Genie+ for Epcot with Extended Evening Hours?

[DrummerAlly]

We will be a large extended family group making a WDW trip in July. We arrive at MCO at 7:55am (after getting up at 3am to go to the airport), so we'll be tired early - especially the young and the old in the group. We are staying at WL, so we can go to Extended Evening Hours at Epcot on our first night there. We have an ADR at Tutto Italia for 4:00 dinner.

Our plan is to check in to the hotel and go straight to Epcot. My guess is that after that 4:00 dinner my mom and my six year old will go back to the resort for bed. The rest of the group is going to be trying to stick it out as long as possible through the Extended Evening Hours. My mom and six year old will not have any "must do" rides. The rest of the group will want to ride everything.

So, Genie+ or no Genie+? I'm thinking I could book it and start stacking for later in the evening from the airplane. Alternatively, will crowds be low enough for the extended evening hours for us to hit all the headliners without Genie+?

 

[KTK]

I don't think Genie+ is needed. I honestly have never used Genie+ for Epcot even with just normal hours. Test Track will be closed starting later this month, so you have to factor that in. You can join the virtual queue for Guardians for free. Plus with extended hours you can join the virtual queue for Guardians again for the extended hours (so you could ride it twice in one day). We have done extended hours at Epcot in December and were able to ride Guardians, Test Track, and Soarin without difficulty. You can't use Genie+ for the extended hours. Being up at 3 am, I would highly recommend all of you take a nap in the afternoon.