Genie+ - do i really need it?

[scotpod]

Morning everyone

I have reading up on all the things that have changed since my last visit, and one thing that i see a lot of people mentioning is Genie+.

As a solo traveller would i really need this or can i "do" the parks without it?

Just seems more expense for me!

Thanks

[Donz1979]

We are going august and are not purchasing this in advance we are going to see how things go. I think its shocking it will cost us another $45 per day for this.

[dippiedawnie]

That’s a big question and the answer will be based on a lot things. Do you mind standing in long Qs all day, do you want to do everything or happy just to go with the flow. What rides do you want to do. How busy it is when you are there. Are you onsite and can use early hours or late nights etc etc. We were there for 2 weeks in June and could not have managed without it. In HS nearly every ride was 60 min plus every day other than Star Tours and Muppets. Tower of Terror was routinely 110 mins. Suggest you follow the wait times on the app to see what they are doing nearer your trip and think about how it would impact your days. I think we could have managed at AK without it and EPCOT if we had done longer days but not MK and HS without spending the majority of the holiday standing in very long lines.

[Bondy007]

As dippiedawnie says. It’s kind of a personal preference thing! I’ve mentioned previously that for us, we’ve never used fast passes free or fast pass + on any trip. So, will not be paying for Genie+.
We’re happy to go with the flow once we’ve tapped into a park. If a wait time is deemed to be absolutely ridiculous then we’ll move on…
It’s an unnecessary added expense for us but for those who have always used fast passes in whatever form then it’s just part of the “norm”.

[tracey1302]

We're not having it. I'm still furious that Disney have introduced it in the first place. I have, on the other hand, purchased Touring Plans. I used this in Disneyland on a very busy weekend in June and it worked like an absolute dream.

I also used it at Universal Orlando in 2019. It was brilliant.

It's still way cheaper than Genie Plus!

[JOB77]

As a solo traveler if you can afford it then go for it for certain rides on certain days,however it’s not all that IMO. You can also utilize single rider lines (although not that many rides have it). I wouldn’t have it for every day

[sky13]

I'm new to this Genie+ thing too but from what I read it seems very similar to the MaxPass that was at Disneyland when I was there in 2018.

Based on what I've read and my experiences with MaxPass I'll probably be buying it at least every now and again (if not every day). But this is because my upcoming trip is pretty short (probably only have 4-5 days in Disney parks) so want to get as much done as possible in this short time. If I had a longer trip (e.g. my last trip which was 2 weeks mostly in Disney) I may be less inclined to buy it as I could then make greater use of rope drop and late nights over a longer trip.

[Donz1979]

Originally Posted by tracey1302

We're not having it. I'm still furious that Disney have introduced it in the first place. I have, on the other hand, purchased Touring Plans. I used this in Disneyland on a very busy weekend in June and it worked like an absolute dream.

I also used it at Universal Orlando in 2019. It was brilliant.

It's still way cheaper than Genie Plus!

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What is this?

[parkgirl]

We bought it twice on a 2 week holiday. Once for MK and once for HS. We were onsite so used the 30 min morning hours to get the big hitters in. We bought LL for Pandora FOP as I didn’t want the very early morning to queue.

[Wazowskiscar]

I bought it at the time of booking for my whole trip (no longer an option), possibly in haste but I’m glad I did now - time will tell if that changes! I’m also going solo.

From my research on here and other websites / vlogs etc, the people who get the most out of it are those who do rope drop till close most days, followed by those who arrive later but stay till close and use the “stacking” method.

I recommend you watch Molly’s AllEars Genie Plus videos to give you the full lowdown of how it works and whether it will work for you.

Another suggestion which I got on here and have tried is a Virtual Genie Plus Day (if, you know, you have no life like me &#128515

Go to MDE and at the bottom menu that pulls up, go to “View My Genie Day and Tip Board”. Starting at 12 midday our time, “book” your first ride at whatever park (I’ve only done MK and HS) and go from there, following the rules like the 120 minute rule and opening hours. I then took a note of what I would then take as the day went on by writing the time available.

Now this isn’t 100% accurate as people have reported getting”done” by the Genie, as in they’ve clicked a 10:30 booking slot for say Peter Pan, and by the time they’ve clicked through it’s actually a 1pm slot they’ve been given. So a virtual day doesn’t do that. However, for me and my planning, it’s shown me realistically how many LLs I could actually get and it’s given me some strategies of what to book first.

Virtual MK days, best days I managed to get 13 LLs (not including 7DMT as that’s an extra cost). HS I’ve managed 6 or 7 but that has always included Star Tours and meeting Olaf or Mickey and Minnie, and not including Rise for same reason. I still want to try HS again as I’m trying to establish if it’s best to start with Slinky or ToT at 7am as on pretend virtual days, have never succeeded in getting both. Likewise, for MK, I’m torn between starting the bookings with Peter Pan or one of the Mountains to get the best value. All of them will trigger the 120 minute rule at some point throughout the day.

I’m not someone who is going to sit around between Genie rides and refuse to queue, I have sat in hour plus queues many a time at Disney. So between queue jumping with genie, I’ll queue for other rides. I personally think being able to skip a few long lines a day can make it worth it. But it’s an individual choice and I haven’t used it for real yet so I could be back on here in a few months shouting a full blast don’t do it!