Genie+ $29 per day but most major rides filled so beware

[softballpooh]

starting at the studios.....

get slinky as you first G+......then build everything off of that

Thanks. We don’t want Slinky so I’ll just try for another HS headliner at 7am.

 

[softballpooh]

There is no longer a VQ for Remy. The only current VQ is for Guardians.

Thanks! I meant Guardians since that one has a drop at 1pm and it seems to be staying open longer in the afternoon.

 

[Cynner]

Strongly recommend researching when some of the major rides refresh their queues. Rémy, Test Track, Everest, Kali, Tower of Terror, Midway mania and others add more capacity through the day. I’ve gotten most of our rides during this week.

 

[wisblue]

Strongly recommend researching when some of the major rides refresh their queues. Rémy, Test Track, Everest, Kali, Tower of Terror, Midway mania and others add more capacity through the day. I’ve gotten most of our rides during this week.

Where do you find information on when there are additional drops?

 

[RoyandWalt]

Purchasing G+ and ILL$ are optional. During many parts of the year, a great day can be had without paying extra for either of these. We’ve done without and not missed it.

Christmas week is not a ‘normal’ week at Disney so doesn’t really represent the norm,

Now that our kids are way past school age, we are fortunate to go the first week of December now. Sure don’t miss the Christmas week crowds.

 

[spm2323]

Refreshing the app during the day on genie is a great idea but this last week, nothing has come up, it’s the busiest week of the year and reportedly busier than the other major holidays such as thanksgiving

 

[Cynner]

Where do you find information on when there are additional drops?

https://www.disneytouristblog.com/genie-plus-lightning-lane-refill-rules-disney-world/

 

[ScottOKW2K]

Reading threads like this reinforces my decision to not buy park admission for most of my trips. I still have scheduled and experienced multiple trips since WDW reopened parks and resorts but have purchased admission on only a few. I've also found I really don't miss it that much.

 

[cjlong88]

Refreshing the app during the day on genie is a great idea but this last week, nothing has come up, it’s the busiest week of the year and reportedly busier than the other major holidays such as thanksgiving

I've been here since the 25th and I've been able to book many "sold out" rides after refreshing. It might be luck, or persistence, or both. Even the big rides that go quickly have popped up for me (i.e. Remy or MFSR).

 

[KimBean]

Had our first day in 4 years at WDW today. We decided it was our last trip there so we will pay the 29$/day for G+ plus the 12-25$/day for ILL$ this week. I HATE paying for them but I have to say that it was worth it today at AK. And while WDW is still a happy place for me and my family, the ratio happiness to cost is no longer in our favour and just confirms our decision to spend our vacation money elsewhere in the next few years. Hello Europe, Hawaii and ski trips!

We’ve decided the same. We already wait every 3 years. Now it will 7-10. No longer have littles and Disney money will go a long way in seeing the actual world. Last trip in 26 days!

I am trying to decide now which days and parks I will use genie. Thanks for the info OP.

 

[DeeBee3]

Just got back Friday and I would say I had no issues getting the initial headliner (Remy), but we did not get Frozen after those 2 hours. I wasn't surprised as it was Christmas week. I could have snagged Test Track or Mission Space, but the rest of my party didn't want to ride.

We used Genie+ 1 day each at HS, Epcot and MK. We also did another day at Epcot and MK. Both days we had plenty to do, but I was happy to have Genie to try on 1 day at each park. My kids wanted Remy and as much as I didn't want to pay, this was a once in a lifetime Christmas trip so I wasn't wasting the day waiting in line for 3 hours. It was over 200 mins when we were over there.

If it was not Christmas week, I would not do Genie+. The day we did MK without it, we got plenty done at end of night during fireworks, etc. It was also 12/24 and very cold so I think people stayed away. We did more rides the last 2 hours than we did most of the day. We also had time to take a break mid-day.

I was happy to pay ILL to do Rise because it was the first time experiencing the ride and we all loved it.

 

[isabellea]

Currently waiting at Sunshine Seasons for my parents to finish Soarin’ (they are offsite and arrived while we were riding it).

Today, I was really debating whether we should get G+ or not for EPCOT. After seeing the wait times from yesterday on Thrill Data, I finally decided to purchase it.

At 7am, my tween was watching time.gov while my teen was in charge of GOTG VQ and I was selecting Remy for our G+. She got boarding group 51 (was just called now at 10:30am) and I got a 9am ILL for Remy.

We arrived at EPCOT at 8:05am and went to the line for Test Track in front of Starbucks. Max 10 min wait. We then walked to Remy so I could book a second G+ asap. I booked Frozen for 3:30am at 9:02am. After Remy, we backtracked to Soarin’ (30 min wait) where I am now.

I would say that I made the right decision buying G+ today.

 

[Tyler's Dad]

We’ve been here for 17 days and we have had no problem using Genie +. We’re able to get on everything we wanted and most of that was sleeping in and just stacking rides for later. I get up at 7, book the first one and any ILL we might want that day, if any, and then sleep for a while more. We have not gone to a park before 10:30 for the past week and our trip has been fantastic.

 

[katied]

Two days in and Genie + has worked well for us… Epcot for NYE and today at HS. We’ve been able to hit all the highlights (and we did not arrive at the park till 11 am both days). I did start booking at 7 am. Only thing missed was ROTR… we had bought the ILL, but ride was down at return time late in the day, and so we got a refund. So, it can work in high crowds…. I did use modify quite a bit to make everything work… it’s best to book and then try to modify as needed.

 

[B-Ride]

Purchasing G+ and ILL$ are optional. During many parts of the year, a great day can be had without paying extra for either of these. We’ve done without and not missed it.

Christmas week is not a ‘normal’ week at Disney so doesn’t really represent the norm,

I agree somewhat. We have had many wonderful trips to Disney with low crowds and reasonable prices. Unfortunately the last that fell in that category was in 2012.

 

[DavidNYC]

You couldn’t select Ratatouille, Frozen, or Test Track? I’m not a fan of genie+, but I’m shocked all 3 headliners were gone at 7am.

They weren't . . . . you can check charts of return times all last week on several websites.

 

[scrappinginontario]

You couldn’t select Ratatouille, Frozen, or Test Track? I’m not a fan of genie+, but I’m shocked all 3 headliners were gone at 7am.

They weren't . . . . you can check charts of return times all last week on several websites.

I don't know what date @SLThomas318 experienced this but data shows on busy days, the 3 headliners mentioned fill very, very quickly and could quite likely show now availability very shortly after 7AM:

 

[DavidNYC]

I don't know what date @SLThomas318 experienced this but data shows on busy days, the 3 headliners mentioned fill very, very quickly and could quite likely show now availability very shortly after 7AM:

View attachment 729433

Other than Remy - which shows availability until about 7:15 - all the other headliners show availability continuing after park opening. I'm not saying it wasn't busy - but pointing out the exaggerations for those who seem to now be worrying that 3 rides literally had no availability within a few minutes after 7am. And even then - Soarin, Spaceship Earth, Mission Space all had availability well into the afternoon. I'm no fan of Genie+ although the ability to modify was a major improvement, but it doesn't help to post major exaggerations of availability. My initial statement was correct - the three headliners were not gone by 7am - after Remy - the next "sell out" was not until nearly 11am . . a vast difference from what the OP reported.

 

[SLThomas318]

I didn't experience all headliners being sold out, I was just replying to the OP who made it seem like at 7am they could not pick one headliner (which doesn't appear to be the case).

 

[scrappinginontario]

For clarification, @DavidNYC and @SLThomas318 were either of you at Disney this week and sharing your actual experiences or, more sharing your thoughts based on data you are seeing online?

When I’m planning a trip I pay far more attention to other’s actual experiences when planning out a strategy, especially during the times when the parks are as busy as they currently are.