The Genie Usage, Tips and Strategy ONLY Thread

[thanxfornoticin]

I apologize for not having read every post, but where did the conversations start about some sort of limit of 3 with LL? I've not seen such a restriction, but might've misread the post. Is there a limit of 3 being held at the same time? Thanks.

 

[PepperjackDragon]

I think he means that, once he had stacked 3, he had the ability to make 3 at a time. But he didn’ tknow what would happen if he let two expire at onc without booking a new one. I would assume that would mean you would lose one of the “stacks.”

Yes.

 

[AnnaKristoff2013]

I apologize for not having read every post, but where did the conversations start about some sort of limit of 3 with LL? I've not seen such a restriction, but might've misread the post. Is there a limit of 3 being held at the same time? Thanks.

There does not appear to be an upward limit to the number held at the same time except the practical limit that you can only book one every 120 minutes if you’re stacking into the future and the parks are only open for so long. I could see on long park hour days (like Christmastime), being able to stack 4 at once, but on normal days I would bet the practical limit for all intents and purposes is 3.

 

[thanxfornoticin]

There does not appear to be an upward limit to the number held at the same time except the practical limit that you can only book one every 120 minutes if you’re stacking into the future and the parks are only open for so long. I could see on long park hour days (like Christmastime), being able to stack 4 at once, but on normal days I would bet the practical limit for all intents and purposes is 3.

Agreed. Was just wondering if I missed something in the restrictions. You're right - it would be tough to accumulate more than 2 or 3 at the same time with the 2-hour requirement.

 

[DsnyDreaminDad]

I’ve skimmed through 15 pages of this topic and have reached one conclusion…

This is way more complicated than it should be!

 

[thanxfornoticin]

I’ve skimmed through 15 pages of this topic and have reached one conclusion…

This is way more complicated than it should be!

I don't disagree with you. But since it's only been operating a few days, there are still way more questions than answers. Once they work out the technical kinks and people understand the dos and don'ts, it should get better. I remember when FP+ first came out - similar confusion. Remember all the questions about getting a 4th FP and getting a FP at a different park during the day? I feel confident Disney will be motivated to make this 'cash flow' workable and understandable - they will want people to buy it.

 

[slo]

I’ve skimmed through 15 pages of this topic and have reached one conclusion…

This is way more complicated than it should be!

LOL!
I’ve been studying this more than some exams I’ve taken.
I’m so glad that when we started taking our DD’s 21 years ago that everything was more simple. You’d stick your park ticket into the fastpass ticket machine, get your fastpass return ticket and move on with your day. So easy!

 

[Miffy]

You can make one LL attraction at a time generally. After you use one, you can make another. EXCEPT if you have a LL pass that is more then 120 minutes into the future, you can make an additional one after 120 minutes. Thereafter you can effectively make 2 for the rest of the day, one after each one expires. An unknown at this point is what happens if you let both of them expire without booking a new one first. Can you still make two for the rest of the day because the system “remembers” that you were stacked, or can you only make one for the rest of the day. He was worried about testing that theory.

I think I get it, but I still don't understand the use of the word "unassigned." How can you reserve a LL and it's also "unassigned"? Isn't it assigned as soon as you reserve it? That's the part I don't get. The post I was asking about said "stacked LL times that are unassigned." Doesn't "stacked" imply that you've reserved them? Or maybe I don't understand the meaning of "stacked"!

ETA: I look forward to the day when there's a sticky that explains all the ins and outs of G/G+/ILL$, but I expect that'll be a while from now, since it's still so new and the genie pigs aren't finished their vital work!

 

[AnnaKristoff2013]

Has anyone seen any reports of how Geine+ and ILL$ is working with rider switch? I have a 2 year old, a 6 year old, and my wife and I on our next trip. Consider the folliowing scenarios:

1. My 2 year old is 38 inches (probably by December for our trip, she’s 37.5 right now so it’s close!). I purchase an ILL$ for myself, my wife, and my 6 year old for Ratatouille. I assume my 2 year old can ride with us as well without purchasing an ILL$ since she’s too young for a ticket anyway?
2. Same question as above but for a regular LL attraction, let’s say Peter Pan. I get a LL reservation for myself, my wife, and my 6 year old. I assume my 2 year old can come as well without Genie+ since she’s not old enough for a ticket?
3. I purchase an ILL$ For Expedition Everest for myself, my wife, and my 6 year old. My 2 year old is not tall enough for this ride. Can I rider switch so that my 6 year old gets to ride twice, once with my wife, and once with me?
4. I purchase an ILL$ for Expedition Everest for my wife and 6 year old only. I go to the rider switch line and ask to do rider switch so my 6 year old can ride twice and I can ride with her the second time…. Will this work? This sometimes worked under the old fastpass system if you didnt’ have a FP+ for everyone in the group.
5. Same question as #3 only now it’s a Genie+ attraction, let’s say Splash mountain;
6. Same question as # 4 only it’s a Genie + attraction, Splash mountain.

Do we have any reports of conclusive answers to the above questions?

 

[leeniewdw]

7am: SD booked for 1043am
8:15- arrive to park
8:30-910: MMRR then MFSR
9:10-11:00 Plenty of time left for a quick toy story
and saucers. Frozen song along.
11:00- book 1:35pm splash mountain
(considered a noon toy story but
wanted to let kids rest)
11:15 Slinky dog
11:16 book splash at 1:35pm (later changed
to 2pm, must have gone down)
11:30 Hotel bus: worst wait of the day by far
1:16. Book Jungle cruise (daughter request

2pm arrive at MK


honestly if you add this to a 10 day trip I really don’t think the parks can sustain you for that long at this pace. Will either have to underutilize Genie+ or ride everything 5-10 times. Will edit later with my tips from experience.

This was a fantastic post, but I'm confused. I thought G+ wouldn't allow a pre-2pm LL reservation in a park you are going to hop to?

 

[AnnaKristoff2013]

This was a fantastic post, but I'm confused. I thought G+ wouldn't allow a pre-2pm LL reservation in a park you are going to hop to?

That’s interesting. I bet that was a glitch and was the reason why his LL was changed from 1:35 to 2:00.

 

[rmclain73]

Did a test run from home yesterday for a future trip on what a park reservation day at HS could look like with stacking. Over the last few days I have noticed that the big rides are already booking into the afternoon pretty early. I think for HS it may be to your advantage to make it a later start. With my families style of going into the parks I think this actually works into our favor. We like to have a nice breakfast and relax a bit a the hotel before heading in. This strategy could also be good for arrival days.

I woke up at 7:30am (which is sleeping in for me) and started making notes.

At 7:30am I could have booked Slinky Dog for 3:05pm, booked a IALL for ROTR at 3:20pm, and booked a IALL for MMRR for 2:30pm. At 11:00pm I checked and MFSR was available to book for 4:20pm. At 1:00pm Toy Story Mania was available for 2:45pm, and at 3:00pm TOT was available to book for 4:25pm.

Park day would have looked like something this based on what tip board was showing and using the hour window of booked attractions:

1:00pm - Arrive at HS
1:15pm Star Tours 10min Standby
1:45pm Muppets 3D 10min Standby
2:30pm MMRR IALL
3:00pm TSM LL
3:30pm SDD LL
4:00pm ROTR IALL
4:30pm MFSR LL
5:10pm TOT LL
5:40pm RnR 30min Standby

 

[katyringo]

Are people really paying for Genie + for everyday of their trip?

I did but I'm solo and I want to try it all before the family trip. I'm also doing Epcot on arrival day and won't be rope dropping - the Saturday after thanksgiving- so I want to be able to possibly book some rides in the evening.

I only have 1 day in each park with Epcot being arrival day and MK departure day (I'm also doing Christmas party)... full day at AK and HS.

my thought is this for my solo trip: it's worth the money to me even tho I know I could strategize and get everything done without it. It's worth it because it's gonna let me save a good amount of time and this I'm gonna have more time to just take things easy and slow on my solo trips. Ima. Rope drop to closer person so if I use genie+ and do all the rides fairly easily then I have so much more time to just explore the parks in a way I haven't before.. idk of that makes sense but that's how my brain is doing it.

i also plan to buy individual lighning Lanes for almost everything I can.(but I know I don't need Genie+ to do that)

 

[zebrastreyepz]

After watching all vlogs I can find where people were testing it, here is my plan for me and DH in first part of December:

No using the basic Genie or G+ at all. I will use Touring Plans instead. This COULD change as information about the holiday crowds become available especially with International travel opening up next month.

I will do ILL$ for Rise since we haven't been on it IF I can get it.

 

[katyringo]

Today smugglers seems to be going faster than slinky dog...

 

[rmclain73]

That’s interesting. I bet that was a glitch and was the reason why his LL was changed from 1:35 to 2:00.

he said the ride went down and It got switched to 2 o’clock.

 

[coolbrook]

thank you. I feel stressed having to learn something else for a vacation. I know I don't have to use and just do standby lanes. But with my DH using a scooter for the first time, part of me is wanting to use it just for the shorter distances that he would have to drive inside rides. I'm talking about you Little Mermaid.

I am so glad to hear someone else say this! I use a rollator for walking at Disney and I was thinking that the shorter line lengths for Lightning Lane would add to value of purchasing G+ for me. Some that came to mind were Little Mermaid, Safari, and Finding Nemo.

 

[chicagodisneyguy]

So we're doing HS today and decided to sleep in. We bought ROTR and MMRR at 7am ($15 & $10). Our first LL ride was Slinky at noon but it's been broken all day. So here's our current slate of attractions at 12:15pm:

12:15 to close- anytime LL
12:25pm TSM
1:15pm ROTR
1:55pm ToT
2:20pm MMRR
3:15pm RnR (after tapping in to TSM)

We walked on Startours in roughly 15 minutes thru standby line. RnR is our next target so will update when we add. For people that like arriving late...this stacking thing could be amazing.

also, once we were given the recovery fast pass for Slinky, we were immediately able to make another LL reservation...almost resetting the clock

 

[LSUfan4444]

12:15 to close- anytime LL

Can these be used even on something you're already done via G+?

 

[snikki]

Can these be used even on something you're already done via G+?

Yes. Someone on the trip report board said they got an anytime for splash after it broke down and were able to book an additional splash LL.