We are at WDW now and I thought I would share my thoughts on our first 2 days here with and without Genie +.
tldr... I think Genie+ does provide benefit, at least for us. Plan to use it most days for the rest of the trip.
Longer version... Sunday 1/2/22 was our first day in the parks in several years. We went to DHS. Staying at SSR so we got to take advantage of early entry, which was recently expanded to 1 hour for the holidays. I decided to use Genie+ for the first day to try it out and see how it worked. There are 5 of us, so it was over $80 after tax.
Left the hotel right at 630, and was at the park before 7. Used G+ at 7 while in line at the entrance and got LL for TSMM and bought ILL for ROTR. TSMM LL was for about 930 and ROTR was for about 1040. Entrance opened about 710 and went right to MMRR. Rode that, then RnR and ToT, then Slinky, all before 945. Then rode TSMM with LL and got another LL for Star Tours right away. Used that to avoid the standby line and got another LL for Smugglers Run in the evening. Then we rode ROTR using ILL.
For what it's worth, ROTR was $15 per person for ILL, but the line was crazy all day. It worked for us to pay the money and not have to commit a big chunk of time standing in that line, and it allowed us to get a lot of other rides done. Having said that, spending an extra $160 for what used to be free, kinda hurts.
After ROTR we did Muppets and then we went to PizzaRizzo for lunch. This was a little after 11, so we had a really productive morning. After lunch we wandered around Star Wars land for a couple hours, did a bunch of Photopass pics, then did Smugglers Run standby (about 75 minute wait).
During Smugglers my 2 hour LL window opened and I found out that you can only use LL one time per ride per day. It kinda threw a small wrench into my plans as I was trying for Star Tours again, but not a big deal. Got one for ToT instead. Rode ToT, then got a drink and relaxed a little before dinner at Mama Melrose.
Then went back to ride TSMM standby, used a LL for Alien Saucers (I forget where in this process I added this one), used LL for Smugglers, then went back to ride Slinky standby (about 60 mins) and MMRR (walk on) right at the end of the night.
So, for our $15 per person for G+, we were able to get 5 LL. I feel like that was a pretty good value. It let us do 15 attractions and ride everything that we wanted at least once.
For day 2 (today), we were going to Epcot. We had the same 1 hour early entry, and I got into the virtual queue for Remy, so I thought I would skip G+ to see how we could do on our own.
Tldr... I wish I would have gotten it.
Longer version... We didn't catch the first bus, so we started the day a little further back in the pack. I think that affected our ability to get maximum rides today. Anyway, we got there before rope drop, and as soon as they let us in we hustled to Test Track. That took about 25 mins, then we went to Frozen. That was a good 40 min wait. From there we went to Soarin then Living with the Land. And then the day screeched to a hault.
It was busy in both parks both days, but without the ability to schedule a few things, we were at the mercy of the standby lines, which seemed brutal in Epcot today. After Living with the Land and stopping for a quick snack, we tried Mission Space. Standby showed 30 minutes, but after 30 minutes we had barely moved, so we bailed on the line. We decided to go to Spaceship Earth, which was showing a 35 minute wait. It wound up being about 45 minutes. By the time we got off that, it was after 1 and our boarding group for Remy was being called.
Remy was cool, but I don't think I would pay for the ILL for that ride. Having said that, it is a good ride, but not for an ext$10-15 per person. By this time it was after 230, we were all hungry and tired so we decided to hop on the Skyliner and get a look at Rivera and grab lunch there. That wound up being a great idea. Skyliner is pretty cool, and Riveria is beautiful. Lunch was much more relaxing than the chaos at Epcot and was a great break.
After taking the Skyliner back we wandered World Showcase for a while, rode the Mexico boats, and tried Mission Space again. This time was better and we got to ride. We had a 645 ADR at Nine Dragons, so we hustled back there.
By now we were exhausted. We had been going nonstop for 2 full days and, despite having the extra evening hour for deluxe resorts, we decided the best course of action was to head back to the resort and call it a day.
NOTE: I'm all about squeezing every last drop of value out of my park tickets, and absolutely HATE leaving the parks before I have to, something I learned several years ago on a Disney trip is that sometimes the best way to get long term value is to give up a little short term value. Even though my kids are old and in college, there is still only so much gas in the tank. And when that gas runs out, we all get just as cranky as when we were little kids. Plus we will be at Epcot again tomorrow and I'm going to use G+ to make sure we get everything done we want.
So, after dinner, we squeezed in a quick ride on Nemo, a few photopass pics, and were back in the room by 9. Not as productive of a day as yesterday, or as productive as I would have liked, but all in all still a pretty good day. We can recharge tonight and get back to the magic tomorrow!
This was a little longer than I intended, but I hope it helps some of you. If I think of it, I will post another update with any more takeaways from my G+ experience.
tldr... I think Genie+ does provide benefit, at least for us. Plan to use it most days for the rest of the trip.
Longer version... Sunday 1/2/22 was our first day in the parks in several years. We went to DHS. Staying at SSR so we got to take advantage of early entry, which was recently expanded to 1 hour for the holidays. I decided to use Genie+ for the first day to try it out and see how it worked. There are 5 of us, so it was over $80 after tax.
Left the hotel right at 630, and was at the park before 7. Used G+ at 7 while in line at the entrance and got LL for TSMM and bought ILL for ROTR. TSMM LL was for about 930 and ROTR was for about 1040. Entrance opened about 710 and went right to MMRR. Rode that, then RnR and ToT, then Slinky, all before 945. Then rode TSMM with LL and got another LL for Star Tours right away. Used that to avoid the standby line and got another LL for Smugglers Run in the evening. Then we rode ROTR using ILL.
For what it's worth, ROTR was $15 per person for ILL, but the line was crazy all day. It worked for us to pay the money and not have to commit a big chunk of time standing in that line, and it allowed us to get a lot of other rides done. Having said that, spending an extra $160 for what used to be free, kinda hurts.
After ROTR we did Muppets and then we went to PizzaRizzo for lunch. This was a little after 11, so we had a really productive morning. After lunch we wandered around Star Wars land for a couple hours, did a bunch of Photopass pics, then did Smugglers Run standby (about 75 minute wait).
During Smugglers my 2 hour LL window opened and I found out that you can only use LL one time per ride per day. It kinda threw a small wrench into my plans as I was trying for Star Tours again, but not a big deal. Got one for ToT instead. Rode ToT, then got a drink and relaxed a little before dinner at Mama Melrose.
Then went back to ride TSMM standby, used a LL for Alien Saucers (I forget where in this process I added this one), used LL for Smugglers, then went back to ride Slinky standby (about 60 mins) and MMRR (walk on) right at the end of the night.
So, for our $15 per person for G+, we were able to get 5 LL. I feel like that was a pretty good value. It let us do 15 attractions and ride everything that we wanted at least once.
For day 2 (today), we were going to Epcot. We had the same 1 hour early entry, and I got into the virtual queue for Remy, so I thought I would skip G+ to see how we could do on our own.
Tldr... I wish I would have gotten it.
Longer version... We didn't catch the first bus, so we started the day a little further back in the pack. I think that affected our ability to get maximum rides today. Anyway, we got there before rope drop, and as soon as they let us in we hustled to Test Track. That took about 25 mins, then we went to Frozen. That was a good 40 min wait. From there we went to Soarin then Living with the Land. And then the day screeched to a hault.
It was busy in both parks both days, but without the ability to schedule a few things, we were at the mercy of the standby lines, which seemed brutal in Epcot today. After Living with the Land and stopping for a quick snack, we tried Mission Space. Standby showed 30 minutes, but after 30 minutes we had barely moved, so we bailed on the line. We decided to go to Spaceship Earth, which was showing a 35 minute wait. It wound up being about 45 minutes. By the time we got off that, it was after 1 and our boarding group for Remy was being called.
Remy was cool, but I don't think I would pay for the ILL for that ride. Having said that, it is a good ride, but not for an ext$10-15 per person. By this time it was after 230, we were all hungry and tired so we decided to hop on the Skyliner and get a look at Rivera and grab lunch there. That wound up being a great idea. Skyliner is pretty cool, and Riveria is beautiful. Lunch was much more relaxing than the chaos at Epcot and was a great break.
After taking the Skyliner back we wandered World Showcase for a while, rode the Mexico boats, and tried Mission Space again. This time was better and we got to ride. We had a 645 ADR at Nine Dragons, so we hustled back there.
By now we were exhausted. We had been going nonstop for 2 full days and, despite having the extra evening hour for deluxe resorts, we decided the best course of action was to head back to the resort and call it a day.
NOTE: I'm all about squeezing every last drop of value out of my park tickets, and absolutely HATE leaving the parks before I have to, something I learned several years ago on a Disney trip is that sometimes the best way to get long term value is to give up a little short term value. Even though my kids are old and in college, there is still only so much gas in the tank. And when that gas runs out, we all get just as cranky as when we were little kids. Plus we will be at Epcot again tomorrow and I'm going to use G+ to make sure we get everything done we want.
So, after dinner, we squeezed in a quick ride on Nemo, a few photopass pics, and were back in the room by 9. Not as productive of a day as yesterday, or as productive as I would have liked, but all in all still a pretty good day. We can recharge tonight and get back to the magic tomorrow!
This was a little longer than I intended, but I hope it helps some of you. If I think of it, I will post another update with any more takeaways from my G+ experience.
