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

[conandrob240]

In my experience most things never popped back up. Frozen was fine by early morning and never came back either day. TT was gone by second pick at 11am and also never came back in. So first tier rides, gone mostly at 1 st maybe 2nd pick and never came back. Most of the good rides ( like 2nd tier good) never came back as available after 1pm/2pm or so.

And any modification I was offered was mostly just an hour later than what I already had (on the infrequent occurrence any modification was available). I had none of the “bumping around by 10-15 minutes until you got what you want” reported here.

 

[blistex]

Ok so I’m planning my g+ strategy for late March. We went last year and purchased it (before refresh was possible) and had some decent success. However, looking at the tip board this week it appears that it’s super hard to get a return time for Frozen and TT (assuming you get Remy first and then try for either of those after either the 2 hrs after open or after tapping in to ride if earlier.) With refresh, is the best strategy to just grab the first thing available after tapping in (for example Figment) and then modifying it until a TT or Frozen becomes available? I assume this is best just to keep that 2 hr clock running. Ideally though I’d find something sooner than the 2hr time frame and be able to keep booking after tapping, yes?

That's what I did and found it pretty successful. TT was much easier to get than Frozen when I was trying, I saw occasional new drops of TT times but only saw fleeting new Frozen ones that were likely other people modifying. The other thing is make sure if you are looking for Frozen/TT you select those on your "My Day" selections so any available time show at the top of your app and are easier to find, otherwise it's a long alphabetical scroll every time. And yes if you want to ride something and keep trying, pick the closest time you can, tap in, and then start booking again. We did that with Figment and were about to with Nemo when I managed to grab TT.

ETA: This was the same day the other poster reported never seeing TT so I suspect a slightly obsessive refresh strategy will pay off if you're okay going a bit crazy refreshing. I did most of my refreshing while my kids were in the pool or we were standing in other lines but I refreshed like craaaazy when I did.

 

[conandrob240]

That's what I did and found it pretty successful. TT was much easier to get than Frozen when I was trying, I saw occasional new drops of TT times but only saw fleeting new Frozen ones that were likely other people modifying. The other thing is make sure if you are looking for Frozen/TT you select those on your "My Day" selections so any available time show at the top of your app and are easier to find, otherwise it's a long alphabetical scroll every time. And yes if you want to ride something and keep trying, pick the closest time you can, tap in, and then start booking again. We did that with Figment and were about to with Nemo when I managed to grab TT.

ETA: This was the same day the other poster reported never seeing TT so I suspect a slightly obsessive refresh strategy will pay off if you're okay going a bit crazy refreshing. I did most of my refreshing while my kids were in the pool or we were standing in other lines but I refreshed like craaaazy when I did.

Hence another huge problem I have. Who wants to sit there all day long refreshing like that? It’s terrible.

 

[tony67]

I had been planning on a visit to Disney as a two or three day side trip from Universal and planned to get G+

In the end between the park reservation system, the park hoping window, shorter hours, getting up at 7AM for G+, variable pricing and all the problems we have always had with any Disney app in the past I've decided to skip it Disney for now and rethink it in the fall.

• park reservation system - I like to pick the park I am going to well I am waiting on the bus
• the park hoping window - I like to hit MK or whatever park opens early and then move one - sometimes doin all 4 parks
• shorter hours - I really miss bein able to do all 4 parks in a day and then returning to MK till 1Am on a Saturday night
• getting up at 7AM to book rides - I am usually up by this time but still I don't want to set an alarm and have to get up on vacation
• Disney app - has there every been a Disney app that worked well

I also need to spend some more time study the ins and outs of G+ and it does seem they are trying to make it better
I should not have to stress out on my vacation trying to book rides\meals etc..
This is the issue I have with Disney in general since they got rid of paper fast passes and started all this planning months in advance and why I've gone from several trips a year to one trip every few years for 2-3 days just for the nostalgia which itself is wearing thin

Now I do Universal. I don't need to plan at all. If I want express access I book a hotel that includes it. I don't have to get up at 7AM unless I want to. I don't have to learn all the ins and outs of some poorly designed system.

When G+ was first announced I was actually thinking it would be a good thing. Just book it for the days you will be there and you don't have to plan all that much - but it did not work out that way yet.

I still have hope it will improve over time

 

[teach22180]

Does anyone know why the railroad is not listed on the tip board? Other rides with no LL are listed.

 

[CarolynFH]

Does anyone know why the railroad is not listed on the tip board? Other rides with no LL are listed.

WDW apparently considers it an Attraction like the Hall of Presidents and Carousel of Progress, not a ride with a wait line.

 

[teach22180]

WDW apparently considers it an Attraction like the Hall of Presidents and Carousel of Progress, not a ride with a wait line.

Both of those are on the tip board though. They have a bunch without wait times but not the railroad. I was afraid it wasn't open, but I know it is.

 

[Boardwalk III]

Hence another huge problem I have. Who wants to sit there all day long refreshing like that? It’s terrible.

Agreed! For me personally, any time spent in line is an opportunity to hang out with the family & friends I’m with, and time walking around the parks is to take in the scenes & sounds of the Disney experience. Ugh.

 

[CarolynFH]

Both of those are on the tip board though. They have a bunch without wait times but not the railroad. I was afraid it wasn't open, but I know it is.

Well, now I’m remembering that someone posted shortly after it reopened that a RR CM told them it was considered a mode of transportation, not a ride, so maybe that’s it? And I agree it would be good to be on the tip board as a reminder to ride it - we got to MK too late on the first day we could have ridden, not realizing it closed at 6 PM.

 

[Miffy]

Am I correct that there's no way to pin one's desired selections to the top of the Tip Board without going through the Genie process?

The only time I did this I had so many unwanted suggestions on the My Day tab--deleting them was no use, since more kept appearing--and they were above the list of attractions I'd booked, so I had to scroll down just to see what time my next ILL$ or G+ was.

That was the first and last time I used Genie even though I frequently use G+.

Perhaps someone could tell me if it's possible to bypass Genie and still pin one's favorites to the top of the Tip Board? And, if so, I'd appreciate a link that describes how to do this, although I have a feeling it can't be done . . . but I hope that it can be!

Thank you!

 

[blistex]

Am I correct that there's no way to pin one's desired selections to the top of the Tip Board without going through the Genie process?

The only time I did this I had so many unwanted suggestions on the My Day tab--deleting them was no use, since more kept appearing--and they were above the list of attractions I'd booked, so I had to scroll down just to see what time my next ILL$ or G+ was.

That was the first and last time I used Genie even though I frequently use G+.

Perhaps someone could tell me if it's possible to bypass Genie and still pin one's favorites to the top of the Tip Board? And, if so, I'd appreciate a link that describes how to do this, although I have a feeling it can't be done . . . but I hope that it can be!

Thank you!

Just pick the rides you want and skip everything else like restaurants/shows/parades/etc. Then all that's at the top is whatever 2-3 rides you selected. I also changed mine mid-day if I had already gotten a few of the top ones and moved on to second tier choices.

 

[georgina]

Had a very successful if exhausting day using G+ for afternoon HS rides.
booked Slinky Dog for 3:15 at 7 AM.
Headed to AK, bought FOP ILL at 8 AM park open, got 1:40 ( was 12:35 on first screen and jumped to 1:40 on confirmation screen).
bought Rise at 8:30, got 4:25 time.
Rode Safari at 8, then EE, walked Maharaja jungle trek, saw the first Lion King show, walked the gorilla falls trail. Lunch at Nomad Lounge, enjoyed some of the musicians in Africa and Asia, had ice cream.
had to wait to book my second G+ ride at HS because nothing was past 2 PM yet.
At 11:30 booked Smugglers Run for 2:05, knowing I would want to modify it to later. It moved slowly but I settled on 2:45.
At 1:30 I booked MMRR because it was going faster than ToT, but eventually changed to ToT at 4:25.
After tapping into Slinky I was able to book TSMM for 4:05
After ToT I booked MMRR for 5:45.

so I got out of FOP at 2, headed to my car, drove to HS, tapped into MFSR at 3, then rode Slinky, TSMM, ToT, Rise, saw Muppet movie, Star Tours, and MMRR. Picked up my mobile order dinner at 6:30 at ABC. Thats 8 attractions in 3.5 hours. As I was waiting for Fantasmic at 7:50, listed standby times for ToT was 25, Rise was 30, MFSR was 15, MMRR was 30, Slinky said 70. They may have been lower in reality.

I walked almost 30,000 steps according to my iPhone.

 

[Miffy]

Just pick the rides you want and skip everything else like restaurants/shows/parades/etc. Then all that's at the top is whatever 2-3 rides you selected. I also changed mine mid-day if I had already gotten a few of the top ones and moved on to second tier choices.

That's what I did. And yes, the rides show up at the top of the Tip Board, however, the My Day tab was riddled with unasked-for suggestions that appeared on top of my reserved rides, so I had to scroll down to see what my LLs and ILL$ and ADRs were for the day.

I didn't take any screenshots so I can't display what I'm talking about. Perhaps this doesn't annoy anyone else but it more than annoyed me. Or maybe they've stopped this? I did not ask for suggestions and for each suggestion I deleted, one or two more took their place.

 

[Boardwalk III]

We arrive Wednesday night and will be heading to AK this Thursday. We have a 3 PM Savor the Savanna tour booked and also hope to do Nomad Lounge. My 2 nieces would like to do FOP (which we will likely buy ILL for) plus Everest & Dinosaur. With KRR closed I don’t think there are any other must-do’s.

We will be up until after 1:00 am doing EEH at MK Wednesday night so we’re planning on sleeping in a bit with a late morning arrival AK. If we arrive late morning, can we get away without using G+ that day? I guess the specific question is what type of wait time does Everest have that time of day? Also, does anyone happen to know how quickly the FOP ILL’s have been booking up?

I’m aware of Thrill Data, but have the hardest time reading their charts on my mobile devices.

Many thanks!

 

[georgina]

We arrive Wednesday night and will be heading to AK this Thursday. We have a 3 PM Savor the Savanna tour booked and also hope to do Nomad Lounge. My 2 nieces would like to do FOP (which we will likely buy ILL for) plus Everest & Dinosaur. With KRR closed I don’t think there are any other must-do’s.

We will be up until after 1:00 am doing EEH at MK Wednesday night so we’re planning on sleeping in a bit with a late morning arrival AK. If we arrive late morning, can we get away without using G+ that day? I guess the specific question is what type of wait time does Everest have that time of day? Also, does anyone happen to know how quickly the FOP ILL’s have been booking up?

I’m aware of Thrill Data, but have the hardest time reading their charts on my mobile devices.

Many thanks!

Couple of comments - KRR was in soft opening yesterday morning. I didn’t try to get on it though. I bought FOP at park opening yesterday, 8 AM, and got a 1:40 return time, FYI. Didn’t bother to check later, but at HS Rise could still be bought at 7 PM

 

[Boardwalk III]

Couple of comments - KRR was in soft opening yesterday morning. I didn’t try to get on it though. I bought FOP at park opening yesterday, 8 AM, and got a 1:40 return time, FYI. Didn’t bother to check later, but at HS Rise could still be bought at 7 PM

Thanks. That’s exciting news about KRR. That would be awesome.

 

[blistex]

That's what I did. And yes, the rides show up at the top of the Tip Board, however, the My Day tab was riddled with unasked-for suggestions that appeared on top of my reserved rides, so I had to scroll down to see what my LLs and ILL$ and ADRs were for the day.

I didn't take any screenshots so I can't display what I'm talking about. Perhaps this doesn't annoy anyone else but it more than annoyed me. Or maybe they've stopped this? I did not ask for suggestions and for each suggestion I deleted, one or two more took their place.

So mine definitely didn't do that this past week, the rides I selected were just right at the top under my park for the day without anything in between. It would have been annoying otherwise - like you said, I pinned them so they'd be on the first screen of my phone with no scrolling! I don't know if it's a change in the app as it was my first time using Genie at all. I just picked the rides and then hit 'skip for now' on all other screens for Genie "predictions."

 

[Miffy]

So mine definitely didn't do that this past week, the rides I selected were just right at the top under my park for the day without anything in between. It would have been annoying otherwise - like you said, I pinned them so they'd be on the first screen of my phone with no scrolling! I don't know if it's a change in the app as it was my first time using Genie at all. I just picked the rides and then hit 'skip for now' on all other screens for Genie "predictions."

Do you mean your rides were at the top of the Tip Board or that they were at the top of My Day? They're two different tabs. Just to be clear, since maybe I wasn't before!

My Day shows not just LLs and ILL$ but also ADRs, so you can see everything that's going on for the day in one place.

 

[blistex]

Do you mean your rides were at the top of the Tip Board or that they were at the top of My Day? They're two different tabs. Just to be clear, since maybe I wasn't before!

My Day shows not just LLs and ILL$ but also ADRs, so you can see everything that's going on for the day in one place.

The Tip Board, where you book the LLs from. I didn't use the "My Day" tab at all except to edit my selections for pinning at the top of Tip Board.

 

[Miffy]

The Tip Board, where you book the LLs from. I didn't use the "My Day" tab at all except to edit my selections for pinning at the top of Tip Board.

Got it. And thanks.

If anyone knows how to eliminate Genie's suggestions on the My Day tab, please let me know. Thanks!