Okay, to say we hate Disneyland *might* be a little harsh. In the past 10 years, we've been to Disneyland 6 times, with the last trip being last month. We got tickets to Disneyland for Christmas and we were all so excited to relive our favorite memories and create new ones at the "happiest place on earth". Little did we know just how much this trip would change our view of Disney! If you've been around for a little bit, you know we try to keep things fun and positive around here, but we also like truthful reviews. After reading about how "great" this new system was we felt an honest review was needed out in the "blog-iverse". We were a little leery of the new Genie+ system because it already costs so much to get our family to the parks. Because we travel as a family we tend to travel on a budget and aren't fans of spending extra money unless we see the value of it. Before arriving to the parks, we were having a hard time seeing the value in the new Genie + system and had pretty much made up our minds to see how far we could get in the parks without giving in to the extra cost. TL:DR - Did we purchase Disney+? Yes. Did we like purchasing it? No. Here's how it went: We spent 3 full days at Disneyland property. We had a 1-year-old along with our 4 and 7-year-olds so we knew we were going to need nap breaks. We also made made a challenge for ourselves that we weren't going to wait for a ride for longer than 30 minutes. Day 1 was spent solely in Disneyland. We got up early enough to get into the park at rope drop, which was awesome! On our Instagram, we got a lot of questions about what rope drop is, so for those that don't know, here's a little explanation: "Rope drop" is when Disney employees "drop" the literal rope that ropes off the park before it officially opens. The gates to the park open about 30 minutes before official opening. On the day we were there the park opened at 9AM so the gates opened at 8:30AM. We got to the rope, which was at the end of Main Street USA, as crowds started forming for the opening of the park. The advantage to rope drop is that you can get to rides before big lines start forming for the day and this is exactly what happened for us. We got on back-to-back rides all morning with little to no wait time. We stopped for an early lunch and then walked around Star Wars Land to scope it out. Both rides were well over 60 minute waits but it was still fun to explore, even without the goal of getting on a ride. We slowly made our way back to the front of the park and got on some rides in fantasy land that were less than 15 minute waits. After a nap break, we headed back to the park and hung around Fantasy Land and Tomorrow Land before calling it a night. Day 2 was spent solely in California Adventure. This is the day we learned some hard lessons about Genie+. We started the day with rope drop and got on quite a few rides with minimal wait time. But we did decide to use Genie+ to get on Web Slingers since we knew that one was going to be pretty impossible to get on without waiting for 60-90 minutes. This is when we realized that there are two different Genie+ "tiers" if you will. With the first option, the Individual Lightning Lane pass, you pay per ride. This pass only includes the following rides:
The price per lightning lane pass can vary between $7-$20 per person per ride depending on the time of day and crowd levels. The other "tier" is the Genie+ lightning lane pass for a flat rate of $20/person per day. This second option includes the following rides:
So to clarify, we thought it was EITHER a "pay per ride" option OR an all encompassing pass of $20/person for all the rides. This is, unfortunately not the case. So we paid $7/person to get in the Lightning Lane for Web Slingers. Such a cool ride but honestly, bummed that we had to pay extra to get on it. Day 3 was our last day. We spent the first half of the day in Disneyland and this was when we broke down and bought the $20/person Genie+ Lightning Lane pass. We definitely had a strategy of holding off until the last day so we could get on all the rides that we weren't able to get on for the first two days - rides like Space Mountain, Millenium Falcon, and Guardians of the Galaxy. This saved us from having to purchase the pass each day, especially since we split the day between the two parks but it still stung to have to buy it in the first place. We truly felt it was the only way we were going to be able to make the most of our trip and get on some of the more popular rides without waiting an obscene amount of time. It really felt like a lose/lose situation. To sum it up, we miss the fast pass system. We loved the strategy with fast pass and the ease of use. We feel that the fast pass system was the best way to maximize a Disney trip and get on all your favorite rides, and why fix something that isn't broke?? The fact that the choice now is to either pay to get on a ride or wait in an obscene line is so frustrating and rather maddening. And it's not like it's just the "popular" rides that have long lines, either! It seems that somehow, this new system has caused lines all over the park to be longer than normal when crowds in general don't seem larger than normal. The day we went to California Adventure, the wait time for Monsters, Inc was consistently over 45 minutes long almost the entire day! (We were able to walk onto this ride by getting on close to closing.) But the worst thing about Genie+ is that it's not an "all or nothing" system. It truly felt like Disney got their think tank together to figure out the best way to price gouge park goers and make it feel inevitable for them to give in to. Some other things to know about the Genie + system:
In the end, our kids had a blast and never knew the difference, so I guess we should chalk that up to a win! As parents footing the bill, though, it may be awhile before we can stomach another Disney trip for the future. So what do you think? Do we sound like a bunch of whiney kids? Or do you think Disney should bring back Fast Pass? Let us know if you have more questions about the Genie+ system that we didn't answer. If you've used it, how was your experience? We'd love to know! Don't forget to join us on Instagram to come with us on our day-to-day adventures! And as always, make sure to get out and enjoy where YOU live!
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AuthorWe're just a military family enjoying where we live, one PCS at a time. Follow us as we explore our current home, South Carolina, and beyond. The world is our backyard. Archives
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