• Controversial Topics
    Several months ago, I added a private sub-forum to allow members to discuss these topics without fear of infractions or banning. It's opt-in, opt-out. Corey Click Here

Genie+ & Solo Travelers!

belle032

DIS Veteran
Joined
Apr 6, 2011
Hi everyone!

What are y'alls thought on purchasing Genie+ as a solo traveler? Do you think the extra cost will be worth it for you?

No right or wrong answers, just genuinely curious about other's opinions!
 
Hi everyone!

What are y'alls thought on purchasing Genie+ as a solo traveler? Do you think the extra cost will be worth it for you?

No right or wrong answers, just genuinely curious about other's opinions!

I think it will be for some. It’s a question of how much you want to do and how much time you have. The premium options do seem like they are advisable given they aren’t covered in Genie+ and most sell out quickly.
 
Assuming I get a chance to go back to Disney anytime soon - I'd probably buy the individual attraction choice for ROTR on a HS day. Beyond that, I'm not sure yet. I rarely want to "be on my phone all day to maximize ride access." If I was looking for a day to hit a lot of rides, I might buy Genie+ that day. Prior to Covid, I was a frequent solo traveler "just for me to get away from work" and have some fun. I didn't need to maximize my enjoyment of attractions.

When I'm ready to return, I'm not sure....... paying for something that was free still stings right now. Probably would on family trips as during those - hitting the rides is often a key goal!
 
I'll be going solo in mid-December and as of right now have no plans to purchase it. To be honest, even if I went with my son, we probably wouldn't purchase it. We (especially I) are frequent visitors to WDW so nothing is really a "must do" as far as rides and we are the very few strange people who don't mind waiting in line if we really want to ride something. I'm not one who needs to ride as many rides as possible. Heck, we didn't even use FP that much, although we did use it a little more when it was the paper kind.

Having said that, I can't say for certain that after a month or two and the trend is running that the SB lines for everything are up around a hour in every park that I wouldn't buy it for certain parks. I've ridden RoTR at least 4 times now so I can 100% say I'm not paying the extra for it. I don't ride FoP unless my son is with me since I'm not a fan, it makes me a little sick and I'm uncomfortable the entire ride, so I'm not paying extra for that. The last time I rode SDMT, it was April and parks weren't at full capacity, I waited in line about a hour for it so I'm good with SB for that.
 


Solo traveler to Disneyland California in January. I will be getting Genie+ for my 3 park days, I am unsure about the extra cost Individual Attractions, as I do single rider and will wait to see wait times for standby
 
Assuming I get a chance to go back to Disney anytime soon - I'd probably buy the individual attraction choice for ROTR on a HS day. Beyond that, I'm not sure yet. I rarely want to "be on my phone all day to maximize ride access." If I was looking for a day to hit a lot of rides, I might buy Genie+ that day. Prior to Covid, I was a frequent solo traveler "just for me to get away from work" and have some fun. I didn't need to maximize my enjoyment of attractions.

When I'm ready to return, I'm not sure....... paying for something that was free still stings right now. Probably would on family trips as during those - hitting the rides is often a key goal!

It’s really no different than Disneyland’s MaxPass was, and far cheaper by the day.
 
I won't be at WDW until at least next fall so have time to see how it rolls out over the year and learn some coping strategies. Right now, I'd keep my usual touring plans but might test drive Genie+ for one day only at MK and HS for comparison. Don't see any use for it at AK and Epcot for me. I really dislike the idea of one shot expensive LL and would need to fail at standby at Rise (haven't done yet) and FOP (love) to consider. Hearing that the 'my plans' feature is buried and hard to find in the app so probably back to my old school printed cheat sheet to glance at my plans and ADRs on the fly.
 


I won't be at WDW until at least next fall so have time to see how it rolls out over the year and learn some coping strategies. Right now, I'd keep my usual touring plans but might test drive Genie+ for one day only at MK and HS for comparison. Don't see any use for it at AK and Epcot for me. I really dislike the idea of one shot expensive LL and would need to fail at standby at Rise (haven't done yet) and FOP (love) to consider. Hearing that the 'my plans' feature is buried and hard to find in the app so probably back to my old school printed cheat sheet to glance at my plans and ADRs on the fly.

To be fair, on ROTR, it may help with the virtual queue to have a one off Lightning Lane there, given it still regularly sold out by park opening and even then the lines were long. I do like the fact you are limited to two premium choices a day since that makes it a bit more fair, by making it difficult for people to monopolize them.
 
I’m going for 2 days in Jan for my first solo trip. I wil definitely buy genie +! I will go on only a handful of rides and plan to walk and see more around the parks, but when I do want to do a ride, the shorter the line the better! Gives me more time to do all the other things I want to do. And $15 for just me doesn’t feel like a stretch. I probably won’t buy the ILL$ becasue I’ll be back in 5 weeks with my kids and will do them then. But if this was my only trip this year I would pay the extra for a short line on the big rides too.
 
I’m going for 2 days in Jan for my first solo trip. I wil definitely buy genie +! I will go on only a handful of rides and plan to walk and see more around the parks, but when I do want to do a ride, the shorter the line the better! Gives me more time to do all the other things I want to do. And $15 for just me doesn’t feel like a stretch. I probably won’t buy the ILL$ becasue I’ll be back in 5 weeks with my kids and will do them then. But if this was my only trip this year I would pay the extra for a short line on the big rides too.

From my perspective, some of the ILL rides(like Rise) would be worth the cost, but they are best evaluated on a case by case basis.
 
I have a solo trip coming up at the beginning of March and have already purchased it, not because I think I will need it but because it’s a new toy and I want to try it out. It will also be a test for our trip in October 2022. I would rather pay for myself to test it then pay for multiple people to try it.
 
I purchased for my 6 day trip in November - only ILL I plan on purchasing is ROTR as the other ILL don't have waits that I feel warrant the $ or the ride is skippable for me. I like to not have to stand in line too much - it allows me to spend more time trying snacks, shopping or just people watching. I liked MaxPass at DL so hoping I like this one at WDW. This trip will determine for me if I buy it in the future.
 
I'm curious to discover how this affects the stand-by lines.

I was in The World in September - I was there the first day RotR changed to stand-by. In the mornings the line was over 90 minutes (mostly over 120) but by 3PM is was down to 45 or so. Most lines at the "big" rides were under 35 minutes most of the day. I had never walked through the stand-by queue at FoP until my Sept 2021 trip. I did it twice - both around 3PM and the wait was 25 minutes.

I'm back in The World in December. I'm going to try it at least once - like KNovacovschi I think it will a fun toy to play with for a day or two. But if the stand-by lines are crazy I might do it more.
 
My plan so far is to do the individual ride purchase for Remy but not Genie+ on my EPCOT day and to buy Genie+ on my MK day. My EPCOT day is going to be more about the holiday offerings than rides so I don’t think I need it but for my MK day I want to do more rides since our day there in the summer was a bit of a bust due to weather and crowds.
 

GET A DISNEY VACATION QUOTE

Dreams Unlimited Travel is committed to providing you with the very best vacation planning experience possible. Our Vacation Planners are experts and will share their honest advice to help you have a magical vacation.

Let us help you with your next Disney Vacation!











facebook twitter
Top