One Day at AK and Genie +

[SwanVT2]

Is it worth it to purchase Genie + for one day at AK? Also, if we do get Genie, what is the best strategy for using it at AK? Thank you!

 

[stace1214]

I just watched a video on the youtube AllEars channel where one person did AK with G+ and the other didn't. They both got to do absolutely every attraction but the G+ person did it three hours faster. So totally doable, just would take the more of a full day rather than a half day. I can't remember the strategy they used but it was a really informative video.

 

[lockets]

Everest is closed right now so we just bought an individual lightning lane for avatar and waited on line for everything else and it all got done.

 

[ComeToSocialize]

I think if you're trying to do all the rides at DAK, you're better off buying an ILL for Flight of Passage than Genie+. I'd only buy G+ if you're going to park hop so you can stack for afternoon.

Right now, Everest is closed (that would be an ILL anyways usually) and Kali River Rapids has no line in the winter usually. So you'd be buying G+ for Dinosaur, Navi River Journey and Kilimanjaro Safaris, and that's it. You shouldn't have a problem getting those done in less than 3 hours via standby, particularly if you rope drop or go in late afternoon. Navi will be the longest line so would prioritize that.

Our current plan for our next trip is to get G+ for Navi and ILL for FoP at 7am, standby Safaris, and skip Dinoland entirely. After we tap for Navi we'll start stacking LLs for Magic Kingdom for park hopping. Show up shortly after rope drop, do the 3 rides above, tour the animal exhibits, lunch at Tiffins, then hop to MK.

 

[SwanVT2]

I think if you're trying to do all the rides at DAK, you're better off buying an ILL for Flight of Passage than Genie+. I'd only buy G+ if you're going to park hop so you can stack for afternoon.

Right now, Everest is closed (that would be an ILL anyways usually) and Kali River Rapids has no line in the winter usually. So you'd be buying G+ for Dinosaur, Navi River Journey and Kilimanjaro Safaris, and that's it. You shouldn't have a problem getting those done in less than 3 hours via standby, particularly if you rope drop or go in late afternoon. Navi will be the longest line so would prioritize that.

Our current plan for our next trip is to get G+ for Navi and ILL for FoP at 7am, standby Safaris, and skip Dinoland entirely. After we tap for Navi we'll start stacking LLs for Magic Kingdom for park hopping. Show up shortly after rope drop, do the 3 rides above, tour the animal exhibits, lunch at Tiffins, then hop to MK.

We aren't park hopping, but this is helpful, thanks. Is Navi different from the Pandora ride? Thank you for clarifying.

 

[ComeToSocialize]

We aren't park hopping, but this is helpful, thanks. Is Navi different from the Pandora ride? Thank you for clarifying.

There are 2 rides in Pandora: Avatar Flight of Passage and Navi River Journey. Flight of Passage is the more "thrilling", E-ticket attraction where you ride a banshee in a simulated Pandora world, and is only available for individual lightning lane purchase, it's not on Genie +.

Navi River Journey is a boat ride through Pandora, more of a family ride (think Pirates of Caribbean in Pandora). This one you can get lightning lane access through Genie+.

Flight of Passage will be the longer standby line most times, and only way to bypass the line is buying the individual lane access. I personally think spending your money on that is better than spending the money on Genie+, as you can ride Navi River Journey standby in the morning or at night.

If you're not park hopping, then I don't think Genie+ is necessary at all for AK. The lines get pretty short in the early evening as many people view animal kingdom as a half day park.

Feel free to delete this if you need to. I apologize for the double post. I feel like I have my answer now. Thank you.

No problem, I was the one who messed up and accidentally posted twice when editing my original post! (not sure how to delete).

 

[tealcandtrip]

>Is Navi different from the Pandora ride?

Pandora has two rides. Navi River Journey (included in G+) is a like a short version of Pirates (a slow moving boat ride through jungle scenes). Flight of Passage (not included, but a seperate ILL) is like an advanced version of Soarin'. The person above was suggesting that you buy an ILL for Flight of Passage. Ropedrop Navi River Journey, then head to Kilamanjaro Safaris. The animals are most active in the morning. Then you can hit Dinosaur and Kali River Rapids whenever you get to that section of the park. You don't need to buy Genie+ to skip only four lines.

There's plenty of other things to do at Animal Kingdom besides the rides. Fill the rest of your day with the shows, bands, nature walks, jet-ski show, Rafiki's Planet Watch, eating the tons of good food there, etc. Prioritize the Lion King show and get there early. Don't miss Pandora at night if you can. You can also get in the queue for Flight of Passage at the end of the night and save the money on that ILL.

 

[gharter]

It really depends how busy the park is.
Last fall, we found it helpful at MK and HS. Some what helpful at AK (except now Everest is closed), and not needed at EPCOT.

 

[g-dad66]

On our first day, we won't be entering AK until the afternoon, so I plan to buy Genie+ to:
1) Book Navi sometime prior to 9:00 park opening, by which time the LL time will be in the afternoon
2) Book Safari at 11:00 am, by which time the LL time will be in the afternoon
3) Book Dinosaur or Kali at 1:00 pm for an afternoon time

So we will be able to enter the park with 3 stacked LLs (plus we plan to purchase ILL$ for Flight of Passage)

 

[Brian4891]

Is it worth it to purchase Genie + for one day at AK? Also, if we do get Genie, what is the best strategy for using it at AK? Thank you!

I did get it for Animal Kingdom. Basically it got us on Navi River, Kilimanjaro Safari, and Dinosaur with no wait. Had we gotten to the park when it opened we probably could have done two of those with not much of a wait for free.

We did not want to get there early so that is why we ended up paying for it.

 

[lockets]

We aren't park hopping, but this is helpful, thanks. Is Navi different from the Pandora ride? Thank you for clarifying.

Sorry to be vague! When I said pandora ride I meant Avatar Flight of Passage. Also we don’t do the parks early. We arrived after 12 pm and we were still able to do it all without G+ but we typically stay till close and we did buy the one ILL for Avatar.

 

[Miffy]

We bought ILL$ for FoP and also G+ at DAK. We used G+ only for Safari and NRJ, but we felt it was worth it. Both had long lines when we were there and we didn't have to wait in them. Well, "worth it" is very subjective. If you don't want to stand in long lines and don't mind paying (or don't mind too much!), then, imho, G+ can be helpful in every park but Epcot, where we found it completely unnecessary.

 

[cindyfan]

Also keep in mind... that they have been reducing the number of Festival of the Lion King shows due to staffing. So if that is something you really want to do.... that can end up being a long wait too!

We plan to get Genie+ on our AK day only if we plan to hop so we can use it at another park.
Right now we are planning to purchase LL for Flight of Passage, get Genie+ so that we can use that for Safari, and Navi, and..... if needed... Dinosaur and Lion King. Then hop to MK at 2. The only thing at MK that may already be out of LL is Jungle Cruise. But if it looks like we can do Dinosaur and LK without Genie+ we will book Jungle Cruise while still at AK. It really involves watching wait times on MDE the days before our trip and closely the day of.
It really is a strategy thing!!!

The one good thing about Genie+ is that you can book at another park prior to actually getting to that park.

 

[Davey Jones II]

We bought ILL$ for FoP and also G+ at DAK. We used G+ only for Safari and NRJ, but we felt it was worth it. Both had long lines when we were there and we didn't have to wait in them. Well, "worth it" is very subjective. If you don't want to stand in long lines and don't mind paying (or don't mind too much!), then, imho, G+ can be helpful in every park but Epcot, where we found it completely unnecessary.

Wouldn't G+ be useful for Frozen, Remy, and Soarin'?

 

[glocon]

Wouldn't G+ be useful for Frozen, Remy, and Soarin'?

Remy is an ILL$, but you could use for Frozen and Soarin’.

 

[ComeToSocialize]

Remy is an ILL$, but you could use for Frozen and Soarin’.

Frozen is also ILL$ as of now.

Test Track and Soarin are main rides where G+ is helpful in Epcot. Test Track seems to sell out on G+ pretty early. All the others (Spaceship Earth, Living with Land, Nemo, mission space, figment) G+ tends to not be that helpful as lines are short anyways, with maybe exception of Mission space on crowded days.

 

[mouschievous]

I think if you're trying to do all the rides at DAK, you're better off buying an ILL for Flight of Passage than Genie+. I'd only buy G+ if you're going to park hop so you can stack for afternoon.

...

Our current plan for our next trip is to get G+ for Navi and ILL for FoP at 7am, standby Safaris, and skip Dinoland entirely. After we tap for Navi we'll start stacking LLs for Magic Kingdom for park hopping. Show up shortly after rope drop, do the 3 rides above, tour the animal exhibits, lunch at Tiffins, then hop to MK.

That was our strategy and it worked out great.

Also keep in mind... that they have been reducing the number of Festival of the Lion King shows due to staffing. So if that is something you really want to do.... that can end up being a long wait too!

We plan to get Genie+ on our AK day only if we plan to hop so we can use it at another park.
Right now we are planning to purchase LL for Flight of Passage, get Genie+ so that we can use that for Safari, and Navi, and..... if needed... Dinosaur and Lion King. Then hop to MK at 2. The only thing at MK that may already be out of LL is Jungle Cruise. But if it looks like we can do Dinosaur and LK without Genie+ we will book Jungle Cruise while still at AK. It really involves watching wait times on MDE the days before our trip and closely the day of.
It really is a strategy thing!!!

The one good thing about Genie+ is that you can book at another park prior to actually getting to that park.

The wait for Lion King the other day was insane! If I'd known, I would have 100% used LL for that. We ended up skipping it because the line was so long. We heard another person ask the "End of the Line" CM if they thought they'd get in and the CM said "maybe for the next show" - as in, the one after the one everyone was lined up for.

And your hopping strategy may work - I booked JC for 6:50 pm while sitting at Satuli Canteen around 1 or 1:30, and that was on a Saturday.

Wouldn't G+ be useful for Frozen, Remy, and Soarin'?

Not really. Remy is ILL, so not included with G+, and when we were there last week Soarin' was a walk-on most of the time. We never saw it be more than 35 minutes.

 

[Miffy]

Wouldn't G+ be useful for Frozen, Remy, and Soarin'?

We rope-dropped Soarin' and purchased an ILL$ for Remy (never again) and are not fans of Frozen, so we didn't feel the need for G+ at Epcot. The waits for everything else we wanted to do were very short.