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

[sndral]

I have read the first 6 posts on page 1 & the last several pages of recent posts & have a couple questions.
Last year we were not especially successful w/ using G+ & I’m hoping to get more value out of it this year.
One situation we ran into last year was at the MK where we’d booked a ride that went down so it converted to an ‘any’ pass - including the ride we’d booked (which I don’t think normally is included in the ‘any’ options.) We chose to hold on to it, hoping the ride we’d booked would come back up - it didn’t. Finally we had to hop over to AK for an ADR so we checked w/ a blue umbrella @ MK & they told us we could use it over at AK, we couldn’t, though, until we’d stopped by another blue umbrella at AK.
If we run into the situation again, what is the correct/best way to handle those any LLs you get from rides going down when you are hopping to another park?
Somewhat related, if we book a LL for a ride that converts to an ‘any’ LL because it goes down & we use that any LL for another ride, would we be able to book the original ride again if it came back up & was available?
Second question, we had purchased an $ILL for Remy & it went down & stayed down for hours. It finally came back up & we rode it several hours after our scheduled time - but, if one of our $ILLs goes down again & we don’t want to hang around waiting for it to maybe come back up - do you automatically get reimbursed, or if not, what steps do you take to get a refund for the down ride?

 

[scrappinginontario]

I have read the first 6 posts on page 1 & the last several pages of recent posts & have a couple questions.
Last year we were not especially successful w/ using G+ & I’m hoping to get more value out of it this year.
One situation we ran into last year was at the MK where we’d booked a ride that went down so it converted to an ‘any’ pass - including the ride we’d booked (which I don’t think normally is included in the ‘any’ options.) We chose to hold on to it, hoping the ride we’d booked would come back up - it didn’t. Finally we had to hop over to AK for an ADR so we checked w/ a blue umbrella @ MK & they told us we could use it over at AK, we couldn’t, though, until we’d stopped by another blue umbrella at AK.
If we run into the situation again, what is the correct/best way to handle those any LLs you get from rides going down when you are hopping to another park?
Somewhat related, if we book a LL for a ride that converts to an ‘any’ LL because it goes down & we use that any LL for another ride, would we be able to book the original ride again if it came back up & was available?
Second question, we had purchased an $ILL for Remy & it went down & stayed down for hours. It finally came back up & we rode it several hours after our scheduled time - but, if one of our $ILLs goes down again & we don’t want to hang around waiting for it to maybe come back up - do you automatically get reimbursed, or if not, what steps do you take to get a refund for the down ride?

My understanding:

1. If your ‘anytime’ is for a park and you are not going to use it there due to hopping - visit a blue umbrella

2. Yes, if your LL flips to an anytime pass, you can rebook the original LL again. We’ve done this many times.

3. If you purchase an ILL$ and it is down when your return time arrives, if you choose not to use it later when attraction is back up, I would visit a blue umbrella to request a refund. I’m not sure that they are automatically issued. (I have never purchased an ILL$ but it would be worth it to me to ensure I initiated the refund rather than hope it happens.)

Someone with more experience about #3 may respond differently.

You mentioned last year not having a lot of success with G+. The purchase of it really does have a sweet spot of a medium busy day. As we are in a holiday week and going into a busy season, G+ is more difficult to use in that so many more people are in the parks thus less availability for the LL return times as more people are securing them.

 

[Miffy]

In answer to #3. In my experience--and I've had this happen more than once--if the ILL$ ride is down at the appointed time and I don't feel like hanging around waiting for it to come back up, I've gone to a blue umbrella and gotten a refund. I have never gotten an automatic refund.

However, I've never had the experience of purchasing an ILL$ and the ride never coming back up. If that happens, then perhaps--and I don't know if this would really happen--they'd give you an automatic refund.

BTW, if you're going to park hop, and especially if you're going to hop and one of the parks is MK, purchase the multi-park G+. It's the same price as the MK-only G+.

 

[MainMom]

I love the modify feature. I used it quite a lot last January to optimize our plans, because we don’t enter the parks until late afternoon most days. I also love being able to over lap return times - for example, Jungle Cruise at 4:30-5:30, Pirates 4:45-5:45, BTMRR 5:30-6:30. No more having to hang around for 30-40 minutes waiting for your window to open on the ride next to the one you just left!

This is what I wanted to hear. Thank you!

 

[sndral]

…
You mentioned last year not having a lot of success with G+. The purchase of it really does have a sweet spot of a medium busy day. As we are in a holiday week and going into a busy season, G+ is more difficult to use in that so many more people are in the parks thus less availability for the LL return times as more people are securing them.

Thank you - we were at WDW last year at about the same time & I was hoping the subpar experience then was the result of user error .
It worked really well for us at DL/CA last fall, but we flopped a month later using it at WDW, I suspect the severely curtailed party season hours at MK didn’t help & now that the shut down the park early for a party virus has spread to DHS we’ll have issues at 2 parks. I don’t recall modifying return times being an option last year, so I’m hopeful that’ll help.

…
BTW, if you're going to park hop, and especially if you're going to hop and one of the parks is MK, purchase the multi-park G+. It's the same price as the MK-only G+.

Thank you - I read that this was a new complication v. last year & we’ll likely get the multi most days & try stacking at park #2 after getting a LL # 1 at our first park keeping in mind the need to schedule the LL after 2 pm at park 2 thing. I’m a bit surprised that MK is so expensive on party days when they shut the park down so early.

 

[kitkat4622]

so I am pretty sure my answers are amongst the 185 pages but here goes.
If I buy ILL for Remy and Gotg at EPCOT do I have to pick a specific time to ride them or once I purchase I can ride any time during the day? TIA

 

[CarolynFH]

so I am pretty sure my answers are amongst the 185 pages but here goes.
If I buy ILL for Remy and Gotg at EPCOT do I have to pick a specific time to ride them or once I purchase I can ride any time during the day? TIA

ILL$ are for a specific one-hour window that you choose, which is the advantage of buying them. I’m not sure whether they allow the old FP “5 minutes early, 15 minutes late” flexibility or not. I’d plan to return during my window.

 

[scrappinginontario]

so I am pretty sure my answers are amongst the 185 pages but here goes.
If I buy ILL for Remy and Gotg at EPCOT do I have to pick a specific time to ride them or once I purchase I can ride any time during the day? TIA

Just a FYI that Remy is not an ILL$. You may purchase G+ and try for a LL reservation or, standby.

Page 1 of this thread describes how g+ and ILL$ work.

 

[perchy]

Is there a latest guide for late day arrivals? Especially during a very busy time? Or G+ strategies when the parks are extremely crowded?

Holiday travel.
All 4 parks, one day each.
No hoppers.
Late day for us is an AK day.

 

[Kara315]

This has probably been answered, so I apologize. When you are booking $ILL on the app, is there an option to book for everyone in your group at the same time or does everyone have to go in and do it individually?

 

[CarolynFH]

This has probably been answered, so I apologize. When you are booking $ILL on the app, is there an option to book for everyone in your group at the same time or does everyone have to go in and do it individually?

You can book for multiple people at once, as long as they're listed in your F&F and have valid admission to the relevant park. You just check off the people you want to include.

 

[Kara315]

You can book for multiple people at once, as long as they're listed in your F&F and have valid admission to the relevant park. You just check off the people you want to include.

Ok great. Thank you!

 

[g-dad66]

Is there a latest guide for late day arrivals? Especially during a very busy time? Or G+ strategies when the parks are extremely crowded?

Holiday travel.
All 4 parks, one day each.
No hoppers.
Late day for us is an AK day.

If we were doing late arrival for AK during peak season, we would:
(1) buy ILL$ for Avatar Flight of Passage
(2) buy G+ and snag either Navi or Safari as our first LL (can do this at 7am), and the other one as our second LL (2 hours after park opens)

If not purchasing ILL$ or G+, your best bet for shortest wait is to save those 3 attractions till late in the day, keeping in mind that the Safari will shut down earlier than the other 2 attractions. But waits for them will still be long during peak season.

 

[MamaLema]

Sorry if this is a silly question but I put me and DH’s tickets on my Disney Experience app. Can I book Genie for the both of us on only my app or does he need his own app?

 

[CarolynFH]

Sorry if this is a silly question but I put me and DH’s tickets on my Disney Experience app. Can I book Genie for the both of us on only my app or does he need his own app?

He can log into your MDE account on his device (using your credentials) and book for both of you as if he were you. He does not need his own MDE account. Or you can book for both of you on your device.

 

[MamaLema]

He can log into your MDE account on his device (using your credentials) and book for both of you as if he were you. He does not need his own MDE account. Or you can book for both of you on your device.

Thank you!

 

[moremagic_plz]

My family member is a retired CM so we'll be using 3 guest passes which are in MDE but not linked to a specific family member (that's just how it works). A few other family members have their own tickets in their name which have been added to MDE. We haven't done Disney in years....so Genie+ is confusing/new to me. I've read the posts, I'm watching videos and learning but I have a question: Can we purchase Genie+/LL for the guest passes in MDE at the same time we purchase the named family members Genie+/LL ?? Would love some insight on this process from a CM perspective, thanks!

 

[KEadler]

I know some people were able to get a Tron iLL on the day of their Halloween Party, with the Party ticket only. But I have heard that there may have been an update that won't allow that now. We will be arriving in Orlando on the 5th and attending the MVMCP that evening. We have park tickets for the next 3 days, but not that day. Has anyone been able to secure a Tron iLL with the MVMCP ticket only? We are getting excited!!!!

 

[musicguy856]

I know some people were able to get a Tron iLL on the day of their Halloween Party, with the Party ticket only. But I have heard that there may have been an update that won't allow that now. We will be arriving in Orlando on the 5th and attending the MVMCP that evening. We have park tickets for the next 3 days, but not that day. Has anyone been able to secure a Tron iLL with the MVMCP ticket only? We are getting excited!!!!

See if you can change the start date on your tickets. If you can change it to start on the party day you could make an MK reservation for that day, secure the ILL in the morning, then move the reservation to later in your trip. I would modify an Epcot or AK reservation since they’re usually the easiest to get. A 3 day ticket will have a 4 or 5 day window it can be used in so this shouldn’t affect the end of your trip.

 

[KEadler]

See if you can change the start date on your tickets. If you can change it to start on the party day you could make an MK reservation for that day, secure the ILL in the morning, then move the reservation to later in your trip. I would modify an Epcot or AK reservation since they’re usually the easiest to get. A 3 day ticket will have a 4 or 5 day window it can be used in so this shouldn’t affect the end of your trip.

Has any one had success in doing this? I want to make sure it will let me change the reservation, but not use one of my 3 hopper passes! It’s a great idea if it works!!