Our experience using Genie+ with Large Family Group

[raidermatt]

Follow up to my post above, I think the issue with why some of my "friends&family" arent showing on my account as it says they do not have eligible passes (which I know they do as I made them and am looking at them in their accounts currently-with permission of course), anyhow I think its because we booked this before covid so I think their ages are off in my account and perhaps this is the issue? Anyways, my question is-is this something that guest services will be able to help us sort out at check in before our first park day, or not because its more of a park thing?

Accounts for children can only be managed by the adult who created the account. It sounds like that may be your issue. I asked about this and per Disney there is no workaround. So the only alternative is for the adult to change the age of the child. As long as the child is not using a child's ticket this works (we did it). If they are using a child's ticket I am not sure if it would work.

 

[raidermatt]

Just returned, I managed the plans of 12. Since I took care of booking all ILLs, VQ's, LL's, ADR's, tee times, etc, it was not all that stressful for the other 11. For me, it was MUCH more difficult than the old system.

The primary advantage to FP+ (besides being free), was I could have 3 FP's setup for each park day before leaving home, and I could select the time slots I wanted for these three. With Genie+, it required being up between 7:00-7:30am each day to make an ILL (more $'s) and a LL. Last time I checked, 3 was more than 2. Math may have changed, but it hasn't changed that much. Take away the ability to set up in advance vs. morning of, AND to select your timeslots, and there is no way to pitch this as anything but a significant downgrade.

During the park day, the difference between the old and new is not as great. But still, when you booked your 4th FP+, you could select from available timeslots. With G+, you take what it gives you or you keep refreshing hoping for better. Hence the number of people walking around staring at their phones is greater than ever before. You can choose not to participate, but it doesn't change the behavior of the Genie Zombies around you.

We also ran into a hiccup related to the Swan. We had 3 groups making up the 12. One (us) was at the BWVs. The other two were at the Swan for part of the trip. Everything worked fine for one of the groups at the Swan. But with the 2nd group I could not book ILL's for them for the first 2 days (I could book regular LL's). Disney blamed the Swan, the Swan blamed Disney. After multiple conversations with both Disney Guest Relations and the Swan front desk, it was resolved. But again, it took 2 days and I still do not know exactly what the issue was, other than it was nothing we did. And despite me having screenshots of what I was doing at 7am, and that we had everything properly setup in the WDW app, Disney would not assist us on a day to day basis. Meaning, I showed how I booked ILL's for 8 of the 12, and that the other 4 were in our group and properly setup in the App but I could not book for them, and Disney's answer was too bad, can't help, talk to the Swan.

That said, when I booked a regular LL and it did not show in our app, I was able to go to the "Guest Experience Team" and they were able to add the LL for us. Of course, I had a screen shot of the booked LL to show them and I got the impression that if I did not have the screenshot I would have been out of luck. So be sure to take screenshots of everything you book.

 

[CJK]

Thanks for the report! You're a great person to be in charge of ALL the bookings!! I hope the others bought you a dole whip or something for all the trouble. Were you able to book LL AND ILL for all 12 people at the same time? I thought that you'd have to break up into 2 groups for ILL?

 

[petunia]

Accounts for children can only be managed by the adult who created the account. It sounds like that may be your issue. I asked about this and per Disney there is no workaround. So the only alternative is for the adult to change the age of the child. As long as the child is not using a child's ticket this works (we did it). If they are using a child's ticket I am not sure if it would work.

That sounds like our issue! So will I not be able to book for 12 of us at any point? I have booked everything and am the wdw vet so they are relying on me, and we were happy to hear I could book some G+ for all 12 of us (14 of us but 12 minus one babe and whatever adult that stays off). And yes, some in our party have kids tickets Will a CM not be able to help us even if the primary person on their accounts agree to allow me to book G+ for them? How are people doing the booking G+ for 12 then, is it only if its 12 people on the same hotel ressie?

 

[Fabfive5]

I am so invested in this thread!! We have a party of 12 (2 families with different accounts) traveling in late Jan. Thanks for all the updates and experiences.

 

[Lumpy1106]

3 pages in and am I really the first to suggest that you break up into smaller groups? Anything multiple family, group more than 4 I would find unwieldy.

 

[petunia]

Just returned, I managed the plans of 12. Since I took care of booking all ILLs, VQ's, LL's, ADR's, tee times, etc, it was not all that stressful for the other 11. For me, it was MUCH more difficult than the old system.

The primary advantage to FP+ (besides being free), was I could have 3 FP's setup for each park day before leaving home, and I could select the time slots I wanted for these three. With Genie+, it required being up between 7:00-7:30am each day to make an ILL (more $'s) and a LL. Last time I checked, 3 was more than 2. Math may have changed, but it hasn't changed that much. Take away the ability to set up in advance vs. morning of, AND to select your timeslots, and there is no way to pitch this as anything but a significant downgrade.

During the park day, the difference between the old and new is not as great. But still, when you booked your 4th FP+, you could select from available timeslots. With G+, you take what it gives you or you keep refreshing hoping for better. Hence the number of people walking around staring at their phones is greater than ever before. You can choose not to participate, but it doesn't change the behavior of the Genie Zombies around you.

We also ran into a hiccup related to the Swan. We had 3 groups making up the 12. One (us) was at the BWVs. The other two were at the Swan for part of the trip. Everything worked fine for one of the groups at the Swan. But with the 2nd group I could not book ILL's for them for the first 2 days (I could book regular LL's). Disney blamed the Swan, the Swan blamed Disney. After multiple conversations with both Disney Guest Relations and the Swan front desk, it was resolved. But again, it took 2 days and I still do not know exactly what the issue was, other than it was nothing we did. And despite me having screenshots of what I was doing at 7am, and that we had everything properly setup in the WDW app, Disney would not assist us on a day to day basis. Meaning, I showed how I booked ILL's for 8 of the 12, and that the other 4 were in our group and properly setup in the App but I could not book for them, and Disney's answer was too bad, can't help, talk to the Swan.

That said, when I booked a regular LL and it did not show in our app, I was able to go to the "Guest Experience Team" and they were able to add the LL for us. Of course, I had a screen shot of the booked LL to show them and I got the impression that if I did not have the screenshot I would have been out of luck. So be sure to take screenshots of everything you book.

Aside from the one group first few days, were you generally able to book G+ for your whole group of 12 including kids?

 

[petunia]

3 pages in and am I really the first to suggest that you break up into smaller groups? Anything multiple family, group more than 4 I would find unwieldy.

I am aware we can break them up, was hoping to book for all 12 instead of having to refresh a bunch of times and hope that our 3 parties have the same G+ return times..unless Im misunderstanding I think that is the benefit..for me anyhow

 

[raidermatt]

Thanks for the report! You're a great person to be in charge of ALL the bookings!! I hope the others bought you a dole whip or something for all the trouble. Were you able to book LL AND ILL for all 12 people at the same time? I thought that you'd have to break up into 2 groups for ILL?

Thanks, they treat me well, I can't complain. I was able to book all 12 for both. Based on what I read that does seem to be inconsistent for some, not sure if Disney is changing it intentionally or if it is another example of "hiccups". It's also possible the issues for some are due to other causes. Such as our issue with the Swan.

 

[raidermatt]

That sounds like our issue! So will I not be able to book for 12 of us at any point? I have booked everything and am the wdw vet so they are relying on me, and we were happy to hear I could book some G+ for all 12 of us (14 of us but 12 minus one babe and whatever adult that stays off). And yes, some in our party have kids tickets Will a CM not be able to help us even if the primary person on their accounts agree to allow me to book G+ for them? How are people doing the booking G+ for 12 then, is it only if its 12 people on the same hotel ressie?

You can always ask. But my understanding is the adult who created the child account does not have the option to release management to another person. So that would mean you would have no choice but to split the planning into two groups. You can still do everything yourself, but you would need to be able to login to the account of the managing adult to book for the second group. Use two phones if possible, one logged into each account and book at the same time to try to get overlapping LL's and ILL's.

The hotel reservations SHOULD not matter, especially if they are all Disney resorts. From what I could gather from our various conversations with Disney and the Swan, the Swan/Dolphin are not directly tied into Disney's system and vice versa. So there is a lot of manual requests that go back and forth. Just make sure everyone has their hotel reservation and tickets linked to their account.

 

[raidermatt]

3 pages in and am I really the first to suggest that you break up into smaller groups? Anything multiple family, group more than 4 I would find unwieldy.

This depends on whether you want to do everything together or if the people will actually be splitting up in the parks. Obviously if you are splitting up then splitting the booking responsibility makes sense. But if you want to do things together, it is much easier to book as one unit so you do not have to worry about making sure your bookings overlap timewise.

 

[raidermatt]

Aside from the one group first few days, were you generally able to book G+ for your whole group of 12 including kids?

Yes, G+ LL's worked fine for all 12 the entire time, but only because prior to arrival my BIL changed the ages of his kids to make them adults. It was the paid ILL's that gave us trouble at first.

 

[Lumpy1106]

I am aware we can break them up, was hoping to book for all 12 instead of having to refresh a bunch of times and hope that our 3 parties have the same G+ return times..unless Im misunderstanding I think that is the benefit..for me anyhow

I just don't know how you keep everyone on the same page. Even my family of 5 will split up once in a while during the day. Plus, for the early LLs, sure, you can get a them for a large group. As the day goes on though you are only going to "luck in" to reservations that others have cancelled - small groups, 4 or less, maybe only 1s and 2s.

I would think you'd have an easier (more enjoyable) time if you broke your group into 4s (+/-) and then have a "handler" for each group. Text with the handlers what you are trying for next then see how it goes. Could be a group wants to do something else entirely different, so make plans for meals and snack breaks etc. that the larger group commits to.

Meh - just my $0.02, take it for what it's worth. Largest Disney group I've ever done was 12, and that was 3 families and we just loosely made plans for the larger group - each family was on their own otherwise. It worked out well. We were even able to get G+ BTMRR for the (teenage) kids while the adults hung out. I've done larger groups for ski trips - it really hits the point of herding cats and you just have to laugh when it goes sideways.

 

[raidermatt]

I just don't know how you keep everyone on the same page. Even my family of 5 will split up once in a while during the day. Plus, for the early LLs, sure, you can get a them for a large group. As the day goes on though you are only going to "luck in" to reservations that others have cancelled - small groups, 4 or less, maybe only 1s and 2s.

I would think you'd have an easier (more enjoyable) time if you broke your group into 4s (+/-) and then have a "handler" for each group. Text with the handlers what you are trying for next then see how it goes. Could be a group wants to do something else entirely different, so make plans for meals and snack breaks etc. that the larger group commits to.

Meh - just my $0.02, take it for what it's worth. Largest Disney group I've ever done was 12, and that was 3 families and we just loosely made plans for the larger group - each family was on their own otherwise. It worked out well. We were even able to get G+ BTMRR for the (teenage) kids while the adults hung out. I've done larger groups for ski trips - it really hits the point of herding cats and you just have to laugh when it goes sideways.

This is entirely a case by case thing. I understand many larger groups split up. But many do not, and as long as everyone is in fact on the same page and wants to remain with the group (as is the case with our group), it is not that difficult at all,

Also, LL availability is purely reservation based, and does not factor in the number of people in your group (this is different than how FP+ worked). Meaning it will show the same availability to a party of 1 as it does to a party of 12. So you will not be at a disadvantage when trying to book for larger groups.

 

[Lumpy1106]

This is entirely a case by case thing. I understand many larger groups split up. But many do not, and as long as everyone is in fact on the same page and wants to remain with the group (as is the case with our group), it is not that difficult at all,

Also, LL availability is purely reservation based, and does not factor in the number of people in your group (this is different than how FP+ worked). Meaning it will show the same availability to a party of 1 as it does to a party of 12. So you will not be at a disadvantage when trying to book for larger groups.

That's true until they run out, then you are only going to get reservations that other people have given up. Those go back into the system and are snatched up by those lucky enough to be looking when they hit the system. That's going to be smaller groups though. This is all well documented by Molly et. al. on YouTube. When you see a single person saying they got 8-10 G+ reservations in a day, that's how they did it.

 

[raidermatt]

That's true until they run out, then you are only going to get reservations that other people have given up. Those go back into the system and are snatched up by those lucky enough to be looking when they hit the system. That's going to be smaller groups though. This is all well documented by Molly et. al. on YouTube. When you see a single person saying they got 8-10 G+ reservations in a day, that's how they did it.

As she also says, the size of the party does not matter. This is because when the reservation is released, it is not released for a specific number of people.

 

[petunia]

Yes, G+ LL's worked fine for all 12 the entire time, but only because prior to arrival my BIL changed the ages of his kids to make them adults. It was the paid ILL's that gave us trouble at first.

Wondering if changing the kids ages will be an issue, wont they expect adult ticket fee then? Ugh just when I thought I could book all 12 myself

 

[triciambe]

That sounds like our issue! So will I not be able to book for 12 of us at any point? I have booked everything and am the wdw vet so they are relying on me, and we were happy to hear I could book some G+ for all 12 of us (14 of us but 12 minus one babe and whatever adult that stays off). And yes, some in our party have kids tickets Will a CM not be able to help us even if the primary person on their accounts agree to allow me to book G+ for them? How are people doing the booking G+ for 12 then, is it only if its 12 people on the same hotel ressie?

We are going tomorrow with a group of 12, made up of 3 different families, and I'm in charge. Three of the children in our big group have accounts managed by another adult BUT those children appear in my Friends and Family list (as well as under the list, "My Planning Party: Reservations Shared with My Family & Friends" when I log in on a web browser). So far, I have been able to book ADRs and park reservations for those children, even though I do not manage their accounts. I'm hoping/assuming this would also be the case when I try to reserve LLs tomorrow morning. None of us are staying onsite, btw.

 

[triciambe]

This is entirely a case by case thing. I understand many larger groups split up. But many do not, and as long as everyone is in fact on the same page and wants to remain with the group (as is the case with our group), it is not that difficult at all,

Also, LL availability is purely reservation based, and does not factor in the number of people in your group (this is different than how FP+ worked). Meaning it will show the same availability to a party of 1 as it does to a party of 12. So you will not be at a disadvantage when trying to book for larger groups.

This is us. Large group of 12 and I'm the planner. We've talked a lot about everyone's priorities for rides and other attractions, and I've created a loose touring plan, including ADRs, based on this. There will be a couple times when the family with the youngest kids may ride nearby kiddie attractions when the older group is doing something more thrilling (ex. younger groups rides stuff like Astro Orbiter or Buzz Lightyear while the older kids are on Space Mountain). But otherwise, we're mostly touring together - a lot of the fun for our group is being together!

 

[raidermatt]

Wondering if changing the kids ages will be an issue, wont they expect adult ticket fee then? Ugh just when I thought I could book all 12 myself

I'm not sure if this would be an issue. In our case the kids were older and had adult tickets. My *GUESS* would be if the app allows it, it would be fine.