THE NEGATIVE

Ok, now that we talked about all of the ways having Genie+ is great for a short park hopping trip, let's now move on to why it isn't. 

My biggest gripe with the Genie+ system is that you are ALWAYS on your phone. I can't even begin to tell you how frustrating this is, especially when you are there for a very quick trip, sharing it with your spouse, or maybe you are having a special mother daughter or father son trip, and your head is constantly buried in your phone rather than in the magic. Let's not even add the fact that I am also a social media content creator on top of this, so if your are like me, and taking photos and videos for your social media accounts, you might as well just go solo at this point.

I found myself, at times throughout the day, wanting to just give up and go completely "with the flow", because I was just sick of being on my phone. I truly wish that Disney comes up with a better system for this in the future. Maybe a walk up type system where you scan your phone or magic band at each ride for a return time later, and then it links to the Genie+? It doesn't have to replace the current system, just add it as an additional way to use it, that's all.

Now let's get back to talking about the Individual Lightning Lane. Even though it worked out for us this time, I don't think I would do it again for a 1-day park hopping experience. We were really crunched for time, just because we were trying to squeeze in as much as we could at three parks in one day, during an Epcot Festival.

For the two of us, it cost us $18 to book Mickey and Minnie's Runaway Railway, and because it was at a specific time, we had to keep track of the time at another experience, so we wouldn't be late. Then, once we got in and got on the ride, we weren't really able to experience any other rides after that, because a lot of the wait times were higher and we also missed out on some food we wanted to try as well, so that we could make it to the next park. Hollywood Studios was our in between park too, so we only had a quick window of time here.

Now this is also all about perspective. If you are ok with riding only one ride at a park, then leaving, then go for it. However, if you want to walk around, take pictures, shop, eat some food, I would not do this. You really have to plan your entire day geared around that one specific Lightning Lane, and for the cost, I just don't think its really worth it for a quick trip like this. Let's not even talk about how much it would cost a family of 4, or 6 like mine, to do this.

Finally, the last point I want to make on the not so great side of things with this service is the inconsistencies. I just don't understand with all of the technology Disney has, how they couldn't figure out a way to set this app up to be organized by park sections. Magic Kingdom is huge, and there are six different areas, if you include Main St., and bouncing from one side of the entire park to the other, all day long, just to get to your next ride time can be so counterproductive.

For example, say you had booked a 12:30 PM time to ride Space Mountain, and then your next time scheduled is for 2:00 PM on Big Thunder Mountain. You not only have to spend that whole time walking all the way to the other end of Magic Kingdom after riding Space Mountain, but you also don't really have enough time to wait in a ride with a shorter wait because you will miss your next opening. Yes, you can always find another time later, but this is not only confusing and hard to keep track of, but exhausting. My head is already in my phone enough, now I'm bouncing all over the place too. I'm not Tigger, Disney World!"

So, is it worth it to purchase Genie+ when you are challenging yourself with a 1-Day Walt Disney World Park Hopper? Yes. However, I would opt out of the Individual Lightning Lane purchases. This system can be very daunting and frustrating at times, but given the very short window you have at the parks, and the fact that you are better having some kind of plan in place while at Disney, than not, I say do it.

You can also practice and play with the free version of Genie+ before your trip to get a feel for the app itself, making it a little easier to navigate come the day of your trip. At the end of the day, the positives outweighed the negatives in my opinion, even if only by a hair. So if you can put aside the fact that you may be getting extra steps in that day, and your phone may be your best friend more than the person you're sharing the trip with, Genie+ can really help you navigate and plan as best as possible for a 1-day Park Hopping Experience.