G+ for group of 14 questions

[petunia]

Hi all, heading out in a couple weeks with a party of 14 (3 families) who would like to pretty much ride most things together, have G+, will not be getting paid ILL..a few questions..

If we split up the group into 2 or 3 does it make much difference? If we do that and one person is in charge for anothers genie+'s, how does one get access for that..as of now we have a mish mash of "connections"/lists of some form or another of our families on our 3 accounts (the 3 moms of the families).

Is it similar to the old fast passes where we can plan to at least for example, all book buzz for something available between 10-11, giving us some leeway so if one party gets 10, and another 1020 and another 1040 we should be able to make it work? And then continue on like that, where 2 hours later we stand together and aim for peter pan at noon and all snag something around that time.

We are wdw vets however new to G+ going with 2 newbie families, so trying to wrap my head around not being to book all our G+ myself, as I have been organizing most things.

 

[2Lunds]

This is what I'd do (anyone else with more experience in large groups is welcome to chime in if they see flaws in these suggestions):

I'd keep the 3 families as separate Friends & Family groups. Decide in advance what you want to ride, on which day, and in which order - then the mom will be in charge of bookings for her group.

Exactly as you described, G+ windows are an hour long, and as long as you know you want a certain ride around a certain hour, each of your 3 moms can book for your groups and you should be able to overlap. Your first booking in the morning might be a bit hairy while you're in your individual hotel rooms, but after that I assume you'll all be in the park at the same time? Meet up every 2 hours when you're eligible to book new Lightning Lanes and have the 3 moms check availability and choose overlapping windows. If you are off by a little bit for a booking - visit the CMs stationed in various locations under the blue umbrellas - we had them adjust times for us when our 2 groups just missed being able to coordinate. They won't change times that are an hour apart - but 10/15 mins they will likely help with.

Regarding billing for Genie+ - that will be charged to the CC on file for the person purchasing it each day.

The bigger issue will be with dining if you all want to sit at one table. You'd need a single Friends & Family list for that - but if you're only doing counter service, or you don't mind being at separate tables, you can use the same strategy (book same/similar reservation windows).

 

[petunia]

Thank you, this is helpful!

We already have G+ purchased, so that is ok.

So I guess if we decide on the first ride of the of the day the night before (or text/connect before 7am), say we agree to speedway between 10-11, we should all be able to snag those for our own parties at 7am, is that correct?

As for the rest of the G+thru the day, sounds like as long as we're together, which we hope to be, we can just stand together say in a line and do the same process again and again

Meals were booked at 60 days, and did ok!

 

[2Lunds]

Thank you, this is helpful!

We already have G+ purchased, so that is ok.

So I guess if we decide on the first ride of the of the day the night before (or text/connect before 7am), say we agree to speedway between 10-11, we should all be able to snag those for our own parties at 7am, is that correct?

As for the rest of the G+thru the day, sounds like as long as we're together, which we hope to be, we can just stand together say in a line and do the same process again and again

Meals were booked at 60 days, and did ok!

If you got your tix and G+ prior to it being limited to day-of purchases, you're already ahead of the game, and that's one less thing to worry about in the morning!

Yes, as long as you plan ahead which ride you're all going for first thing, you should be able to get similar ride windows at 7a.m. Especially the Speedway You might have more of a challenge booking higher-demand rides within overlapping windows. I would make a first choice and a backup just in case. It's better than frantically calling/texting each other in the morning and potentially missing out on your bookings. Also, prepare the group that you may *not* be able to do everything together at exactly the same time - it helps to manage expectations.

You'll get your first booking at 7 a.m., then the next 2 hours after park open. I like to set an alarm for those 2 hour windows so I don't have to worry about checking the time repeatedly.

 

[reddog21]

So I guess if we decide on the first ride of the of the day the night before (or text/connect before 7am), say we agree to speedway between 10-11, we should all be able to snag those for our own parties at 7am, is that correct?

As for the rest of the G+thru the day, sounds like as long as we're together, which we hope to be, we can just stand together say in a line and do the same process again and again

Meals were booked at 60 days, and did ok!

You would have no idea what time your getting with the first lightning lane selection at 7am, you just select the ride and it shows the time on the next screen. For example we did tower of terror on 2 separate days right at 7am and one day we got 11am the other day we got 1:30pm so it's really just the luck of the draw at 7am especially if someone books at 7:00 vs 7:01. It's sound trivial but the more popular rides book quick.

 

[2Lunds]

You would have no idea what time your getting with the first lightning lane selection at 7am, you just select the ride and it shows the time on the next screen. For example we did tower of terror on 2 separate days right at 7am and one day we got 11am the other day we got 1:30pm so it's really just the luck of the draw at 7am especially if someone books at 7:00 vs 7:01. It's sound trivial but the more popular rides book quick.

Shoot - that's right. I'm conflating LL with ILL in my head... I've only been on one trip since Genie was introduced.

So ultimately, unless you're booking the Individual LL (paid-for) and have the ability to choose your return times, perhaps it will be best to create one large F&F list and have just one person try to book. Sorry for the rabbit hole...

 

[scrappinginontario]

This recent thread should be helpful: Just finished a trip with 5 families, 21 people - and it went well!

 

[petunia]

You would have no idea what time your getting with the first lightning lane selection at 7am, you just select the ride and it shows the time on the next screen. For example we did tower of terror on 2 separate days right at 7am and one day we got 11am the other day we got 1:30pm so it's really just the luck of the draw at 7am especially if someone books at 7:00 vs 7:01. It's sound trivial but the more popular rides book quick.

Sorry, so to confirm, for first G+ booked at 7, we can choose the ride but not the time of day at all?

 

[reddog21]

Sorry, so to confirm, for first G+ booked at 7, we can choose the ride but not the time of day at all?

Correct, when you go to your tip board @ 7 it just shows the ride with no return time. Once you select the ride the next screen shows the return time and a choice to confirm or not. You could not confirm the time and go back in to see what the new time it gives you. If your trying to coordinate multiple groups that could be difficult to get close times, especially for the more popular rides. At a certain time the tip board starts showing the return times around 7:15-7:30(I don't exactly remember). Then you can just refresh the tip board to refresh the times for all the rides and be more selective with the times.

 

[petunia]

Thanks..one more question..if we book our first G+ around 7am for 1000-1100, can we still book our second at 9 (2 hrs after we booked the 1st) regardless if we have been on the ride yet?

Also, do the options available only come in "on the hour" times ie 10-11, or also 1030-1130etc?

 

[lorenae]

Thanks..one more question..if we book our first G+ around 7am for 1000-1100, can we still book our second at 9 (2 hrs after we booked the 1st) regardless if we have been on the ride yet?

Also, do the options available only come in "on the hour" times ie 10-11, or also 1030-1130etc?

You can book the second two hours after park opening or after you ride the first ride, which would not be 9 AM. Often, AK opens at 8, MK at 9, etc so two hours after park opening is the next window.

 

[petunia]

Gotcha yes, the 2 hour after park opens only applies if we havent scanned into our current G+ yet..I was confusing myself lol

If for example our goal was to do Space Mountain around 10am, and the first time that showed up for us at 7am was say 2pm or something we didnt want, can you decline/refresh for another time option until one comes up that you want?

 

[reddog21]

Gotcha yes, the 2 hour after park opens only applies if we havent scanned into our current G+ yet..I was confusing myself lol

If for example our goal was to do Space Mountain around 10am, and the first time that showed up for us at 7am was say 2pm or something we didnt want, can you decline/refresh for another time option until one comes up that you want?

Yes, you just have to go back to the tip board and reselect the ride. If the first time you got was 2pm that basically means that everyone booked up until then so now your just waiting for someone to cancel which is pretty frequent throughout the day. It happened with us for slinky dog, I was late with my 7am pick and ended up with a time of around 4 which didn't really fit into the schedule. I kept refreshing the tip board and one ended up popping up around 12:30 sometime around 7:15ish.

One of the annoying things with the whole process is that once you reserve a lightning lane you loose all visibility to any new times(just for the ride you selected) that may show up unless you cancel the selection. There were multiple times throughout the day that I would be refreshing the tip board and I would see popular rides popup that previously didn't have availability.

 

[petunia]

Ok, one more question..if our large party will book space mountain first thing, however 1 adult will not go on as they will stay with baby (and dont want to do baby swap), do we have to do anything to start that adults "time"/should we just book them too and then just cancel it right before we go on, so they are still on the same "time track" as us to book next one? Hope this makes sense!

 

[reddog21]

I would leave them off because if you put them on the lightning lane and they don't check in they can't make another lightning lane until the end of the 1 hour window return time. If you get a lightning lane at 2 and the return window is 2-3, you can make another selection right after you scan in the ride(technically while your in line). The person on the lightning lane list but never really checks in can't make another lightning lane until 3 after the end of the return window.

 

[petunia]

But will we run into an issue, say if we leave them off, then after we check into the ride when we are able to make our next one (if its under the 2 hr mark) while we're in line for example..or will it just be like adding them to the new/next ride and their time starts "ticking" with ours for the next one we book and add them to?

 

[reddog21]

But will we run into an issue, say if we leave them off, then after we check into the ride when we are able to make our next one (if its under the 2 hr mark) while we're in line for example..or will it just be like adding them to the new/next ride and their time starts "ticking" with ours for the next one we book and add them to?

the second part, there's really no clock when making your first LL, you can make it anytime you want its just most people try to get the the most popular rides at 7 which usually ends up being for late morning. We did this for our mother-in law because she doesn't really ride any rides but just likes the Disney vacation. We would go on 2-3 rides before we added her to a ride she would actually go on. Then her clocks starts whenever we add her to first ride.

 

[lauris87]

So I’m kind of freaking out a little bit because I was assuming I could be the point person for making Genie Plus reservations for my large group of 14, however, I just found out that 12 is the max! Oh man, this really changes things. The suggestion I got from the Disney website was to split the group, have two captains stand next to each other with their phones and choose similar return times for the same ride for each group. That seems like an impossible task during thanksgiving week!!!! Has anyone done this and been successful??

 

[scrappinginontario]

So I’m kind of freaking out a little bit because I was assuming I could be the point person for making Genie Plus reservations for my large group of 14, however, I just found out that 12 is the max! Oh man, this really changes things. The suggestion I got from the Disney website was to split the group, have two captains stand next to each other with their phones and choose similar return times for the same ride for each group. That seems like an impossible task during thanksgiving week!!!! Has anyone done this and been successful??

A lot of helpful information in this thread for a group of 14 who visited recently.