Leaving on Feb 5 for an extended family trip where I am the primary planner. I forced my husband and cousin to read about Genie + and Lightning Lines last night but they only have a vague idea. Knowing that all of this is going to fall on me, I’m tempted to forgo daily Genie+ and just purchase some occasional ILLs. Besides that I’m hoping to stick to my TP. Is this crazy? My waits look pretty manageable but I know predicted waits have been off lately. Curious if anyone else has taken that approach. Thanks!
That was my takeaway
I used that approach in Epcot and it worked great. Not sure it would be as good of an idea at other parks. I would do Genie+ at MK. I would maybe do ILL for Rise and Genie+ at HS. And nothing at AK unless things are really crazy.
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Oh right I forgot to say “except at MK” which I didn’t get to try it at but which has way more stuff to use it on.
And I could see it being useful at HS possibly too
But I really gathered from the wait times vs waiting for LL to open vs wait times for ILLs as compared to essentially walking-on that ILLs save you a boatload of time whereas genie might save you a couple of hours if you use it for the whole day and get lucky with how you’re able to obtain them.
(Example - wait time at Journey Into Imagination is 5 mins. It makes no sense to wait for a LL that is in 45 minutes)
Yes, I do not recommend for Epcot especially. You could do everything at Epcot without ILL or Genie+ if you’re willing to RD and/or have access to the Extended Evening Hours. Or RD one of the ILL and pay for the other.
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This is what I’m leaning toward, primarily just to secure Rise of the Resistance because my wife will murder me if we don’t get to do that attraction.
I miss the old Fastpass+. I liked strategizing what to use it on and locking it in and knowing it was going to save us some time, but not having to be constantly booking and rebooking while we were in the parks. Set it and leave it.
With Genie+, as the trip organizer for seven people, Genie+ is seriously going to keep me working and I’m never going to get to truly enjoy the moment. I’ll always be thinking about the next reservation I have to make. Also, who knows when the reservation will be, and as someone who strategizes to reduce the amount of walking, I’m not keen on something with an unpredictable time. I can’t plan with Genie+. It’s frustrating the Hades out of me.
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You definitely have to change your mindset, which can be difficult if you’re used to FPP. I never used FPP being a DLR person myself, and Genie+ is very similar to MaxPass. I did not think too much (same cannot be said for others in my party) about what to book next until it was time to book. If you can be a little more free flowing, it’s not that bad. Also, refresh a lot when you are ready to book as times will pop up that weren’t there before. I feel like the uber planners on this forum do not understand the words free flowing, however. 
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Guilty. I am an uber-planner and I don’t like uncertainty. I like to plan everything before we leave for Orlando and then just follow the plan. 
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I’ve never had that as an option, so don’t know if I would like it or not. I’m more used to making a plan and then adjusting on the fly as needed. So Genie+ is not as disconcerting for me.
I took a 4-day trip in mid December and chose to ignore Genie+, just purchasing 1 ILL (FOP). Last week, I went back for 4 days and added Genie+ (and 3 ILLs). Although I will say I spent less time waiting in ride lines when using Genie+, I had an equally good time on both trips and generally still got to do the things we wanted to do both trips. My first trip was with my frugal sisters who didn’t want to spend extra, and my second trip was with my teen son, who really cared about certain rides and didn’t have to spend any of his own money anyway. It may depend on your expectations and the things you want to do.
One anecdotal illustration of the differences: We rode Soarin’ with a LL and without last week (mid afternoon). I would say our wait time was within 5-10 minutes difference between the 2. I rode JC without a LL in December and it was THE WORST WAIT I HAVE EVER DONE. Wish I could take that choice back (the posted wait time and the TP projected wait time were way off, and we were in that line for 100 minutes!!). Rode JC this time with a LL. Waited 4-5 minutes. (JC is a ride that needs to adjust its ratios of LL guests/standby guests IMO. It wasn’t really fair either time.)
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I guess that’s my question. How can you even really make a plan if you don’t know what your G+ return times are going to ever be?
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You can’t… You can make a to do list. 
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I think if we were going with teens I’d definitely give more consideration to G+, just because a lot of the popular rides seem to be more ‘thrill’ oriented, and we’re going entirely with kids 6 and under and spending two days in MK and two days in EP, and I think we’ll be able to hit everything without G+ in those two days. (At least TP says so!) We’ll use rope drop and ILL strategically as needed. We are also staying in a deluxe resort, so assuming they still have that benefit in Apr 2023, we’ll be able to stay in the park late if our days coincide.
Please circle back and let us know how this approach works for you!
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This will always be true regardless of the actual wait time. The queue here is only better than Tomorrowland Speedway, and even that is questionable
Also, it is true on both coasts.
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Thanks for all the feedback. I am an uber planner and like to set it and forget it so Genie+ is not my scene. I think we’ll end up purchasing it in MK and HS and some ILLs here and there. I wish I felt like my TP times were pretty accurate because overall they’re great but I know everything is skewed right now.
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We spent Jan20-22 in the Disney parks. My advice is to break down and get G+ if you want to hit all the headliners. Jan20 we didn’t get it, and it all went pretty well, except for waiting 50+ mins for BTMRR. Lines app said 32 mins. We had had several experiences where the posted time was longer, so we trusted Lines more. Previously, HM posted 45 and we waited maybe 20. BTMRR posted 45 that increased to 60 as we entered. And it was very close to 60.
Another example was PPF was first in the TP with ETPE. TP said 8 mins, but it was posted 60 with a line wrapping out into the walkway when we got there. We were some ways back in the RD crowd.
I’d say that a jam packed TP is very likely to get derailed. We always planned to leave for dinner or right after. If you can be flexible and stay late, then you can probably do everything.
G+ wasn’t perfect either. I’d stacked up on a AK/MK PH day, but first window didn’t open until 5:10, and we were in the park at 4:00. Decided to SB WtP @ posted 35 mins. This turned into another 50+ mins! Never thought I’d wait 50 mins for WtP! This also made us pressed for time to hit all our LLs and ADP.
I’d equate skipping G+ to skipping FPP pre 2020. If you’d do that, then you’re good to go. But be prepared to wait.
Oh yeah. If you do choose to skip G+, make sure everyone is on board with that decision. Disney makes no effort to hide the hoards of LL patrons walking to the front of the line. If there are those in your party who don’t understand the pros/cons or weren’t on board, there may be some tension.
Even though it’s not a fair comparison! Just bc you have G+ doesn’t mean you LL every ride! See WtP experience above. And what if you book popular LLs for late in the day? But I can imagine the emotional toll it would take to crawl in your SB line while watching LL blow by you all day long. Everybody needs to be prepared for that! It’s hard talking yourself down and remembering that you’re being subtly presented with a false choice.
We have been doing Genie+ in MK & DHS. LL+ at Epcot (Frozen) and AK (FOP) …waited in line for Remy & MMRR. For SM & 7D we did in last 30 mins for shorter lines.
For Remy, we were in line for almost 2 hours (posted was 70) and we were seated, lap bar down - ride shutdown 
Thankfully they gave us LL to come back later.
Have not down ROTR yet, will brave that line this week. (Staying off-site)
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This would be me 
I think I learned that part of my enjoyment of Disney was pulling off a successful plan. This isn’t as possible anymore. You have to go with the flow which I got better at but it doesn’t feel efficient.
I’m going to struggle with my family because we used to plan our day around rides everyone wanted to do and then send everyone who didn’t want to do some things on their way. You can’t plan that way anymore and you have to fill in the time between LLs with other things. If everyone wants to do everything it’s fine but if your group is selective (or difficult in my case) it’s trickier.
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