The Genie Usage, Tips and Strategy ONLY Thread

[kboo]

SDD will go fast, so it is the one you should book at 7am.

HS opens at 8:30 tomorrow, so you will be eligible for your second LL at 10:30 (2 hours after park opening).

You could then book third LL at 12:30.

Three LLs (SDD, MFSR, and either MMRR, RnRC, ToT, or TSM) lined up for afternoon doesn't sound bad to me (but on the other hand, $15.00 per person always sounds bad to me)

Thank you! That’s great info. So - next newbie question - if we’re getting ILL for RotR, that no longer goes in seconds, right? So we should nab genie+ and our first G+ pick and then do the ILL?

Ooof. I just saw @Miffy’s post - ILL first?!?

 

[g-dad66]

Thank you! That’s great info. So - next newbie question - if we’re getting ILL for RotR, that no longer goes in seconds, right? So we should nab genie+ and our first G+ pick and then do the ILL?

Ooof. I just saw @Miffy’s post - ILL first?!?

SDD has been going faster than RotR.

If you can have two of you trying at the same time (can be in same MDE account or separate ones), one can grab RotR while the other does SDD.

 

[Miffy]

Thank you! That’s great info. So - next newbie question - if we’re getting ILL for RotR, that no longer goes in seconds, right? So we should nab genie+ and our first G+ pick and then do the ILL?

Ooof. I just saw @Miffy’s post - ILL first?!?

Yes, ILL$ first for Rise. If you can, have someone else booking the G+.

I'm at lunch at Y&Y. Sorry for short reply!

 

[scrappinginontario]

We've been here since Monday and the only advice I have is this: Book your ILL$ first thing and if there's even one G+ attraction you want, book that at 7 am as well. Consider anything on top of that that occurs at a time that's convenient to you to be a huge plus.

Sorry, just want to ensure I understand. Are you paying $15 for Genie+ and only getting one LL from that purchase?

I hope I’m misunderstanding what you’re saying. Please let me know.

 

[Miffy]

Sorry, just want to ensure I understand. Are you paying $15 for Genie+ and only getting one LL from that purchase?

I hope I’m misunderstanding what you’re saying. Please let me know.

You understand what I'm saying. We've had a couple of days when we used G+ for only one attraction.

 

[scrappinginontario]

You understand what I'm saying. We've had a couple of days when we used G+ for only one attraction.

Wow!! Thanks! This makes me realize I have to think seriously about purchasing it if it’s for only one ride!!

 

[Miffy]

Wow!! Thanks! This makes me realize I have to think seriously about purchasing it if it’s for only one ride!!

Here I am, back in the room, so I have more time to weigh in on this.

I think it depends on a number of factors, including how crowded the park is, what attractions you most want to do, how you like to schedule your day, how many hours you want to spend in any given park, how much time and energy you're wiling to devote to making and remaking plans, and how much time and energy you're willing to devote to looking at your smartphone.

We're rarely in the parks into the late evening, so G+ times at 7 or 8 pm are not usually useful to us.

Today we went to DAK. At 7 am we booked G+ for KS for 11:10 am and ILL$ for FoP at 3:20 pm. At 10 am we booked NRJ for 4:40 pm. We'd already done KRR and didn't want to get wet again, but G+ times for it were still available. So we might've gotten 3 G+s out of it today. We don't ride EE and I've done Dino enough for the next year or two.

We didn't use G+ at all at Epcot, which we RD'd. Bought ILL$ for Remy, which we both thought was a waste of time and money. But at least now we know.

We're mostly using G+ so we don't have to stand in a long line at a favorite ride. If that's the only ride we can get G+ for, then so be it. WDW has gotten a LOT of our money this week. We'll add it up after we get home and I'll report back. It's not pretty.

When we went through the LL at KS this morning, I said something like, "We're victims of the Disney upcharge," and the two CMs at the tap points agreed. One of them said, "Truer words were never spoken." The standby line was 85 minutes long, so we were glad (I use that term loosely) we'd spent the fifteen bucks.

My unscientific impression is that G+ and ILL$ are making standby lines heinously long, worse than FP+ did.

ETA: When I say "fifteen bucks" what I really mean is $31.96, since there are two of us and it's $15.98 with tax. BTW, FoP was $14 + tax this morning = $29.82 for the two of us. Today's total upcharge: $61.78. If you divide that by the 3 attractions we did (KS, FoP, NRJ), that's $10.29 each per ride. Sheesh.

 

[AnnaKristoff2013]

If you divide that by the 3 attractions we did (KS, FoP, NRJ), that's $10.29 each per ride.

 

[cjlong88]

Sunday December 19th. We were at MK from 7:30 am to 12:15 pm. We then took a break and then hopped to AK and was there from 4:30 - 6:30 pm.

could have grabbed more LL’s than what we did but this was a relaxing day. Didn’t need to see or do it all. We didn’t wait in a single line, and that was awesome. Every standby attraction and LL was a walk-on for us.

I will say, those of us who were refresh monsters with FP+ built a habit of grabbing anything and then modifying the crap out of it. This system forces me doing the exact opposite. I saw lots of stuff pop up and my brain said, “grab it now!” But sometimes the window wasn’t right or it was my second choice ride and I just had to be patient and refresh a little until we found a time or ride that worked for us. A learning curve for sure, and faith that refreshing does bring up better LL’s, even those marked “all gone”. Persistence will win out, just like in the FP+ refresh method.

Wish they would allow modifications. One you book you are committed unless you want to cancel and risk not getting anything equal or better. And those hard-to get refresh LL’s go fast, and canceling takes a bit of effort.


The first time frame is the LL return window and the time in parentheses is what time I booked the LL or ILL$.

 

[kboo]

Wow. We are trying HS tomorrow with ILL and G+, will report back.

so is ROTR ILL as crazy as the BG process from before?

 

[MagicMoon]

Sunday November 19th. We were at MK from 7:30 am to 12:15 pm. We then took a break and then hopped to AK and was there from 4:30 - 6:30 pm.

could have grabbed more LL’s than what we did but this was a relaxing day. Didn’t need to see or do it all. We didn’t wait in a single line, and that was awesome. Every standby attraction and LL was a walk-on for us.

I will say, those of us who were refresh monsters with FP+ built a habit of grabbing anything and then modifying the crap out of it. This system forces me doing the exact opposite. I saw lots of stuff pop up and my brain said, “grab it now!” But sometimes the window wasn’t right or it was my second choice ride and I just had to be patient and refresh a little until we found a time or ride that worked for us. A learning curve for sure, and faith that refreshing does bring up better LL’s, even those marked “all gone”. Persistence will win out, just like in the FP+ refresh method.

Wish they would allow modifications. One you book you are committed unless you want to cancel and risk not getting anything equal or better. And those hard-to get refresh LL’s go fast, and canceling takes a bit of effort.


The first time frame is the LL return window and the time in parentheses is what time I booked the LL or ILL$.

View attachment 631992

Was this before or after the loophole was closed?
November 19th?

must be December…
That looks like a great turn out! Kudos!

 

[cjlong88]

Was this before or after the loophole was closed?
November 19th?

must be December…
That looks like a great turn out! Kudos!

My bad. It’s December, isn’t it…will correct.

 

[Miffy]

Good morning. Monday, December 20th.

Our plan was to buy ILL$ for RotR for 11:15 or thereabouts and get G+ for MMRR around noon.

On MDE at 7 am. Not able to even click on the ILL$ for RotR for at least 20 seconds. We got RotR for 1:25--hardly 11:15--and had to settle for MMRR at 1:05.

This screws up our entire desired itinerary for the day, including our lunch plans. Fortunately we don't have an ADR.

We thought we were booking 11:20 am for RotR, but by the time we got to the screen where you pay, it was 1:25--two hours later, in just a matter of maybe 2 seconds. It's sold out now, apparently, or at least it's "not currently available."

If this were free and we hadn't just spent $61.78 (2 of us) we'd probably just feel disappointed in the times but at least happy we'd gotten these LLs at all. As it is, we're still happy we got these, but not at all amused by the cost.

We were trying to avoid RDing DHS yet again today, which we've done twice on this trip.

ETA: We were both on WiFi for trying to book RotR--one on an iPhone, the other on Android. We both have AT&T.

 

[Madame]

RD’d DHS this morning. Got here at 7:15. Tip board defaulted to MK this morning and had erased my priority selections.

Only SDD was late PM when we have a Planet Hollywood reservation. I didn’t take anything and about 7:13 SDD popped for 10 so snagged it.

In line for Rise. Wait says 180. Been 1/2 hr so far. Will report back with actual wait.

I am pining for FP - we wanted to sleep in after our party last night but it’s just not possible if you want to ride more than a couple rides. Not the thread for this but as a family stuck with the busiest times to visit… we are seriously not impressed. DAK tomorrow and we’ll have to do it all again

 

[princesswahooey]

Here now with DH and kids 15 & 20. Did Christmas party last night, so everyone wanting to sleep in a bit for our Epcot/AK hop day even though we are usually rope-droppers. At 7 we got 3 of us on the phones and got Remy boarding group 53 (1:30-ish return), 12:00 Test Track and FOP for 6:05pm for hopping later. It was all our first try at scheduling and it went OK. And return times for Epcot were good for a little more sleeping in.

Now to drag everyone out of bed

 

[CopperCreek28]

Does anyone know why I can’t buy an ILL for remy’s at Epcot? I’ve been trying since 7 and am staying on site. (I know I can also attempt to join the afternoon BG)

 

[J. Galt]

SDD has been going faster than RotR.

If you can have two of you trying at the same time (can be in same MDE account or separate ones), one can grab RotR while the other does SDD.

I’m sorry if this has been asked before, but I leave for my trip soon and am still trying to figure this system out. I see you can have multiple people using the same MDE account to search Genie+? So my party of 11 has two MDE accounts. Can we all try at 7:00 am split between those two accounts? Or should each person in my party create an account and link them all together?

 

[scrappinginontario]

Here now with DH and kids 15 & 20. Did Christmas party last night, so everyone wanting to sleep in a bit for our Epcot/AK hop day even though we are usually rope-droppers. At 7 we got 3 of us on the phones and got Remy boarding group 53 (1:30-ish return), 12:00 Test Track and FOP for 6:05pm for hopping later. It was all our first try at scheduling and it went OK. And return times for Epcot were good for a little more sleeping in.

Now to drag everyone out of bed

Not sure if you've followed in the past but wanted to give you a heads up that your Remy BG return time will likely be pushed back numerous times. Many report it gets pushed out by hours. Not the news you want to hear but just something to keep in mind.

I’m sorry if this has been asked before, but I leave for my trip soon and am still trying to figure this system out. I see you can have multiple people using the same MDE account to search Genie+? So my party of 11 has two MDE accounts. Can we all try at 7:00 am split between those two accounts? Or should each person in my party create an account and link them all together?

Multiple people can be signed into the same account.

 

[Rickat96]

Just got back from a weeklong trip. December 12-18. We did not use any Disney Genie stuff, nada. From previous years (last trip Dec 2019) we always went the 1st week of December, crowd levels were not busy at all during the week. We decided to sleep in and close the parks at night. It did appear the later in the evening, the lower the standby lines were. We rode all of the top liner's- longest wait was 1:45 min for ROTR-well worth it too, great ride. We did get BG24 for Remy-cute ride, but its not worth paying for.

 

[wiggy500]

Well, just like Disney, 3 out of the 4 rides downgraded to G+ were not available at 7am to select. Only Expedition Everest showing available times. SDD still went in a minute though, so don't think too many thought about MMRR not being available.

Expedition Everest and Navi are keeping up with each other though with their availability.

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I'm in central time, so that's why 6am.

Did you see this article? https://insidethemagic.net/2021/12/disney-genie-plus-malfunction-guests-irate-ad1/

Apparently one person on twitter from the central time zone equates to guests being irate. Got to love journalism. I had to leave a comment on that one.