I just returned from a three day trip to Disneyland in California. Each 13 hr. day my grandson and I leapfrogged Genie+ Lightening Lane rides with standby lines mixed in with enjoying the sites / food / shows. Because of Genie+ we never had a moment when we couldn’t do something that we wanted to do. There are a few rides that aren’t included with Genie+ and only have standby or Lightening Lane, the Lightening Lane on those ride cost extra if you want to get on quicker.
The ability to stop at any photo op and then download all the professionally taken pictures for free is a wonderful way to preserve memories. This also includes any ride photos taken.
The only issue I could see was that you could not make a reservation for anything until you entered the park unlike the virtual queues they had last year where you could make it from your hotel room an hour before the park opened. I think they could have continued that with Genie+ with no ill effect and would give walk-ins an equal footing with guests that were staying at the resorts hotels who have an earlier entry option.
Genie+ is a waste of time! We purchased the service for 1 day at Hollywood Studios in February. We used the pass only once for the Smugglers Run Ride at 1pm. By the time we got through with it so we could sign up for something else, nothing else of value was available, except for some of the unpopular children’s rides, but those weren’t available until evening. The service is a money grab from Disney. The FastPass service was great since you were guaranteed 3 rides with low wait times. And it was free! Just joined the Disney Vacation Club right before they started making changes (Genie+, getting rid of Magic Express, etc…). Now Disney has pulled out of the upcoming train service? We are regretting the decision.
My wife and I took three of our grandsons to Disneyland in Mid-February. We bought Genie+ for all five of us for both days we were there at an additional cost of $200.00. The cost was a bitter pill to swallow, but the convenience of keeping our grandsons entertained and not waiting in lines was worth the cost. We booked a Lightening Lane pass and as soon as we were in line for that attraction we found another one to book. For two days we literally went from one attraction to the next with minimal waiting in line.
I bought it for our last trip because we still hadn’t had a chance to try Rise of the Resistance and without having Genie plus I didn’t think we’d have much of a chance to ride. I don’t think I’d bother to pay for it again. Sadly after all the hype about Rise, it was just….ok. Smuggler’s Run was a disappointment too. You are so focused on having to keep up with your assigned “job” during the ride that you couldn’t pay any attention to what was actually happening. I didn’t enjoy being on my phone all day trying to line up new lightning lane entries instead of just taking in my vacation. (We all know a Disney vacation is way too expensive to not feel like you had a chance to enjoy it) Setting up the free fast passes in advance was much less stressful. Anyway…they suckered me out of money for Genie Plus once, but I don’t think I’d bother to do it again.
Comments for Skeptical Disney Guests Can Track Whether Genie+ Is Worth It Each Day
Jeff P
I just returned from a three day trip to Disneyland in California. Each 13 hr. day my grandson and I leapfrogged Genie+ Lightening Lane rides with standby lines mixed in with enjoying the sites / food / shows. Because of Genie+ we never had a moment when we couldn’t do something that we wanted to do. There are a few rides that aren’t included with Genie+ and only have standby or Lightening Lane, the Lightening Lane on those ride cost extra if you want to get on quicker.
The ability to stop at any photo op and then download all the professionally taken pictures for free is a wonderful way to preserve memories. This also includes any ride photos taken.
The only issue I could see was that you could not make a reservation for anything until you entered the park unlike the virtual queues they had last year where you could make it from your hotel room an hour before the park opened. I think they could have continued that with Genie+ with no ill effect and would give walk-ins an equal footing with guests that were staying at the resorts hotels who have an earlier entry option.
So all in all I say Genie+ is well worth it.
Greg
Genie+ is a waste of time! We purchased the service for 1 day at Hollywood Studios in February. We used the pass only once for the Smugglers Run Ride at 1pm. By the time we got through with it so we could sign up for something else, nothing else of value was available, except for some of the unpopular children’s rides, but those weren’t available until evening. The service is a money grab from Disney. The FastPass service was great since you were guaranteed 3 rides with low wait times. And it was free! Just joined the Disney Vacation Club right before they started making changes (Genie+, getting rid of Magic Express, etc…). Now Disney has pulled out of the upcoming train service? We are regretting the decision.
Roger Moller
My wife and I took three of our grandsons to Disneyland in Mid-February. We bought Genie+ for all five of us for both days we were there at an additional cost of $200.00. The cost was a bitter pill to swallow, but the convenience of keeping our grandsons entertained and not waiting in lines was worth the cost. We booked a Lightening Lane pass and as soon as we were in line for that attraction we found another one to book. For two days we literally went from one attraction to the next with minimal waiting in line.
J
I bought it for our last trip because we still hadn’t had a chance to try Rise of the Resistance and without having Genie plus I didn’t think we’d have much of a chance to ride. I don’t think I’d bother to pay for it again. Sadly after all the hype about Rise, it was just….ok. Smuggler’s Run was a disappointment too. You are so focused on having to keep up with your assigned “job” during the ride that you couldn’t pay any attention to what was actually happening. I didn’t enjoy being on my phone all day trying to line up new lightning lane entries instead of just taking in my vacation. (We all know a Disney vacation is way too expensive to not feel like you had a chance to enjoy it) Setting up the free fast passes in advance was much less stressful. Anyway…they suckered me out of money for Genie Plus once, but I don’t think I’d bother to do it again.
Comments are closed.