Up to 50 percent of Walt Disney World park guests are upgrading to Disney Genie+ according to Bob Chapek

Feb 09, 2022 in "Disney Genie"

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Posted: Wednesday February 9, 2022 4:23pm ET by WDWMAGIC Staff

In an interview with CNBC this evening, Disney CEO Bob Chapek commented again on the roll-out of Disney Genie+ at Walt Disney World and Disneyland Resort.

Disney Genie overview

According to Chapek, between a third and a half of guests are upgrading to Genie+. This appears to be an increase in early reports when he commented at the last earnings call in November that about one third of guests were opting for Genie+.

During the later earnings call, Chapek said "In the quarter, more than a third of domestic park guests purchased either Genie+, Lightning Lane, or both. That number rose to more than 50% during the holiday period. While demand was strong throughout the quarter at both domestic sites our reservation system enabled us to strategically manage attendance. In fact, their stellar performance was achieved at lower attendance levels than 2019. As we return to a more normalized environment we look forward to more fully capitalizing on the extraordinary demand for our parks along with realized benefits that took shape this quarter."

In today's Walt Disney Company Q1 2022 earning report, Genie+ and Lighting Lane purchases were specifically mentioned as a contributor to the increase in average per capita revenue.

First Lightning Lane guests at Magic Kingdom October 19 2021

Disney Genie+ is an option within the Disney Genie service that makes the former FastPass line available at select attractions, now called Lightning Lane. At Walt Disney World, the introductory pricing is $15 per ticket per day. Certain headline attractions are not part of Genie+, and Lightning Lane access at those attractions requires an Individual Attraction purchase which varies in prices.

Learn more about Disney Genie from our recent articles, including a Disney Genie FAQ, and Genie discussion on the WDWMAGIC Forums.

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jpeden7 minutes ago

Fair - didn't think of that part.

nickys11 minutes ago

Except you wouldn’t be able to tap everyone into the parks.

jpeden25 minutes ago

I actually thought of this when I first heard how they were going to roll it out. I mean, I guess if you really want to save some cash you could have one person take everyone's MB's to rope drop AK and then meet at MK and re-distribute them but I'm not sure the juice is worth the squeeze here. The simpler thing would be for them to just charge the average across all four parks but they won't ever do that. I will say I mistakenly (like an idiot) booked my LL passes for the wrong date this morning (we are doing MNSSHP and then a day at EPCOT so I'm not buying LL for the party morning at MK) and I booked EPCOT for the date of the party. I called and they switched it all no issue and even got my Frozen LL at the same time I originally requested - of course I did have to pay the $3.21 difference in days.

Purduevian2 hours ago

There is no guarantee that canceling your other 2 pre-books will show availability for a specific ride, but it does improve your odds. EPCOT today is open for 12 hours and gives out LLs every 5 mins for 11.5 of those hours (no new LL windows open in the last 30 mins). So, there are 230 different time slots you can get for RAT (9:00am, 9:05am, ect). Each of the other 2 prebooked LLs block 15 of those slots(if you have a 12-1 SEE LL, you can't book a 11:20am-12:40pmRAT). So, without canceling you are hoping someone else cancels RAT in the 200/230 (~87%) slots that are not blocked. If you cancel your other 2 tier 2s, you open up 230/230 slots. So, you give yourself ~13% greater chance at prebooking RAT. As soon as you tap into your first attraction, all this gets thrown out the window as overlap rules disappear.

MickeyLuv'r19 hours ago

I understand the concept, but I just didn't see that kind of availability. Cancelling your passes is only going to give you a small chance of getting Rat. Mind, I'm aware of the strategy because it dates back to the days of FP+, and in the last years of FP+, it worked with FP+. With LOTS of refreshing, I was able to get more than 1 FP per hour, and able to get the big rides. I just had to have my phone out all day. (Through every queue, I was refreshing. While I ate lunch, I was refreshing. Between rides, I was refreshing. Making it work required a trade-off.) In the early days of FP+, refreshing wasn't even an option. the only way to modify a pass once you were in the park was to use a kiosk. It only worked with much-later FP+. G+ inventory also improved over time. Initially, modifying passes was not an option. Users had to cancel to rebook, and that was risky. I experimented, and had little luck. Later, it got much easier to modify G+ passes, and refreshing worked pretty well. I'm fully open to the idea of using the no-prebooks/refreshing to get passes. I have been careful - I think - to qualify my posts by saying, 'this was my experience' and 'for now.' WDW has a history of sharply limiting the total LL/FP inventory when they roll out a new version of their express pass. I can't say that will improve, but given the history, it probably will. It is also important to add, IME, this strategy tends to work much better on slower days than during busier holiday weeks.

HauntedPirate19 hours ago

Ah, I did not know you could only book one initially (I did not do any of the booking for our party). Good to know... although I highly doubt I'll purchase LL again for the foreseeable future.

nickys20 hours ago

It is not correct. See my reply just above.

nickys20 hours ago

It is tried and tested. Tapping into your first unlocks park and tier restrictions.

nickys20 hours ago

This is not true. You only need to book 1 at the time of purchase. If you pre book more than 1 they must all be at the same park. But there is no requirement to pre book 3. However many you book, as soon as you tap into one, then all park & tier restrictions are removed. So if you had prebooked 3 you could modify the remaining 2 to any park / tier. If you only booked 1 then once you tap in you could book 3, at any park(s) or tiers.

Purduevian20 hours ago

I guess I don't have first hand experience yet, but I do follow 3 separate vloggers/youtubers that all state and have shown in videos that park hopping/tier restrictions "unlock" after using the first LL, regardless of what tier it was. Edit: There is even a weird "hack" to save money. That you can pay for the AK LL, go rope drop LL use ITTAB at Animal Kingdom. Then book 3 MK tier 1 attractions and still make it by MK rope drop time

FigmentFan8220 hours ago

Is this tested and proven? When I was in WDW in August I feel like the system didn't allow me to book another tier 1 until I used my existing tier 1 LL. Sometime the system seemed to not let me do things

Purduevian20 hours ago

Not exactly. You can book 1, 2, or 3 at your first park. Before you tap into your first one, you can only book at the same park and are subject to tier restrictions. Once you tap into your first LL, all tiers/park hopping restrictions are lifted. For example, you could book just 1 LL for Remy early in the morning. Once you tap in, you can book RnRC, Space mountain, and Navi River Journey without using another LL in EPCOT.