Just visited since the first time since 2019 so had my first run in with Genie+. While I possibly, maybe prefer this system to the previous FP+ reservation system where non-resort guests had basically no shot of shortcutting the lines of the major E-tickets due to the extended booking window for resort guests, it's still a hilariously wack system to me. Went to DHS so naturally Slinky is the only real pick for your first LL, but you gotta play the 7am lottery which had me stressing the f out the night before. Tapped as soon after 7am as I could and got a return time of 10:20 (park opened at 9). I immediately tried to play the slots and modify the time just for the heck of it, and the times ranged from 4-6pm at like 7:01. The fact that you can even play the slots over and over to potentially move up your return window is also wack and the entire system takes up more of my headspace than just enjoying the park and riding rides, the woes of a habitual minmaxer I guess.
So it was 10:15am, I was ready to tap in for Slinky but the ride was down. I asked a CM at the entrance what I should do since I would normally be able to tap in at this time and immediately book my next LL for Tower of Terror. I'm not sure he even understood the system since he just said to make sure not to tap in for Slinky or book another LL. I Googled and saw that my Slinky LL would convert to a multiple experiences LL, which didn't happen until like five minutes into my window (which was 10 minutes after I realized there was an issue), so I was starting to get a little concerned but whatever. By this time I had hopped in the standby line for Toy Story Mania and saw that my LL converted to a multiple experiences LL. Some number of minutes after all this the app tells me that I'm eligible to book another LL, which also confused me because I hadn't tapped in for Slinky, nor had it been two hours after park opening to get a stackable LL. I wasn't sure if booking another would cancel the multiple experiences LL, so after some furious Googling I learned that multiple experiences LLs exist in a different pool than regular LLs and that you can hold both at the same time. I was able to book ToT at that point, but not until after wasting a decent amount of time, again, on my phone doing on the fly research.
I also rose RotR for the first time and it was really impressive! Unfortunately purchasing an individual LL for it was...I think the first time in my life that I've essentially paid separately to ride an individual ride at a theme park. I can't help but feel this influenced my perception of the ride somewhat, as while I found it extremely impressive, I'm not sure it was necessarily worth the $25 to skip a two-hour line.
Massive wait time inflating also seems to be a thing to some extent? I hopped in line for MMRR at like 9:20am with a posted 75-minute wait and waited only 20 minutes to get to the preshow. Only did this because I heard from a friend that they do this particularly badly on MMRR to try and sell Genie+. Kinda scummy?!
So overall I had fun (ToT carries this park so hard) but holy hell the Genie+ system can be very complicated and confusing. I don't want to be "that guy" and say that any system with a little bit of a learning curve or friction is automatically "too complicated," but between the 7am lottery, playing the slots constantly for a chance at a better time, multiple experiences LLs that aren't explained well enough imo, and the amount of optimization you can feel compelled to do by tapping in five minutes before your return time and immediately booking another LL, it's just a lot. And on top of all this, you have to pay extra $$ to have the privilege of stressing out over it. As a regular schmuck I don't see why Disney doesn't just copy Universal's Express system and just sell like a $150/day once-per-ride express ticket that gets you in the LLs. I would ultimately prefer no line skipping option at all, but what I like about Express is that you either have it or you don't. Once you have it, there's no scheduling to consider, no slots to play, you just walk up and ride. For most of the day at DHS I feel like my brain had to be switched on to a higher degree than what makes sense when you're on vacation (though admittedly I'm a local ). I also have no idea how a first timer is supposed to understand any of this or benefit from it? Like if you don't know that you need to make a good LL pick at 7am sharp, you're just kinda screwed for that ride unless you're good with waiting in a long line.
