December 2021 Trip Analysis: Keeping Genie+ in a Bottle

[Touchdown]

All right after my trip in late October I came away feeling that I did not need Genie+ and I decided to keep track throughout my stay in December before I get to the raw data, I do want to point out a few points, I was greatly “hindered” on my evenings at Epcot this trip because I had 8:30 Candlelight tickets every night which is something that I would never change but took away nearly 2 hours of valuable ride time every night. Again, Candlelight is worth it but I would have gotten a lot more done at Epcot without it and had shorter times but it is what it is. I also (as you will see) was incredibly unlucky in my first two days with all the trackless rides going down multiple times. I feel like my 12/10 morning is much more indictive of what 12/8 should have been. Seeing as I had no plans to pay for ILL and no other park reservations for Epcot goal #1 of 12/7 was to get on Rat, no matter what. I also learned that the Rise line is clearly moving much slower then it did in Oct and it was clear that I had to modify my rope drop plans, on my last day, I made a snap decision when passing Rise on my way to do MFSR and then Slinky to audible and do Rise again because the line was nearly inside the caves. Ok down to basics, I did not want to look at my watch as I was boarding a ride and then try to remember the time or pull out my phone on a ride to record the time so, all times include ride times, so please keep that in mind. Also I did DAH twice and evening EMH once, but I will pull those rides out in the analysis. Finally, while I might have timed some shows I didn’t for others so I will not be including any show attractions, the ride has to move (and not be CoP) to count, and I actually have to ride something.

Epcot 12/7
1:29-1:45 Rat line, went 101
Wander through WS, lunch at Biergarten
4:33-6:33 Rat (101 did not leave) (120 min)
6:44-6:53-Imagination (9 min)
6:57-7:33-LwtL (35 min)
Candlelight, Harmonious, Minnie’s Wonderful Christmastime from the contemporary.

DHS 12/8:
7:15:Bus to DHS, 3rd in line at Slinky
8:30-8:34 Slinky (4 min)
8:37-9:55 TSM (18 min)
9:04-9:18 ToT (14 min)
9:19-9:38 ToT (21 min)
9:41-10:03 RnRC SRL (22 min)
10:12-11:55MMRR(ride fail)
12:00-12:45 Rise (fail)
12:55-2:18 MMRR (83 min)
Frozen Sing a long
3:08-3:23 Star Tours (15 min)
3:26-4:30 Rise (fail)

MK 12/8:
7:00-7:23 CoP
Enchantment
8:21-8:41 CBJ
8:43-9:24 Splash (41 min)
EMH
9:27-9:35-BTMRR (8 min)
9:36-9:44 BTMRR (12 min)
9:47-9:57 PotC (10 min)
10:02-10:21 HM (19 min)
10:23-10:41 Peter Pan (18 min)
10:44-10:49-Pooh (5 min)
10:50-11:10 SDMT (20 min)

AK 12/9:
6:15 Bus to AK
7:30-7:54 FOP (24 min)
7:57-8:09 NRJ (12 min)
8:18-9:06 KS (44 min)
9:18-9:37 Dinosaur (19 min)
9:38-9:50 Dinosaur (12 min)
FotLK
11:35-1:36 FoP (121 min)
2:11-2:40 Everest SRL (31 min)
2:41-3:04 Everest SRL (23 min)
3:29-3:50 Everest (21 min)

MK 12/9:
Enchantment
DAH:
8:25-8:44 Space (19 min)
8:47-9:00 Peoplemover (13 min)
9:15-9:19 Dumbo (4 min)
9:20-9:30 Mermaid (10 min)
MOUACT, Castle Show, Fireworks
11:30-11:53-Jingle Cruise (23 min)
11:54-12:04 PotC (10 min)
MOUACT
12:17-12:33 Splash (16 min)
12:35-12:58 Haunted Mansion (stretching room by myself) (23 min)
12:59-1:15 Peter Pan (16 min)

DHS 12/10:
8:30-8:35 Slinky (5 min)
8:37-8:58 TSMM (21 min)
9:02-9:35 MMRR (33 min)
9:41-10:13 ToT (32 min)
10:16-11:02 RnRC SRL (46 min)
11:16-1:24 Rise (128 min)
Cantina

Epcot 12/10
Holiday Voyagers
Canada Far and Wide
3:40-4:00-Gran Fiesta (20 min)
Biergarten
5:27-6:50 Frozen (83 min)
6:59-7:14 Mission Space (15 min)
Candlelight, Harmonious, Wonderful Christmastime from contemporary

MK 12/11
8:30-9:11 SDMT (41 min)
9:15-9:33 BTMRR (18 min)
9:46-10:05 Splash (19 min)
10:09-10:28 POTC (19 min)
10:34-11:06 HM (32 min)
11:08-11:46 iasw (38 min)
12:19-12:36 Tiki
12:37-1:06 CBJ
1:08-1:30 Philharmagic

Epcot 12/11
4:08-4:47 AA
5:24-5:54-Soarin (30 min)
5:59-6:08 Nemo (9 min)
6:28-6:48 SE (20 min)
6:55-7:11 Test Track SRL (16 min)

DHS 12/12
7:45-8:22 Rise (37 min)
8:30-8:46 TSMM (16 min)
8:54-9:05 ToT (9 min)
9:06-9:19 ToT (13 min)
9:20-9:37 ToT (17 min)
9:40-10:00 RnRC SRL (20 min)
10:10-10:57 MMRR (43 min)
11:03-11:30 MV3D
11:37-1:28 Rise (111 min)

Epcot 12/12
2:53-3:10 Figment (17 min)
3:20-3:55 Soarin (35 min)

MK 12/12
7:02-7:28 Philharmagic
Enchanted
DAH
8:21-8:32 Space (11 min)
8:27-8:56 Peoplemover (29 min)
9:02-9:09 Mermaid (7 min)
9:12-9:16 Tea Party (4 min)
9:16-9:29 Pooh (13 min)
MOUACT, Castle Show, Fireworks
11:31-11:41 PotC (10 min)
11:44-12:01 Splash (16 min)
12:02-12:19 Splash (17 min)
12:21-12:30 BTMRR (9 min)
12:34-12:44 HM (10 min)
12:46-12:52 Pan (6 min)
12:54-1:15 SDMT (19 min)

Total Rides Ridden This Trip: 77 (49 Normal Rides, 7 Evening EMH Rides, 21 DAH Rides)
Rides Per Day: 13 (8 Normal Rides, 7 Evening EMH Rides, 10.5 DAH Rides)
Average Wait: 26 min (33 min Normal Rides, 13 min Evening EMH Rides, 14 min DAH Rides)

Once you factor in that those waits include ride times, I can safely say that I waited less then 30 min on average for every ride and that’s with the horrific luck I had the first two days. This was the most crowded that I have ever experienced the parks this week. Without that bad luck, my wait times would have been significantly shorter both because I would have been successful with my first wait which would have been less, and because I would have done more rides (with a shorter wait.) I continue to believe that, provided you can rope drop morning EMH, you do not need Genie+. Note, I did not break out EE rides because my thesis has always been that G+ is only not needed if you get EE.

 

[leonalvarado]

I just got back from spending three days including New Year's eve in WDW. I'll be the first one to admit that I don't like the Genie+ or any idea that makes you pay over the ticket price to ensure you get to "ride" what you already paid for. Although the app makes things more available I find it not too cumbersome and not intuitive enough for you to be able to use it to it's fullest. Also, should your phone run out of battery (mine did), you have to spend another $30 to get a battery pack to recharge it. Otherwise, no access to anything. The magic bands still work but their purpose is almost limited to opening your hotel door and getting into places where you need to scan them. Park hopping is now a joke. I bought them and never had the chance to use it. Once you spend enough time to learn the app you can pre-order your food and once you do that, they will let you in the counter-service restaurants. No pre-order, no entering. A few years ago they decided t start charging you for parking your car in the hotel parking lots. They tell you now that your stay comes with a "free" parking on any park. But of course you are still paying $25 per day to have your car there to begin with. So it is not "free" anything. I have been going to WDW very regularly since 1976. I was there two weeks after EPCOT opened and I was there in the Magic Kingdom when the new millennium arrived. I have seen tickets prices rise and rise but these days they seem to be fixated on how much money they can squeeze out of you in many ways. Genie+ I bought after hearing how bad lines were. It cost me $45.00 per day but we really didn't need them. Our priority in the MK were Space Mountain, Haunted House, Jungle Cruise, Pirates of The Caribbean. Before noon on Dec 30th we had done all without use of the Genie+ but the Jungle Cruise. That one we had to do the standing line as the closest we could get a Lighting Line pass for it was at night and I really like the ride at day time. Same for the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. We quickly found out to make sure you take the advantage of early entry and do as many rides in the morning as you can. By the afternoon pretty much all the worthy Genie+ rides would be filled up. We ended up using the Genie+ to take a second go at some of the rides. The second day (New Year's eve) we spent over at the Hollywood Studios park. I had plan and booked the Mickey and Minnie ride with the genie but when we got there, the wait was less than 10 minutes so we went for it. Then we went to Rise of The Resistance and the wait was only 30 minutes so we went in there. We did single rider for the Millennium Falcon ride and my son and I still ended up in the same cabin. Single rider had no wait at all. We used the genie+ to re-ride the Rise of the Resistance and to ride the Toy Story Mania ride which was the only ride that we faced with a huge line (at the time we where there). We also did Star Tours which had a low wait (and still a great SW ride). We saw the Indiana Jones show which must have just re-opened since it is not even mentioned int eh printed maps of the park. Next day, we spent it at Epcot. Got in early entry and went through the Spaceship Earth right of the bat. Got that out with no wait at all. Then we moved onto Test track that already had a 45 mins line. But we went as single riders and had no wait at all. After that we headed towards the other side of what was called FUTURE WORLD, (which is now a bunch of little lands. Got into the Journey Into the Imagination as it had no line at all. We then headed to the Land pavilion. Rode on the little boat ride Living In The Land. Got out and went to Soarin' which I had booked for later on with the Genie+. The wait was 10 minutes so we went and it took us longer to walk all the way to the ride than the actually wait. We rode that and went to the Living Seas. Did the Nemo ride, missed the aqualators and the whole original ride a bunch. Looked around the tanks, etc. Got some food on the run and moved onto the World Showcase. Rode the ride in Mexico with the three Caballeros. It's sort of like It's a Small World but different. I like ti and I like the whole atmosphere inside the Mexican Pavilion. We had booked a "virtual line" for Ratatouille which came at 1pm. It was actually about 10 minutes late but at 1:10 they gave us the privilege to stand in line for about 45 minutes before actually getting into the ride. The ride itself was good but it was also running through a movie theater getting at ties real close to the screen with 3D glasses. Again, the real need for the Genie+ wasn't there and so we really didn't even use it on the third day. I spent $45 ($15 each) X 3 = $135.00 on top of the $136 per person per day for the ticket price, $30 for three magic bands and $66 for our car to be park in the property. That's not including the hotel and meal, (which let's be honest, even a little meal for three runs at least $60 in the park). I honey-mooned in WDW twice in my life, (second marriage stuck for good). We actually had a much better trip than our last one in 2019 where it rained everyday adding a layer of nastiness to the trip. None of that this time around. We got there on the 29th's evening. We spent the first night over at Disney Spring. The next three each in a different park (we skipped the Animal Kingdom Park this time around). At the end of it I added all the money we spent and broke it down by minutes. Our trip cost us $1.06 per minute for three people. That's including time sleeping, gong to the bathroom or just walking doing nothing but trying to get back into your hotel at night. I am a big WDW and Disneyland fan. I have been in both those parks more times than I can remember. In WDW we have stayed at the Contemporary, The Animal Kingdom, The Wilderness Lodge, Port Orleans, the Art Of Animation, All-Star Sports, All-Stars Movies, All Stars Music. In Disneyland we have stayed over at the Disneyland Hotel and the Paradise Pear Hotel. In all I have spent close to two months in Disney Parks and probably shell out about $30K in total expenditure. This new, let's charge you for everything approach will not fly long with me. If the trend continues I can see the days when going to Disney won't be on my plans. I actually find it fairly insulting and degrading that they keep asking for you to shell out lots of money when you already paid a ton. Do you want to see a cast member stop being nice? Just mentioned to them how much you dislike the fact that they are still charging you for things you already aid for once you're inside the park.

 

[Trackmaster]

I just got back from spending three days including New Year's eve in WDW. I'll be the first one to admit that I don't like the Genie+ or any idea that makes you pay over the ticket price to ensure you get to "ride" what you already paid for. Although the app makes things more available I find it not too cumbersome and not intuitive enough for you to be able to use it to it's fullest. Also, should your phone run out of battery (mine did), you have to spend another $30 to get a battery pack to recharge it. Otherwise, no access to anything. The magic bands still work but their purpose is almost limited to opening your hotel door and getting into places where you need to scan them. Park hopping is now a joke. I bought them and never had the chance to use it. Once you spend enough time to learn the app you can pre-order your food and once you do that, they will let you in the counter-service restaurants. No pre-order, no entering. A few years ago they decided t start charging you for parking your car in the hotel parking lots. They tell you now that your stay comes with a "free" parking on any park. But of course you are still paying $25 per day to have your car there to begin with. So it is not "free" anything. I have been going to WDW very regularly since 1976. I was there two weeks after EPCOT opened and I was there in the Magic Kingdom when the new millennium arrived. I have seen tickets prices rise and rise but these days they seem to be fixated on how much money they can squeeze out of you in many ways. Genie+ I bought after hearing how bad lines were. It cost me $45.00 per day but we really didn't need them. Our priority in the MK were Space Mountain, Haunted House, Jungle Cruise, Pirates of The Caribbean. Before noon on Dec 30th we had done all without use of the Genie+ but the Jungle Cruise. That one we had to do the standing line as the closest we could get a Lighting Line pass for it was at night and I really like the ride at day time. Same for the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. We quickly found out to make sure you take the advantage of early entry and do as many rides in the morning as you can. By the afternoon pretty much all the worthy Genie+ rides would be filled up. We ended up using the Genie+ to take a second go at some of the rides. The second day (New Year's eve) we spent over at the Hollywood Studios park. I had plan and booked the Mickey and Minnie ride with the genie but when we got there, the wait was less than 10 minutes so we went for it. Then we went to Rise of The Resistance and the wait was only 30 minutes so we went in there. We did single rider for the Millennium Falcon ride and my son and I still ended up in the same cabin. Single rider had no wait at all. We used the genie+ to re-ride the Rise of the Resistance and to ride the Toy Story Mania ride which was the only ride that we faced with a huge line (at the time we where there). We also did Star Tours which had a low wait (and still a great SW ride). We saw the Indiana Jones show which must have just re-opened since it is not even mentioned int eh printed maps of the park. Next day, we spent it at Epcot. Got in early entry and went through the Spaceship Earth right of the bat. Got that out with no wait at all. Then we moved onto Test track that already had a 45 mins line. But we went as single riders and had no wait at all. After that we headed towards the other side of what was called FUTURE WORLD, (which is now a bunch of little lands. Got into the Journey Into the Imagination as it had no line at all. We then headed to the Land pavilion. Rode on the little boat ride Living In The Land. Got out and went to Soarin' which I had booked for later on with the Genie+. The wait was 10 minutes so we went and it took us longer to walk all the way to the ride than the actually wait. We rode that and went to the Living Seas. Did the Nemo ride, missed the aqualators and the whole original ride a bunch. Looked around the tanks, etc. Got some food on the run and moved onto the World Showcase. Rode the ride in Mexico with the three Caballeros. It's sort of like It's a Small World but different. I like ti and I like the whole atmosphere inside the Mexican Pavilion. We had booked a "virtual line" for Ratatouille which came at 1pm. It was actually about 10 minutes late but at 1:10 they gave us the privilege to stand in line for about 45 minutes before actually getting into the ride. The ride itself was good but it was also running through a movie theater getting at ties real close to the screen with 3D glasses. Again, the real need for the Genie+ wasn't there and so we really didn't even use it on the third day. I spent $45 ($15 each) X 3 = $135.00 on top of the $136 per person per day for the ticket price, $30 for three magic bands and $66 for our car to be park in the property. That's not including the hotel and meal, (which let's be honest, even a little meal for three runs at least $60 in the park). I honey-mooned in WDW twice in my life, (second marriage stuck for good). We actually had a much better trip than our last one in 2019 where it rained everyday adding a layer of nastiness to the trip. None of that this time around. We got there on the 29th's evening. We spent the first night over at Disney Spring. The next three each in a different park (we skipped the Animal Kingdom Park this time around). At the end of it I added all the money we spent and broke it down by minutes. Our trip cost us $1.06 per minute for three people. That's including time sleeping, gong to the bathroom or just walking doing nothing but trying to get back into your hotel at night. I am a big WDW and Disneyland fan. I have been in both those parks more times than I can remember. In WDW we have stayed at the Contemporary, The Animal Kingdom, The Wilderness Lodge, Port Orleans, the Art Of Animation, All-Star Sports, All-Stars Movies, All Stars Music. In Disneyland we have stayed over at the Disneyland Hotel and the Paradise Pear Hotel. In all I have spent close to two months in Disney Parks and probably shell out about $30K in total expenditure. This new, let's charge you for everything approach will not fly long with me. If the trend continues I can see the days when going to Disney won't be on my plans. I actually find it fairly insulting and degrading that they keep asking for you to shell out lots of money when you already paid a ton. Do you want to see a cast member stop being nice? Just mentioned to them how much you dislike the fact that they are still charging you for things you already aid for once you're inside the park.

I don't know why you wouldn't just rent a car and stay offsite. You can save a ton of money and time. The hotels are a lot less expensive, and you're more free to pursue cheaper options to eat.