The Genie Usage, Tips and Strategy ONLY Thread

[Disturbia]

Yes, this happens daily. The way the system is set up everyone is eligible at 7AM to book LL reservations and have no choice of return times so all clicking at 7AM see the same return time. It’s a poorly designed system which needs a lot of work to make it more user friendly.

I agree. I was buying SDMT (LLIA$) so it was before non resort guests start buying and this still happened, so it’s competitive even among resort guests who have early entry access.

The only way to remedy this would be increasing prices, which I’m sure is on the horizon.

 

[RLGNC]

We often find the posted wait to be up to 4x the actual wait as closing time approaches.

This is good info to keep in mind!

 

[Disturbia]

My daughter and her family are going in Nov this year. They're using this approach and they said the parks will be less crowded and shorter wait times after 5. Thanks for the tip!!

Depends on when in Nov. There is Jersey week (11/6-12), runDisney events (wine & dine half marathon 11/3-6) and the end of Food & Wine (11/19) and first day of Christmas celebrations (maybe 11/6?) which gets super busy with bloggers. I’m assuming you’re avoiding Thanskgiving.

 

[Disturbia]

This is good info to keep in mind!

Be careful as FOP posted was 45 so we thought we would be done in 20-30 and have enough time to hop over to Navi; the wait was over 60 mins.

 

[Miffy]

I agree. I was buying SDMT (LLIA$) so it was before non resort guests start buying and this still happened, so it’s competitive even among resort guests who have early entry access.

The only way to remedy this would be increasing prices, which I’m sure is on the horizon.

There are many ways to remedy this, and increasing prices isn't one of them. The most logical way to fix it would be that the system would hold the time you chose for a certain amount of time until the transaction was complete. If Ticketmaster can do this, there's no reason Disney can't.

 

[Disturbia]

There are many ways to remedy this, and increasing prices isn't one of them. The most logical way to fix it would be that the system would hold the time you chose for a certain amount of time until the transaction was complete. If Ticketmaster can do this, there's no reason Disney can't.

Even better would be if we were allowed to book our first (or 2) Genie+ pass and up to 2 LLIA$ (so 3 rides) 10 days (typical trip length) in advance at 7 am EST.

There is no reason to have people scramble every morning while on vacation and in flight (yes I booked Frozen after crazy refreshing for over an hour, right before I had to turn my phone into airplane mode). I had booked Remy and Test Track at 7 am.

After the release of pay per ride at Paris, Genie+ was introduced at WDW a few months later, hence the speculation that paid package option is coming

 

[Jrb1979]

Even better would be if we were allowed to book our first (or 2) Genie+ pass and up to 2 LLIA$ (so 3 rides) 10 days (typical trip length) in advance at 7 am EST.

There is no reason to have people scramble every morning while on vacation and in flight (yes I booked Frozen after crazy refreshing for over an hour, right before I had to turn my phone into airplane mode). I had booked Remy and Test Track at 7 am.

After the release of pay per ride at Paris, Genie+ was introduced at WDW a few months later, hence the speculation that paid package option is coming

Might as well bring back FP+ at that rate. I personally think they should have went to Universal route and get rid of return times. To make it work limit how many people can purchase it.

 

[ICEMAN3205]

I'm sure this has been mentioned several times, but...
Just got back from the parks last week and wanted to add some advice for first time Genie+. For those planning on stacking multiple Genie+ LL for later in the day make sure you don't make the mistake I did. I thought I had read enough on here and watched enough Youtube videos but in the moment I still made the mistake of making each new LL later in the day instead of working towards earlier times. So I had to keep waiting the 2hr rule instead of being able to grab a new LL after tapping into the "Last Booked".

 

[Garyjames220]

Is there a way of getting frozen and test track as a lightening lane on the same day

I’m I better picking frozen or test track first?

is there a time you have noticed both available?

I have checked a lot before our trip that starts in A few days and seems impossible to get both

 

[trishadono]

I'm sure this has been mentioned several times, but...
Just got back from the parks last week and wanted to add some advice for first time Genie+. For those planning on stacking multiple Genie+ LL for later in the day make sure you don't make the mistake I did. I thought I had read enough on here and watched enough Youtube videos but in the moment I still made the mistake of making each new LL later in the day instead of working towards earlier times. So I had to keep waiting the 2hr rule instead of being able to grab a new LL after tapping into the "Last Booked".

It depends . I will look and discuss with dd our options. IF there is a ride we want in the morning at a time we want to still be in the the park we grab that. If it’s 12 or later we are ready for lunch or other activity and will then switch to looking at different parks for a later evening time like 4 or 5 p.

After a few trips with it we got good. We booked , canceled and rebooked stuff as we changed our minds.

My dh trip is always harder, the man is not into rides all day but likes a few. I really had to ask him what time and what ride? I was better off with just one he wanted than trying to book several. He is content to resort hop n explore.

 

[DisneySyd]

Is there a way of getting frozen and test track as a lightening lane on the same day

I’m I better picking frozen or test track first?

I would pick Frozen first. It usually has less LL availability as the day goes on and it has the longer line. Plus you can always do single rider on TT.

is there a time you have noticed both available?

I have checked a lot before our trip that starts in A few days and seems impossible to get both

They both normally have a new drop of times just after 11:30 (11:32 when I was there). TT also appears to have a couple more “drops” just after 1:30 and 3:30.

 

[g-dad66]

Is there a way of getting frozen and test track as a lightening lane on the same day

I’m I better picking frozen or test track first?

is there a time you have noticed both available?

I have checked a lot before our trip that starts in A few days and seems impossible to get both

You may be able to get both.

Epcot opened at 8:30 today, and just now at 10:35, there are evening LL times still showing for both Frozen and Test Track.

 

[Disturbia]

I would pick Frozen first. It usually has less LL availability as the day goes on and it has the longer line. Plus you can always do single rider on TT.

They both normally have a new drop of times just after 11:30 (11:32 when I was there). TT also appears to have a couple more “drops” just after 1:30 and 3:30.

We picked Test Track first because it was a must do for our older kids (it does have a single rider line, if you have kids over 7). I was able to get Frozen as well on our check in day (3/27)

Checkout day (4/2) we booked Frozen first. Frozen went down twice and it was quite a trek from Soarin (budget 10-15 mins; longer for Remy after 2 pm). I did a super refresh and got Test Track after booking Frozen and Remy first. Don’t overlap if doing rider switch; Soarin, TT take 30 mins to ride each time.

https://allears.net/walt-disney-worlds-single-rider-line/

 

[FunnyLady1966]

Depends on when in Nov. There is Jersey week (11/6-12), runDisney events (wine & dine half marathon 11/3-6) and the end of Food & Wine (11/19) and first day of Christmas celebrations (maybe 11/6?) which gets super busy with bloggers. I’m assuming you’re avoiding Thanskgiving.

Actually we're wanting to go after Thanksgiving

 

[GeorgiaHoo]

I'm sure this has been mentioned several times, but...
Just got back from the parks last week and wanted to add some advice for first time Genie+. For those planning on stacking multiple Genie+ LL for later in the day make sure you don't make the mistake I did. I thought I had read enough on here and watched enough Youtube videos but in the moment I still made the mistake of making each new LL later in the day instead of working towards earlier times. So I had to keep waiting the 2hr rule instead of being able to grab a new LL after tapping into the "Last Booked".

Not sure I understand this. We are arriving tomorrow afternoon and I plan on making our first reservation tomorrow morning at 7 am EST for around 3 pm, which is when we'll first be at the park, and then making the next one at 11 am after the 120 hour window expires. Are you saying I should make that first reservation for an earlier time, even though we won't be able to use those earlier ones?

 

[roctavia]

Not sure I understand this. We are arriving tomorrow afternoon and I plan on making our first reservation tomorrow morning at 7 am EST for around 3 pm, which is when we'll first be at the park, and then making the next one at 11 am after the 120 hour window expires. Are you saying I should make that first reservation for an earlier time, even though we won't be able to use those earlier ones?

This is more for people in the parks all day, if you have an earlier time before the two hour window is up, you can ride the ride and then book another one right away. By stacking only for evening you miss out on that opportunity and can only book every two hours. So it's kind of a choice for what is important- riding more rides earlier in the day if you can get good times, or stacking a bunch for later.

For your situation you have the right plan.

 

[redboat45]

Not sure I understand this. We are arriving tomorrow afternoon and I plan on making our first reservation tomorrow morning at 7 am EST for around 3 pm, which is when we'll first be at the park, and then making the next one at 11 am after the 120 hour window expires. Are you saying I should make that first reservation for an earlier time, even though we won't be able to use those earlier ones?

I think they're saying that you'll want to use the one you last booked first so you can get a new lightening lane after checking into it.

 

[FunnyLady1966]

I think they're saying that you'll want to use the one you last booked first so you can get a new lightening lane after checking into it.

It's overwhelming allllll of the information we have to know before we get there. I miss FP

 

[GeorgiaHoo]

It's overwhelming allllll of the information we have to know before we get there. I miss FP

Yep. In the past we just showed up early and ran around grabbing paper fast passes. And didn’t even necessarily need restaurant reservations! Those were crazy times.

 

[FunnyLady1966]

Yep. In the past we just showed up early and ran around grabbing paper fast passes. And didn’t even necessarily need restaurant reservations! Those were crazy times.

But GREAT times. That's when you could have an actual itinerary and follow it! Now you're just hoping to do a few of the main attractions in each park.