Genie+ Experience at Magic Kingdom

[Stubbzilla]

We've done several trips to WDW in the past, and now that my kids are older we stayed at Universal and went to MK for one day to relive some past experiences. I was really apprehensive about using Genie+ as it's new and untested. I'm used to planning all our trips out using a Touringplans subscription. I've been using Fastpass since the paper Fastpass days, so I am not new to this. I'll try to sum up our experience with Genie+ as fast as possible.

1. Touringplans has always been accurate in the past for standby waits, but it was way off this time. That could be because of the way that Genie+ is affecting things, but I don't know. All I know is that I saw discrepancies such as a wait time being predicted at 8 minutes by Touringplans, but the Disney app said it was an hour. Crazy. That has never happened before to us.

2. With Genie+, I felt like I had to be on my phone all day, and my phone almost ran out of battery life by the end of the day.

3. I started making Lightning Lane reservations at 7:00am. I purchased LL for 7 Dwarves at 9:00am when we were in MK. We made it to MK in time for rope drop.

4. I was able to juggle LL reservations two at a time throughout the day. I had to be on my phone all the time, but we were able to do it.

5. I didn't purchase LL reservations for Space Mountain, but as my mom was with us and she's in her 70's, we were able to get a return time for her because we had her in a wheelchair. She still walked 16,000 steps, even while using a wheelchair, just to give you an idea of how fast we were moving. She's spry, but can't stand for an hour in line, and the cast members nicely clued us in that we could ask for a return time as the Space Mountain line is not wheelchair accessible. So, I felt like we basically got a free fastpass for my mom. I was glad I hadn't spent the extra money to pay for LL on Space Mountain. Also, Space Mountain at MK is not nearly as good as Space Mountain at Disneyland, so there is always that factor. I mean....don't be a bad person and rent a wheelchair for $12 instead of paying for LL's for your party, but seriously....we basically got LL's for our party for the $12 wheelchair rental. Unintentionally, and legitimately because as I said, my mom is in her 70's, wanted to ride Space Mt with her grandkids for old time's sake, but standing for an hour is just not possible for her at her age. I was grateful that Disney provided a way for her to ride with us.

6. I was able to make repeated LL reservations throughout the day, and we did not wait in line for anything. We ended up being done with everything by 3:30!!!!!!!!!!!!! That has never happened before, on any visit to MK. Not ever. LL waits were very fast - faster than fastpass. The longest we had to wait was on Jungle Cruise, which was a ride that my kids didn't even like.

7. My kids said that 7 Dwarves sucked. Honestly, it does kind of suck. It's not a great ride. I love the music and the animation of the dwarves. I wouldn't pay extra or wait long in line to go on it again.

Overall, Genie+ was definitely worth the $15 per person when we were just there for one day at MK. I would use it again. It saved us so much time waiting in line. We've never been done riding everything that fast before. I'm one of those people who plans everything, and it felt very unsettling to use Genie+ on the fly, constantly updating my plan. It was weird, though, seeing Touringplans be so far off in their estimates. Is that because of Genie+? I don't know.

We stayed on property at Universal and had the free Express passes to almost every ride there. With our party of 5, the extra cost of the hotel that included the Express pass was worth it. I felt a lot less stressed at Universal and I wasn't on my phone all the time. But, if Universal didn't have Harry Potter, we wouldn't have bothered going there. HP was the HUGE draw for us. Universal costs SO MUCH MORE than the cost of Genie+. I feel like Genie+ punishes families the most, because families have to pay for the total cost of it. One person pays $15, which isn't that much money, but a family has to multiply that number and it can really add up. Does Disney not want families visiting?

 

[qv09vvp]

Thank you for sharing. We are there in 2 weeks . I share your past experiences and I'm so stressed about using genie plus.

 

[CynBeth]

We will be leaving in 3 days!

My DM does not go on many rides and has decided she does not feel she can walk around the parks she has not gotten out very much since the pandemic started and has not really exercised so does not have a lot of stamina and we are going to be renting a wheelchair every or most days. Are you saying for most rides there is a wheelchair line and we will not have to book a LL? We had added Genie+ to our package when it became available and plan to buy a few of the extra fee rides.

We are staying on Universal property for the first time for a few days. The last time we were there for a day they only had the one HP area. My DH and I are ride wimps we do not go on any roller coasters or anything with a drop but love Star Tours, Mission Space Green, Soarin’, and FOP at Disney. They did not have GE when we were last there so are trying those for the first time. We actually did not go on FJ back then it had a 2 hour wait and we were nervous and just walked through Hogwarts. We will be staying at PB so have the express pass. We have heard the motion sim rides are more intense than at Disney and are not sure if we will have issues so are going to be wearing the prescription patch. Does anyone remember if any rides other than Despicable Me have a non moving seat? We do have the park to park tickets so are looking forward to going on the HE both ways.

Thanks!

 

[ssgtravel]

I have been monitoring both apps for wait times. Did you determine that the wait times listed on the Disney app were accurate? Because I have read comments about them being inflated. Were you in the park on one of the crowded days?

 

[meremac]

TP's wait estimates and Disney's posted wait times are often wildly different, but typically TP's is more accurate. Did you find the opposite to be true this trip?

 

[coolbrook]

We will be leaving in 3 days!

My DM does not go on many rides and has decided she does not feel she can walk around the parks she has not gotten out very much since the pandemic started and has not really exercised so does not have a lot of stamina and we are going to be renting a wheelchair every or most days. Are you saying for most rides there is a wheelchair line and we will not have to book a LL? We had added Genie+ to our package when it became available and plan to buy a few of the extra fee rides.

We are staying on Universal property for the first time for a few days. The last time we were there for a day they only had the one HP area. My DH and I are ride wimps we do not go on any roller coasters or anything with a drop but love Star Tours, Mission Space Green, Soarin’, and FOP at Disney. They did not have GE when we were last there so are trying those for the first time. We actually did not go on FJ back then it had a 2 hour wait and we were nervous and just walked through Hogwarts. We will be staying at PB so have the express pass. We have heard the motion sim rides are more intense than at Disney and are not sure if we will have issues so are going to be wearing the prescription patch. Does anyone remember if any rides other than Despicable Me have a non moving seat? We do have the park to park tickets so are looking forward to going on the HE both ways.

Thanks!

I use a rollator walker at Disney World and there are some ride lines, mostly at MK, that I can not go in the regular way. Not very many however. I am a ride wimp, so I don't do Space Mtn and the like. The ones I have needed a return time for are Jungle Cruise and Big Thunder. They used to do that a Haunted Mansion, but they changed their process now and I start out in the regular line.

The point is, having the wheelchair will not eliminate the need for G+ or ILL. Its only a few rides, and G+ would still save you a lot of time for those. For example: We arrive at Jungle Cruise last Friday and asked the CM for access to the handicap line. Since we had a G+ LL reservation we went right in. The folks in front of us to talk to the CM for access did not have a G+ reservation , so they were given a 5:15 return time. This was at 3:30 or so. When they came back at 5:15 they would have been let in right away, so they didn't have to stand all that time, but they did have to wait to ride until 5:15. G+ saves time even with a wheelchair.

 

[CynBeth]

I use a rollator walker at Disney World and there are some ride lines, mostly at MK, that I can not go in the regular way. Not very many however. I am a ride wimp, so I don't do Space Mtn and the like. The ones I have needed a return time for are Jungle Cruise and Big Thunder. They used to do that a Haunted Mansion, but they changed their process now and I start out in the regular line.

The point is, having the wheelchair will not eliminate the need for G+ or ILL. Its only a few rides, and G+ would still save you a lot of time for those. For example: We arrive at Jungle Cruise last Friday and asked the CM for access to the handicap line. Since we had a G+ LL reservation we went right in. The folks in front of us to talk to the CM for access did not have a G+ reservation , so they were given a 5:15 return time. This was at 3:30 or so. When they came back at 5:15 they would have been let in right away, so they didn't have to stand all that time, but they did have to wait to ride until 5:15. G+ saves time even with a wheelchair.

Thanks so much!