The Genie Usage, Tips and Strategy ONLY Thread

[java]

Here now and these are my 2 cents.
We bought it for MK - twice- loved it there very useful. (4 of us so $60) and bought it once for HS. I don’t know if it’s necessary there. We didn’t feel we used it as much- we were able to do everything we wanted in one day- planned second day got switched to our last 1/2 day. Epcot- completely unnecessary imho if you are an early riser. Same with Animal Kingdom- we just watched the app and waited for short wait times- again rode everything in one day without +. Time to head back to the parks.

 

[Lisa P.]

Thanks for that update. Seems like the parks (except MK) are pretty manageable during moderate crowds without Genie+. Our experiences in Feb and June were that Genie+ was pretty necessary at DHS with the larger crowds at those times. It's just been so hard to anticipate crowd levels these days.

 

[set88]

I didn't know it worked like that, we didn't hop on our first genie+ trip in May. But I kind of see why they changed it. Makes it harder to stack I get it, but It's not really fair for people in other parks to have access to 2:00 slots before the people who reserved that park. Seems better for the slots to open up at the same time for everyone, IMO.

This is my interpretation, too. This change doesn't seem to directly benefit Disney, so I assume it's being made because they think it will increase overall satisfaction. I agree that it seems more fair that people who are planning to be in one park all day don't get blocked out of afternoon return times because park hoppers took them all in the morning.

Maybe this will particularly help EPCOT. Right now it's basically impossible to get all 3 headliners without luck and a lot of refreshing. If this change allows people who start at EPCOT to actually get all 3, Genie+ would be much more worthwhile there.

 

[inspectorgadget]

I watched an Ear Scouts YouTube video about Genie+ strategy at HS. At first, his return times were all later but he was able to keep refreshing and was able to get early times. I have been "practicing" (my trip is in September) and I have not had any earlier times appear at all. I have been trying throughout the day, everyday. I would hate to miss out on a return time, even if it's later, because I have been holding out for an earlier times. Is there something I am missing? How was he able to do this? Could it be that he had 1 in his party, versus 5 or any big party?

 

[daisylovesdisney]

srn times were all later but he was able to keep refreshing and was able to get early t imes. I have been "practicing" (my trip is in September) and I have not had any earlier times appear at all. I have been trying throughout the day, everyday. I would hate to miss out on a return time, even if it's later, because I have been holding out for an earlier times. Is there something I am missing? How was he able to do this? Could it be that he had 1 in his party, versus 5 or any big party?

I looked at thrill data yesterday and could find times during the day when suddenly earlier LL return times were available for some of the attractions. But there didn't seem to be anything regular about it, and the early times seemed to only last for mere minutes and then were back to later times being available.

 

[inspectorgadget]

I looked at thrill data yesterday and could find times during the day when suddenly earlier LL return times were available for some of the attractions. But there didn't seem to be anything regular about it, and the early times seemed to only last for mere minutes and then were back to later times being available.

Oh, I see. Thanks for your reply. That sounds like a risky strategy then so I probably will just grab whatever I can. I also do not want to be glued to my phone, it would be nice to spend the time with my family. Imagine that - not having to be tied to your phone on a VACATION!

 

[daisylovesdisney]

Oh, I see. Thanks for your reply. That sounds like a risky strategy then so I probably will just grab whatever I can. I also do not want to be glued to my phone, it would be nice to spend the time with my family. Imagine that - not having to be tied to your phone on a VACATION!

I was really hoping to find some sort of pattern for particular attractions and then put timers on my phone but really just seems like luck. Maybe someone has plotted the info out and has cracked the code lol.

 

[inspectorgadget]

I was really hoping to find some sort of pattern for particular attractions and then put timers on my phone but really just seems like luck. Maybe someone has plotted the info out and has cracked the code lol.

Haha! A pattern...wouldn't that be nice? You would need to be an advanced code breaker to figure that out.

 

[melking23]

I’m not sure I believe Disney made this change on purpose. The website had scheduled maintenance last night beginning at midnight eastern. Either I saw an article stating such or I saw it on Disney’s website myself last night when I got kicked off of the DAS live chat after 10PM. This change could very well just be a glitch.

 

[snikki]

Any reports this morning on if the no booking after 2 pm is still happening or if it was a glitch?

 

[Jrb1979]

Any reports this morning on if the no booking after 2 pm is still happening or if it was a glitch?

I don't think it was a glitch but part of the new update.

 

[Disturbia]

Not a glitch, but they’ve been thinking about implementing a park pass for the park that is being hopped to

https://wdwnt.com/2022/08/daily-recap-8-11-22/

 

[Disturbia]

They’re probably trying to improve evening pass availability. Now you can’t get ahead of the crowd in booking passes if you initially booked in a park that opened earlier; you’re also at a disadvantage from someone who stays in the parks and at 1 pm can book same park ahead of someone arriving at 2. It would reduce everyone hopping to MK (open later) in the pm. We haven’t used hoppers with Genie+.

This has to be leading to something else. I wonder if they are going to implement a system where you need to be in the park (we stack evening passes for check in day).

 

[Disturbia]

Thanks for that update. Seems like the parks (except MK) are pretty manageable during moderate crowds without Genie+. Our experiences in Feb and June were that Genie+ was pretty necessary at DHS with the larger crowds at those times. It's just been so hard to anticipate crowd levels these days.

Same with March, Genie+ was absolutely necessary for HS.

 

[heathsf]

Not a glitch, but they’ve been thinking about implementing a park pass for the park that is being hopped to

https://wdwnt.com/2022/08/daily-recap-8-11-22/

I really really really hope not. I don't want to lose the flexibility of park hopping

 

[leeniewdw]

You pay extra for park hopping but you have to figure out in advance which parks you want to hop to? That just doesn't make sense to me.

For our Nov trip with 4 20-somethings who haven't been since they were tweens, it's really hard to know they may want to visit/re-visit as the day unfold. That's why we bought PARK HOPPERS!

 

[snikki]

This has to be leading to something else. I wonder if they are going to implement a system where you need to be in the park (we stack evening passes for check in day).

I sure hope not. That would suck.

 

[Frozen2014]

Trying to come up with a plan with coordinating ADR, LL and LL$ and have a question around LL$ and LL.

What happens if say at 7am, you book a LL$.
Then when it comes to booking your next LL (at say the second eligible time), it conflicts with the LL$...but you want to grab it as it may be gone for the next time you are eligible to book.

I am thinking of trying for Rise of the Resistance for around 3pm.
But if we try for Millennium Falcon for our second LL, it may fall around the same window.
(We have ADR for late morning which is why I am thinking later in the day for Rise, and MF first time doesn't seem likely)

Can we book it and then just show the second one that we had a conflict and they will let us in? Or we can't book it at all as we will lose it if we can't make one on time?

 

[heathsf]

You pay extra for park hopping but you have to figure out in advance which parks you want to hop to? That just doesn't make sense to me.

For our Nov trip with 4 20-somethings who haven't been since they were tweens, it's really hard to know they may want to visit/re-visit as the day unfold. That's why we bought PARK HOPPERS!

*Exactly* my feelings!!!!

 

[leeniewdw]

I sure hope not. That would suck.

That would very much suck. You pay all this money to be on site at lovely resorts with convenient travel to/from parks so you can enjoy your entire vacation. You've paid extra for G+ in order to help maximize your vacation time. Now you pull the rug out of that? (And that's ignoring the fact that people are STILL having to study just to know how to use all the various systems and timings, etc -- and they continue to change it!)

Trying to come up with a plan with coordinating ADR, LL and LL$ and have a question around LL$ and LL.

What happens if say at 7am, you book a LL$.
Then when it comes to booking your next LL (at say the second eligible time), it conflicts with the LL$...but you want to grab it as it may be gone for the next time you are eligible to book.

I am thinking of trying for Rise of the Resistance for around 3pm.
But if we try for Millennium Falcon for our second LL, it may fall around the same window.
(We have ADR for late morning which is why I am thinking later in the day for Rise, and MF first thing doesn't seem likely)

Can we book it and then just show the second one that we had a conflict and they will let us in? Or we can't book it at all as we will lose it if we can't make one on time?

You have an hour for your return windows. You should be able to use overlapping LL/ILL without an issue in the same park. We've done it many many times.