4th Time Lucky Day 10 Journeying Through The Parks With A Genie

[karalma]

16.12.21

Today was meant to be a 4 park challenge for Alix and I and a rest day for Darren. I did a 4 park challenge a few years ago on my own and managed all parks in 24 hours but not the same day. We had planned this for last year but the new reservation system and not being able to hop until 2.00 plus the added difficulty of getting to Animal Kingdom when we weren’t sure if the buses were running park to park meant we weren’t sure this was possible. We had played around with a few versions of a plan but in the end decided to change our reservation to start at HS as there was more to do here before we could hop. We would then go to Epcot and then Magic Kingdom. As Animal Kingdom closed at 7.00 we weren’t sure we would make it here but decided to just see how the day went. We had plans for 1 major ride, 1 minor ride, 1 attraction, 1 souvenir and 1 photpass in each park but again we would see how the day went.

At 6.45 Alix purchased Genie+ and was ready at 7.00 to try to book Slinky Dog, which is a ride we’ve never managed to do. It popped up for 1.40 which was slightly later than we would have liked but by the time Alix clicked on it, it had gone, along with all other times for the day. It would have been nice to do but we weren’t too bothered and booked toy story for 9.15.

Darren dropped us off at 8.50 and there was a huge line to get into HS. I did not like being amongst so many people but we were soon through the mad crush. ToT was showing as 20 minutes so we headed there. Rope drop is not as useful for non resort guests, now that resort guests can enter all the parks half an hour early.



Next up was our first Genie ride and Toy Story took15 minutes. I was winning the first two rounds but Alix soon beat me.





When we came off we were eligible to book another Genie ride so we booked Soarin for 2.15. We then had a wander through One Man's Dream as Alix had never been in here.















We had a look in a shop as Alix had seen a jacket she liked and wanted to try it on. The Santa parade was passing so I popped outside to watch.



When I came back in Alix had decided she wanted the jacket but was going to buy it from the Disney UK online store as it is cheaper. It was then time for the Frozen Singlong so we popped in there. This wasn’t as good as I remembered but was nice to have a little rest.





We then rode Smugglers Run via Single Rider. We knew we would get the engineer positions but as there was no guarantee we wouldn’t also get the engineer positions in the standby line we didn’t want to wait longer than we had to. All of the single riders we saw were going on in twos so Alix and I got to ride together and only waited 15 minutes.



Alix had some more photopass pics taken in Batu.





It was now 10.45, 2 hours since booking our last Genie ride so we thought we could book another but the app said we weren’t eligible until 1.00. We were confused by this so we asked a CM who was also confused and thought we should be able to book a ride. As we were wanting to book Star Tours she advised us to ask there as she couldn’t do anything for us. Star Tours had been no more than 10 minutes each time we had seen it but today at early afternoon it was 40 minutes. As we walked there we spotted the customer service team just outside Toystory Land so Alix jumped in a small line. But the line didn’t move for 20 minutes so we were starting to get annoyed. Eventually a CM was free and she checked with another CM before explaining that because we had booked our last ride in Epcot we couldn’t book the next one until 2 hours after that park opened. Now we had watched lots of vlogs and read various blogs about Genie+ and we knew about the 2 hours after park opening but we didn’t realise this applied when you chose a ride from another park. Because the system is new and the information unclear she said she would book Star Tours for us and offered us an additional ride from Toy Story, RnRC, Smugglers and ToT. Because I don’t ride RnRC and we had done all of the others we opted for ToT. It was only later that day we realised that we should have asked if there was any chance of getting Slinky. But we were happy with our 2 choices. We headed to Star Tours and it was good to see a different version but we both agreed we preferred the first one we had done.



We then had pizza for lunch. I grabbed a seat and Alix went to order but was quickly back saying they were only taking mobile orders. She soon realised that you can’t pay with cash on a mobile order so off she went again. It wasn’t long before she was back with an adult's and a child's pizza. She said they had allowed her to order at the counter as she was paying cash. They only had one adult pizza ready so had offered her a child's which wasn’t much smaller and came with a bottle of water, smoothie and cookie. We were happy to share these.

At 1.00, while eating we booked BTM for 4.00, after refreshing a few times as the time for this kept jumping forwards and backwards. After lunch we headed to ToT but this time our genie+ did not register. We explained what had happened to the CM and that another CM had booked this for us. After some discussion with a colleague we were allowed in. It took 15 minutes.





By this time we were behind our original schedule so decided that instead of souvenir shopping we would attempt as many attractions as we could. Alix had purchased a coke bomb while in Batu so this would count as our souvenir from here.

We left HS at 2 and just missed a ferry boat to Epcot so sat and waited for the next one. As we waited we remembered the photo lenses and just had time for a quick try.



As the boats are quite slow we jumped off at the Beach Club and walked the rest of the way. World Showcase was very busy again but we called at the Holiday Hearth Desserts, Festival of the Holidays booth for snowball cookies. At this time it was quite hot and I was getting a headache so we stopped for some water and paracetamol and to try the cookies. These were very crumbly and neither of us were keen.

We went to Soarin for our genie ride and this took 15 minutes. Because we had just finished a ride we thought we could book another but it said we weren’t eligible until 3.00, 2 hours after we last booked. We guessed this was because we already had a ride booked for later. At this point we weren’t sure we were going to make it to MK in time for our BTM booking and we considered cancelling and trying to rebook but as we weren’t sure how well this would work we decided to leave it. At 3.00 we booked Haunted Mansion for 6.10. We hoped to ride Test Track next via single rider but the queue was quite long. As Spaceship Earth was showing as 10 minutes we decided to ride this instead. Unfortunately the line here was also very long and neither of us felt like queuing, so we had a look in the shop and had a photopass pic taken before leaving Epcot, a little disappointed with what we had managed here.



We just missed a monorail so had to again wait for the next one. At this point we checked the time of FoP which was 140 minutes so decided not to bother with AK today as we would waste time travelling there, the park closed at 7.00 and neither of us felt like waiting in a long line today. As we waited we had some fun playing with these.

















It was good to be back in MK.



As we had plenty of time before BTM, we called in a shop before heading there. We enjoyed BTM, despite it bringing my headache back for a few minutes.





At 5.00 we booked Buzz for 6.05 so we now had 2 rides booked for the same time.

As we enjoyed Philarmagic so much on our previous visit we wanted to do this again and there was only a 10 minute wait so this was up next. Once again we loved this and this time spotted Donald in the wall at the back of the auditorium at the end of the show, which we missed last time. When we came out we were pleased to see the sun had gone down and it was now very pleasant to walk around in the cool evening air.

The people mover had a 15 minute wait time showing but the line was out onto the walkway and the cars seemed to be going around with nobody in them so we guessed there was some glitch so we decided not to wait. We had 10 minutes before we could access Buzz, 5 minutes early so we had a seat outside and enjoyed playing with the photo lenses again.

















This was the only wait we had all day, as we had managed to walk from one attraction to another all day. Alix would have liked to ride Space Mountain and I offered to ride with her, despite saying I would never ride this again, after my one and only ride on it years ago. However, neither of us fancied a 40 minute wait. We think this should be included in the Genie+ and a few days later they did add it for the Xmas period.

When we got in line for Buzz we thought we were in for a long wait but it only took 6 minutes. We enjoyed this but it was very slow and Alix of course won again.







It was then straight on to Haunted Mansion which only took 8 minutes. It was quite busy in the lightening lane here and we saw one family walk through who clearly did not have a lightening lane booked but were not challenged by the CMs. This was the first time Alix had ever ridden HM and she thought it was ok.

We had time for one more ride and Pirates was available but we also wanted a photopass on Main Street and to do some shopping as well as leaving before the crowds so we decided not to bother with the ride. MK was very busy and the area behind the castle was roped off for the fireworks so we had to walk the long way around.





We were pleased the photopass line was not too long.



It was time for our final purchases. I bought a Cinderella's Castle Metal Earth 3D Model Kit, as Alix said she has seen these and they look good. I just hope it's not too difficult to put together. Alix bought her first Mickey crispy treat of the holiday. In the past she has bought lots of these.

We rang Darren and asked him to pick us up as we left the park at 7.20. There was a ferry in dock as we arrived so we found a seat on the upper deck. Once again I loved sailing across Bay Lake with the cool breeze blowing.







(Continued below)

[karalma]

It was good to have a seat as we had walked over 12 miles today. We found the pick up point easily and waited in the pleasant night reminiscing on our day. We had some trouble finding Darren as he had parked with the buses. On the way home I again had fun playing with the photo lenses.









Darren had had had a very relaxing day in and out of the pool and Matt had rang him twice for a chat.

Our verdict on Genie+ was rather different. We had managed 9 rides in total: ToT twice (once with Genie+), Toy Story (Genie+), Smugglers Run (single rider), Star Tours (Genie+), Soarin (Genie+), BTM (Genie+), Buzz (Genie+), Haunted Mansion (Genie+) and 3 other attractions: One Man's Dream, Frozen Singalong and Philarmagic. We had got one extra ride for our mix up but we could also have got an additional ride at the end of the night that we didn’t bother with so I think the numbers would have been the same. I thought this was much better than we would have achieved without the genie so thought it was good value for money. Alix didn’t like that we couldn’t plan, we had to take the times available and we couldn’t book for a later time, we had to wait 2 hours before booking another, some were gone quickly so we couldn't book some of our favourites, there were less things to do midday and we had to hop to get the value for it. I guess we also did some rides that Alix wouldn't normally do. So in the end I would definitely use it again but Alix didn’t feel we needed to.

[mick]

That was a busy but good day


Joan

[rubberduckie89]

Action-packed day!
Are those photo filters on the MDE app?
I love Alix's outfit with the hidden Mickeys! Where's it from?

[karalma]

Originally Posted by rubberduckie89

Action-packed day!
Are those photo filters on the MDE app?
I love Alix's outfit with the hidden Mickeys! Where's it from?

See more...

Yes they are on the MDE app but only when you buy Genie+. I think her outfit was from Primark.

[Goldia]

Nearly a 4 parks in 1 day, that's good going given the time constraint of not being able to park hop until the afternoon. Interesting to read your thoughts about Genie+

[karalma]

Originally Posted by Goldia

Nearly a 4 parks in 1 day, that's good going given the time constraint of not being able to park hop until the afternoon. Interesting to read your thoughts about Genie+

See more...

We'll do the 4 parks next time .

[katebush95]

You seem to have got good value from Genie+, better than some accounts I’ve read. Love the filters 😆

[karalma]

Originally Posted by katebush95

You seem to have got good value from Genie+, better than some accounts I’ve read. Love the filters 😆

See more...

We only bought it once as we didn’t need it but we had a really good day using it. It would certainly be worth it if you don't have many days in Disney.