The Genie Usage, Tips and Strategy ONLY Thread

[set88]

I have a question that I'm sure has been asked and answered, but going through 200+ pages was getting tedious.

We are doing late afternoons/evenings in the parks in a couple of weeks. I have already pre-purchased Genie+ and plan to purchase ILL. My question is around booking order once I start using my stacked Genie+. Let's say I book Jungle Cruise for 7pm, at 7am (so first Genie+ of the day). I then book Space Mountain for 4pm, 2 hrs after park open. I continue booking stuff throughout the day as the 2hrs come and go, last G+ being booked at 3pm. At 4pm, I enter the park and swipe at SM. It's only been an hour since I booked my last G+, but I'm swiping at one of my bookings (not the first or last one I booked). Do I have to wait until 5pm to book another G+ (2 hrs) or can I book something else as soon as I swipe (less than 2 hrs).

This has continued to confuse me...

It's 2 hours from the thing you booked most recently or when you use that most recently booked one. So in your example you would have to wait until 5:00 p.m. or whenever you used the G+ you booked at 3:00 p.m. I think it used to be different but this is how it is now.

 

[Jonfw2]

Hello. Curious on this one:

Let’s say I have a party of five (hee hee) and we split up for the day. Two have a rez at MK, three have a rez at HS…

Can the party of 2 book an LL at 7 for themselves at MK and the party of 3 book one at the same time for themselves at HS?

 

[scrappinginontario]

Hello. Curious on this one:

Let’s say I have a party of five (hee hee) and we split up for the day. Two have a rez at MK, three have a rez at HS…

Can the party of 2 book an LL at 7 for themselves at MK and the party of 3 book one at the same time for themselves at HS?

Yes.

 

[Jonfw2]

Thank you!

 

[flowergleam1211]

Hello! Thanks to everyone who has been sharing their tips and strategies. Does anyone have favorite blogs or videos that explains how best to use Genie+/Lightning Lane? I'm almost at a point where I would hire a consultant to walk me through all the steps, processes, strategies, etc.

 

[Candycane83]

Hello! Thanks to everyone who has been sharing their tips and strategies. Does anyone have favorite blogs or videos that explains how best to use Genie+/Lightning Lane? I'm almost at a point where I would hire a consultant to walk me through all the steps, processes, strategies, etc.

I’ve been watching ear scouts lately which does help a bit!

 

[masupo]

Hello! Thanks to everyone who has been sharing their tips and strategies. Does anyone have favorite blogs or videos that explains how best to use Genie+/Lightning Lane? I'm almost at a point where I would hire a consultant to walk me through all the steps, processes, strategies, etc.

I’ve been watching ear scouts lately which does help a bit!

I second Ear Scouts! He explains things really well and does real world tests and demonstrations.

I also recommend AllEars - Molly is great! Her Genie+ vids helped me so much when I used it the first time.

Touring Plans started a WDW 101 type YouTube series. Their vids on Genie+ are very helpful.

 

[mom2grace]

Is there a way to select later times for LL return windows? I would like them to be in the evening. Specifically for MK.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

ILL yes, G+ LL no.

 

[mom2grace]

ILL yes, G+ LL no.

Can you walk me through the process? Thank you

 

[CarolynFH]

Is there a way to select later times for LL return windows? I would like them to be in the evening. Specifically for MK.

Only if you check the return times periodically and then book when one gets to the time period you want.

For example, last month DH and I didn't want to go to MK until early evening. At 7:00 AM I bought an ILL$ for Seven Dwarfs, but the LLs for the rides we wanted were still too early in the day. I kept watching them, and finally a little bit after 11 AM, one of them got to 6 PM, so I booked it. That meant I couldn't book another for 2 hours, which was shortly after 1:00 PM. At that time, another ride we wanted was booking LL for a time we liked, so I booked it. Then 2 hours later, I found a third ride at a time we liked and booked that.

IOW, after I booked the first LL, every 2 hours I looked at the return times for all the rides we wanted and booked whichever one fit the times we wanted. It's important to realize that a big difference between FP+ and G+LLs is that you can overlap return windows - otherwise we could not have done it. We ended up with Jungle Cruise at 6:10, BTMRR at 7:15, Splash at 7:40, Peter Pan at 9:25, and Haunted Mansion at 9:45. Our Seven Dwarfs was at 10:05. We did not book them in that sequence at all! But we were able to arrive at MK around 6, eat a hot dog from Casey's, then ride our LLs at JC, BTMRR, and Splash (as well as standby Pirates), followed by walking across the park to ride Carousel of Progress and the People Mover before PP and HM and finally Seven Dwarfs.

Unfortunately, depending on how busy the park is that day, the LL times might move too fast, and especially the most popular rides might book up before you can get them. I don't think the park was especially crowded that night, so we got lucky!

 

[scrappinginontario]

Can you walk me through the process? Thank you

I'm pretty sure the 'Everything Genie' thread will be helpful to you. Please read the posts on page 1.

The information you're looking for and much more is explained there.

 

[TeamSy]

It's 2 hours after the park opens.

So say at 7:00 I make my selection for I dunno something that is far out, like Jungle Cruise at 10am. Can I make another selection at 9 because it's 2 hours later? Or do I have to wait until I use my LL at 10 and the 2 hour rule only starts beginning at 9 for 11?

Can I do:
7:00: Selection 1 for afternoon
9:00: Selection 2 for afternoon
11:00: Selection 3 for a more recent time and then when I scan in to that ride pick another one?

I don't know why I cannot wrap my head around this lol Thanks!

 

[JodyK]

It is 7AM then either

2 hours after park open OR tapping into your first LL whichever comes first.

So from your example if park opens at 9AM and you book Jungle Cruise at 10AM you should book your next LL after tapping into Jungle Cruise which could be anytime between 10AM and 11AM. If the park opened at 8AM you should book your next LL at 10AM even if you haven't yet tapped into JC yet.

 

[g-dad66]

So say at 7:00 I make my selection for I dunno something that is far out, like Jungle Cruise at 10am. Can I make another selection at 9 because it's 2 hours later? Or do I have to wait until I use my LL at 10 and the 2 hour rule only starts beginning at 9 for 11?

Can I do:
7:00: Selection 1 for afternoon
9:00: Selection 2 for afternoon
11:00: Selection 3 for a more recent time and then when I scan in to that ride pick another one?

I don't know why I cannot wrap my head around this lol Thanks!

The 2-hour rule begins when the park opens, so if park opens at 9:00, you can't make Selection 2 until 11:00.

 

[TeamSy]

The 2-hour rule begins when the park opens, so if park opens at 9:00, you can't make Selection 2 until 11:00.

Thanks! I don’t know why I have been finding it so hard to wrap my head around this lol

 

[evilqueenmindy]

Maybe stupid question, it’s been a couple months since I used genie+, but I got it for a day trip today at MK.
I seem to remember the next available time to book showing up on the tip board. You’d see a close time and tap on it.
currently, I’m looking at a bunch of selections and all of them say “check availability” then I have to tap on them, select my party, and THEN it will show me the time that is available.
Is this a glitch or a new horrible reality of an already not great thing?

EDIT- after opening and closing the app for the 8th time, I now have times on my tip board.

 

[Jrb1979]

Maybe stupid question, it’s been a couple months since I used genie+, but I got it for a day trip today at MK.
I seem to remember the next available time to book showing up on the tip board. You’d see a close time and tap on it.
currently, I’m looking at a bunch of selections and all of them say “check availability” then I have to tap on them, select my party, and THEN it will show me the time that is available.
Is this a glitch or a new horrible reality of an already not great thing?

EDIT- after opening and closing the app for the 8th time, I now have times on my tip board.

That's the new reality.

 

[scrappinginontario]

Maybe stupid question, it’s been a couple months since I used genie+, but I got it for a day trip today at MK.
I seem to remember the next available time to book showing up on the tip board. You’d see a close time and tap on it.
currently, I’m looking at a bunch of selections and all of them say “check availability” then I have to tap on them, select my party, and THEN it will show me the time that is available.
Is this a glitch or a new horrible reality of an already not great thing?

EDIT- after opening and closing the app for the 8th time, I now have times on my tip board.

That has been the recent situation between 7AM and 7:30. After that they normally show up. Do you know if that was possibly the case for you (ie 7:30) when you started seeing them?

 

[GBRforWDW]

Maybe stupid question, it’s been a couple months since I used genie+, but I got it for a day trip today at MK.
I seem to remember the next available time to book showing up on the tip board. You’d see a close time and tap on it.
currently, I’m looking at a bunch of selections and all of them say “check availability” then I have to tap on them, select my party, and THEN it will show me the time that is available.
Is this a glitch or a new horrible reality of an already not great thing?

EDIT- after opening and closing the app for the 8th time, I now have times on my tip board.

Yeah there was an update last month that changed the tip board to display that message from 7 to 730.