Disney World's Genie+ pricing this week suggests new peak period price level is double that seen in 2021

Nov 22, 2022 in "Disney Genie"

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Walt Disney World's Genie+ priced at $29

Posted: Tuesday November 22, 2022 8:54am ET by WDWMAGIC Staff

Disney began Walt Disney World's busy Thanksgiving week yesterday by introducing a hefty price hike to its Genie+ ride reservation system, which continues today.

Genie+ has seen new record price levels this week of more than $30 with tax

Disney World's Genie+ remains at $29 per person today, or just over $30 with tax. This is an increase of $14 compared to the same period in 2021, or a 93% price increase.

Those guests paying the new record-high price for Genie+ should not expect to get anything extra for the price increase. Most guests can only obtain 2 to 3 Lightning Lane entrances with their $29 Genie+ purchase, the same that was possible a year ago with the $15 Genie+ purchase.

Making matters worse is that Disney has also increased the price of Individual Lightning Lane purchases for those attractions which are not included with Genie+. Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance is now priced at $25 per person, up from a previous high of $22.

Lightning Lane access to Star Wars Rise of the Resistance is priced at an eye-watering $100 for a family of four this week

These latest price increases to Genie+ drastically raise the cost of a day at Walt Disney World's theme parks. For example, in addition to their standard admission ticket, a family of four visiting Disney's Hollywood Studios for a day this week may be paying $116 for Genie+ and $100 to ride Rise of the Resistance. Including tax, that s $229 of Lightning Lane cost (formerly FastPass) that was included at no charge with every theme park ticket just a few years ago.

Walt Disney World's Genie+ priced at $29

The high daily cost imposed on guests by Genie+ is very much in keeping with current strategies developed by the now-departed Bob Chapek. Instead of expanding the parks to increase capacity and revenue, the current system revolves around driving higher spending from consistent guest numbers visiting the parks, all controlled via park reservations.

Frequently praised by ex-CEO Bob Chapek and current Park's boss Josh D'Amaro, it will be interesting to see if the deeply unpopular Genie+ experience sees any changes with the return of CEO Bob Iger.

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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!