The Genie Usage, Tips and Strategy ONLY Thread

[Jrb1979]

Are they actually shorter though? (honest question since I don't have first hand experience yet) Was watching a stream last night and every Lightening Lane line they were on was pretty backed up and took longer than I've ever waited on a Fastpass line for those rides.

For the most part they are. Right now with ride breakdown that seem to happen a lot it ends up backing up the LL queue

 

[gharter]

For the most part they are. Right now with ride breakdown that seem to happen a lot it ends up backing up the LL queue

Thats true. But our experience was with a breakdown while the LL backed up, the standby really backed up and they cleared the LL much faster than the standby (just like with old FP+).

 

[robinb]

Trying to plan for our upcoming trip Memorial Day weekend to Magic Kingdom and Hollywood Studios, and new to the Genie + system. I understand that we can book our first pass at 7am outside the park (we are staying at Fort Wilderness), then 120 minutes after park opening for the next one.
Can I continue to book every 120 minutes while still outside the parks? Trying to have a morning at the campground but want to continue to book passes for the afternoon and early evening, and didn’t know if I needed to be in the park to book after the first one.

You may book a new LL (1) when you tap into your latest booked LL, (2) your latest booked LL expires or (3) 120 minutes pass. Which ever comes first. So book the latest LL you can on your first choice.

 

[thanxfornoticin]

Are they actually shorter though? (honest question since I don't have first hand experience yet) Was watching a stream last night and every Lightening Lane line they were on was pretty backed up and took longer than I've ever waited on a Fastpass line for those rides.

I'm also not sure they're any shorter with G+ than they were with FP+. But it's a really tough comparison since G+ is also happening as Disney works its way out of a pandemic (still not everything 100% operational) and what happened with FP+ pre-pandemic. One thing we're certain of is that crowds are usually high over the past 6 months (I say 6 months because that's the time frame we have personal experience with), probably due to pent-up demand from Covid delays and cancellations. From what we saw, the LL wait times were quite similar to what we used to experience with FP+ previous years during the same time of year.

 

[petrola]

Wonder what happens with already purchased tickets with Genie+ that need dates changed to next year? Will the Genie+ piece be removed once the dates are changed?

 

[Jrb1979]

Wonder what happens to people who already purchased tickets with Genie+ already added then need to change their dates to next year? Will the Genie+ piece be removed once the dates are changed?

Probably. I saw a post of some one from the UK that said they would refund the Genie+ part of their trip was for next year.

 

[joy13]

Shoot! I wish I had seen your post before now. The same thing happened to me last week and again today. Out of 4 days trying to fork over money to Disney I was only successful twice!

I was on my phone at 6:45 this morning and tried to but G+ for 25 minutes. The button to buy it was unresponsive. I was able to get an ILL for Rise just fine, but the regular G+ was impossible. Until, at 7:11 when the second drop happened I tried to grab a 9:30 Slinky and the payment went through even though I tried through the regular “Buy G+” link just seconds before. But … I did not know that doing it that way only purchases G+, not the LL. You have to go back to the tip board and get a LL. By the time I realized I didn’t have a LL for Slinky, it was all the way into afternoon. Instead, I grabbed a Smugglers Run for 9:30 which turned out to be for 11:50. The Studios were Messed up today so I knew I would only get 2 rides in with a return time so late.

I talked to a guest relations person under the blue umbrella and she told me about needing to go back out to the tip board after purchasing G+ by selecting a return time. She also advised me to buy G+ at 6:00 am. Right.

The link only worked once for me all week - on Tuesday, then on Wednesday it didn’t work again so I tried my trick above. That must only work once because I went to Photo Lenses and there was no Genie+ link so I went to chat and they told me I then had to call. They gave me the 407-560-CHAT number to call and I got right through and purchased Genie+ but what a pain! Thursday and Friday I wasn’t going for as much so I just purchased it by trying to book (I did figure out I had to go back and rebook after purchasing). Today I didn’t buy it because we were only at the park for half a day. Next trip I’ll just buy it with my tickets because we really got good use out of it.

Edited: I’ve just caught up on the thread and see that being able to purchase ahead is going away in June. What a bummer! They better get the glitches worked out with the buy button before then!

 

[MainMom]

What is the latest time you can book an ILL for 7 Dwarves if the park closes at 10pm? Thanks!

 

[Babe the Blue Ox]

What is the latest time you can book an ILL for 7 Dwarves if the park closes at 10pm? Thanks!

You might just consider doing standby if you’re waiting until the end of the day. Last Monday, the wait was only 15 minutes close to closing time. The posted wait was 40.

 

[tseitel]

I currently do not have tickets linked to my account. Once I do, will I be able to practice “pinning” Attractions to my tip board for faster selections, even though it won’t be during my trip?

 

[GBRforWDW]

What is the latest time you can book an ILL for 7 Dwarves if the park closes at 10pm? Thanks!

You might just consider doing standby if you’re waiting until the end of the day. Last Monday, the wait was only 15 minutes close to closing time. The posted wait was 40.

I would agree with Babe the blue ox, but to answer the question, iirc, the last lightning lane time is 30 minutes before closing for the ride, regardless of the ride.

 

[Beamerball]

I had this happen this morning also. I used the chat feature and they told me what to do. It sounds like it’s a known issue? Here’s their response:
View attachment 669622

This worked very easily for me. The chat was very fast and efficient.

Edit 5/21/22 - this only seems to work once. I had issues other days and had to either call or just buy it when I went to book my first LL. I hope they get that bug fixed soon.

Thanks so much for this! Used it today. Without this info I would be panicking at 4am. Why can’t they fix this glitch?! Also not excited for tomorrow as I’ll probably have to call.

 

[MainMom]

Are the 7:10/7:20ish drops still working for ROTR & 7 Dwarves for morning times?

 

[Disturbia]

Refreshing does work for GOTG

At 9:52 EST:

 

[cjlong88]

Refreshing does work for GOTG

At 9:52 EST:

View attachment 672359

Awesome! Did you grab it? If not, do you m know how long it stayed around?

 

[Disturbia]

Awesome! Did you grab it? If not, do you m know how long it stayed around?

No, I’m not in the parks. Just thought of checking.

 

[scrappinginontario]

No, I’m not in the parks. Just thought of checking.

Historically speaking though, seeing something pop up and successfully grabbing it is a whole different story!!!

I saw many, many things pop up on our trip and not once was I successful grabbing it even though I quickly started the steps immediately.

 

[Jrb1979]

Historically speaking though, seeing something pop up and successfully grabbing it is a whole different story!!!

I saw many, many things pop up on our trip and not once was I successful grabbing it even though I quickly started the steps immediately.

Hopefully with limiting sales it will help that problem.

 

[Airb330]

Disney has got to change the G+ to standby ratio. Everest is BARELY MOVING. The line wasn’t even long. It must be a 10:1 ratio and it’s BS.

 

[Smugpugmug]

Disney has got to change the G+ to standby ratio. Everest is BARELY MOVING. The line wasn’t even long. It must be a 10:1 ratio and it’s BS.

It was like that during Fastpass+ too. My sister worked at Big Thunder at the merge and she said often times it was 10:1 or even 15:1. But I agree, it is pretty ridiculous.