Genie + How good or bad is it?

[Boopuff]

We had great success with Genie. We were able to buy it for the length of trip (before they changed that) My DD and I watched videos on using it, we found it really helpful at MK and HS. My DD was on task with booking our next right after we used one. She did a great job stacking. I'd buy it again

 

[Skywatcher1206]

I loved Genie + and I used it at MK and Epcot. I purchased it day by day and only bought it for Epcot as Remy was down for early entry and I didn’t want to wait in a long line later. I was able to use it for Frozen, Remy, and TT plus others and that was buying it an hour after I could have as we didn’t purchase until we were in the park. I will say that it was work getting all 3 of the big rides though. Molly’s videos were a lifesaver!

 

[Anna131517]

I think it depends on how you like to visit Disney and how much you enjoy using your phone. I’m a planner and don’t tend to use my phone much so I hate Genie+. I made my husband handle it. I’m one of those people who only checks their phone a few times a day. I don’t like being glued to it. He does like using his smart phone but even he said that Genie+ made the trip a lot more stressful. It makes everyone oddly competitive and you’re constantly thinking of what you have to do next instead of just enjoying the moment you’re in.

 

[lmbcdb]

The big downside is cost, and it's a sneaky cost. Before you could prepay for most things and budget for them. With LL+ and Genie+, you're paying for it every day while on vacation, so it's harder to keep track of the spending until you get home.

We are pre-buying Disney GC at Sam's for a discount. We went ahead and budgeted for Genie+ and approximate cost for ILL each day. Same with food.

 

[Frozen2014]

Will start with the cons:

• costs money (vs old Fastpass was free)
• you do need to be on your phone
• was a bit stressful trying to book an ADR at 60 day mark and having to work Lightning Lane times around it
• harder to pre-plan - did more zig zagging in the park with LL since we booked the next one by priority vs logistics

Now for the pros:

• instead of bypassing the lines for just 3 rides, you can bypass the lines for many/most rides (if not sold out)
• we went when it wasn't busy so were able to use for multiple headliners
• also helps to bypass the lines for shorter rides - 30 minutes saved is still 30 minutes
• With the old FastPass, some rides were very hard to ride without a long wait (e.g. Flight of Passage). With LL, you can easily ride it without a wait (but may have to pay additional)
• easy to use once you got the hang of it

For our trip, I really liked Genie+ even though it cost us more (but same with Disneyland MaxPass). It definitely worked for us and saved us tons of time