For our trip during on of the busiest weeks of the year, our family of 5 chose not to use Genie+. You’re probably thinking “if it’s one of the busiest times of the year, isn’t that the perfect time to use Genie+?” Let me explain why we choose not to spend the extra money.
For this trip we knew the parks would be busy, and they were “at capacity” meaning there were no reservations open for any parks weeks before we went. To my knowledge park hopping was never stopped while we were there, and we park hopped several times during our trip. We also were not staying on property, so we did not have the luxury extra magic hours in the morning.
The new Genie+ and Lightning Lane purchases have been very controversial since they launched in October 2021. There have been some hiccups and growing pains for guest. While some of those hiccups have improved, Disney is still asking me to pay extra money on top of my ticket. And sometimes the rides you want are sold out!
So why did we say no to Genie+?
I had done a lot of research on whether or not we should at least purchase Genie+ on a couple of days but decided against it for these factors.
First we have been to Disney World before and will probably be back again. This was our first time going for the holidays and I didn’t want to add more stress to our trip. I know that may sound silly but I didn’t want to have to be on my phone constantly trying to see what rides we could get.
Leading up to our trip I had been reading that some rides had been “sold out” of lightning lanes. Many times before the park was even fully open! I didn’t want to pay for something only to be let down. I don’t regret the decision at all.
I will go through one of our days so you can see how much we still got to do. So you can get an idea of planning without Genie or Genie+. While we did wait in a few lines longer than I would have hopped, we still had had an amazing time.
Our Day at Hollywood Studios & Epcot Without Genie+
8:30AM – Rope Drop Hollywood Studios
We arrived by car about an 45 minutes before the park opened for regular ticket holders, went through security and were standing at the gate by 8:00 for an 8:30 opening. Once the gates opened we did the fast walk/run to Smugglers Run where the wait time was listed at 45 minutes. We waited about 40 minutes to ride and by the time we got off the wait time was up to 90 minutes.
We then took a few minutes to use the restroom and take a few pictures. Then decided to head to Toy Story land for the kids favorite ride – Toy Story Mania.
Got in line for Toy Story Mania the posted wait time was 80. It ended up taking almost 90 minutes for us to get through the line. Like I said, this is my kids favorite ride in all of Disney so of course they were willing to wait. We had fun in line playing charades and just looking at the fun decorations.
We then headed over to watch the newly re-opened Indiana Jones Stunt Show. I’d definitely recommend getting there earlier than we did. With about 15 minutes before show time we barely were able to get a seat. This show is very fun and my boys loved it.
2:00PM Park Hop to Epcot
We had late lunch reservations at Nine Dragons in Epcot so on our way to the Skyliners we went into several of the shops, took photo’s with the 50th Golden Statues and caught a Cavalcade as we left Hollywood Studios.
We arrived at Epcot just a few minutes before 2:00 so we hung out and relaxed on a bench. They let us in at about 10 till 2.
We headed through World Showcase as our dining reservations were in the China pavilion. We stopped to take a few pictures and go into a few shops on our way around to China.
3:00PM Late Lunch at Nine Dragons
Nine Dragon’s was very good, we got the Pot Stickers to start and my youngest said they were amazing. I highly recommend the Spicy Honey Crispy Chicken. My picky eaters ended up really liking the Honey Chicken. We tried the Boba Blue Magic which was an interesting combinations but very good.
Then we took some more pictures with the 50th Golden Statues and the Christmas tree and headed to the Land Pavilion. We road Soarin Around the world the wait was 45 minutes and Living with the Land which was very cute with the Christmas décor.
Stopped to see a couple of Characters then started the Cookie stroll. On our way around World Showcase we stopped at several of the food booths to try some of the Festival of the Holiday’s special foods.
In the American Pavilion we stopped to listen to the Candlelight Processional, there were still seats available but I didn’t think my kids would make it through the whole show. We continued our cookie stroll around the world showcase, stopping in some more stores. Afterwards, we made our way to Spaceship Earth and waited about 15 minutes.
Then we walked over to find a spot for Harmonious and relaxed for a few minutes before the show started. People will start getting their spots up to an hour before the show starts. I highly recommend figuring out where you want to watch the show from, and getting there very early.
In October we viewed the show head-on at the front of the lake; this time we wanted to experience it from the side so we hung out over by Rose & Crown. While the show was still amazing, I definitely preferred viewing it straight on from in front, or in back of the lake.
After the show was over, we left to get back on the Skyliners but the line was very long, so we decided to walk back to Hollywood Studios, it was a 1.1 mile walk through the Boardwalk back over to Hollywood Studios. Even after a long day of walking and being on our feet, this was a great choice as we got to see places we’ve never visited.
In the future I am sure we will try Genie+ when it will make sense to do so. I think there will be times throughout the year where it could help you maximize your rides. If you want to ride something a second time it could be beneficial to have Genie+ so you could potentially wait let time overall.
If you are going on a once in a lifetime trip and you know you will most likely not be going back to Disney anytime in the near future, then I would recommend adding the additional cost to hopefully get to do more on your trip. However, there are some technology hurdles you must get through and research if you want to be able to use Genie+ without fault.
