Thinking of not getting G+, am I insane?

Walt Disney World
41

Here’s the major problem I have…

So, each time anyone uses a LL, they are making the standby wait LONGER for others. Perhaps it is only a few seconds for any given person, but the more that use it, the more it adds up. So, you (generically, not specifically) end up paying money to DISNEY so that you can take time away from ME (generically, not specifically). I didn’t agree to you cutting in front of me. I’m not being compensated for YOU making MY wait longer. Disney profits.

But it doesn’t stop there.

Disney controls the whole thing. They can sell as many people G+/ILLS as they see fit. And the more they sell, the more they profit. Which means the LONGER they make the standby lines seem, the more likely people will pay for it. The more people pay for it, the more the standby lines increase, the more DISNEY is profiting from stealing time away from ME!!!

And then there is the fact that Disney can (and does!) lie in order to make more people by it. They often artificially inflate standby wait times, which only goes to convince more people to buy G+ when perhaps they wouldn’t have otherwise. It is under false pretenses! In fact, it is in Disney’s best interest to make guests believe they are saving even MORE time than they necessarily are so as to increase THEIR profits…all the while, as I said above, harming the experience of the guests who haven’t paid for it but DID pay good money to get into the parks.

This is, and always has been, my problem with the line-jumping systems at ANY park.

At least with FP/FP+, Disney wasn’t directly financially benefiting from such practices as over-inflating wait times, etc, and the system was somewhat equal opportunity…that is, it was free to all (even though on-site guests DID have a clear advantage overall) to use or not. You might get to cut in front of me on ride A, but I get to cut in front of you on ride B, and it all pretty much balanced out.

G+ is a racket, and I don’t care how much time it may or may not save me, I struggle with the idea of partaking in it.

Here’s the final problem, though…with so many people buying into it because they can’t stand to wait in lines, it means that more and more people are buying it because they are afraid they can’t “do it all” without it. Which is exactly what Disney is hoping for, and profiting from! And the generic ME suffers because of it.

7 Likes
42

I understand where you are coming from, but it won’t change as there are too many of us that will pay to skip lines. So you might as well join us and reep the benefits. Otherwise it only punishes you and yours with longer waits.

2 Likes
43

No. It punishes those who don’t pay for it (for a myriad of reasons).

3 Likes
44

It is what it is brother, ya gotta move on.

I think I’ve said that before :laughing:

7 Likes
45

Yes, and that includes you correct? And others of course. But the only people impacted by that choice during your trip is you and yours. Noone else is bothered that you wait an hour, and we wait 5 minutes.

1 Like
46

At least once or twice. :rofl:
If you can’t beat them, join them.

3 Likes
47

That was my point. It doesn’t JUST punish me. If I choose to pay for G+ and use it, it punishes others. It is no longer what what we can or can’t afford. We can afford to pay for G+. But I remember the days when we scrimped and saved to go to Disney, and having 5 kids it would’ve made the trip unattainable if we were to pay for G+. So, why would I then decide that, just because I can afford it now, I get to punish those who can’t afford it?

Sorry. I can’t let it go. It downright infuriates me.

3 Likes
48

I completely agree with @ryan1 and here’s where I’m going to stand, and probably a lot of others, we all have to admit that we are a minority to the overall general population going to WDW.

I will give it one shot but I will not go back to WDW for a very long time. I have no issue putting 10 years or more in-between visits, I’ve done it before.

All of this G+ stuff came up after I had already planned and booked this trip. If I had known about this before the fact, I would not be going, plain and simple.

3 Likes
49

Isn’t that how life works though? Over the years you move up in life, and you (collective you) have nicer things including more expensive vacations. Life is supposed to get better as you become financially secure, it’s why we all work so hard to become financially secure.

3 Likes
50

If I can now afford a better car, or whatever, it doesn’t negatively impact others for me to pay $40,000 instead of $20,000 for that car I love.

But paying for G+ because I can now afford it means I am negatively impacting others.

1 Like
51

There’s no way to say this without it coming across incredibly harsh so please know I don’t intend it to be, but why are you even going on this trip? You’re far enough out to cancel, most airlines offer flight credits if you cancel or change your flight, and this is an incredibly expensive vacation. Is there not somewhere else that you’d be happier spending your time and money at for now and maybe revisit WDW later when your values more align?

1 Like
52

I’ve been planning this trip out for 2+ years and have different families going, I’m not the only one making decisions.

It would definitely be different if I was going solo, I would have canceled at the drop of a hat.

3 Likes
53

BTW, I really do want to clarify something. My fury about this is not aimed at those who choose to use it, including yourself. It is aimed at Disney for creating such an unjust system that they directly profit from!

I know it comes across as judgmental towards those who use it. Rather, I keep hoping my “preaching” about the ills of Disney’s G+ system, and why it is unfair, etc., will gradually convince more and more people to choose NOT to use it.

At the same time, I get that we are all selfish beings (and I’m using that term not so much in a negative sense, but in the sense that EVERYONE looks at protecting themselves first and foremost…usually rightfully so!) and want to make the experience for themselves as best they can. I just HATE that Disney created a system that drives people into feeling the need to HAVE to make the decision to use such a system in the first place!

9 Likes
54

I think we all agree on that!

3 Likes
55

You know…another part of this that I didn’t mention as well is that, if Disney were TRULY concerned about how much time guests were waiting in line, they would do something about it by increasing overall attraction capacity within the parks. Instead, what we’ve been seeing more of lately from Disney is replacing one attraction capacity with another, but still only able to keep up with roughly the same number of guests.

Disney should be investing in ADDING ride/attraction capacity. If they do this, guests would start to see drops in wait times overall. (Well…in theory…although, Disney would probably just then allow more people into the parks! :confused: ) We got Remy and Tron, but those were in the planning stages almost a decade ago. GotG simply swaps out ride capacity. Same was true for MMRR. Re-doing SSE and Splash won’t increase ride capacity. With Primeval Whirl gone, AK has seen a DECREASE in ride capacity.

I’m REALLY hoping that D23 this year, we will see some announcements of Disney actually doing things to INCREASE capacity.

(Wait. What is this thread about again???)

5 Likes
56

I hear you, ryan1. I did have concerns at first about Disney going down a path of guests bidding against each other to save time, and G+ escalating to tiers of G++ and G+++, a la six flags with its multiple expensive tiers of Flash passes. But that doesn’t seem to be the case, so far. To shore up G+ they’ve thrown $ILL inventory into it, rather than going the other way and making more rides $ILL and using dynamic pricing to milk demand.

2 Likes
57

I knew your fury was for Disney, not the users. We just have different ways of solving what we see is the problem. I still like you! :rofl:

3 Likes
58

image

4 Likes
59

Totally agree. Disney is falling behind on investments within the parks.

2 Likes
60

Agree with all these arguments. I bought it because we haven’t been in four years and want to get the most out of this trip. Not into lines. But also agree with as a guest experience it leave a lot to be desired, and probably why we won’t be running back for a few years again. I will say It’s not expanding my budget, I’m just using my budget differently to fit this in. Different hotel then was planned, looking at less TS and so on.

5 Likes