Disney’s Genie+ may have been one of the least popular changes in recent Disney history, but that doesn’t mean people aren’t using it. In a recent earnings call, Walt Disney Company CEO Bob Chapek credited the new paid service, which replaced FastPass, with being partially responsible for the massive increase in revenue for the company’s Parks and Experiences arm.
Later in the call, CFO Christine McCarthy stated that 50% of all guests purchase the premium service. This made us curious, and nerds that we are, we whipped out the calculator! Genie+ costs $15/per person/per day. While Disney does not share actual attendance numbers, it is estimated that around 200,000 people visit the park’s per day. If, as McCarthy claims, 100,000 of them are purchasing Genie+, the company is earning $1.5 million a day from the service.
For those of you not as dedicated to crunching the numbers as I was (and really, who could blame you?), that comes out to $547,500,000 a year. That is a significant amount of money to earn on something that used to be free to guests. With that information, it’s completely feasible that Disney’s Genie+ is at least in part responsible for the revenue increase.
I have to admit, despite being salty about the service, I do still purchase it. I used it for the first time last month and was blown away by how easy it made the day. It almost felt like an on-demand virtual queue (which I also love). I didn’t have to do a lot of pre-planning like I did with FastPass. It could make reservations on a whim and go with the flow. That to me, combined with shorter wait times, made my $15/day expenditure absolutely worth it.
What do you think? Is Disney’s Genie+ worth the money or are you in the 50% of guests that do not purchase the service? Let us know in the comments.