Disneyland Resort

How do you even rate Disneyland!? I'll give a general note for planning but focus on the app. You need to determine the most important goal for your trip. If you want to factor in time for parades, sit down dining, character interactions, or you have a large group of people, you need to go more than one day. If you only have one day, let go of the fact you won't see everything and just enjoy what you can. If there's two of you and you want to run through the park, have at it! And for those with littles, prep for nap time. Each ride is 20 to 45 mins so you will spend the bulk of your day in line. One good thing is you can grab a snack on your way to another ride and eat it in line if you don't want to lose time sitting to eat. I won't give you all the tips and tricks, there are plenty of Disney blogs out there. Here's my rating for the app and why. First It's important to know there is a Disney Genie and a Disney Genie plus.. below is my thoughts on the Genie plus(+)

For context: At each ride there is a standby lane(general line) or a Lightening Lane(fast pass using your Genie+)You can use your Lightening pass one at a time. Schedule your first ride the moment you get in the park. Once the pass is redeemed(used), you can immediately schedule your next.

Pros: Using the lightning pass is great to get in a shorter line and shave off your wait time to get on a ride. (Pro tip Matterhorn Bobsleds best lightning pass line for sure). I also loved being able to take advantage of the Disney photo pass. At specific locations in the park you can have the Disney crew take photos with some really great cameras, in front of the castle. Those are ours to keep at no additional cost. We got some great photos! I heard the Disney trivia wiz can be useful for waiting in line, but I never tried it as I wanted to conserve my battery.

Cons: Many of the lightning lanes did not take you to the front of the standby lines so although shorter, we still waited 20 mins. Also half of our rides were temporarily unavailable or cancelled all day. It's important to keep in mind this technology is expected to run every single day. Things break or need maintenance. So there is the risk you take(we took) when half your day is spent chasing a new ride or lightning pass because they keep going down. I reached out very kindly in the Genie chat about this and was told passes are non-refundable. I asked if there was a possibility we could transfer our pass to another day (they were $30 per person per day!) They kindly suggested we use the Disney trivia wiz to kill time. Ultimately no.

So if you plan to mosey through the park, I wouldn't spend the extra money on the Genie+ for one or two fast passes. Definitely take advantage of the Disney Genie only. This part of the app is really helpful in telling you how long the ride lines are expected to be, where the characters, bathrooms, food etc. But it's free.

Additional thoughts, bring a power bank. I had my phone in airplane mode most of the day and still managed to get down to 40% before mid day. Be patient, bring sunscreen, enjoy a Dole whip and have fun!