise pricing either

I think Disney should have started with Universal's pricing, I have said that before and done more like their product with unlimited ride throughs and a tier that included once through. But Unlimited EP starts at $109.99+tax/PP for 1 park and starts at $119.99+tax/pp for 2 park. And it can be as high as $300+tax/PP. That's what I mean by unless they would be going to USO's EP pricing.

Even dynamic pricing they have to be quite high to make financial sense (that's the key) to someone due to the pricing of WDW's deluxe unless that was something already on a person's mind. Our rack rate including tax for RP was $419+tax but for one of the days we had EP included (which was our check out day) EP for 2 people would have been $380+tax. You do the math

A person may be paying $200-700+ more per night for Disney's deluxe. Multiple that by multiple nights, etc. And as of right now you're only getting once through. If you want to compare the pricing structure of Universal's perk in their 3 Premier hotels it's unlimited ride throughs.

 

[snoopboop]

Yes but that's exactly why I said especially if we're talking more than one night.

We did a split stay just a few weeks back. 2 nights at Endless Summer Surfside and 1 night at Royal Pacific. In terms of cost no way would we have stayed more than 1 night at Royal Pacific, the ratio would have been basically 3 nights at Endless Summer=1 night at Royal Pacific. However in order to compare tit for tat Universal includes EP for your length of stay. 1 night at Royal Pacific netted us 2 days of EP.

Also in order to compare you really have to look at the pricing for Universal's top tier that get EP and WDW's price points. From there you'll see it's not going to entice those very much who wouldn't have already been looking at Deluxe and now would be swayed and when you're looking at multiple days.

ETA: Also when comparing USO resorts with EP many here at least on the Boards do the high tier for 1 night (some even do a throw away where they don't even physically go there other than to get their EP/hotel key card) because financially speaking they may have been considering EP or they wanted to try it out (like we did since all of our other trips have been without EP). Price points of EP is a lot higher than WDW's Genie+.

When you just look at it unless Disney is going to go straight to USO's EP pricing where a Saturday could be $189.99+tax/pp for Unlimited (like it was for the Saturday where we got EP) or even $299.99+ tax/PP the math doesn't work out much for someone to be truly swayed by spending so much more money for a deluxe on Disney's property for the purposes of getting a low Genie+ price vs a dynamic pricing unless they were already considering Deluxe.

Yup, exactly why I stated that if WDW starts including a perk like UO’s Unlimited EP, then I’d definitely be an example of someone who is NOT on the fence (not even a little bit) about staying Deluxe - Value all the way for us at WDW - but who would absolutely change my vacation planning strategy at WDW to include a Deluxe stay.

 

[SeasonneRose]

I'm not sure if you're just reading into something that isn't there.

1) I'm actually not basing my analysis on how the pricing is right now at $15 because my assumption is that it won't stay that price for long. MP was $10 then raised to $15, Genie+ at DLR right now is $20 and at WDW $15. Disney+ didn't stay low for long either. So no I'm under no illusion it was stay this price for all forever
2) I said a "low genie+ price" whatever that means to Disney is whatever it means
3) I literally said unless they are going to USO's EP pricing
4) I never said they weren't going to raise pricing either

I think Disney should have started with Universal's pricing, I have said that before and done more like their product with unlimited ride throughs and a tier that included once through. But Unlimited EP starts at $109.99+tax/PP for 1 park and starts at $119.99+tax/pp for 2 park. And it can be as high as $300+tax/PP. That's what I mean by unless they would be going to USO's EP pricing.

Even dynamic pricing they have to be quite high to make financial sense (that's the key) to someone due to the pricing of WDW's deluxe unless that was something already on a person's mind. Our rack rate including tax for RP was $419+tax but for one of the days we had EP included (which was our check out day) EP for 2 people would have been $380. You do the math

A person may be paying $200-700+ more per night for Disney's deluxe. Multiple that by multiple nights, etc. And as of right now you're only getting once through. If you want to compare the pricing structure of Universal's perk in their 3 Premier hotels it's unlimited ride throughs.

That’s just way too much analysis on the abstract part of this discussion. Focusing on HOW they do it is fruitless. We don’t know how they’re going to do it.

My only point is pointing out what I think disneys underlying INTENT is. And that is to provide some sort of exclusivity around genie+ that gives deluxe guests priority and possibly financial incentive. Trying to figure out how they implement that intent is going to make people crazy. There’s any number of ways and combination of ideas they can come up with that will come to that conclusion

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

That’s just way too much analysis on the abstract part of this discussion. Focusing on HOW they do it is fruitless. We don’t know how they’re going to do it.

My only point is pointing out what I think disneys underlying INTENT is. And that is to provide some sort of exclusivity around genie+ that gives deluxe guests priority and possibly financial incentive. Trying to figure out how they implement that intent is going to make people crazy. There’s any number of ways and combination of ideas they can come up with that will come to that conclusion

I'm sorry you pose a hypothesis that it will entice people to go to Deluxe and you're annoyed that I commented on that with some reasons why that may not happen?? What's the point of making a comment such as yours if you don't expect someone to ponder it?

And with all due respect your comments on this thread are full of analysis, why is this suddenly too much for you but all your other analyzing is not?

My apologies for discussing your hypothesis. Enjoy your day!

 

[SeasonneRose]

I'm sorry you pose a hypothesis that it will entice people to go to Deluxe and you're annoyed that I commented on that with some reasons why that may not happen?? What's the point of making a comment such as yours if you don't expect someone to ponder it?

And with all due respect your comments on this thread are full of analysis, why is this suddenly too much for you but all your other analyzing is not?

My apologies for discussing your hypothesis. Enjoy your day!

No that was one part of a larger thought. You’ve only latched onto that minor point.

I’m merely posting my opinion but it’s gone off on a tangent which is fine butt not part of my thought process.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Yup, exactly why I stated that if WDW starts including a perk like UO’s Unlimited EP, then I’d definitely be an example of someone who is NOT on the fence (not even a little bit) about staying Deluxe - Value all the way for us at WDW - but who would absolutely change my vacation planning strategy at WDW to include a Deluxe stay.

I wish they had gone to what Universal has but I don't think they will so that's where my viewpoint was coming from. They aren't going to create Universal's product (at least IMO) so it's hard to legit compare what someone's behavior would be at Universal and say they'll do the same at WDW. WDW's price points are quite a bit higher than USO and they don't have the same product. The draw of including Genie+ or having it lower still would need to make financial sense for many guests if they were not already considering Deluxe. I'll throw it out there though there is a subset of people who may be like those who purchased DDP but they never came out ahead, some do truly like having things pre-included regardless of price sensitivity or more or less they are not the price sensitive customer and I think from what I was coming from is that more price sensitive customer viewpoint.

 

[snikki]

How much are VIP tours and how many people can attend a VIP tour? Are VIP tours unlimited rides or once per ride?

 

[SeasonneRose]

How much are VIP tours and how many people can attend a VIP tour? Are VIP tours unlimited rides or once per ride?

They vary. Next week I’m doing one with 10 people and it’s about $650 per person.

Some of the rides you can only do once - like ROR.

 

[MaC410]

It's funny...Genie+ is so close to what Maxpass+ was at Disneyland in California. We actually loved that system and didn't mind paying for it each day. Genie+ somehow feels so much worse and I think for our personal use it's because you can't get lightning lane for the same attraction more than once in a day. We gladly do some of the less popular attractions over and over again if it meant not having to wait in the standby line.

Do you think if they went back to allowing you to get lightening lanes for the same ride multiple time would it be a positive or negative change for the system? I know it still wouldn't allow people to get all the big ticket attractions they really want but with fastpass+ you could at least settle for doing a ride you already did and that made us happy.

 

[Nick6300]

That’s just one moving piece in what is likely a giant web of ideas. I don’t think the strategy is just one or the other. I think there are several strategies that they point to to offset any loss of revenue due to selling less genie+

And it may not be just “deluxe” it could be an incentive added to entice people to book onsite - which I know is something they’re trying to capitalize on.

Like onsite can book G+ at midnight and offsite at 7am? <sarcasm>

 

[VAlegacy]

What if any changes to Genie+ will we see when Chapek is removed as CEO due to lack of confidence?

 

[Nick6300]

A lot of people are speculating that. It's odd that they would block out all of next year for pre-purchase though. They already have the different ticket and hotel pricing set out, why not throw the new Genie prices out when they release the packages?

If they did go to dynamic G+ pricing, maybe in an effort for fairness & filling out the lower booking seasons, they could offer $10/person during Value1 & 2, $15 during avg. booking periods, and $20 for peak rather than starting at $15? Yeah, probably not.