The Genie Usage, Tips and Strategy ONLY Thread

[Meglen]

Hi.

Although I am DVC, I also own a TS in Orlando, which we will be staying at next month.

Is there a separate thread for Off-Site Guests and ILLs? We are also purchasing G+. We are only going to MK, the Tuesday after Easter, during our trip and know it will be packed.

I want to purchase 7DMT for three people at 9 am (or whatever time MK opens that day). Is this impossible?
We are three adult women and going while the guys golf that day so we really don't want a return time after 1-2 pm since we will be leaving the park about that time.

Thank you.

I believe by 9am 7dmt will be a hard grab.

 

[js]

I believe by 9am 7dmt will be a hard grab.

Thank you. So do I. It's my bffs only request LOL
They don't even understand about G+ or know it exists. I'm the Disney guru to them so had hoped it would be a possibility but in reality I know it's not.
She will have to decide is waiting 2 hours is worth it for her. I'm also AP so don't care either way and I'll do whatever they decide.
How about FoP? Is that ILL? They love that too. They are doing MK only for 7DMT (I know, I know) but they could do AK if I swayed them that way.

 

[Meglen]

Thank you. So do I. It's my bffs only request LOL
They don't even understand about G+ or know it exists. I'm the Disney guru to them so had hoped it would be a possibility but in reality I know it's not.
She will have to decide is waiting 2 hours is worth it for her. I'm also AP so don't care either way and I'll do whatever they decide.
How about FoP? Is that ILL? They love that too. They are doing MK only for 7DMT (I know, I know) but they could do AK if I swayed them that way.

I have seen people buy fop after park open

 

[js]

I have seen people buy fop after park open

Thank you.
I will take a look this week and see any trends and times for FoP at park opening and then move our ressie to AK if need be.

 

[revdon64]

If you plan on using G+ again during your stay, do not despair if you don't get exactly what you want right at 7:00 am. There are many reports and data that show that there are more G+ availability that pop up again at 7:10 and 7:20.

That's nice to know, but there won't be an "again."

 

[Miffy]

Thank you. So do I. It's my bffs only request LOL
They don't even understand about G+ or know it exists. I'm the Disney guru to them so had hoped it would be a possibility but in reality I know it's not.
She will have to decide is waiting 2 hours is worth it for her. I'm also AP so don't care either way and I'll do whatever they decide.
How about FoP? Is that ILL? They love that too. They are doing MK only for 7DMT (I know, I know) but they could do AK if I swayed them that way.

FoP ILL was often gettable after park opening when we were there last week. Word of advice: Don't give up if something you want isn't available right away. It may become available later, although at that point you're gambling.

7DMT at park opening is a very hard get. Good luck with that. And consider riding during the fireworks or just after. Shorter lines then.

Don't know if you're going to DHS, but ILL for RotR was sometimes available at park opening as well. And I hear the lines near closing time aren't so bad.

 

[jbish]

I want to purchase 7DMT for three people at 9 am (or whatever time MK opens that day). Is this impossible?
We are three adult women and going while the guys golf that day so we really don't want a return time after 1-2 pm since we will be leaving the park about that time.

Here is the data on ILL availability for 7DMT for the past few days:


Here are the takeaways - right at 9 am, there is still some availability, but the orange boxes represent return times in the afternoon, red is the evening. So odds are not great that you'll get a return time before 1 pm. Now, on the 12th, there were still some return times in the light green, which was late morning. But I think this was the day of the tornado warning and torrential rain - so maybe not the best indicator of what things will look like after Easter.

 

[Westerner]

.

 

[jbish]

How about FoP? Is that ILL? They love that too. They are doing MK only for 7DMT (I know, I know) but they could do AK if I swayed them that way.

Here's the data on FOP:


Today is arguably a good test for what a REALLY busy day could mean for you (plan for that and anything less is gravy). Today AK opened at 7:30 am and that's when the availability just dropped off. And since the offsite guests are only 30 minutes behind the on-site guests in booking at AK, there's probably a better chance you can get FOP than 7DMT when MK is opening at 9 am. But you can see that availability is very slim throughout the day today. I believe AK opened at 7:30 yesterday, too, and you can see there was consistent availability up until about 8:45. I think you would do okay here. And it's definitely a better ride than 7DMT!!!

 

[Westerner]

And it's (FoP) definitely a better ride than 7DMT!!!

Agree! 7DMT is cute but FoP is mind blowing!

 

[js]

FoP ILL was often gettable after park opening when we were there last week. Word of advice: Don't give up if something you want isn't available right away. It may become available later, although at that point you're gambling.

7DMT at park opening is a very hard get. Good luck with that. And consider riding during the fireworks or just after. Shorter lines then.

Don't know if you're going to DHS, but ILL for RotR was sometimes available at park opening as well. And I hear the lines near closing time aren't so bad.

Than you. We are leaving the park around 1-2 pm.
I have a monorail bar crawl set up for the six of us (three couples) that evening so we want to get back around the same time the guys are done golfing to shower and get ready so we are not staying for fireworks.

Here is the data on ILL availability for 7DMT for the past few days:
View attachment 654212

Here are the takeaways - right at 9 am, there is still some availability, but the orange boxes represent return times in the afternoon, red is the evening. So odds are not great that you'll get a return time before 1 pm. Now, on the 12th, there were still some return times in the light green, which was late morning. But I think this was the day of the tornado warning and torrential rain - so maybe not the best indicator of what things will look like after Easter.

Thank you very much. I will start keeping track and look with thrilldata.

This thread is for both offsite and onsite guests. To answer your questions, based on recent thrilldata, FoP $ILL should be doable, availability has usually been lasting past 9AM lately. The fact that AK opens now at 730 means the gap between offsite and onsite (7AM) is less. jbish already provided data on 7DMT so I will just add that if MK opens earlier eg 830 that may help. These things can vary so my advice is check again just before you go.

View attachment 654216

Here's the data on FOP:
View attachment 654218

Today is arguably a good test for what a REALLY busy day could mean for you (plan for that and anything less is gravy). Today AK opened at 7:30 am and that's when the availability just dropped off. And since the offsite guests are only 30 minutes behind the on-site guests in booking at AK, there's probably a better chance you can get FOP than 7DMT when MK is opening at 9 am. But you can see that availability is very slim throughout the day today. I believe AK opened at 7:30 yesterday, too, and you can see there was consistent availability up until about 8:45. I think you would do okay here. And it's definitely a better ride than 7DMT!!!

I agree, FoP is much better than 7DMT. I am going to take a look at FoP this week and then talk to them this weekend or on the phone this week about moving our park.

Thanks so much for taking all the time to post the information for me. I appreciate it!

 

[js]

Agree! 7DMT is cute but FoP is mind blowing!

I agree and my bff has done both but she hasn't been in a few years and prior to that wasn't there for over 20. I'm just doing what she wants. I have DVC and AP and I'll be back.

 

[wiggy500]

I've done Genie+ with only myself having it in November and it worked amazingly. Now I am going to do it with a party of 8.

I have heard it claimed several times that you can't get as good of lightning lanes with a large party as you can with a small party. The only reasoning behind that I've seen is that it just kind of makes sense to whoever thinks that is the case. My theory is that party size makes no difference with Genie+ as far as what you'll be able to book. Am I correct or incorrect? I don't have enough experience to know, but if someone does have an opinion based on experience I would like to hear about it.

 

[js]

Hi. I am trying to track AK vs MK drops but came across this this morning. AK is open but does this mean Safari isn’t any longer? I havent heard of thst happening.

Thank you.

 

[SkyGuy]

Hi. I am trying to track AK vs MK drops but came across this this morning. AK is open but does this mean Safari isn’t any longer? I havent heard of thst happening.

Thank you. View attachment 654434

It usually means the ride is temporarily closed for some reason or another, and according to the TP Lines app, it is closed right now. Could be something as simple as a giraffe standing in the middle of the road, so they can’t load any new vehicles.

 

[Tess]

It usually means the ride is temporarily closed for some reason or another, and according to the TP Lines app, it is closed right now. Could be something as simple as a giraffe standing in the middle of the road, so they can’t load any new vehicles.

Or the ride simply wasn't yet open--it opens later than ETPE--usually regular park opening time.

 

[SkyGuy]

Or the ride simply wasn't yet open--it opens later than ETPE--usually regular park opening time.

True. AK opened at 7:30 today, so the question was written when the park had been open for a while. However, Safari doesn’t always open with the park.

 

[js]

It usually means the ride is temporarily closed for some reason or another, and according to the TP Lines app, it is closed right now. Could be something as simple as a giraffe standing in the middle of the road, so they can’t load any new vehicles.

That makes a lot of sense. Thank you.

Or the ride simply wasn't yet open--it opens later than ETPE--usually regular park opening time.

Thank you. Regular park opening for all guests today was a 7:30 am.

 

[g-dad66]

If through the process of booking a Genie+ ride the time changes and you end up booking one that doesn't work for you, can you cancel and re-book immediately? I feel like for a time there were reports of people who had their 2 hour clock reset when cancelling.....

Yes, we did it this morning.
Clicked on Slinky when it said something like 6pm and when it confirmed, it showed 11:30am — too early for us today which is sleep-in day (for everyone but me…)
Cancelled it, and finally secured a 6:20pm at about 720am.
It took a lot of work to do it. Continual refreshing for about 15 minutes.
When a time would pop up, clicking on it would over and over say not available.
Occasionally it said we we weren’t eligible yet. That was unnerving!
But persistence paid off.

 

[TinkBink]

Yes, we did it this morning.
Clicked on Slinky when it said something like 6pm and when it confirmed, it showed 11:30am — too early for us today which is sleep-in day (for everyone but me…)
Cancelled it, and finally secured a 6:20pm at about 720am.
It took a lot of work to do it. Continual refreshing for about 15 minutes.
When a time would pop up, clicking on it would over and over say not available.
Occasionally it said we we weren’t eligible yet. That was unnerving!
But persistence paid off.

Thank you so much for that!! Really good to know you occasionally got a not eligible message but it went away. I will panic less when it inevitably happens to me too!