So how much are you accomplishing using genie+ and LL?

[Bete]

Would like some personal experiences on how many rides you are able to do at a certain park using these add ons.

Be fair and say if you are using early entry or any other extra hours along with these add ons.

Do you feel you would have skipped certain rides without these add ons because you wouldn't do the regular ride queues and wait it out?

Thanks for your input.

 

[disney castle days]

Used Genie+ and LL at Epcot this week my first time using them.

Got on Soarin, Nemo, Figment, and Spaceship Earth all within about 1 hour. The longest we waited was 5 minutes. We got LL for FEA (we had never been on it), the 95-minute line turned into an 8-minute wait. Test Track was done the whole time we were in the future world due to weather, and we don't like mission space.

We did also have it for our HS/MK day, but that day it was a little more useless. Got on TSMM, and then it was too hot and my mom wanted to go back to the hotel. We didn't go back into the parks until after dinner, so 6ish and it was a party night, so we only got on HM and Space Ranger Spin before it was time to find a spot for fireworks and then time for the party.

Overall, we would use it again. I would recommend it for MK and probably HS if you like the thrill rides. For us it was worth it for Epcot as well. If you are going with pretty heavy crowds and not planning on doing park opening to close, I think it is a good way to get a lot of rides done in a quick amount of time. We liked that we were able to get all the Epcot rides in future world (minus TT) done very quickly, so we could enjoy the rest of the night in world showcase. We would have skipped FEA without the LL because the line is so long all the time. And would have skipped both TSMM and Buzz since both of them have long lines. The only thing I will say is we went to the Christmas party and rode 6 or 7 rides within 2 hours (give or take a few minutes), so if you are going to a party it might not be worth it for MK.

 

[CynBeth]

The Disney portion of our trip was from 11/19-11/28 after a few days at Universal. We were not really able to get there in time for early entry had 2 days at each park. We are adults with no kids and don’t go on roller coasters or any ride with a drop. Most stand by lines were bad and for most of the rides we wanted we used Genie+ or paid the extra fee for. A few we waited for with 15-30 minute times posted or were ones we walked on or a few shows. We were glad we had park hoppers because could not get Rise on our first HS day but was able to get it the next day as the second park around 6 pm but it broke down. We waited around and it came back up in an hour. We were at the 11/19 after hours holiday party but was raining and we really did not get the stage show or parade we had staked out spots and then found out right at the times they were to start that they were canceled and was crowded so only got on 1 or 2 rides plus our cookie and hot chocolate and left right after the fireworks.

 

[lpandorf]

Returned yesterday after spending Sunday-Thursday at Disney. Spent one day in each park and purchased Genie Plus upfront for all parks. If I had to do it over I would have only purchased for Magic Kingdom and Hollywood Studios. We are not early risers but did get up at 7am to make the first LL on all days except MK day. We had already been to the Christmas Party earlier in the week and rode a lot of what we wanted to.
1. Hollywood Studios - got up at 7am and got a 5:20 Slinky Dog Dash Lightning Lane. Also purchased Star Wars at 7am and got a 6:20 return time. Went back to bed for a while. Later in the morning secured a LL for Toy Story Mania mid-afternoon. Because of the SDD and Star Wars times we got LL became useless rest of day. There was nothing else available that didn't conflict with SDD and Star Wars. We spent about an hour each in standby line for Tower of Terror and Minnie Railroad in the afternoon. Didn't mind the wait as we really enjoyed the rides. Even though we only got a few LLs I still felt worth the price because the park closed at 9pm and helped us do other things with our time.
2. Epcot - Got up at 7am and used the virtual queue for Remy. Got a mid-afternoon LL spot for Test Track. Disney cancelled our Test Track LL as we were walking over. Was not able to replace it. That was all we were able to get the LL for. Waste of money for us. Also extended evening hours was a bust for us. Remy was not open and Frozen shut down.
3. Animal Kingdom - Got a LL for Safaris. Would not buy Genie + again for AK. No waits for Expedition Everest. No long standby waits for other LL rides. Daughter rode EE 4 times with 10 minute wait.
4. Magic Kingdom - worth it for us to buy Genie Plus and would buy again. Used it for Peter Pan, Buzz Lightyear, Space Mountain and a few others.

 

[emmabelle]

Yesterday - Hollywood Studios

7am SDD for 3:20pm
11am RNRC for 4:35pm
1pm TOT for 6:20pm
3pm Star Tours for 6:35pm


Today - AK and Epcot

7am Safari for 8:10am
10am Test Track for 5:20pm (it took trying off and on to get a time that wasn’t super late)
12pm Soarin for 6:15pm

I was okay with what I’ve gotten so far, especially when I saw how long the standby lines were

 

[denman007]

Yesterday - Hollywood Studios

7am SDD for 3:20pm
11am RNRC for 4:35pm
1pm TOT for 6:20pm
3pm Star Tours for 6:35pm

And to do all that, you didn't have to be in the part, right? You could have made those reservations from the hotel and showed up at 3. (not saying you did - just that you could have, right?)

 

[wiggy500]

And to do all that, you didn't have to be in the part, right? You could have made those reservations from the hotel and showed up at 3. (not saying you did - just that you could have, right?)

That's right!

 

[md311mt]

Genie + and LL$ worked perfectly at HS on Wednesday 12/15
Woke up at 7am purchased RIse for 4-5 pm
Purchased MMRR for 1:15-2:15
Snagged SDD for 12:15
Arrived at HS at noon.
Rode Slinky
Caught the 1pm Beauty and the Beast show
Rode MMRR
At 1pm was able to get TSM for 2:30-3:30
Rode Rise at 4pm
At 3pm got TT for 5-6
At 5 pm got RRC for 6-7
I was on the app more than I would normally be but it was definitely worth it.
Lines were long and I basically walked right on.
Never waited for anything all day but you have to have a strategy, so it can be a challenge.

 

[CampbellzSoup]

I didn’t buy it but it’s without a doubt needed now.

 

[emmabelle]

And to do all that, you didn't have to be in the part, right? You could have made those reservations from the hotel and showed up at 3. (not saying you did - just that you could have, right?)

We did exactly that and didn’t go to the park on Friday until 4pm. We flew in on Friday and I actually got the RNFC LL from the airplane on the plane’s wifi.

 

[DisneyPanthersFan]

Got a mid-afternoon LL spot for Test Track. Disney cancelled our Test Track LL as we were walking over. Was not able to replace it. That was all we were able to get the LL for. Waste of money for us.

I am so sorry! Was this because the ride broke down?

 

[CynBeth]

On one of our MK days think it was Tuesday, 11/23 when we arrived at HM for our LL time was told it was down and could come back and use it for that ride any time that day or another one. We tried later and it was back up. We found TT was the longest wait in a LL so be careful if you have other plans. We had an ADR at Space220 on 11/27 at 4:05. We got a LL for 3:30. It took us a half hour to get on the ride and then in the middle of it broke down for 10 minutes. We were late for dinner but luckily they still took us.

 

[splash327]

Just got back from there. We went to the park 6 days and we were staying in an Airbnb. The first day we went to MK because we had tickets to after hours event. We didn’t get much done with lines. Buzz, laugh floor, carousel of progress, tiki room and pirates. During the after hours we got plenty done.

The second day we went to Sudios and it was really bad without LL. Did Star Tours, Muppets, Smugglers run, Alien Saucers, Mickey runaway railway, midway and tower.

Third day we bought Genie+ and LL for Flight of passage. Did Safari, Lion King, Everest (no LL), and River Journey. Went to Disney Springs around 4pm.

Fourth day was Epcot, we got LL for Soarin, Test Track and Nemo. Walked on Living with the land, Figment, and Mexico. Had virtual queue for Remy.

Fifth day was back at Studios, and we got LL for Star tours, Slinky, Midway mania, Tower, and tried to do Rise of the Resistance at the end of the night but it broke when we got on the Star destroyer.

Friday we were in MK. We got LL for Splash, Jungle Cruise, Pirates, Thunder, Haunted, Mermaid, Buzz, and Tomorrowland speedway. We also did Bears and space mountain through standby.

It fellt like we got the most done with it in MK yesterday when we just grabbed as we went through the park. Epcot and Studios were hard because I was basically just grabbing the hardest to get first which meant we had to wait two hours to get another one. For instance I grabbed test track first at 7am with an 8pm return time. Then Soarin at 1pm (park opened at 11) with a 5pm return time. Then Nemo at 3pm.
Hope this helps.

 

[emmabelle]

Today - Epcot

7am VQ for Remy BG 91 - called at 4:45pm
7am TT for 7:10pm
11:30am Frozen for 6:45pm
1:30pm Soarin or 3:25pm

we hung at the pool until our LL for Soarin.

Frozen is included this week with Genie +. I wouldn’t have paid extra for it so it was nice to have it included in the $15 Genie +

 

[Lorajo]

Here last Thursday to this coming Wednesday.

Due to crowds, cases and personal preference we are tending to do early entry and leave around lunch time.

This is not working well for Genie+ as I can only get 1 ride in before lunch on it in most cases. So it’s a disappointment for me and I am not purchasing for our 1/2 days. ILL works well in our case. One the 2 days we did a full day, we did save 5-6 hours of waiting time from Genie and ILL purchases so I was happy with those. But this coming week it will be crazy busy and we will do short days.

 

[katied]

today. Did early hours at MK using standby lines and stacked for afternoon…
AK,
FOP 430 pm
EE 2 pm
Navi 325 pm
Kali 225 pm
Test Track 650 pm
Spaceship Earth 735 pm

 

[jknc]

Today - Epcot

7am VQ for Remy BG 91 - called at 4:45pm
7am TT for 7:10pm
11:30am Frozen for 6:45pm
1:30pm Soarin or 3:25pm

we hung at the pool until our LL for Soarin.

Frozen is included this week with Genie +. I wouldn’t have paid extra for it so it was nice to have it included in the $15 Genie +

Did you chose those later times, or was that just what was available @ 7 am?

 

[Miffy]

We didn't use G+ at Epcot a few days ago. RD'd Soarin' (no wait) and used standby for SE (14 minutes in line). There were no lines for LwtL or Nemo when we left Soarin' so we could've done both of those as well. We had ILL$ for Remy--total waste of money and time, imho, but we had to experience it once.

G+ at MK on Saturday was good for HM, but like a PP, we didn't stay late, so we basically paid $15.98 each for HM. Since the standby line was long, we were glad to have had it, if not glad to have spent the money. BTW, we did ETPE on Saturday--there and in line 20 minutes before ETPE started--and were unable to do PPF, since by the time we got there the standby was already 65 minutes.

We've been using both G+ and ILL$ at DAK--for FoP, KS, and NRJ. It was available for other rides--I mean, do you really want to pay to get the LL for ITtBaB?--but nothing we were interested in. We're just considering this the cost of not having to stand in huge lines, as NRJ was regularly 75 or 80 minutes and KS was also a huge line every time we went by. FoP is of course always a long line, and we don't stay until park close.

DHS--that's another story. We RD'd MMRR twice, but we want to have a real breakfast today so we're going to buy G+ and use it for MMRR. Maybe--just maybe--we'll be able to get TSM out of it, but it's likely that by the time we can book it, the windows will be so late in the day they'll be worthless to us.

Takeaway: G+ useless at Epcot unless you're going to stay all day and want to do basically every ride. G+ good at MK if you're doing a lot of rides and staying at least from open until dinnertime. G+ may or may not be useful to you at DHS, but ILL$ certainly is if you want to do Rise. Same at DAK and FoP.

For an 8-day trip, the two of us will have spent a total of nearly $400 on G+ and ILL$. We were pretty unamused when we added everything up last night. So if you don't mind standing in line, do that. I will note that the MMRR standby line is particularly sunny and hot.

 

[winnieofpooh]

I don't remember exact times we got, but we had great success using Genie+. We only purchased it for our Magic Kingdom day (also had hoppers) on 12/16.

We got LL for:
-Peter Pan
-Buzz
-Splash Mountain
-Haunted Mansion
-Little Mermaid
-Pooh
-Pirates

We then hopped to Epcot around 3pm and got LL for:
-Soarin
-Figment
-Spaceship Earth

We could've gotten more LL's at MK, but we had already done the Christmas party and ridden everything we had wanted to. With exception for Jingle Cruise and Peter Pan, basically every other ride had LL times within 30 minutes of when we were selecting. It helped us burn through a lot of rides.

 

[denman007]

For those who aren't early risers or want to grab a relaxing breakfast and hang at the pool with a drink and or lunch, I see some great strategy here. Besides getting up at 7am to grab one, you can just chill at the pool, stack some rides and then go have a great evening. This works when you don't have a stressful ADR you are trying to also attend since it seems like the return times are all after 3pm.

I think this would be my strategy every other day with maybe a RD thrown in there since we don't usually spend all day at a park. (we were mid day breakers but this would let us sleep in more)