It’s Thanksgiving week, when a lot of people spend quality time with family. But while that quality time takes place around the dinner table for most, for some, it’s time for a family trip to Walt Disney World. Holidays are always busy times at the resort, and they are also among the most expensive. Genie+, the optional service that allows guests to skip lines on most Disney World attractions, has once again hit its record price of $35 at both Walt Disney World and Disneyland Resort.
When originally introduced, Genie+ cost $15 at Disney World and $20 at Disneyland. However, in the years since then, the pricing has changed to a variable pricing model, where the cost is influenced by the crowds in the park. The busier the parks are, the more expensive Genie+ will be. Back in August, Genie+ at Disney World hit $35 for the day for the first time, and after dropping down slightly since then, Genie+ was back at $35 on both Monday and Tuesday for both the Magic Kingdom and the multi-park option.
One wonders if we may be on the verge of a record-high price for Genie+, either in the coming days as we get closer to the weekend, or perhaps next month as crowds gather at Disney World as part of the winter holiday season. The week between Christmas and New Year’s often includes some of the busiest days of the year for the theme park resorts.
A $35 price tag may not seem like much, but when you factor in that most people don’t go to Disney World alone, or only go for one day, the price does quickly add up. Having said that, a lot of the line-skipping options at other theme parks cost quite a bit more than Genie+, though, in many of those cases, the initial ticket price is a lot lower, so Disney World is certainly among the most expensive when you add both together.
It seems like an almost foregone conclusion that Genie+ will continue to get more expensive and $35 is not the ceiling, even if it remains that way for the time being. What the ceiling might be is anybody’s guess, but people are certainly paying the price for it now. Most vacationers don’t want to miss anything on their trip, and if that means spending more money to be sure they have more time to do all the attractions, a lot of people will do exactly that.
Prices continue to rise in all Disney Parks, and a significant price increase hit the parks in October, exactly a year after the previous major price increase. That increase was seen by some, including a returning Bob Iger, as so extreme that even the returning CEO admitted park pricing was "too aggressive." We even saw some of the price increases rolled back. The question now is, is there really a point at which people will stop paying?
