I didn’t use Genie+ on our trip last year ether. Basically my phone at the time was to old to download it, but I had a great time without it. I’ve been going to Disneyland/World for at least 50 years and have always had to stand in lines. Just bring your patience.
Not so. I lived 10 minutes from Disneyland and there were many times growing up you could go during the week and the parkk was almost empty. Not so nowdays.
Who told you you had to book parks 60 days in advance? You can book even the same day if they have availability. You can even switch parks days if you want. Like if you had Epcot reserved Sunday and Animal Kingdom Monday. If there is availability on the calendar, you can switch them if you want. We have. We literally booked a trip to WDW the day before and we’re able to reserved each park. Of course we checked the calendar before we did that, lol. If you want to learn about good times to go, I suggest looking up blogs. Disney tourist blog and Allears are good ones. Say you want to go in May. Google “crowds Disney world may” and you’ll find all kinds of blogs from locals or frequent visitors advising good days or weeks that month to go. But be aware, there’s no way to predict crowds completely. Disney manipulates all that with their reservations, so crowd calendars aren’t as reliable as they once were. Especially now with having to reserve parks, we don’t know exact capacity Disney is staying at. Jan and Feb are “off” times, but were insane last year. So do research, but don’t bank on it being an exact science. Generally, certain weeks in Jan and Feb, end of August, first three weeks in September, and beginning of November are all good times to go crowd wise. Rope dropping (getting to park before open) or the last couple hours at the park are good times for low wait times on rides. Don’t do Epcot on the weekend during festivals. Magic Kingdom has least crowds on days they have Halloween or Christmas parties because you have to leave early. But you get in all your rides that morning, so it’s not a big deal. Wednesday and Thursday are least crowded days for the parks too because it’s typically when people arrive or leave because airfare is cheaper.
We went last year in August/Sept and again this year in Sept. Last year was an anomaly due to Covid, they didn’t even have lightning lane open at all and there were no crowds. But we didn’t buy genie/lightning lane this year and we were totally fine. Crowds were higher than we expected for September, so we did have to wait 30ish minutes for a couple rides that we weren’t expecting to. But we made it work. The nice thing about being flexible is that rides (even the popular ones) aren’t busy all day. There’s lulls. Keep checking the app wait times before you go! You’ll notice patterns for the rides. You’ll notice which days are better at each park too. We got on Rise in 20 minutes once. Walked on Tower Terror a couple times. Flight of Passage under 30. Did Ratatouille in 20 minutes. But all those were 45 or over most of the trip in general. We were just spontaneous and patient and went on those specific rides during lulls. Came back in the evening, or did another ride if one was kinda long. Contrary to what Disney would have you believe, you don’t need to plan out every minute of your trip. That’s stressful anyway. I wouldn’t go if it had to be like that. I mean, I probably wouldn’t go at Spring Break, July or Christmas, lol. But most other times, you can do the parks spontaneously in stand by lanes and be just fine. Disney just knows human “rat race” competitive behavior and manipulates that. It’s why, even though people complain about genie, they continue to get it anyway. They don’t want to “miss out” Don’t let them manipulate you, lol
What an incredibly stupid article! Go on a weekday, start early, stay late. DUH! I was there two days ago which was a Saturday and the crowds were overwhelming! The wait times were impossible. The lightning lane booked out all the way to the end of the night and rides like Haunted Mansion had 180 minute standby lines.
Yes I was there also. Ratatouille was the longest line. Over 2 hours. And last night coming in on skyway the line was even longer wrapped around forever. We are still here. Got on Guardians of Galaxy and that is only a virtual queue available. But having a great time. Wishing you a magical stay
We have been to Disney World many times and have stayed in at least 7 of their resorts. The last few years we have waited more in line. We really liked the fast pass at least 40
Days in advance but that is no longer available. If you stay in a resort take advantage of the early magic hours. Do not expect tosleep late and arrive at a park and not wait in line unless you use the genie which we did not. Make sure you get the Disney app on you phone and research which rides will have wait times and go to
Those rides first during early hours. If you can stay in the extra late hours at night after the fireworks most of the rides will have a short wait time. Make sure you know which park has the early hours and late hours on what day and make your reservation for that park on that day. You have to reserve a park per day before you arrive at the park due to the limit on how many can go to that park. We manage to see and do many things at Disney World without the genie and paying extra but if you want to use the genie then that is an option and you can schedule at each park but you have to take the times available . The rides we waited longest for were the Jungle Cruise. Rise of the Resistance and one of the Avatar. We do not go on many rollar coasters but there will be wait times. If you have kids I highly recommend the Festival of the Lion King and the Safari in Animal Kingdom. The Frozen Ride in Epcot is one to see as well. Disney World has rides for all ages. We are older adults and one of our favorite is Peter Pan. If you want to see the characters book a meal in one of the restaurants. This needs to be done months in advance. The restaurants will list If the Disney Characters come meet and greet. You can also take pictures but they do recommend at a distance. Research what kind of food is served based on who is traveling with you . It is very possible to see and do many things at Disney World but you need to plan before you go. Disney does their best to keep all rides open and if one is closed just look on your ap to see when the ride is open again. You will also see the Disney characters out in the parks. Sometimes you can have your picture taken with them . Expect to do a lot of walking . The fireworks are wonderful
At Magic Kingdom and Epcot but again arrive early because the crowds will get larger as the time gets closer. People hear the complaints but in reality if you go to Disney World you will need to plan in advance expect to walk and wait in lines . Disney does a good job moving people in the lives as well. If you go during the summer it will get hot so be prepared for that. It’s also interesting to
Meet people from other places or if you are with family it’s a nice time to talk
And visit with each other. The food and snacks are great so get a snack and wait in line. We try to go at least once every year.
We paid extra for our Disneyworld experience. Not only were we “cheated” out of rides, because of the genie app. Our “Magical” time was anything but magical!! It’s simply a cash grab for over crowded parks. We won’t be back to Disney Parks because of it. Lego and Universal has it figured out. Avoid Disneyworld at all costs!!
such an intelligent insight has been published best time to to go is rest of the day. Everyone will be scrambling to visit the park in early morning or late evening.
Comments for “You Don’t Need Genie,” Guest Shares Secret to Beating Disney Crowds
Larry Lewis
I didn’t use Genie+ on our trip last year ether. Basically my phone at the time was to old to download it, but I had a great time without it. I’ve been going to Disneyland/World for at least 50 years and have always had to stand in lines. Just bring your patience.
Linda
What’s the secret!! ?? This has been an nightmare just planning for a party of ten with a travel agent!! My last time!!
Jayne1955
People have been saying this exact think for literally decades.
Quark
Not so. I lived 10 minutes from Disneyland and there were many times growing up you could go during the week and the parkk was almost empty. Not so nowdays.
J knapp
Since you must book park reservations 60 days before how do you know what park doesn’t have the crowds?
Ash
Who told you you had to book parks 60 days in advance? You can book even the same day if they have availability. You can even switch parks days if you want. Like if you had Epcot reserved Sunday and Animal Kingdom Monday. If there is availability on the calendar, you can switch them if you want. We have. We literally booked a trip to WDW the day before and we’re able to reserved each park. Of course we checked the calendar before we did that, lol. If you want to learn about good times to go, I suggest looking up blogs. Disney tourist blog and Allears are good ones. Say you want to go in May. Google “crowds Disney world may” and you’ll find all kinds of blogs from locals or frequent visitors advising good days or weeks that month to go. But be aware, there’s no way to predict crowds completely. Disney manipulates all that with their reservations, so crowd calendars aren’t as reliable as they once were. Especially now with having to reserve parks, we don’t know exact capacity Disney is staying at. Jan and Feb are “off” times, but were insane last year. So do research, but don’t bank on it being an exact science. Generally, certain weeks in Jan and Feb, end of August, first three weeks in September, and beginning of November are all good times to go crowd wise. Rope dropping (getting to park before open) or the last couple hours at the park are good times for low wait times on rides. Don’t do Epcot on the weekend during festivals. Magic Kingdom has least crowds on days they have Halloween or Christmas parties because you have to leave early. But you get in all your rides that morning, so it’s not a big deal. Wednesday and Thursday are least crowded days for the parks too because it’s typically when people arrive or leave because airfare is cheaper.
Ash
We went last year in August/Sept and again this year in Sept. Last year was an anomaly due to Covid, they didn’t even have lightning lane open at all and there were no crowds. But we didn’t buy genie/lightning lane this year and we were totally fine. Crowds were higher than we expected for September, so we did have to wait 30ish minutes for a couple rides that we weren’t expecting to. But we made it work. The nice thing about being flexible is that rides (even the popular ones) aren’t busy all day. There’s lulls. Keep checking the app wait times before you go! You’ll notice patterns for the rides. You’ll notice which days are better at each park too. We got on Rise in 20 minutes once. Walked on Tower Terror a couple times. Flight of Passage under 30. Did Ratatouille in 20 minutes. But all those were 45 or over most of the trip in general. We were just spontaneous and patient and went on those specific rides during lulls. Came back in the evening, or did another ride if one was kinda long. Contrary to what Disney would have you believe, you don’t need to plan out every minute of your trip. That’s stressful anyway. I wouldn’t go if it had to be like that. I mean, I probably wouldn’t go at Spring Break, July or Christmas, lol. But most other times, you can do the parks spontaneously in stand by lanes and be just fine. Disney just knows human “rat race” competitive behavior and manipulates that. It’s why, even though people complain about genie, they continue to get it anyway. They don’t want to “miss out” Don’t let them manipulate you, lol
DS
What an incredibly stupid article! Go on a weekday, start early, stay late. DUH! I was there two days ago which was a Saturday and the crowds were overwhelming! The wait times were impossible. The lightning lane booked out all the way to the end of the night and rides like Haunted Mansion had 180 minute standby lines.
Efm
Yes I was there also. Ratatouille was the longest line. Over 2 hours. And last night coming in on skyway the line was even longer wrapped around forever. We are still here. Got on Guardians of Galaxy and that is only a virtual queue available. But having a great time. Wishing you a magical stay
D Gray
We have been to Disney World many times and have stayed in at least 7 of their resorts. The last few years we have waited more in line. We really liked the fast pass at least 40
Days in advance but that is no longer available. If you stay in a resort take advantage of the early magic hours. Do not expect tosleep late and arrive at a park and not wait in line unless you use the genie which we did not. Make sure you get the Disney app on you phone and research which rides will have wait times and go to
Those rides first during early hours. If you can stay in the extra late hours at night after the fireworks most of the rides will have a short wait time. Make sure you know which park has the early hours and late hours on what day and make your reservation for that park on that day. You have to reserve a park per day before you arrive at the park due to the limit on how many can go to that park. We manage to see and do many things at Disney World without the genie and paying extra but if you want to use the genie then that is an option and you can schedule at each park but you have to take the times available . The rides we waited longest for were the Jungle Cruise. Rise of the Resistance and one of the Avatar. We do not go on many rollar coasters but there will be wait times. If you have kids I highly recommend the Festival of the Lion King and the Safari in Animal Kingdom. The Frozen Ride in Epcot is one to see as well. Disney World has rides for all ages. We are older adults and one of our favorite is Peter Pan. If you want to see the characters book a meal in one of the restaurants. This needs to be done months in advance. The restaurants will list If the Disney Characters come meet and greet. You can also take pictures but they do recommend at a distance. Research what kind of food is served based on who is traveling with you . It is very possible to see and do many things at Disney World but you need to plan before you go. Disney does their best to keep all rides open and if one is closed just look on your ap to see when the ride is open again. You will also see the Disney characters out in the parks. Sometimes you can have your picture taken with them . Expect to do a lot of walking . The fireworks are wonderful
At Magic Kingdom and Epcot but again arrive early because the crowds will get larger as the time gets closer. People hear the complaints but in reality if you go to Disney World you will need to plan in advance expect to walk and wait in lines . Disney does a good job moving people in the lives as well. If you go during the summer it will get hot so be prepared for that. It’s also interesting to
Meet people from other places or if you are with family it’s a nice time to talk
And visit with each other. The food and snacks are great so get a snack and wait in line. We try to go at least once every year.
Quark
What a waste of precious time and money. The world is on the verge of nuclear war and this is what Americans are concerned about. Smh
Greg
We paid extra for our Disneyworld experience. Not only were we “cheated” out of rides, because of the genie app. Our “Magical” time was anything but magical!! It’s simply a cash grab for over crowded parks. We won’t be back to Disney Parks because of it. Lego and Universal has it figured out. Avoid Disneyworld at all costs!!
Jo
Who knew this is a freaking hack. 😂
such an intelligent insight has been published best time to to go is rest of the day. Everyone will be scrambling to visit the park in early morning or late evening.
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