Any suggestions for our short WDW trip mid October.

[Grumpyuncle]

I’m returning for a short mid-week trip in October. I’ve used my DVC points in DL or elsewhere the past 16 years. This is my first trip back to WDW. I was a master of the old FP. Can I manage Genie? Do we need Genie +. We are also returning to WDW for a large family gathering for a couple weeks in the Spring. We have annual passes, what do I do next?

 

[scrappinginontario]

We have created a thread that should be helpful. Please see the Planning Tips for Your WDW Trip - Start Here!! thread.

We find we don’t ‘need’ Genie+ but we’ve always enjoyed it when we’ve had it.

 

[CoasterGT24]

Whether you want Genie+ or not depends on how much you intend to ride. More rides == get Genie+. You could always just purchase Individual Lightning Lanes to get on some of the marquee attractions at each park too. And try for free boarding groups for TRON and Cosmic Rewind.

 

[nw6675]

Our last trip was a quickie. We had 1 MK day of G+. It worked well for us and we rode tons. We like it, but usually just for MK.

 

[Nick6300]

For a short trip, I'd consider buying G+ for MK or HS. We're pretty frugal and we take longer trips. So this recent trip earlier this month, we had 8 days and bought G+ once for a EP start, hopping to MK day. We got Rat+ a bunch of MK LLs and ended up with 10 total, felt it worked out ok even for $50 ish for 2 adults. My aim was to save 1 hour in line back when it was $15/person, now it's more like 90 min or more. I just think about how much am I personally willing to pay to save x amount of time. For some people who are very wiling to pay $120 for a party or more than that for an hour after hours, Genie and ILL are probably an easier decision.

Operating Genie for the first time is still pretty easy to pick up, using the Tip Board on your MDE app. There are a ton of articles and resources for quick guides before your trip. We definitely played around with revising our G+ time numerous times to try to get more suitable times, which is a newer feature for Genie... rather than just accepting your selection.

The other days we used a good rope drop strategy, rides near dinner/evenings, and rearranging shows and quicker attractions when it's a busier Sat to avoid paying extra.

 

[Grumpyuncle]

Thank you. Very helpful. When we were there 16 years ago, everything was FP. I had mastered that system. It was annoying when Disney eliminated it.
The Genie+ is just another way for Disney to milk more money from people. I already own DVC, we just bought year passes for over $1000 each. Then they say that they want to upcharge JUST to be able to go on rides? It should go back to first come first served and survival of the smartest, rather than who has the fattest wallet.
Sorry for ranting. Your answer really gave me most of the answers that I needed. I appreciate you taking the time to respond

 

[Nick6300]

A lot of guests feel that they have to have G+, and buy it almost as a default. It just fuels into Disney's justification for more price increases. Early on, they cited on quarterly earnings calls that an average of 60% of guests on a given day had bought it. My guess is that some of the minority who don't buy it include the frugal like me (if that's really true if you're spending just as much to come to WDW as a European trip), and many locals who have APs, who can come whenever they want to and otherwise are seasoned enough to have a good ride strategy to help.

For me, Genie sort of pressures me to get as much out of it as possible. So I started out with about half my park days with it, days with MK and some HS. EP with Rat and Frozen is becoming more of an option when 1 of 2 parks on a day. The days without G+, I'd purposely placed some of my table service reservations, more shows like Country Bear, Tiki, Hall of Pres., Carousel, Philharmagic, rides like Small World, Mermaid, Peoplemover, and etc. Stuff I didn't intend to skip, but I could take it a little slower. And as I said, I typically have a full week plus park hopper, which helps. And really, if I'm by myself, which I was at HS and MK earlier this month... it only takes me half a day with RD and I'm done with everything I want to do, even at HS and MK. But when there's more people with me or if it's a holiday or busier seasonal time, it can be different.

Do miss the older FP systems (paper ticket one as well) like you said, but those days are long gone. And now they can increase ticket prices AND increase Genie/ILL prices rather than just increasing ticket prices. And they still can do things to pump out more parties and outside regular hours special events like first eliminating late Extra Magic Hours (except the Deluxe extended evenings on Mon. & Wed), changing the 1 hr. Extra Magic Hour to the 30 minutes for onsite guests that was already 30 minutes or more. They can slim down expanded park hours to save on costs. For instance, this is the first Sept., where AK didn't open at 8am.... it's now 8am only on wknds and 9am during the week, and MK was open until 11pm last Sept., and now 10pm on non party days. But at least it'll be tough for them to reduce hours much from the typical 9-9 at EP and HS given the 8:30 Fantasmic (taking about 30 min) and 9pm EP finishing show.

 

[slo]

We are big Genie+ fans and not big waiting in line fans. For us, Genie+ is money well spent. I’d definitely recommend it for a short trip, unless rides aren’t a priority for the trip.

Have a fun trip

 

[Dameon2k]

I’m returning for a short mid-week trip in October. I’ve used my DVC points in DL or elsewhere the past 16 years. This is my first trip back to WDW. I was a master of the old FP. Can I manage Genie? Do we need Genie +. We are also returning to WDW for a large family gathering for a couple weeks in the Spring. We have annual passes, what do I do next?

The common rule of thumb for this seems to be get Genie plus for MK and HS and play it by ear for Epcot and AK. As some have mentioned, it depends on how much you want to ride. Also, MK is heavily suggested on party days as the crowds are at their lowest, but the park does close at 6pm. It will be much more crowded when the park closes at 10pm or 11pm. HS is also suggested on Party days especially while the parties are taking place in MK. Epcot is so spread out I am not sure how much Genie plus would help. AK never seems overly busy.

 

[Grumpyuncle]

A lot of guests feel that they have to have G+, and buy it almost as a default. It just fuels into Disney's justification for more price increases. Early on, they cited on quarterly earnings calls that an average of 60% of guests on a given day had bought it. My guess is that some of the minority who don't buy it include the frugal like me (if that's really true if you're spending just as much to come to WDW as a European trip), and many locals who have APs, who can come whenever they want to and otherwise are seasoned enough to have a good ride strategy to help.

For me, Genie sort of pressures me to get as much out of it as possible. So I started out with about half my park days with it, days with MK and some HS. EP with Rat and Frozen is becoming more of an option when 1 of 2 parks on a day. The days without G+, I'd purposely placed some of my table service reservations, more shows like Country Bear, Tiki, Hall of Pres., Carousel, Philharmagic, rides like Small World, Mermaid, Peoplemover, and etc. Stuff I didn't intend to skip, but I could take it a little slower. And as I said, I typically have a full week plus park hopper, which helps. And really, if I'm by myself, which I was at HS and MK earlier this month... it only takes me half a day with RD and I'm done with everything I want to do, even at HS and MK. But when there's more people with me or if it's a holiday or busier seasonal time, it can be different.

Do miss the older FP systems (paper ticket one as well) like you said, but those days are long gone. And now they can increase ticket prices AND increase Genie/ILL prices rather than just increasing ticket prices. And they still can do things to pump out more parties and outside regular hours special events like first eliminating late Extra Magic Hours (except the Deluxe extended evenings on Mon. & Wed), changing the 1 hr. Extra Magic Hour to the 30 minutes for onsite guests that was already 30 minutes or more. They can slim down expanded park hours to save on costs. For instance, this is the first Sept., where AK didn't open at 8am.... it's now 8am only on wknds and 9am during the week, and MK was open until 11pm last Sept., and now 10pm on non party days. But at least it'll be tough for them to reduce hours much from the typical 9-9 at EP and HS given the 8:30 Fantasmic (taking about 30 min) and 9pm EP finishing show.

Thank you. Extremely helpful. I just spent about 3 hours navigating all the dining options and which one we would choose each day. We eat breakfast and either lunch or dinner in our DVC accommodation. So only THE best one choice per park. Also 2 of the 3 of us going eat a GF diet, primarily vegan. I was pleasantly surprised at WHICH restaurants offered the most GF options. Of course, typically Disney, the site went down midway and would no longer let me check availability. But for right now, midweek looks very promising

 

[Grumpyuncle]

The common rule of thumb for this seems to be get Genie plus for MK and HS and play it by ear for Epcot and AK. As some have mentioned, it depends on how much you want to ride. Also, MK is heavily suggested on party days as the crowds are at their lowest, but the park does close at 6pm. It will be much more crowded when the park closes at 10pm or 11pm. HS is also suggested on Party days especially while the parties are taking place in MK. Epcot is so spread out I am not sure how much Genie plus would help. AK never seems overly busy.

Very helpful. Thanks