The Genie Usage, Tips and Strategy ONLY Thread

[leeniewdw]

re: inability to stack...

This is huge news . And having JUST successfully explained it to DH, figures there would be a change. I presume this would not prevent stacking as long as you are doing it at the next time intervals? Because if THAT changed, we're in serious trouble on our trip next week. We're banking on having a stack when we arrive in the parks in the afternoon after traveling.

So the issue is using a 2 hour wait and booking your 2nd LL but being unable to replace LL#1 after tapping in? But it's not preventing stacked up LLs if grabbing them every 2 hours?

 

[Luisfba]

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.

cool. and for the ILL theres a couple of screens where you confirm before it’s all done and time can change as you work through them?

 

[Grasshopper2016]

This is huge news imo. And having JUST successfully explained it to DH, figure there would be a change. I presume this would not prevent stacking as long as you are doing it at the next time intervals? Because if THAT changed, we're in serious trouble on our trip next week. We're banking on having a stack when we arrive in the parks in the afternoon after traveling.

So the issue is using a 2 hour wait and booking your 2nd LL but being unable to replace LL#1 after tapping in? But it's not preventing stacked up LLs if grabbing them every 2 hours?

Yes, can someone better explain what change seems to have been implemented today? If I book LL1 at 7:00 a.m. (with, say, a return time of 11:30 - 12:30), and then at 11:00 a.m. I go to book another LL (LL2), can I still do it? Let's say that I can, and I get a return time of 3:00-4:00. When I scan into LL1 at noon, am I no longer able to book a new LL (LL3)? When would I be eligible again? 1:00 p.m. (two hours after my last booking)?

Alternatively, if I book LL1 at 7:00 a.m. with a return time of 9:00-10:00, and then I scan in at 9:15, would I be able to book again at 9:15, or would I have to wait until 11:00?

In other words, what the #$%& is going on?

 

[Grasshopper2016]

Did Disney decide, "Wait a minute, some people have actually figured out a way to almost get their money's worth out of Genie+. Let's put an end to that at once!"?

 

[katyringo]

Dang. That stinks.
It should make them last longer throughout that day tho..

 

[leeniewdw]

Yes, can someone better explain what change seems to have been implemented today? If I book LL1 at 7:00 a.m. (with, say, a return time of 11:30 - 12:30), and then at 11:00 a.m. I go to book another LL (LL2), can I still do it? Let's say that I can, and I get a return time of 3:00-4:00. When I scan into LL1 at noon, am I no longer able to book a new LL (LL3)? When would I be eligible again? 1:00 p.m. (two hours after my last booking)?

This is how I'm reading it.

Alternatively, if I book LL1 at 7:00 a.m. with a return time of 9:00-10:00, and then I scan in at 9:15, would I be able to book again at 9:15, or would I have to wait until 11:00?

In other words, what the #$%& is going on?

Good question!

It's important to know if the limiter is 2 hours since last reservation or holding 2 LLs at a time. It *sounds* like you can get a 2nd LL in your "stack" initially, but the "tap in" does not make you eligible again. This is all confusing, but this seems to make scheduling later afternoon/evening LLs even more valuable because you can use the entire morning to stack. But you can't establish a stack and cycle thru as originally could.

Like stacking is possible if you are scheduling 5-6 hours into the day, but if you try to establish a 2 LL stack in the morning, you're going to single thread it after you ride your first ride.

 

[katyringo]

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?

Can you share where you are seeing these reports? Just want to read and see for myself. Thank DS!

 

[Luisfba]

[

This is how I'm reading it.



Good question!

It's important to know if the limiter is 2 hours since last reservation or holding 2 LLs at a time. It *sounds* like you can get a 2nd LL in your "stack" initially, but the "tap in" does not make you eligible again. This is all confusing, but this seems to make scheduling later afternoon/evening LLs even more valuable because you can use the entire morning to stack. But you can't establish a stack and cycle thru as originally could.

Like stacking is possible if you are scheduling 5-6 hours into the day, but if you try to establish a 2 LL stack in the morning, you're going to single thread it after you ride your first ride.

question - is this how maxpass worked? Perhaps they fixed the ‘hacks’ and got it closer to what maxpass was?

 

[Ldisneygraham]

Can you share where you are seeing these reports? Just want to read and see for myself. Thank DS!

The FB genie plus group is where I’ve seen the posts.

 

[katyringo]

[


question - is this how maxpass worked? Perhaps they fixed the ‘hacks’ and got it closer to what maxpass was?

yeah this is how maxpass worked but with a shorter cool off time. (90minutes... and sometimes reported shorter in the morning)
I need calcification:

if park opened at 9 and your genie was from 9-10 and you tap in at 930 then you can make another section right?

you would only be waiting until 11 if
You had your return time after 11

 

[Grasshopper2016]

Did Disney decide, "Wait a minute, some people have actually figured out a way to almost get their money's worth out of Genie+. Let's put an end to that at once!"?

As the person who posted this snarky comment, let me expand on and partially retract it. Here's what I suspect Disney was thinking (assuming that any of this is even happening):

It turns out that, on very crowded days, all of the good LL slots are gone by mid-day. This is going to lead to a lot of complaints with Guest Services. And, more importantly, it will lead people to stop buying Genie+, since its value is not nearly as great as our promotional materials suggest.

What can we do about it?

Well, we could limit sales of Genie+, just like we do with sales of ILL$. That way, everyone who buys it is guaranteed to get reasonable value from it. But that's a non-starter. We are trying to make as much money as possible from this program, and we simply refuse to leave any money on the table.

So instead, let's limit the ability of some people to effectively "hoard" LL slots, thus depriving others of the ability to get more than one or two halfway decent ones. That will greatly reduce the value of Genie+ for those who learned how to make the most of it. But it will marginally increase the value for everyone else. And, more importantly, when people look at LL availability on their phones, things will look better, and they will be more willing to buy Genie+. More money in our pockets. Of course, the more we sell, the lower the value for each user. But that's just not our priority.

 

[AZMermaid]

Max pass you could also book a new one as soon as your window opened. So if at 8 you booked a 9-10, you could book again at 9. If you booked a 11-12, you could book again at 9:30 (90 min later).

 

[Grasshopper2016]

If Disney is not willing to limit sales of Genie+, I would honestly prefer to see dynamic pricing, like with ILL$, rather than these efforts to spread the wealth. At some point, you spread the mayo so thin that it no longer makes your sandwich any less dry.

I would rather have the option of paying $30 for a service that will actually help me to skip the lines in a meaningful way than feel compelled to spend $15 (since everyone else is) for a service that doesn't help much at all.

 

[Orsino]

In terms of vocabulary, I'd like a clarification on "stacking" versus "double stacking."
My understanding was, people "stacked" G+LL for the afternoon by using the 7am, open+2, open+4 to have a 'stack' of G+LL ready to go when they go to the park. I believe this is still allowed.

"double stacking," to my understanding was the practice of booking a G+LL and letting the 120 minute expire to allow the next booking (LL#2) and then booking *again* (LL#3) after tapping LL#1. I believe this form of 'stacking' is what has been removed.

(I'm not sure, I'm just reading stuff and trying to make sense of it. The word 'stacking' and 'stack' get thrown around to mean a bunch of different things, so I think we need to be clear on which is which.)

Honestly, when I first heard about 'double stacking,' I was surprised. I didn't think that was something Disney would have allowed to continue, and am not surprised it is being 'nerfed.'

 

[leeniewdw]

yeah, my first reaction to G+ was that I'm paying extra for 3 rides. It wasn't until the reports came out about stacking that it made more sense.

Hopefully we can first hand info on what happened today. And it would be fascinating to know how many people were doing this to cause a noticeable impact. If you can still stack for afternoon/evening for say, a stack of 4, how much would today's change impact LL availability? It seems like someone stacking at 11am and then tapping in is most likely only going to have a stack of 2 of they are riding/cycling those 2 passes. Could that many people be doing that to make an impact?

 

[SmittS]

I’m skeptical of this rumor that you can no longer make new selections at tap in. Not seeing it anywhere else except the chatter here that is reportedly coming from Facebook. If there’s no stacking going on, it’d be amazing that nearly all G+ LL selections are done for the day already.

 

[jmstroud]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but if there is no stacking, you could really screw up your day if you get a late LL pass for a ride like Slinky Dog. If you get a 3:30 or 4:00 one, you can book one more at 11 (2 hours after park open) and that would pretty much be it for your day. You could book another one at 3:30 when you tap into Slinky Dog, but what would even be left by then?

Do I have this right?

 

[g-dad66]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but if there is no stacking, you could really screw up your day if you get a late LL pass for a ride like Slinky Dog. If you get a 3:30 or 4:00 one, you can book one more at 11 (2 hours after park open) and that would pretty much be it for your day. You could book another one at 3:30 when you tap into Slinky Dog, but what would even be left by then?

Do I have this right?

You could get another one at 1:00 if you haven't yet done the one you got at 11:00. (That's assuming the 120-minute rule is still in effect.)

 

[Grasshopper2016]

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?

 

[dmunsil]

It’s hard to tell from the Facebook reports, since most people seem to be reporting what other people have said. But it sounds like you may still be able to rebook after tapping in, as long as you tap in less than 2 hours from when you booked that specific reservation, or something along those lines. In other words, if your return time is right away, you can use it and get something else right away. Folks just aren’t able to test that today because nearly everything is 2+ hours away.

So it would work more like classic FastPass if that’s true. You get a new reservation when you tap in, OR after 2 hours, but not both. But we should know more soon.