The Genie Usage, Tips and Strategy ONLY Thread

[JennCa]

If the parks open at 8am, do the lightning lanes open to book at 7am and then for riding at 8 or do they wait until later to offer lightning lanes?

 

[Westerner]

Oh, I see. Yes, the LL return times for ITTBAB at 7am are around 8AM or slightly before on thrilldata.

@jbish Suggest you check Tip Board in advance for Bug right at 7:00:00AM and check what return times are offered. You're in uncharted territory and I'm not sure if a return time of 7:30AM (right at AK park open) is actually offered.

Out of curiosity I checked Tip Board for ITTBAB today at 7:00:00a. 1st return time shown was 7:30, but after 1 refresh it shifted to 7:40. It stayed at 7:40 for about a minute before going to 8:00 at 7:02. So @jbish you’ll have to be quick to carry out your strategy. Disclaimer: this is only 1 day of data so YMMV.

More broadly this bears on theoretical earliest possible return time. @JennCa It suggests that LL return windows right at park open or shortly after do exist - even when the park is opening very early.

 

[HydroGuy]

Planning our June trip, which is our first with the G+ system. I'm starting at the beginning of this thread and hope it doesn't take me all 190 page to figure out what the heck I'm doing but I'm not optimistic. Compared to the old FP system, this is crazy confusing and overwhelming.

If you are comparing it to the legacy paper FP system I am not sure I agree. Legacy FP had rules. And those who showed up for rope drop had all the advantages. FP+ had its rules and you needed to make a lot of fixed decisions 60+ days in advance. Now G+ has rules. Yes the rules keep changing and many of us do not like that, but I really do not think it is any harder to understand. It may be frustrating to use in some ways but the old systems had frustrations too.

With that said, the current G+ has flaws. Mosrtly that it does not give you return windows you selected. That is frustrating for sure, but not hard to understand IMHO.

 

[Disturbia]

On HS, if it’s a day with extra magic evening hours you will be competing with high crowds. In all my refreshing a few weeks ago I did not see much SDD availability. However, if you get the other big wait rides and get an extra, the total time saved will still be more than someone who didn’t arbitrage.

 

[T'Lynn]

If the parks open at 8am, do the lightning lanes open to book at 7am and then for riding at 8 or do they wait until later to offer lightning lanes?

Lightning lane booking at WDW starts at 7 am. It’s always 7 am no matter what time the park opens.

 

[jbish]

I appreciate the advice. Any other sage wisdom? We have all prioritized our rides and know that things have changed (and that the parks are busier) and we're likely not going to be able to ride everything we want to like we usually do. I feel like I've got a handle on MK and EPCOT but HS is stressing me out.

My advice on following the Everything G+ thread is to read the first few posts and then start reading more recent experiences and questions. Same for this G+ Usage Tips and Strategy thread. I would go back maybe 2-3 weeks and start reading there. You will start to see a pattern of questions being asked and they will be much more relevant to what the CURRENT situation is. Goodness knows that the strategy in June could be different yet again, especially with Guardians likely open by that time!

 

[kendie_mac]

I've read through the last few pages & have a question. My group is mixed ages (Adults, Teens, & Preschool). Ride priorities & thrill levels are obviously different between the Teens & Preschooler. So I'm considering splitting up our G+ choices at Epcot & HS.

Epcot: TT for Teens. FEA for Adults + Preschooler. Teens have zero interest in riding FEA, but will ride TT multiple times in SR lane & would love a chance to skip the line.

HS: Only 1 Teen wants to ride Slinky Dog & ToT. He's planning SR for RRC. I've agreed to do Slinky Dog & ToT with him. I'm considering splitting our initial LLs for for these to rides at 7AM. Then RD MMRR before heading to TSMM & figure we'd be done with those 2 fairly quickly. After that we'd only be waiting in Standby for Millennium Falcon, Aliens, & Star Tours (maybe), & then the shows.

I worry if I split them by people (say 2 of us to ToT, 3 to MMRR) then we'll be off sink the entire day and do zero rides together.

Or say all 5 of us do LL for MMRR & stay in sink, 2 of us will be spending 4hrs standing in line by ourselves for 2 rides which is a good chunk of the day.

Feedback? Experience?

 

[g-dad66]

I've read through the last few pages & have a question. My group is mixed ages (Adults, Teens, & Preschool). Ride priorities & thrill levels are obviously different between the Teens & Preschooler. So I'm considering splitting up our G+ choices at Epcot & HS.

Epcot: TT for Teens. FEA for Adults + Preschooler. Teens have zero interest in riding FEA, but will ride TT multiple times in SR lane & would love a chance to skip the line.

HS: Only 1 Teen wants to ride Slinky Dog & ToT. He's planning SR for RRC. I've agreed to do Slinky Dog & ToT with him. I'm considering splitting our initial LLs for for these to rides at 7AM. Then RD MMRR before heading to TSMM & figure we'd be done with those 2 fairly quickly. After that we'd only be waiting in Standby for Millennium Falcon, Aliens, & Star Tours (maybe), & then the shows.

I worry if I split them by people (say 2 of us to ToT, 3 to MMRR) then we'll be off sink the entire day and do zero rides together.

Or say all 5 of us do LL for MMRR & stay in sink, 2 of us will be spending 4hrs standing in line by ourselves for 2 rides which is a good chunk of the day.

Feedback? Experience?

We had a similar experience. It's pretty easy for the LL return times for the "thrill" rides to be later in the day when you book soon after 7am (and also by the time you book your second LL).

So splitting up late in the day worked well for us, and in the morning we were doing attractions that we all did together (except for one HS day when the thrill-seekers did Tower of Terror & RRC during early entry, and the others slept in a bit).

 

[Airb330]

Well, this is new. Certainly seems true for DHS lately. I guess they’re setting expectations but at $15 for 2 rides this isn’t a great system. I did better with G+ than 3 rides at MK last week for sure…skipped G+ at AK but did an ILL$ for FoP.

 

[Disturbia]

Arriving next week (hopefully)! I was hoping to get a genie plus reservation for frozen for after dinner. We are at AK in the morning. Can anyone tell me when frozen passes usually run out - wondering if I can get a safari reservation at 7am and then get frozen after. Thanks

On checkin date (Sunday), I booked Remy and Test Track at 7 am. Then I wanted Frozen for after 6 pm but it sold out at 10:30 am (next booking window) and I kept refreshing for an hour while boarding my flight. I finally got Frozen for the time I wanted.

Same thing happened today. I booked FOP and Safari at 7 am (9:20-10:20; line was over 75 mins and the LL was backed up to Tusker house). and then booked the Lion King show. At 9:30 (2 hrs post open), I booked NRJ for 5:25-6:25 pm. We took a break at Satu li (there were tour groups with large orders and coupons so allergy orders took 30 mins extra). Booked Kali River around 11:30 At around 1:30 pm we decided to see if we could refresh Dinosaur as times were only 4:40+. Constantly refreshing got us as 1:15 pm. CM let us on at 1:05 as we had Horseback riding booked.

Came back in the evening. Most rides were low waits as people park hopped

 

[Disturbia]

HS today. SDD had a second drop at 7:05 and continuously on and off thereafter.

ROTR had a second drop at 7:15 but that was late evening only. Third drop at 7:17 was starting at 8:30 am and all times available (what you selected was what you got on the booking screen). Chose 11:30 am. Also at 7 am when I selected 11:30 am the booking screen showed 3:50 pm (we have dinner at 5:40 pm)

 

[twirly123]

On checkin date (Sunday), I booked Remy and Test Track at 7 am. Then I wanted Frozen for after 6 pm but it sold out at 10:30 am (next booking window) and I kept refreshing for an hour while boarding my flight. I finally got Frozen for the time I wanted.

Same thing happened today. I booked FOP and Safari at 7 am (9:20-10:20; line was over 75 mins and the LL was backed up to Tusker house). and then booked the Lion King show. At 9:30 (2 hrs post open), I booked NRJ for 5:25-6:25 pm. We took a break at Satu li (there were tour groups with large orders and coupons so allergy orders took 30 mins extra). Booked Kali River around 11:30 At around 1:30 pm we decided to see if we could refresh Dinosaur as times were only 4:40+. Constantly refreshing got us as 1:15 pm. CM let us on at 1:05 as we had Horseback riding booked.

Came back in the evening. Most rides were low waits as people park hopped

Thanks. That sounds great

 

[twirly123]

If you choose a show with genie plus I see the window opens half an hour before. What’s the latest you can turn up and be allowed in - is it show start time or is it at the half an hour prior window (or somewhere in between). Thanks

 

[Figmentv]

I know a lot of people here have mentioned needing to going from one side of MK to the other several times in a day to get to do their desired LLs. I’m hoping to not have to do that even though we’ll be there during a very busy time 6/29-7/5.

Is it feasible to group my LLs by land ? I envision something like starting off in Liberty Sq., with HM, tap in then grab an LL in Frontierland and filling in the times between attractions with “little to no wait” type things like the Riverboat or Tom Sawyer, etc. Then moving on to the next land, so on and so forth.

I know a lot of this plan will revolve around when our return time is for SDMT (if we get it). I’m just trying to figure out if it’s doable.

 

[TacoCatGoatCheesePizza]

Posted on a different board but maybe this is the best one for my question. I have been practicing adding SDD to my tip board and testing looking for LL at 7am (from home to understand the process before our trip next month). For the most part, for any park, when I refresh the tip board at anytime, it is fine and shows current LL availability. However, at exactly 7 am, when I set park to HS and refresh, it spins and gives an error message. By the time I get back in at 7:00:30 maybe, it’s already late afternoon times. Should I expect this to happen in the parks or is genie+ more well behaved when you actually are able to book. If not, how do I fix it?

 

[francie57]

Posted on a different board but maybe this is the best one for my question. I have been practicing adding SDD to my tip board and testing looking for LL at 7am (from home to understand the process before our trip next month). For the most part, for any park, when I refresh the tip board at anytime, it is fine and shows current LL availability. However, at exactly 7 am, when I set park to HS and refresh, it spins and gives an error message. By the time I get back in at 7:00:30 maybe, it’s already late afternoon times. Should I expect this to happen in the parks or is genie+ more well behaved when you actually are able to book. If not, how do I fix it?

When you are there and try turn off Wi-Fi. I was told this by several guest relation people. if you get any type of error come up take a quick screenshot. We had gotten through to the payment screen for Rise and a Disney error message came up. I took a screenshot (you could see the rise info in the background). When I got to the Studios I went to guest services just inside the park and explained what happened and showed her the screen shot. She gave us an anytime Rise lightning lane for our party.

 

[lynzi2004]

Had a fairly successful day booking LLs from home for family at Disney on their first trip. Family of 4 (parents, DS 6 and DS2) staying at POP.

Got in Skyliner line at 6:45, loading on skyliner at 7 and going through HS security by 7:15. She booked LL for Slinky for 1:20-2:20 but wasn’t happy with the time. I tried for Rise but it was late afternoon too so I opted to wait and at 7:17, refreshed and had my choice of times (chose 10:30-11:30). They were close enough to the front of rope drop that we opted to cancel the Slinky LL and booked MMRR for 9:50-10:50. The morning went like this
1. Slinky Dog
2. Mania
3. Saucers
4. Breakfast at Woodys lunchbox
5. MMRR railway LL (9:50-10:50)
6. Booked an immediate return for Star Tours 10:25-11:25
7. Rise LL for 10:30-11:30
8. Single rider smugglers run
Left park around 1:30-2pm
They weren’t interested in RnRc or TOT with their kids.

Around 11:15 after doing Star Tours I started stacking the afternoon we already had FOP booked around 7:20am for a 7:30-8:30pm return

Navi from 6:30-7:30 booked at 11:15
Safari from 5:30-6:30 booked at 1:15

Fairly easy from me to do from home and the just tell her where to go!

 

[Miffy]

Had a fairly successful day booking LLs from home for family at Disney on their first trip. Family of 4 (parents, DS 6 and DS2) staying at POP.

Got in Skyliner line at 6:45, loading on skyliner at 7 and going through HS security by 7:15. She booked LL for Slinky for 1:20-2:20 but wasn’t happy with the time. I tried for Rise but it was late afternoon too so I opted to wait and at 7:17, refreshed and had my choice of times (chose 10:30-11:30). They were close enough to the front of rope drop that we opted to cancel the Slinky LL and booked MMRR for 9:50-10:50. The morning went like this
1. Slinky Dog
2. Mania
3. Saucers
4. Breakfast at Woodys lunchbox
5. MMRR railway LL (9:50-10:50)
6. Booked an immediate return for Star Tours 10:25-11:25
7. Rise LL for 10:30-11:30
8. Single rider smugglers run
Left park around 1:30-2pm
They weren’t interested in RnRc or TOT with their kids.

Around 11:15 after doing Star Tours I started stacking the afternoon we already had FOP booked around 7:20am for a 7:30-8:30pm return

Navi from 6:30-7:30 booked at 11:15
Safari from 5:30-6:30 booked at 1:15

Fairly easy from me to do from home and the just tell her where to go!

If Genie were really a genie, it'd do what you did for your family!

 

[HockeyMomNH]

If you choose a show with genie plus I see the window opens half an hour before. What’s the latest you can turn up and be allowed in - is it show start time or is it at the half an hour prior window (or somewhere in between). Thanks

We learned the hard way, that the G+ for shows doesn't save you a spot. Once the show is full they will not let you enter even if you have a reservation. It makes the G+ pretty pointless, imo. Plus, I couldn't book another G+ until the 2 hour time was up because I couldn't scan in and "use" the show one.

I went to CS and definitely expressed my unhappiness with the system that day.

 

[lynzi2004]

If Genie were really a genie, it'd do what you did for your family!

Thank you! For first timers who don’t know which ones sell out first or where something was located. It was almost easier to take control than to try to fix when the inevitably texted that they were having issues!