Genie+ attraction availability goes rapidly each single day at Hollywood Studios, particularly in the course of the coronary heart of the vacations at Walt Disney World. With that in thoughts, I headed to DHS to check the paid FastPass service on what I anticipated could be a moderately-crowded Christmas season day.
However, if wait time knowledge is to be believed, it was truly one of many slowest days at DHS within the final two months, with a median wait time of 38 minutes and a crowd stage of two/10. Conversely, if random reviews on our Facebook web page are to be believed, it might’ve been the busiest day at Disney’s Hollywood Studios in years. Perhaps the worst day ever! So perhaps it was a gradual day, perhaps it was so insanely and crushingly crowded that it’ll make the subsequent version of Guinness…who’s to say?!
I suppose as somebody who has spent means an excessive amount of time at DHS in the previous few years, I’m. Disney’s Hollywood Studios was not busy by present requirements. (Emphasis added as this half is vital–nobody has a time machine to revisit the nice ole days of 2018, in order that’s not a related comparability.) Don’t make the error of assuming Genie+ was not vital on at the present time as a result of all the things was a walk-on or had wait occasions of 20 minutes or much less. To the opposite, there have been rides with wait occasions exceeding an hour…or two!
On this 2/10 crowd stage day at DHS, Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance peaked at 145 minutes, Slinky Dog Dash managed triple digits at 100 minutes, Tower of Terror topped out at 90 minutes, Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster hit 85 minutes, and three different points of interest managed 75 minute maximums.
It looks as if Walt Disney World followers have unrealistic expectations for what “low crowds” means at DHS within the present period. It’s all relative, and a crowded day at DHS means 5 points of interest averaging triple-digit wait occasions (with Rise of the Resistance above 3 hours and Slinky Dog Dash between 2 and three hours), and lots of others round 90 minutes.
So this wasn’t precisely a lifeless day–it simply wasn’t almost as unhealthy as DHS can get in the course of the vacation season.
In any case, this photograph report walks you thru my step-by-step day utilizing paid FastPass, with my Lightning Lane alternatives & return occasions, trip reservation screenshots, what I achieved utilizing Genie+ throughout low crowd ranges (by 2022 requirements), and ideas on the finish about whether or not Genie+ continues to be definitely worth the cash at DHS.
Despite the low crowd stage, Genie+ did assist me beat a number of of these hour-plus lengthy traces, which had been pretty widespread in the course of the center of the day. Additionally, I used to be in a position to check technique and see how the dynamic with Lightning Lanes has modified for the reason that return of Fantasmic, which has altered attendance patterns at DHS.
Given the two/10 crowd stage, it ought to be unsurprising that Genie+ price “only” $16 per individual on this specific day. As a reminder, paid FastPass shifted to date-based pricing for the Genie+ service. As at all times, that is Walt Disney World code for “price increase (most of the time).”
Only just a few days earlier than my go to, Genie+ price ~$31 after tax. Thus far in December, most dates have truly dropped again to pre-increase territory, with solely the weekends being above $15. This is regardless of crowds trending up this week, too. I might hazard a guess that this weekend might be at or above $20 and subsequent week won’t drop again to $15, as attendance is barely more likely to rise within the lead-up to Christmas and New Year’s Eve. Expect costs again within the $15 vary after January 9, 2023.
Before we get going, it’s vital to notice that that is merely my day at Disney’s Hollywood Studios utilizing Lightning Lanes. It’s not a really helpful itinerary, Genie+ touring plan, or universally-applicable day that I might recommend replicating. Simply what I did over the course of testing Genie+ throughout a day at DHS. For these, see the next:
If you’re making an attempt to perform simply as a lot in a day with out Genie+, an aggressive method and savvy technique are required at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. It’s the hardest park to tour at Walt Disney World. There’s no magical components to sleeping in, rolling as much as the park a pair hours after rope drop, not shopping for Genie+, having fun with the park in a leisurely means, and carrying out all the things.
Anyway, let’s transfer alongside to my day utilizing Genie+ and Lightning Lanes at Disney’s Hollywood Studios…
Let’s begin at 6:50 am, which is when my alarm went off. I purchased Genie+ within the My Disney Experience app and customised my Tip Board for strategic benefit. (We extremely suggest following our Speed Strategy for Genie+ Selections for why all of that is vital, and how you can rating an early return time for Slinky Dog Dash.)
At 7:00:00 am, I refreshed the Tip Board. Unfortunately, I used to be staying at All Star Sports and my room in “Home Run Hotel” was something however a homerun when it got here to web velocity (each WiFi and mobile). Consequently, the refreshing spun and spun for what felt like an eternity (it was extra like 7 seconds). I ended up with 12:35 pm to 1:35 pm as my return time. Not my most interesting work.
In order to “run the table” on headliner Lightning Lanes at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, it’s normally crucial to attain Slinky Dog Dash with a return time at or earlier than 10:30 am. Doing so allows you to guide a second Lightning Lane attraction at DHS earlier than 10:30 am, which is the primary attainable time anybody topic to the 120 minute rule–which is most friends–will have the ability to make one other Genie+ trip reservation.
Even although it’s a far longer window, not many individuals are reserving between ~7:10 am and 10:29 am. Return occasions have a tendency to maneuver slower throughout that timeframe. Unfortunately, I couldn’t make one other trip reservation till 10:30.
It was at this level that I made my first essential mistake of the day: following my very own recommendation.
According to my very own Lightning Lane rankings (on the time), Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway had climbed to the #2 precedence at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. This has been correct for the final a number of months, however isn’t when Tower of Terror is barely working at half-capacity, which is the case proper now, but once more.
I actually ought to’ve identified higher, as this has been a problem and I noticed Tower of Terror with an abnormally excessive wait time whereas strolling round, however I didn’t join the dots. Don’t make this identical mistake.
Tower of Terror is often the #4 or #5 precedence when it’s working at full capability, however jumps to the clear #2 when at half-capacity. An simple method to inform it’s at half-capacity with out watching the elevators endlessly is testing wait occasions. Currently, Tower of Terror has the third highest wait time (98 minutes) at Disney’s Hollywood Studios in December 2022 after Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance (109 minutes) and Slinky Dog Dash (103 minutes). If it’s within the high 3 (or 4) for wait occasions throughout your go to, it’s the #2 precedence. If not, it’s not.
As you may see from the screenshot above, Tower of Terror was already gone by the point I made my subsequent choice.
Normally, Toy Story Mania could be the #6 precedence at DHS, however I turned (maybe a tad overly) conservative after the Tower of Terror debacle. I seen Toy Story Mania had increased wait occasions all through the morning than the remaining options, so I picked it, fearing downtime was plaguing TSM, too.
I tapped into Toy Story Mania at 2:20 pm.
As a reminder, it’s attainable to enter the Lightning Lane as much as 5 minutes early or quarter-hour late. There isn’t any have to ask for a Cast Member’s permission to do that–it doesn’t require a pc override. If something, asking a CM would possibly lead to confusion, because it’s attainable they may not learn about this Lightning Lane “rule.” (No knock at them–there’s means an excessive amount of to maintain observe of with Genie!)
As quickly as I tapped into the primary Lightning Lane touchpoint at Toy Story Mania (the second was disabled), I started trying to find Lightning Lane availability. Still no Tower of Terror, however one thing arguably higher: Millennium Falcon Smugglers Run with a return time ~half-hour into the long run.
This needed to have been a cancellation or refill, and I jumped on it instantly. Everything earlier than this had been topic to the 120 minute rule–a standard prevalence at DHS and why it’s really easy to finish up with a backloaded day of Lightning Lanes–so I used to be actually happy to attain this.
Almost as quickly as I used to be executed with Toy Story Mania, my window for Millennium Falcon opened. Disney’s Hollywood Studios has a very small footprint as in contrast the opposite parks, so I don’t thoughts some backtracking, nevertheless it was however good to knock out two close by points of interest in fast succession.
Wait occasions had been “finally” beginning to drop by round 2-3 pm (wait occasions peaked earlier than midday previous to Fantasmic returning–not anymore), which can be good for Genie+ customers. Based on what I’ve noticed during the last yr, Lightning Lane availability and return occasions are dynamic to some extent. Meaning that if wait occasions drop or spike, Lightning Lane stock adjusts accordingly, additionally going up or down, and pushing return occasions later or transferring them ahead. At least, that is my idea–corroborated by dozens of days of use (and lots of extra of remark).
Nevertheless, the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror remained unavailable. It additionally nonetheless had a 90 minute wait time, at the same time as different headliner points of interest fell beneath an hour.
My subsequent choose was Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster consequently. With this choice, I had all the ‘best’ or helpful DHS Lightning Lanes, save for Tower of Terror and Alien Swirling Saucers. I didn’t need precedence entry, or any entry for that matter, to A.S.S.
Throughout the afternoon and early night, I periodically checked Genie+ for Tower of Terror refills, however no such luck. I gained’t fake that I used to be diligent about this–I met up with a buddy and we had an early dinner, so I didn’t examine in any respect between round 4 pm and 6 pm.
One factor to notice is that all the things else–minus Slinky Dog Dash on the Genie+ facet and Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance on the ILL facet–continued to have Lightning Lane availability previous 6 pm. The significance of that is that even should you had been topic to the 120 minute rule the complete day, you could possibly have scored each attraction within the high 7 simply by following our Lightning Lane trip rankings.
That’s actually one of many massive variations between a low crowds and busy day at DHS. While each are going to have hour-plus wait occasions for the headliners, the crowded day goes to have even worse wait occasions. No shock there. However, that turns into much less pronounced by mid-afternoon, when many points of interest will fall beneath an hour on the gradual day. That gained’t occur on a day that’s actually busy.
More vital from the Genie+ perspective is that the majority points of interest gained’t run out of Lightning Lane trip reservations till very late on a gradual day. There’s a ‘tipping point’ of types on less-busy days the place energetic customers of Genie+ falls beneath the general allotted capability for Lightning Lanes, and makes it very easy for many points of interest. This was a kind of days. (In my expertise, the tipping level for DHS is a 6/10 crowd stage day. That stage or beneath is fairly simple as long as you don’t screw up the order. Anything above that and it’s a bit more difficult.)
To that time, I used to be not on my cellphone a lot in any respect all through the day. (Check out the development of my battery life within the screenshots above–at no level did I exploit my exterior charger, and I arrived again at All Star Sports with over 50% remaining.) When topic to the 120 minute rule, I set alarms when it was time to make my subsequent choice.
When topic to the tap-in rule, I made new reservations upon getting into the Lightning Lane. I didn’t play the refresh recreation in any respect. In truth, I spent much less time on my cellphone than I might have if I weren’t utilizing Genie Plus, as I might’ve in any other case been checking wait occasions much more usually and modifying my itinerary on the fly. That wasn’t vital since I had Lightning Lanes–and likewise as a result of decrease wait occasions by mid-afternoon made the entire day simpler, even what I did through standby.
I might have executed Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance after the primary exhibiting of Fantasmic, as its posted 40 wait time in all probability was inflated. On gradual days when downtime isn’t unhealthy, a posted wait time beneath an hour usually means close to walk-on standing.
The finish of the evening is such a crapshoot with this attraction. Sometimes, the posted wait time is dramatically inflated and the precise wait finally ends up being 20 minutes or much less. Other occasions, breakdowns make it an underestimate. (See our Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance Ride Guide for technique, finest & worst occasions to do the attraction.)
It was the very same story with Slinky Dog Dash. This had a posted wait time, however one have a look at the queues led me to consider the wait time was about half of that.
The standby line right here later within the night advantages from Genie+ customers leaving, doing dinner, or choosing Fantasmic as a substitute of their Lightning Lane reservations–ones made at 7:00:10 am are much less more likely to go as deliberate than ones made solely a few hours prematurely.
Regardless, we needed to reap the benefits of the low nighttime crowds at Disney’s Hollywood Studios by catching the second exhibiting of Fantasmic. This was extremely simple–regardless of solely exhibiting up ~10 minutes earlier than the nighttime spectacular began, we had been nonetheless seated within the Sorcerer Mickey part. It was an ideal view.
At some level, Walt Disney World goes to determine attendance and crowd dynamics and never schedule two showings of Fantasmic on days when crowds are this low. It looks as if the addition of second showtimes was very reactionary, as they–for some odd purpose–didn’t understand Veterans’ Day weekend could be so busy and demand would nonetheless be excessive.
As a consequence, they added second showings for a bunch of weekdays in the course of the vacation season, even ones which were traditionally slower. Point being, don’t anticipate two showtimes on gradual days should you’re going someday in 2023. They’ll determine this out eventually.
Ultimately, I ended up utilizing Genie+ to safe 5 Lightning Lane alternatives throughout this 2/10 crowd day at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. I might have run the desk and gotten all 7 had I merely booked Tower of Terror with my second choice and had I cared about A.S.S. In truth, I in all probability might’ve scored 10 Lightning Lanes had I additionally booked the pointless ones for stage exhibits and Olaf.
Going by posted wait occasions throughout my return home windows, I saved roughly 6 hours ready in line, and doubtless might’ve saved one other 1-2 had I booked extra Lightning Lanes. That’s sufficient to make Genie+ definitely worth the cash to me on this specific day. Of course, that assumes posted wait occasions are correct (they aren’t) and that I might’ve waited in standby traces at their peak in the course of the center of the day (I might not).
In actuality, I might’ve executed all the things through standby had I arrived for Early Entry or Park Hopped to DHS after ~3 pm and began doing points of interest then (whereas additionally skipping the second exhibiting of Fantasmic) and saved about the identical period of time versus noon posted waits. For the Genie+ haters on the market (who however have learn this 2,000+ phrase publish), this would possibly sound like candy success, vindication of your pre-existing viewpoint. Hold your horses.
What you gained’t like to listen to is that using Early Entry or Park Hopping to Disney’s Hollywood Studios and doing all the things through standby would have required extra planning, higher technique, and even elevated backtracking. Aside from the 7 am wake-up (not that massive of a deal to me, and I say this as somebody who handled a 17-hour time change one week earlier and 3-hour time change two days earlier), utilizing Genie+ throughout at the present time at DHS was the laid-back choice this specific day!
It allowed me to not fear about posted wait occasions, stress over carrying out all the things in an environment friendly order, and it allowed me to see the second Fantasmic once I in any other case would’ve probably wanted that point to knock out Slinky Dog Dash. It might not appear to be it because you’ve simply learn a prolonged publish–a few of which might be complicated should you don’t have firsthand expertise with Genie Plus–however this was the best method to this specific day at DHS.
It gained’t at all times be the case that Genie+ is less complicated than the options. On busier days, my choice is Early Entry or staying late and doing standby as soon as the crowds begin to subside. But the purpose is that there are a number of “solutions” to beating crowds at Disney’s Hollywood Studios (or any park, for that matter) and no one-size-fits-all reply.
Genie+ doesn’t essentially have to contain extreme display screen time, frantic refreshing, or criss-crossing the park a number of occasions. Hopefully at the present time illustrates that Genie+ is usually a good instrument to have in your ‘park touring kit’ to be used when vital or acceptable.
For extra information and solutions to widespread questions, see our Guide to Genie+ at Walt Disney World & Lightning Lane FAQ. We’ve already up to date that a number of occasions, and it’s an excellent leaping off level should you’re confused, overwhelmed…or absolutely perceive the system, however need some next-level technique to raised leverage Genie+.
Planning a Walt Disney World journey? Learn about lodges on our Walt Disney World Hotels Reviews web page. For the place to eat, learn our Walt Disney World Restaurant Reviews. To lower your expenses on tickets or decide which sort to purchase, learn our Tips for Saving Money on Walt Disney World Tickets publish. Our What to Pack for Disney Trips publish takes a singular have a look at intelligent gadgets to take. For what to do and when to do it, our Walt Disney World Ride Guides will assist. For complete recommendation, the perfect place to start out is our Walt Disney World Trip Planning Guide for all the things you’ll want to know!
Your Thoughts
Thoughts on my day in Disney’s Hollywood Studios utilizing the Genie+ service in the course of the Christmas 2022 season? Are you planning on shopping for Genie+ or sticking to free standby traces at DHS? Prefer Early Entry, Genie+, or finish of day at DHS? Do you agree or disagree with my evaluation? Any questions we may also help you reply? Hearing your suggestions–even if you disagree with us–is each fascinating to us and useful to different readers, so please share your ideas beneath within the feedback!