The big G+ rides at HS gone by 1:07!

[Westerner]

I checked at 7:17 today and sure enough Rise was available and I refreshed for 3 minutes before I stopped and they were still popping up.

Thanks for this. What return times did you see, and how rapidly were they shifting?

 

[Blondie58]

I checked at 7:17 today and sure enough Rise was available and I refreshed for 3 minutes before I stopped and they were still popping up.

Just sad someone has to jump all these hoops on vacation. It was so nice to schedule your three fast passes a day and not have to live by tech once on vaca.

 

[Mrs~Incredible]

Just sad someone has to jump all these hoops on vacation. It was so nice to schedule your three fast passes a day and not have to live by tech once on vaca.

Word.

 

[snikki]

Thanks for this. What return times did you see, and how rapidly were they shifting?

It started with an 8:30 availability. I refreshed rapidly and it would go out about 30-60 minutes later and a few times would jump back up 3-4 hours. But it consistently got later and later. I did this for a good 3 minutes and it was still available.

 

[ppony]

Feb 15 2021, no availability left by 1:07 for:
SDD
MF
RnR coaster
ToT
Mickey Minnie Railway (ILL)

If I were there now, paid for G+ and was only able to get 3 of the big rides (by booking at 7, 11, and 1) I’d be

Disney needs to do something to fix this mess.

the standbys for all of those are 80 minutes or greater.

boy how I miss the old days of scheduling FPs (generally) when I wanted them, having it included in my highly priced ticket, and also being able to re-ride with FP at times!

I remember before Chapek, they cared about guest experience and studied how many “experiences” guests needed in order to want to come back. Something tells me that paying for G+ to skip the line on just a few rides that really need it ain’t it. At least not for my family.

this is the pits

This was our experience too between March 2-14th. We paid for the D+ for 2 days in that park and not ONCE got to actually use it. Our son is on the spectrum, so when any return times available we’re late afternoon and evening if they existed at all, we couldn’t use them because he simply could not stay in the parks that long. we also paid for ROTR and never got to use those passes because the time jumped from 11:30am to 5:45pm between the time I initiated the purchase to completed it which was seconds.

For our family that has been traveling to exclusively WDW for 25 years, it’s gotten so incredibly inflexible for us and our spectrum son that we’re not sure when we’ll return. Never thought I’d say those words.

 

[VAlegacy]

This was our experience too between March 2-14th. We paid for the D+ for 2 days in that park and not ONCE got to actually use it. Our son is on the spectrum, so when any return times available we’re late afternoon and evening if they existed at all, we couldn’t use them because he simply could not stay in the parks that long. we also paid for ROTR and never got to use those passes because the time jumped from 11:30am to 5:45pm between the time I initiated the purchase to completed it which was seconds.

For our family that has been traveling to exclusively WDW for 25 years, it’s gotten so incredibly inflexible for us and our spectrum son that we’re not sure when we’ll return. Never thought I’d say those words.

I would look into the DAS service. Autism is specifically called out by Disney as a disability that precludes waiting in long lines.

 

[ElsasFan]

This is it. This is the week that will serve as a barometer as we go into Spring Break season.

As of right now, on Monday 3/14 at 10:40 am, all of the rides listed in the OP are out of G+ LL reservations. HS opened at 8:30 am with a 8:00 early entry. Yikes. I can't wait to hear back from folks that are there right now as to how G+ worked for them, particularly at HS. Since this post was originally written, I have been following HS crowds pretty closely and, over the past few weeks, really started to come around to the possibility of trying a tap-and-go method at HS in April. But today shows me that is not a possibility. Today, if we had rope dropped HS, my family of five likely would have gotten one G+ at 7am and MAYBE another around 10 am if we were lucky enough to snag a G+ with an early return time. And that's it!!! We are screwed.

(I will say that I refreshed just before finishing up my post here and, at 10:47 am, a few rides do show up with later return times: MMRR (8:15), RNR (4:50), TOT (8:20) - but who knows if there are 5 for my family.)

Your scenario about only getting two G+ rides with a family of five perfectly summarizes my question about G+. Why are they so limited? With FP+, everyone had the option of booking three fastpasses per day, then generally could get more after those were gone. Now with a paid service, it seems that we will get far less fastpasses than we have on past trips. Why is that? I've not seen reports that suggest that the LLs move faster than the fastpass lanes did. Is it because there are still reduced entertainment options?

 

[MainMom]

Your scenario about only getting two G+ rides with a family of five perfectly summarizes my question about G+. Why are they so limited? With FP+, everyone had the option of booking three fastpasses per day, then generally could get more after those were gone. Now with a paid service, it seems that we will get far less fastpasses than we have on past trips. Why is that? I've not seen reports that suggest that the LLs move faster than the fastpass lanes did. Is it because there are still reduced entertainment options?

Maybe because offsite is now in the same pool at 7am where before they couldn’t book until 30 days vs 60 for onsite? Could just be one factor out of many.

 

[Westerner]

Your scenario about only getting two G+ rides with a family of five perfectly summarizes my question about G+. Why are they so limited? With FP+, everyone had the option of booking three fastpasses per day, then generally could get more after those were gone. Now with a paid service, it seems that we will get far less fastpasses than we have on past trips. Why is that? I've not seen reports that suggest that the LLs move faster than the fastpass lanes did. Is it because there are still reduced entertainment options?

Reports are that LL lanes move faster than FP+ did. I usually waited just 5-10 mins in LL.

 

[HydroGuy]

Your scenario about only getting two G+ rides with a family of five perfectly summarizes my question about G+. Why are they so limited? With FP+, everyone had the option of booking three fastpasses per day, then generally could get more after those were gone. Now with a paid service, it seems that we will get far less fastpasses than we have on past trips. Why is that? I've not seen reports that suggest that the LLs move faster than the fastpass lanes did. Is it because there are still reduced entertainment options?

There have been a bunch of threads on that. Reduced entertainment options is probably a factor. IMO a big one.

No one really knows the answer. But other factors could be:

• Lower bandwidth for everything - rides, shops, dining - due to Disney (and everyone else) having a hard time hiring staff
• Staff that have been hired are not as well trained as in the old days
• An imperfect system with Genie+ that was rolled out too early or maybe even fundamentally flawed at its core
• More guests coming to the parks
• Disney' park reservation system being flawed in how many people that are allowing in

The big question is how many of these things are fixable and how many are not?

 

[Mrs~Incredible]

Maybe because offsite is now in the same pool at 7am where before they couldn’t book until 30 days vs 60 for onsite? Could just be one factor out of many.

Off site guest here . Even with the scraps of FP to pick from, I still would prefer that system! We would always end up riding whatever we wanted, sometimes multiple times. The new limited system is rubbish. I’d rather get on more headliners and wait 15 minutes than just a couple with a 5-10 minute wait. Cause the standby options are just bonkers.

 

[ppony]

I would look into the DAS service. Autism is specifically called out by Disney as a disability that precludes waiting in long lines.

We did get DAS. Even did the video interview 30 days before we left to get the extra 2 selections a day, but given how often rides broke down, that didn’t work out well either. was hoping to have been able to make both work for us, but I couldn’t. It was the only way we got to do anything. ☹ We only got 1 attraction in on a few days, 2-3 on most others, and none on 1 day he simply had had enough of rides w our pass going down only to get a much later return time that he just wanted to leave.

 

[Mrs~Incredible]

We did get DAS. I was hoping to have been able to make both work for us, but I couldn’t. It was the only way we got to do anything. ☹ We only got 1 attraction in on a few days, 2-3 on mist others, and none on 1 day he simply had had enough of rides w our pass going down only to get a much later return time that he just wanted to leave.

I’m sorry. I hope you have the headspace to write to guest services. That should absolutely not happen.

 

[ElsasFan]

So my family of five is going back to WDW in May. This will be our first trip since 2019, and our fifth family trip. Our younger two kids won't ride coasters, so in the past, we would get different fastpasses for them (for instance, Space Mountain between 10:00 and 11:00 for my husband, older kid, and me, and Buzz Lightyear for the two who are old enough to ride by themselves, but don't like faster rides). I don't see any way to do that with the new system, without hopelessly getting us all off of the same two-hour check-in schedule. Am I overlooking a way that we could do that?

 

[jwolfpack]

So my family of five is going back to WDW in May. This will be our first trip since 2019, and our fifth family trip. Our younger two kids won't ride coasters, so in the past, we would get different fastpasses for them (for instance, Space Mountain between 10:00 and 11:00 for my husband, older kid, and me, and Buzz Lightyear for the two who are old enough to ride by themselves, but don't like faster rides). I don't see any way to do that with the new system, without hopelessly getting us all off of the same two-hour check-in schedule. Am I overlooking a way that we could do that?

I'm in a similar position - family of 5, first trip in a few years. We used to do exactly what you said with FP+. I haven't found a workaround that won't make things utterly confusing. I have 2 older kids who will ride everything, and 1 younger child who is tall enough, but doesn't like faster rides. For our upcoming May trip, I'm just planning to book all 5 of us on the bigger rides with G+ and let my older kids ride twice, once with their own magic bands and once with my younger child's band + one parent's band. For us, it'll only be applicable on EE, Space, and RNR I think. We've been to Disney several times, so my husband and I don't mind sitting some things out. Not ideal, but I haven't come up with anything better.

 

[Mrs~Incredible]

So my family of five is going back to WDW in May. This will be our first trip since 2019, and our fifth family trip. Our younger two kids won't ride coasters, so in the past, we would get different fastpasses for them (for instance, Space Mountain between 10:00 and 11:00 for my husband, older kid, and me, and Buzz Lightyear for the two who are old enough to ride by themselves, but don't like faster rides). I don't see any way to do that with the new system, without hopelessly getting us all off of the same two-hour check-in schedule. Am I overlooking a way that we could do that?

I'm in a similar position - family of 5, first trip in a few years. We used to do exactly what you said with FP+. I haven't found a workaround that won't make things utterly confusing. I have 2 older kids who will ride everything, and 1 younger child who is tall enough, but doesn't like faster rides. For our upcoming May trip, I'm just planning to book all 5 of us on the bigger rides with G+ and let my older kids ride twice, once with their own magic bands and once with my younger child's band + one parent's band. For us, it'll only be applicable on EE, Space, and RNR I think. We've been to Disney several times, so my husband and I don't mind sitting some things out. Not ideal, but I haven't come up with anything better.

I’m not an expert in this, but hoping someone here has experience with G+ and rider switch/child swap? I find it helpful to Google articles or blogs with the basics, and then come here for a deeper dive. Maybe post your question in the “all things genie plus” sticky and see what comes up? Good luck!

 

[Disturbia]

We were discussing this on another thread

https://www.disboards.com/threads/rope-drop-and-rider-swap.3871992/

There are a few changes since last year:

1. only one child is allowed back with the waiting parent.
2. for standby only: party has to stay together in the extended overflow queue (if line is indoors only then you go up to the CM with an Ipad similar to LLIA$) and then when you go near the big sign you get pulled out to be issued a riderswap; the positive: rider swap is immediately active (vs CMs adding extra to the inflated standby time) and through the end of the day, but you can't get another RS until you use the first one up.

I haven't heard any reports regarding ROTR (we bought LLIA$). Hopefully they don't make the entire party stand together in that monstrous queue outdoors.

 

[Disturbia]

I just noticed ROTR is not listed on the rider switch page; we’ve done Rider Swicth multiple times with VQ and LLIA$; no experience with standby

https://plandisney.disney.go.com/question/rider-switch-available-rise-resistance-summer-490858/

 

[pens4821]

Tried for ToT at 10:30 this morning but gave up and at 10:35 was able to get RnRC. It took a bit of doing, but I think if I had gone for RnRC right away at 10:30 it would not have required a refresh frenzy.

Thanks. I think when it’s time I’ll just book whichever (hopefully one) is available and ride the other at close. TOT was posted 115 at 830. It did take an hour but half the posted time.

 

[wiggy500]

So my family of five is going back to WDW in May. This will be our first trip since 2019, and our fifth family trip. Our younger two kids won't ride coasters, so in the past, we would get different fastpasses for them (for instance, Space Mountain between 10:00 and 11:00 for my husband, older kid, and me, and Buzz Lightyear for the two who are old enough to ride by themselves, but don't like faster rides). I don't see any way to do that with the new system, without hopelessly getting us all off of the same two-hour check-in schedule. Am I overlooking a way that we could do that?

In theory, I think it can be done. At least in the morning in Magic Kingdom. I've actually been thinking about doing this with Space Mountain and something like Speedway for my upcoming trip. Here's what I would do.

Start by booking the more popular ride, Space Mountain for the three older people. I'd refresh or wait a few minutes if you can't get the morning time slot you're looking for. Let's say you get 10:45 a.m.

Then start looking start looking for Buzz Lightyear for the other two. If it's not late enough, either wait a while or refresh. Eventually you'll end up with a time slot that at least overlaps your 10:45 a.m. - 11:45 a.m. Space Mountain. When you do, book it.

Maybe it's not just Buzz Lightyear you look for for the younger two. Maybe you're also checking on Tomorrowland Speedway and Pooh as well. That would just increase your chances of lining everything up.

After that first ride everybody is on the same schedule again and booking lightning lanes together. In my mind it would work out great. Not sure if that does a whole lot for you.

Actually, if you were park hopping this might be pretty easy to pull off by booking in the second park at 7 a.m. You can't book before 2 p.m. in the second park, meaning you have a decent chance at getting a 2 p.m. - 3 p.m. time slot for the more popular ride and you'll get it for sure for the less popular ride.