8 days in parks..... long visit....Genie+ or LL or not?

[hsmamato2]

So..... it's been a long while since I 'visited' this thread with questions... trying to help my bro plan a spring trip with his fam (3 kids,they've visited before, but not since covid times) and we started discussing all the newer options out there. How doable (in spring,so likely busy) is a trip without either of the paid line options nowadays,with kids? (ages 6-14) Since it's longer visit, and they want to hit all the rides, would they be ok with just planning well and going(early morning,etc) ? I know a lot of you on here have actual experience with all this,and I don't. TIA! I think more than anything it's the thought of the early am rush to book a paid line option that is kind of intimidating.

 

[sponica]

My kids are up with the birds, so my internal clock wakes me up early and I didn't have an issue with the 7 AM drop in April. Some mornings, I grabbed the return times and ILL and rolled back over.
I think for a long trip and judicious use of early theme park entry, he can get away with not using Genie + (I think it makes sense in MK though), especially if he has 2 DHS days set aside.
The one ILL I recommend doing is ROTR because the ride is so finicky. If the ride goes down during the ILL return time, it basically converts to an anytime ILL for that ride.

 

[Jaydee51]

We were fortunate enough to be at the parks for extended period of time over different seasons this past year and i can honestly tell you we had no issues riding almost everything (i've never purchased genie). The only exception was slinky dog, which is still the longest wait i've ever made for a ride (ever!). I'm not a rope drop person, but i am a up early to reserve a spot on ROTR or GOTG (almost 90% success rate). I am definitely an evening person and found that we could really get a lot done in the afternoons and nights with extended evening hours. Since we were going back to parks next day, never felt a need to make crazy lines, until departure eve when slinky got me.
My advice would be to plan your park reservations to ensure 7 am rsvp (if desired) and leverage park hopper as this will give you flexibility to try to get the ride you missed tomorrow.

 

[scrappinginontario]

With an 8 day trip I'd recommend going with the flow. Try the first few days without and see how it goes. If they're struggling, possibly add it to some days. We did an 8 day trip in Jan/Feb of 2022 and purchased G+ 3 days - 2 MK days and 1 DHS day. It was the perfect amount for us.

We didn't purchase any ILL$. Those we did at either RD or park close. Park close worked well for shorter lines.

 

[Beer Me]

I’ve only taken one short trip since genie + and didn’t buy it. I wasn’t worried about doing a bunch of rides on that trip.

That being said - if I was planning a week long vacation with kids I would buy it every day. It’s an annoying up charge but likely to save a few long waits and to me every hour of vacation time is valuable.

 

[DeeBee3]

I think it depends upon the family and the kids. That's a wide range of ages. The younger ones probably get up early but what about the 14 year old? You have to get up quite early to get to the bus or car, etc, just to wait outside the gate to tap in. That's if you want the most from early entry. That's a lot of waiting for kids.

Also, nights are a great time to get things done, but again, depends on kids and how everyone feels.

 

[set88]

Every ride is completely doable without any paid extras with 8 park days.

Early arrival + afternoon break + evening to park close is still the best strategy to minimize lines.

I absolutely would not recommend purchasing Genie+ every day. As it currently works, it's pretty useless at EPCOT and AK, pretty valuable at MK, and decent value at HS.

If it were me planning an 8 day trip, I'd probably budget 1 Genie+ day for MK and 1 Genie+ day for HS. If I was doing HS twice, I'd try to do Rise without paying for the ILL on the first day and pay only if I couldn't do it free (or wanted to guarantee doing it again). I wouldn't pay for any of the other ILLs (though it's impossible to predict what Guardians will be like by that time).

I would also hold off on making too many definitive plans because we have no idea what's going to change with Genie+ between now and then - it's possible to see some big changes. If they want to budget right now, I'd set aside maybe $25 pp for three of the 8 days... then see what happens.

 

[SarahD112]

Are they staying onsite? Are they staying at a deluxe? Are they ok with getting up early? Rope dropping, especially if they’re onsite and have early entry, will be the best daily strategy for getting the most rides done. If they’re at a deluxe property and get the extended hours at MK and Epcot, that’ll be huge too. Our plan is to buy genie+ any day we feel we need it. We’re going for a week in January, but includes MLK weekend, so I may buy genie+ for those three days and not the other four, when crowds will drop. If it was busy all week, like a spring trip would likely be, I’d probably buy it every day, but definitely for MK and HS days. If spending decisions have to be made, I’d probably prioritize genie+ over hoppers. Rope drop in the morning, break in the afternoon, return to same park for evening hours. Keep in mind you can get in a line up until the park closes, so for those rides with long lines all day (slinky dog dash, seven dwarves mine train, etc) you can do it last thing and you’re not losing park time standing in line, because the park has closed. IF the younger ones are up for it. Or the older ones stay, and the younger head out.