Originally Posted by
MidwayManiac
Oleg and Berry Princess thanks for the well wishes. It was a fantastic day in the parks for us Monday. That said, the success of the day hinged mostly on having Genie+ and LL access and it’s unfortunate that that’s the make or break factor not just for my but probably a lot of other families, both who do and do not purchase Genie+.
It was striking to me the masses of people using LL … when it was a more affordable option - 15 per visit or 50 to 100 for an AP - it was was popular but not as much so as now. It has me thinking Disney has done an effective job of marketing genie+ and manufacturing FOMO in its guests. Two thoughts - both about sustainability - kept occurring to me.
1) how does Disney sustain the novelty of Genie+? That is, when a critical mass of people purchase it and Disney struggles to deliver on LL’s effectiveness and in so trying, alienate the standby crowd even more … how does it continue to be a viable option that enhances the guest experience? If everyone is getting it, it’s no longer special. All the while standby guests become more and more vocal about their ever increasing unpleasant experience.
2) how do I sustain this at $20 per person per visit for a family of 5? On average, we’d make 30-40 trips a year on an annual pass. What used to cost an added $100 per person for the year for Maxpass would now cost $4,000 annually if each person in my family got Genie+ each of 40 trips to the park. (Unless there is an annual MK genie+ option for the year I’m unaware of).
The answer is it’s unsustainable. Since we’re going to get in only 3 or 4 trips each this year, it’s a price I am willing to pay to upgrade to Genie+ these trips. But if/when we purchase Magic Keys sacrifices will have to be made and Genie+ will be first among them. Disney has to know this. Further proof - to me - Disney is bound and determined to make DL a destination vacation spot a la Orlando and less of a locals based park.
I may have some other thoughts about all this later. In summary Genie+ worked out and is effective in a pinch but at too high a price both monetarily and experientially (for the folks who go without it).