Genie + or Not?

[mbdavidson]

My 16 year old son and I have 8 hours to hit Disneyland the 1st week of August, before we get on a red eye flight back home. We have been to Disney World several times and purchased Genie + the last time we went and it made a huge difference. That being said, looking at the app, the wait times at Disneyland seem to be shorter than the Magic Kingdom. In someone's experience, was Genie + worth the extra expense? Thanks!

 

[Rich M]

I love Genie Plus. I don't care how long the wait time is because the wait time for Genie is still quicker. If your planning to get some pics while at the park that makes it even more worth it since Photo Pass is included.

 

[Steven G]

For the limited time you have, I think it makes sense to get it. From what I see the first week of august on Touringplans.com it is rating both parks at between an 8 and a 9 the first week of august.

I'm not a huge fan of it, but it definitely has it's uses, and your situation seems like a good fit.

 

[RedHead0186]

Yes. My friend and i had a similar itinerary, one day in DL and had to leave to catch an evening flight. We did Genie+ and it helped us maximize our time there. Well worth it for us.

 

[kdub15]

My 16 year old son and I have 8 hours to hit Disneyland the 1st week of August, before we get on a red eye flight back home. We have been to Disney World several times and purchased Genie + the last time we went and it made a huge difference. That being said, looking at the app, the wait times at Disneyland seem to be shorter than the Magic Kingdom. In someone's experience, was Genie + worth the extra expense? Thanks!

depends what you want to do of course, but at Disneyland Genie+ imo it's worth it as you can knock out much of the park in those 8 hours (Fantasyland does not have Genie+ though).

 

[laugard]

My 16 year old son and I have 8 hours to hit Disneyland the 1st week of August, before we get on a red eye flight back home. We have been to Disney World several times and purchased Genie + the last time we went and it made a huge difference. That being said, looking at the app, the wait times at Disneyland seem to be shorter than the Magic Kingdom. In someone's experience, was Genie + worth the extra expense? Thanks!

If you hope to do a lot of the thrill and big ticket rides and budget isn't too much of a concern, then yes, absolutely. I'm a Magic Key pass holder who does a lot of weekend 5-6 hour days. Usually we don't buy Genie+ for those visits since we're not trying to hit all our top rides every time. But when we have a specific goal for a certain ride in mind or go with someone who does want to ride a lot of attractions, we buy Genie+. Especially with being able to modify times, it allows us to get so much done even though we're not staying all day. I'll note too that this is without rope drop, as we usually don't get there until 10:30 or 11 a.m.

Here is an example of what we accomplished using Genie+ on the last Saturday before Splash shut down, having scanned in at around 10:45 a.m. and leaving at 3:45 p.m.

Late breakfast at Red Rose Tavern
Space Mountain (G+)
Buzz Lightyear (G+)
Pirates
Haunted Mansion (G+)
Indiana Jones (G+)
Splash (G+)
Winne the Pooh
Guardians (G+)
Monsters (G+)
Lunch at Cocina Cucamonga
Toy Story (G+)
Little Mermaid
Soarin' (G+)

Edited to add: Remembered we also rode RSR single rider, but I can't remember now when we did it.

This is with us specifically only doing what we were in the mood to ride that afternoon. And the only ride we skipped waiting on was Runaway Railway. I'll add though I do A LOT of return time modifying lol! But even if you only save 15 minutes on a ride (though usually for us it's significantly more), that's already 1 hour saved after 4 rides

 

[tink89]

We usually go 2-3 days and are able to do everything without and minimal wait and usually just wait until our last day to buy genie if we need it. But given that you only have one day and only 8 hours I way say definitely get the genie and LL

 

[DisneylandFan22]

I hate Genie+ and never buy it. If you are only going to have 8 hours and it is important to you to get on as much as you can I would buy it.

 

[JerrodDragon89]

Its worth it

Most rides on "normal" days allow you to get on a new LL ride within an hour, Indy and sometimes Space are the online ones when I went last week that required me to wait 2+ hours to return to the ride

 

[maxbuffmelvin]

G+ at DL and DCA is worth it. The only downside is there is no G+ for Pirates, Jungle, and the fantasyland dark ride, but you should be able to knock them all out if you go at rope drop.

 

[irlandaise]

G+ at DL and DCA is worth it. The only downside is there is no G+ for Pirates, Jungle, and the fantasyland dark ride, but you should be able to knock them all out if you go at rope drop.

Any theories on why Pirates and Jungle Cruise don't have Lightning Lanes? Is it an issue with having space for separate lines?

 

[maxbuffmelvin]

Any theories on why Pirates and Jungle Cruise don't have Lightning Lanes? Is it an issue with having space for separate lines?

Pirates has a second queue, but it was not used for G+ recently. DL's Pirates and Jungle never seemed to have the exact long wait times as MK's version. I guess the dedicated G+ line at MK caused long standby queue times, whereas not the G+ line at DL keeps the line constantly moving without pausing.

 

[Blue32]

Pirates and JC don’t need Genie+ at DL. There are a lot of rides at DL that don’t have it and frankly don’t need it.

 

[wendlle]

I never think it's worth it.