The Genie Usage, Tips and Strategy ONLY Thread

[paopiru]

I think you can only book again if it is the last G+ you booked the one you are tapping.

 

[Boardwalk III]

3-day trip with a girlfriend 3rd week of October. Limited days but she’d like to do AK as she’s never been - so planning on a morning there with Nomad Lounge for lunch. Likely a Thurs or Fri.

Coming from VGF so assuming Uber is easiest. What time do we need to be there for resort early entry? Also looking for touring suggestions with & without Genie +. Safari and Kali River Rapids are definites. Not sure about FOP & Everest for her alone (I don’t do either one, but may push for her to do FOP). Also hoping for a bit of time to walk around, maybe even do Lion King if there’s time.

Appreciate any thoughts!

 

[melking23]

3-day trip with a girlfriend 3rd week of October. Limited days but she’d like to do AK as she’s never been - so planning on a morning there with Nomad Lounge for lunch. Likely a Thurs or Fri.

Coming from VGF so assuming Uber is easiest. What time do we need to be there for resort early entry? Also looking for touring suggestions with & without Genie +. Safari and Kali River Rapids are definites. Not sure about FOP & Everest for her alone (I don’t do either one, but may push for her to do FOP). Also hoping for a bit of time to walk around, maybe even do Lion King if there’s time.

Appreciate any thoughts!

I’d plan on arriving to the park about an hour before official park opening, so at least 30 minutes before early entry. They frequently allow on-site guests in much earlier than the 30 minutes.

 

[Boardwalk III]

I’d plan on arriving to the park about an hour before official park opening, so at least 30 minutes before early entry. They frequently allow on-site guests in much earlier than the 30 minutes.

Thanks so much. It looks like the October week I’m there AK has a 9 am opening so we’ll shoot to arrive around 8 then!

 

[summerlvr]

Thanks so much. It looks like the October week I’m there AK has a 9 am opening so we’ll shoot to arrive around 8 then!

Do keep an eye on park hours as it gets closer to your trip. It's not unusual for opening and closing times to change. You don't want to get there only to find the park has been open for 30-60 minutes!

 

[heathsf]

If I have a park pass at AK (official park opening at 8)
And I schedule my first G+ in DHS (official park opening at 8:30)

When can I book my next G+?
Is it 2 hours after park open in the park I’m currently in or the park where I just made a G+?

 

[CJK]

When can I book my next G+?
Is it 2 hours after park open in the park I’m currently in or the park where I just made a G+?

It's 2hrs after the park opens where you booked your first G+. So in this case, it's 2hrs after DHS opens.

 

[heathsf]

It's 2hrs after the park opens where you booked your first G+. So in this case, it's 2hrs after DHS opens.

Thank you!

 

[TeamSy]

I see people mentioning "refreshing to get the time they want" when it comes to booking a LL. What does this mean? Is it in terms of waiting for a LATER time to pop up or an EARLIER time?

 

[heathsf]

I see people mentioning "refreshing to get the time they want" when it comes to booking a LL. What does this mean? Is it in terms of waiting for a LATER time to pop up or an EARLIER time?

It could be either. Sometimes if you keep refreshing an earlier time can pop up but sometimes it takes time and persistence (and luck!)

 

[TeamSy]

It could be either. Sometimes if you keep refreshing an earlier time can pop up but sometimes it takes time and persistence (and luck!)

For earlier times, does that happen throughout the day or only during that initial 7am rush?

 

[LisaRay]

quick question.
with the new 7:00-7:30 changes can you still see what time you are booking a LL for. For example, based on breakfast ADR we don't want a Tower LL super early but would like to try for 10-11 ish. or even 10-noon ish. is it possible to see what the time is I'm booking when I do it between 7:00-7:30.

 

[SkyGuy]

quick question.
with the new 7:00-7:30 changes can you still see what time you are booking a LL for. For example, based on breakfast ADR we don't want a Tower LL super early but would like to try for 10-11 ish. or even 10-noon ish. is it possible to see what the time is I'm booking when I do it between 7:00-7:30.

Only after you click on the ride selection. It will show you the time, and then you can decide if you want to book it or not.

 

[oneIIIone]

We used G+ our last trip. It was a half week, which was shorter than most of our trips over the years. We also had a first-time visitor with us. The combination of the two meant trying to maximize our time and hit some of the key rides. Otherwise, I think we would have done what some others have mentioned and monitored wait times the first few days and adjusted as we went.

 

[heathsf]

For earlier times, does that happen throughout the day or only during that initial 7am rush?

It can happen throughout the day. During the initial 7am rush I think you're less likely to find times changing to earlier.
There have been reports that Disney does a second drop not long after 7 (I think it was something like 7:17am -- hopefully someone will correct me if I'm wrong on that) but I think it's harder to tell now that the tip board is mostly hidden between 7-7:30.
I suggest watching Ear Scouts youtube videos. He does a great job of explaining the quirks of Genie+.

 

[TinkBink]

For earlier times, does that happen throughout the day or only during that initial 7am rush?

When I when back in May, they used to do additional "drops" for the high demand rides between 7:15 and 8:00 which would mean the time would decrease back to 9 or 10 am and build up later again from there. I have been "practicing" my genie plus strategy for my upcoming September trip and that no longer appears to be the case. The times from 7-7:15 you have to click on for availability (I can't see them because my tickets aren't valid yet) so I have no idea what happens during that time. But at 7:15 I have been able to view the times. I refreshed for almost a full hour for Hollywood Studios and Epcot (I tried this multiple days) and never saw any "drops". There were rare, occasional moments a 10 am or morning slot would open but it would disappear right away which means it was likely just a cancellation from someone else. If you are aiming for an early morning slot, I would hit it right at 7 am. If you are aiming for an evening time, you should be able to get that easily. An additional note however that if you are stacking rides for later in the day, I have still had success in refreshing after a ride is "sold out" for the day and getting an afternoon or evening time pop up so that strategy still works! Hope that's helpful!

 

[holyrita]

When I when back in May, they used to do additional "drops" for the high demand rides between 7:15 and 8:00 which would mean the time would decrease back to 9 or 10 am and build up later again from there. I have been "practicing" my genie plus strategy for my upcoming September trip and that no longer appears to be the case. The times from 7-7:15 you have to click on for availability (I can't see them because my tickets aren't valid yet) so I have no idea what happens during that time. But at 7:15 I have been able to view the times. I refreshed for almost a full hour for Hollywood Studios and Epcot (I tried this multiple days) and never saw any "drops". There were rare, occasional moments a 10 am or morning slot would open but it would disappear right away which means it was likely just a cancellation from someone else. If you are aiming for an early morning slot, I would hit it right at 7 am. If you are aiming for an evening time, you should be able to get that easily. An additional note however that if you are stacking rides for later in the day, I have still had success in refreshing after a ride is "sold out" for the day and getting an afternoon or evening time pop up so that strategy still works! Hope that's helpful!

You used to be able to get an earlier time between 7:10-7:12 am too, as people who originally selected those times would cancel out and they'd return to the pool about 10 minutes later. That no longer seems to be the case either- I have an iPad running an older version of MDE and can still see return times between 7-7:30am (or 7:15am).

 

[Disturbia]

Only after you click on the ride selection. It will show you the time, and then you can decide if you want to book it or not.

Can someone post a screen shot of this? It’s already so stressful planning around ADRs.

You can’t see times on the tip board? Can you see them the day you’re traveling and checking in (park day).

 

[cjlong88]

Can someone post a screen shot of this? It’s already so stressful planning around ADRs.

You can’t see times on the tip board? Can you see them the day you’re traveling and checking in (park day).

The only time you can't see the return times on the Tip Board currently is between 7:00 - 7:30 am daily. The reason they took away the return times during that part of the morning is because the system gets inundated with guests trying to all book their first LL for the same return time that is displayed on the Tip Board. So when the system originally showed you a return time on the Tip Board, you would click that thinking that is what you would get, but the system would modify your return time on the next page (they can't give everyone the 9am return window that is initially shown). So they have removed the return time on the Tip Board for the first 30 minutes of the day to alleviate the disappointment people faced when they saw a 9am return time, clicked it, and then was offered a later return time. I hope that makes sense.

So the inability to see the return time on the Tip Board only happens when you book your very first LL of the day, assuming you book it from 7:00-7:30 am. Any other LL you book your Tip Board will show the return times that are currently offered for each attraction.

 

[Jrb1979]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1557782151340429315

Big changes to Genie+. Stacking for park hopping is now that more difficult