WWYD? Park Hopper or Genie+ or dessert party?

[disneymouse16]

Just my daughter (7) and I are going to the Disneyland Resort in August. This is probably our last trip for a while. I'm trying to keep some sort of budget in place! I am down to three things. Do I get park hoppers on a 3 day ticket? Or should I get Genie+ on those tickets? Or should I stick with a base ticket and no upgrades and do the World of Color dessert package? My daughter loves to go-go-go but when she hits a wall she is ready to be done. So I am thinking we will take afternoon breaks and head back to the hotel for a swim and/or nap. There is always the possibility that doesn't happen and we need to head out for the night earlier than expected. What would you do? Which one would hold the most value for you?

 

[Geemo]

I would go with Hopper Tickets. Even though I dislike the 1pm hopping rule.
Mainly because DCA doesn't have enough to keep me occupied for a full August Day.

 

[Aspencreek]

If it was me with 3 days, I'd skip the park hoppers and instead do base tickets with Genie+ and plan on 1 day at DCA and 2 days at DL. That'd be cheaper than the hopper tickets and should ensure you get on a good number of rides. Can easily spend a full or partial day at DCA without getting bored, but no need for more than that I'd say. Our most common trip down there has us with 4 day base tix and we do 1 at DCA and 3 at DL. Never felt the need to hop for that 1 day at DCA.

 

[TinkerTay]

Can you do hoppers WITH Genie+? Only because you’ll get the most bang for your buck that way, since Genie+ works for both parks when you purchase. If you just had one park per day, you’ll miss out on being to be able to get LL’s in the opposite park, after you’re able to hop.
Genie+ is the same price regardless of single park/hoppers, and even if you just got the hoppers, you could buy Genie one day at a time, and could save 40 bucks for each day you didn’t buy it, if you chose not to.
I’m always looking at how to maximize ride time and spend less time standing around in lines, if I don’t have to, lol… We tend to hop a lot, since everything is so close. Also, if you read the “How to fish for Lightning Lanes” thread, you can make it work even better for you, and get some extra rides in with it!
ETA - you can continue making LL’s when you leave to take a break, and if you do it well, you can come back to several of them stacked and ready to go for the evening

 

[Pluto468]

What a tough decision! I would do the dessert party. It's such a fun and fancy treat and a great way to see World Of Color. I'd then get one day tickets DL-DCA-DL and add Genie plus when you're down there if you feel like you need it. You could see how things go on your first day and decide for the last 2 days if you need it. You can get alot done without Genie+ if you rope drop.

 

[clallen72]

We are going around that time as well for 3 days. I only do 1 park at a time ticket - don't see the value of hopper personally- especially if you are going to take some breaks mid day. 2 DL and 1 DCA day is our pace. We generally rope drop, then take a hotel pool break when the day gets hot and crowded, take time for table service meal here and there (so I don't get hangry). And enjoy the park at night as well. I think Genie plus is a good value if you want to do the more in-demand rides after 11am, we are planning on getting it. We are also going to try for World of Color dessert as a special close out (my husband loved the idea of just sitting down and watching the show at the end of our trip). But, we've also just done the dinner package to get close seating. Value wise, Genie+ would be my preference (plus it includes the photos).

 

[shosh1530]

I'd do Genie + assuming your 7 year old would want to do the bigger thrill rides and that you are able to getting whatever dining reservations you want to do and park reservations to match up. We had park hoppers on our last trip, but never ended up hopping. Adding Genie + won't cost that much for just 2 of you and you get the Photo Pass included.

Or as the previous poster said, dessert party and then add Genie + if you feel like you need it.

Then again if you have any must-do rides (like RSR) a park hopper might help if those rides are down for a day. RSR ended up being down for all 3 days we visited in early June, so we just had to live without it. If had came back up our last day we definitely would have hopped to ride it.

 

[goooof1]

Park Hoppers . Flexibility .

 

[monkeypat83]

If it were me I would worry about pre-paying/committing to the WOC dessert party because I would be afraid my daughter would tire out the day of the party and not be able to stay up for the show. I would do park hoppers and then consider doing Genie + if I felt like I needed it when I got there. You can even just do it for one of you one day and use that day as the say you go to all the photographers and get your picture taken since there will only be the two of you so you can get some pictures together.

 

[disneymouse16]

Thanks, everyone! Lots of good points to consider!

 

[DLgal]

Absolutely get hoppers. You will be miserable if you end up in an overcrowded park with a bunch of rides that go down at the same time and have no way to go over to the other park. It's a regular occurrence these days, so the hopper is like buying insurance.

And I know it's not chump change at $120 for 3 days, but the Genie add on for just 2 people is worth WAY MORE over 3 days than a dessert party, sit down meal, etc.

I would cut elsewhere to be able to have hoppers and Genie on a trip with just 2 people.

I would not even consider the dessert party.

 

[dieumeye]

Absolutely get hoppers. You will be miserable if you end up in an overcrowded park with a bunch of rides that go down at the same time and have no way to go over to the other park. It's a regular occurrence these days, so the hopper is like buying insurance.

And I know it's not chump change at $120 for 3 days, but the Genie add on for just 2 people is worth WAY MORE over 3 days than a dessert party, sit down meal, etc.

I would cut elsewhere to be able to have hoppers and Genie on a trip with just 2 people.

I would not even consider the dessert party.

Take this advice! Especially regarding DCA.

Disneyland can handle a couple attractions going down. But DCA will become a nightmare if a couple (or more) key attractions go down and you don’t want to be stuck there on a single day ticket. And with Genie+, if you have a ride reservation and it goes down it will turn into a Multi Experience pass that can be used on many rides, including some that don’t have lightning lanes!

 

[gelatoni fan]

I don't really recommend the dessert party.

I would probably recommend the Park Hoppers to give you flexibility to do rides in the other park if things your park go down or crowds are high. Additionally, if for some reason fireworks are cancelled or you don't get the Virtual Queue, you also get more chances to see the night shows.

For Genie+, you could try it out one day and then later see if you think it's useful for the later days. Or if you know you'll love photopass, one person can get it for all the days instead of everyone.

 

[DLgal]

Take this advice! Especially regarding DCA.

Disneyland can handle a couple attractions going down. But DCA will become a nightmare if a couple (or more) key attractions go down and you don’t want to be stuck there on a single day ticket. And with Genie+, if you have a ride reservation and it goes down it will turn into a Multi Experience pass that can be used on many rides, including some that don’t have lightning lanes!

And don't forget that Multiple Experience passes can be used at rides in BOTH parks, not just the one you are in when it's issued, and they don't have a time limit. That's worth a lot, potentially.

 

[MonocularVision]

And don't forget that Multiple Experience passes can be used at rides in BOTH parks, not just the one you are in when it's issued, and they don't have a time limit. That's worth a lot, potentially.

The MEP we got yesterday listed all the rides they were good at and called out the ones they were not good at. They only listed rides in the park they were acquired in.

Edit: Missed the tabs at the top!

 

[dieumeye]

The MEP we got yesterday listed all the rides they were good at and called out the ones they were not good at. They only listed rides in the park they were acquired in.

It looks this way at first glance, but there is a tab you can switch to the other park.

 

[MonocularVision]

It looks this way at first glance, but there is a tab you can switch to the other park.

Will look for this today! Thanks

 

[DLgal]

It looks this way at first glance, but there is a tab you can switch to the other park.

Yep. Just hit "change park." We use DAS and it works the same way as Genie+ when a ride goes down. We have used the ME pass in the other park numerous times.

 

[MonocularVision]

Yep. Just hit "change park." We use DAS and it works the same way as Genie+ when a ride goes down. We have used the ME pass in the other park numerous times.

Yeah, missed the tabs at the top. I see now my MEP from CA is good at DL as well.

 

[FeistyDisneyMom]

While I enjoyed WoC Dessert party, I would consider that a luxury and not a must-have. We always do hoppers for the reasons DLgal mentions, and my family can get to the parks in the morning, but we've never managed to quite make rope drop, and I found G+ to be a life saver. If you can squeeze budget from somewhere else, I'd dump TS and packages to get hoppers and G+ personally.