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"

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.

Discuss on the Forums

Get Walt Disney World News Delivered to Your Inbox

wdwmagic10 days ago

First pricing for 2025 is out https://www.wdwmagic.com/genieprice.htm

RememberWhen13 days ago

Thanks for the update! I had gotten the same data you had elsewhere, so it definitely seemed like a glitch on the WDW end. Always grateful for all the information I get here!

wdwmagic13 days ago

That was actually a rare instance where the prices changed after being initially released. First time that has happened.

Brooklin Disney Dad13 days ago

Ultimately, we each have our own price point for budgeting a family vacay at Disney. You can complain on a forum, but wear your thick skin. Or you can go somewhere else, hoping that the demand for LLs, multi, etc. drops to lower prices to within your budget. They way my fam of 5 did DW 6 yrs ago will never happen again. I can live with that. Loopholes and extra perks are gone and won’t come back until there is a big shift in consumer spending. And that may take a few years.

Touchdown13 days ago

I’ve taken over a half dozen trips since this got implemented and was able to do it with 5.5 days in the park. Needed Early Entry to do it, but otherwise had no issues.

RememberWhen14 days ago

Thanks for the confirmation.

networkpro14 days ago

I won't pontificate drawing attention away from Lightning Lane. Currently LL works well for both standby and those who choose to purchase expedited entry. LL lanes are not overflowing and the standby lines move thanks to the removal of unplanned capacity consumption by DAS parties. Value of LL is the primary focus now and personal justification of it's cost based on crowd levels. Rides have a fixed maximum capacity per hour and planned consumption works well right now.

Fido Chuckwagon14 days ago

The numbers were wrong. Also, WDW clearly didn’t have access to numbers past the 21 day mark, the data they were publishing past that point was wrong. Nobody knows what the price will be past the 28th since that’s 21 days from now.

Fido Chuckwagon14 days ago

Yeah, so @wdwmagic’s numbers were wrong. I made my purchases today. It was up to $39 for basically all of Christmas week for MK. It did go up from last year.

RememberWhen14 days ago

Can we bop back a page here and look at LL pricing again? I’m trying to figure out pricing for our trip, which extends through New Years and into the first couple days of Jan. The page hosted by WDW Magic doesn’t list prices past 12/31. (It had been listing prices out a week further than I could see on MDE). And the price they had listed for the 28th at Epcot/MGM didn’t match what MDE eventually showed. It does now list the higher expected price. (Example: it had said $29 for MGM on 12/29. Now it says $35. But I can only see out through the 28th on MDE and now I don’t know what’s what. Just feeling frustrated with the whole system.

DisDude3314 days ago

Easily spoken by someone that the game (which is equal parts chance and skill) has treated well.

networkpro14 days ago

Life isnt fair. Play the game, make your choices, live with the consequences.

Ayla14 days ago

To be fair, very few people can take a leisurely, two week vacation. The average length is 5-7 days.

Cliff14 days ago

How were "official" posted wait times versus actual wait times? We are hearing lots of talk about Disney "inflating" posted wait times to scare people into buying into the app. I have two CM friends that told me that if a guest asks them what the "real" wait time is, they are MANDATED to repeat only the "official" posted time. They are NOT allowed to look at a que that they know is only 15 min and tell that to a guest. If the official time says 65min,..they must say that and NOT the "real" 15min. I'm sorry folks,...that does not bother the strong Burbank defenders here on this forum...but that bothers me. It's a dishonest way to get people to pay for something they might not need. They prey on guests that don't know better. Also,...do you know how to make lines LONGER at Pirates if they are not long enough? You deliberately take boats OUT of the water and keep less boats moving in circulation. Etc.. Keep that app money on your phone flowing!