Honest opinion. No Genie+ in June

[Capo]

Im taking the kids in late June to the parks but have a large family. The price for Genie+ every day would be rather large. How "bad" would it realistically be in late June with just standby?

 

[slo]

I went in June last year and there’s no way I’d go without buying Genie+. It is costly, but I’m already spending a lot to be there, and I don’t want to spend half my day waiting in lines. For me, Genie+ is part of the admission and I budget for it from the start. Whatever you decide - have a great trip

 

[Dulcee]

We'll be there mid-late June and plan on using Genie+ only one day. We've done two spring break trips since Genie+ began, which has arguably some of the worst crowds of the year. We managed one year without Genie+ at all and on another trip we only used it one day.

It is doable if you are open to very early mornings and late nights. We stop for naps and breaks midday which is a great way to avoid the crowds, heat and rain as well!

 

[BrianL]

We'll be there mid-late June and plan on using Genie+ only one day. We've done two spring break trips since Genie+ began, which has arguably some of the worst crowds of the year. We managed one year without Genie+ at all and on another trip we only used it one day.

It is doable if you are open to very early mornings and late nights. We stop for naps and breaks midday which is a great way to avoid the crowds, heat and rain as well!

I agree. If you do rope drop I think you can get away without it, and you can always just get it for one day if you feel that you need it. Personally, I tend to skip G+ and just buy a single ILL if I need it. It saves time doing what is essentially the "biggest" ride, then I just wait on the others. Again, early morning and later evenings are your friend too.

 

[scrappinginontario]

Many (myself included) feel Genie+ is not needed for AK or Epcot so there could be a savings there.

You never 'need' Genie+, it's just a nice way to save some line time but only you know how much that time is worth to you.

 

[hertamaniac]

I'm going in June and not purchasing G+ (planning on HS or MK during a weekday). We were at EPCOT a few weeks ago and also didn't purchase it (again, weekday).

 

[jimmymc]

I would at least get it for a full Magic Kingdom day. In Epcot and Animal Kingdom, you really don't need it, and Studios is very nice to have it if you want to do everything, but also possible to avoid it.

 

[Capo]

I agree. If you do rope drop I think you can get away without it, and you can always just get it for one day if you feel that you need it. Personally, I tend to skip G+ and just buy a single ILL if I need it. It saves time doing what is essentially the "biggest" ride, then I just wait on the others. Again, early morning and later evenings are your friend too.

Can you purchase a single lightning lane without first having genie plus?

Thank you all!

 

[BrianL]

Can you purchase a single lightning lane without first having genie plus?

Thank you all!

Yes. Genie+ and the Individual Lightning Lanes are completely seperate. Certain rides are not included with Genie+ and have to be purcahsed seperately. You may do this regardless of if you use Genie+ or not. The ILL rides are:

MK: Seven Dwarf's Mine Train
MK: TRON Lightcycle/Run
EP: Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind
HS: Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance
AK: Avatar: Flight of Passage

There is only one in each park except for MK which has two. Please note that you DO NOT get access to these rides through Genie+, only the Individual Lightning Lane purchase. Also, not that both TRON and Guardians require a Virtual Queue boarding group and have no standby line. The Virtual Queue can be entered for free but will run out (VERY FAST in the case of TRON).

One other difference with ILL purchases is that you will select your time as opposed to taking the next available times as they roll through as you would on Genie+.

That's probably more of an answer than you expected, but hopefully it is helpful.

EDIT: To add, depending on when you are going, Tiana's Bayou Adventure may be open (expected to be sometime in June). This ride will likely become an ILL selection and they may or may not place 7DMT on regular Genie+ but that is not for certian at this time. It is possible that there will be changes though.

 

[Lumpy1106]

We went during that time last summer. It depends on the park and how early your party can get to the park. Assuming you are going to rope drop, or at least get there in the first hour;
DAK - don't need it. If you are ON THE ROPE, then go to FoP first, otherwise, do everything else first. There is no line for Everest, KJ, Dinosaur or KRR for at least the first hour. Do those, then spend the bulk of the day going to shows, ride the train, heck, even leave the park (that's what we did - had lunch at DS), then come back about 2 hours before close and do NRJ and FoP. Even if FoP line is still bad at the end of the day (and it was when we were there), you only need to be in line at park close.

EPCOT - don't need it. Don't rope drop TT2 (might even be closed when you are there). Use single rider on that one. Rope drop Frozen or Rat. The Frozen line just drags once the G+ fills in. Worst case it's 2 bad lines. Everything else goes through cycles but have periods when the lines are not long. guardians is VQ - don't forget to get that one at 7a.

DHS - how badly do you want to ride SDD? SDD line gets atrocious and RnRC is supposed to close for refurb for an extended period. You may want to get G+ in defense - BUT...don't be surprised if you run out of rides to use it on. If you are OK skipping SDD and can rope drop, maybe you don't need it. Hint; Smugglers Run line gets really short late in the day. Single rider does not help on RnRC if it is open.

MK - how many days are you going to spend here? We did not get it one day and did on another day. Standby lines are not bad here except PP, Space Mountain and Jungle Cruise. Don't forget to get TRON VQ @ 7a. Both TRON and 7DMT are individual paid lightning lanes. Had it to do over again I think we'd skip getting G+ since we were here 2 days, but would get it if you are only going 1 day.

 

[elvispursley]

Depending on how large your group is, it may be more difficult getting return times with G+ with a large group. You. Ay need to split your group to find better return times. We’ve gone in the middle of July and did all the parks without G+ and managed just fine, but YMMV.

 

[BraveLittleToaster2]

Im taking the kids in late June to the parks but have a large family. The price for Genie+ every day would be rather large. How "bad" would it realistically be in late June with just standby?

How did this work out for you? We are going this summer too and hoping to not use any Genie+, we do have 2 days in MK, 2 in EPCOT and 1 each for AK and HS. Keep in mind we are NOT coaster people so we don't do any of those.
My main worry is Ratatouille, but I guess we will just have to wait over a hour.

 

[Duck143]

How did this work out for you? We are going this summer too and hoping to not use any Genie+, we do have 2 days in MK, 2 in EPCOT and 1 each for AK and HS. Keep in mind we are NOT coaster people so we don't do any of those.
My main worry is Ratatouille, but I guess we will just have to wait over a hour.

We just got back yesterday and had 6 day hoppers. We ended up purchasing G+ for 3 of the 6 days. We did shows, snacks, shopping and waited for the ILL on the days without the G+. If you wanted to do most rides, you can't get much done without the G+. Fee free to ask me any questions.

 

[BraveLittleToaster2]

We just got back yesterday and had 6 day hoppers. We ended up purchasing G+ for 3 of the 6 days. We did shows, snacks, shopping and waited for the ILL on the days without the G+. If you wanted to do most rides, you can't get much done without the G+. Fee free to ask me any questions.

Thanks for the info. I suppose I just hate to spend all the money when we've been to Disney so many times and my kids are all on the older side now so can certainly wait in lines if needed. How many rides do you think is possible without using G+?
As a reminder we do NOT do thrill rides, no coasters, no TOT, no flume rides etc...
I'm hoping by rope dropping our most important ride we can wait in lines the rest of the day. I'd say if they are 60 min or less, I'd be happy with that I suppose.

 

[DisneyFive]

We visited Disney World during the summer after Covid when there was no fast pass or G+plus available. We vowed to never visit again unless there was some sort of system in place. It’s painful to have to pay for it now, but I can’t imagine going back to standing in those lines all day. It took away so much of our enjoyment of be in “our happy place “. Gone was our time to just enjoy the parks, browse the shops, sleep in if needed. We had to get up extremely early just to get in one or two headliner attractions before the crowds made the rest of the day so tough with such long lines. As others have said, we can easily skip G+ with Animal Kingdom.

There are always those that will say “no we do not need G+” but they come from a different breed than our family. Nothing wrong with their viewpoint, but it just doesn’t match our experience in any way, shape, or form.

 

[theyoungs07]

I wouldn't bother with it. We were there in late May early June with a large party (11 most days) and we did not purchase it. We rode everything, we only had long-ish waits for a few things. FOP was supposed to be 80 mins, but ended up being 135...yuck. SDD was less than 60 minutes because we got in line during Fantasmic. I couldn't imagine paying $200-$300+ a day to get it for the whole crew. If you don't do thrill rides and can stand waiting in the occasional 60 minute line you can use that money on some food.

 

[BraveLittleToaster2]

I wouldn't bother with it. We were there in late May early June with a large party (11 most days) and we did not purchase it. We rode everything, we only had long-ish waits for a few things. FOP was supposed to be 80 mins, but ended up being 135...yuck. SDD was less than 60 minutes because we got in line during Fantasmic. I couldn't imagine paying $200-$300+ a day to get it for the whole crew. If you don't do thrill rides and can stand waiting in the occasional 60 minute line you can use that money on some food.

Yeah, if we had younger kids we would spend the money but with only teens now it seems easier to save the money.

 

[mickeyluv'r]

Thanks for the info. I suppose I just hate to spend all the money when we've been to Disney so many times and my kids are all on the older side now so can certainly wait in lines if needed. How many rides do you think is possible without using G+?
As a reminder we do NOT do thrill rides, no coasters, no TOT, no flume rides etc...
I'm hoping by rope dropping our most important ride we can wait in lines the rest of the day. I'd say if they are 60 min or less, I'd be happy with that I suppose.

You can tell quite a bit when you see the price of G+ each day. Today is fairly quiet, but not super quiet: MP/MK $27, HS$19, AK$17. IMO, when it is that price it isn't worth getting except maybe HS, or if you plan to hop. If the price for G+ is lower, then you really don't need it to tour the parks. If the wait is 5min, then having a G+ pass for that ride isn't going to save you any time. G+ works best for bypassing waits that are over 25minutes.

If you are not using it for a good portion of the e-rides (high wait), then I probably wouldn't buy it or advise buying it, but you can make an informed choice for yourself with a little research.

Look at what rides you would ride, then spend a few days looking at what rides you might get out of it/how quickly they sell out vs. what the wait times are.

Like today, much of Epcot has waits that are 20min or less. If you would only ride those rides, then G+ isn't going to make much of a difference.

On the other hand, time is $. Right now MMRR has a 45min wait, Aliens SS is 25 (was longer earlier today), and Toy Story Mania is 80. I Just getting passes for those 3 rides could be worthwhile for many folks. It partly depends on how much your time is worth to you. By that I mean the answer is going to be a personal preference.

 

[DisneyFive]

If you have more than one day at Hollywood Studios or Magic Kingdom, you could try it without getting G+ the first day and if you realize that’s a mistake Then purchase it for your second date at each of those parks. You have to buy it “day of” now anyway, so it’s not like you have to pre-purchase it for the entire stay.

 

[jimim]

Im taking the kids in late June to the parks but have a large family. The price for Genie+ every day would be rather large. How "bad" would it realistically be in late June with just standby?

I have been there 4 times in past year all at different times. Never even gave genie a thought but that’s us. We rope drop. Stay till 12. Back in at night. We rode guardians, tron, rat, mine train, Mickey/minnie train, Toy Story land and rise all multiple times. If you have been in Disney before and know how to properly rope drop and are willing to go back in at night after dinner you don’t need it. We get the same amount of rides done as a genie user in the same period of hours. I read what people do during a period of time with genie and EVERYTIME I say yah we did too. And we aren’t in park all day like I said about. We are used to being up early so are the kids. My wife is at work by 6 each day and I’m used to getting up to fish all summer at 3-4 am along with my kids when they go with me so rope dropping for us is easy.