The Genie Usage, Tips and Strategy ONLY Thread

[jbish]

Having just experienced this exact scenario yesterday (but with a 1000 SDD return time) we were able to book our next G+ right at the beginning of the window at 10:00. It converted to an anytime pass at the start of the window.

On a side note, the anytime pass wasn't good for TOT or MMRR on top of Rise and Meet & Greets which surprised me.

So, just for clarification, if SDD is down at your return time, it converts to an "anytime pass" INCLUDING your original ride (i.e. SDD in this case) but EXCLUDES a bunch of others? You tap in to say TSM (as in your example) at (literally) any time but didn't have a reserved LL for it, it would use up your SDD LL?

 

[KDee]

Let's say HS opens at 9 am. You get lucky at 7 am and book a LL for SDD with a 10:15 am return time. Before you have a chance to check in for SDD at 10:15 am, the ride goes down and stays down for the next hour. Will G+ immediately convert this to an anytime, multiple experience LL at 10:15 am when the ride goes down, or will it wait until the end of the window and convert it at 11:15 am? If it converts at 10:15 am, do you get to book a new LL when it converts, or will you now have abide by the 2 hour rule to wait until 11 am?

This actually happened to use two days ago. We had a 9:05am LL and the ride was down at park open and through the morning. At 9:05 I was sent a notice that it converted to a multiple use experience LL. I was then able to book a second LL. Slinky did not come back up until 2:30pm that day.

 

[zillayen]

Just a heads up with those dealing with Spring Break crowds. Today I decided to try tracking Hollywood Studios. Runaway Railway was gone at 11am. I did eventually see one for 8:25pm after doing a lot of refreshing, but of course that quickly went away. So, I had pretended to get a Smuggler's Run at 7am for 12:05pm and then at 11am my next must - do...was essentially unavailable. I'm not a fan of the poop emoji, but I feel like it would be appropriate here.

This was our experience last week. We booked RnRC at 7 am for an 11 am return time. At 10:30 there was nothing left before 3 pm except for Alien SS and Star Tours. By 12:30 pm when we could have booked a third pretty much everything was completely gone (again except for Alien SS and Star Tours).

 

[MidnightMeeko]

This was our experience last week. We booked RnRC at 7 am for an 11 am return time. At 10:30 there was nothing left before 3 pm except for Alien SS and Star Tours. By 12:30 pm when we could have booked a third pretty much everything was completely gone (again except for Alien SS and Star Tours).

HS is looking so rough for LL. I checked a little after 1:00 for what would have been my next LL booking time. No Saucers. No Midway Mania. Nothing, except Star Tours at 4:05. The exception being LL's for shows. I really like Star Tours, but what a bummer knowing that everything else was gone for the rest of the day.

 

[Nordic4tKnight]

According to Touring Plans the busier HS gets the less useful Genie + is:

Source = https://touringplans.com/blog/how-much-time-can-i-save-with-genie-at-wdw/

 

[Mamiamjo]

According to Touring Plans the busier HS gets the less useful Genie + is:

Source = https://touringplans.com/blog/how-much-time-can-i-save-with-genie-at-wdw/

Wonderful, the more you need it, the less useful it becomes

 

[Megsmachine]

This was our DHS day on Saturday, 3/5. Our plan was to RD and get an early LL return (so we could grab another before the 11am slot). Leave park late morning and return for evening with LLs stacked. This is how it worked out:

7am: Grabbed MFSR for a 9:25am return
7:15am: walked on to Skyliner (staying at POP)
7:45am-ish: got in line for RNRC standby, literally people 4 & 5*
8:15am-ish: line started moving into building, skipped the studio and went RIGHT onto the ride
8:28am: off RNRC
8:30am: got in ToT standby line, sign said 40 mins!*
8:57am: while waiting in line, I was looking at the app and noticed RotR was still available and called an audible and decided to go ahead and get a ILL$ for 7:15pm return
9:30am: off ToT headed to MFSR
9:45am-ish: tapped into MFSR and looked for next LL. SHOCKED to see a SDD for 7:25pm return. Grabbed that. Set my phone timer for 2 hours for next LL grab.
Not sure on times, but rode Star Tours standby (no wait) and grabbed an early lunch/late breakfast at Commissary

Break Time, so left Park

11:45am: Grabbed TSM for return time 5:05pm, set timer for 2 hours for next LL grab
*nap and pool time*
1:45pm: Grabbed ToT for return time of 7:55pm, set timer for 2 hours for next LL grab
3:45pm: Grabbed Alien Swirling Saucers I think

So our evening went like this:
Arrived back at DHS a little after 5pm and had these LLs:
TSM
AlienSS
Break at Baseline Tap House
Star Tours (I grabbed this at 5:45pm just because I could, it was still basically a walk on)
Grabbed something to eat at Backlot
RotR
SDD
Oga's (our first time....um, not sure what the fuss is about!)
ToT

I don't think you could have a more perfect day. And we could have grabbed MMRR if we'd wanted to but my DH didn't want to ride it again after riding in Dec, lol.

*My asterisk was related to RnRC and TOT. We screwed up and SHOULD have ridden ToT first at RD because they were only using 1 side. TP "told" me to ride RNRC first and because we did that, we had to wait 45 mins at 8:30am to ride ToT. Has we done it in reverse, we would have done both of them by 8:40am. There were only 20 people in the ToT line when we arrived.

what is MSFR, and SDD?

 

[Megsmachine]

This was our DHS day on Saturday, 3/5. Our plan was to RD and get an early LL return (so we could grab another before the 11am slot). Leave park late morning and return for evening with LLs stacked. This is how it worked out:

7am: Grabbed MFSR for a 9:25am return
7:15am: walked on to Skyliner (staying at POP)
7:45am-ish: got in line for RNRC standby, literally people 4 & 5*
8:15am-ish: line started moving into building, skipped the studio and went RIGHT onto the ride
8:28am: off RNRC
8:30am: got in ToT standby line, sign said 40 mins!*
8:57am: while waiting in line, I was looking at the app and noticed RotR was still available and called an audible and decided to go ahead and get a ILL$ for 7:15pm return
9:30am: off ToT headed to MFSR
9:45am-ish: tapped into MFSR and looked for next LL. SHOCKED to see a SDD for 7:25pm return. Grabbed that. Set my phone timer for 2 hours for next LL grab.
Not sure on times, but rode Star Tours standby (no wait) and grabbed an early lunch/late breakfast at Commissary

Break Time, so left Park

11:45am: Grabbed TSM for return time 5:05pm, set timer for 2 hours for next LL grab
*nap and pool time*
1:45pm: Grabbed ToT for return time of 7:55pm, set timer for 2 hours for next LL grab
3:45pm: Grabbed Alien Swirling Saucers I think

So our evening went like this:
Arrived back at DHS a little after 5pm and had these LLs:
TSM
AlienSS
Break at Baseline Tap House
Star Tours (I grabbed this at 5:45pm just because I could, it was still basically a walk on)
Grabbed something to eat at Backlot
RotR
SDD
Oga's (our first time....um, not sure what the fuss is about!)
ToT

I don't think you could have a more perfect day. And we could have grabbed MMRR if we'd wanted to but my DH didn't want to ride it again after riding in Dec, lol.

*My asterisk was related to RnRC and TOT. We screwed up and SHOULD have ridden ToT first at RD because they were only using 1 side. TP "told" me to ride RNRC first and because we did that, we had to wait 45 mins at 8:30am to ride ToT. Has we done it in reverse, we would have done both of them by 8:40am. There were only 20 people in the ToT line when we arrived.

what is MSFR, and SDD? When did you get the ROTR LL?

 

[Turksmom]

what is MSFR, and SDD?

Millennium Falcon Smuggler's Run and Slinky Dog Dash

 

[Princesca]

I'm considering using only ILL for our April 2023 trip. We will have two full days in MK and EP, and one in HS and AK. My DW MUST do ROTR, so I thought we would use ILL for that and maybe FOP but we might just rope drop that. We are bringing our toddler, so thrill rides for the most part won't be in our daily plan. We're planning to rider swap the two aforementioned and otherwise skip. So I'm thinking I might be able to avoid having to mess with G+. But I also haven't been to WDW since 2016 and I'm a little nervous.

 

[Nordic4tKnight]

Both Frozen and Test Track were gone by 10:30am today

 

[CarolynFH]

I'm considering using only ILL for our April 2023 trip. We will have two full days in MK and EP, and one in HS and AK. My DW MUST do ROTR, so I thought we would use ILL for that and maybe FOP but we might just rope drop that. We are bringing our toddler, so thrill rides for the most part won't be in our daily plan. We're planning to rider swap the two aforementioned and otherwise skip. So I'm thinking I might be able to avoid having to mess with G+. But I also haven't been to WDW since 2016 and I'm a little nervous.

That's what DH and I did in January - bought ILL$ for FoP and Remy, didn't bother with G+. We've ridden RotR several times previously, back in the BG days, so we skipped it. We were able to ride what we wanted to in all the parks by watching wait times in MDE and using the standby lines - but it was January, not Spring Break, so the parks weren't nearly as busy as they've been this month. As each future trip approaches, I'll watch the standby times and make a decision re G+ based on whether it seems it would benefit us or not, day by day.

 

[Princesca]

That's what DH and I did in January - bought ILL$ for FoP and Remy, didn't bother with G+. We've ridden RotR several times previously, back in the BG days, so we skipped it. We were able to ride what we wanted to in all the parks by watching wait times in MDE and using the standby lines - but it was January, not Spring Break, so the parks weren't nearly as busy as they've been this month. As each future trip approaches, I'll watch the standby times and make a decision re G+ based on whether it seems it would benefit us or not, day by day.

Yep, that's pretty much what I'm planning to do. We're not going at peak crowds, and we've got two days each in EP and MK, so I have the luxury of not having to squeeze everything I want to do into one day. That said, since we DO only have one day at HS, I'm planning the ILL for ROTR because my wife will literally implode if we miss it. So I'm praying it doesn't break down. :/

 

[TinkBink]

I have been trying my best to study thrill-data and play with the app and I feel like a few weeks ago I had a really good handle on when all of the "drops" are. But now they seem much more randomized, has anyone else noticed this?

 

[Duck143]

I went into the app at 7am to see what a typical morning is like. I have an Samsung Andriod, a bit of an older model. When I try to pull down to refresh on the Tip Board, sometimes it works and refreshes and sometime it does nothing and I have to flip to Dining and back to Experiences to get it to refresh. That way takes much longer to refresh than just pulling down the Experiences screen. Has anyone dealt with this and is there a trick to getting it to work? I do plan on upgrading my phone before our Oct. trip.

 

[Ecomommy09]

Ok. I’m two weeks out and I’m ready to ask actual informed questions.

we have one day at HS. The goal to ride ROTR, MFSR, SDD, and MMRR. I know. I know. We have lunch at 1 at Hollywood and Vine and have to be back at the resort by 3.

Looming at it the am, it looks like random times for SDD do show up after 0710, but can you actually get those times?

Two adults online at 0700. I assume I’ll be in line already for HS because the Extra time starts at 0730. I am going to purchase ROTR ASAP for a morning time.

1) Should I try to wait until 0710 and get a G+ SDD that’s before noon. If we did, I’d rope drop MMRR and then go over to MFSR.

2) Or should I plan to rope drop SDD with a six year old with short little legs and just schedule MMRR as my first G+ ride? Can we make the rope drop if I’m in the line for early entry even if I’m not near the front? She’s tiny. She’s got gumption but she’s tiny for her age.

Any other suggestions.

We could also come back to the park in the evening, but I know her and she gets sleepy.

 

[disrunner9]

Thanks for the data. FYI park open for DHS is now 830 so you can typically book your 2nd G+ LL at 1030 rather than 11. Today MMRR sold out at 10:35 so it would have been possible to get it as 2nd pick. Thrilldata over the last 10 days or so shows that it's usually still available at 10:30 but sells out shortly after.

View attachment 656539

Forgive me for this, but where do you find these types of individual attraction heat maps for G+ availability? Really fascinating!!

 

[Nordic4tKnight]

Forgive me for this, but where do you find these types of individual attraction heat maps for G+ availability? Really fascinating!!

https://www.thrill-data.com/waits/park/wdw/hollywood-studios/

 

[Westerner]

I went into the app at 7am to see what a typical morning is like. I have an Samsung Andriod, a bit of an older model. When I try to pull down to refresh on the Tip Board, sometimes it works and refreshes and sometime it does nothing and I have to flip to Dining and back to Experiences to get it to refresh. That way takes much longer to refresh than just pulling down the Experiences screen. Has anyone dealt with this and is there a trick to getting it to work? I do plan on upgrading my phone before our Oct. trip.

What I found is that a big downswipe always worked to refresh but a little downswipe sometimes didn’t. So perhaps try a big swipe.

 

[Doingitagain]

We will have a short day at AK, arriving 9:00 and departing 5:00. We will get Genie + so we can get our first LL at 7:00 am. Any thoughts on whether our first LL should be Na'vi River Journey or Killimanjaro Safaris?