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

[scrappinginontario]

Thanks. We're gonna try being 4hrs late for ours today, so I'll report back for future reference if we have any issues.

Thanks so much! If you have time, we'd appreciate you adding your experience either way as it's helpful to have most current experiences recorded. Thanks!

 

[sundaisy]

Have not purchased or used Genie+yet. Wanted to see what happens if you purchase for $29 per person on busy days and then there are no LL available to book as day goes on? Seems like they do not sell out of Genie +. this afternoon looking at Animal Kingdom just about everything is unavailable. So you could possibly pay for genie + and get your one selection at 7am and no other other options available?

 

[Sunelis]

Have not purchased or used Genie+yet. Wanted to see what happens if you purchase for $29 per person on busy days and then there are no LL available to book as day goes on? Seems like they do not sell out of Genie +. this afternoon looking at Animal Kingdom just about everything is unavailable. So you could possibly pay for genie + and get your one selection at 7am and no other other options available?

On really busy days... It's a possibility.

 

[scrappinginontario]

Have not purchased or used Genie+yet. Wanted to see what happens if you purchase for $29 per person on busy days and then there are no LL available to book as day goes on? Seems like they do not sell out of Genie +. this afternoon looking at Animal Kingdom just about everything is unavailable. So you could possibly pay for genie + and get your one selection at 7am and no other other options available?

No, this has never happened. Some of the more popular attractions sell out quickly but for the majority of the day there are attractions available to book a LL. The more popular attractions will fill first but there will be something to select for a good portion of the day.

 

[scrappinginontario]

On really busy days... It's a possibility.

This has never happened though. OP is asking if they book their first LL at 7AM that everything else is sold out of LL by the time they can book again 2 hours after park opening.

I would disagree and say no, it's not possible that EVERYTHING would be gone by 2 hours after park opening. If it was going to happen it would already have happened and we would have heard about it here for sure!

Today is a very popular day with anticipated crowds between 8-10/10 at all 4 parks and at 3:15 in the afternoon all 4 parks still have some LL available to book.

 

[godfather927]

Thanks so much! If you have time, we'd appreciate you adding your experience either way as it's helpful to have most current experiences recorded. Thanks!

Unfortunately, my plans were predicated on getting into the 1pm Lion King show but the standby line for it was onto the bridge to Pandora when we walked up to it at 12:30pm so I had to abandon those plans and instead do the bird show and then we rode FoP during our actual return window. Ended up getting a LL for the 6pm Lion King show but this meant we had to miss out on Kali. Parks are so crowded today, worst I've ever seen. Oh well, still gotta make the best of it.

 

[godfather927]

Have not purchased or used Genie+yet. Wanted to see what happens if you purchase for $29 per person on busy days and then there are no LL available to book as day goes on? Seems like they do not sell out of Genie +. this afternoon looking at Animal Kingdom just about everything is unavailable. So you could possibly pay for genie + and get your one selection at 7am and no other other options available?

I'm here today, and got the following LLs starting at 7am:
Safari, Everest, Dinosaur, Lion King

Not great value for $29 (especially since I had to refresh to even get Lion King) but with as long as all the standby lines are, I'm not sure trying to brave those waits with two kids was worth it either.

 

[leeniewdw]

I'm here today, and got the following LLs starting at 7am:
Safari, Everest, Dinosaur, Lion King

Not great value for $29 (especially since I had to refresh to even get Lion King) but with as long as all the standby lines are, I'm not sure trying to brave those waits with two kids was worth it either.

I'd say that's a pretty decent value if you value not standing in lines! Depending on the time, I have to think a busy day like this would have long waits for all of those. Maybe 2-3 hours longer than with LLs?

We went at a not busy time earlier this year and the Safari standby line was SO LONG.

 

[godfather927]

I'd say that's a pretty decent value if you value not standing in lines! Depending on the time, I have to think a busy day like this would have long waits for all of those. Maybe 2-3 hours longer than with LLs?

We went at a not busy time earlier this year and the Safari standby line was SO LONG.

Yeah, altogether, we probably saved just over 3 hours of waiting in total, so obviously not as much value as when it used to cost $15, but such is life.

 

[isabellea]

Have not purchased or used Genie+yet. Wanted to see what happens if you purchase for $29 per person on busy days and then there are no LL available to book as day goes on? Seems like they do not sell out of Genie +. this afternoon looking at Animal Kingdom just about everything is unavailable. So you could possibly pay for genie + and get your one selection at 7am and no other other options available?

Was at AK today (12/29). Booked our first G+ for Safari (9am) at 7am. At 9am, booked the 9:30am show of FOTLK. At 9:44am, booked Kali Rapids for 10am then realized it was too early so modified it to Everest at 1:30am to finally modified it again for 5:40pm. At 11:44am, I booked Kali Rapids for 2:30pm. At 1:44pm I could have booked Nemo show, bird show, Animation Experience (we did it with no wait in the morning) or Tough to be a bug (rode it standby with a 20min wait). My kids didn’t want to watch another show so I skipped.

Combined with a very efficient early entry (Navi, Everest 2x, pre-historic Dumbo and Dinosaur during the first hour) and FOP ILL$, we had a great day and rode everything we wanted with very little wait. Even with the INSANE crowds!

 

[wilkydelts]

Not sure if something is changing or if it is because of Christmas but a Cast Member told us to not worry about a LL expiring and they weren’t enforcing return times. We did not intentionally try to verify this but showed up to Big Thunder Mountain around 30 minutes late and had no problem getting on. The scanners turned green and we went. Again might be a fluke but worth sharing

 

[godfather927]

Not sure if something is changing or if it is because of Christmas but a Cast Member told us to not worry about a LL expiring and they weren’t enforcing return times. We did not intentionally try to verify this but showed up to Big Thunder Mountain around 30 minutes late and had no problem getting on. The scanners turned green and we went. Again might be a fluke but worth sharing

I stopped and asked about being late to our FoP return window yesterday at AK and the CM claimed it would not let us through. I have a strong feeling he was either new or just being a stickler though, because that contradicted with everything that I've read here about being late for an $ILL. He kept suggesting I just rearrange my plans even after I explained that the system changed my time to be several hours earlier from what I selected. Left feeling a little frustrated, but could just be luck of the draw. More experienced or less upright CMs could be more transparent with what would actually happen if we showed up late.

 

[scrappinginontario]

Thanks for sharing @wilkydelts and @godfather927. Hopefully others will continue to share their experiences here so we can confirm what is actually happening.

With the exception to the BTM experience yesterday the practice has been:

- regular LL return times are being enforced. (From 5 mins before through 15 mins after)

- VQ and ILL$ return times are not being enforced so a guest can return anytime from when their BG is called (for VQ) or, once a ILL$ return window opens, until park close.

We appreciate all sharing their actual experiences here in this thread so we can keep it current.

 

[Disturbia]

Just a note on Rider Switch with a LL. We had SDD and the bus took an hour (at 4 pm) from the Poly to get to HS (lots of wheelchairs at the GF pickup and they were waiting almost 2 hours, 2 buses had no room). TOT was a last minute grab so it overlapped and when we got onto SDD during the grace period. Then we sprinted over to TOT (had 8 mins grace left). They would not allow a RS to be issued without cancelling SDD RS, but the Cm said if she is working she would be able to let our son ride, but they can’t go by word of mouth and she might change shifts by the time I got back. First party rode and I saw her going back in the gift shop when we exited. She said she can’t do anything about a RS now that she’s not upfront but a few minutes later she was back in the front and let our DS6 go with dad. Sent a Cast Compliment to her.

The slinky dog RS was valid until end of day. We had MMRR next but it turned blue for two people with the RS (screenshot your Genie+ entitlement because they asked for proof we booked it for everyone). I took screenshots of everything at that point because something was happening with the bookings. The Cm at MMRR said people coming over from Star Tours are having some issues. We said we came from TOT and have a RS for SDD but the newer CM was not understanding us clearly and thought we had a RS for MMRR. Another CM stepped in and had to override the two people and we had to rescan everyone.

Then when we went to SDD RS, the adult’s pass turned blue and the Cm said you’re over 2 hours late but reluctantly overrode. The LL line was 25 mins long.

DD3 lost one of her shoes (spirit broke stroller, umbrella strollers hard to find, found last minnie one at Riviera-3 day wait ordered a double from Amazon and renting in the parks). They don’t allow kids to ride AlienSS without shoes.

 

[NJlauren]

Just a note on Rider Switch with a LL. We had SDD and the bus took an hour (at 4 pm) from the Poly to get to HS (lots of wheelchairs at the GF pickup and they were waiting almost 2 hours, 2 buses had no room). TOT was a last minute grab so it overlapped and when we got onto SDD during the grace period. Then we sprinted over to TOT (had 8 mins grace left). They would not allow a RS to be issued without cancelling SDD RS, but the Cm said if she is working she would be able to let our son ride, but they can’t go by word of mouth and she might change shifts by the time I got back. First party rode and I saw her going back in the gift shop when we exited. She said she can’t do anything about a RS now that she’s not upfront but a few minutes later she was back in the front and let our DS6 go with dad. Sent a Cast Compliment to her.

The slinky dog RS was valid until end of day. We had MMRR next but it turned blue for two people with the RS (screenshot your Genie+ entitlement because they asked for proof we booked it for everyone). I took screenshots of everything at that point because something was happening with the bookings. The Cm at MMRR said people coming over from Star Tours are having some issues. We said we came from TOT and have a RS for SDD but the newer CM was not understanding us clearly and thought we had a RS for MMRR. Another CM stepped in and had to override the two people and we had to rescan everyone.

Then when we went to SDD RS, the adult’s pass turned blue and the Cm said you’re over 2 hours late but reluctantly overrode. The LL line was 25 mins long.

DD3 lost one of her shoes (spirit broke stroller, umbrella strollers hard to find, found last minnie one at Riviera-3 day wait ordered a double from Amazon and renting in the parks). They don’t allow kids to ride AlienSS without shoes.

Wow what a day you had! I am so sorry this sounds overly stressful and no fun! I hope your still have a good time!

 

[Disturbia]

Wow what a day you had! I am so sorry this sounds overly stressful and no fun! I hope your still have a good time!

We still had fun. We spent the morning at Fort Wilderness riding horses (Camden is hard to manage) and ponies, but we’ve had similar experiences during spring break (bee situation eating outdoors needs to be managed). Also use plastic hair ties to tie your MB+ (lost one).

At least CMs were accommodating, but I would screenshot all booked Genie LLs (showing each member). Esp. during a sold out week like this one.

 

[softballpooh]

Slinky is somewhat unique in how quickly the return times are late. You have to be fast at 7:00 am to have any hope of getting a return time earlier than 2 hours from park closing. If your return time is late, then you cannot get a second LL until 2 hours after park opening.

But if you forego Slinky and get any other LL at 7:00 am, then you have a good chance of getting 2nd and 3rd LLs earlier in the day.

I'm trying to read through the thread in preparation for our trip next week and this caught my attention.

We're staying offsite and plan to do a DHS/Epcot park hopping day. My ILL window isn't open until 8:30am when the park opens or 9am for Epcot. Everyone recommends Slinky but that's not really a priority ride for us AND we'll be leaving DHS by 1pm so a late in the day time at 7am won't do us any good and may penalize us it seems. Is it likely that we won't have a return time for Slinky before 1pm?

Our priorities are
Toy Story Mania
Smuggler's Run

Guardian
Remy
Soarin

Given this information, should I just skip a genie selection at DHS at 7am and grab a Remy? Or should I use it on another DHS one to allow us to use it there once we get started?

 

[SLThomas318]

I'm trying to read through the thread in preparation for our trip next week and this caught my attention.

We're staying offsite and plan to do a DHS/Epcot park hopping day. My ILL window isn't open until 8:30am when the park opens or 9am for Epcot. Everyone recommends Slinky but that's not really a priority ride for us AND we'll be leaving DHS by 1pm so a late in the day time at 7am won't do us any good and may penalize us it seems. Is it likely that we won't have a return time for Slinky before 1pm?

Our priorities are
Toy Story Mania
Smuggler's Run

Guardian
Remy
Soarin

Given this information, should I just skip a genie selection at DHS at 7am and grab a Remy? Or should I use it on another DHS one to allow us to use it there once we get started?

You prob want to prioritize Remy. Mania and Smugglers shouldn’t be too bad first thing in the morning even without early entry. The tricky part with genie is if you don’t get an early return time or too late of a return when park hopping (might be able to fix now that you can modify, but might not). You could also save Remy for end of night… then I’d say chances are good you’ll get an early return on mania, then once you tap you could hope for smugglers.

 

[golex]

We did a trip the week before Christmas and wanted to post some anecdotes from our experiences:

Genie+ LL - The grace period is at least an hour after the end of your return window. The touchpoint will still turn green and no issues. It might be as long as two hours, the latest we tried was probably ~70 minutes after the window and still had a green tap in and no CM interaction.
ILL - We got a dressing down from the CM for being 3 hours late to our first ILL booking (Seven Dwarves). She asked us to explain why we were late and it seemed like we were about to be turned away when the other CM next to her said something and she let us through. We made sure to not miss any other ILL return windows during the remainder of our trip. Hopefully just a CM new to handling an ILL ride, because it definitely felt a bit punitive after having paid extra.
VQ - We were ~10 hours late after our boarding group was called and still green touchpoint, no issues as expected.

 

[DerTobi75]

Anyone in for some Statistics? Do not know, if this has be done before, if so, please ignore this post ;-)

Genie+ Price Statistics in December 2022
Lowest Price: $15
Highest Price: $29
Average Price: $21.45


Genie+ Price Trend Chart December 2022




Genie+ Prices in December 2022

Genie+ Price	Available in December 2022
$29	9 times
$15	7 times
$17	5 times
$19	4 times
$25	4 times
$20	1 times
$18	1 times

Genie+ Price Average per Weekday in December 2022

Weekday	Average Genie+ Price
Thursday	$19.80
Sunday	$20.00
Tuesday	$21.00
Wednesday	$21.75
Friday	$21.80
Monday	$22.50
Saturday	$23.20

Genie+ Price by Weekday in December 2022

Sunday	Genie+ Price
2022-12-04	$17
2022-12-11	$15
2022-12-18	$19
2022-12-25	$29
--------	--------
Average	$20.00

Monday	Genie+ Price
2022-12-05	$17
2022-12-12	$19
2022-12-19	$25
2022-12-26	$29
--------	--------
Average	$22.50

Tuesday	Genie+ Price
2022-12-06	$15
2022-12-13	$15
2022-12-20	$25
2022-12-27	$29
--------	--------
Average	$21.00

Wednesday	Genie+ Price
2022-12-07	$18
2022-12-14	$15
2022-12-21	$25
2022-12-28	$29
--------	--------
Average	$21.75

Thursday	Genie+ Price
2022-12-01	$15
2022-12-08	$15
2022-12-15	$15
2022-12-22	$25
2022-12-29	$29
--------	--------
Average	$19.80

Friday	Genie+ Price
2022-12-02	$17
2022-12-09	$17
2022-12-16	$17
2022-12-23	$29
2022-12-30	$29
--------	--------
Average	$21.80

Saturday	Genie+ Price
2022-12-03	$20
2022-12-10	$19
2022-12-17	$19
2022-12-24	$29
2022-12-31	$29
--------	--------
Average	$23.20