Our experience using Genie+ with Large Family Group

[CJK]

No, it's definitely 12.

Thank you! Just this morning I read 10, so it’s confusing. I wish Disney would release a FAQ with the number. I truly appreciate your help!!

 

[meremac]

Thank you! Just this morning I read 10, so it’s confusing. I wish Disney would release a FAQ with the number. I truly appreciate your help!!

Well, I mean, I guess it's possible that they are changing the numbers based on crowd levels or something?? I just know that a few days ago, my clients were able to book for 12.

 

[NavyDad]

It's been awhile now but in 2008 I took (financially) my entire immediate family the included my daughters, their husbands and children and my sister and nephew to WDW. (11 total) Since I am not now nor ever have been a millionaire staying onsite wasn't possible. Partially due to cost and partially but mostly due to the fact that nothing was even possible to keep everyone together.

I rented a 6 bedroom offsite villa, fully equipt with everything including a game room, full sized private pool and jacuzzi within a huge Florida Room, 7 day non-expiring admissions for for all, airfare round trip from Vt for all, Two rental cars, plus my own because I drove down and they followed.

We stayed in the area for a week, and went to other places like the Kennedy Space Center and left with everyone still having three days on their tickets to use when they wanted. Total cost to me was $7000.00. A lot of money even then but compared to today, it was parking meter change.

I'm not going to bother doing the math for comparison, but I can tell you that we had a blast not only being there but the planning parties we had at home getting organized was fun too. What we had that worked was flexibility. We went to whatever park we wanted on whatever day we wanted (usually decided the night before), didn't need reservations to eat because except for quick service for lunch in the parks, it was all done either in the villa or to the hundreds of restaurant choices offsite. It just cannot be duplicated today. With todays system it would take a team of engineers and at least a couple of people that could forecast the future to make it work. It is so sad to lose that ability, but I guess that it doesn't bother Disney because it was only a small piece of that 7 grand that went to Disney the rest was spent in the local economy. So if Disney can't get it all, they apparently don't want any of it.

I started coming to this website in fall of 2008 when I was planning our fist ever family trip (9 of us that time) for the summer of 2009. I started immediately second-guessing my decision because roughly 75% of the posts on this site were complaining about how WDW wasn't like the old days, it had gotten so expensive, you had to do so much planning, how people missed walking into the park and deciding that day where they were going to eat, how Disney had ruined dining by creating the dining plan and then how they ruined it by taking off the appetizers. Basically non-stop complaining about everything you could ever think of.

I called my friend who had been going to WDW since the 80's and I said I was researching online and almost every "fan" of WDW was saying really negative things about the price, the service, the food, the resorts and the "lost magic" of the parks. I asked him if it was really worth it to spend all of this money. My friend kind of chuckled and said that since the internet was invented some of the first websites were started by huge Disney fans who spent hours a day complaining about WDW but also obsessing over the next trip. That's just part of the Disney addiction he said.

Well, I threw everything into planning for that trip in 2009. I bought the book, I read every word that was posted on this site for 9 months. I got the secret "travel agent only" WDW schedule of events the day it was available. I made 2 ADR's for each day of our 10 day stay because everyone on this site told me if I didn't have ADR's there would be nowhere to eat. I studied the crowd calendars and touring plans for hours a day. I created detailed spreadsheets and calendars with ADR's, park opening and closing times, show times, EMH hours and plans of when to ride rides to maximize our time. I made individual cheat sheets for every adult member of our family for each day in the park and had them color coded.

We had a great trip 13 years ago. I planned ahead and we got every single hour of park time that our tickets could allow. My wife and I ran from attraction to attraction pulling fastpasses from the kiosks from everyone in the group. We rode so many rides, but not everything we wanted to do. We ate so much good food but by the end of it we were sick of eating and used meal credits for disney junk food to take home to friends and family. Between 3 rooms at Pop Century, park tickets and meal plan for 4 adults and 5 kids I think we spent maybe $6k back then. It was a great trip but it was expensive (to me at that time), exhausting and it took a LOT of planning.

Over the years since we have taken quite a few trips to WDW. We spent way too much money, ate too much food, rode a lot of rides and had fun. I came back to this site each year and absorbed all the tips and tricks while each year people complained and said this is the last trip and swore of Disney forever. I watced people post that Fast Pass Plus ruined WDW for them and they were never going back. Those same people have posted half a dozen trip reports since then and now complain about Genie Plus and talk about how much they loved FP+ LOL. The more things change the more they stay the same.

We have gotten smarter over the years. We know what we like to spend money on and what's kind of a waste. We are much smarter about getting the most of what we want out of our time and our money. We recently visited WDW during the tail end of Spring Break and we had our most relaxing and stress free trip to WDW ever. We used Genie plus for the two of us and for our daughter and her 3 friends. We came to the parks when we wanted to and left when we wanted with very little planning other than what day we were going to each park. We, and they, rode pretty much every single ride we wanted to with very little stress or planning. I didn't have to run an extra 12 miles a day picking up fast passes at kiosks. It was an absolutely fantastic trip.

The world keeps on turning, people keep going to WDW and Disney obsessed people complain about how WDW has gotten too complicated and too expensive... while they are planning their next trip. Rinse, repeat.

 

[goofyernmost]

I started coming to this website in fall of 2008 when I was planning our fist ever family trip (9 of us that time) for the summer of 2009. I started immediately second-guessing my decision because roughly 75% of the posts on this site were complaining about how WDW wasn't like the old days, it had gotten so expensive, you had to do so much planning, how people missed walking into the park and deciding that day where they were going to eat, how Disney had ruined dining by creating the dining plan and then how they ruined it by taking off the appetizers. Basically non-stop complaining about everything you could ever think of.

I called my friend who had been going to WDW since the 80's and I said I was researching online and almost every "fan" of WDW was saying really negative things about the price, the service, the food, the resorts and the "lost magic" of the parks. I asked him if it was really worth it to spend all of this money. My friend kind of chuckled and said that since the internet was invented some of the first websites were started by huge Disney fans who spent hours a day complaining about WDW but also obsessing over the next trip. That's just part of the Disney addiction he said.

Well, I threw everything into planning for that trip in 2009. I bought the book, I read every word that was posted on this site for 9 months. I got the secret "travel agent only" WDW schedule of events the day it was available. I made 2 ADR's for each day of our 10 day stay because everyone on this site told me if I didn't have ADR's there would be nowhere to eat. I studied the crowd calendars and touring plans for hours a day. I created detailed spreadsheets and calendars with ADR's, park opening and closing times, show times, EMH hours and plans of when to ride rides to maximize our time. I made individual cheat sheets for every adult member of our family for each day in the park and had them color coded.

We had a great trip 13 years ago. I planned ahead and we got every single hour of park time that our tickets could allow. My wife and I ran from attraction to attraction pulling fastpasses from the kiosks from everyone in the group. We rode so many rides, but not everything we wanted to do. We ate so much good food but by the end of it we were sick of eating and used meal credits for disney junk food to take home to friends and family. Between 3 rooms at Pop Century, park tickets and meal plan for 4 adults and 5 kids I think we spent maybe $6k back then. It was a great trip but it was expensive (to me at that time), exhausting and it took a LOT of planning.

Over the years since we have taken quite a few trips to WDW. We spent way too much money, ate too much food, rode a lot of rides and had fun. I came back to this site each year and absorbed all the tips and tricks while each year people complained and said this is the last trip and swore of Disney forever. I watced people post that Fast Pass Plus ruined WDW for them and they were never going back. Those same people have posted half a dozen trip reports since then and now complain about Genie Plus and talk about how much they loved FP+ LOL. The more things change the more they stay the same.

We have gotten smarter over the years. We know what we like to spend money on and what's kind of a waste. We are much smarter about getting the most of what we want out of our time and our money. We recently visited WDW during the tail end of Spring Break and we had our most relaxing and stress free trip to WDW ever. We used Genie plus for the two of us and for our daughter and her 3 friends. We came to the parks when we wanted to and left when we wanted with very little planning other than what day we were going to each park. We, and they, rode pretty much every single ride we wanted to with very little stress or planning. I didn't have to run an extra 12 miles a day picking up fast passes at kiosks. It was an absolutely fantastic trip.

The world keeps on turning, people keep going to WDW and Disney obsessed people complain about how WDW has gotten too complicated and too expensive... while they are planning their next trip. Rinse, repeat.

I went in the 80's and started to follow Disney boards as soon as they were created. The complaints were legit than and they are now. I have corrected many people that said that WDW was in better condition and cleaner back then. It was cleaner but that was primarily because smoking was allowed back then and Disney had literally a small army of minimum wage folks that did nothing but come out of the shadows to remove cigarettes/garbage from the ground, thus cleaner looking, not necessarily cleaner. Condition of the parks, well sure they had only spent about 10 years out in the Florida sun, instead of 50 years.

The colors are brighter now, the technology is so far advanced that it is not even comparable. However, what most of us remember is how easy and stress free it was. Did we sometimes spend a lot of time in lines, sure, but it was consistent, not the dog and pony show it is now where you trade off something that seemed like a long time for a brief quicker time in a single line, although it all evens out, but people were to excited about it to realize that it all equaled out over all. Those of us that went to the park years ago when those lines were alleged to be lasting a life time, got to see everything that was there just like people that spend their time glued to their cell phones do now.

We had fun and actually saw everything not distracted by glowing hand held screen. Disney is what it is now and isn't changing, but don't tell those of us that where here in the early days that it is better now. It is bigger now, but hardly better, less stressful or as much fun as it was back then. That's experience not hearsay.

 

[glocon]

It is bigger now, but hardly better, less stressful or as much fun as it was back then. That experience not hearsay.

I think he’s saying that’s his and his family’s experience. Everyone is different.

I think it’s nice to see that some people still find joy at Disneyworld.

Some of the changes might be too much for some people, but many others still find it to be their happy place.

 

[goofyernmost]

I think he’s saying that’s his and his family’s experience. Everyone is different.

I think it’s nice to see that some people still find joy at Disneyworld.

Some of the changes might be too much for some people, but many others still find it to be their happy place.

And if it works for them that is great. I'm fine with that, but that doesn't mean that my initial experience isn't true and that the New Disney does nothing more than anger and frustrate me now.

I spent years obsessing about WDW. I spent hours trying to find a way to work at the place. I did that for years but, my family obligations had to be my priority. I made up scenarios where I held seminars and pitched WDW and hoped to have that connection with Disney itself so that I could sell tickets to the park at those events. I briefly started a part time travel agency of my own to help people understand the minor complexities of WDW back then, I lived Disney parks that was all I talked about until my friends threatened to do me bodily harm if I didn't shut up. Even my children were starting to plan an intervention to "cure" me of my Disney obsession. After they were grown and married I even switched careers and got a CDL and a full time job driving passenger buses so I could semi-retire and drive bus for Disney.

So sometimes it angers me when people that never experienced the place back then decide that those of us that did are just people that have something against Disney Park. They were my escape and happy place. An upbeat location that somehow was completely separate from the rest of the nasty world. Now due to corporate greed I have essentially been excluded from what meant so much to me mostly because so many people are happily being overcharged while Disney executives just get richer and richer. It's just frustrating. However, it should serve as a warning that unless something happens to stop it, it will continue until it becomes a place that doesn't want you there anymore either and they will have a new target audience.

 

[ilovetotravel1977]

We will be a smaller group of 7 the first week of December. We have made the choice to NOT purchase G+. We are rope-droppers, stay all day/night at the park type of people. And we don't like to zigzag across the parks. I'm actually looking forward to the ease of planning this time around. The only stressful part will be knocking out a ride or two during early entry.

 

[manicmonkey]

Sorry for the bump, but is it even harder to coordinate a group (8-10) if half are onsite guests and half aren't?

 

[polynor]

Just thought I would report back -- we had a group of 11, we did not Genie+ the trip. We did do virtual queue at 7am for Guardians and didn't have problems getting all 11 (even though only 9 ended up riding). The night of extended hours for Epcot with the 6pm drop, i got the the notification my group could be a max of 10 people (no issues since only 6 wanted to ride that night). We did a second 7am drop with no problems with 11. So not sure if it's just something with the 6pm drop.

We did mostly early entry, took a break and came back. This worked mostly well. There were some rides we just decided to just commit to the time in the queue.

 

[bakenatj]

We are a group of 14 going in Dec, if anyone has any recent updates on large groups and the best way to handle Genie + would love to get some ideas so we can have a strategy in place. Right now thinking we might break the group up into 8 and 6. Thanks!

 

[Isabelle12345]

We are going in August with a group of 14 - my strategy will probably be 10-4... but we will see! I will let you know how it goes!

 

[bakenatj]

We are going in August with a group of 14 - my strategy will probably be 10-4... but we will see! I will let you know how it goes!

That would be great, thank you!

 

[canuckgirl]

We are in the exact same situation. A family of 13 with 2 parents and 11 kids…. We *must* ride together…. So it seems Genie+ would be useless for us?!??

 

[polynor]

We were 11. Didn't buy Genie+. It's seemed a pain to try and get everyone together at the same time -- so we just stood in lines. My parents showed up when they wanted to show up so technical we could have done 9 and done Genie but if they showed up and wanted to do the ride with us, then it would be a mess.

For those with longer waits, I got treats before entering the line which kept everyone cooler and the kids occupied (for like 5 minutes )

 

[petunia]

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[Isabelle12345]

We had great success using genie+ as a group of 14 last week!
I used two devices to book simultaneously when the booking windows could change quickly (at 7:00 and two hours after opening) so that we would get overlapping windows (12 on one device and 2 on the other)
Otherwise I would just do the first 12 and add the next two by going back to the tip board and clicking « book another » and editing the party to add the two extra
For the ILL’s, I would do 10 and 4 (they wouldn’t do 12)

In MK, we were able to get:

9:15-10:15 ILL SDMT (booked at 7)
10:15-11:15 Splash (booked at 9)
11:30-12:30 Meet Mickey and Minnie (booked at 10:15) - for this one we had a gap of 30 minutes between the 12 and 2 and we explained to the CMs at the front, and they let us all in at the same time
12:00-13:00 Pirates (booked at 11:45)
12:30-13:30 Magic carpets x2 (booked 5 minutes before when we saw it was down - turned to anytime LL, booked another one right after so we had anytime LL x 2)
Used anytime Ll for big thunder after pirates
Went to resort for a break
Stakcked some Ll for the evening (had to wait sometimes to get better times but never had to refresh to get those!)

5:30-6:30 Peter Pan (booked around 12:30)
7:10-8:10 Space for 11 and 7:45-8:45 meet Cinderella and Elena for 3 (booked around 14:30)
5:45-6:45 Meet Tiana and Rapunzel (booked around 16:30)
Used anytime LL for Winnie the Pooh
7:30-8:30 Speedway
9:15-10:00 Buzz

We could have booked Dumbo, Barnstomer, Mermaid and small world with immediate return times between 7:30-9:00 but we wanted to grab a good spot for the fireworks, and we had already done those standby in the morning Early Entry with no waits. We did not do jungle cruise by choice (doesn’t really work for us)

It was an amazing day! We never could have done so much if it wasn’t for genie so I have to say, even though it sucks to pay for it, I think you can use it to your advantage!

 

[petunia]

We had great success using genie+ as a group of 14 last week!
I used two devices to book simultaneously when the booking windows could change quickly (at 7:00 and two hours after opening) so that we would get overlapping windows (12 on one device and 2 on the other)
Otherwise I would just do the first 12 and add the next two by going back to the tip board and clicking « book another » and editing the party to add the two extra
For the ILL’s, I would do 10 and 4 (they wouldn’t do 12)

In MK, we were able to get:

9:15-10:15 ILL SDMT (booked at 7)
10:15-11:15 Splash (booked at 9)
11:30-12:30 Meet Mickey and Minnie (booked at 10:15) - for this one we had a gap of 30 minutes between the 12 and 2 and we explained to the CMs at the front, and they let us all in at the same time
12:00-13:00 Pirates (booked at 11:45)
12:30-13:30 Magic carpets x2 (booked 5 minutes before when we saw it was down - turned to anytime LL, booked another one right after so we had anytime LL x 2)
Used anytime Ll for big thunder after pirates
Went to resort for a break
Stakcked some Ll for the evening (had to wait sometimes to get better times but never had to refresh to get those!)

5:30-6:30 Peter Pan (booked around 12:30)
7:10-8:10 Space for 11 and 7:45-8:45 meet Cinderella and Elena for 3 (booked around 14:30)
5:45-6:45 Meet Tiana and Rapunzel (booked around 16:30)
Used anytime LL for Winnie the Pooh
7:30-8:30 Speedway
9:15-10:00 Buzz

We could have booked Dumbo, Barnstomer, Mermaid and small world with immediate return times between 7:30-9:00 but we wanted to grab a good spot for the fireworks, and we had already done those standby in the morning Early Entry with no waits. We did not do jungle cruise by choice (doesn’t really work for us)

It was an amazing day! We never could have done so much if it wasn’t for genie so I have to say, even though it sucks to pay for it, I think you can use it to your advantage!

Amazing!! Were you in your own account on both devices, or in 2 peoples accounts on the 2 devices?

 

[Isabelle12345]

Amazing!! Were you in your own account on both devices, or in 2 peoples accounts on the 2 devices?

I used two different accounts

 

[petunia]

Trying to make sure I have everyone on my account available to perhaps try the above posters plan..where do all the friends have to be, under people I have plans with or people I do not have plans with (yet they say they are manager by me)?? Seems my immediate family and the other moms/account holders are under my people I have plans with and the other dads/kids are under my people I do not have plans with but it says managed by me beside all their names??

 

[petunia]

Follow up to my post above, I think the issue with why some of my "friends&family" arent showing on my account as it says they do not have eligible passes (which I know they do as I made them and am looking at them in their accounts currently-with permission of course), anyhow I think its because we booked this before covid so I think their ages are off in my account and perhaps this is the issue? Anyways, my question is-is this something that guest services will be able to help us sort out at check in before our first park day, or not because its more of a park thing?