Disneyland’s Genie+ cost reaches new high of $30 per person
Disney has once again raised the price of Genie+ at the Disneyland Resort. This time, the daily cost per person of this service is now double what it was when the service began at Walt Disney World just last year. For photo downloads, shorter lines, and audio tales, is the price ever going to reach a leveling off point?
Genie+ is the replacement for FastPass+, a previous free service which allowed you to get expedited access to your favorite attractions. While Disneyland has offered MaxPass in the past, a paid service to digitally grab FastPass access, this fee wasn’t required for expedited access. But now, Genie+ is the only way for everyday guests to access this expedited lane. The exceptions are those with Disability Access Service (DAS); those with Rider Swap, which allows parents to wait with younger children who aren’t tall enough yet to ride; or those using Disney’s V.I.P. Tour Guide services. For 95% of guests though, the only option is paying for Genie+ or only using the Standby line for the day.
@ThrillData on Twitter keeps an eye on ride wait times, average daily waits, and prices for services, such as Genie+. As you can see, Genie+ had a $10 a day per-person increase in less than a month. That is the same as buying one of Disneyland’s famous churros and a bottle of water. And, this increase in price has not brought forth any more perks. Instead, we must assume it is for two specific purposes: to make Disney more money and to hopefully discourage more people from buying the service.
Disney, of course, would love the increase in profits from this digital service. Changing prices, or swapping rides’ availability, is virtually costless to Disney. And it only serves to add more revenue for the same attractions and shows already offered. On the other hand, increasing this price for Genie+ may also scare off some visitors from purchasing. If Disney can achieve the same amount of profit, but have fewer guests use the service, it only makes Genie+ look better. For those who do shell out $30 a person, the Lightning Lane queues only get shorter. And, for Standby guests, that means fewer people jumping in front of them from the expedited queue.
So, it makes you wonder, is the price increase necessarily bad? The answer is that it is relative. For a family of four on a budget who want to meticulously plan their dream vacation, this just increased costs. And, it isn’t the only price increase around the parks. @Bioreconstruct on Twitter noticed subtle drink prices increasing at Walt Disney World.
But, for others, another $30 a person to skip the queues really isn’t an issue. This price increase is minimal to some visitors and offers them a chance to get more done in their day. It has become quite obvious that Disney Parks are not afraid to price out some visitors, and that you really can pay-to-win. So, for those willing to pay, this service just became more elite. At what point though does this just become a toned down version of Disney’s V.I.P. Tour Guide service?
Are you willing to pay $15, $20, or even now the $30 price tag, per person, per day, for this virtual queue service?
