Honest opinion. No Genie+ in June

[Capo]

Im taking the kids in late June to the parks but have a large family. The price for Genie+ every day would be rather large. How "bad" would it realistically be in late June with just standby?

 

[slo]

I went in June last year and there’s no way I’d go without buying Genie+. It is costly, but I’m already spending a lot to be there, and I don’t want to spend half my day waiting in lines. For me, Genie+ is part of the admission and I budget for it from the start. Whatever you decide - have a great trip

 

[Dulcee]

We'll be there mid-late June and plan on using Genie+ only one day. We've done two spring break trips since Genie+ began, which has arguably some of the worst crowds of the year. We managed one year without Genie+ at all and on another trip we only used it one day.

It is doable if you are open to very early mornings and late nights. We stop for naps and breaks midday which is a great way to avoid the crowds, heat and rain as well!

 

[BrianL]

We'll be there mid-late June and plan on using Genie+ only one day. We've done two spring break trips since Genie+ began, which has arguably some of the worst crowds of the year. We managed one year without Genie+ at all and on another trip we only used it one day.

It is doable if you are open to very early mornings and late nights. We stop for naps and breaks midday which is a great way to avoid the crowds, heat and rain as well!

I agree. If you do rope drop I think you can get away without it, and you can always just get it for one day if you feel that you need it. Personally, I tend to skip G+ and just buy a single ILL if I need it. It saves time doing what is essentially the "biggest" ride, then I just wait on the others. Again, early morning and later evenings are your friend too.

 

[scrappinginontario]

Many (myself included) feel Genie+ is not needed for AK or Epcot so there could be a savings there.

You never 'need' Genie+, it's just a nice way to save some line time but only you know how much that time is worth to you.

 

[hertamaniac]

I'm going in June and not purchasing G+ (planning on HS or MK during a weekday). We were at EPCOT a few weeks ago and also didn't purchase it (again, weekday).

 

[jimmymc]

I would at least get it for a full Magic Kingdom day. In Epcot and Animal Kingdom, you really don't need it, and Studios is very nice to have it if you want to do everything, but also possible to avoid it.

 

[Capo]

I agree. If you do rope drop I think you can get away without it, and you can always just get it for one day if you feel that you need it. Personally, I tend to skip G+ and just buy a single ILL if I need it. It saves time doing what is essentially the "biggest" ride, then I just wait on the others. Again, early morning and later evenings are your friend too.

Can you purchase a single lightning lane without first having genie plus?

Thank you all!

 

[BrianL]

Can you purchase a single lightning lane without first having genie plus?

Thank you all!

Yes. Genie+ and the Individual Lightning Lanes are completely seperate. Certain rides are not included with Genie+ and have to be purcahsed seperately. You may do this regardless of if you use Genie+ or not. The ILL rides are:

MK: Seven Dwarf's Mine Train
MK: TRON Lightcycle/Run
EP: Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind
HS: Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance
AK: Avatar: Flight of Passage

There is only one in each park except for MK which has two. Please note that you DO NOT get access to these rides through Genie+, only the Individual Lightning Lane purchase. Also, not that both TRON and Guardians require a Virtual Queue boarding group and have no standby line. The Virtual Queue can be entered for free but will run out (VERY FAST in the case of TRON).

One other difference with ILL purchases is that you will select your time as opposed to taking the next available times as they roll through as you would on Genie+.

That's probably more of an answer than you expected, but hopefully it is helpful.

EDIT: To add, depending on when you are going, Tiana's Bayou Adventure may be open (expected to be sometime in June). This ride will likely become an ILL selection and they may or may not place 7DMT on regular Genie+ but that is not for certian at this time. It is possible that there will be changes though.

 

[Lumpy1106]

We went during that time last summer. It depends on the park and how early your party can get to the park. Assuming you are going to rope drop, or at least get there in the first hour;
DAK - don't need it. If you are ON THE ROPE, then go to FoP first, otherwise, do everything else first. There is no line for Everest, KJ, Dinosaur or KRR for at least the first hour. Do those, then spend the bulk of the day going to shows, ride the train, heck, even leave the park (that's what we did - had lunch at DS), then come back about 2 hours before close and do NRJ and FoP. Even if FoP line is still bad at the end of the day (and it was when we were there), you only need to be in line at park close.

EPCOT - don't need it. Don't rope drop TT2 (might even be closed when you are there). Use single rider on that one. Rope drop Frozen or Rat. The Frozen line just drags once the G+ fills in. Worst case it's 2 bad lines. Everything else goes through cycles but have periods when the lines are not long. guardians is VQ - don't forget to get that one at 7a.

DHS - how badly do you want to ride SDD? SDD line gets atrocious and RnRC is supposed to close for refurb for an extended period. You may want to get G+ in defense - BUT...don't be surprised if you run out of rides to use it on. If you are OK skipping SDD and can rope drop, maybe you don't need it. Hint; Smugglers Run line gets really short late in the day. Single rider does not help on RnRC if it is open.

MK - how many days are you going to spend here? We did not get it one day and did on another day. Standby lines are not bad here except PP, Space Mountain and Jungle Cruise. Don't forget to get TRON VQ @ 7a. Both TRON and 7DMT are individual paid lightning lanes. Had it to do over again I think we'd skip getting G+ since we were here 2 days, but would get it if you are only going 1 day.

 

[elvispursley]

Depending on how large your group is, it may be more difficult getting return times with G+ with a large group. You. Ay need to split your group to find better return times. We’ve gone in the middle of July and did all the parks without G+ and managed just fine, but YMMV.