Genie+ strategy, including rain in forecast

[bk7700]

Our trip is rapidly approaching! We will be there Dec 22-26. 22nd and 26th are both partial days for traveling. Family of 4 with 2 teens, 1st trip to DL/DCA for all. Staying at GC.

So.....there is all-day rain in the forecast for 2 of our days, and scattered showers for one day. I don't know if that will affect crowds since it will be Christmas/winter break.

I would really appreciate some advice on Genie+. Should I get it all the days? Skip the rainy days? Skip the travel (partial) days? I know it is ultimately my choice, but would love to hear opinions from the community.

Thank you!

 

[gatorfreud]

We are going to be there Dec 21-25 and I have been watching the G+ times the last couple of days and seen mostly return times that are immediate or a short wait... if this holds it may change how many days we do rope drop... if we can go in later and still get everything we may do that - dragging the teens out of bed isn't as easy as it used to be! Will still RD at least once in each park to hit the non G+ rides. Not sure about the rain Thursday... we have Oga's and Wine Country reservations those days so we may not get G+ and just spend an afternoon/evening in and do ambience stuff... I think I may need to go get some ponchos though!

 

[disneylover102]

Our trip is rapidly approaching! We will be there Dec 22-26. 22nd and 26th are both partial days for traveling. Family of 4 with 2 teens, 1st trip to DL/DCA for all. Staying at GC.

So.....there is all-day rain in the forecast for 2 of our days, and scattered showers for one day. I don't know if that will affect crowds since it will be Christmas/winter break.

I would really appreciate some advice on Genie+. Should I get it all the days? Skip the rainy days? Skip the travel (partial) days? I know it is ultimately my choice, but would love to hear opinions from the community.

Thank you!

Honestly I think it might be MORE worth it on the rainy days because I’m pretty sure if a ride breaks down you get a multiple experiences pass and so you could maybe use that to get on some of the higher demand rides more

 

[bk7700]

Honestly I think it might be MORE worth it on the rainy days because I’m pretty sure if a ride breaks down you get a multiple experiences pass and so you could maybe use that to get on some of the higher demand rides more

I didn't know about that - thank you! Is the multiple pass experience good for just that day?

 

[DCLMP]

We just got back last week and had genie plus for three days including one rainy day. Once I figured out how to use it I found it very simple. It didn't seem like a lot of people were buying it. I don't think pass holders that live close by are going to purchase it. . That could be totally different the week you are there. We were able to go from one ride to the next booking each ride while in line. There wasn't any planning involved everything was always available. The standby lines for the popular rides were somewhere between 30-60 minutes.

Anytime a ride breaks down you get the multiple pass experience. We had that happen on a sunny day. Many rides were closed during the rain. Of course, no passes were given for closures. I found Disneyland to be pretty miserable during heavy rain. The parks are not designed for it the way WDW is.

 

[disneylover102]

I didn't know about that - thank you! Is the multiple pass experience good for just that day?

I haven’t personally used genie+ yet but I assume the multiple experience passes are like fastpass was and are just good for that day unless the day is almost over

 

[DCLMP]

On our second day I had some questions about genie plus because we were at CA and it kept defaulting to Disneyland. The CM at guest services told me genie plus wasn't available because of the rain the previous day? WTH! Of course this was wrong I found out 15 minutes later from other guests. Don't get me wrong it was a great trip, but the worker shortage was noticeable at Disneyland too. Bathrooms were kind of a mess and out of supplies....and then there's housekeeping not showing up until 8pm for your light cleaning day. I miss the Disney of ten years ago, but It seems like we'll be paying more for less, but that's everywhere now not just Disney.

 

[bk7700]

On our second day I had some questions about genie plus because we were at CA and it kept defaulting to Disneyland. The CM at guest services told me genie plus wasn't available because of the rain the previous day? WTH! Of course this was wrong I found out 15 minutes later from other guests. Don't get me wrong it was a great trip, but the worker shortage was noticeable at Disneyland too. Bathrooms were kind of a mess and out of supplies....and then there's housekeeping not showing up until 8pm for your light cleaning day. I miss the Disney of ten years ago, but It seems like we'll be paying more for less, but that's everywhere now not just Disney.

Sorry to hear about that strange experience for you! I have read other comments about Disney struggling with customer service issues. Too bad because I always thought Disney was considered one of the best.

 

[gelatoni fan]

On our second day I had some questions about genie plus because we were at CA and it kept defaulting to Disneyland. The CM at guest services told me genie plus wasn't available because of the rain the previous day? WTH! Of course this was wrong I found out 15 minutes later from other guests. Don't get me wrong it was a great trip, but the worker shortage was noticeable at Disneyland too. Bathrooms were kind of a mess and out of supplies....and then there's housekeeping not showing up until 8pm for your light cleaning day. I miss the Disney of ten years ago, but It seems like we'll be paying more for less, but that's everywhere now not just Disney.

In terms of paying more for less: This isn't universally true. Flights to Hawaii and pretty much anywhere international are cheap compared to pre-pandemic and you'll usually be able to get several seats to yourself with fewer passengers. I agree that in many parts of the continental US, hotel quality has gone down but prices have only really gone up for Disney and a few other popular vacation destinations.

Internationally, there are lots of places where you pay a lot less for a lot more compared to pre-pandemic, especially in Asia. For example, earlier this year, I stayed at a super famous luxury hotel for around 200 USD including breakfast when pre-pandemic, it was typically over 700 USD a night not including breakfast. I also recently stayed at a hotel for around 80 USD that included both an evening buffet with all you can eat foie gras and a buffet breakfast for two that was better than the Storyteller Cafe breakfast buffet in terms of food quality. Even including the cost of COVID testing, a vacation from the US to some parts of Europe would likely still be cheaper than pre-pandemic due to lower airfare, rental car and hotel costs.

 

[DCLMP]

In terms of paying more for less: This isn't universally true. Flights to Hawaii and pretty much anywhere international are cheap compared to pre-pandemic and you'll usually be able to get several seats to yourself with fewer passengers. I agree that in many parts of the continental US, hotel quality has gone down but prices have only really gone up for Disney and a few other popular vacation destinations.

Internationally, there are lots of places where you pay a lot less for a lot more compared to pre-pandemic, especially in Asia. For example, earlier this year, I stayed at a super famous luxury hotel for around 200 USD including breakfast when pre-pandemic, it was typically over 700 USD a night not including breakfast. I also recently stayed at a hotel for around 80 USD that included both an evening buffet with all you can eat foie gras and a buffet breakfast for two that was better than the Storyteller Cafe breakfast buffet in terms of food quality. Even including the cost of COVID testing, a vacation from the US to some parts of Europe would likely still be cheaper than pre-pandemic due to lower airfare, rental car and hotel costs.

Yeah, that's because of restrictions and testing required to travel internationally..not to mention the lockdowns and quarantining. Of course, flights are cheaper. As far as Asia most of those countries are not even open to non-essential travel. I've been trying to get to Japan for two years now.

 

[DCLMP]

Sorry to hear about that strange experience for you! I have read other comments about Disney struggling with customer service issues. Too bad because I always thought Disney was considered one of the best.

What surprised me was they didn't have CM's stationed around the park to answer questions about the app or help out with some of the glitches. At WDW they always had CM's around to help out with fast pass plus and I even remember last year CM's stationed to help out with the questions about the virtual lines. It seemed odd with a new rollout to not have some super users walking around the park. That's pretty standard during any rollout of a new system at any workplace.

 

[WebmasterMaryJo]

To keep the first page from being overrun by Genie+ threads we are referring everyone to the main thread stuck at the top:

https://www.disboards.com/threads/disney-genie-is-now-live-post-your-hints-and-tips.3862697/unread