Disney World has 18 months left to take our money
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Main points
- The waiting times at the rides in Disney World were surprisingly short on the weekend, but that was mainly due to the fact that many guests were queuing up that ended up at the cash registers elsewhere.
- An 18-month celebration gives Disney time to distribute the opening of new attractions and features.
- Genie + and Lightning Lane + will be the real tests of Disney’s price elasticity and the patience of those who refuse to pay for expedited line access.
Walt Disney’s (NASDAQ: MSD) giant theme park resort in Florida turned 50 this weekend. If you missed the party, don’t worry. Disney World will benefit from his patience as the Golden Anniversary celebrations will extend through at least the end of March 2023.
The 18 month celebration is intentionally so long. It gives Disney World the ability to postpone the opening of new rides and attractions. In addition, Haus der Maus can iron out any mistakes in the new attractions. Disney World will be waiting for you and making tons of money with others until you come around.
Everything goes as planned One of the most incomplete observations at Disney World during the opening weekend is that the wait times at the rides were surprisingly reasonable. Even at the most popular attractions, the queue was rarely longer than an hour.
Short waits are good for guests, but in this case, the reason is good for Disney and its shareholders too. Though people flocked to Disney World on weekends – especially in Magic Kingdom and Epcot parks – the longest lines were at the gift shops selling souvenir items and the food stalls selling unique items for the resort’s golden anniversary to offer. In short, people stood in lines that ended at the cash registers.
Of course, there will be a point during the celebrations when short waits could cut Disney’s bottom line. With the initial rush for souvenirs and food down, the next big levers Disney can turn on are the Genie + and Lightning Lane + features. Following the example of smaller theme park operators, Disney will begin charging for access to expedited queues in the near future.
When guests pay $ 15 a day to access Genie + – where they can reserve a slot for the faster FastPass queues that will be renamed Lightning Lane – that’s a crucial step for Disney. This leveled the playing field for day visitors who already pay more than $ 100 for a single day in the park, versus holders of annual passes who pay less than $ 4 a day for year-round access. Genie + will also encourage guests to stay longer in the park and get as much out of the $ 15 per person investment as possible.
Lightning Lane + will be even more fascinating. Disney is holding back access to some of its most popular rides with the Genie +. Guests must pay a one-time fee – likely between $ 10 and $ 30 – to use the attraction’s expedited line. Lightning Lane + won’t be a compelling offer if the line is short.
It’s still a sensitive issue for the top dog among travel and tourism stocks. Can the company attract guests willing to pay more for premium features that will enrich the day at the park without alienating those who will be lining up in line?
That’s a question Disney needs to answer, and luckily if it doesn’t work out initially, the company has 18 months to figure it out.
The item Disney World has 18 months left to take our money first appeared on The Motley Fool Deutschland.
This article represents the author’s opinion, which may differ from the “official” recommendation position of a premium advisory service from The Motley Fool. Questioning an investment thesis – even our own – helps us all think critically about investing and make decisions that will help us get smarter, happier, and richer.
This article was written in English by Rick Munarriz and on October 5th, 2021 on Fool.com released. It has been translated so that our German readers can take part in the discussion.
The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Walt Disney (NYSE :).
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