Express pass VS Genie+

[Kjdisney]

Good to know you can try later in the day for rides and there is a possibility of availability. This is the first time we are not staying on property and was worried about not having early access.

With Genie+ it doesn’t matter where you stay for early morning access. Everyone who has it can book starting at 7am. It’s the paid lightning lane rides like RoR that on-site guests can get early, and they didn’t come back if sold out, that I saw anyway. You could have a problem with those. We stayed at the Swan Reserve, and while not Disney, is onsite and has the deluxe resorts benefits. Rooms are or were when we booked, very reasonable. Depending upon the days when you are going, it might be worth staying there, especially Monday thru Wednesday when you would also get the extra evening hours in Epcot and MK.

This was our first time back to FL in over 10 years, so very interesting in keeping up with all the changes!

 

[DavidNYC]

We didn’t pay extra for the express pass since we stayed at Portifino Bay, but our park to park ticket was more expensive than our WDW ticket with park hopper, genie + and 2 paid rides.

Um - I highly doubt that. Let's look at UT prices for comparable days.
3 day park to park - $455 vs. $295
4 day - $554 vs. $309
5 day - $588 vs. $316
I could keep going . . you are definitely not comparing apples to apples with regard to ticket prices. No way was a comparable park to park Disney ticket with Genie+ and 2 LL rides less than a Universal Ticket.

And as for your 7-12 rides - sure, at MK you can get on a decent number of rides. How many did you get on at DHS? AK? Not even comparable products.

 

[Kjdisney]

Um - I highly doubt that. Let's look at UT prices for comparable days.
3 day park to park - $455 vs. $295
4 day - $554 vs. $309
5 day - $588 vs. $316
I could keep going . . you are definitely not comparing apples to apples with regard to ticket prices. No way was a comparable park to park Disney ticket with Genie+ and 2 LL rides less than a Universal Ticket.

And as for your 7-12 rides - sure, at MK you can get on a decent number of rides. How many did you get on at DHS? AK? Not even comparable products.

We purchased 2 2day 2 park tickets for the 14th and 15th of Jan and it was $722.
Our cost for our 2 WDW 5 day park hopper with Genie + was $1311. You are right that I wasn’t comparing the tickets fairly. I didn’t realize Disney discounts the prices that much when you purchase multiple days.
If you compare single day tickets on 2/19, Universal is $215, but you have to be at a UO deluxe hotel or pay an additional $150 for the express pass, and WDW is $239 + cost of 2 LL, but you can stay where you want.

Both parks are very expensive, I would say equally as expensive. Both parks have beautifully themed areas, Universal places more emphasis on rides and WDW on overall experience. UO has more thrill rides, less live entertainment and no shows like Lion King or Muppets 3D, and no firework shows. Express pass will let you wait less for rides, and It probably is at least half the wait. But on busy days, that can be well over 30 minutes. For a lot of families this could be totally worth it, and exactly what they are looking for in an amusement park. There are a lot of really good rides.

There is luck involved with Genie +. And you do have to plan things, but that being said if you have a LL time, you are at the boarding areas before you have any kind of wait, and it was minimal. I spent about 15 minutes with a CM on our first day going over how to use the system, and she set up my phone with what we wanted to do most. It made my tip board so much easier to navigate! We park hopped most days, which I think helped in getting the better rides. AK is the best park to do this because it opens at 8 am.
Neither system is perfect. Both parks are extremely expensive. We just felt that the less standing in an actual line made Genie + the better system. The longer park hours, the amount and quality of the entertainment available and the fireworks made us feel that WDW was a better value for the price we paid.

 

[DavidNYC]

We purchased 2 2day 2 park tickets for the 14th and 15th of Jan and it was $722.
Our cost for our 2 WDW 5 day park hopper with Genie + was $1311. You are right that I wasn’t comparing the tickets fairly. I didn’t realize Disney discounts the prices that much when you purchase multiple days.
If you compare single day tickets on 2/19, Universal is $215, but you have to be at a UO deluxe hotel or pay an additional $150 for the express pass, and WDW is $239 + cost of 2 LL, but you can stay where you want.

Both parks are very expensive, I would say equally as expensive. Both parks have beautifully themed areas, Universal places more emphasis on rides and WDW on overall experience. UO has more thrill rides, less live entertainment and no shows like Lion King or Muppets 3D, and no firework shows. Express pass will let you wait less for rides, and It probably is at least half the wait. But on busy days, that can be well over 30 minutes. For a lot of families this could be totally worth it, and exactly what they are looking for in an amusement park. There are a lot of really good rides.

There is luck involved with Genie +. And you do have to plan things, but that being said if you have a LL time, you are at the boarding areas before you have any kind of wait, and it was minimal. I spent about 15 minutes with a CM on our first day going over how to use the system, and she set up my phone with what we wanted to do most. It made my tip board so much easier to navigate! We park hopped most days, which I think helped in getting the better rides. AK is the best park to do this because it opens at 8 am.
Neither system is perfect. Both parks are extremely expensive. We just felt that the less standing in an actual line made Genie + the better system. The longer park hours, the amount and quality of the entertainment available and the fireworks made us feel that WDW was a better value for the price we paid.

In general - comparing single day tickets is going to give you a very skewed way of comparison for everything because they are not pricing for 1 day. As you can see - the Disney tickets were substantially for expensive for your 5 days vs. what you would have paid for a 5 day Universal ticket. Yes - both parks are expensive. But I am not a fan at all of Genie+ as it basically takes the ability to plan your day away from you and hands it to an app. With Universal - you can show up at whatever ride you want and ride it when you want with a fairly minor wait with the Express Pass. Genie+ requires you to be up at 7am EVERY DAY if you want to snag the best rides and then tells you what time you can ride the others. If you want to be up at 7am and spend a whole day in a single park - great. If you want to take a mid-day break, wake up late, park hop, etc., it's going to be a lot less convenient. To me you can use any sort of comparison you want but for me it now boils down to one thing - Disney has created a system that adds a ton of stress to your day unless you just want to sit back and allow them to dictate your schedule. Universal - you can show up when you want and wing it without losing the ability to do anything. Try getting a pass for Slinky Dog or Rise of Resistance if you're not staying on site and up at 7am . . .