Park hopping - is Genie+ "multiple parks" worth it?

[Lisa LSR]

We will be there Dec 15-22nd. On days when a park closes early (like AK), we plan to go to MK or HS, depending on hours/parties. Is it worth it to get Genie+ for "multiple parks," or is there even a chance we'd be able to use it at all for our second park?

 

[sponica]

I feel like if you're going to MK second, it might be worthwhile?

 

[Disneyhanna]

Funny enough, I find park hopping the reason that Genie+ IS worth it, as you can usually get more big rides in when you’re not limited to one park.

My rule of thumb is never book something more than an hour out (unless you have a break or meal obviously), and your first reservation of the day should be used in the first hour of park opening. Sometimes this means doing things a bit “out of order” in that I ride a middle tier attraction with an earlier return time and then bank on picking up a lightning lane for the bigger ticket ride later in the day.

Unless the return time is immediate, I NEVER settle for the time shown on the top board when I first look. I ALWAYS refresh the tip board constantly for a better time. Lots of blog posts and videos out there on refreshing the tip board. I can get a return time within an hour for just about any ride within a couple minutes of refreshing, up until the last hour or two before park close. A few attractions may take 5-10 minutes of refreshing but usually that’s later in the day when pickings are slimmer, I’ve never really been fully shut out. Some people don’t want to be on their phone so much but 3-5 minutes of refreshing per ride sure beats 60+ minutes in line per ride for me any day.

It will be harder to refresh for HS rides in the later day than MK rides but both are completely possible and will get you “more for your money” imo. I’d venture to guess at least 4/5 people using genie+ don’t even know they can refresh the tip board and just take the first time they’re presented with, which is why Disney says only 2-3 rides a day is normal.

 

[Lisa LSR]

Funny enough, I find park hopping the reason that Genie+ IS worth it, as you can usually get more big rides in when you’re not limited to one park.

My rule of thumb is never book something more than an hour out (unless you have a break or meal obviously), and your first reservation of the day should be used in the first hour of park opening. Sometimes this means doing things a bit “out of order” in that I ride a middle tier attraction with an earlier return time and then bank on picking up a lightning lane for the bigger ticket ride later in the day.

Unless the return time is immediate, I NEVER settle for the time shown on the top board when I first look. I ALWAYS refresh the tip board constantly for a better time. Lots of blog posts and videos out there on refreshing the tip board. I can get a return time within an hour for just about any ride within a couple minutes of refreshing, up until the last hour or two before park close. A few attractions may take 5-10 minutes of refreshing but usually that’s later in the day when pickings are slimmer, I’ve never really been fully shut out. Some people don’t want to be on their phone so much but 3-5 minutes of refreshing per ride sure beats 60+ minutes in line per ride for me any day.

It will be harder to refresh for HS rides in the later day than MK rides but both are completely possible and will get you “more for your money” imo. I’d venture to guess at least 4/5 people using genie+ don’t even know they can refresh the tip board and just take the first time they’re presented with, which is why Disney says only 2-3 rides a day is normal.

This is such great advice. I agree with you and feel like people don't refresh and use Genie+ to his maximum potential. When we scan into a line, I use the time in the queue to look - refreshing until I find what I want next. Usually we almost immediately have another ride scheduled not long after we get off that one. Also, I've never felt like I was on my phone constantly. In fact, I utilize the time I'm in a line to do it most of the time.

I also agree...refreshing my phone a few times is so much better than being in a long line!

 

[saraheliz]

Yes, absolutely. Keep in mind there aren't a ton of rides at AK and you can't use Genie+ more than once on the same ride. Honestly, if you rope drop, you could probably ride everything in AK twice (once standby, once in the LL) with the exception of FoP (and I'd even include that if you're willing to get there early enough for RD and then pay for ILL) by early afternoon at the latest. And that's assuming you want to ride everything twice. If you plan wisely, even with shows you can be stacking for that second park a couple of hours before you even leave AK. Then you're ready to go at the second park!
I find park hopping makes Genie+ even more valuable. Yes, more expensive, but if you don't park hop and can't use it more than once for rides, you can get kind of stuck if lines are long. It does sometimes take some refreshing but it worked really well for us in August!

 

[rdevans_2000]

We have always been park hoppers, and we have become very proficient at Genie+. So we think it is beneficial to have the multi day Genie+. Rope drop one park, use one or two Genie+ reservations that morning, take three or four hour break mid day (when the parks are most crowded), then head into our second park, where we have "stacked" reservations waiting for us.

 

[CoasterGT24]

Did it last week. Did 3 selections at the Magic Kingdom and then started stacking for EPCOT in the afternoon. Got Test Track and Frozen that way.