The Genie Usage, Tips and Strategy ONLY Thread

[aimes0105]

Thank you so much for posting this. The change makes a lot more sense.

So it sounds like your best bet is to book your LL’s from latest to earliest so the first one you tap is the last one you booked, then you can rebook while still holding your others…

For example:
7am book Slinky LL for 8-9pm
11am book MFSR LL for 7-8pm
1pm book RnRC LL for 6-7pm
3pm book ToT LL for 5-6pm

Tap into ToT, because it was the most recent LL you booked…you are now eligible to book another, even thought you are holding 3 others.

Did I get this right or am I off base?

Theoretically yes, though in reality the times may not work out so smoothly.

 

[5DisneyNuts]

I've been reading up on Genie + and Individual Attraction Selection (IAS) or fancy rides tm (as Molly calls it) but still a bit confused so hopefully I can get some help.
I'm staying offsite and will purchased Genie + at 12am and book my first Genie + selection at 7am. Since I'm staying offsite when will I be able to purchase an IAS at 7am or park opening?

You can purchase G+ any time before 7am if you want to book your 1st G+ at 7am. I added it at 645am for example. Leave enough time until you are comfortable with the process and for potential glitches.

G+ rides (think FP+) are available for all guests to book at 7am. You pick 1. Then 2 hours from park opening or when you tap you can select another. Remy virtual queue is available at 7am too. ILL$ (fancy rides) open to resort guests Swan/Dolphin and Shades of Green at 7am. Non resort guests at park opening.

 

[holyrita]

Thank you so much for posting this. The change makes a lot more sense.

So it sounds like your best bet is to book your LL’s from latest to earliest so the first one you tap is the last one you booked, then you can rebook while still holding your others…

For example:
7am book Slinky LL for 8-9pm
11am book MFSR LL for 7-8pm
1pm book RnRC LL for 6-7pm
3pm book ToT LL for 5-6pm

Tap into ToT, because it was the most recent LL you booked…you are now eligible to book another, even thought you are holding 3 others.

Did I get this right or am I off base?

Yes, but something to take into account is how busy the park is that day. Looking at genie+ data on thrill-data, ToT LL return times at 3pm were mostly 7pm or later. Only the lighter crowd days had 4-6pm available at that time. RnRC skewed even later than ToT at 3pm too

 

[Susi]

You can purchase G+ any time before 7am if you want to book your 1st G+ at 7am. I added it at 645am for example. Leave enough time until you are comfortable with the process and for potential glitches.

G+ rides (think FP+) are available for all guests to book at 7am. You pick 1. Then 2 hours from park opening or when you tap you can select another. Remy virtual queue is available at 7am too. ILL$ (fancy rides) open to resort guests Swan/Dolphin and Shades of Green at 7am. Non resort guests at park opening.

Thanks! This helps

 

[JakeAZ]

The fact that this thread is still full of clarifying questions, says everything about how awful Genie is.

I wonder how long until Disney increases the price?

 

[SuperJ]

The fact that this thread is still full of clarifying questions, says everything about how awful Genie is.

I wonder how long until Disney increases the price?

We're going over the holidays and, while we were only planning on buying for two out of our three total park days, we wondered this exact same thing and decided to just book ahead (thus paying for all three of our park days, one more than originally planned) because we figured better to pay for a day when we may not really want or need it than be priced out entirely if they do a last-minute pre-holiday increase.

 

[cjlong88]

Theoretically yes, though in reality the times may not work out so smoothly.

Yes, theoretically. Just using this as an example to understand the newest iteration, not a reality on crowded days.

 

[PepperjackDragon]

Man I just realized they changed it. Don’t see any really effective way to use it like before anymore very sad news. Honestlythis thread should probably be closed and labeled as having outdated information or it will just end up causing confusio, imo.

 

[GBRforWDW]

Man I just realized they changed it. Don’t see any really effective way to use it like before anymore very sad news. Honestlythis thread used probably be closed and labeled as having outdated information or it will just end up causing confusio, imo.

I don't know about that. It's more like the here now and just back thread. It was started when very little was brought back, but still relevant after 18 months because people continue to post what they are experiencing in the parks. Same thing can be done here, with people posting about how they used Genie, changes to how it works, etc. This will be a post where reading the last 2 or 3 pages is more helpful than reading the first 100 pages.

 

[Susi]

I don't know about that. It's more like the here now and just back thread. It was started when very little was brought back, but still relevant after 18 months because people continue to post what they are experiencing in the parks. Same thing can be done here, with people posting about how they used Genie, changes to how it works, etc. This will be a post where reading the last 2 or 3 pages is more helpful than reading the first 100 pages.

absolutely agree about reading the the last 2 - 3 pages than the first 100. I started reading from page 1 over a week ago and when they changed how Genie + works I skipped over to page 90. Honestly I'm still a bit confused but reading others experience and tips is really helpful. I have 2 days at DHS and MK so the first visit will be trial and error and hopefully by the 2nd park day I'll be much better at navigating Genie +.

 

[scrappinginontario]

Thank you so much for posting this. The change makes a lot more sense.

So it sounds like your best bet is to book your LL’s from latest to earliest so the first one you tap is the last one you booked, then you can rebook while still holding your others…

For example:
7am book Slinky LL for 8-9pm
11am book MFSR LL for 7-8pm
1pm book RnRC LL for 6-7pm
3pm book ToT LL for 5-6pm

Tap into ToT, because it was the most recent LL you booked…you are now eligible to book another, even thought you are holding 3 others.

Did I get this right or am I off base?

The thing to keep in mind with above scenario is that you don't have an option to choose what time you book an individual LL for so, for your scenario to work out,

At 7am - the booking window for Slinky must already have reached 8-9pm.
At 11am - the booking window for MFSR must be in the 7-8pm window.

I understand you were just giving attractions/times as an example but, wanted to clarify for others that unlike FP+, a return window cannot be selected. You may only choose the return window that is currently being offered which reduces the planning options.

 

[g-dad66]

The thing to keep in mind with above scenario is that you don't have an option to choose what time you book an individual LL for so, for your scenario to work out,

At 7am - the booking window for Slinky must already have reached 8-9pm.
At 11am - the booking window for MFSR must be in the 7-8pm window.

I understand you were just giving attractions/times as an example but, wanted to clarify for others that unlike FP+, a return window cannot be selected. You may only choose the return window that is currently being offered which reduces the planning options.

Exactly.

Regarding strategy for DHS, what will work best to get late afternoon/evening times (except for a peak week like Thanksgiving) is:
7:00 am: Slinky Dog
11:00 am: Millenium Falcon
1:00 pm: Rock n Roller Coaster (or Tower of Terror if it is only running at partial capacity, like it was the day we did this)
3:00 pm: Tower of Terror (or Rock n Roller Coaster)
5:00 pm: Toy Story Mania

During Thanksgiving week, this didn't work because MF was gone before 11, and RRC/ToT were gone before 1.

 

[DavidNYC]

Now you can book another after either:
2 hours goes by (2 hours after park open if the booking was made before then) OR you tap into your most recently booked reservation.

Best simple phrasing of this I've seen. Way too many overly complicated explanations of this. This is the only sentence you need to remember.

 

[JakeAZ]

This is the only sentence you need to remember.

Until next week

 

[Jrb1979]

Best simple phrasing of this I've seen. Way too many overly complicated explanations of this. This is the only sentence you need to remember.

I think where it's gets complicated is when people do the stacking thing and try make it work like FP+.

 

[DavidNYC]

Until next week

LOL - in some boardroom now they're reading this and thinking too many people have figured the system out so they need to make it more confusing really quickly!

 

[PepperjackDragon]

I don't know about that. It's more like the here now and just back thread. It was started when very little was brought back, but still relevant after 18 months because people continue to post what they are experiencing in the parks. Same thing can be done here, with people posting about how they used Genie, changes to how it works, etc. This will be a post where reading the last 2 or 3 pages is more helpful than reading the first 100 pages.

I hear what your saying, the problem is that people are coming here without any real understanding of how the system works are are looking for practical information. As of now only the last few pages matter and the lesson is basically “you can get 2-4LL with essentially no way to game the system.”

there is basically no strategy anymore, just get what you can get and don’t have a fit, so having 100+ pages detailing elaborate 2hr/tapin strategies is bound to make things confusing. Those who are good at this type of thing will be distraught, but the average customer will probably be happy to have a level playing field, either way the entire point of the thread has now become moot. True there are a few basic principles that may sometimes be useful to know, but they aren’t really strategies and will make very little practical difference now.

 

[DavidNYC]

I hear what your saying, the problem is that people are coming here without any real understanding of how the system works are are looking for practical information. As of now only the last few pages matter and the lesson is basically “you can get 2-4LL with essentially no way to game the system.”

there is basically no strategy anymore, just get what you can get and don’t have a fit, so having 100+ pages detailing elaborate 2hr/tapin strategies is bound to make things confusing. Those who are good at this type of thing will be distraught, but the average customer will probably be happy to have a level playing field, either way the entire point of the thread has now become moot. True there are a few basic principles that may sometimes be useful to know, but they aren’t really strategies and will make very little practical difference now.

This thread really probably should be shut down and a new one started - and should happen each time if there is any major change to the system. The recent changes really moot a majority of the thread.

 

[CarolynFH]

there is basically no strategy anymore, just get what you can get and don’t have a fit, so having 100+ pages detailing elaborate 2hr/tapin strategies is bound to make things confusing. Those who are good at this type of thing will be distraught, but the average customer will probably be happy to have a level playing field, either way the entire point of the thread has now become moot. True there are a few basic principles that may sometimes be useful to know, but they aren’t really strategies and will make very little practical difference now.

@scrappinginontario, this may be where your thread comes in - no strategy for maximizing number of rides, just a “how to” thread including answers to FAQs such as noted before.

 

[emilymad]

We tried G+ yesterday at MK to see how it would work for us. We arrived around 9:30 with a LL already booked for Jungle Cruise.

We rode Jungle Cruise, Haunted Mansion, and Splash using LL. We booked the next available each instead of waiting 2 hours. We finished this plus snack, lunch, and two smaller rides by 1pm.

Around noon we decided we would park hop to Epcot. TT was already gone for the entire day. Everything else at Epcot was almost immediately available as stand by times were around 5-10 minutes with the exception of Soarin. We booked SE as the return time for Soarin was during our ADR.

So overall we got 4 rides by purposely having no plan for the day on a lower crowd day. We easily could have gotten all of the same rides with very small wait times if we had arrived for early morning hours.

Overall, we didn't like G+ and didn't think it worked for our touring strategy (mid-day breaks). We thought the app was confusing. Almost every LL entrance had people trying to ride who didn't have LL. I think a lot of this is because of how confusing the app is.