Everything Genie, Genie+ and Individual Lightning Lane - Please Read Posts 1-7

[Nana2Callie]

Thank you.

 

[GeorgiaHoo]

Genie+ is in MDE. There is no separate app.

MK opens at 9:00 tomorrow, so you want to make your first LL prior to park opening. Today, at 9:00, the only 2 rides with an LL time after 2:00 pm are Jungle Cruise and Peter Pan.

Then at 11:00 when you are eligible for your second LL, Splash may not quite yet have an LL time after 2:00 pm, but by 11:10 today, Splash had a 3:00 LL time. (At 11:10, HM had 1:00 LL time which is too early for you.)

At 1:10 (2 hours after booking Splash), HM today had an LL time of 3:45.

If you want to do Splash AFTER Haunted Mansion, this will allow you to do HM at 3:40 (can be 5 minutes early), and Splash no later than 4:15 (15-minute grace after after the 3:00-4:00 LL window).

Of course tomorrow's times won't be exactly the same as today, but I think this is your best general game plan for tomorrow.

Thanks, this was good info. Right before 9 AM I ended up booking Space Mountain for 1-2 PM. I think we can be at the park around 1:00 if everything goes well, and if we don't make it then it isn't the end of the world. Only rides that were later in the day were Peter Pan (around 4 PM) and Jungle Cruise (around 6 PM). When we go to book the 2d ride at 11 AM will it only show times after our 1-2 PM reservation?

 

[Miffy]

Thanks, this was good info. Right before 9 AM I ended up booking Space Mountain for 1-2 PM. I think we can be at the park around 1:00 if everything goes well, and if we don't make it then it isn't the end of the world. Only rides that were later in the day were Peter Pan (around 4 PM) and Jungle Cruise (around 6 PM). When we go to book the 2d ride at 11 AM will it only show times after our 1-2 PM reservation?

No. It will show the next available time, whenever that is, having nothing at all to do with your already-booked G+.

 

[MaC410]

Have standby lines gotten any better than what they were because of Fastpass+ with this new Genie+ and lightning lane system? We are planning our first trip since 2019 and I'll be honest...I'm really worried about what this new system will do for our enjoyment of the parks. Our first trip to Disney World was in 2016. We don't know Disney with without Fastpass+. That system was amazing to us. I could probably count on one hand the amount of standby lines we have waited on in our 4 Disney World trips from 2016 to 2019. Every ride we went on we got a fastpass for using the app. No, we weren't going on Seven Dwarves Mine Train or Big Thunder Mountain over and over again all day but we always found a fastpass for SOMETHING we'd enjoy riding no matter how many time we rode it already.

I just feel like we got so spoiled. The longest line we've probably ever waited on was 45 minutes for Slinky Dog Dash at park closing. Those days seem completely over now. With genie+ you can't get a pass for the same ride more than once in a day and it seems like passes are being completely filled for any decent ride for the entire day rather quickly. It really seems like we are going to be forced to finally wait in normal standby lines.

Is there any silver lining to this at all? Have standby lines gotten a little quicker at all because of this new system? Or are they just as long or even longer than ever?

 

[GeorgiaHoo]

Another quick question. We've got our first reservation today from 1-2. Getting ready to make our second one at noon EST for later in the day. Can we make a third one when we scan in to the ride at 1 or do we have to wait 120 minutes from making this second one?

 

[g-dad66]

Another quick question. We've got our first reservation today from 1-2. Getting ready to make our second one at noon EST for later in the day. Can we make a third one when we scan in to the ride at 1 or do we have to wait 120 minutes from making this second one?

You have to wait 120 minutes from booking the second one, OR you become eligible if you scan into the 2nd one earlier than 120 minutes.

Scanning into any LL other than the most recently-booked one does not make you eligible to book again.

 

[han22735]

Question....someone posted on wdwmagic forums that they booked a ILL for FOP late afternoon at 7am and their park pass for MK got changed to AK...is this a thing?

 

[scrappinginontario]

Question....someone posted on wdwmagic forums that they booked a ILL for FOP late afternoon at 7am and their park pass for MK got changed to AK...is this a thing?

No. Without a park hopper, if the parks are full it’s a huge risk and you may just be out the $.

If parks are full and you choose to book an ILL$ at a different park from the one you have a reservation for, Disney is under no obligation to switch your reservation.

 

[kittercats85]

Thank you everyone for helping in this thread! I have been trying to take everything in but still have questions.

Am I correct that I can choose to start reserving LL’s for after 2 for the park I want to hop to in the afternoon instead of where I start the day?

If I start the day at AK and want one LL there and nothing else, can I book my next LL in a different park for after 2?

Can I bounce between parks on LL bookings? (Let’s pretend I do Safari for 8, then I want Splash Mountain for 4 pm and my next LL i want to book would be Navi River at 12, is that possible to do?)

Thank you!

 

[cindianne320]

No. Without a park hopper, if the parks are full it’s a huge risk and you may just be out the $.

If parks are full and you choose to book an ILL$ at a different park from the one you have a reservation for, Disney is under no obligation to switch your reservation.

So I'm confused. I have an annual pass. I plan on rope dropping DHS to ride Rise, but I wanted an ILL for Epcot/Remy. I want to do the same thing the next day- rope drop AK/Padora, buy an ILL for 7 dwarves at MK...
Are you saying that they could switch my park pass on me!?

 

[scrappinginontario]

So I'm confused. I have an annual pass. I plan on rope dropping DHS to ride Rise, but I wanted an ILL for Epcot/Remy. I want to do the same thing the next day- rope drop AK/Padora, buy an ILL for 7 dwarves at MK...
Are you saying that they could switch my park pass on me!?

No.

I interpreted it as the person couldn’t get a park reservation for the park they wanted so they booked an ILL$ for the park they wanted to go to and asked GS to move them.

There have been no reports on these boards that I’m aware of if a park reservation automatically being switched by Disney based on booking a ILL$.

 

[g-dad66]

Thank you everyone for helping in this thread! I have been trying to take everything in but still have questions.

1- Am I correct that I can choose to start reserving LL’s for after 2 for the park I want to hop to in the afternoon instead of where I start the day?

2 - If I start the day at AK and want one LL there and nothing else, can I book my next LL in a different park for after 2?

3 - Can I bounce between parks on LL bookings? (Let’s pretend I do Safari for 8, then I want Splash Mountain for 4 pm and my next LL i want to book would be Navi River at 12, is that possible to do?)

Thank you!

1- Yes
2- Yes
3- Yes

 

[elgerber]

No.

I interpreted it as the person couldn’t get a park reservation for the park they wanted so they booked an ILL$ for the park they wanted to go to and asked GS to move them.

There have been no reports on these boards that I’m aware of if a park reservation automatically being switched by Disney based on booking a ILL$.

I interpreted it as Disney switched it on them, because they booked a later ILL, when they wanted to go to MK in the morning.
But no, that is definitely not a thing.

 

[han22735]

No. Without a park hopper, if the parks are full it’s a huge risk and you may just be out the $.

If parks are full and you choose to book an ILL$ at a different park from the one you have a reservation for, Disney is under no obligation to switch your reservation.

No.

I interpreted it as the person couldn’t get a park reservation for the park they wanted so they booked an ILL$ for the park they wanted to go to and asked GS to move them.

There have been no reports on these boards that I’m aware of if a park reservation automatically being switched by Disney based on booking a ILL$.

The poster stated they had a reservation for MK...booked a ILL for FOP to hop to later and then their MK reservation changed to AK. Other posters think maybe a glitch or did someone else in their party change it. The original poster is going to try again as they are there now.

 

[cindianne320]

The poster stated they had a reservation for MK...booked a ILL for FOP to hop to later and then their MK reservation changed to AK. Other posters think maybe a glitch or did someone else in their party change it. The original poster is going to try again as they are there now.

Thank you for your clarification.
Interested to see if it was Disney that changed it... I hope not!

 

[caryrae]

We are headed to WDW next week, going to MK Friday the 13th, Epcot the 14th and AK the 15th (no HS this trip) which rides are most popular that we should try to get LL for right away each morning? Definitely going to try to get individual LL for the ratatouille ride at 7am on our Epcot day.

 

[scrappinginontario]

Thank you for your clarification.
Interested to see if it was Disney that changed it... I hope not!

Considering there are thousands and thousands of people who do this and this each week and this is the one report of it happening, I wouldn’t be concerned.

 

[shb5007]

Some early thoughts on Genie+ and ILL. It is what it is… what you read is pretty much what you get. There is a LOT going on throughout the APP and it does keep you on your phone. As a Disney regular I feel comfortable using it since I know what I am looking for, how to prioritize time / rides, and what I want to do. I am sure people who are less “regular” find the app helpful at times, but I can also see how it would be completely overwhelming. Sure the payment is annoying… but it works if you know what you are doing…

 

[Palaura]

Let’s talk about the shows. Headed to the parks in late august-so not a crazy busy time.
Do we need G+ LL for Indy, frozen, FOTLK? We don’t care where we sit…

 

[lugnut33]

Just back and here are a few observations:
1. You really need to read up and try to be as familiar with Genie as you can before you go. This thread is a huge help. Learn it, love it, embrace it
2. If you want to get the most out of your trip regarding attractions, then you must use Genie. You will be left in the dust by other guests if you don't use it to the max.
3. We found Genie to be the most useful at MK. We showed up at 10:30 on arrival day and literally rode every attraction less a few we didn't need to ride.
4. We found Genie to be the least useful at AK. Honestly, if you can rope drop AK or don't mind waiting in line you don't need Genie at all as there are not enough attractions to fill an entire day. Remember you only get one Genie+ Lightning Lane per attraction, so no multiples rides. It didn't help Safari was down all day. Thank goodness for Dawa Bar.
5. Don't even try to do Hollywood Studios without LL and ILL. What a disaster that park is. I felt so sorry for anyone who bought a day of ticket there. During that day RnR, MRRW, and Slinky were all down significant portions of the say and HToT was only using one shaft.
6. You need to be on right at 7 a.m.
7. Make sure you have two phones, so one can get the first LL and the other can get the ILL.
8. The Genie system did work well. Never had any glitches on the app or when scanning in for an attraction