The Genie Usage, Tips and Strategy ONLY Thread

[morganms22]

We are just returning today and we used Genie+ the entire trip. We were not going to purchase it originally, but with a toddler in tow it made sense for us.
We were trying to fit in park time along with being there for Destination D. We rode most everything we wanted minus a few rides. We did not strategize much since it was a last second decision to use it. There was one day where the app was showing certain times to book and when paying, but would confirm after booking for different time. Then, It just went down completely. It did eventually come back up. So, that day was a bit of a headache. We waited about the same as when we had Fast Pass. Already considering strategies for next time!

 

[570traveler]

I’m here now. I will say that today when I “thought” I’d be able to book again (based on the past 3 days), I was not. previously I could book after tapping into the ride, but several times today I would get a message saying I was not eligible (and the time would be 2 hours after I booked the last one).
I was able to hold more than one pass, but I did start booking for a 2nd park before I left the first.
I’ll try to record the times tomorrow. We are planning DHS then hop to Epcot because there’s been no times left by noon and the lines are just too long for us!

 

[CJK]

Thanks for all the explanations on this thread. I'm trying to understand today's change. I truly am! I'm just not totally clear on when you can book another LL with the recent changes. Here's two scenarios, both beginning in the same way. Let's say we are going to DHS after lunch. We can book 3 LL's (one at 7am, one at 11am and one at 1pm). Okay, I get that. Here's where it gets fuzzy.

Scenario#1
We were able to book our 3 LL's at 2pm, 3pm & 4pm (hypothetically). When would I be able to get a new LL? After scanning into the 3pm LL?

Scenario #2
We were able to book our 3 LL's at 2pm, 3pm & 6pm (hypothetically). When would I be able to get a new LL? My dh is thinking 5pm, but I don't know why he says that?

 

[lorenae]

Maybe the new rule is this:

You can make a new LL reservation when you scan in for an existing LL reservation, UNLESS you have another unused LL reservation still in the system. In that case, you cannot make a new LL reservation until either (1) you scan in for your final existing reservation, or (2) 120 minutes from when you last made an LL reservation.

Is this what is happening?

Maybe- that’s what it seems like right now anyway.

 

[g-dad66]

Thanks for all the explanations on this thread. I'm trying to understand today's change. I truly am! I'm just not totally clear on when you can book another LL with the recent changes. Here's two scenarios, both beginning in the same way. Let's say we are going to DHS after lunch. We can book 3 LL's (one at 7am, one at 11am and one at 1pm). Okay, I get that. Here's where it gets fuzzy.

Scenario#1
We were able to book our 3 LL's at 2pm, 3pm & 4pm (hypothetically). When would I be able to get a new LL? After scanning into the 3pm LL?

Scenario #2
We were able to book our 3 LL's at 2pm, 3pm & 6pm (hypothetically). When would I be able to get a new LL? My dh is thinking 5pm, but I don't know why he says that?

I think all will become clear on this in the next week or so.

My condolences to those genie-pigs who are currently at WDW having to contend with this.

 

[AnnaKristoff2013]

Maybe- that’s what it seems like right now anyway.

If this is what is happening then this really is an even crappier system then first debuted. It’s watered down so it’s not particularly useful for anyone. They would have been better off just going back to ride tiers like with fastpasses to force people in DHS to go to the shows.

 

[princesswahooey]

We've spent all this time learning the new system and I think they just flipped it to be more like Maxpass was. Maybe even think of it like the old paper fastpass. It's very linear.

You select a LL. If it is less than 2 hours away, you can redeem & get another as soon as that one is done.

If your return time is over 2 hours away, you can select another LL after 2 hours. But once you tap into that original selection, you don't get to pick a "next" one because you already picked your "next one" at the 2 hour mark.

Here's a very convoluted Example:

7:00am you pick SDD for 3:00-4:00pm (LL#1)

At 11:00 (120 from open) you pick TSMM for 1:30-2:30pm (LL#2)

At 1:00 you are eligible to pick again (120 min). You choose Aliens for 2:30-3:30pm (LL#3)

(At this point you have stacked 3, but you will not get to "roll" each stack. Here's why

At 2:00 you tap into TSMM, but you are not eligible to pick again, b/c it is LL#2, and you already picked LL#3.

At 2:30 you tap into Aliens and are eligible to book again, SINCE THIS IS LL#3 and you haven't picked #4 yet. You pick Star Tours for 5:00-6:00pm (LL#4)

At 4:00 you tap into SDD, but you can't select a new LL b/c this was LL#1 and you already picked LL#2.

At 4:30 (120 minutes since you booked LL#4) you can select again if there's anything left. You maybe refresh and score RnR for 7:30-8:30pm return (LL#5).

At 5:00, you tap into Star Tours, but are not eligible to book because that was LL#4 and you already picked #5.

At 6:30 you could then try for LL#6 (120 rule)

Hopefully this helps you visualize what I presume is happening.

 

[dmunsil]

Thanks for all the explanations on this thread. I'm trying to understand today's change. I truly am! I'm just not totally clear on when you can book another LL with the recent changes. Here's two scenarios, both beginning in the same way. Let's say we are going to DHS after lunch. We can book 3 LL's (one at 7am, one at 11am and one at 1pm). Okay, I get that. Here's where it gets fuzzy.

First off, we really don't know exactly what change Disney did. I think I have a good guess based on the least-histrionic posts on Facebook that seem to have documented clearly what they tested and how. But there are a few options. Here are the top two contenders:

A. You get a reservation after you tap into a ride, only if you tap in before that ride's eligibility time would have arrived. This is my guess, largely because it would be a very simple change to the system behind the scenes. A tiny bit of math and one extra test in the main code path.

B. You get a reservation after you tap into a ride, ONLY if you don't already have a ride booked already in the future. Several folks on Facebook are suggesting this, but I don't think anyone has a clear reason why they think it, other than it kind of makes intuitive sense. I think it's unlikely because it would be a bit more complicated for Disney to implement in terms of database accesses.

I'm an old systems engineer, so my preference for A may just be my bias showing. It's certainly totally doable either way. I've seen at least one report that clearly contradicts B, but you have to take these reports with a grain of salt, since usually people are reporting what they remember, hours after the fact in their hotel room. It's super easy to misremember a time or something. So we just don't know.

Scenario#1
We were able to book our 3 LL's at 2pm, 3pm & 4pm (hypothetically). When would I be able to get a new LL? After scanning into the 3pm LL?

It depends on which of these you booked last at 1pm. If you booked the 4pm one at 1pm (and the other two at 7 and 11), then you will have to wait until 3pm (2 hours after your last booking), because under either rule A or B, you don't get to book after tapping in to the 2pm reservation.

If you booked the 2pm one at 1pm, then it depends on whether A or B is the right answer (or maybe some other algorithm C we haven't thought of). Under rule A, you can book as soon as you tap into the 2pm booking, since it's inside that booking's eligibility time. Under rule B, you couldn't book until 3pm (2 hours after you last booked), because you still have a booking outstanding.

Scenario #2
We were able to book our 3 LL's at 2pm, 3pm & 6pm (hypothetically). When would I be able to get a new LL? My dh is thinking 5pm, but I don't know why he says that?

Same answer as above. 5pm is clearly wrong, because the under any system anyone has proposed, the longest you would ever have to wait between bookings is 2 hours. No matter what, you'll be able to book at 3pm.

 

[dmunsil]

We've spent all this time learning the new system and I think they just flipped it to be more like Maxpass was. Maybe even think of it like the old paper fastpass. It's very linear.

You select a LL. If it is less than 2 hours away, you can redeem & get another as soon as that one is done.

If your return time is over 2 hours away, you can select another LL after 2 hours. But once you tap into that original selection, you don't get to pick a "next" one because you already picked your "next one" at the 2 hour mark.

- Example clipped -

I think this seems right. I'm just describing it as an algorithm, because that's how I think. It's almost exactly the way classic FastPass used to work. You get another FastPass once your existing one comes up, or 2 hours, whichever is earlier. You don't get both.

 

[AnnaKristoff2013]

You get a reservation after you tap into a ride, only if you tap in before that ride's eligibility time would have arrived

What do you mean by this?

 

[Luisfba]

We've spent all this time learning the new system and I think they just flipped it to be more like Maxpass was. Maybe even think of it like the old paper fastpass. It's very linear.

You select a LL. If it is less than 2 hours away, you can redeem & get another as soon as that one is done.

If your return time is over 2 hours away, you can select another LL after 2 hours. But once you tap into that original selection, you don't get to pick a "next" one because you already picked your "next one" at the 2 hour mark.

Here's a very convoluted Example:

7:00am you pick SDD for 3:00-4:00pm (LL#1)

At 11:00 (120 from open) you pick TSMM for 1:30-2:30pm (LL#2)

At 1:00 you are eligible to pick again (120 min). You choose Aliens for 2:30-3:30pm (LL#3)

(At this point you have stacked 3, but you will not get to "roll" each stack. Here's why

At 2:00 you tap into TSMM, but you are not eligible to pick again, b/c it is LL#2, and you already picked LL#3.

At 2:30 you tap into Aliens and are eligible to book again, SINCE THIS IS LL#3 and you haven't picked #4 yet. You pick Star Tours for 5:00-6:00pm (LL#4)

At 4:00 you tap into SDD, but you can't select a new LL b/c this was LL#1 and you already picked LL#2.

At 4:30 (120 minutes since you booked LL#4) you can select again if there's anything left. You maybe refresh and score RnR for 7:30-8:30pm return (LL#5).

At 5:00, you tap into Star Tours, but are not eligible to book because that was LL#4 and you already picked #5.

At 6:30 you could then try for LL#6 (120 rule)

Hopefully this helps you visualize what I presume is happening.

From reading through the various reports, I agree with your interpretation. It also makes sense with what I think they intended in the first place before we found all the 'hacks'.

 

[katyringo]

From reading through the various reports, I agree with your interpretation. It also makes sense with what I think they intended in the first place before we found all the 'hacks'.

Use what you have first or every 2 hours- whichever comes first.

 

[princesswahooey]

I think this seems right. I'm just describing it as an algorithm, because that's how I think. It's almost exactly the way classic FastPass used to work. You get another FastPass once your existing one comes up, or 2 hours, whichever is earlier. You don't get both.

I like the way your programming brain works. I never would have wrapped my head around the original (pre-today) Genie+ if it had not been for your breakdowns.

 

[g-dad66]

You get a reservation after you tap into a ride, only if you tap in before that ride's eligibility time would have arrived

What do you mean by this?

I'll take a stab at this (and I'll probably be wrong)

It means "Only if you tap in before 2 hours have elapsed since you booked that particular LL"

You are now eligible to book again earlier than 2 hours.

But if you tap in after 2 hours since you booked it, it doesn't give you a new eligibility. You were already eligible 2 hours after you booked it.

As others have said, eligiblity is either (1) when you tap in, or (2) after 2 hours, WHICHEVER COMES FIRST, and you don't get both.

I think I'm almost starting to get my head wrapped around this (if this in fact is the nature of the change).

 

[Juventus]

I wonder how many used this concurrant stack method and, if it has been eliminated, what kind of affect it will have on LL pass availability tomorrow.

 

[buckeyeguy1]

Thought I had this all figured out. But think they changed the rules.

Today was the first time purchasing G+. We were at MK.

- 7a I made first LL for Pirates at 10a-11a.

- 10a I made our second LL reservation for BLSS at 1p. (MK opened at 8a today) at this point we had a total of 2 LL.

-10:02a we tapped into Pirates. Tried to make another LL and it said I couldn’t until 12p. I thought there may have been a slight delay but got off the ride and tried again. Still said I couldn’t book until noon. I immediately canceled BLSS and rebooked it (oddly enough) for 10:20a. Just for giggles, I tried to book another one, but it said I had to wait until the 120 min mark.

-11:00a we tapped into BLSS.

-11:10ish am just after we got off the ride we booked an 11:50 for LM.

-12p tapped into LM.

-12:15p I booked a Alien SS at HS for 7:50p. I had never really paid attention to anything prior to today on how G+ works with park hopping, but when I made the LL the app said it booked my late LL at that time due to park hopping. Later on I started playing with genie and found how to let it know at what time I was going to switch parks.

We went back to the resort for a little while and around 2:30p or so I tried to see what LL I could get. Pretty much only thing left was Muppets and Frozen Sing Along.

I think we’re back mostly to the old FP+ system after you used your first 3 with the caveats of:
1) Being able to add another after 120 min if you didn’t book anything else.
2) Have multiple LL scheduled in the same time block.
3) Ability to park hop.

If I have it figured out, I think this process is a little easier to understand. However I can’t see buying this everyday.

 

[AnnaKristoff2013]

I wonder if they also closed the loophole on making a new lightning lane after the ride expired, tapping in during the grace period, and then making another.

 

[g-dad66]

I wonder how many used this concurrant stack method and, if it has been eliminated, what kind of affect it will have on LL pass availability tomorrow.

If it was in effect today, from what I saw of LL availability today, it doesn't seem to have made any improvement.

 

[cgattis]

Something I’m not seeing anybody else mention is the terrible cell and WiFi signals inside a lot of the ride buildings. If you get stuck in a queue for an hour with no signal, it can really hose your “tap and book” routine. If anyone is compiling tips, I’d add a recommendation/reminder to book your next one before you enter any show building. That killed my Epcot day.

 

[AnnaKristoff2013]

Something I’m not seeing anybody else mention is the terrible cell and WiFi signals inside a lot of the ride buildings. If you get stuck in a queue for an hour with no signal, it can really hose your “tap and book” routine. If anyone is compiling tips, I’d add a recommendation/reminder to book your next one before you enter any show building. That killed my Epcot day.

Having watched a lot of resort tv 1 streaming, I don’t think there are really large areas that have neither a wifi signal or a cell signal, and certainly not for large segments of queues.