Genie+ and little kids?

[olliesmom]

We are planning an April 2023 trip and I’m trying to determine if we should be budgeting for Disney+.

We will be traveling with an almost 2 and 5 year old, the 5 year old does not like thrill rides of any kind so we will likely be skipping coasters and thrill rides for the most part unless we try a rider swap.

I’m wondering if Genie+ still might be worth it to avoid lines on rides like Jungle Cruise, Dumbo, Frozen Ever After, etc. because long lines with a 2 and 5 year old sounds tough.

I’m reading a lot of posts that say the real value is in stacking reservations for evening ride times during the day, but to avoid meltdowns and cranky people, we will likely be sticking to the kids’ 7/8pm bedtime and leaving the parks after dinner (though DH and I will likely trade off nights going back solo for a little bit once everyone is settled!)

We will also be returning to the resort daily in the afternoon for a nap and swim after lunch!

Does it seem possible to get a decent value out of Genie+ without evening use, or should we just stick to whatever we get with rope drop? Our daily schedule will likely be in the parks from rope drop until lunch, and then again 3pm to 6 or 7pm.

 

[coasternut22]

I’m copying this response I gave to someone with the exact same question:

For a family like yours, it’s great at MK and here’s why. You have little kids who will want to ride the low tier attractions like Buzz, Dumbo, Barnstormer, Little Mermaid, etc. between 11am-3pm, those rides will have 15-30 minute waits, but the G+ return times will be almost immediate or immediate with refreshing. You can knock out 5-6 low tier attractions in a row without waiting. Use G+ for a longer wait ride like Jungle or Peter at park opening. Grab another by 11. Then starting mid day, knock out the lower tier attractions when their waits are the highest.

To add to this, that the real value isn’t stacking for the evening. The real value is grabbing selections one after another by constantly refreshing and revising your times. By reducing the time between rides, you’ll get more selections in. Hence the advice I gave above.

 

[Miffy]

Everyone's idea of "value" is different, but you might find G+ valuable if you use it for even one or two rides if it would mean your kids won't have to stand in a 90-minute line for Frozen Ever After, for example. You mentioned this ride, so I'm rolling with it. The line there is always extremely long, there's utterly nothing to do in the line until you're almost at the end, and take it from someone who once stood in that line for 90 minutes--it's no fun, even for an adult.

That being said, with G+'s new surge pricing, if it'd cost $29 that day, then no, it wouldn't be worth it for 1 or 2 rides or maybe at all, since that's quite the added expense.

I agree with the above poster's info about MK. That's a different story altogether since MK has so many attractions and most of the them will be very appealing to your kids.

 

[TheSouthernBelle]

I think you've gotten some good advice above. There are definitely more negative aspects to G+ than FP+ of the past, given the uncertainty of what you'll get, times of day, etc. I would add that MK and DHS are the only parks we've used G+ for and felt like it was of value. We've been to AK and Epcot on really busy days around spring break and didn't use G+ and had great days. We never felt the need at Epcot or AK given the lower number of rides and not near as many headliners. We do usually purchase iLL$ for top rides at those two parks, but I don't see the point in paying for G+.

At epcot if you'll be in the park from RD till the kids bed times, you can probably hit your headliners at RD and skip doing G+ so you can have a more flexible, play it by ear day. Same for AK.