The Genie Usage, Tips and Strategy ONLY Thread

[wisblue]

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 would not be able to book another LL until you use or cancel the one for POC. The two hours period does not begin to run until the park opens at 9. If you let the one for POC expire without using it you could book another at 11.

 

[DisneyKidds]

You would not be able to book another LL until you use or cancel the one for POC. The two hours period does not begin to run until the park opens at 9. If you let the one for POC expire without using it you could book another at 11.

A 10am LL return has at least a 14 minute grace period, right? Does this mean if unused it won’t cancel until 11:15…..or will it cancel but they’ll just let you on if you show up within the grace period? When you show up to a LL during a grace period does Mickey still turn green? Either way, if you don’t use or cancel the first LL (with immediate booking availability after you do) you would next be eligible at 11am. The key concept here is are you able to utilize the LL grace period in your stacking strategy timing?

 

[PepperjackDragon]

i don’t think it will work because

A 10am LL return has at least a 14 minute grace period, right? Does this mean if unused it won’t cancel until 11:15…..or will it cancel but they’ll just let you on if you show up within the grace period? When you show up to a LL during a grace period does Mickey still turn green?

I doubt it will work because in the app it will say you are ineligible to book until 11am. So at 11am you will become eligible. The question is, can you book your second and then still use pirates in that 15 minutes AND it still considers that a regular use, immediately allowing you to rebook? No way to know until someone tries to do it I guess. Better to delay a second on pirates and book a 10:10am or something.

 

[DisneyKidds]

Better to delay a second on pirates and book a 10:10am or something.

Most definitely, if your intention is to do a morning double stack. If the grace period counts as part of the official LL return window (i.e. if Mickey turns green when you tap at 11:09 for your 10:00 PoC LL) it just gives a little more wiggle room in stack timing.

 

[leeniewdw]

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.

Sorry, I misread your post I think. I also knew that on Monday I thought I understood everything and if I didn't do a daily mental exercise I'd start to lose parts of that understanding! I've realized that if I don't literally write it out in a spreadsheet I have, I can't really visualize the progression of times/LLs. Sorry if I added confusion!

 

[wisblue]

A 10am LL return has at least a 14 minute grace period, right? Does this mean if unused it won’t cancel until 11:15…..or will it cancel but they’ll just let you on if you show up within the grace period? When you show up to a LL during a grace period does Mickey still turn green? Either way, if you don’t use or cancel the first LL (with immediate booking availability after you do) you would next be eligible at 11am. The key concept here is are you able to utilize the LL grace period in your stacking strategy timing?

I don’t know this for sure, but I think the system just triggers off of the official end time, not including the grace period.

I think if you don’t cancel the 10AM LL you could book a new one at 11 (2 hours after the 9 AM opening, which is treated as the booking time of the first LL).

This example might be less confusing if it started with a LL reservation that wasn’t at exactly 10-11 because it jumbles the question of whether the 11 AM booking is allowed because of the 2 hour rule, or the expiration of the first LL.

I would expect that you could still use the 10AM one before 11:15, but maybe someone who has actually tried this can weigh in.

If I were trying to stack I wouldn’t want to cut it that close.

My tentative plan for MK is to get a LL for Jungle Cruise for about 11:10 because the return time for JC (and the length of the standby line) goes out faster than the other attractions we would try to do in the morning, Then we could book something at 11 before we go on JC, then another after riding JC, and our stack would be in place. We would just ride standby from EE until 11 because standby lines for BTMRR, Splash, POC, and HM are usually manageable during those first two hours., We would do either 7DMT or Space and Buzz during the EE period.

 

[DisneyKidds]

I don’t know this for sure, but I think the system just triggers off of the official end time, not including the grace period.

If I were trying to stack I wouldn’t want to cut it that close.

Agreed. IF we use G+ it will be primarily for hop stacking and I’ll do my best to avoid having to worry about nuances such as how grace periods affect booking eligibility…..but it would be interesting to know. I think some bloggers need to go back again to test some such nuances!

 

[DisneyKidds]

My tentative plan for MK is to get a LL for Jungle Cruise for about 11:10 because the return time for JC (and the length of the standby line) goes out faster than the other attractions we would try to do in the morning, Then we could book something at 11 before we go on JC, then another after riding JC, and our stack would be in place. We would just ride standby from EE until 11 because standby lines for BTMRR, Splash, POC, and HM are usually manageable during those first two hours., We would do either 7DMT or Space and Buzz during the EE period.

Solid plan. I’m thinking I may primarily try triple stacks (w/hopping) so before park open book the first with a return extending past 1:00, then another at 11am, then another at 1pm (before we use the first). We’ll see…..

 

[PepperjackDragon]

Solid plan. I’m thinking I may primarily try triple stacks (w/hopping) so before park open book the first with a return extending past 1:00, then another at 11am, then another at 1pm (before we use the first). We’ll see…..

Alternatively, if you are going to be in a park in the am, you could use a single LL until 10am, then book a 12 noon in park one. At 12 do your second LL for park two before tapping in then a second park two immediately after tapping in.

That would allow you to have LL at your original park from open-10am and another at 12 (if you can find one for that time slot) and still be able to triple stack starting at 2pm. Your this one will be pushed back a bit but realistically it takes time to get in the park and ride your first two LL so it would likely still work out well.

Only reason I can think of that you wouldn’t want to do that is to pick up a hard to get LL in park 2 that would be sold out or have much later time after 2pm.

 

[Ldisneygraham]

Will genie + let you book 2 lightning lanes at a time if you split your party to do two different attractions? Say my husband and son want to ride rockin roller coaster and my girls and I want to ride toy story mania at similar lightning lane times…will it allow that? Or would one party have to scan in before booking what the rest want?

 

[ComeToSocialize]

Does anyone else think the stacking is a loophole that Disney unintentionally created? I feel like someone coded it where after you tap into a ride, you are always eligible to make a new G+ selection, without considering fact that someone might have just booked a G+ using the 2 hour rule. You shouldn't be able to make 2 bookings so close to one another. My guess is someone just screwed up and this will get changed at some point. Maxpass didn't work this way (though had 90 minute rule, which would've made this even more powerful).

 

[elgerber]

Will genie + let you book 2 lightning lanes at a time if you split your party to do two different attractions? Say my husband and son want to ride rockin roller coaster and my girls and I want to ride toy story mania at similar lightning lane times…will it allow that? Or would one party have to scan in before booking what the rest want?

I don't see why not, you select your party when you book, so just select the people for each ride.

 

[DisneyKidds]

Will genie + let you book 2 lightning lanes at a time if you split your party to do two different attractions? Say my husband and son want to ride rockin roller coaster and my girls and I want to ride toy story mania at similar lightning lane times…will it allow that?

Yes

 

[Turksmom]

Will genie + let you book 2 lightning lanes at a time if you split your party to do two different attractions? Say my husband and son want to ride rockin roller coaster and my girls and I want to ride toy story mania at similar lightning lane times…will it allow that? Or would one party have to scan in before booking what the rest want?

You select your party for each ride, just like with FP+, so you can book separately.

 

[leeniewdw]

Does anyone else think the stacking is a loophole that Disney unintentionally created? I feel like someone coded it where after you tap into a ride, you are always eligible to make a new G+ selection, without considering fact that someone might have just booked a G+ using the 2 hour rule. You shouldn't be able to make 2 bookings so close to one another. My guess is someone just screwed up and this will get changed at some point. Maxpass didn't work this way (though had 90 minute rule, which would've made this even more powerful).

It seems extremely unlikely that Disney IT did not go thru all of the Use Case scenarios. They may decide this does not support their capacity and ride throughput, but I can't believe they didn't realize.

If someone opts not to park hop and stack, they might be able to churn thru a ton of LL back to back to back, something the "stacker" is not doing. To me (which is worth $0), this allows both styles of touring to be used. In my hypothetical park hopping day, I go thru several periods of not having/using LLs. First 2 hours of park opening plus a 2 hour mid day break. I suspect someone grabbing/riding LLs for those 4+ hours could surely ride the same # of rides I've stacked.

 

[snikki]

Does anyone else think the stacking is a loophole that Disney unintentionally created? I feel like someone coded it where after you tap into a ride, you are always eligible to make a new G+ selection, without considering fact that someone might have just booked a G+ using the 2 hour rule. You shouldn't be able to make 2 bookings so close to one another. My guess is someone just screwed up and this will get changed at some point. Maxpass didn't work this way (though had 90 minute rule, which would've made this even more powerful).

IMO I don't think so. They need something to entice people to buy park hopper tickets. Also those people that are stacking in the PM are freeing up morning LL which is how most people will go about their day with G+. I think most guests will book AM LL and book one after another throughout the day and not stack. If it doesn't work for Disney they will change it up.

 

[maichan]

It may need another 'or'. Or if your time runs out for an existing selection. In theory you can make a G+ for 9-10AM and even if you don't tp in, you will be able to make another at 10. If you do, you will not be able to make another at 11, just as if you had tapped in and had to wait. Not sure why anyone would do that, you should probably cancel the first for reasons explained above, but technically you will be able to select another efter your window has expired if you don't tap in.

So I had this happen to me this week. I managed to snag a 9am LL for Slinky Dog, but it wouldn't let me book another until 10am. I had tapped in just after 9 but the system still wouldn't let me book my next LL until 10am. It might be that they were not using the second tap-in that morning. I actually tried to use it anyway (given reports that the second tap was needed) but we were rushed through the queue before it could turn green. Luckily, it was a low crowd day at HS, and I still managed to construct the stack I wanted at 10am and noon without any problems.

 

[ComeToSocialize]

It seems extremely unlikely that Disney IT did not go thru all of the Use Case scenarios. They may decide this does not support their capacity and ride throughput, but I can't believe they didn't realize.

If someone opts not to park hop and stack, they might be able to churn thru a ton of LL back to back to back, something the "stacker" is not doing. To me (which is worth $0), this allows both styles of touring to be used. In my hypothetical park hopping day, I go thru several periods of not having/using LLs. First 2 hours of park opening plus a 2 hour mid day break. I suspect someone grabbing/riding LLs for those 4+ hours could surely ride the same # of rides I've stacked.

Your faith in Disney IT is greater than mine .

I live in CA so really only go to DLR, so am basing this off my experience there with Maxpass. I agree, there is a trade off in that you have to wait 2 hours before using any LLs, but since standby lines are usually shortest at park opening, I don't think that's a significant downside. You're right though that for some people who are planning to use G+ for non-headliners with early return times I could see them being neutral or better off.

The reason I don't think it's intentional is its incredibly non-intuitive, and if you don't read forums/blogs like this, you'll never figure it out. For example, say you book your first LL for 1030-1130am on a day with 9am park opening. It's 10:58am and you're outside the ride. If you tap in, you've missed an opportunity to stack, which I believe literally means for the rest of the day you'll be able to get half as many G+ reservations as if you'd waited until 11am, booked a g+, then tapped in and booked another G+. There is zero literature explaining that you're better off waiting, and it goes against a core principal of Fastpass (you can't book 2 at a time).

There have always been advantages to those who have experience with Fastpass (refresh system, booking your 3 FP+ early in the day so you can get to the 4th FP earlier), but the above is an example of what should be a very simple choice (tap first then book, or book, tap, book) that if you pick wrong makes a huge difference for your day, and there's no way for a random guest to know that the book, tap, book, strategy is much better. That can't be something that Disney intentionally decided is a good idea, though they very well may not ever decide to fix it.

 

[ckelly14]

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

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.

You would not be able to book another LL until you use or cancel the one for POC. The two hours period does not begin to run until the park opens at 9. If you let the one for POC expire without using it you could book another at 11.

I get it now. Thanks for all the comments. Forgot about the 2 hour after opening bit. So safe to say that if you use Genie+ in the AM it will be a one at a time LL only.

 

[Cotta]

Your faith in Disney IT is greater than mine .

I live in CA so really only go to DLR, so am basing this off my experience there with Maxpass. I agree, there is a trade off in that you have to wait 2 hours before using any LLs, but since standby lines are usually shortest at park opening, I don't think that's a significant downside. You're right though that for some people who are planning to use G+ for non-headliners with early return times I could see them being neutral or better off.

The reason I don't think it's intentional is its incredibly non-intuitive, and if you don't read forums/blogs like this, you'll never figure it out. For example, say you book your first LL for 1030-1130am on a day with 9am park opening. It's 10:58am and you're outside the ride. If you tap in, you've missed an opportunity to stack, which I believe literally means for the rest of the day you'll be able to get half as many G+ reservations as if you'd waited until 11am, booked a g+, then tapped in and booked another G+. There is zero literature explaining that you're better off waiting, and it goes against a core principal of Fastpass (you can't book 2 at a time).

There have always been advantages to those who have experience with Fastpass (refresh system, booking your 3 FP+ early in the day so you can get to the 4th FP earlier), but the above is an example of what should be a very simple choice (tap first then book, or book, tap, book) that if you pick wrong makes a huge difference for your day, and there's no way for a random guest to know that the book, tap, book, strategy is much better. That can't be something that Disney intentionally decided is a good idea, though they very well may not ever decide to fix it.

Disney definitely literally set this up this way. Being able to book at 11 am is simply a use of the two hour rule that disney set... not a stack or strategy or anything else made up on the forums. Now is it an advantage to book around 11 am and have two LL the rest of the day? sure.