Reviews of Disney Genie+ — WDW
Reviewed by Anonymous Review Date: 02/27/2023
Rating: (1) Not Recommended
We just completed our 5 day trip to Disney World. I have been going there since the park first opened and must say this trip will sadly be my last. The magic is truly gone. I purchased Genie + for my family of 8 for almost $200 for one day. I was able to book one ride (Pirates of the Caribbean) at 7 am. Every time after that I had to call the helpline as the app was not working properly. I spent a total of almost 40 minutes on the phone. We were able to get on Dumbo and the Ariel ride. The woman who helped me offered me those two rides as they were available and fairly close to one another. They acknowledged my app was not working correctly and told me to go to Guest Services. So, another twenty minutes was wasted. The representative told me that all I could expect from Genie + was two or three rides and I was lucky that I had been able to book three. When I informed him that certainly Dumbo and Ariel didn't qualify as high value rides and I only was able to get those because I had to waste my vacation time calling, he was not concerned. I explained that the app was not working, didn't let me book what I wanted and I felt that the nearly $200 I spent in addition to my ticket (about $140 per person each day). He begrudgingly offered me one lightening pass per person for the following day. I vowed never to buy Genie + again, but my son bought it for the next day. He too had trouble with the app and was only able to get one ride. I have an iPhone he has a Samsung. He also complained and received no compensation. He had only purchased it for 4 people, so he was only out an additional $100.
Pros:
NoneCons:
App did not workReviewed by KayMyers Review Date: 02/17/2023
Rating: (1) Not Recommended
We paid for Disney Genie + each day of a 4 day trip, we’ve been to Disney in the past and spent months planning and detailing our routes around the park to make a fantastic trip. This experience was terrible to be completely honest. We had reservations booked months in advance, that all of a sudden we had to make decisions of using the only option for a lightning lane and incur last minute cancellation charges on top of the money we spent on genie, or miss the attraction that would make our trip worth it. Attractions constantly running into each other, because it only gives you certain options. We wasted so much money and time being on our phones in the park. I don’t understand why Disney is making so much money off of me and still wants more - we won’t be back until they change this because this trip just was not magical.
Pros:
I can’t think of any - not to be dramatic but there’s nothing I can think of that would make me want this to stay.Cons:
Waste of money, time, inefficient, app constantly glitches because it can’t keep up with the park crowds, zero options for rides - we got to see so much less than what we have in the past because of this system. It’s really terrible. It’s complicated, hard to understand…they need to undo this quickly. I’ve never seen lines as long as I have in February!! Unheard of.Reviewed by Anonymous Review Date: 02/17/2023
Rating: (2) Not Recommended
Inefficient Service
Pros:
Virtual queues work well.Cons:
The service limits visitor to one \"fastpass\" per ride per day. I noticed that the standby lanes often had 75 minute waits while the lightning lanes were virtually empty. Long lines mean less out and about eating and shopping. Perhaps this could be adjusted to allow a second FP for a popular ride after a specific window of time.Reviewed by Anonymous Review Date: 01/18/2023
Rating: (2) Not Recommended
I’ve been coming to WDW for 30 years, this is by far the worst experience we have had. Genie+ was a necessary purchase in order to have a chance to ride any popular ride without a 90min wait (minimum). Even with genie plus, we rode probably half as many rides as we are normally able to do with 4x more time spent on the phone as well as constant bouncing across the park. Genie+ has taken the magic out of it and has significantly worsened the experience. Previous fast pass systems were much better. We will not be back for a while unless some changes are made.
Pros:
Almost like fastpass.Cons:
Limited fast passes per ride Only one at a time 7am free-for-allReviewed by Anonymous Review Date: 01/08/2023
Rating: (1) Not Recommended
We have been going to Disney World every year since 1978. We found the Genie Plus system to be inefficient, inconvenient and a complete waste of money. Previously, when we were allowed to make the fast passes 60 days out, we were able to plan the times, i.e. 2 in the morning, 1 in the afternoon. Here, first come first serve at 7:00 a.m. meant that even when logged in exactly at 7:00, there were attractions that were not accepting reservations until 3:00 p.m. The claim is that Genie was to help facilitate one's day. By marking the attractions we wished to see, the impression was that Genie Plus would help reserve them and it would logically map out the day. The exact opposite was true. We ended up bouncing from 1 end of the park to the other in order to use a lightning lane. While at EPCOT, we only used the lightning lane once. We tried to use the Genie Plus system (plus an additional $9/person) to see Ratatouille, but by 10:30 it was already filled for the day. To quote the person standing beside me from Soarin' "This isn't the first time I wasted $15." Unfortunately for me, it was a waste of $180 plus tax. As for the "helpful hints", being told that Slinky Dog was a good ride, although the wait was 85 minutes was a joke. The previous My Experience worked just fine. No longer the happiest place on earth - just the greediest.
Pros:
NoneCons:
inefficient, expensive, worthlessReviewed by Anonymous Review Date: 01/04/2023
Rating: (1) Not Recommended
I’m a long term season pass holder and purchased the Genie + service and it was a waste of money. I logged in at 7:00 and could not get into the queue. The rides offered for lightning lanes were all rides that the wait times are low and that we have ridden many times. Don’t waist you time and money!
Pros:
NonCons:
The entire app. UselessReviewed by Anonymous Review Date: 12/29/2022
Rating: (1) Not Recommended
Absolutely worthless. Whomever pitched and executed genie+ should be fired immediately. It ruined the experience and demonstrated how classless and cash hungry Disney has become. Bought genie for 2 days, used it on 2 mediocre rides because the premier rides are gone in the 1st 10 minutes. You can't see this until you pay money. The app bottlenecks thousands of people to wake up early and fight the servers at 7am. Tried to book star wars 3 times and the app crashed each time. Boarding went from 11 to 9pm within 2 minutes of trying. The one ride we booked broke down, which gives you a voucher for any alternate ride except for the ones you actually want to ride. It forces you to waste it on something you wouldn't use it for in the 1st place. We wasted the 1st half of the day on this garbage after traveling across the country to be here. Lastly, their are rides they want you to pay extra money on top of the genie+ cost. What?!
Pros:
The name change is accurate- no longer fast pass.Cons:
App breaks, hard to navigate, have to buy every day, after 1 minute of app opening-the best rides are gone, only 1 ride at a time, expensive, excludes best rides, doesn't do what it says it does.Reviewed by Anonymous Review Date: 11/28/2022
Rating: (1) Not Recommended
Save your money they lie about its effectiveness, the fine print tels you everything. They know it's garbage may and becomes meaning is always.
Pros:
NunCons:
Best rides are not available seconday popular rides are blocked out after noon and 3rd ranked rides you get 3 a day . Choose of days and save yourself the money not worth it.Reviewed by Anonymous Review Date: 11/19/2022
Rating: (2) Not Recommended
Up until the pandemic, I went to Disney World once a year. My whole life. First as a kid, then as a twenty something, and now as a Mom. Big fan. After this past trip, I have decided that we are going to take a few years off. It was just too hard. Logging in at 7 am, not getting the times we hoped for, having to make decisions for a group on the fly, then spending all day on my phone. No thanks. I liked being able to plan ahead and then just go and enjoy the park, and that is gone. It felt like we had to work too hard for our fun this time.
Pros:
Shorter lines (which is very helpful with little ones, especially)Cons:
7 am stress, being on phone all day, not able to plan schedule aheadReviewed by Anonymous Review Date: 11/17/2022
Rating: (1) Not Recommended
Genie plus as it is is near unusable and has been made into a chore you pay for. I will not pay for it again unless they make some major changes. I can understand paying for the fast pass system they had in place before but this has not been worth the money. Just go during down times and do standby lanes or don’t go. It’s not only making me reconsider LL but Disney experience as a whole.
I’m very disheartened. If you plan it out well and order it for the day and start planning at 7 you can make it work but not well. It has taken the experience from being something you can plan ahead and not have to deal with changes in the park to solely handling changes in the park. It’s stressful enough to be in. The park and make changes as they were but now you are asking me to make last minute decisions with tons of people trying to accommodate for a whole family and not getting to spend much time with them cause I’m busy working through your stupid system.
Also you would think dynamic pricing would include cheaper rates later in the day but that is by no means the case.
