The Genie Usage, Tips and Strategy ONLY Thread

[LarryBoy]

I think you pretty much got it. The only thing that matters is your most recently booked LL. Every time you make a new LL, any prior LL's that you booked earlier do not matter in any way and have no effect on your current situation. When you booked them no longer matters and when you use them no longer matters.

The most recently booked is the only thing preventing you from making a new LL. You can clear that restriction by either 1) Tapping into that most recently booked LL (tapping into a different LL that was made prior to the most recent one does nothing) or 2) waiting the 120 minutes from the time you made the most recently booked LL or 3) Cancelling the most recently booked LL.

In your scenario where your LL falls during an arrival window which you have not yet tapped into, I think you are asking if you will be able to get 2 new LL's, one for letting the 120 minutes expire and one for tapping into the ride. That is not how it works. If your 120 minutes passes and you make a new LL, that new LL is now your most recently booked and is now what is keeping you from getting a new one. Tapping into the previously booked one (the one that you booked over 120 mins ago) no longer means anything because it is no longer the most recently booked.

Thanks, after much studying I almost feel like I'm ready for the G+ final exam!

 

[Brian4891]

Thanks, after much studying I almost feel like I'm ready for the G+ final exam!

LOL! The final exam starts at 7am on your park day!

 

[LarryBoy]

LOL! The final exam starts at 7am on your park day!

7AM Saturday morning!!

 

[Juventus]

Has the introduction of the Meet and Greets at MK to G+ had any affect on the availability of other LL passes? e.g., greater availability of others due to greater inventory, or are the meet and greets not that popular?

We never did the old ones in the past but some seemed to be really popular.

 

[AndreaDM]

Just to clarify (yes I'm slow), if at 7AM I book a ride for say 4 PM, then 2 hours after park opening I can book another ride for ANY available time right? It does not have to be after the 4 PM ride? At say 11 AM I could book one for noon if available, and then book again after I tap into that one? The actual return time of the first one booked has no bearing on subsequent rides booked?

 

[cjlong88]

Just to clarify (yes I'm slow), if at 7AM I book a ride for say 4 PM, then 2 hours after park opening I can book another ride for ANY available time right? It does not have to be after the 4 PM ride? At say 11 AM I could book one for noon if available, and then book again after I tap into that one? The actual return time of the first one booked has no bearing on subsequent rides booked?

You are correct! Because you tapped into the most recent G+ LL you booked at noon, you are eligible to book another one after tapping into it.

ETA: And yes, you will be able to book your 2nd one for whatever available time is offered to you -- the fact that your first one has a return time of 4pm has no bearing on what is offered to you when utilizing the 120-minute rule.

 

[AndreaDM]

You are correct! Because you tapped into the most recent G+ LL you booked at noon, you are eligible to book another one after tapping into it.

Thank you! I think I finally have a grasp on how it works, we leave in a week!

 

[cjlong88]

Thank you! I think I finally have a grasp on how it works, we leave in a week!

Have a great time!

 

[Garyjames220]

I was just wondering are u still able to stack rides in the morning for later in the day

and if you can how many do you think you could have for late afternoon etc

 

[wisblue]

I was just wondering are u still able to stack rides in the morning for later in the day

and if you can how many do you think you could have for late afternoon etc

You can do that, and the number you can get for late afternoon will be dictated by the “2 hour rule” and availability.

For a park with a 9 AM opening you can make the first one any time between 7 AM and 9AM, and then make subsequent ones at 11 AM, 1 PM, and 3 PM, giving yourself 4 in hand for an arrival between 3 and 5 PM.

The best way to do this is to start with the most popular LL attractions. These are the ones whose return times will reach afternoon soonest.

Using this approach, we have managed to land LL reservations at MK for JC, BTMRR, HM, and IASW, all with return times between 3 PM and 6 PM

 

[dmunsil]

I think you pretty much got it. The only thing that matters is your most recently booked LL. Every time you make a new LL, any prior LL's that you booked earlier do not matter in any way and have no effect on your current situation. When you booked them no longer matters and when you use them no longer matters.

The most recently booked is the only thing preventing you from making a new LL. You can clear that restriction by either 1) Tapping into that most recently booked LL (tapping into a different LL that was made prior to the most recent one does nothing) or 2) waiting the 120 minutes from the time you made the most recently booked LL or 3) Cancelling the most recently booked LL.

This is an excellent summary, but there's a small error. If you cancel any of your reservations, you can immediately make another. It does not need to be the most recent reservation.

Edit: Disney changed the rules at some point in the last few weeks. Cancelling any reservation other than the one you most recently booked does nothing.

 

[Brian4891]

This is an excellent summary, but there's a small error. If you cancel any of your reservations, you can immediately make another. It does not need to be the most recent reservation.

I thought about adding that to the response, but since this is not something I ever tried out myself I decided I should not be the one to say it works . Also didn’t want to make things even more complicated than they already are!

But glad you mentioned it cause it should be something people are aware of.

 

[LMO429]

We are Annual pass holders but are staying on site. Do we still have to purchase Genie plus every night still or can we purchase them ahead of time?

 

[elgerber]

We are Annual pass holders but are staying on site. Do we still have to purchase Genie plus every night still or can we purchase them ahead of time?

No, AP holders cannot buy in advance, only day of.

 

[wisblue]

This is an excellent summary, but there's a small error. If you cancel any of your reservations, you can immediately make another. It does not need to be the most recent reservation.

For example, if I want to make LL reservations at MK with return times after 4 PM, you’re saying I could make one before 9 AM for an attraction with an earlier return time, say 1 PM. Then at 11 AM I could make a second LL, then cancel the first one and immediately replace it with a second one with a later return time.

Is that right? Then I assume I could make a third one 2 hours after I booked the replacement for the first one some rime after 1 PM.

If that’s how that works it might make it a little easier for someone to stack into the afternoon instead of waiting to make the first reservation until it has a late enough return time.

 

[dmunsil]

For example, if I want to make LL reservations at MK with return times after 4 PM, you’re saying I could make one before 9 AM for an attraction with an earlier return time, say 1 PM. Then at 11 AM I could make a second LL, then cancel the first one and immediately replace it with a second one with a later return time.

Is that right? Then I assume I could make a third one 2 hours after I booked the replacement for the first one some rime after 1 PM.

If that’s how that works it might make it a little easier for someone to stack into the afternoon instead of waiting to make the first reservation until it has a late enough return time.

Correct, and that's exactly why you might care - because it makes some stacking approaches somewhat easier. It's not the kind of wizardry you could do when Genie+ first rolled out where you could keep increasing your stacked reservations, but it can be useful in some cases.

Edit: Disney changed the rules at some point in the last few weeks. Cancelling any reservation other than the one you most recently booked does nothing.

 

[wisblue]

Correct, and that's exactly why you might care - because it makes some stacking approaches somewhat easier. It's not the kind of wizardry you could do when Genie+ first rolled out where you could keep increasing your stacked reservations, but it can be useful in some cases.

Thank you.

We had a trip in November before they made the switch and we took full advantage of that with what I called “leapfrog” stacking. At MK we had 3 or 4 active LL all evening by getting a new one every time we used one. I knew that wasn’t going to last.

But we did do some afternoon stacking on the Marathon Weekend when we weren’t going to be at a park for opening, and this might have helped, though we did OK as it is by booking the most popular attractions first and working backward to less popular ones.

 

[Pookie9922]

Correct, and that's exactly why you might care - because it makes some stacking approaches somewhat easier. It's not the kind of wizardry you could do when Genie+ first rolled out where you could keep increasing your stacked reservations, but it can be useful in some cases.

To keep the cancel/reschedule going, what's the correct order of operation?

This is how I see it:
1) When you're able to book a LL, if there's one at the right time (ie afternoon window), book that one. If there is no LL with a late enough window, book whatever is available that has an ending time at least 2 hours away from either park opening (7am booking) or the current time. (any other booking)
2) Wait 2 hours.
3) Repeat step 1 - book something you want in the afternoon or book anything more than 2 hours from now.
4) Cancel earliest unwanted LL, availability opens up again.
5) Book new LL (with same criteria - in the afternoon or ends more than 2 hours from now)

If you book something you don't want earlier than 2 hours away, you'll have to cancel/rebook it before your 2 hour wait is up and that will restart the timer.
This strategy seems tricky. Even trickier if you're trying for rides in a certain order to avoid zigzagging the park in the afternoon. But it also seems doable if you're paying attention and watching return times.

 

[peteykirch]

So we are finishing up a week long stay at WDW.

We bought Genie+ 2 times.

Once for a MK heavy day, and once for afternoon parkhopping at Epcot.

I think it works well when you attempt to stack slots for an afternoon/evening park hopping day. We rope dropped the Studios, did everything we wanted via standby and the early resort access and through the course of the day booked LL slots for Epcot so that by the time we made our way to Epcot we already had slots reserved in sequential order for Test Track, Soarin, Living with the Land, Spaceship Earth and then we were able to add reservations for Journey into Imagination and Mission Space as we toured Epcot.

Our MK heavy day was another story, the app sort of bugged out, and when I tried to book Jungle Cruise at 7AM it hiccupped and the slot bumped me all the way back to 10:35AM. Through the course of the day we were able to use LL at the following attractions, Jungle Cruise, Pirates, Magic Carpets of Aladdin, Haunted Mansion, Big Thunder, Tomorrowland Speedway, Buzz Lightyear, Winnie the Pooh, Small World, and then Peter Pan.

It took a decent effort and gambling in cancelling slots and hoping to rebook at a better time. I felt like I was spending way too much time on my phone throughout the day.

I do wish they would adjust it where instead of giving you the next available slot you could pick from a range of available time slots just like the old FP+ and how they are doing Individual Attraction Purchases. I feel bad for non-resort guests because for the big attractions slots are completely booked by 7:10 since Disney stopped holding slots for a 7AM and 9AM release.

I do wish they could build a cool down counter into the app so more people could keep easier track of when their next booking window would open if they are attempting to stack.

 

[twodogs]

For a basic cool down counter, try to book something, and the error message will tell you when you can next book, as in “you are not eligible to book your next LL until xx”.