Am I correct that its a lot of staring at the phone? :(

[Mike_M]

The first time I used MaxPass, I felt like I was staring into my phone a lot. But I have to admit, that I did get used to it and it hasn't really impeded on my ability to enjoy the ambiance since.

I haven’t had the chance to use G+ yet, but from what I can tell it’s not that different so I wouldn’t worry too much about it. Once you get used to it, you’ll like it.

 

[Karin1984]

And let's face it, a lot of us are on their phones often anyway while waiting for something in our daily lives: Check social media, news, weather, email, other notifications. When you take your phone out to do one of these things, take care of your Disney stuff first and then continue with social media.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

I'm also a person that doesn't want to be on my phone all day and I really didn't feel like I was when using Genie+ and ILLs on our trip just 2 weeks ago. I say keep an open mind and don't worry about it so much because if you have a decent phone, you'll be fine.

Yeah these people talking about bringing extra battery packs or a wall charger to the parks are doing a lot more on their phone than just Genie+. If I'm in the from rope drop through dinner, I usually leave with at least 50% phone battery remaining.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

And let's face it, a lot of us are on their phones often anyway while waiting for something in our daily lives: Check social media, news, weather, email, other notifications. When you take your phone out to do one of these things, take care of your Disney stuff first and then continue with social media.

This is why we can't have nice things.

 

[katyringo]

I have only been to Disney: world and Land, in the age of using your phone for everything. So I don't have anything to compare it to.

that being said, I love the ability to track and see everything in one place in the app. If hubby and I split, we all just my account. Everyone can kinda see what everyone is up to. Once it helped me find him cause he wasn't hearing his phone ring.. lol!

Also, once I started to really get familiar with it and using the my day page and figuring out I could add shows and things, kinda like a schedule, it helped me remember things I wanted to try and do that day because it shows up between my lighting lanes.

 

[LizzyS]

Yeah these people talking about bringing extra battery packs or a wall charger to the parks are doing a lot more on their phone than just Genie+. If I'm in the from rope drop through dinner, I usually leave with at least 50% phone battery remaining.

Same, but I also have always had Motorola smart phones and their batteries are excellent compared to the Samsungs and iphones.

 

[brenda1966]

Turn your wifi off on your phone or it will run down your battery constantly connecting and disconnecting to the various wifi hubs around the parks, which are super spotty anyway.

Do you mean to just use cellular data all day? Or do you mean 'don't connect to disney wifi'. I ask because the last time we were there, which granted was 4 years ago, it seemed like we found a lot of dead zones in the park where our phones didn't work at all (sprint). I know a lot can change in 4 years and now that sprint is t-mobile I'm hoping we have better coverage.

 

[LizzyS]

I have had no problems with Verizon throughout the park (except when in the queue for Indy, of course).

 

[DLgal]

Do you mean to just use cellular data all day? Or do you mean 'don't connect to disney wifi'. I ask because the last time we were there, which granted was 4 years ago, it seemed like we found a lot of dead zones in the park where our phones didn't work at all (sprint). I know a lot can change in 4 years and now that sprint is t-mobile I'm hoping we have better coverage.

I mean don't connect to Disney Wifi, yes. It's awful. I have AT&T and for me, there is only one dead zone between both parks (near the Emotional whirlwind ride at DCA). I can't speak to any other carriers, so if your cell signal is really bad, that is gonna run your battery down regardless, so don't add to the battery drain by ALSO connecting to wifi.

 

[shosh1530]

I may be the odd one out, but I struggled on our recent trip with feeling like I was on my phone all day between booking DAS pass and mobile order. Sometimes I would find myself thinking about which ride to book or trying to do an order during a ride and realized I needed to be conscious about not doing that. I also felt like I need to be booking things while walking in line or around around the park, which isn't good.

I think in the future, I'll just try to relax more and even put my phone in a less accessible place. And maybe switch off with having another family member book things so I can disconnect a bit more.

 

[gelatoni fan]

Do you mean to just use cellular data all day? Or do you mean 'don't connect to disney wifi'. I ask because the last time we were there, which granted was 4 years ago, it seemed like we found a lot of dead zones in the park where our phones didn't work at all (sprint). I know a lot can change in 4 years and now that sprint is t-mobile I'm hoping we have better coverage.

Cell coverage in Disneyland is much better now and I'm fine on T-mobile. The main dead spots will be in the queues for some rides such as Indiana Jones. Main Street during fireworks can also get really congested. One trick that sometimes helps in these situations is turning off 4G on your phone and forcing your phone to use 3G.

Disneyland Wifi is abysmal so don't turn on wifi at all in the parks.

 

[mdmost]

Hoping to not have to stare at a phone repeatedly is why I was really hoping DLR would get the Magic Bands going before our trip in early June. I'd love to just make a Genie+ selection, put my phone away, and make a mental note of our return time. Then we could just approach the tapstyles and use the MagicBands versus me having to bring the phone out again. I usually print out our Touring Plans itinerary and keep it whatever small backpack I take with me.

 

[MonocularVision]

Tip: Even if you don’t want to use Disney WiFi, I recommend leaving WiFi on during the day as you use the app. Your cell phone will use the WiFi spots combined with GPS for positioning and will use a lot less battery than GPS alone.

If you aren’t connected to a WiFi point, it will use very little battery.

 

[Wesley815]

Hoping to not have to stare at a phone repeatedly is why I was really hoping DLR would get the Magic Bands going before our trip in early June. I'd love to just make a Genie+ selection, put my phone away, and make a mental note of our return time. Then we could just approach the tapstyles and use the MagicBands versus me having to bring the phone out again. I usually print out our Touring Plans itinerary and keep it whatever small backpack I take with me.

Same here!! I'm really looking forward to Magic Bands making their way out here to west coast. I don't mind the app, but I would do exactly what you said- setup a few things in app and use Magic Band to actually enjoy the day without eyes glued to screen.

 

[steviemb]

Just got back with two days at DL and one day at DCA, first time using Genie+. I struggled the first morning portion but by the time we went back in the afternoon I had it down. Remember that LL and mobile food reservations are an HOUR WINDOW. The LL reservation will be redeemable five minutes BEFORE the stated time. Mobile food order pick up times can go to an 45 minutes out at lunch time. Reserve it, then its ready when you are. We would usually look at the menu and order when we were waiting in non LL ride.

As we were going to a LL reservation we would discuss what we wanted to do next. That way, soon as we scanned in, I would book the next one.

We are afternoon nappers so, if the kids had a ride priority upon return, I would check the return time before I napped. Big Thunder for example, was booking way out so I booked it from the room right before I fell asleep. Others had much shorter return times and I would book soon as I woke up and we were ready to walk on as soon as we returned.

Remember HOUR WINDOW, and if you want to cancel to switch to something else that its super easy!
Have fun!!!

 

[Minniesgal]

It’s no more on your phone than max pass used to be

 

[Piglet99645]

I find there’s plenty of time to do what needs to be done on the phone while standing in standby lines. Also it’s the only time my kids slow down enough to ask what rides or food they want.

 

[gelatoni fan]

It’s no more on your phone than max pass used to be

In the Maxpass era, you could use AP cards to enter the parks and scan into rides but they did away with physical cards. There were also more CMs working in restaurants so the lines for regular, non-mobile order moved faster. So there are definitely more situations now when I would have to take out my phone.

But people were also getting a lot more fastpasses per day with Maxpass compared to under the Genie+ system. A direct comparison of just this aspect likely leads to more phone usage under Maxpass. But I also frequently see people take out their phones to check the price of Web Slingers. A subset of people also frequently check the return times to make sure they get a time when Genie+ is more powerful. In the Maxpass era, there was less concern about getting a return time wrong because you could get fastpasses for ride again.

 

[DLgal]

Just got back with two days at DL and one day at DCA, first time using Genie+. I struggled the first morning portion but by the time we went back in the afternoon I had it down. Remember that LL and mobile food reservations are an HOUR WINDOW. The LL reservation will be redeemable five minutes BEFORE the stated time. Mobile food order pick up times can go to an 45 minutes out at lunch time. Reserve it, then its ready when you are. We would usually look at the menu and order when we were waiting in non LL ride.

As we were going to a LL reservation we would discuss what we wanted to do next. That way, soon as we scanned in, I would book the next one.

We are afternoon nappers so, if the kids had a ride priority upon return, I would check the return time before I napped. Big Thunder for example, was booking way out so I booked it from the room right before I fell asleep. Others had much shorter return times and I would book soon as I woke up and we were ready to walk on as soon as we returned.

Remember HOUR WINDOW, and if you want to cancel to switch to something else that its super easy!
Have fun!!!

Mobile food orders are not an hour window. They are 30 minute windows.

 

[DharmaLou]

Our Genie+ routine is - scan into the park, buy G+, book first ride. As soon as we scan into the first ride, while we're waiting to get on we book the 2nd ride. Lather, rinse, repeat. Booking the next G+ selection takes about 30 seconds then we're back to whatever we do while in line. We also buy our ILL rides when we buy G+ after we scan into the park if we are going to do that.

As for mobile order, we used it a TON especially at DCA and never had a wait longer than 10 minutes. I suppose it depends when you are there, but I far prefer it to standing in line. Sometimes if we were in line for a ride I would book it to be ready when we got done.

So yeah, if you're spending a lot of time on your phone you're not doing it efficiently or making it more work than it is.