How do you know if it's a day you'll want Genie+?

[imjen]

My hubby and I are going the week after Thanksgiving for 3.5 days. I'm not sure if any of those days will be busy enough to need Genie+. If we are going to want it at least one of those days, I would rather start the day with it to get the most use out of it. How do you determine if you're getting Genie+?

Any thoughts on whether we might need it to avoid long lines Nov 28-30 and whether it's better to use it when starting the day at Disneyland or DCA? We have park hoppers.

Thanks!!

 

[chezcurrie]

If it ends in “day”…

Not meaning to be catty but we use G+ even on our short visits in order to get the most done in the least stressful way possible. For your trip if you only want to use it one day I would suggest using it early on in your trip on a day you are starting at Disneyland. That way you can “guarantee” your must do attractions and secure some rides that tend to push out later in the day (Indy, Haunted a mansion Holiday, Space) while booking return times in the evening for DCA (Guardians and Incredicoaster), then take things at a slower pace the rest of your trip. Too often I see people (myself included) who put the important things at the tail end of a trip (like fireworks for instance) and end up missing out on them due to whatever reason (weather, ride closures, etc.)

I would expect crowds to be heavy during those dates as all magic keys are open and it’s post thanksgiving and full on holiday so getting your must do’s checked off the proverbial list early will be important.

 

[DizMe]

I don't know. I have yet to purchase Genie+ because rides are important but not my main reason for going. I also am philosophically opposed to the practice as it is currently implemented. I liked FP. Its follow-up, MaxPass, was ok though I never purchased it, but I'm balking at Genie+. I don't really like the increasing stratification of guests into payment tiers. I mean, yeah, I pay a lot to stay on site, but I'm not bumping anyone out of line or making it a worse experience for others. Well, that's probably debatable . I pay for a MK because it makes financial sense for the number of times I go, at least for now.

But to your question, I don't have an answer because I've not gone on your particular dates, but I do go at other busy times and have managed fine without it. I think if you have kids along, it may be different, but for 2 adults, waiting in line isn't as big a deal, you can have a lot of fun at dining venues, enjoy music and people watching etc. You have more flexibility to move around and explore without the rush to get in line for the next ride.

Now, I also have to say that it's also heavily dependent on how often you go. I go relatively frequently so I'm not worried about missing a favorite ride. If you aren't going to be back for a long time (or ever), that makes Genie+ a whole lot more attractive and I would probably get it under those circumstances.

 

[Pluto468]

Maybe use it on your second day. You can spend your first day getting to know the park, and you'll be able to do some of the rides you'd potentially use Genie+ for.

If you're only getting it for one day, I'd go with a Disneyland start day. There are alot more Genie+ rides there. Have fun!

 

[Genie+]

We just got back from our first DL visit, also about 3.5 park days over Halloween week.

The first few hours after park opening seemed much lighter crowds than later on. I think G+ is the least necessary on days you can get in at/before park open since you can get so many rides done quickly. One morning we knocked out 7 rides under 2 hours and we didn’t really know what we were doing lol.

G+ seemed best for days where you might arrive a couple hours after park open and won’t be able to take advantage of those early low wait times, or have planned longer meals/breaks outside the park where you can stack some rides to make up for lost time.

 

[Brandonius]

What I'd do is get Genie for day 1 and see how it feels. You won't regret having it for day 1, it will only be a benefit. If you enjoyed it and want to do it again, then go for it! If you don't think you want it again, you can skip it on days 2 and 3, but you'll have already had a day where you got on lots of the big rides you care about!

We get genie every day. It makes the feel of the day way nicer. Yes, you can get a lot done in the morning without it, but it makes the whole day more productive (especially the slam-packed afternoons), and the quality of the day is much nicer.

I'd rather spend the extra $30 and be able to enjoy the park vibes and shows, then get right on the rides relaxed instead of spending that time in line and being kinda cranky and stressed on the rides lol. It's less about how much we get done (tho Genie does let us do way more) and more about how we get those things done. But, your mileage may vary! Better to find out on day 1 than the last day and have regrets lol.

 

[twodogs]

One other thing to remember is that G+ can (and very often does) sell out by mid morning on busy days. So if you don’t make your decision early in the day, you lose a lot of the value of booking early, but you also may lose the chance to purchase it all that day.

 

[SpaceMan5]

We just got back from our first DL visit, also about 3.5 park days over Halloween week.

The first few hours after park opening seemed much lighter crowds than later on. I think G+ is the least necessary on days you can get in at/before park open since you can get so many rides done quickly. One morning we knocked out 7 rides under 2 hours and we didn’t really know what we were doing lol.

G+ seemed best for days where you might arrive a couple hours after park open and won’t be able to take advantage of those early low wait times, or have planned longer meals/breaks outside the park where you can stack some rides to make up for lost time.

Right there with you Genie+

We arrived around noon on our first day and after obligatory pictures just inside the main gate we looked at the wait times and "tap" signed up for G+ and didn't regret it for a second. Well worth the money.

On the following days we arrived early and never felt the need for G+.

 

[Kenshin21]

As many have said already, early on the trip when starting at Disneyland makes the most sense. Get your must dos done early and not have to stress about it later in the trip. However, it depends what your goals are for the trip. If its to ride every ride you want once, 3.5 days is enough without genie+. Keep in mind, RSR and Rise are the 2 that is ILL.

 

[ComeToSocialize]

We go at least twice a month as Magic Key holders, so rarely get G+; most of our visits we arrive in the afternoon anyways, so most LL availability would be gone anyways.

To me, whether G+ is worth it or not is not dependent on crowd levels - honestly, on super busy days when G+ sells out, I might argue G+ is LESS worth it, as you only end up getting to use it 4-5 times over the course of a full day, and you really have to plan around it. On middle days when you can have G+ turn 7 or 8 30 to 60 minute waits into 5 minute waits, that's when it really feels good.

We decide on G+ based on how long we're going to be at the parks and what rides we want to do. As others noted, if we're only going in the morning and leaving at lunchtime? Not needed, lines are short enough. If arriving after lunch, it's too late. We only get it on days where we plan to arrive pre-lunch and stay post-dinner. But pretty much anytime we're at the parks for 7-8 hours, we'll get G+.

 

[imjen]

Thank you so much for all of your feedback! It has been really helpful. What do you think is the best way to utilize Genie+ on a park hopping day? I'm not sure when we need to start getting Genie+ for rides over at DCA and how to most effectively use it at both parks. The Genie+ rides we care about most at DCA are Guardians, Spider Man, Toy Story Mania, and Soarin'. Incredicoaster is supposed to be closed the week we are there.

At DL, the rides we care most about with Genie+ are Space Mountain, HMH, Big Thunder, MMRR, Indiana, Small World Holiday. We do also like Star Tours, Buzz, and MF but from what I've read those aren't too hard to get. The last time we went to DL was about 1.5 years ago and we didn't use Genie+.

 

[ComeToSocialize]

It'll be tough to do all those rides in a single day, but easy to do all of them in 2 days and in 3.5 you'll be able to do most of them multiple times if you want.

There are lots of guides on Genie+ strategy on this site, but in general:
Indy, Space Mtn, HMH, Guardians, and Toy Story will be the toughest to get G+ for on your list (MMRR maybe too, though I don't really know how demand for it has been since it moved from ILL to G+). I'd prioritize booking those early in the day. The rest shouldn't be that bad, and as you note, some like Star Tours or Buzz are often available well into the night.

While park hopping is easy at DLR compared to WDW, it's still a pretty long walk - if you're going from Galaxy's Edge to Pixar Pier, that's going to take you 30 minutes. So I'd think more about walking distance and less about G+ strategy when using G+ with park-hopping.

For example, let's say you plan to park hop to DCA at ~3pm. Starting at about 10 or 1030am, I'd start "stacking" G+ for the afternoon/evening in DCA. Guardians and Toy Story you can probably get afternoon times while you're doing standby in DL. If you play your cards right, you could easily stack up 3 or 4 rides for your afternoon/evening at DCA... but then you wouldn't be using it quite as much at DL. What I wouldn't do is plan to be hopping back and forth all the time just based on G+ availability.

Note that you can modify (push back) ride times without screwing up your next booking window. So if it's 11am and Guardians is available for 2:30pm. Grab it and start your 2 hour cooldown time. But if you then realize you're not going to park hop to DCA until 4pm, you can just push your Guardians time back without messing other stuff up.

You don't have to overthink it, particularly if you have 3+ days!

 

[chezcurrie]

Note that you can modify (push back) ride times without screwing up your next booking window. So if it's 11am and Guardians is available for 2:30pm. Grab it and start your 2 hour cooldown time. But if you then realize you're not going to park hop to DCA until 4pm, you can just push your Guardians time back without messing other stuff up.

You don't have to overthink it, particularly if you have 3+ days!

note that you can also move times earlier - this can be very beneficial for rides like guardians.

I think of G+ like the WDW fast pass of yore and use it to secure my top 3 rides - everything else is gravy. So what works for me or someone else might not be your priority.

Based on your priorities my strategy would be to use G+ for: Indy, HMH and Space. You will get more, but use it to “guarantee” those. Book Indy as your first ride of the day, and then go and do non LL rides like Pirates and Jungle Cruise (or do MMRR and Small World Holiday standby - Small World usually has lots of availability in the evening as well. Chances are Indy goes down and it converts to a multiple experience pass, but if not it means you get to ride it early on and avoid those mid day waits and inevitable closure - win win! I would book Space next, but check the return time for Haunted Mansion Holiday to make sure it’s not too late already) then snag a Haunted Mansion Holiday and push it to later on in the night (because I lIke it better at night.) At this point you can hop or knock off some other rides standby.

In this scenario, assuming you have booked your first LL as you enter the park and have not modified any earlier it’s probably lunchtime. Take a nice long break and then I would book Guardians while eating/breaking if park hopping and then Webslingers. Again look to modify earlier. I would do Toy Story and Soarin‘ on a day you start at DCA as they won’t hit the same long wait as Guardians and Webslingers.

Hope this helps and have a great trip!