Is the genie worth it

[matthew517]

Is the genie worth the extra money

 

[holden]

Worth is relative, so that's completely up to you. I have used Genie+ and ILL on a few trips. I think it has the most value at MK. I also think that for EP and maybe AK, you could plan carefully taking advantage of rope drop/before closing crowds and do OK without Genie+ depending on crowd levels.

 

[coasternut22]

G+ is targeted towards those who are on their once in a lifetime vacation and have spent thousands of dollars already to be there. The cost at that point is moot. Do you want to maximize your experience and do as much as you can since this may be your only opportunity? Then there are people like us who can afford to go twice a year and just want a relaxing experience, and the added cost is just an annoyance but not a hindrance. It’s absolutely worth it in HS no matter what and in MK if your vacation time is short. Worth it for Epcot and AK is questionable. Again, it depends on what you are trying to accomplish on your vacation. Could you get on everything without it in one day? Yes. Do you want to have a more relaxing day and do more than just rides? Then it might be more worth it.

 

[Her Dotness]

Depends on how you like to do your park days and how much charging sometimes ridiculous amounts per person vs. what was formerly free offends you.

We did fine last trip in mid-November without it. However, we go annually, are fine with amusing selves via smartphones and aren't terribly bothered by waiting in standby lines.

In short, you may want it if not, "Eh, well. Can do that one next trip. <shrug>"

 

[scrappinginontario]

Worth is relative, so that's completely up to you. I have used Genie+ and ILL on a few trips. I think it has the most value at MK. I also think that for EP and maybe AK, you could plan carefully taking advantage of rope drop/before closing crowds and do OK without Genie+ depending on crowd levels.

Excellent answer!

‘Worth it’ is a personal decision. We used it at MK and DHS on days where crowds we around 4-6/10. Yes, to us it was worth it but others would disagree and they would not be wrong either.

When it comes to the value of something, nobody can decide that for you.

Every person I’ve heard who has done a VIP Tour says it was completely ‘worth it’ but a $7000 day is not an option for our family.

 

[Husker Mike]

Worth is relative, of course. It's a factor of "how long is your trip," "how long until your next trip," and "how much are you spending on this trip?" If you don't (or aren't able to) go to Disney regularly, Genie+ is a relatively inexpensive (in the Disney sense) way to squeeze as much as you can into your trip. (Let's be honest, you pay much more to stay on-site versus off-site than the cost of Genie+.)

Is Disney nickel and diming you with Genie+? Yup.
Do you need it? Nope.

I think the best way to think about it is...what are you hoping to do at Disney? Ride Space Mountain or eat a Dole Whip? Ride Toy Story Midway Mania or have lunch with Goofy? If rides are at the top of your list, pay the Mouse and have a good time. If just being in the parks and absorbing the atmosphere is your priority, save your money.

 

[AJA]

I totally agree that the cost for genie is relative. Especially choosing it for every day of your trip.

We recently too our once every 5-7 years Disney trip and loved it. We purchased it every day and bought all the extra LL’s. But we wanted to leave the parks each day by 4pm (the days of staying rope drop to fireworks are long gone for us). It worked great.

We were there during a lower crowd time. If we went every year and planned longer days, no I would not pay the additional cost for genie each unless it were very busy.

 

[_19disnA]

No.

 

[NJlauren]

If I have my kids with me 100% yes every time. If I’m solo, with my DH, or on a girls trip maybe, depends on the goal. If my goal is snacks and chatting and enjoying being in Disney no. If the goal is rides yes 100% of the time every time.

However I will admit my kids are spoiled and legit hate lines, so $15 seems reasonable. Now I’m going in 2 weeks and will be my first trip with variable pricing and a large group so not sure what I will do, I lean towards yes for genie, but with another family and we may ended up not doing it…. I guess we will see!

 

[5kidsmommy]

We go to DIsney once, maybe twice a year but we haven't been since 2020, when we went twice, once before and once during the pandemic. So I haven't used it yet. We will be there in just under two weeks. Our trips are generally short. 2-4 days. This current trip is 2 park days. I'll admit I have lines. I love the FP+ system. I have been reading all about Genie+ and have decided to use it. We go as a couple, so the cost is fairly low. For me my time is money. I like being able to do rides but I also like to wander and drink and eat. So I'll pay a little more to wait in lines a little less. It's all dependent on what you value.

 

[loves to dive]

Depends on the number of people and the mix of people in your party. Depends on how long you are going to be there. Depends on if you will be going back again or if this is a one and done. Depends on your financial situation. Depends on how you intend to tour the parks, is your goal to ride as many rides as you can or is your goal to ride rides but to also experience the parks. A lot of variables so it really depends on your exact circumstances. Only you can determine that.

For me, no, it's not. I've been twice since they started it and not used it either time. Nor have I used the individual ride one. But, I go often. While I will only be going once this year, I usually go at least twice and have been up to 4 times in years past. We (my son and I) have never been ride centric. We like to ride rides but if we don't ride some, it's o.k. It's always been that way for us, even when we could only go once every two years and had to share happy meals in between the trips to afford the trips. We don't mind waiting in lines if we really want to ride a ride. I go solo often and those trips can range anywhere from 4 days in the parks to 6 days in the parks. I always have park hoppers, which seems to help when the crowds are too big in one park or going to a different park in the evening to knock out a few rides then.

 

[gharter]

If you are there on a busy, day, I would say yes. If it's not as busy, maybe. If you want to try and minimize your wait times, yes.
Now, if the question is , is it worth it? That is a personal decision.

 

[nesser1981]

I think it depends on when you go how much value you'll find for it, however, we just got back last night, so we went during the "slow" season. We ended up getting Genie + for every park except for AK.

We rode everything we wanted to except for the Navi River Journey at AK. And we also skipped Peter Pan's flight, because we've done it and don't love it.

Friday we went to MK a second time and even added it, did we need it, no, we rode everything on Monday, but we still had plenty of money in our budget for the trip. That was the only day that it was maybe a waste, but we still did Space Mountain and Big Thunder Mountain again. I'll say we did park hop to HS, and by the time we made it over there, all the LL were for late in the evening since it was our second time over there, and we didn't say super late, so be aware of that.

 

[CarolynFH]

DH and I (no kids, have ridden everything more than once except newest things, expect to return so don’t need to do it all, and rarely enter a park until mid to late afternoon) find Genie+ very useful at MK, pretty useful at DHS, and not useful at Epcot or AK. However, we do buy ILL$ for GotG (if we can’t get a VQ) and for FoP. Being able to overlap return times and to modify Genie+LLs makes it especially easy to start stacking in the morning and enter MK later in the day with a nice itinerary already booked.

 

[jimmymc]

Magic Kingdom day - yes
Animal Kingdom and Studios - maybe, if you plan on riding everything or hopping
Epcot - no, unless you're hopping

 

[Mrs.AMC]

Is the genie worth the extra money

Sure

 

[Einstein509]

I refuse to buy it on principal. The predecessor to Genie+/ILL (FP+) used to be free. I always said Disney would eventually start charging for it and when they did, I would be done.

 

[Claire&TheBoys]

We were there around New Year's Day (12/30-1/2) and we bought it for Epcot, MK, and Studios, but not AK. We bought the ILL$ for Guardians and Rise. We hadn't been in about a year and a half, wanted to do all the new stuff, and knew we were there on Level 10 days, so it was part of what I expected to spend. We definitely got our money's worth at Studios and MK. Maybe not so much Epcot, but we wanted to ride Remy and like to rope-drop Test Track, so it seemed like the thing to do. We got LL for Remy, Soarin' and Living with the Land and waited standby for Test Track, Spaceship Earth, and Three Caballeros. Skipped Frozen, Imagination, and The Seas. We had the ILL$ and a boarding group for Guardians.

I'm going with my sister in a few weeks for her birthday and we're only doing MK and Epcot. I expect we'll get Genie+ for both parks.

 

[piccolopat]

Since buying Genie+ means we can reduce our wait times for a number of rides, it is worth it for us. DH doesn't have patience for lines and anytime I can get a Genie+ and avoid even a 20 or 30 minute line, life is good. ILL is also worth it for us to avoid lines on high demand rides.

 

[snayak]

We got G+ for our park days (MK, HS, and AK) because we knew we were hopping in the afternoon.

The ability to stack rides at the second park and have a relaxing afternoon break and a stress free evening was well worth the cost. Were able to book great rides for the afternoon (MMRR, TOT, RnRC, TSMM at HS and Remy & Frozen at EP) and save a ton of time avoiding the standby lines at 3-4-5pm after the break at the resort.

I'd rather spend time at the pool or hanging at the resort 100% of the time every time over even the most beautifully themed queue.

If you're not going to hop or are OK with skipping headliners or are OK with long standby lines, then maybe it isn't as effective for you to get G+.