The Genie Usage, Tips and Strategy ONLY Thread

[mggeary]

Forgive me if already answered. We will likely take pool breaks from around 12-4ish, then park hop. When we begin grabbing our afternoon G+ stacks, can we choose a time later than 2pm or does it always just default to 2pm. Are we able to refresh to get different afternoon times? Is it possible to later modify time from 2pm to 4pm? If not is it better to book and later cancel/rebook? Or just wait and book later when return times are 4pm-?

 

[SmittS]

We’ll be in the parks starting on Thanksgiving at MK. We probably won’t get in until early afternoon and the focus will be dinner and fireworks, so we’ll probably first trial G+ on Friday.

We plan to start in Epcot (have park reservation) then hop to HS later in the day and want to ride SDD. If I understand the stacking correctly, I’m thinking my plan goes like this:

7am - Go for Remy BG
After 7 am - Refresh G+ Until I get a later afternoon slot for SDD, say…4 PM
At 11 am, 2 hours after HS opening, book G+ LL for first Epcot ride.
Assuming first G+LL at Epcot is before 1 pm, tap into first ride then book additional G+LL for Epcot.
Do this for Epcot rides until ready to leave. I will try to book a HS G+LL at 1:30 for a slot later in the afternoon/evening.
I will now have two G+LL for HS - SDD at 4pm and another for later.
At 3:30 (2 hours after booking the second HS G+LL), book a 3rd.
At 4-ish, tap into SDD, then book a replacement G+LL (back up to 3 at this point).

Am I understanding this right?

 

[leeniewdw]

Forgive me if already answered. We will likely take pool breaks from around 12-4ish, then park hop.
When we begin grabbing our afternoon G+ stacks, can we choose a time later than 2pm or does it always just default to 2pm.

It would depend on that day (and ride) and if there are already enough LLs reserved that it's pushed beyond 2pm. You can't choose a later time.

Are we able to refresh to get different afternoon times?
Is it possible to later modify time from 2pm to 4pm?
If not is it better to book and later cancel/rebook?
Or just wait and book later when return times are 4pm-?

People have reported that refreshing (before final booking the LL) has yielded earlier times.

There is no "modify", only cancel and rebook (take your chances).

Waiting is always an option, but would require checking/re-checking.

I think it will vary greatly depending on the park and the crowd level.

 

[aeasterling]

I would say today was a successful use of Genie Plus for us. Me, husband and 15 year old daughter. We had a 12:20 ADR for CRT - family joke is we went when daughter was 5, but she doesn't remember so this was her do-over. We wanted to sleep in this morning.

11:10 - made a 12:50 LL for PPF
1:10 (during lunch) made 1:15 LL for BTMR
1:20 joined PPF LL queue - 8 min wait, the only LL we didn't walk on
After tapped into PPF, made IASW LL
After tapped into IASW, made Splash LL
After tapped into BTMR, made LM LL
After tapped into Splash, made Buzz LL
Rode LM (Didn't select another LL b/c we planned to leave soon)
rode Buzz at 3:15, then husband and I rode COP (I love this ride, fight me!) while daughter rode Space twice (sign said 20 min standby, more like 10).
Then headed back to our hotel to get ready for dinner at Sanaa

So in 2.5 hours, we rode all of that without waiting at all, except 8 min for PPF. Granted, standby wasn't terrible, especially since it was raining. But we still couldn't have gotten 6 rides done in this time without it. For me, I'd say it's worth it at MK, as long as the constant booking doesn't stress you out. I found it fun- sort of a game, but I love planning!

 

[leeniewdw]

We’ll be in the parks starting on Thanksgiving at MK. We probably won’t get in until early afternoon and the focus will be dinner and fireworks, so we’ll probably first trial G+ on Friday.

We plan to start in Epcot (have park reservation) then hop to HS later in the day and want to ride SDD. If I understand the stacking correctly, I’m thinking my plan goes like this:

7am - Go for Remy BG
After 7 am - Refresh G+ Until I get a later afternoon slot for SDD, say…4 PM
At 11 am, 2 hours after HS opening, book G+ LL for first Epcot ride.
Assuming first G+LL at Epcot is before 1 pm, tap into first ride then book additional G+LL for Epcot.
Do this for Epcot rides until ready to leave. I will try to book a HS G+LL at 1:30 for a slot later in the afternoon/evening.
I will now have two G+LL for HS - SDD at 4pm and another for later.
At 3:30 (2 hours after booking the second HS G+LL), book a 3rd.
At 4-ish, tap into SDD, then book a replacement G+LL (back up to 3 at this point).

Am I understanding this right?

I'm not 100% sure I'm following your plan, but I think you will run into an issue if you book a pre-1pm EPCOT LL, tap into that, and then try again at 1:30. Tapping into the ride would push your next time to reserve to "tap in time" + 2 hours.

I think it would work better to reserve the HS LL at 1pm, THEN tap into the ride reserved at 11am (at which point you can book that slot again). Of course, depending on when you got to EPCOT, you might have a long time w/o an LLs.

 

[SmittS]

I'm not 100% sure I'm following your plan, but I think you will run into an issue if you book a pre-1pm EPCOT LL, tap into that, and then try again at 1:30. Tapping into the ride would push your next time to reserve to "tap in time" + 2 hours.

I think it would work better to reserve the HS LL at 1pm, THEN tap into the ride reserved at 11am (at which point you can book that slot again). Of course, depending on when you got to EPCOT, you might have a long time w/o an LLs.

Hmmm. This is the first I’ve heard of this. Everything I’ve read is you can booked your next LL after tapping into a LL, or two hours after you made your last LL reservation, whichever is sooner. I haven’t seen anything about tap in time plus two hours.

 

[Tiggr88]

Hmmm. This is the first I’ve heard of this. Everything I’ve read is you can booked your next LL after tapping into a LL, or two hours after you made your last LL reservation, whichever is sooner. I haven’t seen anything about tap in time plus two hours.

You should be able to reserve a new G+ after you have tapped into an existing one, regardless of the two hours. It is either/or.

 

[DisneyKidds]

Yeah, “tap in time + 2 hours” isn’t a thing. Once you tap in for any LL reservation G+ (or that Stack, if you are Stacking) is hot. Once tapped in you can immediately make another.

The 120 minute thing is a cooling off period that only applies if 1) a LL you reserved is more than 2 hours in the future, or 2) two hours after park opening IF you already have a G+LL reserved and the return window extends beyond 2 hours after park open.

Someone please tell me I got that right!

 

[mggeary]

If you have set up an afternoon park hop triple stack for between 2-4pm, but then want to arrive later, can you cancel each and rebook to later times (assuming available) without losing any of the stack? (I guess I’m asking if the process of canceling a G+ resets the 120 min cool down).

 

[AnnaKristoff2013]

If you have set up an afternoon park hop triple stack for between 2-4pm, but then want to arrive later, can you cancel each and rebook to later times (assuming available) without losing any of the stack? (I guess I’m asking if the process of canceling a G+ resets the 120 min cool down).

So long as you book a new one before cancelling the next one. Basically if you cancel a G+ when you already could have made a G+ selection then you’ll lose that stack.

 

[aeasterling]

If you have set up an afternoon park hop triple stack for between 2-4pm, but then want to arrive later, can you cancel each and rebook to later times (assuming available) without losing any of the stack? (I guess I’m asking if the process of canceling a G+ resets the 120 min cool down).

I tried that this week. If you cancel a reservation, you will lose that "stack". So let's say you reserve A1 at 7 and B1 at 10. You could reserve A2 as soon as you use one and B2 after you use the other. But if you were to cancel B1 before you use either, you then can't schedule another until you use A1.

 

[PepperjackDragon]

If you have set up an afternoon park hop triple stack for between 2-4pm, but then want to arrive later, can you cancel each and rebook to later times (assuming available) without losing any of the stack? (I guess I’m asking if the process of canceling a G+ resets the 120 min cool down).

As long as you are using all your available reservations then when you cancel one you can rebook it. Just don’t cancel two at the same time, book the first then cancel the second.

 

[DisneyKidds]

As long as you are using all your available reservations then when you cancel one you can rebook it. Just don’t cancel two at the same time, book the first then cancel the second.

I don’t know. Sounds to me like cancelling and rebooking times under a Triple Hop Stack might be Master’s Level Stacking. Somehow I think I’ll be happy just to achieve a basic Triple Hop Stack. Not sure I wanna go for the advanced degree on that….

 

[aeasterling]

As long as you are using all your available reservations then when you cancel one you can rebook it. Just don’t cancel two at the same time, book the first then cancel the second.

Have you tried this? I did it yesterday in EPCOT and once I cancelled one and still had one active, it wouldn't let me get another one.

 

[dmunsil]

Have you tried this? I did it yesterday in EPCOT and once I cancelled one and still had one active, it wouldn't let me get another one.

I did test this earlier this week, and for me, canceling a reservation always got me another. But perhaps there’s something subtly different about the way I was doing it, or perhaps they tweaked the rules between when I tried and you tried.

 

[mggeary]

As long as you are using all your available reservations then when you cancel one you can rebook it. Just don’t cancel two at the same time, book the first then cancel the second.

Hmm….so in this example:

Book A1 at park 1 (9am open) for 11-12. At 11:00 book B1 for 2-3 at park 2. Tap into A1 at 11:05 and book A2 for 2:30-3:30 at park 2. At 1:05, book C1 for 3-4 at park 2.

Back to resort/pool; Realize not making it to park 2 till 5pm. Currently have at park 2:
B1 2-3
A2 2:30-3:30
C1 3-4

1). If at 2pm I try from pool to cancel B1 and rebook it for a later time, can I? (my cool down period otherwise doesn’t end till 3:05). If yes, can I then cancel and rebook A2 for a later time? And again for C1?

2) If I waiit till 3:05, I can then book D1. If I try to cancel and rebook B1 for a later time after this, will I be able to?

 

[PepperjackDragon]

Hmm….so in this example:

Book A1 at park 1 (9am open) for 11-12. At 11:00 book B1 for 2-3 at park 2. Tap into A1 at 11:05 and book A2 for 2:30-3:30 at park 2. At 1:05, book C1 for 3-4 at park 2.

Back to resort/pool; Realize not making it to park 2 till 5pm. Currently have at park 2:
B1 2-3
A2 2:30-3:30
C1 3-4

1). If at 2pm I try from pool to cancel B1 and rebook it for a later time, can I? (my cool down period otherwise doesn’t end till 3:05). If yes, can I then cancel and rebook A2 for a later time? And again for C1?

2) If I waiit till 3:05, I can then book D1. If I try to cancel and rebook B1 for a later time after this, will I be able to?

you can (as of last week). It’s really fairly simple.
1: if you are currently eligible to book a LL then that is that. You won’t get any “extras” no matter how long you wait.

2: you are only eligible to book one LL at any give moment. So if you already have the ability to book a LL and then cancel one of your LL, you won’t have the ability to book two- you will only be able to book one. You can hold multiple reservations, but you are only eligible to book one at a time.

3. the two hour window starts when you book a ride, not before. So if you log in and change a reservation time you also restart the two hour window.

4: if you are ineligible to book a LL and then cancel you can book one.

5: if you are ineligible to book for two hours then you can book one.
.

It’s really all pretty easy in practice. The only tricky part is to plan the timing of your first and second reservations based on if you want to stack two or three LL at once. Only doing one at a time all day would be a waste imo, unless you were only going to be at the parks in the AM-in which case it all depends on how busy it is and if any genie slots will be available for you to pick up. Generally speaking it is obviously less efficient to use one at a time throughout the AM. That might not be true during major holidays, but only if it is so busy that the entire LL system breaks down

 

[ckelly14]

Let's say I forgo stacking in the PM. I book a 10AM LL for pirates at 7 AM. Will I be able to book another LL at 9 no matter when they are available or do the 2 LL need to be spread apart and not overlap?

 

[Orsino]

Let's say I forgo stacking in the PM. I book a 10AM LL for pirates at 7 AM. Will I be able to book another LL at 9 no matter when they are available or do the 2 LL need to be spread apart and not overlap?

For this example you will not be able to book at 9am because you are not yet eligible for another LL.

 

[DisneyKidds]

Let's say I forgo stacking in the PM. I book a 10AM LL for pirates at 7 AM. Will I be able to book another LL at 9 no matter when they are available or do the 2 LL need to be spread apart and not overlap?

You wouldn’t be eligible to book the next LL reservation until 1) you tap into your 10am LL (no cooling off), or 2) 11am (two hours after park open cooling off), assuming you have not tapped into your 10am, thereby creating a stack. If you do this and create a stack it does not matter when the second LL return is….it could be before, during, or after the window for the first.