Not the greatest trip :( March 17 2022

[snowangel72]

Well I hate to be negative because it's literally not a part of my DNA. However, I need to vent. Genie + is useless if you are trying to use it when the park is sold out, like this week during our Spring Break vacation. We got one ride, runaway railroad. They offered us Muppet Vision and Frozen sing-along. Poor newbies who probably booked those! Plus it wouldn't work on my Canadian phone even on Disney wifi but it worked on my husband's. I miss the fastpass system so sad.

This is how HS went yesterday.
1. Rope drop and waited 1.5 hours for ROTR. Ride broke and we were evacuated from the second floor. We had to sit in the car and wait 15 minutes for the CM to arrive to unlock our belts (what if there were a fire?)

2. Waited one hour for TOT. Ride broke, didn't ride.

3. Waited 45 minutes for Rockin Roller Coaster. Ride "closed due to technical difficulties"

I can understand one ride breaking but three?! I went to Guest Services and got an "I'm sorry" and a LL pass for Rockin Rollercoaster. She did NOT care in fact a bit rude to me.

We rode runaway railroad because that was the one and only LL I could get. All the others showed unavailable and I checked at every 2 hour mark. When we left at 5:30pm I noticed runaway railroad was down.

So yeah, this was our worst Disney experience in 15 years. The magic is gone. I am so glad my kids got to experience Disney in the old days. We always had amazing times.

Now GE was absolutely amazing and we loved it, and it was the main purpose of the trip so we were happy but the ride failures and Genie + money grab are unacceptable IMO.

 

[tigerlilly]

I am so sorry your trip did not turn out the way you hoped. Like you I would be beyond upset if a day in the studios progressed as yours did! My daughter and I went the last week of January when the weather was like the arctic north (lol... we are from California...anything under 65 is freezing ). We did Genie + our first day there... in Epcot. Sort of a practice run for MK the next day. I felt it was meh at best and it was not near as crowded as the week you just experienced. We did Test Track and Soarin via Genie + and paid for Remy. So an additional $64 for one day for two people. MK the next day I determined, for myself anyway, any trip in the future will be one I do not purchase Genie +...LL maybe. Again, I am sorry your day was so bad.. hope the rest of the trip went better.

 

[heaven2dc]

I am also sorry your hopeful planning with Genie+ didn't work out for your family. It has been 12 years since our last visit to WDW so we have a lot of attractions/magic bands to catch up on but don't think we'll try Genie+ from the reviews I've been reading. I was a little stumped as to what GE is. Is that a new attraction, land or different park near Disney? (I need a cheat sheet for abbreviations on here Lol)

 

[snowangel72]

I am also sorry your hopeful planning with Genie+ didn't work out for your family. It has been 12 years since our last visit to WDW so we have a lot of attractions/magic bands to catch up on but don't think we'll try Genie+ from the reviews I've been reading. I was a little stumped as to what GE is. Is that a new attraction, land or different park near Disney? (I need a cheat sheet for abbreviations on here Lol)

GE is Galaxy's Edge and it is TRULY AMAZING esp if you are a Star Wars fan. It was absolutely incredible!!! Savi's workshop and Oga's Canteen are a must do!!!!

 

[Her Dotness]

You're not alone by any means in thinking G+ is basically robbery.

DH experimented with seeing what we could get with G+ a couple days of our mid-November stay. Answer? Like your experience, not a thing we actually wanted. This was within seconds of 7:00 a.m. both days, too.

Needless to say, we didn't pay for any of the ILL$ either.

Friends did buy it for two days that same week, they said, and got absolutely nothing.

Where Disney will really make the money is from the newbies and the unwitting who buy it in advance for their entire stay now that you can do that.

It's just plain wrong.

 

[PinkPixel]

Well I hate to be negative because it's literally not a part of my DNA. However, I need to vent. Genie + is useless if you are trying to use it when the park is sold out, like this week during our Spring Break vacation. We got one ride, runaway railroad. They offered us Muppet Vision and Frozen sing-along. Poor newbies who probably booked those! Plus it wouldn't work on my Canadian phone even on Disney wifi but it worked on my husband's. I miss the fastpass system so sad.

This is how HS went yesterday.
1. Rope drop and waited 1.5 hours for ROTR. Ride broke and we were evacuated from the second floor. We had to sit in the car and wait 15 minutes for the CM to arrive to unlock our belts (what if there were a fire?)

2. Waited one hour for TOT. Ride broke, didn't ride.

3. Waited 45 minutes for Rockin Roller Coaster. Ride "closed due to technical difficulties"

I can understand one ride breaking but three?! I went to Guest Services and got an "I'm sorry" and a LL pass for Rockin Rollercoaster. She did NOT care in fact a bit rude to me.

We rode runaway railroad because that was the one and only LL I could get. All the others showed unavailable and I checked at every 2 hour mark. When we left at 5:30pm I noticed runaway railroad was down.

So yeah, this was our worst Disney experience in 15 years. The magic is gone. I am so glad my kids got to experience Disney in the old days. We always had amazing times.

Now GE was absolutely amazing and we loved it, and it was the main purpose of the trip so we were happy but the ride failures and Genie + money grab are unacceptable IMO.

Trying to better understand your description, Are you upset that you didn’t get genie+ times for smuggler’s run and slinky dog? Did you try at 7 am for one of those and the only thing available was MMRR? I feel like in the past with Fastpass (which I loved) you could only pic one Tier 1 ride at Epcot, HS, and AK and then two from the second group. I know people were able to get a fourth fastpass for a headliner but during sold out times that wasn’t as likely.

 

[cccory]

I truly hate the idea of being on my phone for my vacation. It seems like this is the norm now to plan and enjoy your day at Disney. Not sure when we will be back.

 

[GAN]

Well I hate to be negative because it's literally not a part of my DNA. However, I need to vent. Genie + is useless if you are trying to use it when the park is sold out, like this week during our Spring Break vacation. We got one ride, runaway railroad. They offered us Muppet Vision and Frozen sing-along. Poor newbies who probably booked those! Plus it wouldn't work on my Canadian phone even on Disney wifi but it worked on my husband's. I miss the fastpass system so sad.

This is how HS went yesterday.
1. Rope drop and waited 1.5 hours for ROTR. Ride broke and we were evacuated from the second floor. We had to sit in the car and wait 15 minutes for the CM to arrive to unlock our belts (what if there were a fire?)

2. Waited one hour for TOT. Ride broke, didn't ride.

3. Waited 45 minutes for Rockin Roller Coaster. Ride "closed due to technical difficulties"

I can understand one ride breaking but three?! I went to Guest Services and got an "I'm sorry" and a LL pass for Rockin Rollercoaster. She did NOT care in fact a bit rude to me.

We rode runaway railroad because that was the one and only LL I could get. All the others showed unavailable and I checked at every 2 hour mark. When we left at 5:30pm I noticed runaway railroad was down.

So yeah, this was our worst Disney experience in 15 years. The magic is gone. I am so glad my kids got to experience Disney in the old days. We always had amazing times.

Now GE was absolutely amazing and we loved it, and it was the main purpose of the trip so we were happy but the ride failures and Genie + money grab are unacceptable IMO.

And this starting right 7AM? I’ve seen others stacking for later in the day so you had rides lined up without even being in the parks early. Haven’t tried it myself yet so I’m curious. Obviously the week you went was an extreme test since it was so busy

 

[k5xs]

Well I hate to be negative because it's literally not a part of my DNA. However, I need to vent. Genie + is useless if you are trying to use it when the park is sold out, like this week during our Spring Break vacation. We got one ride, runaway railroad. They offered us Muppet Vision and Frozen sing-along. Poor newbies who probably booked those! Plus it wouldn't work on my Canadian phone even on Disney wifi but it worked on my husband's. I miss the fastpass system so sad.

This is how HS went yesterday.
1. Rope drop and waited 1.5 hours for ROTR. Ride broke and we were evacuated from the second floor. We had to sit in the car and wait 15 minutes for the CM to arrive to unlock our belts (what if there were a fire?)

2. Waited one hour for TOT. Ride broke, didn't ride.

3. Waited 45 minutes for Rockin Roller Coaster. Ride "closed due to technical difficulties"

I can understand one ride breaking but three?! I went to Guest Services and got an "I'm sorry" and a LL pass for Rockin Rollercoaster. She did NOT care in fact a bit rude to me.

We rode runaway railroad because that was the one and only LL I could get. All the others showed unavailable and I checked at every 2 hour mark. When we left at 5:30pm I noticed runaway railroad was down.

So yeah, this was our worst Disney experience in 15 years. The magic is gone. I am so glad my kids got to experience Disney in the old days. We always had amazing times.

Now GE was absolutely amazing and we loved it, and it was the main purpose of the trip so we were happy but the ride failures and Genie + money grab are unacceptable IMO.

So sorry to hear your now-all-too-familiar experience.

If you can, PLEASE let WDW guest relations hear from you:

guest.services@disneyworld.com

 

[koncra]

We are Canadian too and have been twice since Genie+ started(Dec and Feb) and we did manage to have pretty good success with it on both trips, however I still don't like it.

Waking up before 7am every day of a vacation sucks and having to spend all day refreshing your phone to find a good attraction to do takes away alot of the magic.

With that being said, once you've "learned" how to work Genie+ I do think you can be successful with it. Our December trip was extremely busy and without G+ I think we would have been miserable. We found the best thing to do was to book your must do ride right at 7am for as early as possible(example being Jungle Cruise at 09:30) and then when you're scanned in for that one keep refreshing the tips page until you've found something you want. Because you can no longer "modify" a LL like you could with fastpass you're better off not booking one for something like Pooh, Space Ranger Spin, or Barnstormer and instead just continually refreshing until something you want comes up.

Again, the system sucks but I think it CAN work, although it means spending much of your vacation time swiping up on your phone.

 

[heaven2dc]

GE is Galaxy's Edge and it is TRULY AMAZING esp if you are a Star Wars fan. It was absolutely incredible!!! Savi's workshop and Oga's Canteen are a must do!!!!

Thank you! We are all Star Wars fans so definitely will check it out.

 

[k5xs]

Thank you! We are all Star Wars fans so definitely will check it out.

When you go to GE, you'd probably enjoy eating at Ronto Roasters (a quick-service place--we love the Ronto Wrap). Also, be sure to engage with cast members on the street. They are so good at staying in character ALWAYS.

 

[thanxfornoticin]

We are Canadian too and have been twice since Genie+ started(Dec and Feb) and we did manage to have pretty good success with it on both trips, however I still don't like it.

Waking up before 7am every day of a vacation sucks and having to spend all day refreshing your phone to find a good attraction to do takes away alot of the magic.

With that being said, once you've "learned" how to work Genie+ I do think you can be successful with it. Our December trip was extremely busy and without G+ I think we would have been miserable. We found the best thing to do was to book your must do ride right at 7am for as early as possible(example being Jungle Cruise at 09:30) and then when you're scanned in for that one keep refreshing the tips page until you've found something you want. Because you can no longer "modify" a LL like you could with fastpass you're better off not booking one for something like Pooh, Space Ranger Spin, or Barnstormer and instead just continually refreshing until something you want comes up.

Again, the system sucks but I think it CAN work, although it means spending much of your vacation time swiping up on your phone.

I agree with your comments. We've used G+ a few times now, and while it's far from perfect or ideal, it's not nearly as bad (in our opinion) as many would have you believe. We used it effectively a couple days in Dec and March, and we skipped it a couple days. There are many pros and many cons - but there were pros, cons, and complaints about the original FP and the followup with FP+. We weren't ready to give it a complete thumbs-up or thumbs-down until we actually used it ourselves, and now we know we'll continue to use it in the future - some days, but not all.

 

[koncra]

I agree with your comments. We've used G+ a few times now, and while it's far from perfect or ideal, it's not nearly as bad (in our opinion) as many would have you believe. We used it effectively a couple days in Dec and March, and we skipped it a couple days. There are many pros and many cons - but there were pros, cons, and complaints about the original FP and the followup with FP+. We weren't ready to give it a complete thumbs-up or thumbs-down until we actually used it ourselves, and now we know we'll continue to use it in the future - some days, but not all.

Us too. On shorter trips we will get it(especially for MK and HS) and for quieter times of year or longer trips where we don't have to rush we will likely skip it.

 

[DISDiversion]

We were there the same week (spring break March 13-19) and overall had a good experience -- but boy is it different. The usefulness of Genie+ varied depending on the park. It was most useful for MK, somewhat useful for HS, and may not be necessary for AK and Epcot IMO. I definitely recommend it for Magic Kingdom - it was very helpful there.

Because of the large crowds, ILL for ROR were sold out within one minute (and we had super fast IT teenagers in our party) so I recommend that if ROR is a must-do it is better to wake up early and rope drop. We also rope-dropped FOP (the line was super long, but it moved quickly, so don't be dismayed if the line is long). Remy also sold out within one minute every day, and we were too tired to rope drop so did not get to ride it

Basically, if you are going during a very busy time it can be very difficult if not impossible to get the top ILL (ROR, Remy) or the top LL (Slinky Dog, MFSR, MMRR, Jungle Cruise) using Genie+ even if you only plan to ride just one. A better strategy imo is to rope drop for the ILL/LL you prefer, stack LL starting at 7am for the end of the day, and then take a break in the middle 2pm-4pm for the pool/nap etc.

Also I highly recommend the method of picking one or two favorites for the tip board so that they appear at the top - seconds count when picking a LL or ILL.
Please also note that the time you select may change as you schedule the LL, and the time posted on your tip board for the ride does not reflect the 'window' - you need to look at 'My Day' to see the window that you can use the LL. This caused some confusion among our group early on. I highly recommend reviewing how G+ works before you go to the park, and consider doing Hollywood studios on your second park day instead of the first park day so that you can 'practice' using G+. I agree with all of the comments on Galaxy's Edge - hope this is helpful!

 

[AnnabelleTheTalkingTree]

I'm sorry your trip didn't work out. Genie+ is such a ridiculous system - I don't understand how they're getting away with selling this as a "service." It's like gambling - they're selling you a CHANCE to skip the line, but you know, no guarantees! BS.

 

[shortster]

I’m so sorry to hear this, OP. That sounds very, very frustrating.

 

[Westerner]

You're not alone by any means in thinking G+ is basically robbery.

DH experimented with seeing what we could get with G+ a couple days of our mid-November stay. Answer? Like your experience, not a thing we actually wanted. This was within seconds of 7:00 a.m. both days, too.

Needless to say, we didn't pay for any of the ILL$ either.

Friends did buy it for two days that same week, they said, and got absolutely nothing.

Where Disney will really make the money is from the newbies and the unwitting who buy it in advance for their entire stay now that you can do that.

It's just plain wrong.

Robbery's a strong word. Can't speak for November but I can say there is page after page of discussion here on G+ and there is generally plenty of availability at 7:01AM. Lots of folks here have gotten multiple LL's in a day.

 

[Hubie]

I'm still amazed that so many people are using Genie + after what you have to pay just to get into the parks. I for one refuse to pay for a ride! Heck, I don't even take a cell phone with me. Staring at a screen all day is not a vacation.

 

[LPnerd]

Trying to better understand your description, Are you upset that you didn’t get genie+ times for smuggler’s run and slinky dog? Did you try at 7 am for one of those and the only thing available was MMRR? I feel like in the past with Fastpass (which I loved) you could only pic one Tier 1 ride at Epcot, HS, and AK and then two from the second group. I know people were able to get a fourth fastpass for a headliner but during sold out times that wasn’t as likely.

who the heck wants to get up at 7am ON VACATION??????? you excuse makers only enable Disney to continue to get away with all this nonsense. It's not the same park, in fact they should rename it as I'm sure Walt would throw them all out on their human ears.