Move over Fastpass meet your successor Genie+. If you’ve been to Walt Disney World or Disneyland lately you’ve seen that Fastpasses have disappeared and a new service is available for an additional charge ($15) called Genie+. And while change is difficult and we often resist it I am going to have an unpopular opinion that it might be slightly better than the previous system and here’s why. Fastpasses allowed you to call your shot 60 days out and maybe get one or two rides of your choice that had greatly reduced lines. Genie+ used correctly may do a little better than that.
We’ve had one experience with the system and I was really disappointed early in the day but the overall number of rides we were able to ride with our little one was pretty good all things considered. We were able to ride Pirates of the Caribbean, the Barnstormer (Goofy Coaster), Dumbo, the Tea Cups, Tomorrowland Speedway, Haunted Mansion, the People Mover, Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin, the Swiss Family Treehouse, the Jungle Cruise, the Festival of Fantasy Parade, and a Micky Mouse Meet & Greet. Pretty full day to get started at open and leave by 3PM. Yes – we missed Space Mountain and the Seven Dwarves Mine Train – our little person is still too short for these rides and yes – we did have lunch and snacks.
How’d we do it? First, we watched the video above and got some pointers. The goal was to ride all the rides we could but not race from ride to ride. Despite the long list, it was a pretty relaxed day. Second, we made our first pick at 7AM (Jungle Cruise), our second two hours after the park opened, and each additional pick as soon as we tapped our Magic Bands to check-in at the following ride. We gave Genie+ a reasonable amount of control and took the ride that was available next not always the one we wanted or the one closest to us. We did bounce around the park a bit and we did ride standby while we were waiting on Lightning Lanes to open for us.
Maybe we got lucky. We’ll see the next time we visit. I wouldn’t buy Genie+ for every park and I wouldn’t buy it for every visit because rides are not always the focus. I would recommend this to anyone that wants to ride as much as they can in one day. I’ll report back after our next trip if we find the same value in doing it again. Until then my best advice is to understand how and when you can pick your next ride or show and always know there are more options when things don’t go exactly the way you want and just have fun.
