The Mouse House is in the news, for some changes people are calling rat-like.
If you missed the wheeling and dealing of the release of Scarlett Johansson suing Disney for shortchanging her 'Black Widow' pay, it's one for the history books. But Disney recently released something that may hit closer to home.
A pay-per-ride system, Genie+, will be implemented in US parks in the near future. It's reminiscent of the ticket books DisneyLand used in the 60s. Now, it's digital, and apparently similar to MaxPass?
Truthfully, I haven't been in a Disney park since about 2012. I'm not a Disney Parks person; I like other aspects of Disney; The Animated Canon and some TV shows.
It's a dream of mine to stay at a Deluxe Resort - Riviera or Animal Kingdom's Jambo House. But any further than that, is fun I'll leave for someone else.
But I do follow multiple Disney news outlets - and several Disney social media accounts - and most park guests fall into 3 categories:
- Wait, how does this work?
- I hate this, how much money is enough for you?
- Sounds good to me.
Mostly, category #2.
Many people are pointing the finger (or, as Cast Members do, two fingers) at Bob Chapek, the man who took over from Iger in late 2019.
I do think there's some value to the original Genie concept; If I'm understanding it correctly, Genie simply directs you to less crowded sections of the park with shorter wait times. Why wait 90 minutes for Rise of the Resistance when you can go to Space Ranger Spin?
Genie+ can also have value; For 15$ (A day? A ride?) at World, you can skip a line. Will that cost balloon for families of 6? Yes. Especially for 20$ a day at DisneyLand - but it's optional.
Are there people in Disney's 32,000+ workforce who are against Disney Genie+? Yes. Statistically, there has to be. If this goes toward paying CM's more, and keeping the parks tidy and paint refreshed, I'm sure most people would be okay with the, again, optional, service.
While Disney has multiple money-making avenues, they lost a lot of money during the pandemic through the nonoperational Cruise Line, Adventures, and the Parks.
Between their statements about Scarlett Johansson not taking the pandemic seriously after they refused to negotiate with her for "Black Widows" simultaneous release, claiming 'greed' (Despite reopening 4 months after a pandemic started, after higher ups admittedly took [temporary] pay cuts) and not putting 'Luca' and 'Soul' behind a paywall on Disney+, to the discontent of artists at the smaller studio, it's looking as if Disney is struggling to give value to their movie talent as the world continues to change during a pandemic.
And it seems that Park Patrons are starting to feel that lack of value too.
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