The Genie Usage, Tips and Strategy ONLY Thread

[princesswahooey]

Yes, I book the rides in order of popularity, so for HS it would be SDD, then MFSR, then ToT / RnRC (whichever is showing later return times), etc. I have rough time frames for each attraction I would prefer so I don't zig-zag across the park, but if there were slim pickings I would just grab what I could. The last time we did this we had SDD, MSFR, ToT, RnRC and TSM all lined up by the time we walked into HS around 5pm. And we purchased RotR and MMRR so we had 7 LL's ready to go. It was awesome going from ride to ride. Granted, this I think is more the exception rather than the norm, but I've been able to do it once in November and once in December. We will see if I can replicate it January!

Okay, so another crazy thing we did is start our day at AK (typically it opens the earliest), book the earliest LL I could find (say 8am for Dinosaur). Immediately tap in at 8am, consequently making myself eligible book MFSR (and there was already later availability). Now my 2-hour window begins at 8am instead of 9am (HS open time) and I can now start stacking at 10am, 12pm, 2pm, and 4pm. With this strategy I was forced to forego SDD as our first pick at 7am, BUT I would remedy this by just getting in line for it at park close.

We combined your two strategies one day and made out like bandits. Rolling LL at Animal Kingdom in the AM, then stack for MK in the evening! Both are great strategies!

 

[princesswahooey]

The slowest line we experienced was for Soarin. It took us a total of 30 mins to ride so we had to skip our rider switch. Test Track took 5-6 mins longer because the line was being held up by a huge party (10+) trying to get the CM to issue a rider switch. I’d be careful stacking passes and budget extra time for getting from one end of the park to another (Canada/France area gets extremely congested after 2 pm due to park hopping guests). Food booths took 20 mins in that area.

For MK, Genie+ was giving us a time which was over an hour away at little mermaid when the wait was 25 mins. It worked better in the mornings (Adventureland) and we stacked evening passes during lunch/pool break. It took us over an hour to get from MK to Ohana after the fireworks (would not recommend). Other lines moved faster than FP+ because there were less people buying (first week of Nov).

Same experience. Soarin LL was always over 30 minutes for us and we had to bail twice for dinner ADRs Splash and BTMRR were about 15 each at peak times. Otherwise, everything else moved quick for us.

 

[scrappinginontario]

After testing G+ twice and trying both strategies (stacking for evening vs. booking as early as possible), I prefer the evening stack for a couple of reasons.

1) I don’t have to stress about getting an early time for the most popular attractions at 7am. It’s not make or break to be lightning fast (pun intended). As long as I’m on at 7am I have been able to get my ILL$ and G+ with times that work for us no problem.

2) If I plan and refresh so my LL’s go in order of latest to earliest, then my most recent LL will most likely be the first I use when I begin to redeem them, meaning I can immediately book another one. Very little refreshing has been needed on both visits to see a good return time that works for us.

3) I’m only on my phone every two hours. Once I book an evening LL, there is nothing more I can do, so the phone goes away and I can enjoy attractions with shorter waits, walk around, eat a snack, see a cavalcade, etc.

4) Once I return in the evening I have anywhere from 3-5 LL’s lined up and ready to use. I can have even more lined up if I purchase two ILL$. We have split our strategy between using our ILL$ midday or clumping them with our evening LL’s. We like both options depending on the ride and/or the park we are hopping to.

5) After using our last LL it’s usually the end of the night so we can just hop in line at park close for one attraction for which we couldn’t grab a LL. Shorter wait and not wasting park time to ride it. Win win.

I think this strategy works best for guests who (1) don’t plan their vacation in a detailed minute-to-minute way, (2) don’t eat table service often and can be more flexible with the order of operations in their park experience, (3) enjoy the parks in the evening, and (4) have park hoppers and can move to another location after 2pm if other parks have better LL availability.

Used this strategy both in mid-November and the weekend prior to Christmas and was able to get a minimum of 6 LL’s each day no problem (and for good attractions, too). I also find the I’m doing a lot less pre-planning for our visits and I really really like that. We have our next visit MLK weekend and I’ve done zilch for park planning except which parks we might start in and what we might hop to (with the caveat that we might change our plan depending on what LL’s we get). Looking forward to seeing if this strategy continues to be effective for us or if we run into issues.

Thanks so much for this great, detailed explanation!!

I'm finally holding out a little hope that our trip we originally booked for 2020 in 2019 and delayed a couple of times, might finally be happening in a few weeks!

One question that I know has been answered a ton but I'm not sure right now where to find that answer, if I book my first LL at 7AM for as late as possible, I will be eligible to book my second LL 2 hours after that park opens. Correct?

Will it matter if that LL is earlier/later than the first one booked? I'll just want it as late as possible....I think.

We don't currently have PH passes (but will add if we find it will be helpful) but I don't think that would change the stacking description your explained above. Correct?

Thanks so much!!

 

[g-dad66]

Thanks so much for this great, detailed explanation!!

I'm finally holding out a little hope that our trip we originally booked for 2020 in 2019 and delayed a couple of times, might finally be happening in a few weeks!

One question that I know has been answered a ton but I'm not sure right now where to find that answer, if I book my first LL at 7AM for as late as possible, I will be eligible to book my second LL 2 hours after that park opens. Correct?

Will it matter if that LL is earlier/later than the first one booked? I'll just want it as late as possible....I think.

We don't currently have PH passes (but will add if we find it will be helpful) but I don't think that would change the stacking description your explained above. Correct?

Thanks so much!!

Yes, you can book second LL 2 hours after park opens, if you haven't already tapped into the first LL ( and yes, it doesn't matter if the second LL is booked for an earlier or later time than the first LL).

I'm sure you know this part: If you tap into the first LL before 2 hours, then you are eligible for second LL at that time (you don't have to wait 2 hours).

Correct, not having Park Hopper won't change anything. (But if you have PH, and you try to book for park that you don't have reservation for, then it will give only options after 2pm.)

 

[scrappinginontario]

I'm sure you know this part: If you tap into the first LL before 2 hours, then you are eligible for second LL at that time (you don't have to wait 2 hours).

Sorry, not quite sure what this means.

Does this have to do with LL that I have stacked or, if I book a LL early in the day and then tap into it, would I be eligible to book another one right away or would I need to wait the 2 hours? That part is still unclear to me. When I'm eligible to book a second LL.

Thanks! I'm guessing it will be clearer once I experience it but for now, trying to understand without the actual hands-on experience.

 

[jacobsmommy]

So, if I purchase Genie +, can I book my first day's rides at 7:00 ET before I even get to Disney?

 

[MikeandReneePlus5]

So from reading it feels like Disney doesn't dump every available return slot at 7am. Granted they are still all gone for the biggest attractions in minutes, but if you aren't quick fingered you may have a shot for a few minutes after 7am instead of a few seconds even though it may say no availibility?

Or is that totally wrong?

 

[g-dad66]

Sorry, not quite sure what this means.

Does this have to do with LL that I have stacked or, if I book a LL early in the day and then tap into it, would I be eligible to book another one right away or would I need to wait the 2 hours? That part is still unclear to me. When I'm eligible to book a second LL.

Thanks! I'm guessing it will be clearer once I experience it but for now, trying to understand without the actual hands-on experience.

You become eligible to book an LL either (1) after you tap into most recently booked LL, OR (2) after 2 hours from booking (or 2 hours from park open if first booking was before park opening), WHICHEVER COMES FIRST.

So what I was trying to say was that if you book first LL before park opening (assume 9am park opening) and then tap into it prior to 11am (prior to 2 hours from park opening), you are eligible for second LL at that time.

That's not what you were inquiring about, but I wanted to clarify that what I said about eligibility for second LL after 2 hours didn't apply if you had already tapped into 1st LL. (Guess I should just not have mentioned it all, since I apparently confused rather than clarified. Sorry!)

 

[g-dad66]

So from reading it feels like Disney doesn't dump every available return slot at 7am. Granted they are still all gone for the biggest attractions in minutes, but if you aren't quick fingered you may have a shot for a few minutes after 7am instead of a few seconds even though it may say no availibility?

Or is that totally wrong?

Correct. My theory is that times are held for 10 minutes pending payment. Some payments don't go through so those times uddenly become available again.

 

[g-dad66]

So, if I purchase Genie +, can I book my first day's rides at 7:00 ET before I even get to Disney?

Yes.

 

[Thorazine]

Suppose it is 9am and I make a genie+ LL Reservation for a window of 10:30 AM to 11:30 AM. Can I wait until 11 AM and make a second reservation using the 120 minute rule, and then use that initial (1030 to 1130) reservation at 11:05?

in other words, does a 120 minute rule abide by the difference between the time you make the reservation and the beginning of the reservation window, or does it abide by the difference between the time you make the reservation and the current time?

 

[AZMermaid]

Waiting for the 7:10ish second drop (or cancellation window to open maybe) worked on 1/4. I wanted Space for my and my daughter and buzz for my son and husband. I bought the kids Seven Dwarves (they are old enough to ride alone) and after that- space was booking for noon. So it was stressful watching the times creep forward and I was kicking myself for not grabbing it on a 10:45 refresh. But sure enough, at 7:12, I got 9:05. Same thing with Buzz- it was booking for 10:30ish and at 7:13 I got 9:20.

Also, I accidentally booked us all for space. I nervously hit ”cancel” and I was able to choose who to cancel it for. So I could cancel them and rebook them into Buzz.

 

[AZMermaid]

Suppose it is 9am and I make a genie+ LL Reservation for a window of 10:30 AM to 11:30 AM. Can I wait until 11 AM and make a second reservation using the 120 minute rule, and then use that initial (1030 to 1130) reservation at 11:05?

in other words, does a 120 minute rule abide by the difference between the time you make the reservation and the beginning of the reservation window, or does it abide by the difference between the time you make the reservation and the current time?

Yes you could at 11. Or you can tap into the ride at 10:30 and book another LL after the second touchpoint at 10:31.

But you really want to make the first Genie reservation at 7 to get the earliest return times.

 

[orangecuse]

Have people found its difficult to add at midnight for the single day or generally easy?

We have a toddler and a preschooler and I am thinkinh we may only use Genie+ for MK. It sounds like Epcot its not needed.
For HS- the only things our kids are tall enough for are Toy Story and AlienSS. Im not sure it makes sense to pay that for two rides (since MMRR is not included). Do people find it useful for the shows or would you also skip Genie+ at HS in our case?

 

[GBRforWDW]

Suppose it is 9am and I make a genie+ LL Reservation for a window of 10:30 AM to 11:30 AM. Can I wait until 11 AM and make a second reservation using the 120 minute rule, and then use that initial (1030 to 1130) reservation at 11:05?

in other words, does a 120 minute rule abide by the difference between the time you make the reservation and the beginning of the reservation window, or does it abide by the difference between the time you make the reservation and the current time?

No, you used to be able to do this, but Disney closed this loophole. You can only make another selection based on your last selection. Since your last selection was at 11, your next selection is either when you're able to tap into that pick if it's less than 2 hours away or at 1pm based on the 2 hour window.

You'd be better off tapping into your first selection at 1030 and making your next selection at that time.

 

[GBRforWDW]

Have people found its difficult to add at midnight for the single day or generally easy?

We have a toddler and a preschooler and I am thinkinh we may only use Genie+ for MK. It sounds like Epcot its not needed.
For HS- the only things our kids are tall enough for are Toy Story and AlienSS. Im not sure it makes sense to pay that for two rides (since MMRR is not included). Do people find it useful for the shows or would you also skip Genie+ at HS in our case?

I used Genie+ for shows at Hollywood. We went over Christmas, so had MMRR available to us, so we got MMRR and TSM as our rides, did AS2 standby, then did BatB and frozen shows with G+. I didn't plan right for the shows though. We could have done frozen later in the evening so we could get in Disney Jr or Indiana Jones. We were also locked into an early Hollywood and Vine reservation. You have to plan to be available for an hour for each show and the G+ passes are usually available for each show until showtime, so it's hard to get one ahead of time.

If you do plan to get it, I would do a spreadsheet with the showtimes and figure out which showtimes work best for you. I would plan for toy story Land in the morning, give yourself 2-3 hours there (3if you want to eat), if you book TSM with a G+ pass, you can easily get it in the early morning if you're on right at 7am (I would refresh until the time is 10 or 10:30 so you don't have to rush) and you shouldn't need one for AS2. If you have a 10 TSM time, do AS2 first via standby. Then plan the showtimes starting for noon. Maybe dis junior and BatB before an afternoon break, then Indiana Jones and frozen after as well as Muppets after. If you did all those, you'd get 6 passes plus find time to ride MMRR standby, maybe after the frozen show, especially if you do the last frozen show, MMRR will be shortest line at that time.

While genie+ is probably unnecessary for this, I personally liked knowing we were going to get into the shows we wanted without having to guess if standby would be backed up.

 

[AZMermaid]

I added at 6:45 AM instead of midnight. Once I knew where to look, it was easy! I found it in my day, scroll down and there’d be a purple bar reccomnding i buy genie.

 

[HBGdancermom]

Hi everyone!

I have am getting ready for our trip next week and had a few questions. I'm sure they have been answered somewhere so feel free to point me in the right direction. We are a party of 4, have park hoppers for this trip and I already have genie + for our stay. For our first day, we will not be in the park until late afternoon.

1) When I pull up genie + at 7am that first morning and choose to purchase ILL for SDMT, will it give me afternoon/ evening times. (When I try to practice it stops me when I get to the pick your party and I can't tell what times are available)

2) I can also book my first genie + ride at this time too, correct?

3) I know some have to people in their party working at the same time on separate devices. How does that work exactly? I know they need the MDE app as well, however do I need to link them somehow to have access to our plans? Is that a phone call?

4) For ILL purchases will it pull from the credit card on file or do you have to enter it everytime?

5) On my HS park day, I plan on going in the afternoon. Should I keep the park reservation at HS and book ILL and genie plus ride at 7am for the afternoon even in I want to go to MK in the am but don't care about genie + or ILL in MK that morning? I assuming I would not be able to book a MK ride until 9am that day.

Okay thank you for looking at this. I'm certain I'm overthinking....

 

[GBRforWDW]

Hi everyone!

I have am getting ready for our trip next week and had a few questions. I'm sure they have been answered somewhere so feel free to point me in the right direction. We are a party of 4, have park hoppers for this trip and I already have genie + for our stay. For our first day, we will not be in the park until late afternoon.

1) When I pull up genie + at 7am that first morning and choose to purchase ILL for SDMT, will it give me afternoon/ evening times. (When I try to practice it stops me when I get to the pick your party and I can't tell what times are available)

2) I can also book my first genie + ride at this time too, correct?

3) I know some have to people in their party working at the same time on separate devices. How does that work exactly? I know they need the MDE app as well, however do I need to link them somehow to have access to our plans? Is that a phone call?

4) For ILL purchases will it pull from the credit card on file or do you have to enter it everytime?

5) On my HS park day, I plan on going in the afternoon. Should I keep the park reservation at HS and book ILL and genie plus ride at 7am for the afternoon even in I want to go to MK in the am but don't care about genie + or ILL in MK that morning? I assuming I would not be able to book a MK ride until 9am that day.

Okay thank you for looking at this. I'm certain I'm overthinking....

1. ILL$ allow you to choose time, so you should be able to pick a late time.
2. Genie+ doesn't allow you to pick time, so you may need to refresh your page until you see a time that works. Usually jungle cruise and Peter Pan go into the afternoon at 7 am.
3. If you're comfortable with the other person logging directly into your account, that's probably the best. Otherwise, if someone else has an email address, they can create an MDE account and you link them. Only DHS really needs this as SDD and RotR go quickly.
4.you can use card on file. If I remember right, you do also have the option to change the card.
5.if you want to hit MK in the morning, you'll need your reservation for that park. You can park hop to DHS after 2pm, but that can help as you can get your lightning lane passes and they will always be for afternoon when you're selecting your hop to park. If you book a ride at DHS at 7am, you will book your second one at 11am, 2 hours after park opening. You can choose to either get another one in DHS or you can select a MK ride.

Also,the ILL$ booking At 7am is assuming you are staying onsite. Offsite has to wait for park opening.

Everyone can book Genie+ at 7am regardless of where they stay.

 

[Disneymom1126]

I'm thinking through a plan where we rope drop (not using any ILL), take a mid-day break, and then take advantage of the ILL and $ILL after our break (picking them up throughout the day at each 2hr interval). My thought is we can make a good amount of progress in the morning using standby and then have a sort of "wait-less" after mid-day break. I'm also guessing this would work better at say Magic Kingdom and potentially Epcot compared to HS and AK. If anyone has tried something similar I'd love to hear how it worked out! We are going in mid-May so I don't anticipate super crowds.