Maximizing Genie+ during the busiest days?

[NorthernCalMom]

Any suggestions for the best LL booking order for a busy summer day (next Tuesday), for a group of six, two of whom haven't been to Dland before, so we want to make sure that they experience the whole thing, not just the premium rides? Things like Autopia, Buzz, etc are such a big part of the atmosphere of a Dland day to me. When I logged times last week, I didn't see any immediate return times after 11am (and I figure that we will try to ride standby until the lines grow longish). What would be the right mix /balance between later and faster returns to get to do as much as possible and to not risk running out of day and to feel we got our Genie+ money's worth (if one of you felt you got a really good order on a recent trip and wrote a trip report about it, could you link me to that)? I'm sitting here crunching numbers, and my head is hurting.

 

[theluckyrabbit]

This thread from the stickies might have good, recent tips: Disney Genie Is Now Live Post Your Hints and Tips

 

[NorthernCalMom]

This thread from the stickies might have good, recent tips: Disney Genie Is Now Live Post Your Hints and Tips

I’m currently reading through it, but my problem with it is that (A) most of the experiences people describe seem to not apply to the return times I saw when I used the app and its planning features to log wait times last week and (B) most people’s genie+ strategies are about maximizing “e-ticket” rides rather than trying to ride as much as possible at least once.

Unfortunately I didn’t realize until last week that, due to having the reservations and already having all our tickets linked in the app, I could see the return times. I wish I had more data; it would really help with my planning.

I’m worried I’ll spend all this extra money and then do a bad job organizing our LL strategy. I guess I just have to figure out how to relax, go at it with tempered expectations, and hope that the actual trip will bring some pleasant surprises? I wish I could just stop angsting about it and get ready to go with the flow.

The good thing is that we have a second day (without genie+ and without my sweetie, who will be at a conference then) to try to maximize our international visitors’ experience.


I guess part of my frustration is that I used to be such a pro in planning with Maxpass and traditional paper FPs in “the before times,” and now everything seems so much harder and so much more complicated (it could be that I simply suck at handling change…)

 

[Cal-Pie]

This blog might help https://disneylanddaily.com/how-to-start-your-day-at-the-disneyland-resort/

 

[sophy1996]

While you're doing standby first thing, try to "fish" for multi-experience passes. There's a thread here on how to do that. If you can get one or two of those, you can use them later in the day, fitting them around your scheduled LLs. Also, MEPs can get you on rides that don't normally take LLs. Plus sometimes the CMs at non-LL rides can't scan them and let you ride anyway, or the MEPs don't disappear after first use. I think I did 6 Fantasyland rides with 2 or 3 MEPs one night.

 

[Pluto468]

We rope dropped on 3 of our days. I would take a look at LL return times and sometimes I booked things right away but sometimes I didn't even need them early. Rope drop at DCA we didn't even need LL because everything was walk on. I booked RSR ILL because we did Avenger's Campus first and I didn't want to have a late afternoon LL for RSR. I booked it as soon as we got into the park and it was for a 10:30 return time.

At Disneyland I booked ILL Rise right away but most of the other LL rides were walk ons or short waits so I didn't book them until later in the day, if we wanted to ride twice.

I did book Indy first thing purely to try for MEPs and it worked. We also got some MEPs by accident when Haunted Mansion went down. Over the course of the week we got 6 MEPs for various rides being down, and for each MEP we could ride 2 rides, which was awesome. Except when we used one for Pirates, that MEP we could only use once.

 

[V.I.N.CENT.]

I've been researching as well. I think the best strategy on a busy day is the 10, 12, 2, 4, 6, 8 method. Reserve the furthest out LL at 10am (probably Space), then at 12 the next furthest out, at 2 and so on. That way you get the LL for the most popular ride that will run out and other passes every two hours for a total of six passes. In between ride the "shorter" lines and/or sneak in a quicker pass.

 

[pdx]

If you want more data, take a look at
thrill-data.com

It’s not the most intuitive site, but once you figure out how to get to the pages for Disneyland and California Adventure, you will find exactly what you’re looking for. In particular, you can choose any date in the past at the top of the page, and then scroll down to the “Lightning Lane Availability Graph.” You can scan your cursor along the bar graph for each ride, and it tells you what the return time was for that ride at any time of day. For instance, I put in yesterday’s date, and the graph says that at 12:40pm, splash mountain’s return time was 4:55pm. The graph is color coded too, so you can easily see which rides sold out fastest.