Is the DAS enough, or should I also get Genie +?

[rosieposy]

Hi everyone! I used to be a pro with the DAS and fast pass return times and that worked wonderfully for our family. This is our first trip back in two years and obviously I haven’t been able to experience the new Genie + stuff. We have two sons with autism and we are planning on going to the Magic Kingdom on December 22nd. We’ve been over Christmas before so we know how insane the crowds are then. Do you think it will be necessary to purchase Genie + for everyone in our group (group of 9) or will the DAS be enough? If anyone has any tips about this new process, I’d love to hear them. I do know you can book it online starting at 30 days out.

 

[JenLT]

I think so. We will also be getting Genie + when we go. That way we can get the longer line attractions with the Genie + and the other with DAS. Read the thread in Theme Park Attractions forum to learn about stacking the Genie + LL. I’ve read from multiple sources that wait times are inflated so you may well need the Genie + so you can have multiple options for doing the rides. Especially at such a busy time!

 

[Selket]

I've been following the Genie+ thread on the other board and it seems like the MK is the park where it's most useful to have Genie+. Is your trip one day only? I'd get it for the MK as I think it would work as a good filler for times when you are waiting for a return time.... especially since you're there when it will be busy. I don't have any personal experience with the new system however!

 

[dwonderz]

We just came back from a trip using DAS and we never purchased Genie+, however, we had a much smaller group (only 2 of us) and were not visiting at such a busy time. I would definitely consider getting Genie+ during such a busy time as it will help to fill the time while waiting for your DAS return times (which will also most likely be longer because the parks will be crowded).

One thing we noticed was that our DAS return time was often anywhere from 10-20 minutes earlier than the standby wait. For example, if it was 12pm and the standby time said 30 minutes, our return window would often actually begin at 12:20pm or even sooner - just something to keep an eye on!

 

[Mle8308]

I would call and ask about your party size. They may not allow it for 9 people. Better to check ahead of time.

 

[Gracielou4123]

I used the DAS today in MK (busy day), no Genie+, and was not left with any long wait times. Was able to choose one ride/show after the other with ease. I also had the two rescheduled DAS passes. I was pleasantly surprised. My longest waits were for bus transportation!

 

[Kimly]

We just used DAS this past week for our family of 6 and it was more than enough, We rode on everything. I personally wouldn’t get genie +

 

[rosieposy]

Thanks everyone! Now I’m wondering if it’s worth going at all. It’s going to cost my family of five (the other 4 are grandparents) about $850 (with Genie +) to go for ONE day. That seems insane to me, especially since my boys will need a break during the day and it’s going to be so busy. Ugh! I can’t decide. We love having annual passes for Universal because we can take our boys for just a few hours a day without feeling like we’re wasting our money. Annual passes at Disney are just beyond insane. lol

I would call and ask about your party size. They may not allow it for 9 people. Better to check ahead of time.

We have two kiddos with autism that both couldn’t go without the DAS. We can get two separate DAS passes if we need to. We’ve always been able to add extra people (up to 10) before, but we haven’t been there in a couple of years. I really hope that’s not a problem. It would be depressing having to split up our party and do everything separately.

 

[elledubs]

Hey Rosie posie!! My son and I are autistic
He has pDA so Disney may be terrible or good. We def depend on das!

I went through the whole stressful online dasregistration and after a few days online glued to a computer wiggling mymouse wondering if I was still in queue, I finally got through.I think they will cap the group at 6 and I think this new system rollout is how they are making a hard stop on more people so I bet you’ll need the two kiddos to be separate or they may let you lump them together since you have 2 autistic kiddos?

QUESTION FOR ALL::
1. curious if it’ll be worth genie plus this Tuesday at MK. We may last 6 hours or not depending on crowd and how well we prepare my son.
2. any strategy tips for rope drop at Studiosnext Friday? We aren’t able to get early entry (super mad about this new change they implemented after we’d booked our non refundable Airbnb- first time I’ve ever stayed off property in my whole life!!)
My aon doesn’t care about most of studios like tower or rock n roller coaster. Mostly Star Wars.
Thank you!!

 

[DisneyOma]

FYI - stacking is gone with Genie+, and there are reports that during busy times guests are only getting 1-2 return times with it before they are sold out.

 

[BFSEsq]

From our experience yesterday in MK, using DAS return times for my son, I personally would recommend also using Genie+. The DAS system is great and worked very well, but I think if you're going to MK, at an incredibly busy time, with a large party, you're going to appreciate it more than at other parks or other times of year. You may not exactly NEED it, but I'm happy we had it. Standby times are getting very long very fast these days. (At Epcot today, though? We only used DAS and didn't purchase Genie+, and I'm glad we didn't because we didn't need it. So it depends.)

One thing we noticed was that our DAS return time was often anywhere from 10-20 minutes earlier than the standby wait. For example, if it was 12pm and the standby time said 30 minutes, our return window would often actually begin at 12:20pm or even sooner - just something to keep an eye on!

We noticed this too! It's very nice. It tends to give you a return time of around 10 minutes less than the standby wait. I think the idea is that once you have to tap in and maybe wait for a short time in the LL queue, you will have waited, in total, for the full posted wait time, and they don't want to make you wait longer than those in standby. But it's very nice that Disney built that into DAS.