February 20th (day after President's day) - Genie+

[M&E]

Is February 20th slated to be a busy day at Disney? I know Disney is always busy. It's the Tuesday after President's day. We will either be going to Animal Kingdom or Epcot. Trying to decide if I will need to buy Genie+ I am not normally inclined to buy it for those two parks, but would consider it.

 

[sponica]

It's MA school vacation week and it's typically pretty crowded. I can't remember if it sold out last year, but that week was also Mardi Gras week so it was extra crowded.

 

[frozengirl]

We are there that week too! Do we have to buy genie plus now or day of? Thanks!

 

[Tom_E_D]

We are there that week too! Do we have to buy genie plus now or day of? Thanks!

Under current rules, you cannot buy Genie+ until midnight of day-of. That may change before your week (it has changed before), but that's how it is now.

 

[genebean203.5]

Speaking from my 2023 experience going the week of President's Day, it was very busy. Crowd calendars say those days were 8 or 9 out of 10 for crowd levels. We were there for a "once in a lifetime" family vacation with 14 people and bought Genie+. One of the major takeaways from our experience was the power of Genie+ because we were at the parks on some really crowded days and were still able to get on a lot of rides and do a bunch of experiences.

Within that 14 person group, 6 of us frequently go to WDW and the remainder had never gone or only had gone once before, so the majority of the group had no baseline for crowd levels. DH and I were fully responsible for booking LLs for the group. I can almost guarantee that the 8 others would neither know nor appreciate just how crowded it was because we just stuck to what we were able to get done with Genie+ and didn't wait in long lines.

If it was me, I would just budget and assume that I would get Genie+ for those days.

 

[Mle8308]

As another poster mentioned, it is school vacation week in the Northeast the week of President's Day. And EVERYONE goes to Disney. Expect it to be very crowded, I would not normally consider Genie+ for either of those parks, but if you only have one day and don't want to spend all of it in very long lines, I'd consider it. At least it won't be hot!

 

[buzzgirls&dad]

President's day "week" is crazy busy all week.

 

[M&E]

I appreciate the thoughts on this. I think we have decided AK for the Tuesday (myself and a friend). I just struggle with there being enough rides even to book to get our money's worth from Genie+. I know we can also book shows but I'm wondering what the advantage is with that. Does it allow us to show up later and still get good seats? (Thinking about Nemo and Lion King shows.) We are planning to show up way before park opens to do Avatar and Navi, followed quickly by Safari. After that we could do EE singles rider. I guess Genie+ would allow us to redo Na'vi and EE together during a busier time? Thoughts on if it's still worth it or if booking Nemo and Lion king are a big advantage. We do have Tusker House for 1:30 to see characters so we wouldn't need Genie+ for a character visit.

 

[genebean203.5]

I appreciate the thoughts on this. I think we have decided AK for the Tuesday (myself and a friend). I just struggle with there being enough rides even to book to get our money's worth from Genie+.

that’s a really good point, and unfortunately, only you two will be able to decide what’s your “worth it” limit is. However, that won’t stop me from sharing my thoughts! lol

The advantage to a LL for a show on a really busy day is that you won’t have to show up super early to make sure you even get a spot. While the location of the seats aren’t a guarantee, instead of needing to show up 30-45 minutes to ensure you will even get a seat, I think the return time for a LL is 10 minutes before show start (if not, please someone correct me).

I also think you’re right on track thinking about being able to do a ride more than once in a day. Certainly if you’d enjoy doing something more than once, having a LL for later in the day would be the best way to do that. Another thought would be thinking about if rides don’t open with the park. If, for some reason, safari doesn’t open with the park and then has a 60+ minute wait all day, would that ruin your trip?

A final thought I’ll end with is to consider booking an ILL for FoP instead of purchasing G+ and changing up rope drop slightly. If you start Dinosaur, EE, and then Safari the only long line you’d potentially have is for Navi River.

 

[meremac]

Do you plan to stay all day? Or maybe take a break and come back? Crowds at AK tend to drop significantly in the late afternoon/early evening so if you decide not to add Genie+ and you're open to staying all day or coming back later, I'd think about a different strategy. I'd rope drop EE (you should be able to ride 2-3 times together then) followed by DINOSAUR (if that's something you want to do), then Safaris. Then I'd walk the trails, see some shows, do your character meal, maybe visit the Nomad Lounge, etc. Or even take the bus to AKL in the afternoon and spend some time exploring that resort for a break. Then come back and hit Na'Vi River about 75 minutes before park close, followed by FoP right at the end of the day.

 

[M&E]

Do you plan to stay all day? Or maybe take a break and come back? Crowds at AK tend to drop significantly in the late afternoon/early evening so if you decide not to add Genie+ and you're open to staying all day or coming back later, I'd think about a different strategy. I'd rope drop EE (you should be able to ride 2-3 times together then) followed by DINOSAUR (if that's something you want to do), then Safaris. Then I'd walk the trails, see some shows, do your character meal, maybe visit the Nomad Lounge, etc. Or even take the bus to AKL in the afternoon and spend some time exploring that resort for a break. Then come back and hit Na'Vi River about 75 minutes before park close, followed by FoP right at the end of the day.

We do plan to stay the whole day. And I believe we have the stamina to do so. I really like the plan you outlined, but I think I'm too concerned about missing FoP and Navi to put it at the end of the day. I've done them before, but my friend hasn't. If it was just me, I think I would take this approach.