Am I the only one who thinks Genie+ is not worth it?

[SOCALMouseMommy]

I keep reading all these reviews about how much people like Genie+ so when I tried Genie+ today for the first time I was prepared to like it, but when all was said and done, I just did not find it to be a good value. It’s so restrictive, especially compared to MaxPass, which was really fantastic. And in many cases doesn’t really save you much time.

My biggest complaint would be the one time per ride thing, which pretty much ruins Genie+ for me sadly. My kid would ride Star Tours, Millennium Falcon and Haunted Manion over and over, but won’t ride Space, Splash or Matterhorn. And the two-hour wait between selections is so long. With MaxPass you could make your next selection as soon as the return window opened, without necessarily scanning into the ride. Not so with Genie+.

I noticed that a lot of rides had immediate returns, but when that was happening the standby wait was really short, so it’s not like you’re saving much time there. You could wait 15 minutes on standby versus 5 minutes in the LL.

Also some of the LL don’t seem like you’re cutting much of the line. I mean the LL into Indy is just sad. We skipped ahead of like 50 people and then waited 20 minutes inside with everyone else, so that maybe saved us 10 minutes, hmmmm. And the LL for Star Tours also has you waiting A LOT for having to pay for the privilege of skipping the line.

Today, I really only found Genie+ useful for two or three rides that had longer waits. Maybe this is the type of things that’s better when it’s super crowded (today was moderate).

It was just really underwhelming for what I paid ($20 x five in our party, so $100).

 

[Whistlebee]

I haven’t used it yet, but I have a bad feeling I’m going to feel this way. I really loved MaxPass and Genie+ seems like such an inferior product.

 

[gelatoni fan]

You're not the only one who thinks Genie+ isn't worth it. Most of us Magic Keyholders don't buy it precisely because it's not worth it.
To be fair, I didn't think $20 a day Maxpass was worth it either. $10 yes, $15 maybe. Since I had photopass covered with the Maxpass on my AP, sometimes I went with ticketholders who didn't get Maxpass. It wasn't that big of a deal for me to dash over the to Fastpass machine occasionally.

If Genie+ operated like Maxpass and included Web Slingers and Rise of the Resistance, I'd be willing to pay $20 for it for one day every other month or so and if going with friends on tickets who are willing to pay for it. But right now, it's not worth it to me and if my friends are getting Genie+, I'd rather just let them ride and I'll do something else in the meantime.

 

[Kender]

I think G+ is a huge downgrade from what MP was and not a good value even on its own merits particularly when considering situations like yours where not all LLs available on G+ may be rides a person can even go on.

I would still question the value at $20 if it changed to become a MP clone instead (repeats, all LL lanes, max 1.5 hour cool down, half hour minimum cool down unless you scan in, etc), but I would think it had better value than as is.

 

[DodgerGirl]

What I think Disneyland is trying to do is that ever since Genie+ came out is to attract more attendance so that they can make more people visit the parks. Before when Disneyland had Fastpass and Maxpass it was super easy to get Fastpasses for every ride attraction and character meet and greet but now with Genie+ I find it impossible for families to use. Like for every time you want to ride Jungle Cruise or It's A Small World they can tell you if you have Genie+ that you can ride only once and they should've let you ride each ride as much as much as you like rather than once. This I think is what I think makes Genie+ not worthy of getting. What I think Disneyland should've done is have a machine that scans your ticket and if you wish to ride a certain ride you would scan your ticket a green checkmark would appear but if you ride a ride twice and use the same ticket an X symbol would appear along with a buzzer sound with a message saying "SORRY YOU HAVE ALREADY RIDDEN THIS RIDE PLEASE COME BACK WITH A NEW TICKET TOMORROW" and it would've worked. And what I can't figure out is how people are affording money for Genie+ when it's not really worth it for people who are planning a Disneyland vacation and Disneyland should lower the price for it or make it part of a package for guests who stay at the hotels. But this Genie+ along with Lightning Lane should have it's price lowered once improvements are made

 

[By-Tor and Snow Pup]

I think Genie+ is pretty good. When we used it we got good return times on rides with long lines. If you are a tourist on your big trip you absolutely want it because the parks are packed now and it works as promised. We went to the parks yesterday (1/22) and it was just about as busy as it was on New Year's Eve. Lines were very long everywhere. We didn't buy Genie+ yesterday because we have the Dream Key and go about once a month, but definitely, if you were on your big Disney trip yesterday you would definitely have wanted it. It would save you a ton of time in line. Really, I think much of the Genie+ bashing (not saying this thread is that) is that locals don't want to pay $20 extra every time they go, but if you are a tourist, Disney has apparently opened the flood gates with reservations and I couldn't imagine going without Genie+ if this is your chance to see Disneyland.

 

[SOCALMouseMommy]

I think Genie+ is pretty good. When we used it we got good return times on rides with long lines. If you are a tourist on your big trip you absolutely want it because the parks are packed now and it works as promised. We went to the parks yesterday (1/22) and it was just about as busy as it was on New Year's Eve. Lines were very long everywhere. We didn't buy Genie+ yesterday because we have the Dream Key and go about once a month, but definitely, if you were on your big Disney trip yesterday you would definitely have wanted it. It would save you a ton of time in line. Really, I think much of the Genie+ bashing (not saying this thread is that) is that locals don't want to pay $20 extra every time they go, but if you are a tourist, Disney has apparently opened the flood gates with reservations and I couldn't imagine going without Genie+ if this is your chance to see Disneyland.

Wow, if yesterday’s crowds were similar to New Year’s Eve then NYE must have been great! I was there all day and I found crowds very moderate.

I am not intending to “bash” Genie+. I was looking forward to trying it for a special occasion when my husband came for my son’s birthday as he doesn’t come often. But I just did not find the value to be there. Almost everything was a walk on in the morning so you could theoretically ride everything if you come at rope drop.

We used it for Indy in the morning but still had to wait almost as long as the standby line. And then later in the afternoon, we used it for a number of rides but we could have experienced those attractions with minimal waits anyway (all were 15-20 minutes) and saved $100. It just wasn’t worth it to me. I wish it was a better product and I would be more willing to buy it occasionally.

 

[colormegreen]

We bought it about two weeks ago and it was great for riding Matterhorn, Space Mountain, and repeating rides that were ride ons in the morning. But I will say it was only great as it was the time my little one was trying the big rides and made it easier for him to get it over with and he decided he’s not into them at this time.
Paying the extra $20 for raise was disappointing. Not worth it. Ride was not working and then we had to wait a long line of the return times people had missed. The guy was like, still better then waiting the standby line. My response, not when you PAID extra not to.
Anyways, I won’t be buying it again unless it’s packed jam and we are doing in all day thing. As a pass holder who likes to be there at opening we usually do all rides we want by 1:00pm. And we only paid the $20 because my teenager who hardly goes with us went. But I agree, I don’t see the value.

 

[DLgal]

I agree that it's not at all worth what they are charging. And I hate the restrictiveness of it. My kids don't even ride most of the LL rides in DL park (Matterhorn, HM, Indy, Space).

I've already decided that I will ONLY ever buy this when out of town friends or family are visiting and they want to buy it.

We have a DAS and that allows us to handle the longer waits in a way that helps us maximize our time, but even so, we end up riding much less than we did before Genie+ came out.

I'd almost prefer a pay per ride system, where you could pay a flat $5 to access any LL, anytime, as many times as you wanted. Like, you open the app, and if a ride you want has a return time you like, buy access on the spot. I feel like something like that would end up making Disney more money in the long run, and guests satisfaction would likely be much better. As is, when you buy Genie+, you are really only paying for access to a FEW rides every day, because the way the system is set up, you CANNOT ride them all using LL access. It's impossible with the waiting period.

I'd be really interested to know the actual average number of LL rides guests who purchase Genie+ get on in a day. Not talking about uber users who have studied strategy online and are using all the tricks, but like, the AVERAGE park guest. I'll bet it's like 3-4 rides.

 

[mlayton14]

I think the biggest problem with LL at Disneyland is that there aren’t enough rides that take it … add jungle cruise, pirates, and a few of the fantasyland rides and you end up with a better value equation IMO

 

[SOCALMouseMommy]

I think the biggest problem with LL at Disneyland is that there aren’t enough rides that take it … add jungle cruise, pirates, and a few of the fantasyland rides and you end up with a better value equation IMO

Oh my goodness, no thank you! LL wrecks havoc on the standby lines. I would hate to see them add more.

 

[mouschievous]

I can't remember - were Jungle Cruise and Pirates included in FastPass? I'm thinking no.

Anyway, we were a family who loved MaxPass at $10 a day. At $15 we were like, ok...At $20, we were contemplating not getting it (we never got to take that trip). With G+, I agree that the value is diminished due to the once per ride per day thing. We just got back from WDW where we found it useful - not necessarily valuable, but useful - because their lines are SO LONG. Comparing to what we see in the DL app, the lines while we were at WDW were 2x or more the lines at DL, per the 2 apps. So for us, with a once in a lifetime trip to WDW and a party member who had a bad knee, G+ saved us a lot of time and effort. We've been debating whether or not we'll get it for our July DL trip and I think the answer right now is to wait and see.

 

[mlayton14]

I can't remember - were Jungle Cruise and Pirates included in FastPass? I'm thinking

im thinking no as well because there is so little space at Disneyland for lines , but it doesn’t change anything - not enough rides especially since you can’t repeat the rides

 

[gelatoni fan]

I agree that it's not at all worth what they are charging. And I hate the restrictiveness of it. My kids don't even ride most of the LL rides in DL park (Matterhorn, HM, Indy, Space).

I've already decided that I will ONLY ever buy this when out of town friends or family are visiting and they want to buy it.

We have a DAS and that allows us to handle the longer waits in a way that helps us maximize our time, but even so, we end up riding much less than we did before Genie+ came out.

I'd almost prefer a pay per ride system, where you could pay a flat $5 to access any LL, anytime, as many times as you wanted. Like, you open the app, and if a ride you want has a return time you like, buy access on the spot. I feel like something like that would end up making Disney more money in the long run, and guests satisfaction would likely be much better. As is, when you buy Genie+, you are really only paying for access to a FEW rides every day, because the way the system is set up, you CANNOT ride them all using LL access. It's impossible with the waiting period.

I'd be really interested to know the actual average number of LL rides guests who purchase Genie+ get on in a day. Not talking about uber users who have studied strategy online and are using all the tricks, but like, the AVERAGE park guest. I'll bet it's like 3-4 rides.

I personally wouldn't spend more with a pay per ride system. I'm one of those people who would buy annual Photopass and see the Fastpass benefit as a good bundled add-on that makes buying Photopass more palatable.

To get me to pay per ride, it'd have to be less than a dollar per ride. That's the price I was getting with $10 per day Maxpass and annual Maxpass. If they sold Fastpasses with no return window restrictions, I'd probably value them at closer to a dollar due to the added flexibility. At those prices, I'd see myself occasionally buying Rise of the Resistance, Web Slingers, Midway Mania and Guardians of the Galaxy during the Halloween season.

Right now, Genie+ is worth maybe $8 to me. I'd pay $6 to $7 for Photopass, 75 cents for Midway Mania and 50 cents to $1.25 for other rides in the list depending on what I feel like riding that day.

I can't remember - were Jungle Cruise and Pirates included in FastPass? I'm thinking no.

Anyway, we were a family who loved MaxPass at $10 a day. At $15 we were like, ok...At $20, we were contemplating not getting it (we never got to take that trip). With G+, I agree that the value is diminished due to the once per ride per day thing. We just got back from WDW where we found it useful - not necessarily valuable, but useful - because their lines are SO LONG. Comparing to what we see in the DL app, the lines while we were at WDW were 2x or more the lines at DL, per the 2 apps. So for us, with a once in a lifetime trip to WDW and a party member who had a bad knee, G+ saved us a lot of time and effort. We've been debating whether or not we'll get it for our July DL trip and I think the answer right now is to wait and see.

Jungle Cruise and Pirates were not included in Fastpass but if you paid for Maxpass and those rides broke down as you were in line, you could be issued a Multiple Experiences pass usable on that ride or Maxpass attractions. I've only done it for Jungle Cruise and you go in from the exit like how VIP tours do it.

I valued Maxpass similarly to you. I had annual Maxpass but when visiting with ticket holders during the $10 era, everyone always got Maxpass. When I went with a ticket holder in March 2020 when it was $20, she didn't get Maxpass.

I found a couple other things also diminished the value of Genie+ in addition to the rules on rerides. In the Maxpass era, Web Slingers didn't exist so in the time I'm now spending on Web Slingers, I may have gone on a couple of Maxpass attractions. The rule on needing to use your Lightning Lane before getting your next one and 1PM park hopping restriction also really hurt. In the old days, a standard opener for me was to hit 4-6 Fantasyland rides in the first hour, visit Toontown and then hit Space Mountain at the end of its Maxpass window, Star Tours in the middle of its window, then a couple of Maxpass attractions in California Adventure. I'd get 4 Maxpasses in the first two hours of park open and get at least 2 California Adventure Maxpass attractions done before the return times get super late. Those days, I'd sometimes get another one or two Space Mountain Maxpasses later in the day.

 

[SOCALMouseMommy]

I can't remember - were Jungle Cruise and Pirates included in FastPass? I'm thinking no.

No, they are not.

 

[mommabo]

I agree that it's not at all worth what they are charging. And I hate the restrictiveness of it. My kids don't even ride most of the LL rides in DL park (Matterhorn, HM, Indy, Space).

I've already decided that I will ONLY ever buy this when out of town friends or family are visiting and they want to buy it.

We have a DAS and that allows us to handle the longer waits in a way that helps us maximize our time, but even so, we end up riding much less than we did before Genie+ came out.

I'd almost prefer a pay per ride system, where you could pay a flat $5 to access any LL, anytime, as many times as you wanted. Like, you open the app, and if a ride you want has a return time you like, buy access on the spot. I feel like something like that would end up making Disney more money in the long run, and guests satisfaction would likely be much better. As is, when you buy Genie+, you are really only paying for access to a FEW rides every day, because the way the system is set up, you CANNOT ride them all using LL access. It's impossible with the waiting period.

I'd be really interested to know the actual average number of LL rides guests who purchase Genie+ get on in a day. Not talking about uber users who have studied strategy online and are using all the tricks, but like, the AVERAGE park guest. I'll bet it's like 3-4 rides.

maybe I’m missing something, but doesn’t your guess of 3-4 rides on Genie+ equal the $5 per ride you’re willing to pay? I get you could ride the same ride 4 times via your preference, but cost is similar.

The most complaints I hear about Genie+ are from locals who don’t see the value. I get it, MaxPass was a great deal before. Free fast passes even better. People had figured out strategies that worked for them and their budget.

I feel Genie+ was designed more for the less frequent visitor. They may want to ride some attractions more than once, but more likely want to try and experience as many things as possible. Genie+ fits that. They may not be rope droppers or even know about that strategy and mosey into the parks around 10 or 11. For them Genie+ could have value. Would it save them the most amount of time and maximize the value? Probably not, but they might feel like it does.

I loved max pass and would love to have it back, but that ship sailed. I don’t find Genie+ horrible. Less great than MaxPass or free fast passes, yes, but not horrible. In the end, if enough people feel as locals do and don’t buy it, then we will likely see modifications. However, if Disney gets the numbers they want, it’s going nowhere and likely going to increase in cost. Each of us will have to decide where the line is for our families. For many of you, they have reached that point. Are there enough make Disney feel it?

 

[808blessing]

I used the Genie plus for one day of my trip, not for all days. I will do it the same next time and ride all of those G+ rides on the same day. Only at Disneyland and not DCA. I did it on a somewhat low capacity day and felt it was worth it for that one day so I would do regardless of the crowds. The only thing I might do is walk on to Space Mountain in the morning so as to ride it twice. The others I don’t care to do twice.

 

[sjmac42]

I can't remember - were Jungle Cruise and Pirates included in FastPass? I'm thinking no.

As others have said, no they were never part of FastPass. In fact Small World was in and out of been a FastPass ride for a few years before the parks opened and iirc, HM wasn’t originally part of FastPass when it started, could be wrong.

I do agree that G+ is not good value with the restrictions on it and the complexity. Even worse for families like the OP that would be skipping some LL rides. For occasional visitors who want to ride as much as possible and aren’t as familiar with the parks as the people on this forum, the value equation would be more favourable (as long as they can actually understand it ). Why they spent all that money rebranding FP/MP is beyond me, wholly unnecessary expenditure imo.

In the end though, G+ isn’t going anywhere and the price certainly isn’t going down. All we can hope is that the value of it increases by reintroducing re-rides, shorter cooldown periods, choosing your next LL when your window opens so you can stack more rides and less ILL$ rides.

 

[Bossy22]

I still think Disneyland missed the boat with this one. Leaving the oldfastpass machines and charging $10 a ticket to use the old system would make way more sense. I know they seem to want everyone mobile but I hate being on my phone. I also think if you want to pay extra to ride splash 5 times a day then that is fine, why 1 of each. This isn't DW and I'm worried I'll miss the old feeling DL gave and will now need to plan so much more instead of going with the flow.

 

[JWelch62]

We used to have maxpass on our old APs. We would use it extensively. We were at the parks this weekend and decided not to buy the new service. Other than not wanting to wait in line for Rise, we simply didn't miss it. I like Rise, but I'm not going to pay $20, or whatever the rate is to ride it. Same for RSR. And, with the once per day restriction, I find Genie+ less attractive than the old system. I don't feel like I missed anything by not using G+.