Park Hoppers vs. Genie+ vs. Both

[denisejk]

Our family is headed to DLR at the end of this week. We'll be in the parks for 4.5 days, and I'm debating ticket options. We've always had Park Hoppers in the past, but haven't been since 2017 (pre Genie+, obviously), and the idea of paying for something (Fast Passes/Lightning Lanes) that used to be included with the ticket price is irking me. I have been considering going with 1-Park-Per-Day tickets as a way to offset the cost some, but am wondering if I'll miss the flexibility.

Going with Park Hoppers instead of 1-Park-Per-Day tickets adds $240 for our family. Adding Genie+ would add $400.

What do you value most? Flexibility of Park Hoppers? Or Genie+? Or do I need both to really maximize Genie+?

 

[DebLovesPooh]

Our last trip to WDW we did both. It’s a big splurge, but we don’t go every year, so we really try to maximize our time. I was worth it for us.

 

[PHXscuba]

It's hard to be as flexible and spontaneous as you've been before while parkhopping these days. First, you have to pick in advance which park you'll start in and make reservation for that day (could you change the starter park day before?? who knows depending on the day). Then, you can't parkhop to the opposite park until 1 PM. Any Lightning Lanes or ILLs you did want to use would have to be carefully timed to which park you planned to be in, in order not to miss the one chance at that paid line-skipping.

You don't have to buy Genie+ for every day of the trip. You could buy it for your first day in each park and concentrate on the LL rides, then spend the other days doing other attractions, entertainment, re-rides, and taking it easier. Maybe $160 for Genie+ makes it more palatable? And then you could still add it a la carte if you found you wanted it.

PHXscuba

 

[denisejk]

You don't have to buy Genie+ for every day of the trip. You could buy it for your first day in each park and concentrate on the LL rides, then spend the other days doing other attractions, entertainment, re-rides, and taking it easier. Maybe $160 for Genie+ makes it more palatable? And then you could still add it a la carte if you found you wanted it.

Good point. We should definitely be able to make it without Genie+ on our half day. That will save $80 right there.

 

[denisejk]

Do you feel like you get a lot more out of Genie+ when you combine it with park hopping vs. one park per day? For example, booking afternoon LLs for the park opposite your starting park.

 

[pharmama]

I do think you can get more out of G+ with parkhopping, especially if you "fish" as those MEPs can be used in either park.

I agree with above suggestion to not buy tickets with G+ and instead purchase it on a day by day basis based on what you plan to do that day or what you want to accomplish as you likely won't need it all of your days. There is no "discount" for purchasing it ahead of time.

Depending on the makeup of your group, ages, what rides you all like etc. you also need to consider if DCA is a full day park for your party or not. While I love DCA even I struggle to make it a full day park and like to have the ability to hop after starting in DCA (and then potentially hop back for WoC). That's another benefit for hoppers- it allows you more opportunities/flexibility when decided which days you want to see which nighttime entertainment.

 

[Kit Jackson]

Sorry to make this more complicated, but something to consider is that PhotoPass is included with Genie+. The photographers take fantastic pictures. I do not photograph well and the PhotoPass photographers have consistently taken excellent pictures of me.

 

[Pluto468]

We had hoppers and only bought Genie+ for 3 of our 5 days. It worked out really well for us.

 

[goofy1954]

I think we're doing 3-day Hoppers with Genie+. Cost is not a huge obstacle, and we want to be able to minimize wait times and cross-park walks.

 

[denisejk]

We had hoppers and only bought Genie+ for 3 of our 5 days. It worked out really well for us.

Did you just add it for the busier days? Or did you do all the LL rides on your Genie+ days and the non-LL rides on the days without Genie+? What worked best? Thanks!

 

[Pluto468]

Did you just add it for the busier days? Or did you do all the LL rides on your Genie+ days and the non-LL rides on the days without Genie+? What worked best? Thanks!

We added it on the busier days. Crowds were a 9 when we were there but we didn't have any super long waits. Longest non Genie+ was Haunted mansion 25 minutes, and longest with Genie+ was 20ish minutes for radiator Springs one day.

I think the usefulness of Genie+ depends on what else you're doing on your park days. One day was our arrival day so we were only there for 1/2 the day and wouldn't have used it enough to purchase. We rode Matterhorn and Mr. Toad with decent waits, but then had Savi's, Oga's and checked into our hotel. We hopped to DCA and did WOC dessert party, Ariel and visited Carsland and Avengers Campus before leaving for the night.

Another day we rope dropped and did Indy, Snow White, Pinocchio, Splash, Haunted Mansion and ate breakfast at Jolly Holiday by 10:30, then bought ILL for Rise. After a hotel break in the afternoon we hung out in Galaxy's edge, then had the Fantasmic RBT dinner, rode Snow White and watched the Electrical parade. So again, with the shows and meals we had less ride time so I didn't bother with Genie+.

All of our other days we used it and it was SO helpful, especially with MEPs.

 

[wassily]

Do you plan to rope drop and or stay late? If so, then LL may not be necessary.
On weekends, you can do the Galaxy's edge circuit and knock out those rides quickly.
Then the next day, do the tomorrowland circuit and knock out the rides there working your way to matterhorn and BTMRR eventually.
If you stay late on weekends, then rides barely have a wait time after 10pm.
For CA, because it closes early, rides wait times drop dramatically around 9pm. We did Spiderman 4 times from 9-10pm.

With 4-5 days in the park, that is plenty of time to hit all the rides, unless you goal is to maximize the number of rides.

Main tip is: Knock the big rides early... otherwise, they will be a time drainage later on. IE, if you Radiator Springs in the afternoon, good luck to you. You will be competing against LL+ holders that are let in at a 5-1 ratio vs standby line at peak times. So your 60min wait time, grows to 2 hours. Do Radiator Springs and Rise early at rope drop. Be done with it for the day. If you want to ride RSRR again, then do single rider if you can. Will be like a 20min wait as the 6 seat car design lends for plenty of single rider space.

As for Genie+, go the first full day without Genie+ and see how it is. Bear in mind that Mon-Thursday are peak times while Friday-Sunday are not. So if you start on a Wednesday, just know that wait times will get better on the weekends. If you do Genie+... queue up Indiana Jones on Genie + at open. There's a good chance that Indy doesn't open and so you will get a free LL experience to be used on any LL (but not LL+) attraction. Throughout the day, always queue up Indiana Jones.. it will break down. Hasn't failed me yet

 

[tylerrabe]

As for Genie+, go the first full day without Genie+ and see how it is. Bear in mind that Mon-Thursday are peak times while Friday-Sunday are not. So if you start on a Wednesday, just know that wait times will get better on the weekends. If you do Genie+... queue up Indiana Jones on Genie + at open. There's a good chance that Indy doesn't open and so you will get a free LL experience to be used on any LL (but not LL+) attraction. Throughout the day, always queue up Indiana Jones.. it will break down. Hasn't failed me yet

So the weekdays are busier then the weekends? Is this correct?

 

[wassily]

So the weekdays are busier then the weekends? Is this correct?

For now. This is all short term... can't predict things months out. Crowd Calendars try to, but they aren't accurate. There's alot that Disney can do to swing crowds and staff to impact wait times.

When Magic Keys blackouts open up
When Oogie Boogie Starts
and after Sept 15th when the SoCal offer expires.. things should change alot.

Weekdays might start to get lighter later in August as tourists leave and more schools start. But that's when magic keys open up too.
So you might get better weekday mornings while the magic key holders arrive later.