Genie+ and park hopper are two entirely different things. One allows you to skip lines, another allows you to visit more than one park in the same day.
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They’re saying that PH and G+ cost about the same, so if you’re on a budget you may be choosing between the two options. So while they’re completely different benefits, they might provide a comparable value.
I actually don’t know which I’d choose between the two. It would depend on the specifics of my stay.
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That’s where I am at as well. I think we will be glad for Genie+ for MK and HS…I’m not so sold on it for EP and AK. Hopefully it will be the right choice.
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It’s funny because G+ has the best value at EP and AK if you hop. So it’s really a catch 22. If you’re doing one or the other, I would only get G+ for your MK / HS days.
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The crowd level is key to know how much you can maximize G+ at each park. For example, while G+ is most beneficial at MK & HS during lower crowd days, it is much more beneficial at EP during high crowd days. So it’s helpful to know what the crowd predictions are for your days.
Nevertheless, G+ will save you enough time in a day to be worthwhile in every park.
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Great advice!
Just to contribute back data from our recent trip. This wasn’t a Disney parks focused trip + there really isn’t a RD advantage for offsite folks any longer, so we went with after 1pm tickets for two days. We purchased Genie+ to make the most out of our limited time. Goals were to see what we missed during our 2020 trip, and re-ride favorites.
12/23 EP
- At 7am, got BG1 for Remy’s
- 7+ am, got 12:55pm LL for TT (had to wait a little bit for the return times to reach that)
- 2 hours after park open, got Soarin LL for 3:15pm (we had a CP ADR at Rose and Crown at 2pm, so built in a break)
- After Soarin, walked on LwtL
- Watched Awesome Planet
- Spaceship Earth was down earlier in the day, so grabbed LL twice to have them convert to anytime LLs. In the end, used one for Figment
since we didn’t have anything else we were interested to use it on, and posted standby time was 30 mins maybe? - Rode Remy’s around 6-6:40pm
- CP 7pm show
- Back to World Showcase Plaza for a break and wait for Harmonious
- Note: FEA was available during some drops, but family wasn’t interested in re-riding (nor trekking all over World Showcase)
12/24 HS
- At 7am, got SDD LL for 3:15pm (SDD definitely went quick)
- At 10:30am, got MFSR LL for 8pm (also went quick)
- At 12:30pm, got TSM LL for 4pm
- When we entered the park, we went to see 2pm BatB Live
- Then we went for the 3:15pm Indy stunt show
- At 4pm used SDD LL
- Then used TSM LL
- Star Tours had LLs open, so got that just 'cause. Standby time varied between 20-30 minutes? Tapped in at around 5:30pm
- HBD ADR at 6:20pm
- Went back to GE for MFSR - standby lines looked pretty empty up until just before the merge point. Was tempted to re-ride, but we decided to jump to…
- The RotR standby line just before closing. Posted was 60 minutes but we were on and off the ride within 30 minutes. Was contemplating buying ILL$, but it was unavailable by the time it was open for off-site folks anyway. Worked out well for us! We had ridden it twice in 2020, so it wasn’t a must-ride. This was the only standby line we stood in. It was down at some point earlier in the day too.
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Hey @Jeff_AZ, I just noticed Remy needs to be taken out of the VQ section on your fabulous post. Thank you so much for keeping this updated!
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Thanks! I totally forgot I had a VQ section in there. 
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So the 120-minute thing is still a thing right?
I’ve just seen a vlogger claim (posted yesterday) that the only way to get another LL is to tap into your current LL.
ETA: The specific claim is “you must use your first Genie + selection before making your next one”:
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I have not seen anyone else claim that, but keep me posted if anyone hears more. That would be big news if true, so I assume it’s incorrect.
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I just read on chat someone asking this question, they had seen it on FB. Lots of first hand reports that it hasn’t changed.
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Yeah that would be a game changer.
You’d seriously reduce the number of LLs you could obtain… waiting for your SDD window would wipe out most of your day.
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Do we have an ETA for when Touringplans will have G+ and LL available on the planning software?
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I think somewhere in forums they said second half of January.
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It was actually the second week in January. I arrive tomorrow and I was really hoping!!
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Interesting—what’s the thinking behind this? Is there a Touring Plans or forum post that talks about this?
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I don’t think she talked about hopping but Becky was on this week’s Disney Dish
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As Becky and others on the TP blog have mentioned in the past, there are only 2-3 attractions at AK and EP that are worthwhile for G+:
- Navi River Journey
- Kilimanjaro Safaris
- Test Track
- Soarin’
- Maybe Kali River Rapids
Everything else usually has times when they are walk on or the savings just isn’t long enough to justify buying Genie+. Becky discusses this on the podcast episode @PrincipalTinker linked.
So a good strategy would be to get G+ on a day when you are going to be hopping between AK and MK, or EP and HS, or some other combination between those. (Hopping from EP to AK or vice versa may not be the best strategy because all the attractions you want G+ for will probably be gone by the time you hop.)
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So if I get Genie+ for a day where I’m spending the morning and early afternoon at my resort and then going to a park, can I get more than 2 LLs?
One at 7 AM and another 120- minutes after park open.
Presuming, none of those return times expire, even if I haven’t tapped into my second one, would I be able to get another LL 240- minutes after park opening?
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Yes, 120 mins between the bookings (not return times, just when u booked it).
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