The Genie Usage, Tips and Strategy ONLY Thread

[jade1]

Jungle Cruise seems to be the one that has return times the latest in the day quickest. I would never pay $15 and use it for 3 rides.

Depends how folks vacation. And some attractions cost $15 for one ride.

The $15 is worth it for us on 3 or 4 attractions when we have other activities scheduled.

As others have shown, some of the main attractions can be scheduled for later and we really don't care about the lower and mid tier attractions anyway.

We usually open US/IOA one day, and often fish one morning, and even occasionally golf one morning.

If we can enter a park with something close to this, compared to an hour wait for each its for sure worth it.

7:05 got 5:25 LL for Slinky Dog
11:00 got 4:20 LL for Millenium Falcon
1:00 got 7:30 LL for Tower of Terror
3:00 got 6:55 LL fo RnR Coaster
5:00 planned (but actual 4:50 after tap-in for Falcon) got 5:05 LL for Toy Story Mania

Other days we will indeed do full days with RD, but it's great having this option available on days we will enter later.

Really happy we can buy headliners as well.

 

[maryj11]

Just when I became an expert at getting fastpasses now I have to relearn Genie +. We have a trip in 2 weeks and I need to know what I’m doing.
For the popular rides that cost money, can I book both at 7:00am? We are staying on property. How fast is ROR and Remi running out? Those two are most important to us.
This is how I think it works. Let me know if I’m wrong.
Okay after I have paid 15.00 for each of us I book our first regular LL + at 7:00am. Let’s say I book Slink Dog for 7:00pm. Then 2 hours after park open I can book another LL? Let’s say it is at 11:30am for TOT, then we can book another LL after we ride TOT? If so, then say I get MMRR at 5:00. It’s only a little after 11:30 am. Do we have to wait and ride MMRR before we book another LL?

 

[DSLRuser]

Just came here to say, I wanted to hate Genie+. Had no intention of using it this December. But I had to be in Disney for work in late OCT 2021, and spent 2 days at the Epcot and MK. I decided to but Genie+ and use the LL$ feature.

My experience was nothing but positive. As a seasoned Disney veteran, the G+ service was easy to use.

On my Epcot day, I was careful and planned my day to do my rides towards the evening and night. So during the day, I was scheduling G+ rides every 2 hours and lined my evening up so starting at 4pm I did Rock in roller, Tower of T, and rise, Soarin, Land, TT, Space Earth, and closed with Remy leaving plenty of time to walk around the world showcase and enjoy food and wine.

On my MK day, I went hard and fast getting the 1st G+ ride I could. I arrived at 10am, and did Big Thunder, Splash, Haunted Man, Pirates, Buzz, Jungle all before I had to head to the airport at 2pm. As soon as I tapped into a ride via the LL, I was on the app getting my next G+. I just worked very well.

Disney is expensive. Dam the cost of G+. just mentally prepare that a park ticket now costs $150 a day, and enjoy your day.

Our party of 6 will be using G+ in December for all 3 days. Time = Money and G+ saves time.

 

[g-dad66]

Just when I became an expert at getting fastpasses now I have to relearn Genie +. We have a trip in 2 weeks and I need to know what I’m doing.
For the popular rides that cost money, can I book both at 7:00am? We are staying on property. How fast is ROR and Remi running out? Those two are most important to us.
This is how I think it works. Let me know if I’m wrong.
Okay after I have paid 15.00 for each of us I book our first regular LL + at 7:00am. Let’s say I book Slink Dog for 7:00pm. Then 2 hours after park open I can book another LL? Let’s say it is at 11:30am for TOT, then we can book another LL after we ride TOT? If so, then say I get MMRR at 5:00. It’s only a little after 11:30 am. Do we have to wait and ride MMRR before we book another LL?

You would be eligible again at 1:30 if it was 11:30 when you booked another LL.

Note, however, that MMRR is in a whole different category. It is ILL$. You can book (and pay for) it whenever you want.

A better example would be MFSR which you book at 11:30 for 5:00. You would not need to ride it before booking another LL. You can book again at 1:30.

 

[DSLRuser]

Just when I became an expert at getting fastpasses now I have to relearn Genie +. We have a trip in 2 weeks and I need to know what I’m doing.
For the popular rides that cost money, can I book both at 7:00am? We are staying on property. How fast is ROR and Remi running out? Those two are most important to us.
This is how I think it works. Let me know if I’m wrong.
Okay after I have paid 15.00 for each of us I book our first regular LL + at 7:00am. Let’s say I book Slink Dog for 7:00pm. Then 2 hours after park open I can book another LL? Let’s say it is at 11:30am for TOT, then we can book another LL after we ride TOT? If so, then say I get MMRR at 5:00. It’s only a little after 11:30 am. Do we have to wait and ride MMRR before we book another LL?

You can't "schedule" return times. you take what they give you. if you book slinky dog at 7am, you will most likely get a return time between 9 and 12. At 9 you can book again, and you may be able to get rocking at 10. go ride rocking and as soon as you tap in, get your new G+, you may get tower at 10:30.

you can have multiple return times that over lap. you can get tower at 10, and rocking at 10:05. just can't have 2 at the exact time.

 

[maryj11]

You would be eligible again at 1:30 if it was 11:30 when you booked another LL.

Note, however, that MMRR is in a whole different category. It is ILL$. You can book (and pay for) it whenever you want.

A better example would be MFSR which you book at 11:30 for 5:00. You would not need to ride it before booking another LL. You can book again at 1:30.

Oh I didn’t know MMRR was a paid one. Okay thank you so it’s every two hours unless I have tapped into a ride.

 

[maryj11]

You can't "schedule" return times. you take what they give you. if you book slinky dog at 7am, you will most likely get a return time between 9 and 12. At 9 you can book again, and you may be able to get rocking at 10. go ride rocking and as soon as you tap in, get your new G+, you may get tower at 10:30.

you can have multiple return times that over lap. you can get tower at 10, and rocking at 10:05. just can't have 2 at the exact time.

Oh okay thank you!

 

[mom2cinderella]

For the popular rides that cost money, can I book both at 7:00am?

I’d like to know this too.

 

[elgerber]

I’d like to know this too.

Yes you can.

 

[WVU Disney Fan]

I’m sure this has been answered here but haven’t seen it. We are going to at wdw for 10 days but only 6 park reservations/tickets. If I add G+ to my package in advance does it charge for every day of my resort reservation or just for my 6 days of park tickets?

Also on the app when I click to add G+ it sends me to link to change reservation. This won’t mess up my park reservations will it? Just trying to have to avoid adding G+ each individual park day.

 

[nurseberta]

This actually isn't the only example of someone somehow going from 1 LL to 3 LLs in a single period I've seen. It goes contrary to all the rules that people have laid out in this thread though.

My guess, and it's just a guess, is that sometimes when you tap twice into a ride, each tap renews your eligibility. I would recommend that everyone try to book after each tap (even though it shouldn't matter) just in case there is a glitch. If it's not the double tap, I'm not sure how this person booked 3 rides in 5 minutes (and again, other people including some bloggers have referenced getting 3 bookings in very short windows of time)

I think it is very specific to eligibility and a few things happening at the same tome
#1 120 min window
#2 G+ expires
#3 tap into active G+LL
Each individual occurrence noted above would reset eligibility for a new booking of G+ LL

you have to just be interested in using that brain power to work it.
Or just use the standby waits that are low and G+ for big line rides. I think you have to consider your touring style because I’ve gotten so intense with the planning and “winning” at DW that I’ve been so stressed and didn’t take time to look around

 

[wiggy500]

All is well that ends well I guess. I had a couple big takeaways from day 1 using Genie Plus yesterday. First, I tried to sign up for it at 5:30 am. I couldn't! Tried two devices using both methods I could figure out and got errors. It gave me a phone number to call that no one answered and no one answered the chat either. After a very stressful start, it worked as advertised and I got it around 6:30. I will buy ahead of time next time. So here's how it went:

7:00 book Kilimanjaro 8:10
Ride Kilimanjaro and at 8:13 book 2:00 Big Thunder
10:13 book Navi 12:05.
12:13 book Dinosaur 12:20
Ride Dinosaur 12:31 book 3:25 Haunted
Ride Navi. B mode 12:58 and couldn't book Pirates!

Is stacking LL's a right or a privilege? I was in full "right" mode. Navi went down briefly and changed to a multi experience LL and I had no idea. This made the Navi LL cancel as if I never booked it and I now had to wait until 2:31 to book and I figured to miss Pirates. Be aware this can happen.

2:31 book Splash 4:00 or so. Tap into Big Thunder book 2:50 Pirates! Took some work to get the ideal time, but I did!

No luck getting Test Track. But that's okay. A successful day despite a lot of frustration.

 

[LSUfan4444]

I’m not sure I have my hands fully wrapped around generating the triple stack of letting the window expire, hitting the 2 hour window, and the tap in.

Does the sequence of the first two (window expire, 120 min window) matter? For example, assuming an 11am eligibility due to the 2 hour rule, does it matter if my window expires at before 11 (10:55 for example) or after 11? (let’s say 11:10).

I guess trying to get a sense for what range of return windows around that 2 hour mark would work for this? If it can be on either side I’m guessing it’s -15 minutes (well, less since Ned time to make LL selections) up to + whatever..?

I think it depends on what you're trying to accomplish and what order you do things

If the return window for your first G+ ends at 10:55 you are eligible to book another at 10:55 am. So if you book one at 10:57 you cannot book another at 11 am and if you wait until 11 am to book another that will reset your two hour window as well. So, with the window ending before 11 am, you're not really stacking because at 11 am, you're only booking one more G+

Now, if your expiration window expires at 11 am (or after) you can book another G+ at 11 am (when the 120 min rule expires from the 9 am opening) and I think I am understanding that once people tap into their 11am G+ (using the 15 minute grace period) at like 11:10 am (after booking one at 11 am as well due to the expiring window), they are able to book an additional G+ because their eligibility was reset by tapping into their first G+ attraction.

Everything in bold is where my confusion lies as well and I keep reading to try to catch on but rather than clarity, I just get more confused.

 

[Revan]

My experience from using it yesterday at MK and HS. We are staying offsite, arrived at rope drop, but not early entry. MK was showing as a 7, HS was showing as a 6 on Touring Plans. It was very busy.
- The closest LL was at 9:40 against a 35 minute Buzz, we booked it and did Carousel of Progress. Space Mountain was down.
- Walked on Buzz, booked IASW with the next closest return time at 11:15. Space Mountain opened as we were right in front (lucky break) and we jumped in with about a 10-minute wait
- Rode Speedway with a 10-minute wait (posted 20 minutes)
- Heavy crowds in fantasyland, IASW was posted as 45-minute wait, PP was 90. Checked in and then booked Pirates for 1:40, at the time Haunted Mansion was booking out to 43:05 and we were planning on hopping.
- 6 adults on IASW.....
- Did Hall of Presidents, waited in Standby for Big Thunder (60 minutes posted, 40 minutes actual) and then ate at Peco's Bill; 30 minutes before my 2-hour window opened Pirate's was down and Genie+ canceled our reservation and we got an (almost) unlimited LL for one ride in MK.
- At that point we booked RR at HS for a 6:15 LL - earliest available at HS, other than Muppets and Star Tours and I couldn't see wasting a booking window on either
- Rode Pirates, struggled through the crowd to the hub, the pinch point around Aladdin's to get a Dole Whip is incredibly poor planning.
- Arrived at HS around 3:30, we booked Midway Mania for an 8:15 return time with a park close at 9, nothing else besides the two e-tickets was available on Genie+ for the rest of the day so we chose to wait in standbys.

Takeaways
- Unless you are staying on property and getting in early entry I think Genie+ is of dubious benefit during very heavy days - your booking windows are just too late by the time you can start scheduling. I paid $100 for 6 and only got on one top-tier ride (RR) and two very good rides (PoC and MM). Maybe I am used to lower crowd volumes, always coming in the 1st week of December.

 

[Boardwalk III]

I haven’t read any pages of this forum since Sunday, so I apologize if this has already been covered:


We arrived this weekend and tried stacking on Sunday at Magic Kingdom. 2 different family groups tried with 2 sets of plans. Couldn’t get the 3rd stack to work. I have no idea what we did wrong?

My example:

-At 7:30 am booked Pirates from 10:15-11:15 (1st LL)

- At 11:00 am (120 minute rule) booked 2nd LL for Haunted Mansion @ 1:40 pm

- At 11:16 (before riding Pirates during grace period) tried booking 3rd LL.

- system said “ineligible”. Tried twice. No luck. Other family members had same problem with a separate but similar plan.

- rode Pirates during grace window and were able to use the 2 LL’s for the afternoon.

Anyone know why this may have happened?

 

[thanxfornoticin]

You can't "schedule" return times. you take what they give you. if you book slinky dog at 7am, you will most likely get a return time between 9 and 12. At 9 you can book again, and you may be able to get rocking at 10. go ride rocking and as soon as you tap in, get your new G+, you may get tower at 10:30.

you can have multiple return times that over lap. you can get tower at 10, and rocking at 10:05. just can't have 2 at the exact time.

Just a question about your theoretical here. If you book Slinky at 7AM, but the park opens at 9AM, I don't think you can book again until 11AM (or sooner if you tap in to ride Slinky before 11AM). I think it's 2 hours from park opening, not from 7AM booking.

If that's not the case, I'm still not understanding the process!!

 

[ZeeWP]

Is stacking LL's a right or a privilege? I was in full "right" mode. Navi went down briefly and changed to a multi experience LL and I had no idea. This made the Navi LL cancel as if I never booked it and I now had to wait until 2:31 to book and I figured to miss Pirates. Be aware this can happen.

That is good to know, and lame that it happened to you! I didn't realize that this could happen. At least you were able to stack the other ones.

 

[g-dad66]

I haven’t read any pages of this forum since Sunday, so I apologize if this has already been covered:


We arrived this weekend and tried stacking on Sunday at Magic Kingdom. 2 different family groups tried with 2 sets of plans. Couldn’t get the 3rd stack to work. I have no idea what we did wrong?

My example:

-At 7:30 am booked Pirates from 10:15-11:15 (1st LL)

- At 11:00 am (120 minute rule) booked 2nd LL for Haunted Mansion @ 1:40 pm

- At 11:16 (before riding Pirates during grace period) tried booking 3rd LL.

- system said “ineligible”. Tried twice. No luck. Other family members had same problem with a separate but similar plan.

- rode Pirates during grace window and were able to use the 2 LL’s for the afternoon.

Anyone know why this may have happened?

I don’t know what happened in your situation but here’s something that happened to us more than once:
It would say we were not eligilble until say 11:10 and the time was already 11:10. Kept trying and eventually it worked. Not sure how long it took but it could have been 1 or 2 minutes. I kept yelling at the phone it is 11:10!

 

[elgerber]

My experience from using it yesterday at MK and HS. We are staying offsite, arrived at rope drop, but not early entry. MK was showing as a 7, HS was showing as a 6 on Touring Plans. It was very busy.
- The closest LL was at 9:40 against a 35 minute Buzz, we booked it and did Carousel of Progress. Space Mountain was down.

Curious, what time did you book Buzz? Did you book it right at 7? Seems if you booked right at 7 you could have gotten a lot of choices right away.

Just a question about your theoretical here. If you book Slinky at 7AM, but the park opens at 9AM, I don't think you can book again until 11AM (or sooner if you tap in to ride Slinky before 11AM). I think it's 2 hours from park opening, not from 7AM booking.

If that's not the case, I'm still not understanding the process!!

You understand correctly, that post was incorrect. it's 2 hours after park open.

 

[RoseGold]

How fast is ROR and Remi running out? Those two are most important to us.

Weekday before Halloween. ROTR still had paid slots available at night at 10-11AM. Remy was always available and never showed sold out. We booked at 3-4PM for later in the night. I heard reports that people hopping at 2PM were able to book in the Remy virtual queue, which had opened at 1PM.