The Genie Usage, Tips and Strategy ONLY Thread

[godfather927]

I've been watching ROTR and it seemed to have a decent drop of times at 7:23. Didn't last for long, but hopefully long enough to grab one and speed through the checkout process.

Same case again today with the 7:23 RotR drops. They lasted just under 2 minutes today which should be enough time to snag one if you're refreshing as soon as they drop. My mission is to focus on doing whatever it takes to get SDD on our HS day, but once that's out of the way, I'll try to get RotR too, so hopefully I can already have SDD booked before 7:23.

One other thing I noticed, on the Android app, swiping down to refresh seemed less reliable than clicking on "Change Park" and just selecting the same park again. Not sure if anyone else has noticed the same or if the iPhone app behaves similarly.

 

[wisblue]

How long did it take to ride both space and buzz? I’m assuming you did these one right after the other at Early entry.

I’ll butt in here because we have done this too.

At ETPE our two choices are to go to Space or 7DMT first. Those are the two most popular choices and the line for 7DMT gets longer faster.

If you go to Space first and can be reasonably close to the front, you can get through the ride and over to Buzz by 8:40 or so if they open the ride right at 8:30. Of course, if you are further back in the crowd as it is led to the ride it will take longer.

Buzz has always been pretty much a walk on at that time so we are able to do that and then head to the Frontierland/Adventureland side as it opens at 9 AM. We usually like to do BTMRR and Spalsh first, though on our last trip Spalsh was down at park opening so we went to Pirates after BTMRR and before using our LL for JC. That gave us 5 good rides by about 10:15 when we started making LL reservations for later in the day.

 

[wisblue]

Same case again today with the 7:23 RotR drops. They lasted just under 2 minutes today which should be enough time to snag one if you're refreshing as soon as they drop. My mission is to focus on doing whatever it takes to get SDD on our HS day, but once that's out of the way, I'll try to get RotR too, so hopefully I can already have SDD booked before 7:23.

One other thing I noticed, on the Android app, swiping down to refresh seemed less reliable than clicking on "Change Park" and just selecting the same park again. Not sure if anyone else has noticed the same or if the iPhone app behaves similarly.

On the refreshing I click on “Attractions and Shows” instead of swiping. I have an iPhone.

I haven’t been checking as often or as carefully because our next trip probably won’t be until next year’s marathon. But the 7:17 pattern has definitely changed since our trip in March.

Regular refreshing should catch something as others appear at various times. Today there were some times around 7:10-7:12 and then again later as you noted.

 

[MainMom]

I’ll butt in here because we have done this too.

At ETPE our two choices are to go to Space or 7DMT first. Those are the two most popular choices and the line for 7DMT gets longer faster.

If you go to Space first and can be reasonably close to the front, you can through the ride and over to Buzz by 8:40 or so if they open the ride right at 8:30. Of course, if you are further back in the crowd as it is led to the ride it will take longer.

Buzz has always been pretty much a walk on at that time so we are able to do that and then head to the Frontierland/Adventureland side as it opens at 9 AM. We usually like to do BTMRR and Spalsh first, though on our last trip Spalsh was down at park opening so we went to Pirates after BTMRR and before using our LL for JC. That gave us 5 good rides by about 10:15 when we started making LL reservations for later in the day.

Thank you! We are staying at BLT and are early risers so we plan on being close to the front. I would love to get space and buzz done before 9.

 

[MinneTinK]

I’ve been practicing at 7am for our trip next week, HS first day with SDD being priority. Can anyone tell or show me via screen shot what the steps are after that first screen (right now it shows me “choose eligible guests” as our tickets aren’t valid until Monday)

 

[DisneySyd]

I’ve been practicing at 7am for our trip next week, HS first day with SDD being priority. Can anyone tell or show me via screen shot what the steps are after that first screen (right now it shows me “choose eligible guests” as our tickets aren’t valid until Monday)

For LL, the choose eligible guests page is the page you confirm the booking on (it will show the time you’re booking). The next page is the confirmation showing your booking.
I don’t have screenshots but if you google “step by step Genie+” there are some good YouTube videos showing the screens- they also remind you of everything you need to set up before 7am to ensure success.
Make sure you set up My Day with only SDD selected. When you go to your Tip Board before 7am, ensure SDD is at the top. If not click “edit selections” and choose only SDD.

 

[wonderchica]

How long did it take to ride both space and buzz? I’m assuming you did these one right after the other at Early entry.

Yes. I’d say we waited 5 minutes + walked the queue for Space, then waited maybe 10 for Buzz? Long enough for me to sneak to the nearest bathroom. We headed to Adventureland after Buzz and they were letting in other park guests so I’d say we finished the first two in around 30 minutes.

 

[orangecuse]

Hopinh someone can help clarify this ILL$ question for me.

We are not Disney Resort guests, but we are at a DS that can use the 30 min EE. In this scenario below which time can we book an $ILL for RAT

Starting park is MK, planned hop park is Epcot. MK opens at 9, Epcot opens at 8:30. Can we book Rat at-

A. 8:00, when EE starts for Epcot
B. 8:30, when Epcot opens
C. 9:00, when MK opens

Hope this is clear! We will be in MK but booking Rat for an evening in Epcot.

 

[Gentry2004]

Hopinh someone can help clarify this ILL$ question for me.

We are not Disney Resort guests, but we are at a DS that can use the 30 min EE. In this scenario below which time can we book an $ILL for RAT

Starting park is MK, planned hop park is Epcot. MK opens at 9, Epcot opens at 8:30. Can we book Rat at-

A. 8:00, when EE starts for Epcot
B. 8:30, when Epcot opens
C. 9:00, when MK opens

Hope this is clear! We will be in MK but booking Rat for an evening in Epcot.

I thought the DS hotels with ETPE also get 7am ILL$ booking. Is that not correct? I obviously haven’t been yet.

 

[CJK]

I thought the DS hotels with ETPE also get 7am ILL$ booking. Is that not correct? I obviously haven’t been yet.

Sadly, no. They have to book ILL$ at official park opening.

 

[DisneySyd]

Hopinh someone can help clarify this ILL$ question for me.

We are not Disney Resort guests, but we are at a DS that can use the 30 min EE. In this scenario below which time can we book an $ILL for RAT

Starting park is MK, planned hop park is Epcot. MK opens at 9, Epcot opens at 8:30. Can we book Rat at-

A. 8:00, when EE starts for Epcot
B. 8:30, when Epcot opens
C. 9:00, when MK opens

Hope this is clear! We will be in MK but booking Rat for an evening in Epcot.

B. - it is at regular park opening time for the park the ride is located in

 

[orangecuse]

B. - it is at regular park opening time for the park the ride is located in

Thank you!!

 

[lynzi2004]

Our experience with Space and Buzz in March. Got to MK around 7:50, first time there in 20ish years for some of our group so we took some time to take in the sights and gets some pics. We went over to the Tomorrowland entrance around 8:10 I would say and were lined up right under the sign to Tomorrowland. It was nothing like the 7DMT madness but definitely more packed than I was expecting. By the time the rope dropped it was shoulder to shoulder from somewhere around the Laugh floor all the way back across the bridge And fanned towards the Hub. The advantage/problem with Space (depending on which camp you are in) is that the walkway to actually get to Space is huge. So once your out of the bottle neck, there is some jockeying for position. If you have a later arrival, you can make up time. If you arrival early, you will still need to “get with it” to keep towards the front. No one was running necessarily but we hurried over there, party of 3 with tweens and we walked the que and got right on. But after we got off Space, the line said 60 min and they were lined up almost to the Lunching Pad…so minutes really do matter even when rope dropping Space. My guess is their wait wasn’t actually that long but it would be disheartening to be in the position if you were hoping to knock out things early. No wait for Buzz afterwards.

 

[MainMom]

Our experience with Space and Buzz in March. Got to MK around 7:50, first time there in 20ish years for some of our group so we took some time to take in the sights and gets some pics. We went over to the Tomorrowland entrance around 8:10 I would say and were lined up right under the sign to Tomorrowland. It was nothing like the 7DMT madness but definitely more packed than I was expecting. By the time the rope dropped it was shoulder to shoulder from somewhere around the Laugh floor all the way back across the bridge And fanned towards the Hub. The advantage/problem with Space (depending on which camp you are in) is that the walkway to actually get to Space is huge. So once your out of the bottle neck, there is some jockeying for position. If you have a later arrival, you can make up time. If you arrival early, you will still need to “get with it” to keep towards the front. No one was running necessarily but we hurried over there, party of 3 with tweens and we walked the que and got right on. But after we got off Space, the line said 60 min and they were lined up almost to the Lunching Pad…so minutes really do matter even when rope dropping Space. My guess is their wait wasn’t actually that long but it would be disheartening to be in the position if you were hoping to knock out things early. No wait for Buzz afterwards.

5 of 7 of my party are good at keeping up with the crowd. The other 2 meander. Hopefully I can get them to keep up.

 

[wisblue]

Our experience with Space and Buzz in March. Got to MK around 7:50, first time there in 20ish years for some of our group so we took some time to take in the sights and gets some pics. We went over to the Tomorrowland entrance around 8:10 I would say and were lined up right under the sign to Tomorrowland. It was nothing like the 7DMT madness but definitely more packed than I was expecting. By the time the rope dropped it was shoulder to shoulder from somewhere around the Laugh floor all the way back across the bridge And fanned towards the Hub. The advantage/problem with Space (depending on which camp you are in) is that the walkway to actually get to Space is huge. So once your out of the bottle neck, there is some jockeying for position. If you have a later arrival, you can make up time. If you arrival early, you will still need to “get with it” to keep towards the front. No one was running necessarily but we hurried over there, party of 3 with tweens and we walked the que and got right on. But after we got off Space, the line said 60 min and they were lined up almost to the Lunching Pad…so minutes really do matter even when rope dropping Space. My guess is their wait wasn’t actually that long but it would be disheartening to be in the position if you were hoping to knock out things early. No wait for Buzz afterwards.

There definitely is a lot of jockeying for position once the rope drops for Space.

We are usually close to the front and you have to move quickly just to hold your position relative to the people from further back who try to elbow ahead or outflank the group as the walking area opens up. How easy it can be to do that can depend on how aggressive the cast members are at scolding people who try to move ahead of them by sweeping to the sides.

I also doubt if the actual wait is 60 minutes when you exit and the line extends outside the attraction. But it’s going to take significantly longer than just walking through the queue.

 

[ckelly14]

Just back and will say that Genie+ is a bit of a pain but it seemed to work out well with our touring style. We were a group of mostly adults with my elderly parents so we never got to the parks before noon. Generally we were satisfied with the 3-4 rides that we had LL access for or short waits.

Evening extended hours started great at MK but the kids only rode SM once. There was a HUGE line to get check for eligibility as the were using handheld scanners to verify.

Rode with LL:

MK- PPF, HM, Pirates, BTMR, SDMT
Epcot- Soarin', Rat, Frozen
AK: FOP, Navi, EE, Safari
DHS: RotR, Smugglers, RnRC

Really half day in most parks so we were OK with what we received.

 

[Gentry2004]

Just back and will say that Genie+ is a bit of a pain but it seemed to work out well with our touring style. We were a group of mostly adults with my elderly parents so we never got to the parks before noon. Generally we were satisfied with the 3-4 rides that we had LL access for or short waits.

Evening extended hours started great at MK but the kids only rode SM once. There was a HUGE line to get check for eligibility as the were using handheld scanners to verify.

Rode with LL:

MK- PPF, HM, Pirates, BTMR, SDMT
Epcot- Soarin', Rat, Frozen
AK: FOP, Navi, EE, Safari
DHS: RotR, Smugglers, RnRC

Really half day in most parks so we were OK with what we received.

Has EE reopened?

 

[Tess]

Has EE reopened?

Yes.

 

[jsmla]

Saturday 5/24

I drove to Orlando and spent the night in Tallahassee so I was around four hours away from Disney. At 7:00 I purchased an ILL for Seven Dwarfs Mine Train with a 7:00 pm return time and headed out. The return times for Peter Pan were still to early so I ended up pulling over a couple of times to check Genie +. I ended up booking Peter Pan (5:15 R/T) at 11:31 and Big Thunder (5:05 R/T) at 1:31. At 3:32 I booked Haunted Mansion (6:05 R/T).

I arrived at Ft Wilderness a little after noon, checked in and got the van all set up for the week before I left for the MK around 4:00(ish).

Tomorrowland was my first stop. The Peoplemover was down and being evacuated so I headed over to Carousel of Progress. I was able to walk into the next theater just as the doors opened. I always enjoy this and haven’t seen it since the pandemic.

Next stop was the Peoplemover. It was just reopening so the line was pretty short. I may have waited five minutes, if that. I LOVE the Peoplemover, it’s so Zen.

Peter Pan was next. I used my LL and was on in 8 minutes. The posted wait was 70.

At 5:34 I booked Genie + for Pirates of the Caribbean with a 5:50 return time before heading to Big Thunder Mt. The published wait was 35 minutes. I waited 8.

After Big Thunder I rode Pirates of the Caribbean with my LL booking. Pirates had a 25 minute wait posted. It was basically a walk on with LL.

Since Pirates was my most recently booked LL I was able to get a LL for Buzz Lightyear (6:15 R/T) right after tapping in at Pirates.

Haunted Mansion was next. I used my LL and was on in 7 minutes. The posted wait was 25.

After Haunted Mansion I used my final LL booking at Buzz Lightyear. Out of curiosity I tried to get another LL (SmallWorld) after my Buzz window opened (but before I tapped in) but wasn’t allowed until I had tapped in at Buzz.

Mine Train was my final ride of the evening. I got in line at 7:15 and was on in less than five minutes. I believe standby was around 90 minutes. I thought this was well worth the $12 price for solo me. I’m not sure how I would feel if paying for a family.

 

[TheSouthernBelle]

Just back and will say that Genie+ is a bit of a pain but it seemed to work out well with our touring style. We were a group of mostly adults with my elderly parents so we never got to the parks before noon. Generally we were satisfied with the 3-4 rides that we had LL access for or short waits.

Evening extended hours started great at MK but the kids only rode SM once. There was a HUGE line to get check for eligibility as the were using handheld scanners to verify.

Rode with LL:

MK- PPF, HM, Pirates, BTMR, SDMT
Epcot- Soarin', Rat, Frozen
AK: FOP, Navi, EE, Safari
DHS: RotR, Smugglers, RnRC

Really half day in most parks so we were OK with what we received.

We had a similar experience with EEH at MK. My girls got on SM with little to no wait early in the evening around 10p but by 11:30 or so the line was so so long backing up to Astro orbiter. I am not sure if they need more CM to help expedite the lines for EEH but we tapped out around 12:30a. We did 7DMT twice that night and the line moved pretty quickly, 15 min wait one time and 10 min the second time. Posted waits were 55 min and 40 min respectively.

We also did later days too but not because of elderly parents, it was teenage girls that sleep in and take forever to get ready LOL!