Any thoughts on which days Genie+ makes the most sense for us?

[Dulcee]

I've never used genie+ and ended up responsible for planning a trip for 10 (7 adults, 8 year old, 4 year old, 2 year old) this March. We are offsite, 6 day park hoppers. We are used to March crowds and with the makeup of the group this time are considering Genie+ for one or two days but I'm continually torn on what days make the most sense.

Does anyone who's been there/done that have suggestions for me?

Day 1 - Magic Kingdom rope drop, midday break, Epcot evening (La Hacienda adr @ 8)
Day 2 - Hollywood Studios (later morning/no break) and Animal Kingdom evening
Day 3 - Epcot at opening (attempt GoG VQ), later day break, Fireworks cruise in the evening
Day 4 - No parks
Day 5 - Animal Kingdom at opening, midday break, Epcot Evening
Day 6 - Magic Kingdom (later morning/no break) and Hollywood Studios evening (Sebastian's adr @ 5 but may ditch for QS)
Day 7 - Epcot at opening if we need to try for GoG again, midday break, Magic Kingdom evening (Steakhouse 71 adr @ 5)

My current thought is day 2 and day 6, days we won't be at the morning park by opening and likely won't leave midday for a break.
Is it possible to juggle morning genie+ times for MK while staggering in bookings for later HS times or am I setting myself up for not getting much of anything that way?

 

[TheSouthernBelle]

I think days 2 and 6 make sense. Makes sense at DHS since it's sort of a necessity imo most days and the second day of MK so you can secure any must dos you missed on day 1. There's definitely bang for your buck for using G+ at both of these parks. We've never bothered with G+ at Epcot or AK, only iLL$ at those parks. I'm not so sure you'll secure much at DHS with hopping. Keep in mind you won't have access to book anything at DHS until the return times are 2pm or later so I'd expect most of the headliners will be booked but the key to G+ is continually checking/refreshing and really just playing with the app when you have time. I think so long as your traveling party is aware and ok that the park day is sort of dictated by the G+ system and they have to be good with going with the flow. We're only a family of 4 and the first time I explained how it worked, they were confused and didn't understand why we couldn't choose our times. Took a bit but once they figured out that the day sort of evolves via the genie, it was less of an issue.

Now I know G+ isn't supposed to be any different availability for larger groups vs say a group of 2, but I do think there are likely some nuances so make sure you've got your traveling party entered in MDE and be sure to familiarize yourself with G+ as much as you can before you go. There are a ton of youtube videos on G+ that will likely help. Just make sure you watch some of the more recent content since there have been some changes made to G+ since it was first introduced. Mammoth Club is a good youtube resource and some websites with great info is Disney Tourist Blog, Touring Plans, WDW Prep School.

 

[JodyK]

I think some of it depends on what the goals you are looking to achieve with Genie+. What I mean by that is are you looking to reduce wait times for your entire group ex cutting off 20 mins here or there on a bunch mid-level attractions like pirates? Are you looking to reduce time on headliners with really long wait times like Slinky? Are you looking to fit in a lot of rides into a small period with kids because they can't go as long so a late-day stack is really appealing? It is hard for a group that big that may have different tastes to know what your goals are to pick in the days.

With my brain if I was only going to do 2 days I'd be looking at Day 6 for the late-day Hollywood Studios stack but I agree that's not great for pairing with MK so I might be looking to swap my morning park that day for AK or Epcot. I really like an AK/HS Genie+ day because you can try to get Kilimanjaro Safari in AK the one ride you really need it for and then stack HS for later in the day. Then I'd probably be looking at Day 1 or Day 7 to get in my MK rides. The reason Day 2 wouldn't really be on my radar is that I think given your schedule it could be hard to get return times that fit into the limited window in HS and you don't generally really need it at AK as much.

 

[theMoreDisneytheBetter]

My concern here is that off property you can’t book your first LL until you are in the park, so for a place like HS you will definitely be shut out if Slinky and probably Rise as well. Depending on when you get into the parks, you may also miss Tower, Smugglers, and Rockin. It’s a really tough park for Genie+ because there aren’t enough headliners. Full disclosure - we get it every day we are going to ride rides, even at Epcot and AK - but there are definitely times in HS when I only use it for 1-2 “good” rides.

Have you thought about a VIP tour at all? For the cost of Genie+ for 10 people for multiple days and ILLs, you would close some of that gap and have a much less stressful experience.

 

[woodys_girl]

My concern here is that off property you can’t book your first LL until you are in the park, so for a place like HS you will definitely be shut out if Slinky and probably Rise as well. Depending on when you get into the parks, you may also miss Tower, Smugglers, and Rockin. It’s a really tough park for Genie+ because there aren’t enough headliners. Full disclosure - we get it every day we are going to ride rides, even at Epcot and AK - but there are definitely times in HS when I only use it for 1-2 “good” rides.

Have you thought about a VIP tour at all? For the cost of Genie+ for 10 people for multiple days and ILLs, you would close some of that gap and have a much less stressful experience.

You can book your first LL @ 7am regardless of where you are/if you are staying onsite or offsite.

I've had good luck doing an MK morning and an HS evening. I stacked a couple of things for HS and got some closer in times at MK.

I would personally do Day 1 and Day 6. Maybe get a Remy or Frozen for Epcot as your first and then use it in MK. If you get closer to hopping time and see something else you like for Epcot, you can grab that. But if you are going to hop right at 2 then you might get a little less value there.

I only like to do HS in the evenings and only with G+. In my experience (haven't been since you could modify times) everything pushes out so fast that I end up with all afternoon and evening LL slots anyway. You could always start Day 2 in AK while stacking for HS in the evening.

 

[Dulcee]

Thanks all! This was very helpful and gave me a bunch of things to think through.

I've never had a problem planning with fast pass but genie+ has thrown me through a bit of a loop.