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

[mickey916]

I’ve read multiple times that it’s better to show up late for the LL or ILL$ and explain you had a conflicting ADR. Sometimes people are asked to show the receipt or the ADR in MDE. I haven’t read of anyone being turned away. It’s easier to work you into the LL/ILL$ line than into a full restaurant.

That's good to know. Hoping to avoid conflicts but it just seems like it's a possibility since the times jump between initial selection and confirmation. I'm planning on using our April trip as an experimental one with Genie+ in hopes that things will be smoother in May when our adult sons are with us.

 

[CarolynFH]

That's good to know. Hoping to avoid conflicts but it just seems like it's a possibility since the times jump between initial selection and confirmation. I'm planning on using our April trip as an experimental one with Genie+ in hopes that things will be smoother in May when our adult sons are with us.

Yes, I think CMs are mostly aware that those times jump around, which makes them forgiving of late arrivals due to ADRs.

 

[gottalovepluto]

As for the guest services, I was surprised at how unhelpful they were. I asked them to switch a 7DMT ILL that I had because the app had crashed that morning and I ended up with a time at night instead of the morning like I had planned. She simply said all times were sold out and there was nothing she could do. So I would not count on getting help from them unfortunately. This was someone at one of the guest services umbrellas in the park. Maybe you would have more luck with the CM outside the ride.

WOW. I get no changes but issue a refund or a chargeback complaint to my credit card company/bank it would be! Selling you one thing and delivering another is not an ok practice by any merchant.

 

[Duke07]

Do you have to check in to your first park that day before securing ILL for the park you’ll be hopping to?

For example, if we rope drop HS in the morning and plan on going to Epcot in evening. Can we purchase Remy and Frozen ILL at 7am for evening time slots?

Thanks!

 

[mickey916]

Do you have to check in to your first park that day before securing ILL for the park you’ll be hopping to?

For example, if we rope drop HS in the morning and plan on going to Epcot in evening. Can we purchase Remy and Frozen ILL at 7am for evening time slots?

Thanks!

Yes you can purchase afternoon ILL$ at 7 am for a different park. (If you're staying onsite). You don't have to check into the other park before purchasing but you will have to check into that other park before hopping.

 

[thebigman65]

GENIE+ for ANNUAL PASSHOLDERS

- Guests who have an AP and all guests on their reservation have an AP, will be eligible to purchase G+ after midnight

- Guests who have an AP and other guest on their reservation have regular tickets that have NOT had G+ purchased for length of stay, will be eligible to purchase G+ for all guests after midnight

- When Annual Passholders are attempting to purchase Genie+, they may encounter a glitch IF the other people on their reservation have:

- regular park tickets AND​

- those guests purchased Genie+ for length of stay for their tickets​

- If this is your situation, you will not be able to purchase Genie+ for your Annual Pass at midnight. The system will not allow the purchase.

- The best option to fix is to call 1-407-939-4357 before 7:00 am and purchase Genie+ for AP(s). This number seems to be dedicated to Genie+ challenges and does not normally have a long wait time. Purchasing before 7:00 am will allow all guests to book Genie+ at 7:00 am.

- A common suggestion for the AP glitch is for guest services to advise guests to uninstall and reinstall the app. This does not fix the problem. Calling the number above should allow G+ to be purchased. Unfortunately it will mean a call each day you wish to add G+.

Is there no way for AP members to buy Genie + for length of stay? Our kids all have it on their 7 day pass, but all I can see is that if we are AP we have to buy it day of....which IMO.....is really dumb.....

 

[gorjus121]

It's been a few years since we've been to Disney. I once felt I knew so much about planning our Disney trips, but so much has changed. We have park reservations in place with a park hopper and G+. I find the new system for reserving G+ and LL confusing. I know this is explained somewhere in this thread, but could someone kindly explain to me what the G+ are and why is this separate from LL? Are any available to choose ahead of time or the day you enter the park? TIA.

 

[Tom_E_D]

It's been a few years since we've been to Disney. I once felt I knew so much about planning our Disney trips, but so much has changed. We have park reservations in place with a park hopper and G+. I find the new system for reserving G+ and LL confusing. I know this is explained somewhere in this thread, but could someone kindly explain to me what the G+ are and why is this separate from LL? Are any available to choose ahead of time or the day you enter the park? TIA.

Read posts 3 and 4 on page 1 of this thread. There's too much info there for me to repeat it all here. Nearly every attraction that is not an Individual Lightning Lane attraction is in Genie+. See this webpage for the MK list. That page has links for the other parks. Why are Genie+ and Individual Lightning Lane attractions separate? Because Disney expects to make more money doing it this way.

 

[JnoMoremoney]

On the day we head to Epcot, the park doesn’t open until 10am. So my first LL selection is 7am and then I can’t do another until 12pm? (Assuming I haven’t tapped into my first LL selection)

 

[GBRforWDW]

On the day we head to Epcot, the park doesn’t open until 10am. So my first LL selection is 7am and then I can’t do another until 12pm? (Assuming I haven’t tapped into my first LL selection)

That's correct.

 

[Duke07]

Can you begin making LL and ILL selections at 7 am on the day that you're checking into a resort (despite not actually checking in until later in the day)?

 

[Turksmom]

Can you begin making LL and ILL selections at 7 am on the day that you're checking into a resort (despite not actually checking in until later in the day)?

yes

 

[Babe the Blue Ox]

Are there any tips available on using Genie+ along with Rider Switch?

We’ve got 6 adults and a toddler. If 5 of us go on a ride while 1 stays back with the kid, when can I make my next reservation. Do I have to wait until the Rider Switch is completed and the 6th adult taps in?

 

[DisneyLiz44]

I have already purchased tickets for my family of 3. After reading this thread I now realize it would be a good idea to purchase Genie+ since we will be in the parks are 3 very busy days (3/17, 3/18, 3/19). Can I add this now for all three park days or is it too late? Do I now have to wait till midnight to add genie+ each night before a park day?

Also, I read that one family member can try to get the first genie+ pass at 7am while another family member tries to purchase a LL for a different ride. How does that work exactly? My son has to download the MDE app to his phone and then then create an account and then link his account to mine?

 

[Sweettears]

yes

Is this true for the DS hotels as well?

 

[Skeletonframes]

WOW. I get no changes but issue a refund or a chargeback complaint to my credit card company/bank it would be! Selling you one thing and delivering another is not an ok practice by any merchant.

We almost had this situation on Sunday and the Guest Services Person told us to come back at the end of your day, if we couldn’t get on the ride, and they could issue a refund for all members of our party that couldn’t ride due to having to catch a flight. So, it seems they will refund.

But, I agree that if I hit “confirm” on a certain time and pay for our party, I should get the time I paid for.

In our instance I refreshed at 7am and chose 12:30 for Rise of the Resistance. It gave us a 1:25-2:25 window to confirm, so I confirmed it and purchased. It took a few minutes to show up in My Day and, when it did, it showed up as 3:15-4:15, which conflicted with our Oga’s reservation. We also had to leave the park by 5 to catch our flight, so it was a tight squeeze. Luckily the ride didn’t go down for any extended period that day.

Same exact issue happened the day before with Flight of Passage and our Tiffin’s ADR, so I made sure I wasn’t doing something wrong or not noticing a change in time before I “confirmed” for ROTR. I would be interested to know if this is happening to other people or if we were just unlucky twice?

The Guest Services Member that took care of our Flight of Passage issue was amazing, though, and gave us a ride pass to use anytime of the day, since the Tiffin’s dinner would take up literally our entire ride window.

 

[bamaslp]

This stresses me out a bit. I have a lot of reading and studying to do ahead of time!

 

[Tom_E_D]

Is this true for the DS hotels as well?

Anyone can make G+ LL reservations at 7:00. The only ones who can make ILL$ reservations at 7:00 are those staying at Disney-owned (or DVC) resorts, Swan, Dolphin, Swan Reserve and Shades of Green. The Disney Springs resorts are not on that list.

 

[fireflyer]

Most online purchases (theatre, airlines, sports stadiums, cruises, etc) will hold your selected "slot" for you for a period of time (60 seconds, 2 minutes) to allow you to complete the transaction.

The fact that Disney did NOT program that purchase-time window into Genie+ is an utter failure, and a breach of consumer trust. Especially for the ILL$ reservations that they're CHARGING YOU FOR... that's a textbook "bait and switch". I suppose they've mentioned somewhere in their Genie fine-print that they don't have to honor the displayed time you chose. But none-the-less it's a dirty practice. I wish some Consumer Protections Practices could expose it. With current DIS management and w/ the current ethical decline, Disney will continue bait-n-switch up until it negatively impacts their bottom line.

Two reasons behind the dual-system reservations (Genie+ for lesser rides, versus ILL$ for top rides):
1) crowd management (misrepresenting crowding at certain park areas, in order to reduce crowd density), OR
2) calculating wait-times.

BUT i also suspect they've installed this complex two-factor system to circumvent some advantages their competitor "Touring Plans" has given customers. I used to ROCK MY TRIP using TouringPlans dot com and getting ~30 rides/day including the TOP rides and SHOWS while minimizing walking. Planning the day minute-by-minute, and working around ADR too. But since Genie+ prevents scheduling until the day of, they effectively sideline the TouringPlans pre-plan benefits. And Genie+ ruins the amount of time you have to look at the screen when you could be looking at the decor and taking photos. I guess forcing you to have your eyes on your phone all day will help you to miss the overflowing garbage and dirty bathrooms?

Look, I appreciate the informative and succinct answers many of you have graciously provide here about the G+ and ILL$. I wouldn't have known these tips without you!!!!!!

At this time I'm going forward with our trip, and because it appears to be our last possible trip (ages & life commitments), our group WILL buy a 2nd day, and will pay Genie+, and I then reserved ON-site-hotel, and will probably pay for a couple ILL$ for all of us, both days. This is 250% ABOVE my original purchased tickets. Disney excels at causing the fear-of-missing-out to desperate people such as myself, in a way that makes me feel it's my last chance to have an experience this good.

This message board also helps to instill the FOMO. Of course we know this board is partially sponsored by Disney ads... Really, I just need 1 more positive Disney visit with my relatives; then I'll start publicizing the pros/cons G+/ILL$. Or contact me if you're writing a book of the same. I'll document my successes/fails/stresses with the new Genie+ and would give some support to seeing it published, if insightful.

 

[Westerner]

I have already purchased tickets for my family of 3. After reading this thread I now realize it would be a good idea to purchase Genie+ since we will be in the parks are 3 very busy days (3/17, 3/18, 3/19). Can I add this now for all three park days or is it too late? Do I now have to wait till midnight to add genie+ each night before a park day?

In theory you can add G+ to all days but it glitched when I tried it by modifying my tickets in MDE the day before it was scheduled to start. Called Disney customer service and they said it was a known issue, and that IT could fix it but I’d have to wait a long time on the phone. I gave up and added G+ after midnight before going to bed each night. Once I got a message in the app saying G+ couldn’t be added til 3AM or so, so I did it at 645 next morning.

Reason I held off adding G+ til last minute to tickets was, I bought them from UT and if you modify them in MDE you can’t get a refund.