The Genie Usage, Tips and Strategy ONLY Thread

[dmunsil]

To keep the cancel/reschedule going, what's the correct order of operation?

This is how I see it:
1) When you're able to book a LL, if there's one at the right time (ie afternoon window), book that one. If there is no LL with a late enough window, book whatever is available that has an ending time at least 2 hours away from either park opening (7am booking) or the current time. (any other booking)
2) Wait 2 hours.
3) Repeat step 1 - book something you want in the afternoon or book anything more than 2 hours from now.
4) Cancel earliest unwanted LL, availability opens up again.
5) Book new LL (with same criteria - in the afternoon or ends more than 2 hours from now)

If you book something you don't want earlier than 2 hours away, you'll have to cancel/rebook it before your 2 hour wait is up and that will restart the timer.
This strategy seems tricky. Even trickier if you're trying for rides in a certain order to avoid zigzagging the park in the afternoon. But it also seems doable if you're paying attention and watching return times.

All of this is correct, except that you need to book something at least 65 minutes away, not 2 hours.

Say you don’t have anything to book that is within your desired future window. You book something 65 minutes away (or 65 minutes after opening) and wait two hours. Your booking ability comes back, you book something new, then cancel your earlier booking (because it hasn’t expired yet, it’s still eligible to cancel).

If they change the rule so you can’t cancel once your return window opens, then yes, you’d have to book something 2 hours away. But since you can cancel during your return window, that means you just need the end of the return window to be more than 2 hours away.

Edit: Disney changed the rules at some point in the last few weeks. Cancelling any reservation other than the one you most recently booked does nothing. So the above strategy doesn't work.

 

[flipflopmom]

I did this for myself this Christmas trip because I can’t ride MS or other rides that give me motion sickness. It was easier just to book for all 4 of us, and then I could cancel only my LL and keep theirs intact.

Did this change or affect any future LL for you? There are several I cannot ride, and there may be instances where my DH sleeps in and meets us later. If we get for all 4 of us and then cancel one immediately, do we all stay on the same schedule for opportunities to book next one? For the most part, I *think* we will try to book them for later in the afternoon/evening anyway, with the exception of maybe the 7am first slot.

 

[wisblue]

Did this change or affect any future LL for you? There are several I cannot ride, and there may be instances where my DH sleeps in and meets us later. If we get for all 4 of us and then cancel one immediately, do we all stay on the same schedule for opportunities to book next one? For the most part, I *think* we will try to book them for later in the afternoon/evening anyway, with the exception of maybe the 7am first slot.

Each park has its own pattern of how LL return times unfold and, obviously, how fast return times move out into the day will depend on how crowded the parks are.

But, using MK as the example, I think you can do fine without trying to overthink and book things you intend to cancel. The one thing to do is keep an eye on how return times for the most popular G+ attractions in the park are moving. You can do this by checking every 15-30 minutes or so; it doesn’t require constant monitoring. After the initial bookings times don‘t move out that fast.

At MK, JC and PP are the ones that get return times after 3 PM earliest. If you are going to be at a park at opening, at 7 AM you can book something with an early return time that you can use before you start setting up the afternoon stack. By mid morning there might be something that you want for later in the afternoon, and you can select that, and then proceed to book another one every two hours.

If at 9 AM a return time for something you really want to do in the afternoon has moved into your ideal time, you can decide whether to cancel the first one you made and replace it with one for the afternoon. You might find that you can use that other one first and then book for the afternoon.

 

[vinmar4]

Evening Stack 1/16. Started in Epcot and park hopped to HS

View attachment 639733

Wow, I'm impressed.

I'm trying to learn how to manage Disney+ when going to 2 parks, or even one park , LOL. We have not tried it yet.

I'm curious on how you got all those rides at 7a.m
Where some of those paying the extra fees?

I think I got the concept of 120 minutes and getting another one after you tap the second time, but I would like to know when I can start getting some rides for the second park. I know they will start after 2 Pm.

But does the same concept apply as when you are getting some rides for your first park?

In other words, using the 120 minute rule and /or having to tap the second time to get rides for your second park as well as trying to get some for your first one, where you are currently at?

So at 7 am, I can't start getting times for both parks, correct ? I can still only choose one, besides the ones paying extra for

Thank you for any advice or tips

 

[JJ2017]

Hopefully I'm posting in the right place. I am looking for a very clear script so I can pass it along to my friend who will be booking Genie+ stuff while I'm running the Princess 10k.

For our park day (Saturday), we will start at MK and hop to Epcot in the later afternoon/evening. We aren't focused on many rides (more about taking in scenery, leisurely pace and class, slow rides), but I definitely want to buy Remy for a specific time (I'm thinking 5:00). So I need her to buy Remy at 7 am and then book our first LL (should it be at MK or EP?). I don't know what ride to tell her to book. Biggest unknown is if we will rope drop MK. I am leaning towards not due to the race, wanting to return to hotel to rest, shower, have breakfast.

Rides we will be interested in at MK:

Pirates
Haunted Mansion
Small World
Peter Pan

Rides we are interested in at MK:

Remy
Soarin
Spaceship Earth

Help please! Thank you!

 

[cjlong88]

Wow, I'm impressed.

I'm trying to learn how to manage Disney+ when going to 2 parks, or even one park , LOL. We have not tried it yet.

I'm curious on how you got all those rides at 7a.m
Where some of those paying the extra fees?

I think I got the concept of 120 minutes and getting another one after you tap the second time, but I would like to know when I can start getting some rides for the second park. I know they will start after 2 Pm.

But does the same concept apply as when you are getting some rides for your first park?

In other words, using the 120 minute rule and /or having to tap the second time to get rides for your second park as well as trying to get some for your first one, where you are currently at?

So at 7 am, I can't start getting times for both parks, correct ? I can still only choose one, besides the ones paying extra for

Thank you for any advice or tips

Of the three attractions I booked at 7am, only one of them was part of G+ (Slinky). Rise and MMRR are both ILL$ and are paid for separately. Since I was staying onsite, I was eligible to book those at 7am.

All of the LL’s I booked for this day was done outside of Hollywood Studios. We were in Epcot that morning riding a couple of attractions via standby and enjoying Festival of the Arts. I purposefully chose NOT to use G+ for my morning park so I could stack LL’s for our evening park. That way by the time we rolled into HS we had stacked all of these rides using the 120-minute rule.

We accepted that we wouldn’t be able to use LL for Epcot that morning, but it didn’t matter to us because we were going to come back another evening. We managed to utilized early theme park entry and rode Remy, Soarin, LwtL, and Nemo all as walk-ons. The next day we visited Epcot in the evening and that day I just stacked the rides we missed.

This isn’t the only strategy in maximizing Genie+, but in our last three visits it’s by far my favorite and definitely plays to our personal touring style.

 

[cjlong88]

Hopefully I'm posting in the right place. I am looking for a very clear script so I can pass it along to my friend who will be booking Genie+ stuff while I'm running the Princess 10k.

For our park day (Saturday), we will start at MK and hop to Epcot in the later afternoon/evening. We aren't focused on many rides (more about taking in scenery, leisurely pace and class, slow rides), but I definitely want to buy Remy for a specific time (I'm thinking 5:00). So I need her to buy Remy at 7 am and then book our first LL (should it be at MK or EP?). I don't know what ride to tell her to book. Biggest unknown is if we will rope drop MK. I am leaning towards not due to the race, wanting to return to hotel to rest, shower, have breakfast.

Rides we will be interested in at MK:

Pirates
Haunted Mansion
Small World
Peter Pan

Rides we are interested in at MK:

Remy
Soarin
Spaceship Earth

Help please! Thank you!

Soarin and Spaceship Earth should have availability most of the day if not all day. I would book Peter Pan. That one tends to go pretty quickly.

 

[Grumpy by Birth]

I developed this simple flowchart to figure out Genie+.

 

[Rivergirl2005]

Is there a location with a list of rides with the average times they disappear? I know at Hs you grab slinky and then rise, and mk is Peter Pan and jungle cruise. But is there a place with times they usually disappear or a list of what to grab for each park in a specific order?

 

[g-dad66]

Is there a location with a list of rides with the average times they disappear? I know at Hs you grab slinky and then rise, and mk is Peter Pan and jungle cruise. But is there a place with times they usually disappear or a list of what to grab for each park in a specific order?

check out thrill-data.com

 

[vinmar4]

Of the three attractions I booked at 7am, only one of them was part of G+ (Slinky). Rise and MMRR are both ILL$ and are paid for separately. Since I was staying onsite, I was eligible to book those at 7am.

All of the LL’s I booked for this day was done outside of Hollywood Studios. We were in Epcot that morning riding a couple of attractions via standby and enjoying Festival of the Arts. I purposefully chose NOT to use G+ for my morning park so I could stack LL’s for our evening park. That way by the time we rolled into HS we had stacked all of these rides using the 120-minute rule.

We accepted that we wouldn’t be able to use LL for Epcot that morning, but it didn’t matter to us because we were going to come back another evening. We managed to utilized early theme park entry and rode Remy, Soarin, LwtL, and Nemo all as walk-ons. The next day we visited Epcot in the evening and that day I just stacked the rides we missed.

This isn’t the only strategy in maximizing Genie+, but in our last three visits it’s by far my favorite and definitely plays to our personal touring style.

I see, thank you for the explanation, it makes sense. I will save your strategy. We don't do all day parks anymore, we have only a few rides that we like from each park and like to enjoy the resorts, pools, restaurants and bars.

We are doing early entry when we stay at Riviera for both Epcot and HS, and definitively after hours at MK.

I wonder if it makes sense to buy Genie+ for HS if we are doing Early Entrance and not staying all day, it will be St Patricks day and we want to also go to Disney Springs for a while and then back to Epcot for some green beer. We won't have any little children, youngest is 19 y/o. But I would think that it makes sense getting it to do more rides at HS before we leave , and maybe save a couple for Epcot in case we want to ride some.

thank you again for your help !

 

[g-dad66]

Is there a location with a list of rides with the average times they disappear? I know at Hs you grab slinky and then rise, and mk is Peter Pan and jungle cruise. But is there a place with times they usually disappear or a list of what to grab for each park in a specific order?

You aroused my curiosity to see what a list like this would look like.

Here's what thrill-data shows for last available booking time on January 28 (this is the latest booking time before the gray no availability first appears; some availability pops up later occasionally for some of these):

MAGIC KINGDOM
ILL
Seven Dwarfs Mine Train: 9:15 am
Space Mountain: 7:50 pm
G+
Jungle Cruise: 1:50 pm
Peter Pan: 2:40 pm
Big Thunder Mountain: 4:00 pm
Winnie the Pooh: 5:10 pm
Haunted Masnion: 5:30 pm
Pirates of the Caribbean: 6:30 pm
It's a Small World: 7:00 pm
Barnstomer: 7:05 pm
Buzz Lightyear: 7:50 pm
Dumbo: 7:50 pm
Mad Tea Party: 7:50 pm
Magic Carpets: 7:50 pm
Tomorrowland Speedway: 7:50 pm
Under the Sea: 7:50 pm

EPCOT
ILL
Remy's Ratatouille: 8:15 am
Frozen Ever After: 2:20 pm
G+
Test Track: 9:55 am
Journey Into Imagination: 7:50 pm
Living with the Land: 7:50 pm
Mission Space: 7:50 pm
Soarin: 7:50 pm
Spaceship Earth: 7:50 pm
The Seas: 7:50 pm
Turtle Talk: 7:50 pm

HOLLYWOOD STUDIOS
ILL
Rise of the Resistance: before 7:10 am
Mickey & Minnie's Runaway Railway: 7:50 pm
G+
Slinky Dog Dash: before 7:10 am
Millenium Falcon: 1:15 pm
Rock n Roller Coaster: 3:20 pm
Tower of Terror: 3:45 pm
Toy Story Mania: 4:00 pm
Alien Swirling Saucers: 5:05 pm
Muppetvision: 7:30 pm
Star Tours: 7:50 pm

ANIMAL KINGDOM
ILL
Flight of Passage: 9:15 am
G+
Navi River Journey: 2:20 pm
Dinosaur: 3:50 pm
Kiliminjaro Safari: 4:10 pm
It's Tough to Be a Bug: 6:30 pm
Kali River Rapids: 6:30 pm (keep in mind that weather is cold)

(I didn't take the time to list any of the shows for which availiability will end earlier than 7:50 pm because of the time of the last show)

 

[vinmar4]

Of the three attractions I booked at 7am, only one of them was part of G+ (Slinky). Rise and MMRR are both ILL$ and are paid for separately. Since I was staying onsite, I was eligible to book those at 7am.

All of the LL’s I booked for this day was done outside of Hollywood Studios. We were in Epcot that morning riding a couple of attractions via standby and enjoying Festival of the Arts. I purposefully chose NOT to use G+ for my morning park so I could stack LL’s for our evening park. That way by the time we rolled into HS we had stacked all of these rides using the 120-minute rule.

We accepted that we wouldn’t be able to use LL for Epcot that morning, but it didn’t matter to us because we were going to come back another evening. We managed to utilized early theme park entry and rode Remy, Soarin, LwtL, and Nemo all as walk-ons. The next day we visited Epcot in the evening and that day I just stacked the rides we missed.

This isn’t the only strategy in maximizing Genie+, but in our last three visits it’s by far my favorite and definitely plays to our personal touring style.

 

[Rivergirl2005]

You aroused my curiosity to see what a list like this would look like.

Here's what thrill-data shows for last available booking time on January 28 (this is the latest booking time before the gray no availability first appears; some availability pops up later occasionally for some of these):

MAGIC KINGDOM
ILL
Seven Dwarfs Mine Train: 9:15 am
Space Mountain: 7:50 pm
G+
Jungle Cruise: 1:50 pm
Peter Pan: 2:40 pm
Big Thunder Mountain: 4:00 pm
Winnie the Pooh: 5:10 pm
Haunted Masnion: 5:30 pm
Pirates of the Caribbean: 6:30 pm
It's a Small World: 7:00 pm
Barnstomer: 7:05 pm
Buzz Lightyear: 7:50 pm
Dumbo: 7:50 pm
Mad Tea Party: 7:50 pm
Magic Carpets: 7:50 pm
Tomorrowland Speedway: 7:50 pm
Under the Sea: 7:50 pm

EPCOT
ILL
Remy's Ratatouille: 8:15 am
Frozen Ever After: 2:20 pm
G+
Test Track: 9:55 am
Journey Into Imagination: 7:50 pm
Living with the Land: 7:50 pm
Mission Space: 7:50 pm
Soarin: 7:50 pm
Spaceship Earth: 7:50 pm
The Seas: 7:50 pm
Turtle Talk: 7:50 pm

HOLLYWOOD STUDIOS
ILL
Rise of the Resistance: before 7:10 am
Mickey & Minnie's Runaway Railway: 7:50 pm
G+
Slinky Dog Dash: before 7:10 am
Millenium Falcon: 1:15 pm
Rock n Roller Coaster: 3:20 pm
Tower of Terror: 3:45 pm
Toy Story Mania: 4:00 pm
Alien Swirling Saucers: 5:05 pm
Muppetvision: 7:30 pm
Star Tours: 7:50 pm

ANIMAL KINGDOM
ILL
Flight of Passage: 9:15 am
G+
Navi River Journey: 2:20 pm
Dinosaur: 3:50 pm
Kiliminjaro Safari: 4:10 pm
It's Tough to Be a Bug: 6:30 pm
Kali River Rapids: 6:30 pm (keep in mind that weather is cold)

(I didn't take the time to list any of the shows for which availiability will end earlier than 7:50 pm because of the time of the last show)

This is fantastic! Thank you!!!

 

[Meglen]

What happens if you miss your ILL$ time? say I book RotR on travel day and something goes wrong and we dont get to HS a few hours after the slot?

 

[Orsino]

This is an excellent summary, but there's a small error. If you cancel any of your reservations, you can immediately make another. It does not need to be the most recent reservation.

So, I did this today and it did NOT work for me. I had a Haunted Mansion for 7:05pm that I booked earlier on the day. After booking something at 5:45ish. I cancelled the haunted mansion and I was not eligible to book again.

 

[dmunsil]

So, I did this today and it did NOT work for me. I had a Haunted Mansion for 7:05pm that I booked earlier on the day. After booking something at 5:45ish. I cancelled the haunted mansion and I was not eligible to book again.

Well that sucks. Looks like they changed it. I'll run another test tomorrow just to try a few edge cases.

I gotta say, this seems like overkill on Disney's part. Giving people the opportunity to book something new when they cancel doesn't really break Genie+. The previous loophole where you could use any booking and then book something else was a very different situation that was giving people "extra" reservations. Cancelling and rebooking is just replacing an earlier reservation with a new one.

Thanks for checking!

 

[dmunsil]

What happens if you miss your ILL$ time? say I book RotR on travel day and something goes wrong and we dont get to HS a few hours after the slot?

You go to the entrance and tell them what happened and they may or may not let you in. There are no guarantees, but it's absolutely worth trying. You can also go to Guest Relations and see if they'll either get you a later time or refund you.

 

[Doingitagain]

How can I practice using Genie + for lightning lane so I know how to use it before 7:00 am my first day?

 

[GBRforWDW]

How can I practice using Genie + for lightning lane so I know how to use it before 7:00 am my first day?

Not really a way to practice, but here's a video on buying an individual lightning lane pass:

And a Genie+ pass: