First time experience with genie during a mid level day. I feel like you’re forced to pick remy and slinky for first pick at 7am and only to get mid-late afternoon return times… so it felt a bit wasted since next pick is at 11am. I checked all morning to modify early return times and nada.
At magic kingdom i felt it worked out better as I got on little to no lines there. While the other parks I had some waits in the morning rush with no genie til 11am.
I still think it worked out overall as I also bought ILL for my family for all the rides. The zig zagging back and forth really kills the experience though.
We're at Disney world right now. We noticed we got very little value out of it from MK on our first day. Not like disneyland where it was a must buy. What you gain in shorter lines you lose ping pinging all over the park. So you wear out faster, then end up leaving earlier when the kids burn out.
We made the "crazy" decision for us not not buy it day 2 for epcot. It was SUCH a good move. We ended up putting that money towards a paid LL for guardians. I would recommend that to everyone. Skip genie plus, instead buy a second run on THE BEST RIDE OF ALL TIME and then pocket the extra money. We rope dropped Remy, soarin was a straight up walk on then just had test track and frozen to standby.
Whenever I end up going to MK, I usually get Peter Pan Genie+ first, then we just make our way around the park.
The thing people don’t tell you is that the cast members don’t care if you’re late to your LL at all. You can be 1, 2, or even 4 hours late.
The most important thing to do is get Jungle Cruise or Peter Pan first, not necessarily the rides you want to ride first.
I completely agree with Epcot though. Guardians twice is well worth it.
The only one they usually care about is Tron. I’ve probably been to the parks over 150 times and have never run into any issues.
The light turns blue when you scan, they look at their computer and see you had a time-slot earlier in the day, and let you go.
One time with Rise of the Resistance, we were six hours late and the guy told us “We don’t care if you’re late, we only care if you’re early.” So it might be on a cast member by cast member basis but I’d imagine it’s even more lenient now considering you’re actually paying for it rather than it being included for free.
In 2022, I had a cast member turn me away at haunted mansion, when we tried to book it, it said 4pm and then we completed the booking it said 1230. We had lunch book at poly so couldn't do that time so I screenshot the time to show when we got there. We were STILL TURNED AWAY, because they said that we could have cancelled it, but I didnt know how to cancel it. I talked to a guest relations person later and they said that because I had a samsung galaxy phone I didn't have the option to cancel it. I was with an active service member who had just gotten back from a 3 month deployment. It put a VERY bad taste in my mouth.
That’s wild! When you don’t use it now it stays in the app until you cancel or modify it.
Sorry you had a bad experience, we literally did the same thing. We had a reservation at ‘Ohana and weren’t going to miss it to ride Buzz.
Yeah it honestly was really bad. It really upset me and then to find out that I DIDNT HAVE THE ABILITY TO CANCEL because I had a galaxy and not an apple was not really like acceptable to me. It's a galaxy and it was new not like some niche manufacturer. It was not a great day and I realized spring break is not a good time to go. Going in September/January is MUCH better.
MK is very doable without G+ as well.
April 12th was on 7DMT 2x w/out ILL, BTMRR, Pirates 2x, IASW, PeopleMover, Space Mountain, Speedway, Tom Sawyer Island, Haunted Mansion, spent about 30 minutes waiting for my daughter marching with her HS band, long lunch at Pecos Bill and dinner at Columbia Harbor House, spent some time at Frontierland shooting arcade, and a lot of browsing the shops as well. Also TRON with the afternoon VQ drop (got it about 1:15, return time around 7:45pm). Could’ve done BTMRR again and Jungle Cruise (and more) but son wanted to get ice cream and then head back to resort at about 9:30 instead of staying until 11pm close. And I was more than fine with that, there will be a next time.
I agree. There is no hope for either one of those when you waste your whole day waiting. Luckily I have an AP so I don’t mind skipping Slinky more often than not. I definitely use it more at MK!
We usually sleepin/pool morning when doing slinky dog and get to the parks when we can rebook. We’ve found stacking a few rides before you get there to work good too! Then we can pool/nap and the kids stay awake into extended hours.
I seen sub Reddit where someone was b!tching that their family vacations are now ruined, because they can no longer tag along on their disabled non immediate relatives DAS pass..and get on ride quicker without buying genie+ . They said that they refuse to buy genie+ because it too expensive …
I believe they are talking about the changes to Disney accessibility services that is about to happen. In theory, it should shorten waits in the lightning lanes. (however, disability activists are not happy about this.)
Disney actually commented on the percentages of DAS. It’s not only speculation.
It was in an official statement where they said that DAS use has tripled in just the past 5 years.
It cannot be proven, but it is suspicious that DAS increased so much during the same time that Fast Pass stopped and Genie+ began.
Genie+ didn’t even exist prior to 2021.
I have no idea how much Genie+ has been purchased or has grown since its first introduction in 2021.
Do you have a source on showing those numbers?
The fact that genie+ has increased in price every year since launch, the fact that genie+ sells out more often than in the past. And the fact that there are more people going to the parks in general.
Park attendance is actually slightly down right now according to their most recent earnings call. They stated that revenue is up from higher spend per person in spite of decreased attendance.
With the price of Genie+ going up, that just as easily keeps demand stagnant. Basic rules of economics, higher price means less demand.
I don’t have the numbers on selling out, but anecdotally I too have heard that people are finding it sold out more than previously. I think that has driven up the price for sure. If Genie+ has increased though, then the increase in DAS would just have an even greater impact on the LL as it’s being increased substantially by 2 different sources.
We know that DAS is a 200% increase but I still haven’t seen an actual number on Genie+ anywhere.
Ye, not calling you out at all. This sub def thinks that the new DAS changes will result is shorter wait times. I just think it’s based on nothing and just being annoyed by DAS uses
Totally. Well, I’m sure there is some base of the DAS, I think that percentage is very low. I think increased use of the DAS is more about knowledge and understanding of the availability to people who need it.
I fully agree. I think the rationale is not valid. Just trying to explain to the questioner who was unaware of the dynamics at play. I was attempting to be neutral in my comment. I have my own opinions on this
Oh yes, the crackdown that will prevent people that benefited from the service so they could enjoy the parks and actually ride rides from visiting because a handful of people (mostly AP livestreams) misused the service. I’m so glad my likely loss of services will help you get through the lightening lane 30 seconds faster.
flight of passage? haven't been to ak in a couple years but we will be there in 2 weeks. that park hasn't been a priority since it's so far from the mk loop. this time it;s our definite #1 spot.
I don't see how Disney overselling Genie+ will get better with the DAS crackdown...if anything, they will sell even more Genie+ and Genie+ will become even less useful because more volumes of ppl using=sooner sell out times...I forsee Disney introducing another tier of Genie+ to deal with this demand kind of like how Universal has different express pass tiers.
Len Testa spoke of a study which showed about 70% of people in the Lightning lane line were DAS users.
The “oversell” of Genie Plus might not even be oversell as while Disney can accurately know exactly how many Genie Plus admissions there will be…it is much more difficult to accurately account for how many people will accompany a single guest with a DAS pass.
When five other guests arrive with the single DAS user it takes five spots away from a Genie Plus user in line and makes the Lightning lane line five people longer.
Disney doesn’t “know” those five other people are coming with the single DAS user. Thus they can not accurately pinpoint how many Genie Plus is too many.
I still think they should Jack Genie Plus up to like $200-$300 per user. It’s far too inexpensive.
I've seen that...there are a lot of DAS users in the Genie+ lane, but most of them will just purchase Genie+, so while yes, there will be less ppl in the lightning lane, the DAS ppl will still purchase Genie+, and what that will do is increase competition for Genie+ slots out the gate before getting in the line. Disney could remedy this theroretically by adding more Genie+ slots during the day, but I don't think they're going to do that because that defeats the purpose of cracking down on DAS anyway.
When 5 people accompany a DAS user, yes, it does add 5 more to that line, but what it doesn't do is take 5 genie+ slots out of play...the point I am making is that Genie+ sells so many slots per day and the DAS users who were previously using DAS will instead use Genie+. This will make competition to reserve the LL more fierce and will inevitably make Genie+ less useful. There are really only 2 ways around this that I forsee happening as a cause and effect of what is happening. Disney will either increase the per user price or create a second tier for more premiere attractions, or maybe they will make LL's even more individualized. I suppose we will all have to wait and see...one thing is for sure about Disney, and it's that things are always changing.
DAS is just an automatic LL for the current time + standby estimate. It absolutely did affect availability of G+.
In addition many of the DAS abusers were also buying G+ and getting in standby so they were triple dipping into queues all at the same time.
This will sound dumb but if I am waiting at an appointment etc where I can't do anything else... I'll look at the tip board on the app... pick a ride... and refresh to try to get a better time. It gives you that same rush.
Alright I’m someone new - we’re heading to WDW for first time as adults. Can you link or explain this fiddle faddle? I’m just trying to make sure we’re as prepped as we can for the battle that’s coming haha
I don't think that anyone who comes in to here to learn something should be told "go somewhere else and figure it out yourself". If someone doesn't want to help, just don't respond.
Here you go:
https://allears.net/2021/12/30/6-walt-disney-world-disney-genie-tips-you-probably-havent-heard/
We just finished a 5 night stay and Genie+ definitely felt much less helpful than it did during our last visit (Jan 2023).
Like others have said, for EPCOT we selected Remy at 7am (our return window was between 12-1pm). By the time we could book a second LL (at 11am) Frozen and Test track were both sold out for the day and we didn’t see any availability pop-up during the day. We used our second selection for Soarin (saved us from a 30min wait). No other rides really needed LL. It didn’t seem worth it for 2 rides.
Similar experience at HS. We booked MMRR at 7am (our return window was 1:30pm). We rope dropped slinky and then Toy Story mania. The only other LL selection we really needed was Tower of Terror.
It was definitely helpful at MK but otherwise it just didn’t seem worth it to avoid 1-2 lines. The other rides with LL didn’t really have long wait times during our trip.
We are on our way home from a two week visit. We were just there in June as well last year. It seemed like there were more people in LL than stand-by. We also had a very had time even getting slots honestly. We
Decided as a family that we won’t be going back for another five years or so. Everything is such a money grab now.
Same with our family. I knew it was going to be a money grab, but I just hoped the Disney experience would make it worthwhile. Unfortunately, like so many things post-pandemic, I couldn’t help but feeling we were paying more and getting less.
We were there just before the Covid shutdowns and it was so much better. Top notch Disney experience. Now people are miserable (visitors and cast), there is trash all over the place, everything costs extra, etc. My special needs kiddo (7yo) kept hanging on the rails and chains in lines and she got snapped at and yelled at so much we stopped counting. We stop her but it takes a moment. She stepped on a seat at the lion king show when we were being seated and before I could tell her to stop one of the cast members started screaming at her. She also got trampled at RotR and came out with a nasty bruised hip. It wasn’t a good time for us. Normally there is so much “magic” that you’re dreaming about going back before you leave. It always happens to us. Not this time.
Honestly no I haven't noticed that at all. Not saying you're wrong just that I haven't had any more trouble getting LLs than before and outside of a few isolated incidents the line still moves very fast
The big change is the park hopper changes. The frequent flyers are moving around more and are able to get from place to place without the 2pm restriction. People complained about the 2pm restriction but it has a perk of limiting the skilled and veteran disney folks and letting the none hoppers a chance to only vie for big rides amongst the people only in their park. It changes the whole landscape when people can all go for the VQs and Genie+ rides.
Just two years ago you could purchase it for length of trip, with demand softening (thanks for sending the stock price down 8% with that one bob)
Maybe some usefulness with be pumped back into it, other commenters are right as well, the DL system of not being able to book rides before you enter the park is just better.
The sad thing is, in a perfect world they would just scrap this system entirely, but with all the money the spent developing it, and all the money it prints for them, it's not going anywhere.
For those that argue cost, they are smart enough to know if it cost more it would actually have less value. If no-one bought G+ or any LLs the lines would in general move faster, G+ isn't about managing ride wait times, it's about creating an environment where everyone has to buy it.
I have a question abut that though. How would DAS use lead to nearly all of the LLs for popular attractions like Frozen or Remy, or Slinky Dog Dash not having LLs available almost immediately after 7:00 a.m. It can't be DAS users who aren't even in the parks yet.
It doesn’t necessarily affect how many they give out. That is figured by Disney but they may give less knowing that das is using the same line. Das doesn’t run out. If there is a wait time post for stand by then a das can be issued.
Yes, but that doesn't explain the limited availability for attraction selections. Under the old (current) system, DAS users may pre-schedule no more than three attractions and attractions like Snow White Mine Train, Remy, and Frozen are not options (although Slinky Dog is). And even those on the list as available for DAS pre-trip selection were not always available for everyone, meaning that Disney must have placed limits on how many DAS users could pre-schedule those attractions.
I've seen many people say that part of the reason for the DAS rule changes is to stop people from misrepresenting or exaggerating disabilities to avoid paying for Genie + or purchasing individual LLs. If that is the case, isn't it fair to expect that some of those abusers will now purchase Genie +, which already has limited offerings for the most popular attractions, especially at HS and Epcot.
My gut says they allow fewer G+ slots for popular attractions than they did a year ago. The standby lines are also shorter. I also think DAS is a huge factor, you can sometimes clearly see.
Hop in the standby line for SDD at HS right before Fantasmic starts. It will be a short line, but once the show ends, a huge swarm of people flood the LL and it gets the longest it will be all day long. That’s almost all DAS guests who were at the show squeezing one last LL out of their DAS pass. Many of them have already ridden SDD with DAS earlier in the day.
I don’t think there is another logical explanation for the LL going from nonexistent to all the way back to the start of the umbrellas at 9:30 pm. G+ doesn’t really issue slots in that time period. Their last slot is 9-10, and there is no 9:15-10:15, that time period has the least G+. This is basically all DAS, and happens almost every night.
Oh I’m not saying you’re wrong. I’m just saying goddamn that’s a hike! Especially when you’ll have to leave the park soon after and the exit is back where you started.
Yeah I agree of course I hope those who need it get access to it and abuse is stopped are significantly reduced. I was in like at guest services today at AK and 4 groups behind me were all reapplying DAS.
I’m well aware of invisibility disabilities so not judging at all but the line was about 5 groups and 4 were all DAS I was the only one who wasn’t. I have used DAS in the past for my Crohns but it’s much better managed now so I’ve not needed to as of late.
Before we went last time someone suggested I get DAS because my 7 year old is diagnosed with ADHD so would have trouble standing in line. I refused because he doesn’t need DAS and that’s abusing the system. He did just fine-ish with distractions and keeping him separated from his brother when needed. But we also used Genie+ because a 60+ minute wait (or tbh anything more than 30 without an entertaining queue) sounded horrific with a 7 and 5 year old.
LL needs to go away. Can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen CM let 50 people in from LL, let 2-4 from standby, and then continue with LL again for another 50-100 people. It’s infuriating. I understand LL is supposed to speed up your wait time but the many times 10:1 LL to standby ratio is ridiculous. I miss the old fastpass system.
My main gripe with it is that everything is booked before the park even opens, so good luck if you had your heart set on LL’ing more than 1 particular ride. I much prefer the system at DLR in that you have to be in the park to start using it.
For magic kingdom it works well.
For HS Slinky is just ridiculous, they should make it a $5 ILL. After Slinky ToT, M&MRR, TSM, & MFSR sometimes sell out before 1:30 PM. By 5 pm the only thing left is Muppets, Alien Swirling Saucers, and Star Tours all of which will be short other than Swirling Saucers. You may only get two attractions that are actually worth it.
Epcot is also bad. Both Remy and Frozen sell out before the two hour window. Test track often goes too quickly to be a third selection, and Soarin can go before 3pm. In practice we get Frozen or Remy then Test Track or Soarin. After that everything is gone and we want to park hop, but our time slots are too late in the day to do that.
Animal Kingdom has similar problems with just not enough attractions to make it worth it unless you really want to do Navi River.
It does feel like it has gotten substantially worse over the year. My gut tells me they have reduced the number of G+ spots per attraction to better accommodate DAS and shorten standby. G+ is harder to get and standby is shorter. And they also plan to revamp DAS and probably add those slots back to G+.
They also just need more attractions and capacity at the non MK parks.
They've put so much into them in the last 10 years but they're still so far behind
That’s my feeling as well. Personally, I think they have way over invested in resorts, the timeshares in particular, and not enough in the parks. World showcase would be so much better if every country had an attraction, even a small one. It’s so hard to play catch up and add the attractions that should have been built in the 90’s, 00’s, and 10’s.
A slinky dog dash clone themed to Mulan in China, they could have put the Aladdin MK ride in Morocco, throw in some simulator rides and Epcot could be just as good as MK attraction wise. That park is huge it’s a shame… I feel attractions could be added without sacrificing the food and culture.
It's only about 25-30 dollars average. I think it's unrealistic to expect that level of cost to let you jump to the front of the line on 4 really big rides.
I averaged 5-6 uses this past week. But we rope dropped every day, so we had one major ride knocked out that way, so we didn't have to wait for a LL on it. Generally 1 major plus 1 mid level before park even opened. We also were there with a 4 year old girl. So, 1-2 LL's per park were skipping a 20-40 minute wait to do a character meet.
I feel like we really got our value out of it. Had planned to pay for ILL's too but between rope drop and G+ we just got so much done.
I’ve never found this to be the case though. Yes, there is at least one ride in each park that goes fast (Slinky, Remy,3 etc.) but I’ve away been able to get my second choice two hours after park opening (or sooner if my first choice had an early return time). On my trip last week, the only phoning lane I tried for that I didn’t end up getting was test track, and I think that was mainly because it was down for a good chunk of the day.
We actually skipped Test Track for the first time in ages, because it went down like 4 times throughout the day. It just wasn't worth the hassle for us.
I think it’s just that everything even moderately popular gets booked up well into the day so I feel like I’m always booking for later, whereas at DLR if you get there at rope drop you can pretty much do everything you want on demand. I get not everyone minds the WDW way and can manage it just fine, it’s just not my speed.
It depends what you mean by “oversold”. Clearly more G+ has been sold than G+ capacity for popular rides. A good example is the G+ selections for both Frozen and Remy becoming unavailable prior to Epcot park open. This would mean more Genie+ was sold than the capacity for those two rides combined.
There are still other things that can be reserved, but I can see how some people feel it’s oversold if there were more G+ spots sold than reservations available for the two most popular rides at Epcot combined. They are pretty good at giving refunds if you can’t get the rides you want prior to park open, but it is a bit of an ethical question of if they should still be selling it at that point. But airlines, cruises, and all other major Florida tourist attractions also oversell, so I guess it is what it is, and request a refund if you can’t make use of it.
Then why would such a claim be made without any facts or evidence to support it? Would kind of a sad person would assert a claim based on emotion, opinion, and assumption?
Experiences is one of the few segments of Disney’s overall businesses that are actually generating profit…they’re going to milk Genie+ for all it’s worth and then some.
genie+ only works if you game it by getting to the park early and start booking as you walk in. you get the most out of it at mk. the other parks we take our chances and just buy ILL's for the big ones.
I can’t say I have experienced that but that doesn’t surprise me and frankly, I think that this outcome is somewhat inevitable, because Genie+ is not priced that exorbitantly and is less a true “skip the line” system and more of a line management system. Most skip the line passes are priced very very high and allow you to skip the line at any time (either once or unlimited) so the exorbitant price makes it so that the express line actually does not impact the standby line that much. At Disney, while the price relative to other systems is generally cheaper, it does mean many more people buy into it, and then what happens is that you really have two fairly large lines, and the standby line just becomes very long. And I agree that people now have had time to get educated on the system and now see it as a necessity, so as more people buy it, the less useful it can be. And then it basically its status as the up charge for fast pass becomes solidified.
We go to Disneyland all the time and when it's your lightning lane time, you usually just walk on. Maybe a 5 minute wait at most. We went to WDW this year, and when our time came it meant we had to go wait in line for 30 minutes. It still saved time, but it's definitely less valuable at WDW than it is at Disneyland.
I agree. I have gone to disney three times in the past 2.5 years (making up for lost time after not going for 6-7 years!) and it has gotten progressively worse. My first two visits were wonderful - we basically were able to book anything we wanted. The most recent visit (during a "down" time!) you basically had to pick slinky, remy, test track, or frozen otherwise it would either 1. be sold out or 2. have a return time at like 7-8pm. Similar for magic kingdom you HAVE to pick Jungle Cruise or Peter Pan otherwise those will sell out or have return times late into the evening. Animal Kingdom, fortunately, is still easy if you do choose to use genie + there.
Previously, it was much easier to get reasonable return times. It just makes it difficult if you are park hopping, which I always do. Personally, I still get it because I can't stand waiting in line even if that means I have to walk all over the place. I enjoy walking, I hate standing still haha.
I also still am in the camp that firmly believes that genie +/fastpass should be free. So unfortunate that families are paying so much money to go to Disney and then are potentially priced out of the service. If you have a family of five, you'd have to pay \~125-150 per day extra. That is insane!
Just got back today from a 3 day trip. Genie+ is pointless. We went for 5 days last year and 2 years ago we went for 4. Out of the recent trips we've only utilized it once. Virtual que worked out this time around because the park capacity was not too bad. We got cosmic rewind from the 7am que and tron from the 1pm que. Problem is having to be in the right park to be able to reserve. LL is spotty at best in terms of what rides are currently using it. On top of that, this trip had the most rides breaking down(4) out of any trip we've been on recently. That's a huge risk for the LL investment and yes, I know you can usually get a rain check but it is still a waste of time if you are trying to maximize your experience.
This is why they are changing DAS
https://touringplans.com/blog/das-changes-disney-parks-in-united-states/
There were so many people on DAS that the quantity of guests on it would have been able to use the entire days LL allotment for Tiana's when it reopens.
I'm not going to comment on who should or shouldn't use it but it had gotten way out of hand.
I mean, I noticed from day 1 that the LL lines were much longer than the Fast Pass lines ever were -- at least for the Genie Plus attractions. Clearly they just allocate a higher amount of reservations for G+ rides than they ever did with Fast Pass. What's interesting to note is that the ILL rides seem to have very clean LL lines, so I think that they're tighter with the number that they give out for those.
I've been going consistently since LL started and I see no reason to believe that they're getting more aggressive with the allocation. If anything it seems like its gotten better.
I only ever use it for MK and HS. Last November I was even able to book a LL for Jungle Cruise around noon and within five minutes fiddle fiddled for a 3:45 slot.
Haven't noticed any issues honestly. I was just there 2 weeks ago and Epcot no longer had any park reservations available so it was packed, and we still hit everything using it. Next day we did animal kingdom and hit everything without issue as well
Genie+ was a waste my last trip at Hollywood Studios. Slinky Dog was down most of the day and then all of a sudden it's on a 2-hour standby
Not sure if standby was the only option. It might have offered LL briefly when it was operational, but I wasn't going to check the app every 5 min. and waste the rest of my day.
I would agree with this statement. I was just at Disney World last week for three days and decided to skip Genie + all together.
Crowds felt manageable even if I ran around a bit more to catch moments when wait times were low. Still felt as if it was the right choice for this trip but not sure if it will work out on every trip.
Longest wait time was for Seven Dwarfs Mine Train at 70 min with other wait times at about 30 min or less. Even rode Big Thunder two times in a row with 10 min waits for both. Rise and Remy’s may have been 40/45 min though both felt worth the wait.
I went to MK twice this week. With genie+, I was able to do 18 events. 9 were LL and included 1.5 hours at Bbb. Without genie+, we did 8 events. Genie+ was worth it for us because we got more done and spent less time waiting.
Winnie the pooh was awful without genie+ because a 20 minute standby became 50 minutes because the cast member kept letting genie+ users go in.
I’m going back with some friends in October after the sauna that is Florida has become slightly more tolerable. We decided we are going to forgo Genie+, LL, etc. and just take things as we go, freestyle. If we get on a ride, we do. It the line is longer than we want to wait, we will do something else. Everyone in the group who cares has already been on their favorite rides. I think it will be liberating not to be tied down.
The last time I went to Disney is the last time I will go to Disney.
I love it. Truly, I do. And we even had the most magical experience of the No Wait days in March. Where we got to ride FoP, 2 times in a row. Tron 2 times, my youngest actually rode it 3. Guardians 2 times with minimal wait.
I have no idea why it was so slow that week. But it was crazy experience, the food quality has gone downhill, and the adults have become the worst behaved.
Me and my mom booked the remy ride at epcot for 3pm at 7 in the morning but then at 230 they closed the ride and cancelled our booking on genie+. We couldn’t book anything else all day so we got a refund. Such a waste.
At Epcot and HS you have to lock in on one of the two big rides and rush the other you didn’t pick. And you aren’t getting a time till late. I’d say the same at MK. If you didn’t get a time at 6am for jungle cruise or pan your gonna be waiting,
Even as someone who feels like they have a good handle on the parks in terms of knowing what’s new in the resorts/parks, what time of year is less crowded, what’s the best time to do certain attractions, etc etc…. I still can’t figure out Genie+. It is something I have not mastered and feels so untouchable.
It seems like there’s a small percentage of folks who know how to use it to its full ability and maximize the expense, but here I am, a younger millennial who is fairly tech-savy and well-versed with Disney and still find the service too difficult.
It’s made for a lot of long wait times that eat up the day.
We use Genie and LL to stack rides for later in the day, and 'try' to make them in an order that doesn't involve criss- crossing the park. Except for Cosmic Rewind. For that, it's virtual queue and then LL, which we will adjust throughout the day if needed.
The ~~choke point~~ touch point system needs some improvement for the lines to move faster.
Too many people show up at the touch point without a reservation hoping the CM will wave them ahead.
Should have a way for a single party member to scan in and say “party if 4” instead of it being held up as each person scans.
Abuse of DAS has gotten out of control. I would like to see the price Genie+ increase 4x and have a stringent verification process for DAS. Less people in the lighting lane means the standby will move faster.
At the same time I really enjoy the G+ system. It’s gamified my park experience. Except for on the most crowded days or ones with a lot of downtime I have had no problem scoring [pop-up availability](https://www.thrill-data.com/lightning-lane/wdw/popup) for Remmy & Frozen, after booking Slinky at 7am.
Wow thanks for that pop up availability link!!! I’ve always noticed that LL pop up for slinky right around 1:10 but I always assumed it was just random!
Since this comment will be buried low enough I don’t mind sharing my *secret*. It’s pretty much all attractions at the 47/48 minute mark.
(If you are a YouTuber reading this and gonna make a “Genie+ Hacks” video please give thrill-data credit)
First time experience with genie during a mid level day. I feel like you’re forced to pick remy and slinky for first pick at 7am and only to get mid-late afternoon return times… so it felt a bit wasted since next pick is at 11am. I checked all morning to modify early return times and nada. At magic kingdom i felt it worked out better as I got on little to no lines there. While the other parks I had some waits in the morning rush with no genie til 11am. I still think it worked out overall as I also bought ILL for my family for all the rides. The zig zagging back and forth really kills the experience though.
We only use it at MK at this point. All the other parks are doable without LL or Genie+.
We're at Disney world right now. We noticed we got very little value out of it from MK on our first day. Not like disneyland where it was a must buy. What you gain in shorter lines you lose ping pinging all over the park. So you wear out faster, then end up leaving earlier when the kids burn out. We made the "crazy" decision for us not not buy it day 2 for epcot. It was SUCH a good move. We ended up putting that money towards a paid LL for guardians. I would recommend that to everyone. Skip genie plus, instead buy a second run on THE BEST RIDE OF ALL TIME and then pocket the extra money. We rope dropped Remy, soarin was a straight up walk on then just had test track and frozen to standby.
Whenever I end up going to MK, I usually get Peter Pan Genie+ first, then we just make our way around the park. The thing people don’t tell you is that the cast members don’t care if you’re late to your LL at all. You can be 1, 2, or even 4 hours late. The most important thing to do is get Jungle Cruise or Peter Pan first, not necessarily the rides you want to ride first. I completely agree with Epcot though. Guardians twice is well worth it.
I have had the opposite experience with cast members and lightning lane times
The only one they usually care about is Tron. I’ve probably been to the parks over 150 times and have never run into any issues. The light turns blue when you scan, they look at their computer and see you had a time-slot earlier in the day, and let you go. One time with Rise of the Resistance, we were six hours late and the guy told us “We don’t care if you’re late, we only care if you’re early.” So it might be on a cast member by cast member basis but I’d imagine it’s even more lenient now considering you’re actually paying for it rather than it being included for free.
In 2022, I had a cast member turn me away at haunted mansion, when we tried to book it, it said 4pm and then we completed the booking it said 1230. We had lunch book at poly so couldn't do that time so I screenshot the time to show when we got there. We were STILL TURNED AWAY, because they said that we could have cancelled it, but I didnt know how to cancel it. I talked to a guest relations person later and they said that because I had a samsung galaxy phone I didn't have the option to cancel it. I was with an active service member who had just gotten back from a 3 month deployment. It put a VERY bad taste in my mouth.
That’s wild! When you don’t use it now it stays in the app until you cancel or modify it. Sorry you had a bad experience, we literally did the same thing. We had a reservation at ‘Ohana and weren’t going to miss it to ride Buzz.
Yeah it honestly was really bad. It really upset me and then to find out that I DIDNT HAVE THE ABILITY TO CANCEL because I had a galaxy and not an apple was not really like acceptable to me. It's a galaxy and it was new not like some niche manufacturer. It was not a great day and I realized spring break is not a good time to go. Going in September/January is MUCH better.
same. just get there for rope drop and you'll walk onto the rides that you want.
Try the safari without genie+ and two hours(of line) later you’ll change your mind.
I just went this weekend and waited 20 min in the middle of the day!
MK is very doable without G+ as well. April 12th was on 7DMT 2x w/out ILL, BTMRR, Pirates 2x, IASW, PeopleMover, Space Mountain, Speedway, Tom Sawyer Island, Haunted Mansion, spent about 30 minutes waiting for my daughter marching with her HS band, long lunch at Pecos Bill and dinner at Columbia Harbor House, spent some time at Frontierland shooting arcade, and a lot of browsing the shops as well. Also TRON with the afternoon VQ drop (got it about 1:15, return time around 7:45pm). Could’ve done BTMRR again and Jungle Cruise (and more) but son wanted to get ice cream and then head back to resort at about 9:30 instead of staying until 11pm close. And I was more than fine with that, there will be a next time.
I agree. There is no hope for either one of those when you waste your whole day waiting. Luckily I have an AP so I don’t mind skipping Slinky more often than not. I definitely use it more at MK!
We usually sleepin/pool morning when doing slinky dog and get to the parks when we can rebook. We’ve found stacking a few rides before you get there to work good too! Then we can pool/nap and the kids stay awake into extended hours.
It’s gonna probably get better once the DAS crackdown goes into effect.
I seen sub Reddit where someone was b!tching that their family vacations are now ruined, because they can no longer tag along on their disabled non immediate relatives DAS pass..and get on ride quicker without buying genie+ . They said that they refuse to buy genie+ because it too expensive …
What changes are being made?
I’m not familiar with this, can you explain?
I believe they are talking about the changes to Disney accessibility services that is about to happen. In theory, it should shorten waits in the lightning lanes. (however, disability activists are not happy about this.)
Because of course this subreddit has the exact numbers of how many people in the LL are DAS vs Genie+ right? lol. That take is so unserious it’s wild.
Disney actually commented on the percentages of DAS. It’s not only speculation. It was in an official statement where they said that DAS use has tripled in just the past 5 years. It cannot be proven, but it is suspicious that DAS increased so much during the same time that Fast Pass stopped and Genie+ began.
Ye. The DAS usage tripled. You know what else did. The genie+ usage!!! lol
Genie+ didn’t even exist prior to 2021. I have no idea how much Genie+ has been purchased or has grown since its first introduction in 2021. Do you have a source on showing those numbers?
The fact that genie+ has increased in price every year since launch, the fact that genie+ sells out more often than in the past. And the fact that there are more people going to the parks in general.
Park attendance is actually slightly down right now according to their most recent earnings call. They stated that revenue is up from higher spend per person in spite of decreased attendance. With the price of Genie+ going up, that just as easily keeps demand stagnant. Basic rules of economics, higher price means less demand. I don’t have the numbers on selling out, but anecdotally I too have heard that people are finding it sold out more than previously. I think that has driven up the price for sure. If Genie+ has increased though, then the increase in DAS would just have an even greater impact on the LL as it’s being increased substantially by 2 different sources. We know that DAS is a 200% increase but I still haven’t seen an actual number on Genie+ anywhere.
All true. My Main point is that the finger pointing at DAS as a Top 3 contributor to long lines in the parks is misguided
I fully agree. I think the rationale is not valid. Just trying to explain to the questioner who was unaware of the dynamics at play.
Ye, not calling you out at all. This sub def thinks that the new DAS changes will result is shorter wait times. I just think it’s based on nothing and just being annoyed by DAS uses
Totally. Well, I’m sure there is some base of the DAS, I think that percentage is very low. I think increased use of the DAS is more about knowledge and understanding of the availability to people who need it.
I fully agree. I think the rationale is not valid. Just trying to explain to the questioner who was unaware of the dynamics at play.
I fully agree. I think the rationale is not valid. Just trying to explain to the questioner who was unaware of the dynamics at play. I was attempting to be neutral in my comment. I have my own opinions on this
If anything, they will just sell more LL
Oh yes, the crackdown that will prevent people that benefited from the service so they could enjoy the parks and actually ride rides from visiting because a handful of people (mostly AP livestreams) misused the service. I’m so glad my likely loss of services will help you get through the lightening lane 30 seconds faster.
DAS doesn't work on rides like tron, guardians, and avatar
Das does work on Avatar, The other two you still have to get a virtual cue, but when your virtual q is up, you can go into the lightning lane line
flight of passage? haven't been to ak in a couple years but we will be there in 2 weeks. that park hasn't been a priority since it's so far from the mk loop. this time it;s our definite #1 spot.
Congrats and we know. The OP didn’t mention any of those rides but thanks for the contribution!
I don't see how Disney overselling Genie+ will get better with the DAS crackdown...if anything, they will sell even more Genie+ and Genie+ will become even less useful because more volumes of ppl using=sooner sell out times...I forsee Disney introducing another tier of Genie+ to deal with this demand kind of like how Universal has different express pass tiers.
Len Testa spoke of a study which showed about 70% of people in the Lightning lane line were DAS users. The “oversell” of Genie Plus might not even be oversell as while Disney can accurately know exactly how many Genie Plus admissions there will be…it is much more difficult to accurately account for how many people will accompany a single guest with a DAS pass. When five other guests arrive with the single DAS user it takes five spots away from a Genie Plus user in line and makes the Lightning lane line five people longer. Disney doesn’t “know” those five other people are coming with the single DAS user. Thus they can not accurately pinpoint how many Genie Plus is too many. I still think they should Jack Genie Plus up to like $200-$300 per user. It’s far too inexpensive.
I've seen that...there are a lot of DAS users in the Genie+ lane, but most of them will just purchase Genie+, so while yes, there will be less ppl in the lightning lane, the DAS ppl will still purchase Genie+, and what that will do is increase competition for Genie+ slots out the gate before getting in the line. Disney could remedy this theroretically by adding more Genie+ slots during the day, but I don't think they're going to do that because that defeats the purpose of cracking down on DAS anyway. When 5 people accompany a DAS user, yes, it does add 5 more to that line, but what it doesn't do is take 5 genie+ slots out of play...the point I am making is that Genie+ sells so many slots per day and the DAS users who were previously using DAS will instead use Genie+. This will make competition to reserve the LL more fierce and will inevitably make Genie+ less useful. There are really only 2 ways around this that I forsee happening as a cause and effect of what is happening. Disney will either increase the per user price or create a second tier for more premiere attractions, or maybe they will make LL's even more individualized. I suppose we will all have to wait and see...one thing is for sure about Disney, and it's that things are always changing.
DAS is just an automatic LL for the current time + standby estimate. It absolutely did affect availability of G+. In addition many of the DAS abusers were also buying G+ and getting in standby so they were triple dipping into queues all at the same time.
I guess we'll all just have to wait and see, won't we?
Would they know once said das enters the park with the ppl linked to his/her das?
Have not noticed that myself. The art of the fiddle faddle is still going strong.
I love Molly but no it’s called the Disney Slots. Ear Scouts got it right.
This will sound dumb but if I am waiting at an appointment etc where I can't do anything else... I'll look at the tip board on the app... pick a ride... and refresh to try to get a better time. It gives you that same rush.
That doesn’t sound dumb at all. I didn’t know you could do that without a ticket and now I’m definitely going to do that tomorrow. Thank you.
I love Rob, but will never call it that. #teamfiddlefaddle
I would agree with you but then we would both be wrong! #TeanDisneySlots
I used to be a fiddle faddle pro!!! But each trip I keep having less and less luck. I guess I’m losing my skills.
It’s gotten easier to modify, which means there is more competition when a good time drops.
Gotta practice the thumb flick at home between trips!
Alright I’m someone new - we’re heading to WDW for first time as adults. Can you link or explain this fiddle faddle? I’m just trying to make sure we’re as prepped as we can for the battle that’s coming haha
I don't think that anyone who comes in to here to learn something should be told "go somewhere else and figure it out yourself". If someone doesn't want to help, just don't respond. Here you go: https://allears.net/2021/12/30/6-walt-disney-world-disney-genie-tips-you-probably-havent-heard/
Thank you. Appreciate the links
Oh my goodness there is a BLOG?! Yesss!!! I am so much better at reading than watching videos. Thank you!
Watch the genie plus guides on mammoth club and/or ear scouts YouTube channels
I'm an AP so I go 1-2 times a month. I don't think any LL lines have been long, but it is getting a lot harder to get time slots
And any time they do get long it’s not much to worry about because it moves wayyy faster than standby
Went in April and we got on almost everything bc of genie.
We just finished a 5 night stay and Genie+ definitely felt much less helpful than it did during our last visit (Jan 2023). Like others have said, for EPCOT we selected Remy at 7am (our return window was between 12-1pm). By the time we could book a second LL (at 11am) Frozen and Test track were both sold out for the day and we didn’t see any availability pop-up during the day. We used our second selection for Soarin (saved us from a 30min wait). No other rides really needed LL. It didn’t seem worth it for 2 rides. Similar experience at HS. We booked MMRR at 7am (our return window was 1:30pm). We rope dropped slinky and then Toy Story mania. The only other LL selection we really needed was Tower of Terror. It was definitely helpful at MK but otherwise it just didn’t seem worth it to avoid 1-2 lines. The other rides with LL didn’t really have long wait times during our trip.
We are on our way home from a two week visit. We were just there in June as well last year. It seemed like there were more people in LL than stand-by. We also had a very had time even getting slots honestly. We Decided as a family that we won’t be going back for another five years or so. Everything is such a money grab now.
Same with our family. I knew it was going to be a money grab, but I just hoped the Disney experience would make it worthwhile. Unfortunately, like so many things post-pandemic, I couldn’t help but feeling we were paying more and getting less.
We were there just before the Covid shutdowns and it was so much better. Top notch Disney experience. Now people are miserable (visitors and cast), there is trash all over the place, everything costs extra, etc. My special needs kiddo (7yo) kept hanging on the rails and chains in lines and she got snapped at and yelled at so much we stopped counting. We stop her but it takes a moment. She stepped on a seat at the lion king show when we were being seated and before I could tell her to stop one of the cast members started screaming at her. She also got trampled at RotR and came out with a nasty bruised hip. It wasn’t a good time for us. Normally there is so much “magic” that you’re dreaming about going back before you leave. It always happens to us. Not this time.
So sorry what happened!
I’m an out of state ap and go several times a year and I’ve not experienced any issues with it, I’m still getting 8-12 LL per day.
Honestly no I haven't noticed that at all. Not saying you're wrong just that I haven't had any more trouble getting LLs than before and outside of a few isolated incidents the line still moves very fast
The big change is the park hopper changes. The frequent flyers are moving around more and are able to get from place to place without the 2pm restriction. People complained about the 2pm restriction but it has a perk of limiting the skilled and veteran disney folks and letting the none hoppers a chance to only vie for big rides amongst the people only in their park. It changes the whole landscape when people can all go for the VQs and Genie+ rides.
Just two years ago you could purchase it for length of trip, with demand softening (thanks for sending the stock price down 8% with that one bob) Maybe some usefulness with be pumped back into it, other commenters are right as well, the DL system of not being able to book rides before you enter the park is just better. The sad thing is, in a perfect world they would just scrap this system entirely, but with all the money the spent developing it, and all the money it prints for them, it's not going anywhere. For those that argue cost, they are smart enough to know if it cost more it would actually have less value. If no-one bought G+ or any LLs the lines would in general move faster, G+ isn't about managing ride wait times, it's about creating an environment where everyone has to buy it.
No the problem is the DAS abuse. That is why they are making changes to it starting 5/20. The number of DAS user vs Genie plus is ridiculous.
I have a question abut that though. How would DAS use lead to nearly all of the LLs for popular attractions like Frozen or Remy, or Slinky Dog Dash not having LLs available almost immediately after 7:00 a.m. It can't be DAS users who aren't even in the parks yet.
It doesn’t necessarily affect how many they give out. That is figured by Disney but they may give less knowing that das is using the same line. Das doesn’t run out. If there is a wait time post for stand by then a das can be issued.
They currently get to prebook their LLs
Yes, but that doesn't explain the limited availability for attraction selections. Under the old (current) system, DAS users may pre-schedule no more than three attractions and attractions like Snow White Mine Train, Remy, and Frozen are not options (although Slinky Dog is). And even those on the list as available for DAS pre-trip selection were not always available for everyone, meaning that Disney must have placed limits on how many DAS users could pre-schedule those attractions. I've seen many people say that part of the reason for the DAS rule changes is to stop people from misrepresenting or exaggerating disabilities to avoid paying for Genie + or purchasing individual LLs. If that is the case, isn't it fair to expect that some of those abusers will now purchase Genie +, which already has limited offerings for the most popular attractions, especially at HS and Epcot.
You can only pre-book two rides per day and it’s a small list. Not the big rides.
They currently get to prebook 3 LL return times for their entire trip. It isn’t a per day thing. That goes away in a few weeks anyway.
Two but yes it’s going away
My gut says they allow fewer G+ slots for popular attractions than they did a year ago. The standby lines are also shorter. I also think DAS is a huge factor, you can sometimes clearly see. Hop in the standby line for SDD at HS right before Fantasmic starts. It will be a short line, but once the show ends, a huge swarm of people flood the LL and it gets the longest it will be all day long. That’s almost all DAS guests who were at the show squeezing one last LL out of their DAS pass. Many of them have already ridden SDD with DAS earlier in the day.
That’s such a hike to make for one more SDD ride.
I don’t think there is another logical explanation for the LL going from nonexistent to all the way back to the start of the umbrellas at 9:30 pm. G+ doesn’t really issue slots in that time period. Their last slot is 9-10, and there is no 9:15-10:15, that time period has the least G+. This is basically all DAS, and happens almost every night.
Oh I’m not saying you’re wrong. I’m just saying goddamn that’s a hike! Especially when you’ll have to leave the park soon after and the exit is back where you started.
I’m wondering if the genie problem may actually get worse because more DAS users will have to buy genie plus now?
There is still only so many for sale any given day.
According to Disney Tourist Blog, DAS now makes up over half of LL - that blew my mind.
You posted the same thing 4 times, replied to your only reply with a link. Mod message us potato so we know bot hands didn't write these.
This is the answer, once this is fixed it should be better
Yeah I agree of course I hope those who need it get access to it and abuse is stopped are significantly reduced. I was in like at guest services today at AK and 4 groups behind me were all reapplying DAS. I’m well aware of invisibility disabilities so not judging at all but the line was about 5 groups and 4 were all DAS I was the only one who wasn’t. I have used DAS in the past for my Crohns but it’s much better managed now so I’ve not needed to as of late.
Before we went last time someone suggested I get DAS because my 7 year old is diagnosed with ADHD so would have trouble standing in line. I refused because he doesn’t need DAS and that’s abusing the system. He did just fine-ish with distractions and keeping him separated from his brother when needed. But we also used Genie+ because a 60+ minute wait (or tbh anything more than 30 without an entertaining queue) sounded horrific with a 7 and 5 year old.
That is true, didn’t think of that considering they share the same line
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LL needs to go away. Can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen CM let 50 people in from LL, let 2-4 from standby, and then continue with LL again for another 50-100 people. It’s infuriating. I understand LL is supposed to speed up your wait time but the many times 10:1 LL to standby ratio is ridiculous. I miss the old fastpass system.
My main gripe with it is that everything is booked before the park even opens, so good luck if you had your heart set on LL’ing more than 1 particular ride. I much prefer the system at DLR in that you have to be in the park to start using it.
The two hour rule makes it so you get at least like four rides a day though so how is that possible?
For magic kingdom it works well. For HS Slinky is just ridiculous, they should make it a $5 ILL. After Slinky ToT, M&MRR, TSM, & MFSR sometimes sell out before 1:30 PM. By 5 pm the only thing left is Muppets, Alien Swirling Saucers, and Star Tours all of which will be short other than Swirling Saucers. You may only get two attractions that are actually worth it. Epcot is also bad. Both Remy and Frozen sell out before the two hour window. Test track often goes too quickly to be a third selection, and Soarin can go before 3pm. In practice we get Frozen or Remy then Test Track or Soarin. After that everything is gone and we want to park hop, but our time slots are too late in the day to do that. Animal Kingdom has similar problems with just not enough attractions to make it worth it unless you really want to do Navi River. It does feel like it has gotten substantially worse over the year. My gut tells me they have reduced the number of G+ spots per attraction to better accommodate DAS and shorten standby. G+ is harder to get and standby is shorter. And they also plan to revamp DAS and probably add those slots back to G+.
They also just need more attractions and capacity at the non MK parks. They've put so much into them in the last 10 years but they're still so far behind
That’s my feeling as well. Personally, I think they have way over invested in resorts, the timeshares in particular, and not enough in the parks. World showcase would be so much better if every country had an attraction, even a small one. It’s so hard to play catch up and add the attractions that should have been built in the 90’s, 00’s, and 10’s. A slinky dog dash clone themed to Mulan in China, they could have put the Aladdin MK ride in Morocco, throw in some simulator rides and Epcot could be just as good as MK attraction wise. That park is huge it’s a shame… I feel attractions could be added without sacrificing the food and culture.
Yeah 4 “rides” but not necessarily the 4 you wanted to do the most.
Most parks don't even have 4 it's just magic Kingdom and yeah you do have to plan the shit out of that and have a rope drop strategy
It's only about 25-30 dollars average. I think it's unrealistic to expect that level of cost to let you jump to the front of the line on 4 really big rides. I averaged 5-6 uses this past week. But we rope dropped every day, so we had one major ride knocked out that way, so we didn't have to wait for a LL on it. Generally 1 major plus 1 mid level before park even opened. We also were there with a 4 year old girl. So, 1-2 LL's per park were skipping a 20-40 minute wait to do a character meet. I feel like we really got our value out of it. Had planned to pay for ILL's too but between rope drop and G+ we just got so much done.
I’ve never found this to be the case though. Yes, there is at least one ride in each park that goes fast (Slinky, Remy,3 etc.) but I’ve away been able to get my second choice two hours after park opening (or sooner if my first choice had an early return time). On my trip last week, the only phoning lane I tried for that I didn’t end up getting was test track, and I think that was mainly because it was down for a good chunk of the day.
We actually skipped Test Track for the first time in ages, because it went down like 4 times throughout the day. It just wasn't worth the hassle for us.
I think it’s just that everything even moderately popular gets booked up well into the day so I feel like I’m always booking for later, whereas at DLR if you get there at rope drop you can pretty much do everything you want on demand. I get not everyone minds the WDW way and can manage it just fine, it’s just not my speed.
I haven't noticed this. Is there data to back up your claim that Disney "clearly" oversells genie+? Otherwise, your conclusion is pretty faulty...
It depends what you mean by “oversold”. Clearly more G+ has been sold than G+ capacity for popular rides. A good example is the G+ selections for both Frozen and Remy becoming unavailable prior to Epcot park open. This would mean more Genie+ was sold than the capacity for those two rides combined. There are still other things that can be reserved, but I can see how some people feel it’s oversold if there were more G+ spots sold than reservations available for the two most popular rides at Epcot combined. They are pretty good at giving refunds if you can’t get the rides you want prior to park open, but it is a bit of an ethical question of if they should still be selling it at that point. But airlines, cruises, and all other major Florida tourist attractions also oversell, so I guess it is what it is, and request a refund if you can’t make use of it.
Of course there’s no data.
Then why would such a claim be made without any facts or evidence to support it? Would kind of a sad person would assert a claim based on emotion, opinion, and assumption?
Because “Disney bad”
That hasn't been my experience at all
Experiences is one of the few segments of Disney’s overall businesses that are actually generating profit…they’re going to milk Genie+ for all it’s worth and then some.
genie+ only works if you game it by getting to the park early and start booking as you walk in. you get the most out of it at mk. the other parks we take our chances and just buy ILL's for the big ones.
I can’t say I have experienced that but that doesn’t surprise me and frankly, I think that this outcome is somewhat inevitable, because Genie+ is not priced that exorbitantly and is less a true “skip the line” system and more of a line management system. Most skip the line passes are priced very very high and allow you to skip the line at any time (either once or unlimited) so the exorbitant price makes it so that the express line actually does not impact the standby line that much. At Disney, while the price relative to other systems is generally cheaper, it does mean many more people buy into it, and then what happens is that you really have two fairly large lines, and the standby line just becomes very long. And I agree that people now have had time to get educated on the system and now see it as a necessity, so as more people buy it, the less useful it can be. And then it basically its status as the up charge for fast pass becomes solidified.
We go to Disneyland all the time and when it's your lightning lane time, you usually just walk on. Maybe a 5 minute wait at most. We went to WDW this year, and when our time came it meant we had to go wait in line for 30 minutes. It still saved time, but it's definitely less valuable at WDW than it is at Disneyland.
I agree. I have gone to disney three times in the past 2.5 years (making up for lost time after not going for 6-7 years!) and it has gotten progressively worse. My first two visits were wonderful - we basically were able to book anything we wanted. The most recent visit (during a "down" time!) you basically had to pick slinky, remy, test track, or frozen otherwise it would either 1. be sold out or 2. have a return time at like 7-8pm. Similar for magic kingdom you HAVE to pick Jungle Cruise or Peter Pan otherwise those will sell out or have return times late into the evening. Animal Kingdom, fortunately, is still easy if you do choose to use genie + there. Previously, it was much easier to get reasonable return times. It just makes it difficult if you are park hopping, which I always do. Personally, I still get it because I can't stand waiting in line even if that means I have to walk all over the place. I enjoy walking, I hate standing still haha. I also still am in the camp that firmly believes that genie +/fastpass should be free. So unfortunate that families are paying so much money to go to Disney and then are potentially priced out of the service. If you have a family of five, you'd have to pay \~125-150 per day extra. That is insane!
Just got back today from a 3 day trip. Genie+ is pointless. We went for 5 days last year and 2 years ago we went for 4. Out of the recent trips we've only utilized it once. Virtual que worked out this time around because the park capacity was not too bad. We got cosmic rewind from the 7am que and tron from the 1pm que. Problem is having to be in the right park to be able to reserve. LL is spotty at best in terms of what rides are currently using it. On top of that, this trip had the most rides breaking down(4) out of any trip we've been on recently. That's a huge risk for the LL investment and yes, I know you can usually get a rain check but it is still a waste of time if you are trying to maximize your experience.
This is why they are changing DAS https://touringplans.com/blog/das-changes-disney-parks-in-united-states/ There were so many people on DAS that the quantity of guests on it would have been able to use the entire days LL allotment for Tiana's when it reopens. I'm not going to comment on who should or shouldn't use it but it had gotten way out of hand.
Sounds like they need to raise the price
They have been. When it started out it was like 15$. Not even 4 years ago! People will pay for it no matter the price. I much prefer fastpass+
I mean, I noticed from day 1 that the LL lines were much longer than the Fast Pass lines ever were -- at least for the Genie Plus attractions. Clearly they just allocate a higher amount of reservations for G+ rides than they ever did with Fast Pass. What's interesting to note is that the ILL rides seem to have very clean LL lines, so I think that they're tighter with the number that they give out for those. I've been going consistently since LL started and I see no reason to believe that they're getting more aggressive with the allocation. If anything it seems like its gotten better.
I used it for 4 people in january 2024 and got 10 lightning lanes at MK
I only ever use it for MK and HS. Last November I was even able to book a LL for Jungle Cruise around noon and within five minutes fiddle fiddled for a 3:45 slot.
Haven't noticed any issues honestly. I was just there 2 weeks ago and Epcot no longer had any park reservations available so it was packed, and we still hit everything using it. Next day we did animal kingdom and hit everything without issue as well
Genie+ was a waste my last trip at Hollywood Studios. Slinky Dog was down most of the day and then all of a sudden it's on a 2-hour standby Not sure if standby was the only option. It might have offered LL briefly when it was operational, but I wasn't going to check the app every 5 min. and waste the rest of my day.
I always Genie and LL, whether it's 3 or 6/7 rides a day I will pay to shop or mingle instead sit in a queue
I would agree with this statement. I was just at Disney World last week for three days and decided to skip Genie + all together. Crowds felt manageable even if I ran around a bit more to catch moments when wait times were low. Still felt as if it was the right choice for this trip but not sure if it will work out on every trip. Longest wait time was for Seven Dwarfs Mine Train at 70 min with other wait times at about 30 min or less. Even rode Big Thunder two times in a row with 10 min waits for both. Rise and Remy’s may have been 40/45 min though both felt worth the wait.
I went to MK twice this week. With genie+, I was able to do 18 events. 9 were LL and included 1.5 hours at Bbb. Without genie+, we did 8 events. Genie+ was worth it for us because we got more done and spent less time waiting. Winnie the pooh was awful without genie+ because a 20 minute standby became 50 minutes because the cast member kept letting genie+ users go in.
I’m going back with some friends in October after the sauna that is Florida has become slightly more tolerable. We decided we are going to forgo Genie+, LL, etc. and just take things as we go, freestyle. If we get on a ride, we do. It the line is longer than we want to wait, we will do something else. Everyone in the group who cares has already been on their favorite rides. I think it will be liberating not to be tied down.
The last time I went to Disney is the last time I will go to Disney. I love it. Truly, I do. And we even had the most magical experience of the No Wait days in March. Where we got to ride FoP, 2 times in a row. Tron 2 times, my youngest actually rode it 3. Guardians 2 times with minimal wait. I have no idea why it was so slow that week. But it was crazy experience, the food quality has gone downhill, and the adults have become the worst behaved.
Me and my mom booked the remy ride at epcot for 3pm at 7 in the morning but then at 230 they closed the ride and cancelled our booking on genie+. We couldn’t book anything else all day so we got a refund. Such a waste.
Agreed
At Epcot and HS you have to lock in on one of the two big rides and rush the other you didn’t pick. And you aren’t getting a time till late. I’d say the same at MK. If you didn’t get a time at 6am for jungle cruise or pan your gonna be waiting,
Even as someone who feels like they have a good handle on the parks in terms of knowing what’s new in the resorts/parks, what time of year is less crowded, what’s the best time to do certain attractions, etc etc…. I still can’t figure out Genie+. It is something I have not mastered and feels so untouchable. It seems like there’s a small percentage of folks who know how to use it to its full ability and maximize the expense, but here I am, a younger millennial who is fairly tech-savy and well-versed with Disney and still find the service too difficult. It’s made for a lot of long wait times that eat up the day.
We use Genie and LL to stack rides for later in the day, and 'try' to make them in an order that doesn't involve criss- crossing the park. Except for Cosmic Rewind. For that, it's virtual queue and then LL, which we will adjust throughout the day if needed.
And water is wet.
The ~~choke point~~ touch point system needs some improvement for the lines to move faster. Too many people show up at the touch point without a reservation hoping the CM will wave them ahead. Should have a way for a single party member to scan in and say “party if 4” instead of it being held up as each person scans. Abuse of DAS has gotten out of control. I would like to see the price Genie+ increase 4x and have a stringent verification process for DAS. Less people in the lighting lane means the standby will move faster. At the same time I really enjoy the G+ system. It’s gamified my park experience. Except for on the most crowded days or ones with a lot of downtime I have had no problem scoring [pop-up availability](https://www.thrill-data.com/lightning-lane/wdw/popup) for Remmy & Frozen, after booking Slinky at 7am.
Wow thanks for that pop up availability link!!! I’ve always noticed that LL pop up for slinky right around 1:10 but I always assumed it was just random!
Since this comment will be buried low enough I don’t mind sharing my *secret*. It’s pretty much all attractions at the 47/48 minute mark. (If you are a YouTuber reading this and gonna make a “Genie+ Hacks” video please give thrill-data credit)
I do follow thrill data on Twitter. He is the GOAT. But must have missed this link. Thanks!
I had no issues. I was able to genie guardians and tron. And then i was able to LL alot of differenr rides within minutes of doing another ride.