Genie + and Rise

[Polynesian27]

Hi all, I only have a half day in Hollywood Studios tomorrow curious if I should book a paid rise of the resistance lightning Lane first, or should I book my Genie + for the day and immediately book slinky dog dash at 7 AM? Does anybody know which one I should do first in order to get the earliest boarding times for both of these attractions? This is our only day doing HS so I want to make sure I get it right and don’t wind up with a 2 PM rise of the resistance or a 2 PM slinky dog dash since we have to leave at noon. Thank you so much!

 

[iheartglaciers]

Getting both a Slinky and Rise LL on a busy day can be challenging, but I saw someone report they were able to book both today at 7am (9:15 for Slinky and 12:25 for Rise). You’ll have better luck if you can get a second person to book one of the LL at 7am (instead of one person booking the first and then the second).

One problem you may run into, is that you can choose to book a time, but it may actually book a later time once your selection is confirmed (since so many people are trying to book the same time slots at the same time). Once I selected 10am, but it booked 4pm by the time it processed. So there’s some risk you’ll inadvertently end up booking a time for after you need to leave.

Another problem I ran into, is that sometimes the app glitches and you need to start over (which can put a wrench in plans to get an early return time).

 

[gharter]

You’ll have better luck if you can get a second person to book one of the LL at 7am (instead of one person booking the first and then the second).

Agree, unless you are doing this on a not crowded day.

 

[g-dad66]

The return time for Slinky Dog will push out faster than the time for Rise.

 

[CynBeth]

One thing to give you a heads up about is that Rise breaks down a lot.

 

[Eastern]

One problem you may run into, is that you can choose to book a time, but it may actually book a later time once your selection is confirmed (since so many people are trying to book the same time slots at the same time). Once I selected 10am, but it booked 4pm by the time it processed. So there’s some risk you’ll inadvertently end up booking a time for after you need to leave.

Another problem I ran into, is that sometimes the app glitches and you need to start over (which can put a wrench in plans to get an early return time).

This is so crazy.

 

[KristaZ]

Do you have a second person who could book one while you book the other? That's your best bet. SDD is going to be the wild card - as someone else said, you can click on a time only to have a confirmed time hours later by the time it goes through (I've had this happen many times). Getting a SDD before 12, even right at 7am is likely going to be difficult.

 

[Scalemaster34]

Sometimes having a second person can cause issues with their system....

Just got back and....

It's pot luck on timing for things, we didn't not get a reservation, but times were sometimes not very convenient for park hopping.
Genie+ is just the next available window, and for ride like SDD you just take what you can get... and be happy you got something. For other less popular rides, you have to wait and wait till the right window opens.
ILL allows for picking times, but that only works with the less popular rides. RISE tends to go fast so even if you see an 11:00 window open, by the time you get done it's much later in the day.
VQ for Remy.... didn't work well for us. Disney was having system problems (as was many other companies) that day, as we couldn't use our Disney Gift Cards to pay for anything.

Very frustrating to have to pay for what was once a free service, or do without. I do agree it's pointless to do for Epcot and DAK, unless your stacking for another park later in the evening. Even more frustrating to consider this is just the beginning of paying for each attraction.

Early Entry and Late Evening Extra Hours still worked great for getting stuff done at MK, without having to pay for Genie+. But Early entry while we were there was only Tomorrowland and Fantasyland.

We were there for eight days and were able to have a great time, but we did have to make adjustments due to a lot of attractions being down for some "issue".

 

[iheartglaciers]

Sometimes having a second person can cause issues with their system....

Good to know! I had issues with the app on Thanksgiving week, even without having a second person booking. On multiple mornings, I would click confirm on the last screen (to confirm the LL) and it would glitch. And then I'd have to start all over again. It totally turned our HS day upside down since we didn't get our Rise LL until 7:30pm and our Millenium Falcon LL until 5:30pm. Things worked out fine in the end, but only because we could be totally flexible and didn't have any ADRs booked.

Our original plan was HS in the morning and Epcot in the afternoon. So it would've been nice to change our plans and do Epcot in the morning and park hop to HS, but there were no Epcot park passes left. We ended up sleeping in, going to HS briefly, taking a pool break, going to Epcot, and then back to HS to use our LL. My availabilty issues were exacerbated by it being Thanksgiving week, but it defintiely uncovered some pain points with Genie+.

 

[lockets]

What a mess. Is it true that once a G+ attraction is booked it cannot be canx or changed? Or can it be revised if timing doesn’t work?

 

[Prince John Robin Hood]

Reading this thread sums up everything wrong with Genie+ and ILL$. Hopefully everything works out for you OP and hopefully WDW improves Genie+.

 

[Scalemaster34]

What a mess. Is it true that once a G+ attraction is booked it cannot be canx or changed? Or can it be revised if timing doesn’t work?

You can cancel it within the app and rebook if there is availability...

That's for a G+ attraction, once you buy a ILL you have to visit a Blue Umbrella to make any changes to that reservation.

 

[5DisneyNuts]

We were there over Thanksgiving leaving the Thursday after which should have been a slow time.

I would try having 2 people book.

We are experienced getting boarding passes for RotR under the old system and know the tips. However between app glitches and crowds I was not able to get a G+ LL for SDD at 7am for any of our days. Even with 2 people trying they were gone in seconds. The biggest frustration was going all the way through to confirm and being told then no times were available. GREAT way to start the day, everyday, at 7am, on vacation.

Apparently your selection is not held which explains the times changing sometimes drastically from the time you click on it and the time you get. I was able to book Rise at 7am for later afternoon as an ILL$.

Only resort guests can book the ILL$ at 7am whereas everyone can book G+LL at 7am.

 

[lockets]

You can cancel it within the app and rebook if there is availability...

That's for a G+ attraction, once you buy a ILL you have to visit a Blue Umbrella to make any changes to that reservation.

Ahhhh ok got it. Very helpful. Thank you!

 

[lockets]

Only resort guests can book the ILL$ at 7am whereas everyone can book G+LL at 7am.

I thought resort guests had the jump on both and off site guests wait till park opens for both. Yikes! That’s a lot of “competition.” Good to know.

 

[iheartglaciers]

GREAT way to start the day, everyday, at 7am, on vacation.

I really disliked waking up at 6:50am every day on vacation. And then not to mention the stress of trying to get what you want, dealing with glitches, and having your whole schedule upended. Genie+ did help us do everything we wanted during the busy Thanksgiving week, but it was stressful for me as the planner!

I thought resort guests had the jump on both and off site guests wait till park opens for both. Yikes! That’s a lot of “competition.” Good to know.

Yeah I was surprised they didn't give resort guests priority on both. 1) to be consistent, and 2) they've been taking so many on-site perks away.

 

[Scalemaster34]

I really disliked waking up at 6:50am every day on vacation. And then not to mention the stress of trying to get what you want, dealing with glitches, and having your whole schedule upended. Genie+ did help us do everything we wanted during the busy Thanksgiving week, but it was stressful for me as the planner!




Yeah I was surprised they didn't give resort guests priority on both. 1) to be consistent, and 2) they've been taking so many on-site perks away.

Agree that 7AM Eastern time can be early for many that are traveling from other time zones, or even if your use to Eastern Time, but stayed up till 12 or 1 AM for late hours or an event at MK. Then had to travel by bus to the resort and get showers.... Several times we had to set an alarm and try to book stuff without waking up the whole room, and then try to sleep a little longer. Can't do rope drop every day during an eight day trip.