The Genie Usage, Tips and Strategy ONLY Thread

[Figment1990]

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I booked FOP this morning at 7am - there was no ability to book it earlier. Refreshing since 6:50. Same with the other paid IAS LLs I have booked daily since arriving Friday. You can only click on it at 7am sharp.

Some are gone in a minute or less - like the old ROTR BGs, But not able to book before 7. One needs to click on it ASAP to get it snd the time shown initially is unlikely to be the time you get when you get to the next screen.

This is my experience as well. I’ve never seen anything prior to 7 am on the dot.

 

[rmclain73]

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I booked FOP this morning at 7am - there was no ability to book it earlier. Refreshing since 6:50. Same with the other paid IAS LLs I have booked daily since arriving Friday. You can only click on it at 7am sharp.

Some are gone in a minute or less - like the old ROTR BGs, But not able to book before 7. One needs to click on it ASAP to get it snd the time shown initially is unlikely to be the time you get when you get to the next screen.

Good to hear! Maybe it was just some irritated guests who couldn’t get what they wanted and were just making assumptions.

 

[Sydnerella]

Anyone else have their app crash this morning for the 7am genie money grab? Booked jungle cruise right at 7. Got 940-1040. Then the app crashed. Multiple email code requests. Once it finally came back, it showed my genie JC reservation for 2pm!! A little while later it showed correct again, but keeps bouncing around. So I took some screenshots when it bounced to the correct time.
Genie + on a crowded day….so far, it’s a nightmare and, at least in my case, Disney IT couldn’t handle the rush.

I had similar issues if you see my flurry of posts this morning. Not to mention rides breaking down too… ROTR - paying $90 to ride it without both pre-shows ???? and half the Ride tech not working for months (Kylo animatronic never works and the blasters are now stationary), the “lightening lane” on HM took 60 min in total to wait and ride yesterday. It stopped 4x while we were on it for long periods and before it was down and backed up, Test track ride showed none of the cars we built - no metrics showed up - and the Lightening Lane took 40 minutes.
Take this Genie + money to make your attractions worth paying for - until then we are heading elsewhere in the world and likely if we return to Orlando checking out the park down the road and their new attractions.

 

[wisblue]

you will no longer be able to book a second LL at 11:30 after riding jungle cruise if you booked one at 11. if you do not book he at 11 you can book after tapping into second jungle cruise tapstile.

if at 11, you book something for 12:30-1:30, then when u tap into that at 12:30 you should be able to book again. So no, it’s not EXACTLY resetting it to 1, it’s just eliminating your ability to book again with jungle cruise since you booked one at 11.
(at least that’s the current speculation)

If that’s what it is, then it sounds like they have made it identical to the original paper FP system in terms of the timing. Once you book a LL you are eligible to book the next one at the earlier of (1) two hours after booking the LL, or (2) tapping in to use that LL.

That was what I expected it to be in the first place.

That would seem to eliminate the advantage of booking your first LL for after 11 AM (or whatever 2 hours after opening is). You’d be better off booking something like JC a little earlier so you would have a better selection for your second one.

 

[disneykate914]

Take this with a grain of salt, but I have been reading this morning on various other pages that the paid lightning lanes for on site guest have been earlier than 7 AM the last two days. People seem to be complaining when they login right at 7 AM and things are already sold out or at the very end of the day already.

Am here this week and have not experienced anything earlier than 7 am on the dot. Got ROTR ILL at 7 am exactly. Completely sold out at 703.

 

[Figment1990]

If that’s what it is, then it sounds like they have made it identical to the original paper FP system in terms of the timing. Once you book a LL you are eligible to book the next one at the earlier of (1) two hours after booking the LL, or (2) tapping in to use that LL.

That was what I expected it to be in the first place.

That would seem to eliminate the advantage of booking your first LL for after 11 AM (or whatever 2 hours after opening is). You’d be better off booking something like JC a little earlier so you would have a better selection for your second one.

Yes, it seems like the old paper FP system, which I also agree - is what I was expecting initially. I’m not angry that they made the system work this way. I’m angry they didn’t make it work this way from the beginning and therefore, we wasted all our time over the last few weeks. I agree with those who are saying the rides are down more than normal. It is frustrating and noticeable. I can’t believe I’m going to pay for Rise with the very real possibility of it going down and losing my money for the day. I’m only taking the chance because we will be there all day, and with it being thanksgiving, I have very little faith we will get on much else. It’s going to be an expensive day though!

I’m also frustrated, like others, with the technological performance of the app.

 

[JakeAZ]

If you like stressing all night that you will sleep through your alarm clock for the 7am cluster…

If you like stressing out while trying to time a refresh at 7am…

if you like getting kicked out of the app / having multiple (60+ yesterday for me) verification emails sent to you…

if you like stressing all day about making sure you try for another LL. But then making sure they work with dining, hopping and other LLs

Well then head on down to Disney World!

I understand on lower crowd days the system is easier to navigate. But it’s an absolute nightmare on crowded days.

100% awful

if you have a trip scheduled for around Christmas / New Years…..good luck! You’ll need it.

 

[acebatonfan]

Take this with a grain of salt, but I have been reading this morning on various other pages that the paid lightning lanes for on site guest have been earlier than 7 AM the last two days. People seem to be complaining when they login right at 7 AM and things are already sold out or at the very end of the day already.

It makes me wonder if the people who aren't getting the 0700 reservations are using Disney's wifi versus their own LTE/5g/cell data. Not in IT, but I could definitely imagine resort wifi getting a bit boggy if a large number of people are suddenly using it at such a weird time.

Now it's time to take some basic computer science/internet 101 classes and see if factors such as caching the website/app prior to 0700 would be of any benefit. And I promised my boss I wouldn't be thinking of work during the trip, but here we are...

 

[JakeAZ]

It makes me wonder if the people who aren't getting the 0700 reservations are using Disney's wifi versus their own LTE/5g/cell data. Not in IT, but I could definitely imagine resort wifi getting a bit boggy if a large number of people are suddenly using it at such a weird time.

I don’t think this is the case. Both my brother (on Verizon) and me (on resort WiFi) had the same problems, at the same time. It’s the app. It can’t handle the surge for the 7am cluster.

 

[acebatonfan]

I don’t think this is the case. Both my brother (on Verizon) and me (on resort WiFi) had the same problems, at the same time. It’s the app. It can’t handle the surge for the 7am cluster.

Looks like I might be enlisting my partner-in-crime DSis for securing ride reservations, or I could steal her phone and obsessively refresh both at the same time and wait for one to get through. I'm surprised Disney didn't consider giving resort guests an earlier reservation release time with how much money they like making these days (and possibly cut down on some of the all-at-once app demand at 07).

 

[DisneyPanthersFan]

Sorry, but where should it show when I'm eligible to book the next LL? MFSR is not until this evening and when I try to book another LL to see eligibility, it just says unknown conflict. Unbelievable.
TIA

That's the message I got (unknown conflict) when I was there about a week or two ago. I never saw a time I would be eligible to book the next one. But I think most people see a time instead of that message, apparently.

 

[Grasshopper2016]

702am SDD sold out, Dolphin stay not recognized as on site RotR gone at 703am anyway. Got MFSR at 705am return 830pm.

This is flat-out unacceptable. People should lose their jobs for this.

 

[Grasshopper2016]

Can anyone explain or even speculate about the purpose of the emailed confirmation codes? Why would Disney want or need to confirm that you really are who you say you are before selling you an ILL$? And why would that only happen at peak crowd moments? This seems like an epic IT fail, even by Disney standards. And I don’t even understand what it was trying to accomplish.

 

[OhDannyBoy]

My strategy is to consider RotR over rated and not worth the headache and be over it. I'll ride it if the line is an hour, maybe a bit longer. But I'm not driving myself bananas to ride it. there's other cool stuff in HS to do.

It's the same position I took when FoP first opened. Cool ride, but not worth 3 hours of my time.

 

[ZeeWP]

I am still going through the pages, but Man, I am surprised that they implemented these changes during one of the busiest times of the year. It is bound to "ruin" many people's vacations when things are already so chaotic. I mean this is something that I would shrug off, but it would definitely mess with touring strategies that I may have planned out.

 

[Arouge]

We have a trip set for President's week with our son and his family. I am getting anxious because it looks like it will be more crowded than we anticipated. This is a trip we were going to do in November 2020, but then Covid happened. Since these are my younger grandchildren who have never been, we are still planning on going. I might get genie+ for a MK day and a HS day, but from what I'm reading I'm not sure it will be worth it if it's that crowded. We would be paying for our group of 7. I have changed an April trip with my daughters and their families to Universal, Sea World and Discovery Cove. They have been to Disney many times with us over the years, and with all of these changes at Disney, we decided to switch this trip and are not doing Disney at all. We are all really excited about the April trip!

 

[twodogs]

I am trying to look from home today. Before 10am Florida time, I could see the LL return times and wait times etc. I could refresh and see different times. Suddenly, my Tip Board just spins and then checks my Face ID as if it is trying to log me into the app? I have closed the app etc many times, logged out, and all it does is cycle through Face ID, says it is good and then checks Face ID again (iphone). I can go to other areas of the app such as dining reservations or my tickets, and those are fine. I REALLY hope this is not happening to anyone actually in the parks today, as it would be horrible. I can't see the Tip Board at all, just an endless loop of Face ID.

 

[dardis]

Here this week with my family of 5 and my brother and his family of 4.

Was able to stack rides for afternoon MK arrival on Sunday by booking every two hours. 7, 11, 1, 3. I was able to book new rides each time we tapped in past second tap point.

Monday was HS - I was able to get SDD at 7am for 3-4. Booked other G+ LL at 11, 1, 3. Was able to book after second tap point - but limited availability- even with refreshing.

Tuesday started at MK 8am open- as already noted here, G+ changed overnight. Booked HM from 9:10-10:10 at 7am. Booked Pooh at 10 for 12:40. For the first time tried booking during “grace period” at 10:12 - nope. Tapped into HM at 10:15, second tap @10:25. App said I could not make another G+ LL until 12 (2 hours after I made last reservation).

Trying our best to make current system version work for rest of our trip. Early entry if on property is a must do (our experience has been parks and rides open at least one hour prior, not 30 min). Booking G+ for afternoon/eve of second park, can only get 2-3 (even with refreshing), by booking every 2 hours.

Many thanks to all here that have shared ideas and experiences. Super helpful! My brother and his family think I am the bomb! Crazy busy, crazy expensive, but we are having fun.

 

[leeniewdw]

@Arouge we also have a trip during the Pres weekend (though we arrive Thurs before and leave Sun before). And while this isn't with younger grandchildren, it's with our own grown kids & SOs that haven't been in 15+ years. I'm very nervous about that Saturday (listed as a 10 via TP) and how we'll accomplish the headliners that they've never been on (bad enough Everest is gonna be down). Just yesterday I switched our park reservations in attempt to give us a better chance to get the HS rides in. At this point I'm praying for an AHs event to help (literally hoping for an opportunity to give them MORE money). Was hoping that G+ would help us if they decided not to RD (and maybe it still will), but it seems like RD and G+ might help the most at DHS.

 

[LisaDKG]

I found that if the email code requirement would come up only if I was using Disney wifi and I speculated it was because I'm Canadian and my MDE account address is Canadian and that it did not like that I was using my account using US wifi as if I had hacked the account from far away. It may be that it didn't help that I was also using a US sim card with a completely different cell number than what my account has. I theorized that it was the discrepancies between my account details and the device and location I was using it in.

This doesn't hold any water in Americans with American phones and accounts and addresses are also experiencing the code-required glitch.

I didn't ever have to enter a code if I was not using Disney wifi - which I tried my hardest to never use. It's the worst and being from Canada I KNOW bad, expensive wifi!!!

Also, during my one night stay in a ground level room at Saratoga Springs, I had neither access to wifi or even internet service AT ALL and had to leave the room and go out into an open space in order to find any internet. It was like I was back in the stone ages of the internet and soooo frustrating when the success of the day depends on your access.