While I know most of us enjoyed the old FastPass system...like it or not, it's toast. Genie+ is here to stay, in some form or fashion. But it's not all bad, and contrary to what many saying in terms of it's awfulness, my wife and I have found the best way to use to MAXIMIZE YOUR ENJOYMENT both in the parks AND the resorts (which, let's be honest...you are paying a pretty penny to stay at).
I won't go into the details here on how Genie+ works (there's plenty of blogs that have done a nice job of that), but suffice to say, the premise is Genie+ will allow you to book expedited access to a ride later in the day. The key to this strategy is the WHEN of later in the day. I'll start by showing you our itinerary, and how we killed it that day with our 3 little kiddos...without spending too much time on our phones getting passes!
We stayed at Villas at the Grand Floridian, and headed off to Magic Kingdom
0645: paid for Genie+ for entire party
0700: booked Individual Lightning Lanes for Snow White Mine Car Ride (got ~1100)
0701: booked first Genie+ for ~1030)
0830: ride-areas of MK opened for Disney Guests (we made inside the park at 0828...don't judge, we have 3 little kids!)
0900: we book our second Genie+ for...around 1700 (this is key!)
1100: we book another Genie+ for....around 1715
1300: we book yet another Genie+ for...around 1800-1900
1500: still following? this is our 4th Genie+ for the late afternoon
Now...here's how we MAXIMIZED OUR ENJOYMENT.
In the morning, we focused on the less popular and less busy rides. Waited usually under 20 minutes to get on. For the Genie+ bookings, we strategically booked the more popular rides that would give us the evening bookings...if a ride's timeframe was showing too early, we would hold off on that ride until 2 hours later.
After enjoying the park in the morning (when it's cooler, too!), we then finished up with our LL+ and Genie+ for Snow White and that first ride we snagged.
Then? Out of the park...and back to the resort pool! There, we had a lazy lunch, and enjoyed the pool with the kids...and the only thing I did was set my Apple Watch to a timer so I could snag another Genie+...while at the pool!
After about 4 hours of pool time, we headed back to our DVC villa...made a light pre-dinner snack for the kids while they relaxed for a bit, and lovely wife and I enjoyed some quiet time on the balcony (mentally fist-bumping our scheduling success!)
Then, around 1645...we start our leisurely stroll back to the park, and lo and behold, even though the park is crowded...we now have FOUR "fast passes" all lined up for the evening...little line waiting for this family! Over the next 3 hours in the park, we are enjoying bouncing from ride to ride to photos, back to a ride.
Happiest campers, parents included!
and THAT'S how you crush a park with DVC and Genie+!
NOTE: this works for any park, but it's best suited for park/villa pairs:
Magic Kingdom w/ VGF, PVB, or BLT
Epcot and Hollywood Studios w/ BCV or BWV
Animal Kingdom is a bit tricky (at least until Disney gets its act together and builds the darn walking path to the Animal Kingdom Lodge), but the bus ride to/from the Lodge is the quickest of all other resorts.
Opmerkingen