The Genie Usage, Tips and Strategy ONLY Thread

[MGD2007]

When doing an ILL$, about how much time does it take to go through the process before we can get on and try to grab a regular G+? Asking because if I'm going for both a Rise and an SDD.. wondering if it's better to do SDD first, then Rise since SDD is selling out within less than a minute it seems (30 seconds?).

From what I've read, the prevailing wisdom (if you are staying on property), is to grab your G+ selection first, then move onto ILL$ purchases.

 

[GBRforWDW]

On my arrival day, I plan to arrive at HS (my actual first park of the day) around 4pm. I thought it would be smart to schedule another park reservation that day, so Genie would only show me LL return times after 2pm and I wouldn't have watch the LL times as much while I'm enroute to the airport. But now I'm thinking I won't be able to "park hop" to HS if I don't scan in to my first scheduled park that day, correct? My brain is fried!!

correct.
You would be better to just watch the times on genie+ then deal with having to scan into your first park.

Would you be able to hit the international gateway at Epcot, then hit the skyliner or walk back to DHS? Would eat up 20 minutes but would accomplish what you need to do.

 

[MGD2007]

Would you be able to hit the international gateway at Epcot, then hit the skyliner or walk back to DHS? Would eat up 20 minutes but would accomplish what you need to do.

I'm staying at AK Lodge, so probably more trouble than it's worth....would maybe attempt it if I was staying at the Beach Club. Add my voice the the chorus of those who dislike the park reservation system!

 

[Luisfba]

Would you be able to hit the international gateway at Epcot, then hit the skyliner or walk back to DHS? Would eat up 20 minutes but would accomplish what you need to do.

That's actually going to be my plan for my DHS day. Staying at Boardwalk so I think it allows me to start building stacks at DHS with a EC park res, sleep in (well, kids sleep in), leisurely head into EC via the IG, late lunch somewhere on WS, gondola to HS for an afternoon/evening type thing. Seems a lot more fun than doing the rope drop at DHS to have the 1-2 rides + maybe an early LL, but then a big dead zone of LL's until mid afternoon.

 

[katyringo]

Just watched another tik tok with an intersting take on HS..

she said to of course rope drop a must,using the indivual lightning lanes.. but then dedicate your mornings to shows while you stack genie+ for afternoon evening.

probably not my style but an interesting take

 

[lynzi2004]

Which goes first...Navi or Safari? Going to be park hopping there, not sure which one I should book first.

 

[leeniewdw]

Slinky and Rise are insane. Just back from the World on Sunday and did two days at HS.

Day 1: Went for Rise first, got it no issues. Then tried to get SDD, gone by 7:04. Kept refreshing, at 7:10, more times popped up, and I was able to grab 3:30-4:30.

Day 2: Went for SDD first, got it for 3:15-4:15, completely gone by 7:02.

I'll continue to say this, but Genie is a must for HS. Also paid for Rise and MMRR, which made HS an expensive park day, but we nailed everything we wanted in about 6 hours, made it a very pleasant day.

So conventional wisdom would be to book SDD first, then try for ILL$ for Rise? We arrive late next week and have an afternoon/evening at HS, so wanting to try for those if possible. We can be (presuming now flight delays of 4 hours or more!) in HS any time after 1 or 2, but would probably prefer timeslots around 4-5.

 

[MikeandReneePlus5]

Did another experiment today. Both Rise and SDD were gone at 702. I refreshed constantly for 5 minutes. I got 2 slinky to pop up and never got a Rise. Smugglers bounced around, but toward the end of the 5 minutes it was showing not available.

I thought Rise was only available as a LL$ purchase? Are you saying those were gone by 7:02?

 

[Tom_E_D]

Which goes first...Navi or Safari? Going to be park hopping there, not sure which one I should book first.

For at least the last few days, it has been Safaris. I'm basing "goes first" on when it first disappears, even if it temporarily reappears later. Here's a link to Thrill Data's AK page from yesterday. The Lightning Lane Availability Map is the third graph on the page. There are Previous Day and Next Day buttons on the top of the page if you want to check other dates..

 

[twodogs]

Agree 100%. But Disney has already announced that G+ will never sell out. Why leave money on the table, when the whole point is to make as much money as possible?

So if this is the case, the value of G+ degrades terribly just when the guest needs it the most, on a very crowded day. It not only degrades because crowds will overall be higher, but because Disney gives a "relief valve" to guests of spending money on G+ to get around some of the crowds, but they don't limit the number who can purchase G+, thereby making it just an expensive, slightly shorter stand-by-like line, for 1-3 rides per day. I can't imagine people will continue to pay for it if this remains the model, but then again, Disney seems to find a bottomless market no matter what it does.

 

[MikeandReneePlus5]

The naming conventions are HORRIBLE.

Why not just make it "Genie" and "Lightning Lane" to distinguish between the one's you get for $15 app fee and the one's you can buy separately?

What group at Disney sat around a conference table or Zoom call and came up with "Genie+ Lightning Lane" and "Individual Lightning Lane"???

 

[thanxfornoticin]

I thought Rise was only available as a LL$ purchase? Are you saying those were gone by 7:02?

Correct that Rise is only ILL$ or standby right now. And the reports indicated they are bought out by WDW resort guests in a few minutes some days.

 

[thanxfornoticin]

The naming conventions are HORRIBLE.

Why not just make it "Genie" and "Lightning Lane" to distinguish between the one's you get for $15 app fee and the one's you can buy separately?

What group at Disney sat around a conference table or Zoom call and came up with "Genie+ Lightning Lane" and "Individual Lightning Lane"???

Cannot agree more. And don't forget, the update to MDE when this rolled out is called Genie! That's the only free Genie - everything else costs money.

 

[Ldisneygraham]

I’m seeing reports that as of today, genie plus users can’t keep their stacks rolling and are only able to book every 120 minutes. (They can’t rebook once they tap in). Is anyone in the parks today that can confirm?

 

[TikiRob]

I’m seeing reports that as of today, genie plus users can’t keep their stacks rolling and are only able to book every 120 minutes. (They can’t rebook once they tap in). Is anyone in the parks today that can confirm?

I was just starting to understand the rules! I sure hope this isn't true.

 

[elgerber]

I’m seeing reports that as of today, genie plus users can’t keep their stacks rolling and are only able to book every 120 minutes. (They can’t rebook once they tap in). Is anyone in the parks today that can confirm?

I am seeing this all over Facebook.

 

[Mango7100]

I thought Rise was only available as a LL$ purchase? Are you saying those were gone by 7:02?

Yes, Rise is an Individual purchase but it was already gone at 702 when I checked this week. We were there last week (on a supposedly lower crowd time) and Rise sold out well before 8 am both of our HS days. We were able to purchase right after doing our SDD at 7 am, so purchased at about 702-703

 

[lorenae]

I’m seeing reports that as of today, genie plus users can’t keep their stacks rolling and are only able to book every 120 minutes. (They can’t rebook once they tap in). Is anyone in the parks today that can confirm?

I just posted about this, as I didn’t see this. (Sorry to the mods for starting a new thread!). That’s what I’m reading too. Even after tapping in, they couldn’t book another ride for 120 minutes so can’t stack.

 

[TropicalDIS]

So conventional wisdom would be to book SDD first, then try for ILL$ for Rise? We arrive late next week and have an afternoon/evening at HS, so wanting to try for those if possible. We can be (presuming now flight delays of 4 hours or more!) in HS any time after 1 or 2, but would probably prefer timeslots around 4-5.

Definitely go for SDD first, unless you only have 1 day and your absolute priority is Rise. But if you want to do both, go with SDD first. The next thing about booking Rise is you can choose your time.

 

[TropicalDIS]

When doing an ILL$, about how much time does it take to go through the process before we can get on and try to grab a regular G+? Asking because if I'm going for both a Rise and an SDD.. wondering if it's better to do SDD first, then Rise since SDD is selling out within less than a minute it seems (30 seconds?).

My other issue is on arrival day I would love SDD but it would have to be 6pm or later for it to work. My strategy was going to be to wait some time (15 seconds?) to refresh and grab whatever shows then. Then if I get shut out then just get MFSR. Then move on to ROTR.

Not long, as long as you have a credit card linked to your card, the process is pretty quick. Do SDD first, it's a little tougher than Rise because you cannot choose your time. When I did it my second day, I could have gotten 9:15 am, but I knew I couldn't be at the park that early, so I waited a couple seconds, refreshed, and SDD was already at 4:15. It goes fast.

Don't worry about MFSR, that will be there. SDD than ROTR than MFSR.