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

[vinmar4]

Congrats!

Based on thrilldata FoP often has drops (new availability) around 11:40, 2:05 and 5:10 so checking at or shortly before those times can pay dividends. Also Sometimes around 9-ish but these seem less consistent.

That's what I did!
I remembered that I had taken note of those hours, so I started checking before the 5:10 PM.
Thank you

 

[Akck]

I guess the part I don't understand is, when we approach the CM to request Rider Swap, how do they know whether "Party 1" is about to go wait in Standby or use a LL? I get the double-dipping (which was an advantage to Fast Pass w/ Rider Swap honestly) but is the CM really going to say "Wait, the first parent has a LL reservation therefore I am not giving the second parent a Rider Swap pass because he/she doesn't have a LL reservation." That seems like a lot for the CM to decipher, but maybe not?

I have no idea how rider swap works, but one easy way would be for the CM have both parents check in and then give the second parent the pass.

 

[boxer]

Like to get ILL for Rise on our first day at DHS---but we would need a morning or early-afternoon time, as we won't spend all day in the park. I know it is a crap shoot to get the ILL in the morning--so if our time is not available, do I just rope drop the park that day? What are times (or secrets) if we wait in stand-by first-thing in the morning? We will be at OKW so we get the extra half-hour entry--and from trips in the past, they start letting people in about an hour early IIRC. Any advice?

 

[Westerner]

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[wisblue]

Suggest you wait til 7:17 to book RotR, seems like return times are earlier then and a bit more predictable.

I wouldn’t wait until 7:17 to try to book. I would try to get something first thing at 7:00 but then keep refreshing if you can’t get something acceptable to you.

The times that come up at 7:17 do seem to be predictable, but they aren’t guaranteed, especially for earlier times. Especially when the parks are very crowded (like this week) the 7:17 times don’t seem to last as long.

 

[Westerner]

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[VandVsmama]

What's the whole reason why they changed the fastpass system? It's hard for me believe people would rather get up at 630am while on vacation to plan the day compared to doing it three months prior. There really is no planning anymore.

Max Pass did not operate exactly like Genie+ does. We used Max Pass @ DL a few times pre-pandemic. How it operated was like this:

• Had to have your ticket scanned into the park in order to use it. EVEN if you had an AP. EVEN if you stayed at an on site hotel.
• You could buy it ahead of time and add to every day of your multi-day ticket or just pay on a daily basis one day at a time.
• If you didn't have PH ticket, then you couldn't use it to get a FP to the other park.
• NO extra $$ to pay in addition to the Max Pass fee. For example, there was no "Pay $X in addition to Max Pass in order to get a FP for ROTR or Space Mtn."
• No limit to # of FPs you could get each day using Max Pass. If you wanted to ride the Matterhorn again and again w/Max Pass, you could as long as FP return times were still available (i.e., that ride hadn't 'sold out' yet for the day for FPs).

Max Pass was absolutely a superior system to Genie+ in my opinion.

 

[gzh6464]

where is thrilldata?

 

[HydroGuy]

Max Pass did not operate exactly like Genie+ does. We used Max Pass @ DL a few times pre-pandemic. How it operated was like this:

• Had to have your ticket scanned into the park in order to use it. EVEN if you had an AP. EVEN if you stayed at an on site hotel.
• You could buy it ahead of time and add to every day of your multi-day ticket or just pay on a daily basis one day at a time.
• If you didn't have PH ticket, then you couldn't use it to get a FP to the other park.
• NO extra $$ to pay in addition to the Max Pass fee. For example, there was no "Pay $X in addition to Max Pass in order to get a FP for ROTR or Space Mtn."
• No limit to # of FPs you could get each day using Max Pass. If you wanted to ride the Matterhorn again and again w/Max Pass, you could as long as FP return times were still available (i.e., that ride hadn't 'sold out' yet for the day for FPs).

Max Pass was absolutely a superior system to Genie+ in my opinion.

Superior for WDW or DLR? I do not see how MP would work at WDW. It "worked" at DLR for people who came at Rope Drop. For those who came later it really didn't. Since I am a RD person it worked great for me.

For WDW? There is just no way Disney can come up with a system that works well for everyone. MP would not work well IMO because it requires you to enter a park before booking your FP. So anyone who likes to come to the park later would miss out.

FP+ "worked" best for those who stayed onsite, had a reservation 2 months in advance, and got online at 60 days to make their reservation. For people who stayed offsite or got online later it did not work as well. Lots of people say they liked FP+ but a system that forces you to choose a park and ride reservations and the time window 60 days before the visit was just plain crazy IMO. It was nice to be able to get more FPs on the day of your visit and do repeat rides with FP.

G+ seems to solve all those problems as equitably as possible for WDW. You do NOT have to enter a park to make the res (like MP). You do NOT have to decide a park until you make the park reservation (unlike FP+ that meant a park decision 60 days in advance). With G+ you do not have to decide your ride until 7AM that day.

From what I am reading and will experience shortly, G+ would be improved if you could choose the time for your ride and have that stick. Right now it is frustrating to hear about how the choice you make changes on you at the last moment. Same thing for ILL$. The moving ride windows seems crazy. It would also improve if Disney had the parks sufficiently on track such that standby lines were not so horrific. It would be nice to able to reserve repeat G+.

 

[HydroGuy]

where is thrilldata?

It is a website.

 

[Gentry2004]

The problem with booking RotR at 7:00:00 is if you unexpectedly get a late time, you can't cancel and rebook (unlike G+). So if you *must* have an earlier time like the poster who asked, waiting til 7:17 could actually be less risky.

It is absolutely INSANE to me that they can charge you a non-refundable price for a ILL$ and you won't even know the time until AFTER you have paid. INSANITY.

 

[wisblue]

The problem with booking RotR at 7:00:00 is if you unexpectedly get a late time, you can't cancel and rebook (unlike G+). So if you *must* have an earlier time like the poster who asked, waiting til 7:17 could actually be less risky.

Until I’ve actually done it, I can’t be sure that booking at 7:17 doesn’t carry the same risk that you could click on an earlier time and end up with a much later one as you go through the booking process.

The OP said they were looking at morning or early afternoon. If that was what I was after I would try at 7:00:00 to click on the earliest time possible and see how it progresses.

If the last time before I agree to purchase is well within my desired time frame I would take a shot at it and if it ends up being much later than that I would go to a Guest Experience team member, explain what happened and try to get it changed or refunded.

 

[Westerner]

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[Westerner]

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[wisblue]

It is absolutely INSANE to me that they can charge you a non-refundable price for a ILL$ and you won't even know the time until AFTER you have paid. INSANITY.

It is ridiculous, but while they might be able to charge you I’m confident they wouldn’t be able to make the charge stick, even if it takes disputing the charge with my credit card company. That’s what I would do if I couldn‘t get a credit onsite.

 

[wdhinn89]

It is absolutely INSANE to me that they can charge you a non-refundable price for a ILL$ and you won't even know the time until AFTER you have paid. INSANITY.

I know!!! I thought when you purchased a ride, you got the time you picked, I thought that it was only fastpass rides that the time could change.

 

[VandVsmama]

Superior for WDW or DLR? I do not see how MP would work at WDW. It "worked" at DLR for people who came at Rope Drop. For those who came later it really didn't. Since I am a RD person it worked great for me.

For WDW? There is just no way Disney can come up with a system that works well for everyone. MP would not work well IMO because it requires you to enter a park before booking your FP. So anyone who likes to come to the park later would miss out.

FP+ "worked" best for those who stayed onsite, had a reservation 2 months in advance, and got online at 60 days to make their reservation. For people who stayed offsite or got online later it did not work as well. Lots of people say they liked FP+ but a system that forces you to choose a park and ride reservations and the time window 60 days before the visit was just plain crazy IMO. It was nice to be able to get more FPs on the day of yoru visit and do repeat rides with FP.

G+ seems to solve all those problems as equitably as possible for WDW. You do NOT have to enter a park to make the res (like MP). You do NOT have to decide a park until you make the park reservation (unlike FP+ that meant a park decision 60 days in advance). With G+ you do not have to decide your ride until 7AM that day.

From what I am reading and will experience shortly, G+ would be improved if you could choose the time for your ride and have that stick. Right now it is frustrating to hear about how the chocie you make changes on you at the last moment. Same thing for ILL$. The moving ride windows seems crazy. It would also improve if Disney had the parks sufficiently on track such that standby lines were not so horrific. It would be nice to able to reserve repeat G+.

See, I hated the FP+ system with the whole 'reserve 3 rides 60 days ahead of time.'

 

[KrzyKtty101]

What's the whole reason why they changed the fastpass system? It's hard for me believe people would rather get up at 630am while on vacation to plan the day compared to doing it three months prior. There really is no planning anymore.

The complaints about the old system we're probably in no small part due to the fact that you would have to know exactly what parks you would be at on the exact days to make your preplanned fast pass selections. Those staying at the resorts also had a monopoly on getting it is more premium selections.

 

[wisblue]

Somebody reported here that the RotR return times changed pretty slowly today at around 7:17 for approx 3 minutes. If it were me I'd stalk Tip Board a few days before my trip, observe return time shifts at 7:00 vs 7:17 and use that to decide when to book.

I am doing that now in anticipation of a trip next week, but what you can’t tell when you check from home is what times you will be offered when you click on the available time on the Tip Board.

For example, if the Tip Board says there is a time at 9:45 that doesn’t necessarily mean that you can choose any time between 9:45 and closing. You might click on 9:45 and only be offered times for later hours. Or you could request a time in the 10 AM hour and click on that and have the next screen offer a time a few hours later.

The hope is that times wouldn’t change as much at 7:17 as at 7:00 when traffic is at a peak.

I think those later drops might be more useful for people who are just looking for any time than ones who have a narrower window.

On our DHS day next Wednesday I will be shooting for the earliest time possible at 7:00, hoping to get something around 10 or 11. If we can’t get something before about 1 I might then try to get something in the late afternoon or early evening.

I‘ll report back after I have live experience. The other two times I got LL for ROTR I wanted times in the late afternoon and early evening and was able to get them. It might be different trying for something earlier.

 

[Sweettears]

The complaints about the old system we're probably in no small part due to the fact that you would have to know exactly what parks you would be at on the exact days to make your preplanned fast pass selections. Those staying at the resorts also had a monopoly on getting it is more premium selections.

At least DS hotels were included in the process before. Not so with $ILL