The Genie Usage, Tips and Strategy ONLY Thread

[g-dad66]

Flying into MCO early tomorrow am. Was planning on purchasing the Genie + and make my first selection around 7 am for later in the day. I understand that after 2 hours I can make my next selection. Will the next selection just stack onto the first selection? I was hoping to make later in the day selections for more popular rides in hopes that when we arrive around noon we will have some reservations for rides. Also, I am assuming I can make these selections outside the park and do not physically be in the park while making my reservations since I have a reservation and tickets for Magic Kingdom. Thanks!

You are correct, except that you can't make your second selection 2 hours after 7am. It is 2 hours after the park opens when you can make your second LL selection.

 

[princesslover]

You are correct, except that you can't make your second selection 2 hours after 7am. It is 2 hours after the park opens when you can make your second LL selection.

Am I understanding correctly that the 2nd selection has to be two hours after park opening and not after you tap in for the first selection? For example, say at 7:00 am I choose a LL for 10:15 am. Can I choose another after tapping in to that attraction or do I have to wait until 11:00?

 

[CJK]

Am I understanding correctly that the 2nd selection has to be two hours after park opening and not after you tap in for the first selection? For example, say at 7:00 am I choose a LL for 10:15 am. Can I choose another after tapping in to that attraction or do I have to wait until 11:00?

You can book another LL after tapping into your 10:15am ride. The rule is, 'you can book your next ride after you tap into your last booked ride OR after 2hrs - WHICHEVER COMES FIRST'.

 

[thanxfornoticin]

Am I understanding correctly that the 2nd selection has to be two hours after park opening and not after you tap in for the first selection? For example, say at 7:00 am I choose a LL for 10:15 am. Can I choose another after tapping in to that attraction or do I have to wait until 11:00?

In this scenario, after you make your second 'tap' at your 10:15AM attraction, you should then be able to make another selection, not wait until 11.

 

[TikiRob]

Thanks everyone for contributing here... I think I now understand the new rules (after learning the original rules)! I'm stuck on an airplane without wifi until 8:30am (8:00am MK opening). So I was thinking of this hypothetical of stacking higher demand rides in the evening and then a more widely available one for when I arrive.

Here is my hypothetical:
Book LL#1 at 8:30am for 6:00pm
Book LL#2 at 10:30am for 7:00pm
Book LL#3 at 12:30pm for 1:00pm

Scan in at LL#3 at 1:00pm, can I make another right away at 1pm? I've stacked later in the day, but I'm not doing any of the previously closed loopholes, right? Then I can do a rolling rebooking LL#3 for immediate usage until all availability is gone.

 

[thanxfornoticin]

Thanks everyone for contributing here... I think I now understand the new rules (after learning the original rules)! I'm stuck on an airplane without wifi until 8:30am (8:00am MK opening). So I was thinking of this hypothetical of stacking higher demand rides in the evening and then a more widely available one for when I arrive.

Here is my hypothetical:
Book LL#1 at 8:30am for 6:00pm
Book LL#2 at 10:30am for 7:00pm
Book LL#3 at 12:30pm for 1:00pm

Scan in at LL#3 at 1:00pm, can I make another right away at 1pm? I've stacked later in the day, but I'm not doing any of the previously closed loopholes, right? Then I can do a rolling rebooking LL#3 for immediate usage until all availability is gone.

Just a first comment on your scenario. You might already know this, but you cannot actually select your exact time for LL - you get the next available - similar to the original paper fast passes. Getting those actual times would be unlikely. Second, the way we understand it, if you do manage to get you LL#1 and LL#2 "stacked", and then use LL#3 at 1PM, you would NOT be able to get another LL until 2:30PM - 2 hours after you made LL#3. It seems to fill in other holes, so if you have any remaining LLs during the day, you must go by the 2-hour window. Perhaps others can verify or counter that - but it's what we saw when using it last week.

 

[g-dad66]

Thanks everyone for contributing here... I think I now understand the new rules (after learning the original rules)! I'm stuck on an airplane without wifi until 8:30am (8:00am MK opening). So I was thinking of this hypothetical of stacking higher demand rides in the evening and then a more widely available one for when I arrive.

Here is my hypothetical:
Book LL#1 at 8:30am for 6:00pm
Book LL#2 at 10:30am for 7:00pm
Book LL#3 at 12:30pm for 1:00pm

Scan in at LL#3 at 1:00pm, can I make another right away at 1pm? I've stacked later in the day, but I'm not doing any of the previously closed loopholes, right? Then I can do a rolling rebooking LL#3 for immediate usage until all availability is gone.

You should be able to book LL#4 at 1:00.

 

[thanxfornoticin]

You should be able to book LL#4 at 1:00.

You may be right, but it's not what we saw when we tried to do something similar last week. It appears if you have any future G+/LL reservations, you're on a 2-hour limit for making the 'next'. If you have no other LL scheduled besides your current one, then you can make another after tapping into a current LL. Unless I did something wrong while playing with it the one day last week......

 

[kathi]

Other than SDD, what fills up the fastest? Is it MFSR? What rides (not shows) tend to be easiest to get later in the day?

 

[Grasshopper2016]

The rule is this: "You are eligible to schedule another LL when it has been two hours since you last booked an LL (or two hours since park opening) OR you have scanned into your most recently booked LL WHICHEVER IS SOONER." Having another LL still scheduled does not necessarily preclude you from booking upon scanning in, if the one that you still have remaining was not your most recently booked one.

 

[thanxfornoticin]

The rule is this: "You are eligible to schedule another LL when it has been two hours since you last booked an LL (or two hours since park opening) OR you have scanned into your most recently booked LL WHICHEVER IS SOONER." Having another LL still scheduled does not necessarily preclude you from booking upon scanning in, if the one that you still have remaining was not your most recently booked one.

Like I said above, that was not what happened for me last week. But I also admit to it being very new and I might have done something wrong - but it told me after i tapped in at Navi, while we had a later LL that day at AK, that I was not yet eligible for another LL.

 

[Grasshopper2016]

Like I said above, that was not what happened for me last week. But I also admit to it being very new and I might have done something wrong - but it told me after i tapped in at Navi, while we had a later LL that day at AK, that I was not yet eligible for another LL.

Hmm. Either that was a glitch (shocking!), or Disney has changed the rules again without telling us (shocking!).

 

[aimes0105]

Like I said above, that was not what happened for me last week. But I also admit to it being very new and I might have done something wrong - but it told me after i tapped in at Navi, while we had a later LL that day at AK, that I was not yet eligible for another LL.

Which LL did you book first? Was it Navi or the other one that was scheduled for later? I know Navi goes quickly so my guess is if you had that for earlier in the day you probably booked that first? In which case using it would not have opened up eligibility to book another because it wasn't your most recently booked reservation.

 

[DisneyPanthersFan]

Like I said above, that was not what happened for me last week. But I also admit to it being very new and I might have done something wrong - but it told me after i tapped in at Navi, while we had a later LL that day at AK, that I was not yet eligible for another LL.

Was it after your whole group had tapped in the 2nd time at Navi? That threw me sometimes - I'd check before everyone had tapped in the 2nd time and it would tell me I wasn't eligible.

It does seem likely that Disney has changed things again, but I guess I'm just hoping they haven't! I was considering a strategy similar to @TikiRob's for at least one day on our trip next month.

 

[TikiRob]

The rule is this: "You are eligible to schedule another LL when it has been two hours since you last booked an LL (or two hours since park opening) OR you have scanned into your most recently booked LL WHICHEVER IS SOONER." Having another LL still scheduled does not necessarily preclude you from booking upon scanning in, if the one that you still have remaining was not your most recently booked one.

Ahhh... Important distinction. Thank you.

 

[ThistleMae]

The problem with booking later rides is there aren't many to get. I could only get one or two at most. Also, after using the current one I couldn't get anything closer than an hour an a half later if not two hours. You just can't get as many as you would like, and they are spread pretty far out. If you are like me and want to hop, there isn't much left to get at the end of the night.

 

[Bobb_o]

Trying to plan out this weekend for my 4 parks in 2 days trip. I will have a DAS (but no preselections) as well but I'm combining it with Genie+ to avoid waiting as much as possible.

First day is Epcot+AK. I'm thinking of Rope Dropping Frozen, getting a G+ for Test Track (if it's a decent window), and a return time for Soarin'. Once the Test Track G+ is used booking KJS or NRJ at AK for 2pm+ and then after two hours the other while getting a return time for FoP. We won't be doing EE or Dinosaur so it makes it pretty easy. The only caveat here is he boarding pass for Ratatouille and that screws up the timing of the TT return (I think it would since both will go at 7am right?)

Second day is DHS+MK. Same strategy really: Rope Drop MMRR, try and get Slinky G+ early, and obtain a return time for RotR. Then I'll start booking G+ at MK starting with Jungle Cruise while getting return times at DHS for MF:SR and ToT while hoping that ST and TS:MM isn't too bad.

For those that have park hopped do you think this is the better strategy or should I just try and stack for the 2nd park?

 

[MagicMoon]

I think the tough thing is, you can’t really plan after 7am…

Even the 7 am booking is unknown until the confirmation returns (as times change during booking).

 

[emmabelle]

I have a question, if I have a park pass for Epcot for Friday do I first have to book a Genie + for Epcot? Can I just book one for HS for the night time? We arrive in Orlando in the morning and may want to walk over to Epcot for a little but do HS at night. Maybe I should just change our pass to HS for that day.

 

[CJK]

No

I have a question, if I have a park pass for Epcot for Friday do I first have to book a Genie + for Epcot? Can I just book one for HS for the night time? We arrive in Orlando in the morning and may want to walk over to Epcot for a little but do HS at night. Maybe I should just change our pass to HS for that day.

No, you can choose to only book rides in Hollywood Studios. You will only be able to book attractions for after 2pm. Just keep in mind that you must physically tap into Epcot, before going to HS after 2pm.