The Genie Usage, Tips and Strategy ONLY Thread

[glocon]

Wow! I just now looked and there was a 7:50pm available for Rise! Who would have thought? Probably gone as I typed these words, but still… don’t give up hope! Keep checking!

 

[GBRforWDW]

Wow! I just now looked and there was a 7:50pm available for Rise! Who would have thought? Probably gone as I typed these words, but still… don’t give up hope! Keep checking!

Yep, they were available until just after 9am, so might have had 1 fall back into availability after the 10 minute window.

 

[DisneyKidds]

Question for those who have park hopped using G+. Is having a hopper ticket sufficient for G+ to offer you reservation times after 2pm in a different park…….or do you have to fill out the Genie itinerary indicating which park you intend to hop to in order for reservations in that park to show up?

 

[AndreaA]

on a morning MK day where I didn't rope
Drop but was in the park early I did:

mat 7am I purchased LL for SDMT for 1130am
i booked big thunder for 930
After tapping into big thunder I got mansion.
Stand by pirates
Rode mansion and then booked buzz

I could have kept going like that all day. The two hour rule only applies if your selection is more than 2 hours away.

I was able to rope drop and use LL in the morning and take an afternoon break and have some booked in almost every park I went to.

after using this system I believe it can be used with any type of touring plan..

First, note that you had to BUY access to SDMT. Doesn’t that give you pause at all? Something that was previously free, you now have to pay to get. Second, you lucked out in getting the attractions you mention in the order you wanted them. Some of us don’t want to rely on luck when we are paying thousands of dollars. Going to DisneyWorld shouldn’t be like visiting a LasVegas casino…

 

[Einstein509]

What do you mean easier to get single rider times? Genie+ Doesn't give different return times based on the number of people in your group.... the times I saw at 9am we're the times anyone looking saw.

I also feel it necessary to tell you that while I was solo this trip- I am usually a family of 4. I can tell you that genie+ is going to work however you want it to work for your family.

rope droppers and all day park goers will book as they go, sometimes able to book after tapping in and sometimes having to wait 2 hours.

late arrivals can watch for times to get later and start booking for their late arrival. if the times aren't pushed out then you will be able to book as you go once in the park.

rope droppers with a midday break and coming back can book as they go in the morning, and during their break watch the times to book some for later or they may start stacking before they leave for their break.

park hoppers may decide to forgo selections in their first park- use low morning waits- and start to book for their hopping park for the evening.

folks with delux after hours may forgo it all together- saving the big rides for lower waits at night. (I did this with the Christmas after hours)

The do it all family will use $LL, rope drops and genie+ to do everything, maybe multiple times, in a single trip.

hate it, love it, meh about it... it's what we got.. And there is a way to use it for whatever your touring plan style is.

On your first statement in bold, how do you know that? Did you look at other people's phones to ascertain that what a family of 5 was showing is what you were showing as a solo user?

I find that hard to believe since the number of people likely impacts the time slot. Kind of like ADRs. If you change the number of people when looking for an ADR, different time slots pop up or even different restaurants.

In the old FP+ system, I would sometimes be able to get a single ride return time, but couldn't for the entire family. The new system likely works the same way. So I stand by my statement that it's likely easier as a solo than as a group.

 

[katyringo]

First, note that you had to BUY access to SDMT. Doesn’t that give you pause at all? Something that was previously free, you now have to pay to get. Second, you lucked out in getting the attractions you mention in the order you wanted them. Some of us don’t want to rely on luck when we are paying thousands of dollars. Going to DisneyWorld shouldn’t be like visiting a LasVegas casino…

Luck? Or did I know what order to go in based on reading strategy? Do I like paying for rides? No. There is a free option called standby. I did both for this ride because it's my favorite.

 

[katyringo]

On your first statement in bold, how do you know that? Did you look at other people's phones to ascertain that what a family of 5 was showing is what you were showing as a solo user?

I find that hard to believe since the number of people likely impacts the time slot. Kind of like ADRs. If you change the number of people when looking for an ADR, different time slots pop up or even different restaurants.

In the old FP+ system, I would sometimes be able to get a single ride return time, but couldn't for the entire family. The new system likely works the same way. So I stand by my statement that it's likely easier as a solo than as a group.

True. I might be wrong on this one.

 

[katyringo]

I think im going to turn notifications off on this thread. You can read back on my trip and see how genie+ and $LL worked for me. I like the system. I'll never love it due to the $LL but I like it. Prior to my trip I read everything I could about it and had a plan in each park. Yes I was a single rider. So I had access to single rider lines which I used for test track, Everest and smugglers. The longes line I waited in during my 5 day stay was for Gideon's coffee and I rode everything. I don't like being told that was all luck.. I read a million posts on here and blogs to plan for my trip and make decisions on what I learned. I used this system
For all types of days. I had a day I arrived late, I did rope drops and mid day breaks. Anyway- our next family trip is Disneyland in October and we will use it there if it is launched by then.

 

[CrimsonTideFan94]

Question for those who have park hopped using G+. Is having a hopper ticket sufficient for G+ to offer you reservation times after 2pm in a different park…….or do you have to fill out the Genie itinerary indicating which park you intend to hop to in order for reservations in that park to show up?

They will show up without planning an itinerary - you just have to change which park you’re looking at in the tip board.

 

[leeniewdw]

Hi, just home for our quick 48 hours in the parks. Had G+ both days and bought 2 ILL$ each day. We are bringing 4 other adults (our kids and SOs) in Feb, so decided to use our 2 person trip to test as much as we could.

On our arrival day (Fri 12/3) we were planning an afternoon/early evening at DHS and then attending the MK AHs event. I was literally in line at the airport (flew SW so had to line up) at 7am (we had printed boarding passes in case we were scanning in at 7!). Anyway, this is what we were able to get before entering the parks around 2:45pm:

7am: purchased RotR and selected a 3pm return time
7am: selected MFSR for similar return time
7am: purchased MMRR and selected a 5ish return time
**breathed a sigh of relief, high fived my DH and the lady behind us in the boarding line laughed**
11am: selected ToT for 5ish return
1pm: grabbed TSM because the RnRC times were too late for our plans (to head to MK)
2:45ish: arrived in DHS with 5 LLs to use!
3pm: we were in line for MFSR at this point and still couldn't get a good return time for RnRC so just rode the ride and then was able to snag one as we exited for 6:45pm.

My DH thought I was a genius! The only thing was a little backtracking due to going ToT, TSM, and back to RnRC, but that's minor. SDD was the only headliner we didn't hit. We probably could have done it SB (we had 1 break where we sat down and had a beer, probably could have stood in line while enjoying it. We left DHS between 7-8pm having ridden 7 rides (we did ST on SB) in 4.5 hours with 2 beer breaks.

Sat 12/4:

Since we'd done the MK AHs, we opted to skip early entry. We were hopping to EP on this day.

7am: purchased FOP for 10am
7am: selected Safari for 10:20am (I think this was the first time the return time jumped for me, from 9:45 to 10:20am after I selected).
7am: purchased Remy for a return time of 5:10pm
(we ended up heading to AK earlier than we expected and were able to walk on Everest twice around 9am)
10am: was eligible to make another selection (since we started in AK that opened at 8am), grabbed TT for 4pm ish.

This is where I may have forgotten that if you are hopping, G+ will automatically offer your later times once you click a ride. It was showing me next available which was pre-2pm (and we didn't plan on being in EP until 4pm) so I'm not sure if I may have been able to get more appropriate times if I'd tried. Anyway, due to Epcot's return times, I kept having to refresh to get times that worked with our plans, sometimes it took 20-30 mins. I wasn't doing it constantly because my issue was not availability, just times.

In the end I ended up with these 4 rides on arrival around 4pm grabbing more than 2 hours apart due to return time wonkiness:

Soarin'
TT
Mission Space
Remy

We ended up losing our Space LL because we got behind due to repeated stoppages on the Skyliner and the LONGEST wait of our entire trip in the TT LL. I forgot to cancel the Space LL before it expired. I'm sure I would have been able to rebook at a new time, but it didn't matter we literally walked straight onto the ride w/o seeing another guest in the Orange queue or waiting to board. The CM joked with us that when he sees only 2 people, they are usually celebrities so he's keep it on the down low that we were there, lol.


My takeways/lesson learned:

• Don't forget to click on a ride if you are hopping because it will automatically show you later slots. The main page won't advance the time until you click!
• You might not need G+ in AK or EP but if you are spoiled, you kind of want it anyway. We still saved time at Soarin' and TT around 4-5pm timeframe. We used it for exactly 1 ride in AK (Safari) and that SB line was LONG and getting longer.
• MMRR is NOT worth whatever they are charging for it.
• I had a note with booking times and ride target which made it easy, but I had to set phone alarms to remind me when to book. No way would it work otherwise.
• Once we had our LLs set up, I would refer to my phone and say "we have to ride X and Y by time Z" and then I'd put my phone away for awhile. I couldn't commit times to memory for more than 2 rides at a time!

Sorry this was so long!

 

[buzz1fan]

If you have a dining reservation at 530, earlier in the day when scheduling genie will it. It bring up times during your dining time? If it doesn’t give you options what do you do?

 

[holyrita]

On your first statement in bold, how do you know that? Did you look at other people's phones to ascertain that what a family of 5 was showing is what you were showing as a solo user?

I find that hard to believe since the number of people likely impacts the time slot. Kind of like ADRs. If you change the number of people when looking for an ADR, different time slots pop up or even different restaurants.

In the old FP+ system, I would sometimes be able to get a single ride return time, but couldn't for the entire family. The new system likely works the same way. So I stand by my statement that it's likely easier as a solo than as a group.

@katyringo was right, the number of people does not impact the time slot. This was covered in an AllEars video from the Genie+ media event. They asked this exact question during the Q&A and it was answered by the team that developed Genie+. Back in the day when you walked up to a FastPass distribution kiosk, it would say the time it was currently distributing and it didn't matter how many tickets you scanned, you were given the next available time.

If you think back to how FastPass+ used to work this makes total sense. Before seeing FastPass+ availability, you selected your party and then browsed times. Now with Genie+, you see all next available times and then select your party. (Granted sometimes your confirmed booking time is later than the time you selected, but that's more due to the app and latency than anything to do with the size of your party)

 

[wilkydelts]

Hi, just home for our quick 48 hours in the parks. Had G+ both days and bought 2 ILL$ each day. We are bringing 4 other adults (our kids and SOs) in Feb, so decided to use our 2 person trip to test as much as we could.

On our arrival day (Fri 12/3) we were planning an afternoon/early evening at DHS and then attending the MK AHs event. I was literally in line at the airport (flew SW so had to line up) at 7am (we had printed boarding passes in case we were scanning in at 7!). Anyway, this is what we were able to get before entering the parks around 2:45pm:

7am: purchased RotR and selected a 3pm return time
7am: selected MFSR for similar return time
7am: purchased MMRR and selected a 5ish return time
**breathed a sigh of relief, high fived my DH and the lady behind us in the boarding line laughed**
11am: selected ToT for 5ish return
1pm: grabbed TSM because the RnRC times were too late for our plans (to head to MK)
2:45ish: arrived in DHS with 5 LLs to use!
3pm: we were in line for MFSR at this point and still couldn't get a good return time for RnRC so just rode the ride and then was able to snag one as we exited for 6:45pm.

My DH thought I was a genius! The only thing was a little backtracking due to going ToT, TSM, and back to RnRC, but that's minor. SDD was the only headliner we didn't hit. We probably could have done it SB (we had 1 break where we sat down and had a beer, probably could have stood in line while enjoying it. We left DHS between 7-8pm having ridden 7 rides (we did ST on SB) in 4.5 hours with 2 beer breaks.

Sat 12/4:

Since we'd done the MK AHs, we opted to skip early entry. We were hopping to EP on this day.

7am: purchased FOP for 10am
7am: selected Safari for 10:20am (I think this was the first time the return time jumped for me, from 9:45 to 10:20am after I selected).
7am: purchased Remy for a return time of 5:10pm
(we ended up heading to AK earlier than we expected and were able to walk on Everest twice around 9am)
10am: was eligible to make another selection (since we started in AK that opened at 8am), grabbed TT for 4pm ish.

This is where I may have forgotten that if you are hopping, G+ will automatically offer your later times once you click a ride. It was showing me next available which was pre-2pm (and we didn't plan on being in EP until 4pm) so I'm not sure if I may have been able to get more appropriate times if I'd tried. Anyway, due to Epcot's return times, I kept having to refresh to get times that worked with our plans, sometimes it took 20-30 mins. I wasn't doing it constantly because my issue was not availability, just times.

In the end I ended up with these 4 rides on arrival around 4pm grabbing more than 2 hours apart due to return time wonkiness:

Soarin'
TT
Mission Space
Remy

We ended up losing our Space LL because we got behind due to repeated stoppages on the Skyliner and the LONGEST wait of our entire trip in the TT LL. I forgot to cancel the Space LL before it expired. I'm sure I would have been able to rebook at a new time, but it didn't matter we literally walked straight onto the ride w/o seeing another guest in the Orange queue or waiting to board. The CM joked with us that when he sees only 2 people, they are usually celebrities so he's keep it on the down low that we were there, lol.


My takeways/lesson learned:

• Don't forget to click on a ride if you are hopping because it will automatically show you later slots. The main page won't advance the time until you click!
• You might not need G+ in AK or EP but if you are spoiled, you kind of want it anyway. We still saved time at Soarin' and TT around 4-5pm timeframe. We used it for exactly 1 ride in AK (Safari) and that SB line was LONG and getting longer.
• MMRR is NOT worth whatever they are charging for it.
• I had a note with booking times and ride target which made it easy, but I had to set phone alarms to remind me when to book. No way would it work otherwise.
• Once we had our LLs set up, I would refer to my phone and say "we have to ride X and Y by time Z" and then I'd put my phone away for awhile. I couldn't commit times to memory for more than 2 rides at a time!

Sorry this was so long!

I am very confused and maybe I missed a change recently. How did this poster get to choose ideal Genie + return times for rides? I thought you could not choose your time. I thought what was offered is what you can choose or hope to have the luck with refreshing times until you see what you want. Can this poster or someone clarify?

 

[katyringo]

I am very confused and maybe I missed a change recently. How did this poster get to choose ideal Genie + return times for rides? I thought you could not choose your time. I thought what was offered is what you can choose or hope to have the luck with refreshing times until you see what you want. Can this poster or someone clarify?

the one they selected the times for would be the individual lightning lane rides that code extra. For those you can choose the times and don't have to purchase genie+ To book.

 

[Loopster]

@katyringo was right, the number of people does not impact the time slot. This was covered in an AllEars video from the Genie+ media event. They asked this exact question during the Q&A and it was answered by the team that developed Genie+. Back in the day when you walked up to a FastPass distribution kiosk, it would say the time it was currently distributing and it didn't matter how many tickets you scanned, you were given the next available time.

If you think back to how FastPass+ used to work this makes total sense. Before seeing FastPass+ availability, you selected your party and then browsed times. Now with Genie+, you see all next available times and then select your party. (Granted sometimes your confirmed booking time is later than the time you selected, but that's more due to the app and latency than anything to do with the size of your party)

While this is true, what about all the times someone refreshes for a potential better time? Wouldn’t the availability for those be based on how many people canceled a G+ for a particular time? For example, if one person canceled their 1:15 PM RnR G+, a family of four wouldn’t see that because there was just one available at that time (when let’s say its currently booking out at 3:00 PM…which is what would show up for the family of four), but someone looking for just one person would see the 1:15 available time. Even if a party of three canceled an earlier time slot a family of four still wouldn’t see that, but parties of 1, 2, and 3 would.

 

[MagicMoon]

Who are these people cancelling? I bet the amount is low. I know we were not willing to lose our “for sure” rides…

And then, when could you book again? What if it was a pick from earlier and you made another since then? Would you cancel only to have to wait another two hours to book again?

 

[cjlong88]

Who are these people cancelling? I bet the amount is low. I know we were not willing to lose our “for sure” rides…

People cancelled their FP’s all the time, so it makes sense that there will be people who cancel their LL’s. There are tens of thousands of people visiting WDW all the time, even if just a small percent of guests cancel, that’s a lot of LL’s being filtered back into the system at a given time.

We cancelled one after we realized we didn’t want to be in the park at that specific time. Kids realize they really don’t want to ride that attraction. Someone in your party doesn’t feel well. An ADR goes long. I’m sure there are more reasons as to why. We aren’t casual guests so we might not cancel our rides at all because we know better and/or can adapt better. Someone who doesn’t visit the boards or go to WDW often might not realize that the LL they have won’t be available later in the day if they cancel and wait too long to book.

 

[MagicMoon]

People cancelled their FP’s all the time, so it makes sense that there will be people who cancel their LL’s.

Yes, but this isn’t fast past.

I’m sure you are right, there are some who may cancel and will.

From my experience thanksgiving week, I only saw one or two attractions pop up that were previously already distributed. And that was over several days and after many refreshes (my poor family, my face was glued to my phone all week).

 

[melking23]

I would expect that higher crowd days would have less cancelled G+ attractions. With lower crowds someone could see an earlier available time at another attraction near their current location and cancel their later scheduled attraction instead of waiting to tap in or the 2 hours cool down to pass.

 

[leeniewdw]

I am very confused and maybe I missed a change recently. How did this poster get to choose ideal Genie + return times for rides? I thought you could not choose your time. I thought what was offered is what you can choose or hope to have the luck with refreshing times until you see what you want. Can this poster or someone clarify?

the one they selected the times for would be the individual lightning lane rides that code extra. For those you can choose the times and don't have to purchase genie+ To book.

Yes, I might not have worded this correctly. At 7am, I selected my times for the paid ILL (RotR, MMRR, FOP, Remy). When I was looking for my first G+ ride, I had to refresh a few times so the return times worked for our plans. It didn't take long for MFSR at 7am, but I made sure the return time worked for us before booking it.

At 1pm on our arrival day, I would have preferred to pick RnRC, but that return time was pretty late, so I selected TSM which WAS offering the timeslot that worked for us. It took me awhile to find a decent RnRC return time, but I waited to book until a timeslot showed up that did.

From my experience thanksgiving week, I only saw one or two attractions pop up that were previously already distributed. And that was over several days and after many refreshes (my poor family, my face was glued to my phone all week).

I can imagine how frustrating that was! I had really nothing to complain about, but for the times I did have to keep refreshing it was annoying. However, my goal was getting a perfect time, not just any slot. If that was my goal, I could have selected a lot faster. I think RnRC was the only one I targeted that showed Sold Out but would pop a time slot occasionally. All the other refreshing was just being picky about times.

I would expect that higher crowd days would have less cancelled G+ attractions. With lower crowds someone could see an earlier available time at another attraction near their current location and cancel their later scheduled attraction instead of waiting to tap in or the 2 hours cool down to pass.

Yes, I'm sure that was the biggest difference. Currently we plan to return the few days before Pres day (gone on the Sunday) and I expect my experience will be quite different.