Genie Plus - Experiences and Reviews
- Thread starter Rich M
- Start date
We did one day only on 1/4, I think the crowd forecast was for 8 and it felt very crowded and congested for several periods during the day. We have been to DW several times but never DL. My kids are young adults and we focused on coasters and thrill rides, trying to do things that are unique to DL and CA, and wanted to be able re-ride so did some standby early.
We wanted a ROTR guarantee and had a debate about whether to ILL Racers or WS. The decision was to do Racers so we could go as a group and then we'd standby WS if the line ever shortened. I regret that a little, looked like WS was down from late afternoon on, but could be my lack of knowledge. Rise also looked to be down a good portion of late afternoon/early evening.
Indiana Jones RD
BTMRR
Space Mtn (standby was 30 min)
long snack break Holly Jolly
Matterhorn LL
Smugglers SR (tried to LL but returns got too far out, figured we could LL later if anyone wanted repeat)
ROTR ILL (kept an eye on return times until 10:30 popped up, took until 9:30 maybe?)
lunch DD
Racers ILL
Guardians LL (booked by 8 after entered park)
Soarin LL (took almost an hour for LL and ride, figured it was different bc so popular, should've skipped)
Monsters
snack/coffee break
Incredicoaster LL
more coffee
Holiday Mansion LL (broke down, got weak multi experience which we just used when it went back up)
BTMRR LL
Small World LL plus 6:30 light show
Buzz LL then Castle lighting
DD dinner
Incredicoaster
Incredicoaster
Midway
parents tapped out, CA closed
Space Mtn LL
Buzz
Matterhorn
I'm aware we were not efficient, crazy amount of hopping and park crossing. No one wanted to wait in a line more than 30 minutes, so Genie+ and ILL were crucial for us. Even if we had more days we'd get Genie+. We don't like the one time per ride and would have bought a 3rd ILL if an option. There were 6 of us, often I would choose a LL and then it would kick us to a later return time while in the confirmation process, I finally figured out to double check each time. I spent way too much time focused on the phone screen, definitely cut down on my enjoyment.
We wanted a ROTR guarantee and had a debate about whether to ILL Racers or WS. The decision was to do Racers so we could go as a group and then we'd standby WS if the line ever shortened. I regret that a little, looked like WS was down from late afternoon on, but could be my lack of knowledge. Rise also looked to be down a good portion of late afternoon/early evening.
Indiana Jones RD
BTMRR
Space Mtn (standby was 30 min)
long snack break Holly Jolly
Matterhorn LL
Smugglers SR (tried to LL but returns got too far out, figured we could LL later if anyone wanted repeat)
ROTR ILL (kept an eye on return times until 10:30 popped up, took until 9:30 maybe?)
lunch DD
Racers ILL
Guardians LL (booked by 8 after entered park)
Soarin LL (took almost an hour for LL and ride, figured it was different bc so popular, should've skipped)
Monsters
snack/coffee break
Incredicoaster LL
more coffee
Holiday Mansion LL (broke down, got weak multi experience which we just used when it went back up)
BTMRR LL
Small World LL plus 6:30 light show
Buzz LL then Castle lighting
DD dinner
Incredicoaster
Incredicoaster
Midway
parents tapped out, CA closed
Space Mtn LL
Buzz
Matterhorn
I'm aware we were not efficient, crazy amount of hopping and park crossing. No one wanted to wait in a line more than 30 minutes, so Genie+ and ILL were crucial for us. Even if we had more days we'd get Genie+. We don't like the one time per ride and would have bought a 3rd ILL if an option. There were 6 of us, often I would choose a LL and then it would kick us to a later return time while in the confirmation process, I finally figured out to double check each time. I spent way too much time focused on the phone screen, definitely cut down on my enjoyment.
disneylover102
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Rich M
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It lets you book once your in the parks but usually the first one isn't until park opening.
disneylover102
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It wasn’t letting me buy genie+ even though I was in the park. But I just got it.
disneylover102
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I think there was someone a while ago who said you could buy Rise, WEB, and Racers on the same day because there’s no more than 2 in each park. That is not the case. The 3 rides are all connected. You can, however, hold 2 at the same time. After entering the park I bought a pass for Rise of the Resistance that automatically changed to 1-2 PM because of park hopping. In addition I just bought WEB Slingers for 9:45-10:45 and so I am currently holding both.
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Abbey1
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I'm debating purchasing Genie+ for my family's two days in DCA. We'll be visiting the beginning of February. GRR will be down during our trip, we rarely ride GSS, and most in our group won't ride Incredicoaster. We'll be purchasing LL for Webslingers and RSR. I'm not sure that Genie+ is worth the cost for us in DCA since we'll only use it for TSMM, Monsters, GotG, and Soarin'.
Am I understanding correctly that you can get a LL for each ride once/day with Genie+? We loved being able to ride multiple times/day with MaxPass (RIP).
Am I understanding correctly that you can get a LL for each ride once/day with Genie+? We loved being able to ride multiple times/day with MaxPass (RIP).
disneylover102
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Yes that is sadly correct. With the exception that if the ride breaks down for long enough of your window it changes to a multiple experience pass. Earlier today I booked Goofy’s Sky School when it was down and it changed to a pass valid on every ride (not just LL rides) except Peter Pan, Space, Indy, Rise, Toy Story, Spider-Man, or Racers. I used it on Guardians in addition to a separate LL I booked for it. I’m currently holding a pass for Monsters Inc which is down hoping it converts to a multiple experience
disneylover102
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Dang it Monsters came back up lol
disneylover102
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Ok so I went to Disneyland by myself all day on Friday and from 3:30 PM until the end of the day Saturday (I was at Universal before that). I bought genie+ and individual lightning lanes for Rise and WEB Slingers both days. I’m also going all day Monday-Wednesday and I’m gonna do the same thing. I figured while I have a rest day today I’ll share my experiences so far and then add to them after I go for more days. Hopefully this can be helpful for those trying to plan. A lot of this information is already known for a lot of people but I’m going to include all that I can in order to possibly be most helpful for those who aren’t too familiar with the system.
First off, this google sheet is where I’m tracking wait times and everything from each day of my trip so you can look at it if you want an idea of wait times. It includes Knott’s and Universal but there’s a separate sheet for each day: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1-WVa53w4h-EIi1Ldds3iPNeOYTE1k7TTD58761uRFw0/edit
Note that these last 2 days I haven’t necessarily been getting genie+ for everything, only my biggest priorities, because Splash Mountain is one of my absolute favorite rides ever and since it’s closing for annual maintenance the rest of my trip and all of my trip next month and then is changing to PATF, binge riding it the last 2 days has been a major priority.
So genie+ is completely separate from individual lightning lanes. It includes Space Mountain, Buzz Lightyear, Autopia, Star Tours, Matterhorn, Small World, Roger Rabbit, Big Thunder, Indiana Jones, Haunted Mansion, Splash Mountain, Millennium Falcon, Guardians, Soarin’, Grizzly River Run, Incredicoaster, Toy Story Mania, Goofy’s Sky School, and Monsters Inc. You can purchase once you’ve entered a park. It might be a few minutes before you can purchase after entering a park or it might not. It wouldn’t let me purchase at first after entering California Adventure around 7:30 on Friday but I was able to after a few minutes. After entering Disneyland at about 3:30 on Saturday it let me buy it immediately. For the most part you can book one lightning lane (aka fastpass) at a time. When you use your lightning lane (LL) for a ride you can book another LL. There is an exception to this however. If you book a LL for something more than 2 hours away you can book another LL in 2 hours.
You can only book a LL for each ride once. If you try to book a ride again it tells you you’ve maxed out on that ride for the day. I watched a vlog a few days ago that said the system was letting them book Incredicoaster a 2nd time (but they didn’t because they didn’t want to). I think one of three things happened there: there was a glitch in the system, they saw the time available and assumed that meant they could book it, or Incredicoaster had broken down earlier during their window and turned into a multiple experience pass without their knowledge and they showed up after it had reopened.
Which leads into the next thing. There is one exception to the only one LL per ride thing. If the ride is broken down during your window, you MAY get a multiple experience pass valid on MANY but not ALL rides. Because of this, if you really want to repeat rides, I would actually recommend purposely booking for rides that are down. You will rarely get a multiple experience pass but you might get lucky. That’s what I’ve been doing. Here has been my experience with that:
On Friday morning once I was able to buy genie+ I did and got a LL for Guardians from 8-9. I didn’t know if I would actually use it then. I thought if the lines were still really short by 9 and LLs weren’t running out I would cancel it. So basically I booked it just in case but wasn’t set on using it then. I rope dropped WEB Slingers and was at the front. Then I went and did standby for Guardians which actually was much shorter an hour later so keep that in mind lol. While I was in line for Guardians I noticed that Incredicoaster was down but a LL was available in half an hour so I booked it. It did come back after a few minutes though and I knew that line wouldn’t be long for a while so I cancelled it. But then I noticed Goofy’s was down with an almost immediate LL. I booked it. Goofy’s stayed down and about 40 minutes into my window it converted to a multiple experience pass that was valid on any ride (even those without LL) except Space, Indiana Jones, Matterhorn, Peter Pan, Rise of the Resistance, WEB Slingers, Radiator Springs Racers, and Toy Story Mania. I used it on Guardians. For me it was worth waiting to see if the Goofy’s LL would convert into a multiple experience pass. But it did take time.
After that I booked Grizzly which was down. I think my pass was in a half hour. It came up though so I cancelled it. After that I was able to book Goofy’s again while it was still down but it came back up after a few minutes and since I didn’t particularly care about actually riding I cancelled it.
I kept watching throughout the day on Friday for rides to break down and actually they all stayed open most of the day. I booked Big Thunder when it was down and the return time was about 45 minutes away. It came back up shortly after my return time started so I just rode it.
Later that night I saw that Monsters Inc was down and I booked an immediate LL for it. It stayed down about half an hour into the window and it hadn’t converted into a multiple experience pass. I cancelled it because I wasn’t in DCA at the time and I wasn’t just gonna park hop for MI lol. That was the last LL ride that broke down that day
On Saturday afternoon I noticed Matterhorn was down and I was able to book a LL for it about a half hour later. Around the time the LL started the ride came up and I cancelled it because I don’t actually have the need as a single rider for a Matterhorn LL because that single rider line is pretty good at least a lot of the time
After that rides were in general not breaking down. But when I used my Soarin’ LL the ride broke down while I was in line. Anyone inside the building (standby and LL) got their ticket scanned by Soarin’ cast members to get a multiple experience LL. Just like the pass on Friday from Goofy’s, it was good the rest of the day on any ride (whether it had LL or not) except Rise, Indy, Matterhorn, Space, WEB Slingers, Racers, and Toy Story.
Then later that night I had a LL booked for Indy from 10-11 PM. I saw a few minutes before 10 that it was broken down so I kept watching for it to convert to a multiple experience pass. But while Indy was down the rest of the night, my LL never converted. At about 11:10 it disappeared from my genie day but I couldn’t book another LL for it because the tip board said I had it booked. I went over to Space Mountain to see if they’d let me go through if I showed them the screenshot of the tip board saying I had Indy booked but it was a walk-on in standby so there was no point of trying to “skip” a non-existent line. That was around 11:30 and I just did Space via standby the rest of the night
But also one more thing happened. After my Indy pass expired I was able to book another LL and Matterhorn was down again. I booked a LL for 11:20 PM-12:00 AM just in case it would convert to a multiple experience pass. I took a screenshot of everything I could: the tip board showing it was closed, the LL that said redeem on it, etc. It did come back up a few minutes or something before the park closed.
I wondered if I could take the screenshots of my Indy and Matterhorn LLs from last night to guest relations tomorrow. So this morning I used the chat feature on the Disneyland app and explained my situation and they said nothing could be done and that I should’ve talked to a cast member day of. I replied by mentioning that it was at the VERY end of the park day, that I wasn’t sure where exactly to go to talk to guest relations, and that I didn’t know if they would still be open or wanting someone like me to come to them that late. They replied apologizing for my experience and said that I could talk to a guest relations cast member tomorrow but there’s no guarantees. By the way in this conversation I was very polite and thanked them. Tomorrow at Disneyland I’m going to find guest relations and politely explain my situation and show them the screenshots I have and see what they can do. I don’t know if they’ll do it 2 days later but I don’t typically go to theme parks on Sundays for religious reasons so I wonder if I explain that to them and show that those LLs were basically at the last second of the day maybe they can give me a multiple experience LL or two. If I don’t get any I won’t throw a tantrum or anything lol, they would be nice to have though. I was kind of sad about Indy being down because that’s one of my favorite rides and I had every intention of using that LL. But honestly you don’t wait that long in the exterior queue for IJ. And I only booked Matterhorn for the possibility of a ME LL so we’ll just see what happens. I’ll update on here how that goes.
Ok so I’ve gone in a lot of detail on my experience with Genie+. Here’s my experience with individual lightning lanes which are completely separate from genie+:
Individual lightning lanes are for Rise of the Resistance, WEB Slingers, and Radiator Springs Racers. You can only get 2 of these per day and even though Rise is in a different park they’re connected in that you can only buy 2 out of the 3. Maybe it’s different if one of your ILLs breaks down during your window. I haven’t had that happen. But on Friday after I was considered by genie to be in the park I immediately bought one for Rise of the Resistance for $20. I think the return time was 8:40-9:40 AM or something but because I was starting in DCA it automatically changed the time to 1-2 PM (it does that with genie+ rides too). I didn’t want to do a WEB Slingers LL super early so I didn’t book it just yet. When the return time was 9:45-10:45 later I booked it for $12. I was able to book it even though I was still holding the one for Rise at 1-2 PM. I started trying to book Racers just to see what would happen (it would’ve been $12) but it wouldn’t let me because I had maxed out on ILLs for the day.
On Saturday I went to Universal in the morning so by the time I got to Disney at 3:30 all Rise LLs were sold out. I thought I might be out of luck. But when I went through the process of genie starting my day so I could tell it what rides I wanted to see first on my tip board it asked me if I wanted to buy a pass for Rise from 6:50-7:50 PM which I did. And then a little later I refreshed a couple times and bought an immediate WEB Slingers for $15. Racers was also $15.
One more thing about genie+ and ILLs. If you don’t see a time you like keep refreshing. You can select on genie which rides you want to show first on your tip board. That way you can keep refreshing until you see something you like. Soarin’ seems to be the most popular regular genie+ ride and both times I got a LL it was because I kept refreshing and got a time that worked better. The ones that seem to be the farthest ahead are Space, Matterhorn, Indy, Mansion, Guardians, Soarin’, and Toy Story (especially those last 2).
Ok now here’s what I thought about whether or not each ride was worth it.
Space Mountain: now that single rider is sadly gone genie+ was way worth it for this ride. Note standby was a walk-on at park closing so if you don’t buy genie+ you can probably still find a short wait sometimes. But both times I did a LL for Space I only waited about 10 minutes.
Buzz Lightyear: I got a LL for it on Friday but not Saturday. It wouldn’t have been worth it if I did it at the end of the day when there was nobody in the exterior queue. I did it at 7:30 when the exterior queue was pretty full and undoubtedly saved a good amount of time
Star Tours: I haven’t gotten a LL for Star Tours yet because while I love the ride I’ve been prioritizing the rides that are harder to get on with LL and riding Splash a lot. I’ll for sure get a LL for it every day I’m there this week. If the queue outside the main building and the queue in the first room of the building is pretty much empty there’s really no point in getting a LL. As I’ve walked past it the last couple days it hasn’t seemed too busy
Autopia: I haven’t gotten a LL for it and I don’t plan to lol
Matterhorn: I didn’t get a LL for this one on Friday and I only got it yesterday for the chance of a ME pass. Single rider was really short both times I did it on Friday. But if you’re in a group and don’t want to do single rider you’ll certainly save a lot of time from standby
It’s a small world Holiday: I got a LL on Friday night. The posted wait was only 20 minutes but the queue was super packed and it was nice to avoid that even if it moved pretty fast
Roger Rabbit: I haven’t gotten a LL for this yet but I’m definitely going to at some point. That queue never ends lol
Thunder Mountain Railroad: when I used it on Friday it had just reopened after being broken down so I actually didn’t save any time that time. But when I did it around 11:15 PM Saturday night the big switchback was full so I probably saved at least 10 minutes. I’m sure I would’ve saved even more had I gotten a LL earlier
Indiana Jones: the only part you skip is the exterior queue. No matter how you ride you’re waiting probably 10-15 minutes inside. If nobody is in the exterior queue you don’t save any time at all and even if there is you honestly don’t save that much time. Between Friday and Saturday I did standby three times besides my LL on Friday and got inside after about 10-15 minutes. So it’s definitely worth booking a LL if you have genie+ but don’t buy genie+ just for this ride or largely because of this ride lol
Haunted Mansion Holiday: very worth it. Lol I’m not a huge fan of the NBC theme and I would never want to wait long for that theme. But I only waited a few minutes, all past the merge point and skipped the whole queue.
Splash Mountain: booking a LL for Splash Mountain would’ve been a waste because it was a walk-on all day both days since it was kind of cold. Also the single rider line would’ve been an option if there was any line whatsoever. The single rider line isn’t always great like in the summer when it’s really hot so it could be worth it even for single riders on those days and definitely for those who want to ride together. But not in the winter. I did keep checking to see if it would break down though because of the multiple experiences possibility
Millennium Falcon: I haven’t gotten a LL for it yet although I love the ride. It did seem like they were always immediate though. The single rider line is always so short but I think I’ll probably get a LL at some point so I can ask to be a pilot
Rise of the Resistance: honestly I think $20 is very worth it even though it’s certainly annoying to pay that much. You skip many many switchbacks and walk right into the first preshow room.
Soarin’: definitely worth it. Even if LL is backed up and standby doesn’t look that long it seems like LL is a bigger priority so standby will move really slow
Grizzly River Run: Like Splash, LL is not needed here during the winter because it’s always a walk-on. But I can see it being worth it when it’s hot
WEB Slingers: like Rise of the Resistance you skip many switchbacks and walk right into the preshow room. I think $12 or $15 or whatever is worth it
Radiator Springs Racers: as a single rider it is absolutely 100% NOT worth it. On Friday morning I walked onto it twice in the single rider line. Had I bought a LL I might’ve actually waited longer. I also did single rider around 6 last night and it was a 25 minute wait. So I might’ve saved a little time had I bought a LL but not nearly enough to justify spending $15. In July and November when I was there (no fastpass, no lightning lane) the single rider line tended to be really short early in the day and grow a lot by the evening when they would close the single rider line for the night. It seems that’s still the case except I don’t know (I didn’t check) if they close the single rider line later at night. If they do close single rider at night and standby is really long (which it always is) that is the only scenario where I would even think of buying a LL because Racers really is so cool at night. But I was able to do single rider when it was dark (at 6) so if single rider is an option for you that’s way better. If single rider isn’t an option (like you have small kids, etc) I think buying a LL might be worth it but then you’re not just paying $15 or whatever, you’re paying $15 times the amount of people in your group. I’m only one person so LL isn’t “that” much for me but it certainly is for big groups
Incredicoaster: you definitely save some time but honestly not that much. LL doesn’t seem to slow down standby all that much. Saturday night around 9 I did standby and waited 15 minutes. A lot of the queue was empty though so when it’s full (which it was Friday night when I used a LL) it’s gonna be longer. Also single rider is an option but I don’t really use it very much unless it’s pretty much empty. Single rider goes really slow and when it’s stretched up the bridge you’re actually waiting longer than in standby most of the time.
Toy Story Mania: VERY worth it. You skip the whole indoor and outdoor queue. The indoor queue was full both Friday and Saturday when I did LL. With LL both times I waited less than 10 minutes
Goofy’s Sky School: can’t say because I don’t go on this ride. I only booked a LL for a ME possibility. I’ve never ridden because I don’t like coasters like it or Primeval Whirl (formerly at Animal Kingdom) with those sharp turns that try to make you break your back every time you turn. I might try it this week though because a friend I’m meeting up with on Tuesday might force me to try it lol
Monsters Inc: I’ll probably get a LL at some point this week. It looks like on the app it gets wait times for sure but if you go at the right time you barely wait at all. I went one time in November and there was literally nobody except me in line and they were waiting for riders
Guardians: very very very very very very very very very with it. Lol I’m biased because I LOVEEEEEEEE Guardians. But obviously it’s very popular and the line gets really long. I did standby twice on Friday morning. It was so slow the first time because lots of LL people were showing up. It was better the second time because there weren’t a lot of LL people. When there’s a lot of LL people they’re a HUGE priority and they significantly slow down the standby line.
Ok wow that was a lot and I don’t expect everyone to read lol. But hopefully something I said can help somebody plan
First off, this google sheet is where I’m tracking wait times and everything from each day of my trip so you can look at it if you want an idea of wait times. It includes Knott’s and Universal but there’s a separate sheet for each day: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1-WVa53w4h-EIi1Ldds3iPNeOYTE1k7TTD58761uRFw0/edit
Note that these last 2 days I haven’t necessarily been getting genie+ for everything, only my biggest priorities, because Splash Mountain is one of my absolute favorite rides ever and since it’s closing for annual maintenance the rest of my trip and all of my trip next month and then is changing to PATF, binge riding it the last 2 days has been a major priority.
So genie+ is completely separate from individual lightning lanes. It includes Space Mountain, Buzz Lightyear, Autopia, Star Tours, Matterhorn, Small World, Roger Rabbit, Big Thunder, Indiana Jones, Haunted Mansion, Splash Mountain, Millennium Falcon, Guardians, Soarin’, Grizzly River Run, Incredicoaster, Toy Story Mania, Goofy’s Sky School, and Monsters Inc. You can purchase once you’ve entered a park. It might be a few minutes before you can purchase after entering a park or it might not. It wouldn’t let me purchase at first after entering California Adventure around 7:30 on Friday but I was able to after a few minutes. After entering Disneyland at about 3:30 on Saturday it let me buy it immediately. For the most part you can book one lightning lane (aka fastpass) at a time. When you use your lightning lane (LL) for a ride you can book another LL. There is an exception to this however. If you book a LL for something more than 2 hours away you can book another LL in 2 hours.
You can only book a LL for each ride once. If you try to book a ride again it tells you you’ve maxed out on that ride for the day. I watched a vlog a few days ago that said the system was letting them book Incredicoaster a 2nd time (but they didn’t because they didn’t want to). I think one of three things happened there: there was a glitch in the system, they saw the time available and assumed that meant they could book it, or Incredicoaster had broken down earlier during their window and turned into a multiple experience pass without their knowledge and they showed up after it had reopened.
Which leads into the next thing. There is one exception to the only one LL per ride thing. If the ride is broken down during your window, you MAY get a multiple experience pass valid on MANY but not ALL rides. Because of this, if you really want to repeat rides, I would actually recommend purposely booking for rides that are down. You will rarely get a multiple experience pass but you might get lucky. That’s what I’ve been doing. Here has been my experience with that:
On Friday morning once I was able to buy genie+ I did and got a LL for Guardians from 8-9. I didn’t know if I would actually use it then. I thought if the lines were still really short by 9 and LLs weren’t running out I would cancel it. So basically I booked it just in case but wasn’t set on using it then. I rope dropped WEB Slingers and was at the front. Then I went and did standby for Guardians which actually was much shorter an hour later so keep that in mind lol. While I was in line for Guardians I noticed that Incredicoaster was down but a LL was available in half an hour so I booked it. It did come back after a few minutes though and I knew that line wouldn’t be long for a while so I cancelled it. But then I noticed Goofy’s was down with an almost immediate LL. I booked it. Goofy’s stayed down and about 40 minutes into my window it converted to a multiple experience pass that was valid on any ride (even those without LL) except Space, Indiana Jones, Matterhorn, Peter Pan, Rise of the Resistance, WEB Slingers, Radiator Springs Racers, and Toy Story Mania. I used it on Guardians. For me it was worth waiting to see if the Goofy’s LL would convert into a multiple experience pass. But it did take time.
After that I booked Grizzly which was down. I think my pass was in a half hour. It came up though so I cancelled it. After that I was able to book Goofy’s again while it was still down but it came back up after a few minutes and since I didn’t particularly care about actually riding I cancelled it.
I kept watching throughout the day on Friday for rides to break down and actually they all stayed open most of the day. I booked Big Thunder when it was down and the return time was about 45 minutes away. It came back up shortly after my return time started so I just rode it.
Later that night I saw that Monsters Inc was down and I booked an immediate LL for it. It stayed down about half an hour into the window and it hadn’t converted into a multiple experience pass. I cancelled it because I wasn’t in DCA at the time and I wasn’t just gonna park hop for MI lol. That was the last LL ride that broke down that day
On Saturday afternoon I noticed Matterhorn was down and I was able to book a LL for it about a half hour later. Around the time the LL started the ride came up and I cancelled it because I don’t actually have the need as a single rider for a Matterhorn LL because that single rider line is pretty good at least a lot of the time
After that rides were in general not breaking down. But when I used my Soarin’ LL the ride broke down while I was in line. Anyone inside the building (standby and LL) got their ticket scanned by Soarin’ cast members to get a multiple experience LL. Just like the pass on Friday from Goofy’s, it was good the rest of the day on any ride (whether it had LL or not) except Rise, Indy, Matterhorn, Space, WEB Slingers, Racers, and Toy Story.
Then later that night I had a LL booked for Indy from 10-11 PM. I saw a few minutes before 10 that it was broken down so I kept watching for it to convert to a multiple experience pass. But while Indy was down the rest of the night, my LL never converted. At about 11:10 it disappeared from my genie day but I couldn’t book another LL for it because the tip board said I had it booked. I went over to Space Mountain to see if they’d let me go through if I showed them the screenshot of the tip board saying I had Indy booked but it was a walk-on in standby so there was no point of trying to “skip” a non-existent line. That was around 11:30 and I just did Space via standby the rest of the night
But also one more thing happened. After my Indy pass expired I was able to book another LL and Matterhorn was down again. I booked a LL for 11:20 PM-12:00 AM just in case it would convert to a multiple experience pass. I took a screenshot of everything I could: the tip board showing it was closed, the LL that said redeem on it, etc. It did come back up a few minutes or something before the park closed.
I wondered if I could take the screenshots of my Indy and Matterhorn LLs from last night to guest relations tomorrow. So this morning I used the chat feature on the Disneyland app and explained my situation and they said nothing could be done and that I should’ve talked to a cast member day of. I replied by mentioning that it was at the VERY end of the park day, that I wasn’t sure where exactly to go to talk to guest relations, and that I didn’t know if they would still be open or wanting someone like me to come to them that late. They replied apologizing for my experience and said that I could talk to a guest relations cast member tomorrow but there’s no guarantees. By the way in this conversation I was very polite and thanked them. Tomorrow at Disneyland I’m going to find guest relations and politely explain my situation and show them the screenshots I have and see what they can do. I don’t know if they’ll do it 2 days later but I don’t typically go to theme parks on Sundays for religious reasons so I wonder if I explain that to them and show that those LLs were basically at the last second of the day maybe they can give me a multiple experience LL or two. If I don’t get any I won’t throw a tantrum or anything lol, they would be nice to have though. I was kind of sad about Indy being down because that’s one of my favorite rides and I had every intention of using that LL. But honestly you don’t wait that long in the exterior queue for IJ. And I only booked Matterhorn for the possibility of a ME LL so we’ll just see what happens. I’ll update on here how that goes.
Ok so I’ve gone in a lot of detail on my experience with Genie+. Here’s my experience with individual lightning lanes which are completely separate from genie+:
Individual lightning lanes are for Rise of the Resistance, WEB Slingers, and Radiator Springs Racers. You can only get 2 of these per day and even though Rise is in a different park they’re connected in that you can only buy 2 out of the 3. Maybe it’s different if one of your ILLs breaks down during your window. I haven’t had that happen. But on Friday after I was considered by genie to be in the park I immediately bought one for Rise of the Resistance for $20. I think the return time was 8:40-9:40 AM or something but because I was starting in DCA it automatically changed the time to 1-2 PM (it does that with genie+ rides too). I didn’t want to do a WEB Slingers LL super early so I didn’t book it just yet. When the return time was 9:45-10:45 later I booked it for $12. I was able to book it even though I was still holding the one for Rise at 1-2 PM. I started trying to book Racers just to see what would happen (it would’ve been $12) but it wouldn’t let me because I had maxed out on ILLs for the day.
On Saturday I went to Universal in the morning so by the time I got to Disney at 3:30 all Rise LLs were sold out. I thought I might be out of luck. But when I went through the process of genie starting my day so I could tell it what rides I wanted to see first on my tip board it asked me if I wanted to buy a pass for Rise from 6:50-7:50 PM which I did. And then a little later I refreshed a couple times and bought an immediate WEB Slingers for $15. Racers was also $15.
One more thing about genie+ and ILLs. If you don’t see a time you like keep refreshing. You can select on genie which rides you want to show first on your tip board. That way you can keep refreshing until you see something you like. Soarin’ seems to be the most popular regular genie+ ride and both times I got a LL it was because I kept refreshing and got a time that worked better. The ones that seem to be the farthest ahead are Space, Matterhorn, Indy, Mansion, Guardians, Soarin’, and Toy Story (especially those last 2).
Ok now here’s what I thought about whether or not each ride was worth it.
Space Mountain: now that single rider is sadly gone genie+ was way worth it for this ride. Note standby was a walk-on at park closing so if you don’t buy genie+ you can probably still find a short wait sometimes. But both times I did a LL for Space I only waited about 10 minutes.
Buzz Lightyear: I got a LL for it on Friday but not Saturday. It wouldn’t have been worth it if I did it at the end of the day when there was nobody in the exterior queue. I did it at 7:30 when the exterior queue was pretty full and undoubtedly saved a good amount of time
Star Tours: I haven’t gotten a LL for Star Tours yet because while I love the ride I’ve been prioritizing the rides that are harder to get on with LL and riding Splash a lot. I’ll for sure get a LL for it every day I’m there this week. If the queue outside the main building and the queue in the first room of the building is pretty much empty there’s really no point in getting a LL. As I’ve walked past it the last couple days it hasn’t seemed too busy
Autopia: I haven’t gotten a LL for it and I don’t plan to lol
Matterhorn: I didn’t get a LL for this one on Friday and I only got it yesterday for the chance of a ME pass. Single rider was really short both times I did it on Friday. But if you’re in a group and don’t want to do single rider you’ll certainly save a lot of time from standby
It’s a small world Holiday: I got a LL on Friday night. The posted wait was only 20 minutes but the queue was super packed and it was nice to avoid that even if it moved pretty fast
Roger Rabbit: I haven’t gotten a LL for this yet but I’m definitely going to at some point. That queue never ends lol
Thunder Mountain Railroad: when I used it on Friday it had just reopened after being broken down so I actually didn’t save any time that time. But when I did it around 11:15 PM Saturday night the big switchback was full so I probably saved at least 10 minutes. I’m sure I would’ve saved even more had I gotten a LL earlier
Indiana Jones: the only part you skip is the exterior queue. No matter how you ride you’re waiting probably 10-15 minutes inside. If nobody is in the exterior queue you don’t save any time at all and even if there is you honestly don’t save that much time. Between Friday and Saturday I did standby three times besides my LL on Friday and got inside after about 10-15 minutes. So it’s definitely worth booking a LL if you have genie+ but don’t buy genie+ just for this ride or largely because of this ride lol
Haunted Mansion Holiday: very worth it. Lol I’m not a huge fan of the NBC theme and I would never want to wait long for that theme. But I only waited a few minutes, all past the merge point and skipped the whole queue.
Splash Mountain: booking a LL for Splash Mountain would’ve been a waste because it was a walk-on all day both days since it was kind of cold. Also the single rider line would’ve been an option if there was any line whatsoever. The single rider line isn’t always great like in the summer when it’s really hot so it could be worth it even for single riders on those days and definitely for those who want to ride together. But not in the winter. I did keep checking to see if it would break down though because of the multiple experiences possibility
Millennium Falcon: I haven’t gotten a LL for it yet although I love the ride. It did seem like they were always immediate though. The single rider line is always so short but I think I’ll probably get a LL at some point so I can ask to be a pilot
Rise of the Resistance: honestly I think $20 is very worth it even though it’s certainly annoying to pay that much. You skip many many switchbacks and walk right into the first preshow room.
Soarin’: definitely worth it. Even if LL is backed up and standby doesn’t look that long it seems like LL is a bigger priority so standby will move really slow
Grizzly River Run: Like Splash, LL is not needed here during the winter because it’s always a walk-on. But I can see it being worth it when it’s hot
WEB Slingers: like Rise of the Resistance you skip many switchbacks and walk right into the preshow room. I think $12 or $15 or whatever is worth it
Radiator Springs Racers: as a single rider it is absolutely 100% NOT worth it. On Friday morning I walked onto it twice in the single rider line. Had I bought a LL I might’ve actually waited longer. I also did single rider around 6 last night and it was a 25 minute wait. So I might’ve saved a little time had I bought a LL but not nearly enough to justify spending $15. In July and November when I was there (no fastpass, no lightning lane) the single rider line tended to be really short early in the day and grow a lot by the evening when they would close the single rider line for the night. It seems that’s still the case except I don’t know (I didn’t check) if they close the single rider line later at night. If they do close single rider at night and standby is really long (which it always is) that is the only scenario where I would even think of buying a LL because Racers really is so cool at night. But I was able to do single rider when it was dark (at 6) so if single rider is an option for you that’s way better. If single rider isn’t an option (like you have small kids, etc) I think buying a LL might be worth it but then you’re not just paying $15 or whatever, you’re paying $15 times the amount of people in your group. I’m only one person so LL isn’t “that” much for me but it certainly is for big groups
Incredicoaster: you definitely save some time but honestly not that much. LL doesn’t seem to slow down standby all that much. Saturday night around 9 I did standby and waited 15 minutes. A lot of the queue was empty though so when it’s full (which it was Friday night when I used a LL) it’s gonna be longer. Also single rider is an option but I don’t really use it very much unless it’s pretty much empty. Single rider goes really slow and when it’s stretched up the bridge you’re actually waiting longer than in standby most of the time.
Toy Story Mania: VERY worth it. You skip the whole indoor and outdoor queue. The indoor queue was full both Friday and Saturday when I did LL. With LL both times I waited less than 10 minutes
Goofy’s Sky School: can’t say because I don’t go on this ride. I only booked a LL for a ME possibility. I’ve never ridden because I don’t like coasters like it or Primeval Whirl (formerly at Animal Kingdom) with those sharp turns that try to make you break your back every time you turn. I might try it this week though because a friend I’m meeting up with on Tuesday might force me to try it lol
Monsters Inc: I’ll probably get a LL at some point this week. It looks like on the app it gets wait times for sure but if you go at the right time you barely wait at all. I went one time in November and there was literally nobody except me in line and they were waiting for riders
Guardians: very very very very very very very very very with it. Lol I’m biased because I LOVEEEEEEEE Guardians. But obviously it’s very popular and the line gets really long. I did standby twice on Friday morning. It was so slow the first time because lots of LL people were showing up. It was better the second time because there weren’t a lot of LL people. When there’s a lot of LL people they’re a HUGE priority and they significantly slow down the standby line.
Ok wow that was a lot and I don’t expect everyone to read lol. But hopefully something I said can help somebody plan
disneylover102
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Dec 31, 2017
- Messages
- 1,693
Ok here’s my experience using genie+ yesterday (Monday the 10th). Long story short, ride breakdowns worked perfectly in my favor and I used 16 LLs yesterday, 6 of which were bonuses!
I entered the park around 8:15 when they started letting everyone in (the park officially opened at 9) and I booked Soarin’ for 1-2 PM (it changed to that time since I started at Disneyland and I figured by booking for the other park I could get a LL without wasting morning park time using a LL). Contrary to what I had heard, I could book another LL 2 hours after booking Soarin’ even though the park hadn’t opened yet.
I would say I used my morning well not using any LLs. I rope dropped Rise of the Resistance and was the first person on so that was a tiring rush to get that close to the front for sure but very worth it to walk right on. Then I booked a Rise LL from 11:25-12:25. Then I went over to Space and did standby which had a posted 15 minute wait but I waited half an hour. Still better than later in the day. After that I did Big Thunder which was posted 20 minutes and I waited 15. While in line it was time to book another LL and since Small World was down I booked that immediately hoping for a multiple experience pass.
After I got off Big Thunder I went to guest relations at city hall to try to see if I could get compensation for my LLs from Saturday night (basically I booked Indy for 10-11 PM and it was down the whole time and didn’t give me a ME pass and then I booked Matterhorn for 11:20-12:00 but it was down and I couldn’t use that either and I got screenshots of both of those situations). But the line at city hall was pretty long and going slow and I figured it would be really silly to wait in a long line so I could get a chance to skip a line somewhere else. I found out that city hall is only one of MANY guest relations places so I walked right up to the Fantasyland kiosk by Matterhorn and immediately started talking to the CM there. I showed her my screenshots and explained that that happened at the very very end of the day on Saturday and that I didn’t talk to someone on Sunday because I don’t typically go to theme parks on Sundays for religious reasons and then I asked if there was any way I could get a makeup LL. She was very understanding about it and actually gave me 3 multiple experience LLs good on anything except Rise and WEB Slingers including all rides without LL. She gave me 3 because I was by myself, which was AWESOME.
After that I waited not long at all in the single rider line for Matterhorn. After I got off I saw Space was only a 35 minute wait so I started heading over there. It had been a while into my Small World LL and it hasn’t come back up so I was expecting a ME pass but it can’t up on my way to Space. But Falcon was down and so I got a LL half an hour later. I got in line for Space and when there was about 10-15 minutes before my LL for Falcon even started it converted to a ME pass valid on anything except Space, Indy, Matterhorn, Peter Pan, Toy Story, Racers, and WEB Slingers (this is the normal case for ME LLs from ride breakdowns, but I assume it’s different if it’s one of those rides that breaks down). At that point I booked another one for Falcon about half an hour later but it came back up after a few minutes so I cancelled it and booked Indy, which I was fully planning to use. My Rise of the Resistance LL was also valid by this point but it broke down and converted to a pass only valid on Rise for the rest of the day. I ended up waiting about 50 minutes for Space (which I was in line for this whole time).
After that I had a little time before my Indy LL so I did Matterhorn single rider again and got a slice of pizza at Pizza Planet. Then I did Falcon single rider and piloted all by myself, which was awesome. While I was over there in Galaxy’s Edge I was constantly checking the app to look out for Rise to come back up and hopefully get a short wait if I got there right away. It didn’t come back up while I was in GE so I went to use my Indy LL. But as I was waiting in line to scan in, Rise came back up so I rushed over there as fast as I could. The line was just a little past the caves so I thought I wouldn’t wait a ridiculously long time. But I waited 80 minutes to get on the final ride portion because LL was being prioritized a lot. Normally LL isn’t backed up for Rise but I think it was because they must’ve given everyone in line when it broke down a LL to come back later. Because it took so long I had to cancel my Indy and Soarin’ LLs which wasn’t great but fortunately I was able to rebook those later.
While in the SLOW line for Rise, I booked a Space LL, which I used after getting off Rise. I then booked an immediate LL for Star Tours and rode that. Then I booked an immediate LL for Buzz and used that. I then booked Thunder which was down I think for about a half hour later. After doing Buzz I went and used my all day LL for Rise and while I was on it my Thunder LL converted to a ME pass but then it came back up right after that. I booked an immediate LL for it and went and rode it. Standby wouldn’t have been too long because it was still refilling from being down. I would’ve booked Indy at this point but it was down and I had 5 multiple experience passes already as well as plenty to book in DCA so I figured I might not even have time to use everything I booked lol. So I booked Soarin’ for over 2 hours later and of course couldn’t book another LL for 2 hours.
After Thunder I park hopped and bought a LL for WEB Slingers and used my ME passes from Thunder and Falcon being down to ride Guardians twice. Then I used my LL at WEB Slingers and then rode Guardians again with one of the bonus LLs the CM gave me earlier.
I had discovered by that point that the system was actually letting me book Racers if I wanted since my Rise pass earlier had converted to an all day pass since it was broken down. It was at this point I realized it might let me book Rise AGAIN so even though LLs were supposedly gone I refreshed a few times and got another Rise LL for right away.
So after doing Guardians I park hopped basically just for Rise. But Indy had been down for hours and came back up while I was at Rise and it was time to book another LL so I got one for Indy that was good right after I got off Rise so I went and used that. Once I used my Indy LL I booked Incredicoaster.
Then I park hopped and used my Soarin’ and Incredicoaster LLs. After using my Incredicoaster LL I booked Guardians. Then I used one of my ME LLs and re-rode Incredicoaster. Then I went and used my LL at Guardians and then re-rode with my final bonus LL. By that point it was about 8:40 when the park closed at 9. I saw on the app that while Rise had said earlier that it was gonna be open 9-8, it had changed to be open 9-9 (full park hours). So I rushed over there and waited in standby less than half an hour.
So clearly this was not a typical genie+ day… you’re not typically gonna get 3 bonus LLs from a previous day or get 2 bonus LLs from ride breakdowns. But what I recommend is booking rides when they are down. They will hopefully convert to a multiple experience LL and you can book the ride again. The point at which you’ll get a bonus LL is always different. Sometimes it’s 20 minutes before the window starts and sometimes it’s 40 minutes after it starts. But you SHOULD be able to get one if the ride is down the whole window. And if it’s down the whole window and it DOESN’T give you a bonus LL go talk to a guest relations CM and they can help.
I typed this all up way earlier and forgot to post it lol. Now I’ll type up my experiences from today
I entered the park around 8:15 when they started letting everyone in (the park officially opened at 9) and I booked Soarin’ for 1-2 PM (it changed to that time since I started at Disneyland and I figured by booking for the other park I could get a LL without wasting morning park time using a LL). Contrary to what I had heard, I could book another LL 2 hours after booking Soarin’ even though the park hadn’t opened yet.
I would say I used my morning well not using any LLs. I rope dropped Rise of the Resistance and was the first person on so that was a tiring rush to get that close to the front for sure but very worth it to walk right on. Then I booked a Rise LL from 11:25-12:25. Then I went over to Space and did standby which had a posted 15 minute wait but I waited half an hour. Still better than later in the day. After that I did Big Thunder which was posted 20 minutes and I waited 15. While in line it was time to book another LL and since Small World was down I booked that immediately hoping for a multiple experience pass.
After I got off Big Thunder I went to guest relations at city hall to try to see if I could get compensation for my LLs from Saturday night (basically I booked Indy for 10-11 PM and it was down the whole time and didn’t give me a ME pass and then I booked Matterhorn for 11:20-12:00 but it was down and I couldn’t use that either and I got screenshots of both of those situations). But the line at city hall was pretty long and going slow and I figured it would be really silly to wait in a long line so I could get a chance to skip a line somewhere else. I found out that city hall is only one of MANY guest relations places so I walked right up to the Fantasyland kiosk by Matterhorn and immediately started talking to the CM there. I showed her my screenshots and explained that that happened at the very very end of the day on Saturday and that I didn’t talk to someone on Sunday because I don’t typically go to theme parks on Sundays for religious reasons and then I asked if there was any way I could get a makeup LL. She was very understanding about it and actually gave me 3 multiple experience LLs good on anything except Rise and WEB Slingers including all rides without LL. She gave me 3 because I was by myself, which was AWESOME.
After that I waited not long at all in the single rider line for Matterhorn. After I got off I saw Space was only a 35 minute wait so I started heading over there. It had been a while into my Small World LL and it hasn’t come back up so I was expecting a ME pass but it can’t up on my way to Space. But Falcon was down and so I got a LL half an hour later. I got in line for Space and when there was about 10-15 minutes before my LL for Falcon even started it converted to a ME pass valid on anything except Space, Indy, Matterhorn, Peter Pan, Toy Story, Racers, and WEB Slingers (this is the normal case for ME LLs from ride breakdowns, but I assume it’s different if it’s one of those rides that breaks down). At that point I booked another one for Falcon about half an hour later but it came back up after a few minutes so I cancelled it and booked Indy, which I was fully planning to use. My Rise of the Resistance LL was also valid by this point but it broke down and converted to a pass only valid on Rise for the rest of the day. I ended up waiting about 50 minutes for Space (which I was in line for this whole time).
After that I had a little time before my Indy LL so I did Matterhorn single rider again and got a slice of pizza at Pizza Planet. Then I did Falcon single rider and piloted all by myself, which was awesome. While I was over there in Galaxy’s Edge I was constantly checking the app to look out for Rise to come back up and hopefully get a short wait if I got there right away. It didn’t come back up while I was in GE so I went to use my Indy LL. But as I was waiting in line to scan in, Rise came back up so I rushed over there as fast as I could. The line was just a little past the caves so I thought I wouldn’t wait a ridiculously long time. But I waited 80 minutes to get on the final ride portion because LL was being prioritized a lot. Normally LL isn’t backed up for Rise but I think it was because they must’ve given everyone in line when it broke down a LL to come back later. Because it took so long I had to cancel my Indy and Soarin’ LLs which wasn’t great but fortunately I was able to rebook those later.
While in the SLOW line for Rise, I booked a Space LL, which I used after getting off Rise. I then booked an immediate LL for Star Tours and rode that. Then I booked an immediate LL for Buzz and used that. I then booked Thunder which was down I think for about a half hour later. After doing Buzz I went and used my all day LL for Rise and while I was on it my Thunder LL converted to a ME pass but then it came back up right after that. I booked an immediate LL for it and went and rode it. Standby wouldn’t have been too long because it was still refilling from being down. I would’ve booked Indy at this point but it was down and I had 5 multiple experience passes already as well as plenty to book in DCA so I figured I might not even have time to use everything I booked lol. So I booked Soarin’ for over 2 hours later and of course couldn’t book another LL for 2 hours.
After Thunder I park hopped and bought a LL for WEB Slingers and used my ME passes from Thunder and Falcon being down to ride Guardians twice. Then I used my LL at WEB Slingers and then rode Guardians again with one of the bonus LLs the CM gave me earlier.
I had discovered by that point that the system was actually letting me book Racers if I wanted since my Rise pass earlier had converted to an all day pass since it was broken down. It was at this point I realized it might let me book Rise AGAIN so even though LLs were supposedly gone I refreshed a few times and got another Rise LL for right away.
So after doing Guardians I park hopped basically just for Rise. But Indy had been down for hours and came back up while I was at Rise and it was time to book another LL so I got one for Indy that was good right after I got off Rise so I went and used that. Once I used my Indy LL I booked Incredicoaster.
Then I park hopped and used my Soarin’ and Incredicoaster LLs. After using my Incredicoaster LL I booked Guardians. Then I used one of my ME LLs and re-rode Incredicoaster. Then I went and used my LL at Guardians and then re-rode with my final bonus LL. By that point it was about 8:40 when the park closed at 9. I saw on the app that while Rise had said earlier that it was gonna be open 9-8, it had changed to be open 9-9 (full park hours). So I rushed over there and waited in standby less than half an hour.
So clearly this was not a typical genie+ day… you’re not typically gonna get 3 bonus LLs from a previous day or get 2 bonus LLs from ride breakdowns. But what I recommend is booking rides when they are down. They will hopefully convert to a multiple experience LL and you can book the ride again. The point at which you’ll get a bonus LL is always different. Sometimes it’s 20 minutes before the window starts and sometimes it’s 40 minutes after it starts. But you SHOULD be able to get one if the ride is down the whole window. And if it’s down the whole window and it DOESN’T give you a bonus LL go talk to a guest relations CM and they can help.
I typed this all up way earlier and forgot to post it lol. Now I’ll type up my experiences from today
disneylover102
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Dec 31, 2017
- Messages
- 1,693
K here’s my genie+ and individual lightning lane report for yesterday (Tuesday the 11th). I arrived at Harbor Blvd security at around 7:45 and around 8:10 they opened security and let me in around 8:15, at which point I quickly bought genie+ and reserved Soarin’ for 1-2 PM (the available time was 9-10 AM but it changed it due to park hopping). I did this to allow time to take advantage of shorter lines at park opening but still have some LL advantage.
I rope dropped Rise and was again the first person on. Then I went over to Space and waited about a half hour. While in line I got a LL for Rise from 10:40-11:40. When I got off Space it was time to book another LL and I booked for Space for about 20 minutes later. Also my time to do Rise was about 20 minutes away but it was broken down and it converted it to an all day pass which meant I could book Rise again, so I got one from 12:15-1:15. I saw that the posted wait for Peter Pan was only 25 so I headed over there but decided to not do it just yet because the wait looked like a lot more than that. So I did the teacups really fast instead. Then I waited about 15 minutes in Matterhorn single rider (which is a lot more than it has been the other times I’ve done it the last few days but it still wasn’t bad).
Then it was time to use my LL at Space. I did that and then booked an immediate Star Tours. I used that and then booked an immediate Buzz. After that I booked one for Indy about 20 minutes away (note that must’ve been a cancellation because Indy has been 1-2 hours out today). I had a little time before Indy so I did Falcon single rider and then headed to Indy and used my LL.
It was getting close to park hopping time and I noticed that Grizzly was down so I booked a LL for it hope for a multiple experience pass. I also booked a WEB Slingers LL for 1:20-2:20. After doing Indy I headed to Rise to use my 12:15-1:15 pass. I saved the all day one from when it broke down earlier to use later since I was about to use LL for Soarin’ and WEB Slingers and need to park hop.
I used my LL for Soarin’ and was about to get on when it broke down. They gave me a multiple experience pass to make up for it. After that I used my WEB Slingers LL. Then I did single rider at Radiator Springs Racers which took about 15 minutes. At some point during all this my Grizzly LL converted to a multiple experience pass so I reserved Grizzly again. But it came back up so I booked Toy Story Mania for about an hour and a half later.
I ate that amazing mac n cheese from the cozy cone motel and then used my ME pass from Grizzly on Guardians. Since I had a bit of time before my Toy Story LL I bought a jack jack num num and ate it in the Incredicoaster standby line which was only about a 15 minute wait. Then it was time for Toy Story so I did that and booked an immediate Goofy’s Sky School because I’ve never tried it and figured I might as well. But it broke down and I wanted to do the Pixar Pier area all in one go and I hadn’t gotten an Incredicoaster LL yet so while I was waiting for my Goofy’s LL to convert to a ME pass or come back up I tried out the single rider line for Incredicoaster because it wasn’t as long as it sometimes has been and I was curious if it’s as slow as it has been before. It was worse just because I think the CM giving out the single rider passes had lots of things to take care of and so there would frequently be times where no single riders were at the loading area. The posted standby wait was 35 and the entire queue was full (when I waited 15 minutes earlier only half the queue was full) and I waited a little more than 20 minutes in the single rider line. So I think I probably did save a little time but not much. I got in line when the SR line was backed up to the white door almost to the single rider sign.
Toward the beginning of my wait in the SR line my Goofy’s LL converted to a multiple experience pass and I booked Incredicoaster immediately. So when I got off I rode again much faster in the LL. Goofy’s was up by the time I was done but the LL was half an hour away which I didn’t want to wait for so I booked Guardians for about half an hour later.
After that I did the Racers single rider line again and waited about 20 minutes. By the time I got off it was time for Guardians so I used my LL there. I then booked Monsters for a few minutes later and by the time I got off Guardians it was time to use that so I did. Then I booked Thunder for a little over an hour later (it was weird that Thunder LLs were so far ahead yesterday).
After Monsters I did Guardians twice, once with the pass from Soarin’ going down and once with the pass from Goofy’s going down. I got there just in time cause half the gantry lifts broke down when I got there and then lightning lane backed up a TON. However I got on pretty fast because of the minute I got there. The standby line was posted 2 hours and they told everyone they would be highly prioritizing lightning lane. So long story short don’t do standby when the ride is operating at very low capacity
After that I park hopped and it was just about time to do Thunder and since the LL works 5 minutes early I scanned in a minute early and went right through. I booked Roger Rabbit for about 15 minutes later. I didn’t know that I actually wanted to do it that late in the day but I figured I could make a LL for it just in case. But it broke down after I did Thunder and converted to a ME pass a couple minutes before the return time started.
At that point I went to Rise and used my all day pass there and got on super quick. And then I noticed that Indy had come back up from being down and it was only posted 40 minutes so I went over there. I waited a little more than 20 minutes. Then I went and used my ME pass from Roger Rabbit on Thunder.
At this point there was about 20 minutes until the park closed so I thought I would have time to do Falcon single rider before finishing at Rise. But they had closed the SR line and even though standby was only posted 15 minutes I didn’t want to risk missing a short wait at Rise so I headed there and got in line about 15 minutes before the park closed. I waited a little less than half an hour.
So this was another pretty successful day with genie+. I felt like this day was more enjoyable than Monday in that I started using LLs earlier and ran out of the big ones to get earlier so I wasn’t as stressed to use all my LLs before the park closed. It worked great to reserve Soarin’ as soon as I scanned in and allow that to give me a nice genie+ advantage but still not use LLs when the standby waits were short and then actually start actively using LLs when I could start booking more LLs.
I have one more day on this trip (today, Wednesday) where I once again plan to buy genie+ and ILL for Rise and WEB Slingers and I’ll share my experiences on that after
I rope dropped Rise and was again the first person on. Then I went over to Space and waited about a half hour. While in line I got a LL for Rise from 10:40-11:40. When I got off Space it was time to book another LL and I booked for Space for about 20 minutes later. Also my time to do Rise was about 20 minutes away but it was broken down and it converted it to an all day pass which meant I could book Rise again, so I got one from 12:15-1:15. I saw that the posted wait for Peter Pan was only 25 so I headed over there but decided to not do it just yet because the wait looked like a lot more than that. So I did the teacups really fast instead. Then I waited about 15 minutes in Matterhorn single rider (which is a lot more than it has been the other times I’ve done it the last few days but it still wasn’t bad).
Then it was time to use my LL at Space. I did that and then booked an immediate Star Tours. I used that and then booked an immediate Buzz. After that I booked one for Indy about 20 minutes away (note that must’ve been a cancellation because Indy has been 1-2 hours out today). I had a little time before Indy so I did Falcon single rider and then headed to Indy and used my LL.
It was getting close to park hopping time and I noticed that Grizzly was down so I booked a LL for it hope for a multiple experience pass. I also booked a WEB Slingers LL for 1:20-2:20. After doing Indy I headed to Rise to use my 12:15-1:15 pass. I saved the all day one from when it broke down earlier to use later since I was about to use LL for Soarin’ and WEB Slingers and need to park hop.
I used my LL for Soarin’ and was about to get on when it broke down. They gave me a multiple experience pass to make up for it. After that I used my WEB Slingers LL. Then I did single rider at Radiator Springs Racers which took about 15 minutes. At some point during all this my Grizzly LL converted to a multiple experience pass so I reserved Grizzly again. But it came back up so I booked Toy Story Mania for about an hour and a half later.
I ate that amazing mac n cheese from the cozy cone motel and then used my ME pass from Grizzly on Guardians. Since I had a bit of time before my Toy Story LL I bought a jack jack num num and ate it in the Incredicoaster standby line which was only about a 15 minute wait. Then it was time for Toy Story so I did that and booked an immediate Goofy’s Sky School because I’ve never tried it and figured I might as well. But it broke down and I wanted to do the Pixar Pier area all in one go and I hadn’t gotten an Incredicoaster LL yet so while I was waiting for my Goofy’s LL to convert to a ME pass or come back up I tried out the single rider line for Incredicoaster because it wasn’t as long as it sometimes has been and I was curious if it’s as slow as it has been before. It was worse just because I think the CM giving out the single rider passes had lots of things to take care of and so there would frequently be times where no single riders were at the loading area. The posted standby wait was 35 and the entire queue was full (when I waited 15 minutes earlier only half the queue was full) and I waited a little more than 20 minutes in the single rider line. So I think I probably did save a little time but not much. I got in line when the SR line was backed up to the white door almost to the single rider sign.
Toward the beginning of my wait in the SR line my Goofy’s LL converted to a multiple experience pass and I booked Incredicoaster immediately. So when I got off I rode again much faster in the LL. Goofy’s was up by the time I was done but the LL was half an hour away which I didn’t want to wait for so I booked Guardians for about half an hour later.
After that I did the Racers single rider line again and waited about 20 minutes. By the time I got off it was time for Guardians so I used my LL there. I then booked Monsters for a few minutes later and by the time I got off Guardians it was time to use that so I did. Then I booked Thunder for a little over an hour later (it was weird that Thunder LLs were so far ahead yesterday).
After Monsters I did Guardians twice, once with the pass from Soarin’ going down and once with the pass from Goofy’s going down. I got there just in time cause half the gantry lifts broke down when I got there and then lightning lane backed up a TON. However I got on pretty fast because of the minute I got there. The standby line was posted 2 hours and they told everyone they would be highly prioritizing lightning lane. So long story short don’t do standby when the ride is operating at very low capacity
After that I park hopped and it was just about time to do Thunder and since the LL works 5 minutes early I scanned in a minute early and went right through. I booked Roger Rabbit for about 15 minutes later. I didn’t know that I actually wanted to do it that late in the day but I figured I could make a LL for it just in case. But it broke down after I did Thunder and converted to a ME pass a couple minutes before the return time started.
At that point I went to Rise and used my all day pass there and got on super quick. And then I noticed that Indy had come back up from being down and it was only posted 40 minutes so I went over there. I waited a little more than 20 minutes. Then I went and used my ME pass from Roger Rabbit on Thunder.
At this point there was about 20 minutes until the park closed so I thought I would have time to do Falcon single rider before finishing at Rise. But they had closed the SR line and even though standby was only posted 15 minutes I didn’t want to risk missing a short wait at Rise so I headed there and got in line about 15 minutes before the park closed. I waited a little less than half an hour.
So this was another pretty successful day with genie+. I felt like this day was more enjoyable than Monday in that I started using LLs earlier and ran out of the big ones to get earlier so I wasn’t as stressed to use all my LLs before the park closed. It worked great to reserve Soarin’ as soon as I scanned in and allow that to give me a nice genie+ advantage but still not use LLs when the standby waits were short and then actually start actively using LLs when I could start booking more LLs.
I have one more day on this trip (today, Wednesday) where I once again plan to buy genie+ and ILL for Rise and WEB Slingers and I’ll share my experiences on that after
disneylover102
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Dec 31, 2017
- Messages
- 1,693
Last one for this trip 
Ok so I once again bought genie+ and lightning lanes yesterday (Wednesday the 12th). Here’s my experience with that.
I was scanned into the park at 8:14 (at the front of the line to get in, the park officially opened at 9) and immediately bought genie+ and booked Soarin’ for 1-2 PM (time changed due to park hopping which was the plan), which meant I could book another LL at 10:14. I did this purposely so I could do short standby waits in the morning and LLs later in the day.
After rushing to the rope by Frontierland I saw LL for Rise was for 9:50-10:50 and I booked that. I also went ahead and bought WEB Slingers for 1-2 PM (again I got that time because of park hopping).
I was at the front of the mad rush to Rise and was 18th in line and 1st on the ride (I strategically placed myself close to the door on the space shuttle). After that I did standby for Thunder which was posted as 5 minutes but was almost 15. Still not too bad though. While in line my Rise LL converted to an all day pass because it was broken down so I was able to book another one for 12:50-1:50. I was planning on using the next part of the morning to do the rides I want to do that don’t have LL: Pirates, Jungle Cruise, and Peter Pan. However, all 3 of those were down after I got off Thunder. So I got in the posted 45 minute wait for Indy hoping it would be shorter and that by the time I was off Jungle Cruise or Pirates might be up. It only took about 10 minutes to get inside which was great with the only downside being that I was in the building with no service for the last portion of the wait during the time I could get a new LL so I had to wait until I got off the ride and out of the building to get another LL.
I got off Indy around 10:30 and booked a LL for Space for 11 and went and did Jungle Cruise, which was a little more than a 30 minute wait. Then I redeemed my LL at Space and I wanted to get an Indy LL. The next available time was 1:15, which I didn’t want because of my Soarin’ and WEB Slingers LLs at 1. But I refreshed several times and got one for 12:15. I ate lunch at Pizza Planet and then used my 12:20-1:20 Rise LL. Then I used my Indy LL and saw that Monsters was down so I booked that. I also saw that WEB Slingers was broken down so my pass had been converted to an all day pass. So I was able to book another one from 2:40-3:40.
When I got off Indy my Monsters pass had converted to a ME pass. I booked it again hoping for that to happen again but it came back up so I booked Matterhorn which was down. I was able to refresh and get one a half hour later. Around the time that LL was supposed to start it converted to a ME pass.
But this one was a little different because it was from Matterhorn which is apparently a top tier attraction. All the other ME passes I’ve gotten from rides going down have been valid on everything except Rise, Space, Matterhorn, Indy, Peter Pan, WEB Slingers, Racers, and Toy Story Mania. But since Matterhorn IS one of those rides the ME pass was good on any ride except Peter Pan, Rise, Racers, and WEB Slingers. But it was good on Space, Indy, and Matterhorn which is different than the others
After Matterhorn converted to a ME pass I booked it again and went to use my Soarin’ LL. I waited half an hour for that because a theater was down and LL was super backed up. Standby was 2 hours even though there weren’t that many people in the line
After I got off I saw that Matterhorn had come back up so I cancelled my LL and booked Grizzly since it was down. It wasn’t down long but I almost immediately got a ME pass from it. After that happened I booked an immediate Incredicoaster and used it. Then I got an immediate Goofy’s LL and used that. I then booked Guardians a half hour later. When I got off Goofy’s I went and did single rider at Grizzly and basically walked right on.
Then I went to use my 2:40-3:40 LL for WEB Slingers but as I was about to scan in they said the ride was down (again) but that my LL would be good all day. It didn’t convert to an all day pass and it disappeared from the app after it expired but I screenshotted it before it expired and when I used it later it worked. Anyway so at this point it was just about time to use my Guardians LL anyway so I did that. Then I booked a LL for Toy Story Mania an hour and a half later.
After doing Guardians I did it again with my pass from Grizzly going down. Then I did Incredicoaster standby to kill time before my Toy Story LL. Then I met up with someone I know and did Incredicoaster standby again (we just did that ride together since she didn’t buy genie+). Then it was time for my Toy Story LL.
There wasn’t really any good LL to book that I was interested in at this point because I still had a couple WEB Slingers LLs to use and I wanted to use my ME pass from Monsters going down on either Guardians or Incredicoaster. I booked Matterhorn just in case it went down again. After Toy Story I used my bonus LL from Monsters on Incredicoaster and then used both of my WEB Slingers LLs. When it got closer to the time I would be park hopping I cancelled Matterhorn and booked Thunder immediately. After park hopping I went straight to Thunder. Because my LL options were pretty limited at this point I refreshed and got Matterhorn in the next few minutes. Normally I haven’t been actually using LL for Matterhorn because the single rider line has gotten me on very quick. But the wait time was pretty high and I figured single rider was probably pretty busy.
But rather than going right to Matterhorn I used my all day pass on Rise to make sure I got that done. Then I very quickly did Falcon single rider and headed to Matterhorn and used my LL. Then I got an immediate LL for Star Tours and used it but it was useless because there was literally no line (this was about 8 PM).
I really wanted to use my ME pass from Matterhorn going down earlier to go on Space again. But Space had been down for hours and it was 8:15 and still not open. I figured it wouldn’t open by the time the park closed so I was just gonna use it on Thunder. I could’ve used it on Indy but I didn’t feel like waiting in that line again lol (cause you really don’t skip that much for Indy LL). But somehow even though I had used my bonus LL from Monsters going down on Incredicoaster earlier the LL was still showing on the app. I re-used it on Thunder and it let me go through and then disappeared from the app. Weird! But no complaints from me! While I was in line (this was around 8:30) Space suddenly came back up so I rushed over there after I got off Thunder and used my LL from Matterhorn going down on Space, which was awesome. I got off just in time to get back in line before the park closed and ride again. I don’t think Space is normally insanely busy at park closing but it was since it had been down for hours. The entire indoor queue was full but it moved super fast and I was on in less than half an hour. There were no people in lightning lane since the park is closed and that’s why it went so fast.
Ok so that’s my experience with yesterday. I’m gonna type up a review of what I’ve learned like tricks, how it all affects standby, etc later
Ok so I once again bought genie+ and lightning lanes yesterday (Wednesday the 12th). Here’s my experience with that.
I was scanned into the park at 8:14 (at the front of the line to get in, the park officially opened at 9) and immediately bought genie+ and booked Soarin’ for 1-2 PM (time changed due to park hopping which was the plan), which meant I could book another LL at 10:14. I did this purposely so I could do short standby waits in the morning and LLs later in the day.
After rushing to the rope by Frontierland I saw LL for Rise was for 9:50-10:50 and I booked that. I also went ahead and bought WEB Slingers for 1-2 PM (again I got that time because of park hopping).
I was at the front of the mad rush to Rise and was 18th in line and 1st on the ride (I strategically placed myself close to the door on the space shuttle). After that I did standby for Thunder which was posted as 5 minutes but was almost 15. Still not too bad though. While in line my Rise LL converted to an all day pass because it was broken down so I was able to book another one for 12:50-1:50. I was planning on using the next part of the morning to do the rides I want to do that don’t have LL: Pirates, Jungle Cruise, and Peter Pan. However, all 3 of those were down after I got off Thunder. So I got in the posted 45 minute wait for Indy hoping it would be shorter and that by the time I was off Jungle Cruise or Pirates might be up. It only took about 10 minutes to get inside which was great with the only downside being that I was in the building with no service for the last portion of the wait during the time I could get a new LL so I had to wait until I got off the ride and out of the building to get another LL.
I got off Indy around 10:30 and booked a LL for Space for 11 and went and did Jungle Cruise, which was a little more than a 30 minute wait. Then I redeemed my LL at Space and I wanted to get an Indy LL. The next available time was 1:15, which I didn’t want because of my Soarin’ and WEB Slingers LLs at 1. But I refreshed several times and got one for 12:15. I ate lunch at Pizza Planet and then used my 12:20-1:20 Rise LL. Then I used my Indy LL and saw that Monsters was down so I booked that. I also saw that WEB Slingers was broken down so my pass had been converted to an all day pass. So I was able to book another one from 2:40-3:40.
When I got off Indy my Monsters pass had converted to a ME pass. I booked it again hoping for that to happen again but it came back up so I booked Matterhorn which was down. I was able to refresh and get one a half hour later. Around the time that LL was supposed to start it converted to a ME pass.
But this one was a little different because it was from Matterhorn which is apparently a top tier attraction. All the other ME passes I’ve gotten from rides going down have been valid on everything except Rise, Space, Matterhorn, Indy, Peter Pan, WEB Slingers, Racers, and Toy Story Mania. But since Matterhorn IS one of those rides the ME pass was good on any ride except Peter Pan, Rise, Racers, and WEB Slingers. But it was good on Space, Indy, and Matterhorn which is different than the others
After Matterhorn converted to a ME pass I booked it again and went to use my Soarin’ LL. I waited half an hour for that because a theater was down and LL was super backed up. Standby was 2 hours even though there weren’t that many people in the line
After I got off I saw that Matterhorn had come back up so I cancelled my LL and booked Grizzly since it was down. It wasn’t down long but I almost immediately got a ME pass from it. After that happened I booked an immediate Incredicoaster and used it. Then I got an immediate Goofy’s LL and used that. I then booked Guardians a half hour later. When I got off Goofy’s I went and did single rider at Grizzly and basically walked right on.
Then I went to use my 2:40-3:40 LL for WEB Slingers but as I was about to scan in they said the ride was down (again) but that my LL would be good all day. It didn’t convert to an all day pass and it disappeared from the app after it expired but I screenshotted it before it expired and when I used it later it worked. Anyway so at this point it was just about time to use my Guardians LL anyway so I did that. Then I booked a LL for Toy Story Mania an hour and a half later.
After doing Guardians I did it again with my pass from Grizzly going down. Then I did Incredicoaster standby to kill time before my Toy Story LL. Then I met up with someone I know and did Incredicoaster standby again (we just did that ride together since she didn’t buy genie+). Then it was time for my Toy Story LL.
There wasn’t really any good LL to book that I was interested in at this point because I still had a couple WEB Slingers LLs to use and I wanted to use my ME pass from Monsters going down on either Guardians or Incredicoaster. I booked Matterhorn just in case it went down again. After Toy Story I used my bonus LL from Monsters on Incredicoaster and then used both of my WEB Slingers LLs. When it got closer to the time I would be park hopping I cancelled Matterhorn and booked Thunder immediately. After park hopping I went straight to Thunder. Because my LL options were pretty limited at this point I refreshed and got Matterhorn in the next few minutes. Normally I haven’t been actually using LL for Matterhorn because the single rider line has gotten me on very quick. But the wait time was pretty high and I figured single rider was probably pretty busy.
But rather than going right to Matterhorn I used my all day pass on Rise to make sure I got that done. Then I very quickly did Falcon single rider and headed to Matterhorn and used my LL. Then I got an immediate LL for Star Tours and used it but it was useless because there was literally no line (this was about 8 PM).
I really wanted to use my ME pass from Matterhorn going down earlier to go on Space again. But Space had been down for hours and it was 8:15 and still not open. I figured it wouldn’t open by the time the park closed so I was just gonna use it on Thunder. I could’ve used it on Indy but I didn’t feel like waiting in that line again lol (cause you really don’t skip that much for Indy LL). But somehow even though I had used my bonus LL from Monsters going down on Incredicoaster earlier the LL was still showing on the app. I re-used it on Thunder and it let me go through and then disappeared from the app. Weird! But no complaints from me! While I was in line (this was around 8:30) Space suddenly came back up so I rushed over there after I got off Thunder and used my LL from Matterhorn going down on Space, which was awesome. I got off just in time to get back in line before the park closed and ride again. I don’t think Space is normally insanely busy at park closing but it was since it had been down for hours. The entire indoor queue was full but it moved super fast and I was on in less than half an hour. There were no people in lightning lane since the park is closed and that’s why it went so fast.
Ok so that’s my experience with yesterday. I’m gonna type up a review of what I’ve learned like tricks, how it all affects standby, etc later
rizzle64
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Sep 11, 2013
- Messages
- 100
Last one for this trip
Ok so I once again bought genie+ and lightning lanes yesterday (Wednesday the 12th). Here’s my experience with that.
You've got this down to a science!
Can I ask a couple of questions?
What's the different between and an all day pass and an ME?
When a ride is down, does Genie+ allow you to book an LL while it's down that then will immediately convert to an ME? Then once it does convert, are you able to make another LL booking immediately? So if there are frequent temporary closures, you could continue to do that? Or am I missing something with the way it works when it comes to ride closures?
And while my youngest is 9 and we'll be able to do quite a bit of walking, we won't be bouncing back and forth between lands strictly to get the most out of Genie+. What would your suggestions be for using Genie+ while using a more traditional land by land touring strategy?
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disneylover102
DIS Veteran
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- Dec 31, 2017
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A ME pass is my abbreviation for a multiple experience pass. These replace your LL when a ride included with genie+ goes down during your return time. They always include everything including rides that don’t have a dedicated LL entrance except Rise, Space, Matterhorn, Indy, Peter Pan, WEB Slingers, Racers, and Toy Story. However if the ride that goes down is Space, Matterhorn, Indy, or Toy Story the ME pass includes everything except Rise, Peter Pan, WEB Slingers, and Racers. These passes are valid for the rest of the day.
The all day pass I’ve been referring to is for individual lightning lane rides that are not included in genie+: Rise, WEB Slingers, and Racers. If you have a LL booked for one of those and the ride goes down during your return time your LL is converted to an all day pass valid only on that ride. So for example on this trip Rise went down on 3 separate occasions during my LL window and my LL converted to a pass valid all day only on Rise and not on any other ride whatsoever.
Whether you get a ME pass or an all day pass as I referred to them the system basically forgets you booked that ride in the first place and allows you to book it again. So for example if you book Grizzly and it goes down and converts to a ME pass you can book Grizzly again. And if you book Rise and it goes down and turns into an all day pass you can book Rise again.
When a ride goes down you can still book a LL at some point, although they push back the next available time. So for example normally Grizzly LLs are immediately but if it goes down the next LL might be in a half hour. But you can book the next available time and hope it stays down until then. The point at which it converts to a ME pass is different every time. Sometimes it converts 20 minutes before the LL window, sometimes it converts right before, sometimes it converts 30 minutes into the window, and occasionally it never converts. Once it does convert though it’s a completely bonus LL and you can immediately book another one. But if it hasn’t converted yet you have to wait until one of four things happen in order to book another LL: for the LL to convert to a ME pass, for the ride to come back up and you actually use the LL at that ride, for 2 hours to pass, or for the LL to expire. If a ride continues to be down you can continue to book for that ride as long as it keeps converting to a ME pass. I was never successful in doing it twice in a row for a ride just because it always came back up before that was possible. But if the temporary closure is really long you could certainly get multiple ME passes from that.
If you want to go land by land my suggestion would be to make sure you book the rides that are the biggest priority to you regardless of current ride breakdowns. So if you’re gonna be in Tomorrowland soon and you for sure want to do Space Mountain (and trust me you do NOT want to wait in that standby line because LL is way over prioritized there) then make sure to book Space Mountain. But if you see that a ride is broken down with a fairly soon return time and there’s a lot of things in the land you’re in without LL that you want to do go ahead and book the LL for the broken down ride and then you might be able to use that to your advantage later in the day. For example, say you’re in Fantasyland and want to do a lot of rides there but hardly anything over there even has LL and you see that Buzz is broken down. Go ahead and book a Buzz LL and do rides like Peter Pan, Snow White, etc and keep checking to see if your LL converts to a ME pass or if Buzz comes back up. If it converts to a ME pass during that time you haven’t wasted any time you could be using to use LLs but now you have a bonus LL that you could use on Millennium Falcon later when you’re in Galaxy’s Edge.
Also keep in mind that there are a good number of rides that typically have LLs available immediately. These are typically (from my experience) Star Tours, Buzz, Autopia, Small World, Roger Rabbit, Thunder (sometimes), Falcon, Splash (because it’s January but also it’s closed now), Grizzly, Monsters Inc, Incredicoaster, and Goofy’s Sky School. The others are usually about 30-60 minutes ahead (except Soarin’ is usually over 2 hours away and Toy Story is usually about 90 minutes away). If there’s plenty of ride breakdowns that you want to take advantage of, use the breaks in between LL conversions to ME passes to knock out the LLs that are immediate. For example say Matterhorn is down and you book a LL for it and it eventually converts to a ME pass. You want to book Matterhorn again but you’re in Tomorrowland and want to do Autopia, Star Tours, and Buzz. Before booking Matterhorn again quickly knock out those Tomorrowland rides and then book Matterhorn.
Also when you purposely book a LL for a ride that’s broken down keep checking as often as you can to see if the ride comes back up. Once it comes back up there is no longer hope for a ME pass for that specific situation.
Hopefully this helped answer your questions, is there anything else I can clarify?
Great info. We are going to be in Disneyland for two days and one day at DCA in early March. We don’t want to do park hoppers but will purchase Genie plus and Individual LL. Would you recommend heading straight to the Individual LL rides (Rise,Web,Rad) at rope drop with the hope that we could save the LL to ride them again later in the day?
disneylover102
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It all depends on if you can be some of the first on the ride for the day. Or in other words be one of the first at the rope for rope drop and then hurry to the ride when it opens. I did WEB Slingers first last Friday and was at the front of the rope and in the first room of the day and on really quick. When I got off the entire queue was full and I believe extended outside the queue. Same with Rise: I was in the first preshow room when I did it first Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, and when I got off the queue was full (although I don’t know that the extended queue by critter country was open) and the line was extending all the way through Galaxy’s Edge. You’re better off just waiting in the middle of the day than wasting all your precious morning time waiting. But if you can be at the front like I was or even fairly close to the front I would say that’s a great idea. I always had my LLs for those at least an hour or two after the park opened so I could use that time to take advantage of any short standby waits
That’s an excellent point. Quite frankly I don’t think we would want to sprint to be one of the very first. Which rides would you recommend we start with at both parks? It’s my wife, myself, and two sons ages 13 and 10. We haven’t been since 2016 and the youngest will be experiencing most of the thrill rides for his first time, so it’s not like they have any favorites. Lol
disneylover102
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You’re not allowed to sprint but some people do it anyway lol. It’s definitely tiring to do the fast walk so it’s completely understandable why you wouldn’t want to. I would say Space, Indy, and Guardians are probably some of the best to do first at rope drop if you’re there when the rope drops but don’t want to rush too fast
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