The Genie Usage, Tips and Strategy ONLY Thread

[katyringo]

I don't agree with the idea that there isn't a strategy to using this system. Having used it in every park .. there is most deff a strategy to what to book first, what not to book, what is worth a LL and what is not worth a LL...

 

[scrappinginontario]

@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.

I understand that but I need to find the time to create the thread. This is a volunteer position so on top of monitoring the boards I have a fulltime job, family and, it's December so unfortunately I just can't throw it together quickly.

There is still value to this thread as many others have pointed out, until the new thread is ready. People can read the last few pages as has widely been recommended to get the gist of things until the new thread is ready to go. I will work on it as I can but life is busy. Thanks for understanding.

 

[CarolynFH]

I understand that but I need to find the time to create the thread. This is a volunteer position so on top of monitoring the boards I have a fulltime job, family and, it's December so unfortunately I just can't throw it together quickly.

There is still value to this thread as many others have pointed out, until the new thread is ready. People can read the last few pages as has widely been recommended to get the gist of things until the new thread is ready to go. I will work on it as I can but life is busy. Thanks for understanding.

I’m sorry - I meant my post to be in addition to the other suggestions made yesterday, about what your thread should contain. I didn’t mean to add any pressure for you to get it done!

 

[AndreaA]

Everything I’m reading tells me this system will not work for us at all - or at least not be worth the money. I loved FP+. I’m a big planner. I could easily plan our top 3 rides for the beginning of the day and work around them with the smaller stuff. I’d get SDMT, BTMRR and PP for Magic Kingdom, for example, and easily manage Pooh, TeaCups, Carousel, Dumbo, Splash and Pirates - all before 1pm when we’d leave to go back to our hotel.

Now it’s all “book a 10am time at 7am and then when you get to the park at 9, book an 11, and then a 12, and then a 1, etc., etc., etc… basically the strategy all revolves around afternoon and evening touring. The choice to tour early morning without running all over the places is gone.

 

[katyringo]

Everything I’m reading tells me this system will not work for us at all - or at least not be worth the money. I loved FP+. I’m a big planner. I could easily plan our top 3 rides for the beginning of the day and work around them with the smaller stuff. I’d get SDMT, BTMRR and PP for Magic Kingdom, for example, and easily manage Pooh, TeaCups, Carousel, Dumbo, Splash and Pirates - all before 1pm when we’d leave to go back to our hotel.

Now it’s all “book a 10am time at 7am and then when you get to the park at 9, book an 11, and then a 12, and then a 1, etc., etc., etc… basically the strategy all revolves around afternoon and evening touring. The choice to tour early morning without running all over the places is gone.

on a morning MK day where I didn't rope
Drop but was in the park early I did:

mat 7am I purchased LL for SDMT for 1130am
i booked big thunder for 930
After tapping into big thunder I got mansion.
Stand by pirates
Rode mansion and then booked buzz

I could have kept going like that all day. The two hour rule only applies if your selection is more than 2 hours away.

I was able to rope drop and use LL in the morning and take an afternoon break and have some booked in almost every park I went to.

after using this system I believe it can be used with any type of touring plan..

 

[scrappinginontario]

I’m sorry - I meant my post to be in addition to the other suggestions made yesterday, about what your thread should contain. I didn’t mean to add any pressure for you to get it done!

Thank you for clarifying. I will review the post you referenced to see what I can grab from it for the new post. Thanks!

 

[dirtnap101]

Question on purchasing Genie+ in advance:

I have room-only reservations at Boardwalk Jan 13-17. I have 3 day tickets for my party that are good Jan 14-18. I have not added Genie+ yet.

I go into MDE app and to "My Day" and change the date to Jan 14, and if a scroll down the app offers me Genie+ with a graphic that says "Take Today to the Next Level, Get Genie+ for today". So I tap it. The next screen has the "Get Disney Genie+ Service" button and I tap that.

It then takes me to "My Tickets and Passes" area and I can choose "Change Ticket" or "Reassign Ticket". When I choose Change Ticket, I can choose the rest of the party and then it shows me the things I can change: valid ticket dates; number of days; ticket type; and Disney Genie+ Service.

The first 3 things in that list can be changed, the pencil icon next to them is blue. But for Disney Genie+ Service, the pencil is grayed out and it says "Selected tickets have already been upgraded to include Disney Genie+ service", even though I haven't bought Genie+. Any ideas? Did these tickets somehow come with Genie+?

 

[GBRforWDW]

Question on purchasing Genie+ in advance:

I have room-only reservations at Boardwalk Jan 13-17. I have 3 day tickets for my party that are good Jan 14-18. I have not added Genie+ yet.

I go into MDE app and to "My Day" and change the date to Jan 14, and if a scroll down the app offers me Genie+ with a graphic that says "Take Today to the Next Level, Get Genie+ for today". So I tap it. The next screen has the "Get Disney Genie+ Service" button and I tap that.

It then takes me to "My Tickets and Passes" area and I can choose "Change Ticket" or "Reassign Ticket". When I choose Change Ticket, I can choose the rest of the party and then it shows me the things I can change: valid ticket dates; number of days; ticket type; and Disney Genie+ Service.

The first 3 things in that list can be changed, the pencil icon next to them is blue. But for Disney Genie+ Service, the pencil is grayed out and it says "Selected tickets have already been upgraded to include Disney Genie+ service", even though I haven't bought Genie+. Any ideas? Did these tickets somehow come with Genie+?

It should tell you on your ticket page. When I look at my tickets with Genie+, here's what it looks like:



If it doesn't have "and Genie+ Service", then no you don't have it. if you want to have it added before you go, you may need to call to upgrade.

 

[Einstein509]

on a morning MK day where I didn't rope
Drop but was in the park early I did:

mat 7am I purchased LL for SDMT for 1130am
i booked big thunder for 930
After tapping into big thunder I got mansion.
Stand by pirates
Rode mansion and then booked buzz

I could have kept going like that all day. The two hour rule only applies if your selection is more than 2 hours away.

I was able to rope drop and use LL in the morning and take an afternoon break and have some booked in almost every park I went to.

after using this system I believe it can be used with any type of touring plan..

Ok, but you went solo. I imagine it's a lot easier to get single rider times than a family of 4 or more. So your sample or example of how the system applies to others may not be accurate.

 

[Bellagirl]

Now it’s all “book a 10am time at 7am and then when you get to the park at 9, book an 11, and then a 12, and then a 1, etc., etc., etc… basically the strategy all revolves around afternoon and evening touring. The choice to tour early morning without running all over the places is gone.

Does this strategy still work or is that what everyone is stating that you cannot keep stacking rides through the day?

 

[emilymad]

on a morning MK day where I didn't rope
Drop but was in the park early I did:

mat 7am I purchased LL for SDMT for 1130am
i booked big thunder for 930
After tapping into big thunder I got mansion.
Stand by pirates
Rode mansion and then booked buzz

I could have kept going like that all day. The two hour rule only applies if your selection is more than 2 hours away.

I was able to rope drop and use LL in the morning and take an afternoon break and have some booked in almost every park I went to.

after using this system I believe it can be used with any type of touring plan..

Yes, this is true but what rides are available can be different everyday so maybe you can ride what you want and maybe you can’t. There is no way to know in advance.

I also don’t think this works in all parks. If you want a SDD LL you are going to be tied to the 2 hour rule unless you get really lucky.

Disney vacations are a lot of money to settle for maybes and luck especially when it is a higher crowd time.

 

[mom2rtk]

Yes, this is true but what rides are available can be different everyday so maybe you can ride what you want and maybe you can’t. There is no way to know in advance.

I also don’t think this works in all parks. If you want a SDD LL you are going to be tied to the 2 hour rule unless you get really lucky.

Disney vacations are a lot of money to settle for maybes and luck especially when it is a higher crowd time.

I've felt all along that this might be useful at MK but no chance was it going to be a good experience in the other 3. The main reason MaxPass worked worked so well at DLR was that those parks had ample rides to access, so far more pass inventory than Epcot, DHS and AK ever dreamed of having.

 

[deltadisney]

I’ve read about people having issues with G+ and $LL in certain situations - if I have a room only reservation and have separate park tickets, will it recognize me as a resort guest for purposes of 7:00am booking? Everything shoes up in MDE, but my park tickets are separate and not part of a vacation package (rented dvc).

 

[Sydnerella]

on a morning MK day where I didn't rope
Drop but was in the park early I did:

mat 7am I purchased LL for SDMT for 1130am
i booked big thunder for 930
After tapping into big thunder I got mansion.
Stand by pirates
Rode mansion and then booked buzz

I could have kept going like that all day. The two hour rule only applies if your selection is more than 2 hours away.

I was able to rope drop and use LL in the morning and take an afternoon break and have some booked in almost every park I went to.

after using this system I believe it can be used with any type of touring plan..

The big caveat to this is crowd level - as those of us learned who had the misfortune over Thanksgiving week to see that crowds are not handled very well by Disneyworld tech right now:

- Wifi is slower with crowds, even data seemed slow in places so wifi worked better so we hesitated to turn it off
- Genie + had many error issues with the demand brought by the increased crowds, seemingly unable to process selections many times, errors occurred, endless code/PW loops occurred
- Genie+ and LL availability go lightening fast…
- To ride headliner/popular favorites you are beholden to choose in the order they run out, not to avoid criss crossing the park or even potential conflicts with other plans
- canceling/rebooking the same attraction for G+ changes your eligibility time to two hours from the time it was rescheduled
- ROTR functionality is a constant question mark, it went down each of the three days we booked the ILL - we couldn’t even ride it with my in-laws as it never came back up before we had to leave the park (8pm, 5pm)
- On our first ROTR (b4 in-laws arrived at WDW) after being down for a number of hours they skipped both preshows - so paying $63 for half the experience… not acceptable… some people in the cell with us were Super Confused
- TT also had issues each time we rode it, not recognizing cars designed
- HM was down a few times snd even took us 55 minutes to get thru with our “lightening lane” - 30 in the queue and 4 stops during the ride
- Splash was down intermittently
- Even the freakin Teacups broke down!?!?
- All issues above result in longer GET recovery lines and frustrating waits during your limited vacation time

IF YOU ARE CHARGING A PREMIUM THEN UPDATE YOUR SYSTEMS TO PROVIDE A PREMIUM EXPERIENCE!

The Park entry cost is really just a cover charge during busy periods… Truly our best and most relaxing enjoyable stress free park touring was GENIE FREE! And that was during the two nights of Extended Evening Hours offered during our 9 night trip. Pretty ridiculous that it was only two nights/parks during that long period over the holiday week+

But I didn’t cry once out of frustration! It was actually very fun!

 

[dirtnap101]

It should tell you on your ticket page. When I look at my tickets with Genie+, here's what it looks like:

View attachment 628119

If it doesn't have "and Genie+ Service", then no you don't have it. if you want to have it added before you go, you may need to call to upgrade.

Thank you, our tickets do not say "and Disney Genie+ Service". I expect nothing less of Disney IT's app than to tell us we don't have it but that we do have it when we try to buy it

 

[dirtnap101]

Thank you, our tickets do not say "and Disney Genie+ Service". I expect nothing less of Disney IT's app than to tell us we don't have it but that we do have it when we try to buy it

Just to complete the story - I tried via the website instead of the MDE app and after a few "400" errors I was able to purchase Genie+ in advance, and even got the option to pay with a Disney gift card which I preferred as a payment method and was hoping for during checkout.

 

[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.

7am genie money grab - that’s exactly what it was/is… And I would rather get up early once 60 days in advance and make a reasonable plan to start with then I have to set my alarm to get up at 6:50 every vacation day, to bundle up and go out on balcony where reception was best and sometimes wake up one-two of my family members to also get G+ or paid Lightning Lanes at the same time to ensure that we actually got the rides we planned for at reasonable times. This isn’t so bad two or three days - especially with parks with early rope drops, but it got soooo old every morning!

These bold statements are SO very true to my feelings and experience Thanksgiving week!

Have people experienced that looping when booking with Genie+ or only when booking an IALL that requires a payment?

On my trip I never was victimized by the endless loop, but I was asked a few times to enter a code that was sent by email. It only occurred when I was trying to pay for something, like the purchase of Genie+ for the day, an IALL, or a mobile dining order. I was never asked to enter a code when booking a Genie+ LL.

Both

But trying to get the next Genie + booked at 10am was the culprit of the 10+ minute cycle of PW/code for me and some others at GET in MK on 11/22

Fast. No.

Ok. So doable, but tight. I’m actually looking at doing the same thing for my travel day - shoot for an evening SDD (wait about 10-15 seconds - refresh - book) and RoTR. If miss SDD then just grab MFSR after RotR.

Been tracking the SDD and they seem to go within 30 seconds this last week. I expect it about the same on my travel day (day before Easter Sunday).

Two people logged into same account is best way to ensure you get them both - especially during busy times. As long as you have your credit card connected to your My Disney experience account it doesn’t matter who buys the individual lightning lane attraction. My son got ROTR paid each time while I booked G+ and my cc was there for him to select as payment optsince it’s in my MDE.

Not every time. It’s random and seems to only happen for ILL and purchasing Genie+.

As stated above, my ridiculously long verification loop was not for ILL mine was for Genie plus. And the request came for Genie other times as well as mobile order and ILL‘s

They never should have rolled out this system with those pass code stops in place. It's ridiculous, arbitrary and absolutely awful from a guest service standpoint. If there was no way to do it without, they should have waited until they found a way.

COULD NOT AGREE MORE

I have never before cried in the Magic Kingdom (and elsewhere at WDW) due to anything other than sentimental emotions and joy.

Genie+ sent me over the edge a few too many times.

at HS today. Definitely much quieter than our last 2 visits last week. Currently in line for Alien Saucers. This is our 6th ride today! Rope dropped for Smugglers and they opened that at 8:00.

That sounds soooo wonderful - enjoy! Man, can I have a do over ?!?!

And while that is super nice for folks there this week, I have to wonder why they would do that this week when they had mega crowds Thanksgiving week and wouldn’t open anything until 830 on the dot??? I really dislike the inconsistency and constant changing or moving the cheese. It’s a lot of money and time people invest for this experience and into planning the WDW vacation and having so many variables changing around you is an added challenge and stressor.

Pack your patience
Expect things to take longer and cost more
Expect curveballs, plan changes
Voice your frustration to the powers that be respectfully - emails, phone, GET, etc

AND Have fun despite or in spite of it all!

 

[Figment1990]

I’ve read about people having issues with G+ and $LL in certain situations - if I have a room only reservation and have separate park tickets, will it recognize me as a resort guest for purposes of 7:00am booking? Everything shoes up in MDE, but my park tickets are separate and not part of a vacation package (rented dvc).

We had a room only reservation and separately purchasked park tickets last week and were able to buy ILL$ at 7 am without a problem. It wasnt a rented DVC but our tickets were def purchased separately.

 

[By-Tor and Snow Pup]

This is the first time I have visited this board. I am wondering how WDW guests are feeling about Genie+ overall. Positive? Negative? is it working? How many LL are you getting on a busy day? How do you feel about the regular Genie service? Thank you for the sum up because there is no way I am reading 106 pages of posts!!

 

[DisneyKidds]

There is still value to this thread as many others have pointed out, until the new thread is ready. People can read the last few pages as has widely been recommended to get the gist of things until the new thread is ready to go.

FYI……I edited my OP to indicate that G+ changes have take place that impact strategy discussed earlier in the thread, so that people can fast forward if they want.