Genie+ Hits New High Price & Sells Out in Colossal Crowds for Easter at Disney World
Genie+ has reached a new record high price after selling out yesterday at Walt Disney World. This post covers crowds, Lightning Lane availability, and our commentary on the paid FastPass service. For starters, let's talk
Genie+ has reached a new record high price after selling out yesterday at Walt Disney World. This post covers crowds, Lightning Lane availability, and our commentary on the paid FastPass service.
For starters, let’s talk crowds. That the week leading up to Easter is busy should come as little surprise. Our Spring Break 2023 Crowd Calendar for Walt Disney World predicted that this past week would be the second-worst of spring break. As discussed in our most recent report on wait times and crowds in the parks, that likely will be wrong–because we’re now expecting Easter week to be worse.
Thus far, the jury is still out on that revision. Yesterday, the crowd level was 10/10 with an average wait time at Walt Disney World of 60 minutes. That may not seem bad if you’re thinking about headliners, but it’s the average–factoring in perpetual low waits for films and walkthroughs with thrill rides.
That’s tied for the fourth busiest day of 2023, behind only a couple of days post-New Year’s Eve during winter break, and another during Mardi Gras. It’s exactly equal to one day during Orange County’s spring break (March 14), but that was a Tuesday–not a Monday.
Interestingly, Tuesdays have ended up being the peak of all these weeks–winter break, Presidents’ Day/Mardi Gras, and even spring break. Holiday weeks are always a wild card, but it’ll be interesting to see whether that’s also true of Easter week.
Wait times are already skyrocketing today–with over two-dozen attractions having wait times above an hour and a half-dozen hitting triple digits. The overall average remains a hair below yesterday, but it’s still early. By the time the afternoon rolls around, that average might be around 65 minutes. (That would make April 4 the #1 worst day of 2023.)
Another wild card is everything that’s happening at Walt Disney World right now. The beloved Happily Ever After nighttime spectacular made its triumphant return to the skies above Magic Kingdom last night. And below those fireworks-filled skies, the streets were jam-packed with people.
We watched the scene in Magic Kingdom last night (albeit from the comfort of our homes) and it was simultaneously awful and amazing. The crowds and congestion looked nightmarish. I was Magic Kingdom the last 10/10 fireworks night and was trying to “swim upstream” after photographing Enchantment from the end of Main Street as everyone else was leaving. At the time, I could not imagine that being any worse. This looked worse.
At also looked incredible. Hearing the excitement among fans awaiting the return of Happily Ever After and the response to beloved scenes–the energy and enthusiasm was palpable. It truly felt like turning the page and opening a new chapter–and that’s just what could be conveyed via a livestream.
It was undoubtedly better in person, and sort of made us wish we were there. Sort of. (The rare occasion when I’d tell you the Magic Kingdom Fireworks Dessert Party absolutely would’ve been worth the money!)
Adding to that feeling of starting a new chapter is TRON Lightcycle Run opening TODAY! It’s been in soft opening mode for the last couple of weeks, but now it’s official. You can check out our Ride Review: Is TRON Lightcycle Run Worth the Time or Money? if you want our take on the newest roller coaster at Walt Disney World.
Unsurprisingly, the virtual queue filled up in milliseconds for TRON Lightcycle Run this morning. Unlike Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind, we suspect that the 1 pm drop is going to remain just as–if not more–competitive for the weeks (if not months) to come, as people are more likely to want to ride at night and inclined to stay in Magic Kingdom all day…to see Happily Ever After. To that point, consult our TRON Lightcycle Run Virtual Queue Strategy Guide for improving your odds of successfully scoring a free spot to ride.
To the other point of this post, the price of Genie+ has jumped to a new record high of $35 per person (pre-tax) at Walt Disney World.
This amounts to $6 more than its previous high of $29, which was its cost yesterday as well as many other days during spring break and other holiday peak weeks (and weekends) previously.
Yesterday, Genie+ sold out before noon. According to my rudimentary record-keeping, that’s the earliest it has ever sold out. Previously, that occurred between 1 pm and 3 pm most days, and has only happened on dates when Genie+ has been priced at $29.
Our expectation is that people will not be discouraged by the $6 price spike, and that Genie+ will sell out again today. It’s likely that the recent increase in frequency of Genie+ selling out emboldened Walt Disney World to increase the price so significantly. After all, they were leaving money on the table. Some might argue that’s the right move to reach the equilibrium price. (We would not for the reasons explained below, but some might!)
UPDATE: As I was putting the finishing touches and about to hit publish, Genie+ sold out again at Walt Disney World on April 4, 2023. This occurred before 10 am Eastern, which is the earliest it has ever sold out. So much for people balking at the higher price!
I bought and tested Genie+ one day that it sold out and others when it (presumably) came close during spring break, and it was a mix of good and bad. On a positive note, Lightning Lane availability was much better than I had expected–or experienced on past peak dates.
However, Genie+ did not work better at EPCOT or Disney’s Hollywood Studios than conventional strategy. On top of that, the return lines for Lightning Lanes were longer than normal (discussed at length in What Went Wrong During Spring Break at Disney World) and I ended up spending significantly more on Genie+ than the last time I did a week of testing. For me, the negatives outweighed the positives–except at Magic Kingdom (as usual).
When it comes to commentary, the short and simple of it is that there’s a certain amount of price inelasticity when it comes to paid line-skipping. Most guests who don’t balk at the $29 price point also are unlikely to be dissuaded from buying the service when it’s priced at $35.
With that said, we’re now getting to the point where that may no longer be true for many guests. It wasn’t that long ago that Walt Disney World switched to date-based pricing for the Genie+ service; prior to that, every day was priced at $15 plus tax. Many of the people traveling today likely planned their trips back then, budgeting for the old price.
That means today’s $35 price amounts to an increase of over $20 (post-tax) per person. For a family of 4, that’s a difference of more than $80 per day. That could be a significant added expense in the grand scheme of things, especially since the Genie+ price increase did not occur in a vacuum–everything else increased, too.
However, it is still not a major cost when compared to the cost of a Walt Disney World vacation as a whole, which has been precisely my concern with the company incrementally increasing prices like this, in search of a ceiling. I’m not sure they’re going to find one anytime soon, and worry about where it could eventually end up.
In a nutshell, my position is that demand for Genie+ is relatively inelastic with incrementally higher prices for the line-skipping service. This is because Genie+ is still a relatively minor cost in the grand scheme of the price of a Walt Disney World vacation.
Think about it this way: if you spent $8,000 for your family to visit Walt Disney World and were willing to pay peak season room rates for hotels and tickets, are you going to balk at paying a few dollars extra to avoid long lines and crowds? Or are you going to spend ~$80 more for your family to have Genie+ and “ensure” your experience is good and that $8,000 wasn’t wasted?
Worse wait times creates a higher incentive for bypassing lines, meaning higher uptake of Genie+ even when it costs more. Demand for beating crowds increases as crowds increase, and as such, Genie+ will always be a relatively small price to pay in the grand scheme of things.
Complain as they might, most people will reluctantly fork over the extra money rather than risk a bad trip. They’ve already spent so much–what’s another “few dollars” on top of a multi-thousand dollar trip if it’ll offer a competitive advantage?! (Another way to think of Genie+ is like an insurance policy–it’s not cheap, but $80 is a small price for peace of mind to safeguard the value of that $8,000 vacation.)
In various ways, we’ve seen all of this play out for years with date-based pricing on everything else at Walt Disney World. Whether it be for park tickets, resorts, or the Genie+ service, date-based pricing is an effective way for the company to accomplish 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 preserving the guest experience or whatever the talking point might be. Increasing prices on that quasi-captive audience is simply savvy business or opportunism, depending upon your perspective. I could go on and on. This already isn’t exactly an “in a nutshell” explanation as promised, so I’ll cut it short. (Sorry, it’s a sore subject for me and I let myself get carried away.)
The alternative to continually incrementally increasing prices in search of a ceiling is determining a fair price that balances demand with guest satisfaction, and letting Genie+ sell out at that level. Due to the aforementioned price inelasticity, who knows what the limit is for Genie+ during peak season.
When it moved to date-based pricing, I was inclined to believe $25 would be the magic number. As I sit here today, I truly wonder how much sales would even slow down at $40 or $50. People are willing to throw a lot of money at making problems on vacation go away; long lines and high wait times are the ultimate problem at Walt Disney World.
The problem with that line of thinking is that it also comes with higher expectations. I still remember the first two months after Genie+ first launched up until the week of Thanksgiving; it worked amazingly well and was priced at $15 per person after tax. Even then, diehard fans were understandably upset at going from free FastPass+ to paid line-skipping.
Today, Genie+ is more than double that price, and most average tourists will score fewer worthwhile Lightning Lanes. But at the same time, their expectations for a $35 per person expense will be significantly higher. This isn’t idle speculation; we’ve seen exactly this happen as costs have increased all around Walt Disney World. Guests didn’t magically become more entitled, stressed out, etc–it was all a direct result of higher prices and rising expectations resulting therefrom.
With this comes greater tensions among everyone (guests and Cast Members; guests and other guests), which negatively impacts the overall mood. (Not to go on too much of a tangent, but this is one of the great things about Disneyland–everything is much more laid back and lower stakes, and the energy is obviously different and better as a result.)
Unsurprisingly, that also impacts guest satisfaction scores and intent to return metrics. Since his return, Bob Iger has taken a keen interest in this, already empowering leaders at Walt Disney World and Disneyland to make changes and roll back previously-made and unpopular decisions. Genie+ pricing would seem to fit squarely within that initiative.
Ultimately, there’s no easy fix to this issue for Walt Disney World. No perfect solution exists that balances supply and demand and keeps everyone happy (both those who purchase Genie+ and those who opt against it). There’s also the company’s obvious and understandable short-term “desire” to maximize revenue and profits, which is precisely how it ended up on the current path–going from free FastPass to Genie+ costing $35 per person per day (plus tax).
It will be interesting to see whether Genie+ increasing by $6 overnight–and costing over $20 more than it did during these same dates last year–moves the needle on demand, sales, or anything else in a meaningful way. Personally, I’m skeptical. I think Genie+ will still sell out today, and be priced at $35 again tomorrow. (If history is any indication, it’ll drop on Friday or Saturday.)
If a family visiting this week spent $10,000 on the trip as a whole, I don’t think ~$85 extra is going to be the balking point for many of them. Now, what could happen is that those visiting any park that is not Magic Kingdom today end up feeling like Genie+ was a waste of money, and opt against purchasing it tomorrow or Thursday. (Again, if history is any indication, it won’t sell out later this week.)
But who knows. Maybe that added cost finally will be what results in enough families hitting their breaking point, and perhaps $35 will end up being the equilibrium price of sorts for Genie+ at Walt Disney World. My foolish hope is that it’ll be rejected outright at $35, and Disney won’t broach the $30 mark again. Given what we’ve seen thus far with Genie+ pricing, that feels like wishful thinking (if not fully delusional). I can hold out hope, though!
Long-term, the solution to all of this is building more attractions. 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.
Here’s hoping that Bob Iger actually is serious about wanting to build big park expansions at Walt Disney World and Disneyland–and ones that have more than just a single E-Ticket and upcharge offerings. At the end of the day, capacity-adding additions are precisely what’s needed at Walt Disney World. Some fans salivate at the (fictional) prospect of a 5th gate, but what’s really needed is building out the existing parks so they don’t have this type of issue in the first place. (Despite significantly higher attendance, there’s a reason this isn’t as big of a problem at Magic Kingdom as the other 3 parks!)
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 Genie+ selling out at Walt Disney World today despite hitting a new record high price of $35? 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 $35+ after tax per day 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!
