Oh Disney…Bring back the MAGIC!!
So after a LONG hiatus from the Disney theme parks due to a number of things including COVID, we decided to surprise the kids and head back.
To give you context, we have been Florida Pass Holders for most of our boys little lives until 2020. Of course everything changes that year along with our memberships. We always had amazing times at the parks and we aren’t one’s to wait in lines as that just isn’t “fun” in our book but with the Disney Fast Pass….we always were able to fit everything in using their system mixed with naps, shows and coming at certain times. We would even come after nap time in the evenings to avoid the harsh sun and large crowds while STILL doing all the rides. We even did all the “extra” events outside of the Florida Passholder tickets. We did the Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween (now called Mickey’s Boo Bash) and Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas several times. We did the Disney Villains After Hours event and their Club Villains dinner party at Hollywood Studios event that we absolutely loved and inspired our own Disney Villains Holiday Party. We did the H20 GlowNights at Typhoon Lagoon. We DID Disney and we always thought very highly of our time there. So when they pulled the fast passes from their experience to have more room for lines to social distance…..I was hesitant. And for good reason.
So we went to Disney Hollywood Studios on a Friday and thought it might be a little less crazy since it’s a week day. Considering that and you still have to reserve your date on the MyDisneyExperience website along with your tickets while also booking the Genie+ experience in place of their FastPass, I thought we were looking good. WRONG!
The Genie+ allows you to start booking at 7:00 AM on the day of your ticket. So at 7 AM I jumped on and wasn’t able to get anything until 11:30 AM. But figured this would be ok as we could ride some rides before our timeslot. So we make our way to the park. The park was PACKED and we got there early for the resort attendees early arrival. We went straight back to Star Wars, Rise of the Resistance to jump in line and it was already a 3 hour wait and the park hadn’t technically even opened yet. So not only were the lines excruciatingly long…..the Genie+ wasn’t a great addition at that moment since we were there at 9 and didn’t have anything available until 11:30. With the FastPass you were able to make up to 3 selections at a time and really start planning your day. With the Genie+ you can only select one at a time. Lines with small children aren’t fun and we try to avoid long lines at all costs while taking advantage of other attractions that don’t have the long wait times.
We walked over to the the Star Wars: The Adventure Continues and were able to get right on. So that was a positive. We then walked over to Starbucks to grab some breakfast since we headed straight to the park to get in early. The line there was massive but moved pretty fast considering the line. While in line, I played with the Genie+ app and kept refreshing to try and get something sooner. Which I did!! But again, where the FastPass experience was superior, I could modify a FastPass quickly and easily if I saw a different ride pop-up. On the Genie+, by the time you “cancel” your selection…the new selection you wanted had quickly disappeared. The FastPass would just let you cancel the current selection and modify to the new selection you would like. So you have to take the chance of finding a new experience if you cancel out what you have selected. I took the chance. Refreshed, refreshed and refreshed while standing in the Starbucks line…..I was able to get the Rock -n- Roller Coaster. Great ride. We love it. So even though we are facing large crowds…we are getting to experience some of our favorite rides. We headed over but were 3 minutes early and waited until our window opened up, no biggie. I was able to ask one of the cast members if they had complaints about the new Genie+ experience, he politely said that he hasn’t hasn’t received any positive feedback. Once we got buzzed through on the Rock -n- Roller Coaster…I started looking for the next ride selection. I was able to secure Toy Story Mania for our next Lightning Lane as they call it.
We then headed over to see The Muppet Vision 3D show which the boys always enjoy. The theatre was FULL. Typically when we visit, it was only half full and that typically fell on weekends. So we definitely felt the business inside the theatre. But luckily, when you’re waiting around for a ride to open up you can always get into a show. It worked out nicely too as we were able to head over to Toy Story Mania following The Muppet Show.
Toy Story Mania did break down right as we were about to get on. Lucky us. Fortunately, the other side of the turnstiles were working so they escorted us over to the other side. We did have the Lightning Lane for this ride but had to end up waiting another 20 minutes. Again, no biggie considering the actual line for this ride was at 100 minutes. While waiting, I was on to look for our next ride on the MyExperience Genie+ app. I secured the Tower of Terror next on our day. It was at 150 minute wait time so this was good news. .
We had a bit of time so we dropped into the Disney Junior Dance Party. My boys were a bit hesitant because apparently they’re “too big” for the Disney Junior shows but they love to dance so we took them anyway. Well…..they loved it. They were dancing and having a good ol’ time. I laughed and said, “too old, huh?” You never know if you if you don’t like it, if you don’t try it. Story of my life with them!!
So we then headed to Tower of terror lightning lane. It ended up being about a 30 minute wait going through the Lightning lane. GREAT! That is a line I can stand in, 150+ minutes is excruciating…especially in the hot sun in some of these lines. We had a visit from Goofy while waiting in line! 🙂
After Tower of Terror, we went to grab some lunch. I did the online order through the app for the Dock Bay 7 Food and Cargo. I ordered as we were leaving Tower of Terror and it was ready for pickup by the time we got over to Star Wars land. Food was tasty enough and the online ordering was quite efficient and convenient. I continue to search the MyExperience App for another ride. I got so lucky to have Slinky Dog pop up but that is when I realized I couldn’t modify what I already had. So by the time I did, it was gone. I wasn’t lucky enough to get any other rides. Rides we already rode were popping up but you can only ride them once through the app and everything was still at 150+ minutes.
We decided to check out the Lightning McQueen’s Racing Academy which was cute for the kids. If your kids enjoy the movie, they will enjoy the show. Of course, I didn’t get to enjoy the show as I spent the entire time trying to book us a ride through Genie+. Luckily we had a phone charger with us as my phone was fading fast through the constant refreshing of this app. So we still didn’t find anything. We debated if we should wait the 3 hours for the for the Star Wars ride. We then decided to jump into the Indiana Jones Show as they added an extra showtime since it was such a busy day. Again, while everyone is enjoying the show….I’m trying to get us on a ride through the Genie+. No luck but when the show was over, we went to watch the Vacation Fun with Minnie & Mickey shorts. Super cute little 10 minute show of Mickey and Minnie cartoons.
After that show, we were still unlucky at getting any Genie+ rides and all the rides were still 100+ minutes. So we decided as a family to head back to the hotel and go mini golfing. We were staying at the Swan Reserve and could have just walked the boardwalk back to our hotel. We took a detour and jumped on the Disney Skyliner for the fun of it. We cruised by the Disney Riveria and on top be dropped off outside of Epcot. We walked back to Disney Swan Reserve through the Boardwalk and got to see some entertainment and play some of the boardwalk games which were quite fun. More money but still fun.
We ate by the pool at the Swann Reserve and finished up by mini golfing at Fantasia Gardens and Fairways. A great little course that we all really enjoyed and was better than waiting in a long line.
Here are my Pro’s:
1. We experienced some things we probably never would have if we just jumped from ride to ride. Like the Disney Junior Dance Party.
2. We tried different foods since our go-to’s were fully booked well in advance. We like to eat at the Brown Derby or Hollywood Vine but tried the Dock Bay 7 and enjoyed what they offered.
3. Instead of waiting in long lines, we decided to make the most of the situation and ride the Disney Skyliner, play games on the board walk and enjoy family time with mini golfing.
Here are my Con’s:
1. Ticket costs are EXPENSIVE. A family of 4 to any Disney park is going to set you back.
2. Lines are LONG so having a magical experience with little kids in long lines aren’t magical and doesn’t equate to the happiest place on earth. Sweat and tears are more like it.
3. I thought the point of reserving a date online for the park were to help alleviate the massive crowds in the park. Even the cast members couldn’t believe how busy it was that day. So I’m not sure what the cut-off point was but it must’ve of been pretty massive as you wouldn’t have known you had to reserve a date in advance and there was no social distancing. At the shows, they were back to pushing everyone as close as possible.
4. Genie+ is another way for Disney to make money. You have to pay $15 to get “access” to these lightning lanes but it’s not guaranteed and we didn’t get too many as they touted it to be. I enjoyed the FastPass experience much better. It was free and every family were at least entitled to 3 fast passes and helped to get the kids on rides. After the 3rd one, you could keep adding one at a time and it just seemed to be a better system altogether.
5. The Fast Pass system was easier and more efficient. As I mentioned, you could “modify” a FastPass in realtime to change if a new ride opened up. You can’t modify a Genie+ ride and have to cancel out before adding the new one. Which is gone by the time you cancel it.
6. I was on the phone ALL day trying to get passes. I know, it might seem better to just wait in the lines but at least I could take the boys to shows to enjoy while trying to navigate Genie+.
7. Make sure you bring a back-up phone charger to keep you going if you do purchase the Genie+. I had a personal phone and a work phone that I was using simultaneously and they were both dying by mid-day with the activity on it. My husband had his back-up charger that kept me alive.
8. Unless you plan well in advance, there will be no availability for restaurants at the parks.
9. Because of covid, other experiences you might want to see are gone also like the Jedi Training. That is no longer available.
So unfortunately, we didn’t get to go on any of the “big” or “popular” rides such as Slinky Dog, Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance, Smugglers Run and Mickey’s Runaway Railroad. It also solidified what we expected with the loss of the FastPasses which are no longer available and the rise of the Genie+ pass was a big disappointment. We love the parks, we have such good memories with our boys going to the parks but it just seems like they are becoming more expensive, with more lines and the magic isn’t there. We had several other friends in Orlando that weekend who basically had the same experience and thoughts from different parks.
Even our boys will advise to go to Universal Studios. They are busy but just have a better system down for the Express Pass which also help with the other lines. Lines are long there too but if you are able to swing an Express Pass or stay at one of their top tier hotels which include the Express Pass (Hardrock Hotel and Loew’s Portofino), that is the way to go.
Let me know your thoughts and if you have any tips on navigating the Disney parks. I would love to hear them…..or would just love to hear your experience with any of the parks.
*****As an update from this post as this was President’s Day 2022, they have updated the app so that you can modify your genie+ selection easier without losing a new option that pops up.*********