Disney Genie Is Now Live Post Your Hints and Tips

[BroadwayHermione5]

Ok so I have read through the boards and youtube and what not but I still for the life of me cannot figure out how Genie plus fully works with the stacking. I understand how $LL work, but this stacking concept is throwing me for a loop. Is it possible to do so and not criss cross the park? How does it work with park hopping?

Any help you be greatly appreciated

 

[DLRExpert]

Ok so I have read through the boards and youtube and what not but I still for the life of me cannot figure out how Genie plus fully works with the stacking. I understand how $LL work, but this stacking concept is throwing me for a loop. Is it possible to do so and not criss cross the park? How does it work with park hopping?

Any help you be greatly appreciated

Note: You can get your next LL when you use the LL you currently have, the LL you have has expired, or 2 hours have passed.
Example.
At 12pm you book a LL for Space Mountain with a return time of 4pm-5pm.
At 2pm you can book your next LL, effectively giving you two LLs to use at a later time.
Then again at 4pm you can book your next LL or when you have used the LL you booked at 2pm.

 

[GBRforWDW]

Note: You can get your next LL when you use the LL you currently have, the LL you have has expired, or 2 hours have passed.
Example.
At 12pm you book a LL for Space Mountain with a return time of 4pm-5pm.
At 2pm you can book your next LL, effectively giving you two LLs to use at a later time.
Then again at 4pm you can book your next LL or when you have used the LL you booked at 2pm.

Does Disneyland allow park hoppers to reserve for the opposite park? If so, this might be what the OP is looking for. It's hard to stack Genie+ at Disneyland because there's few rides that put you out more than 2 hours, but if you start stacking for the afternoon at a park you're hopping to, you can get a LL at 8, after scanning into the park, then at 10 and 12, assuming 2 hours after booking the first.

I know at WDW, for park hopping, your time is given at first available time after park hopping begins, I just wasn't sure if the same applied to Disneyland.

Because of how slow some rides are to fill up though, you may be booking 3 rides for the first hour of park hopping. You can probably schedule them so that they're in a line to avoid zig zagging the park too. If you go to the ride you booked at 12 first, you can immediately request another LL, otherwise you'll have to wait to use that or until your 2 hours is up around 2pm.

 

[pdx]

Ok so I have read through the boards and youtube and what not but I still for the life of me cannot figure out how Genie plus fully works with the stacking. I understand how $LL work, but this stacking concept is throwing me for a loop. Is it possible to do so and not criss cross the park? How does it work with park hopping?

Any help you be greatly appreciated

I think Genie plus actually works best with park hopping. The schedule below shows how I stacked LL's on a crowded June day where we rope dropped DL, hopped to CA at 1pm, took a long hotel break from 3-8pm, and then went back to DL from 8-10pm. Basically, while we were at DL in the morning, I was "stacking" LL's for CA for 1-3pm. And then during our afternoon break, I "stacked" LL's for DL for 8-10pm. (I also purchased ILL's for Rise of the Resistance on this day. You can buy those anytime, independent of when you get your Genie+ LL's.)

-------------
While waiting at the rope in DL: got LL for Guardians of the Galaxy with return time of 1pm (even though the actual LL return time was 8:15am, we automatically got a return time of 1pm since that's the earliest time you can hop to CA)

8-10am: Rode our favorite DL rides standby with almost no lines: Big Thunder, Indiana Jones, Jungle Cruise, Haunted Mansion, Buzz (Pirates was closed or we would have done that too)
Checked on Rise of the Resistance ILL return times every now and then--bought them around 9am when the return time was 11am

10am: got LL for Soarin with return time of 1pm

10:30am: Went to Galaxy's Edge and enjoyed the ambience. Rode RotR with our ILLs. Rode Smuggler's Run single rider. Had lunch.

12pm: Got LL for TSMM at 2:30pm

12:30: Walked to CA

1-3pm: Entered CA and rode Soarin' (LL), GotG (LL), Radiator Springs Racers (single rider), Incredicoaster (single rider), TSMM (LL), and Grizzly River Run (single rider)
At 2:15pm, got LL for Indiana Jones with return of 7:15pm

3pm-8pm: back to hotel for nap, swim, and dinner. At 4:15pm got LL for Matterhorn at 8:30, at 6:15pm got LL for BTMR at 8:30

8-9pm: Back at DL, rode Indiana Jones (LL), Big Thunder (LL), and Matterhorn (LL). At 8:15, used the refresh trick to get LL for Smuggler's Run with return of 9pm

9pm: Went back to Galaxy's Edge for a night view. Rode Smuggler's Run (LL)

10pm: Rode Star Tours standby with no wait as we left the park.
------------------

In all, we rode 18 rides, and never waited more than 20 minutes for a ride. And I didn't feel like I had to be on my phone all the time. I just set a timer for 2 hours later each time I made a LL selection. When the alarm went off, I looked over all the current return times and picked the one that was farthest out that fit into the hours when I was trying to stack rides (1-3pm in CA, and then 8-10pm in DL). If you look through the list of rides and none of the return times work for you, just wait a bit for the return times to get later, or if you want an earlier return time, try refreshing the screen a few times in case someone else cancels their LL for the time you want. And remember if your LL time is 2pm, you can check in for the ride any time between 1:55 and 3:15, so that gives you a lot of flexibility.

---------------
8/17/22: Editing to say that this strategy won't work as well now that the Lightning Lane rules for park hopping have changed. Sorry!

 

[Aurora0427]

I think Genie plus actually works best with park hopping. The schedule below shows how I stacked LL's on a crowded June day where we rope dropped DL, hopped to CA at 1pm, took a long hotel break from 3-8pm, and then went back to DL from 8-10pm. Basically, while we were at DL in the morning, I was "stacking" LL's for CA for 1-3pm. And then during our afternoon break, I "stacked" LL's for DL for 8-10pm. (I also purchased ILL's for Rise of the Resistance on this day. You can buy those anytime, independent of when you get your Genie+ LL's.)

-------------
While waiting at the rope in DL: got LL for Guardians of the Galaxy with return time of 1pm (even though the actual LL return time was 8:15am, we automatically got a return time of 1pm since that's the earliest time you can hop to CA)

8-10am: Rode our favorite DL rides standby with almost no lines: Big Thunder, Indiana Jones, Jungle Cruise, Haunted Mansion, Buzz (Pirates was closed or we would have done that too)
Checked on Rise of the Resistance ILL return times every now and then--bought them around 9am when the return time was 11am

10am: got LL for Soarin with return time of 1pm

10:30am: Went to Galaxy's Edge and enjoyed the ambience. Rode RotR with our ILLs. Rode Smuggler's Run single rider. Had lunch.

12pm: Got LL for TSMM at 2:30pm

12:30: Walked to CA

1-3pm: Entered CA and rode Soarin' (LL), GotG (LL), Radiator Springs Racers (single rider), Incredicoaster (single rider), TSMM (LL), and Grizzly River Run (single rider)
At 2:15pm, got LL for Indiana Jones with return of 7:15pm

3pm-8pm: back to hotel for nap, swim, and dinner. At 4:15pm got LL for Matterhorn at 8:30, at 6:15pm got LL for BTMR at 8:30

8-9pm: Back at DL, rode Indiana Jones (LL), Big Thunder (LL), and Matterhorn (LL). At 8:15, used the refresh trick to get LL for Smuggler's Run with return of 9pm

9pm: Went back to Galaxy's Edge for a night view. Rode Smuggler's Run (LL)

10pm: Rode Star Tours standby with no wait as we left the park.
------------------

In all, we rode 18 rides, and never waited more than 20 minutes for a ride. And I didn't feel like I had to be on my phone all the time. I just set a timer for 2 hours later each time I made a LL selection. When the alarm went off, I looked over all the current return times and picked the one that was farthest out that fit into the hours when I was trying to stack rides (1-3pm in CA, and then 8-10pm in DL). If you look through the list of rides and none of the return times work for you, just wait a bit for the return times to get later, or if you want an earlier return time, try refreshing the screen a few times in case someone else cancels their LL for the time you want. And remember if your LL time is 2pm, you can check in for the ride any time between 1:55 and 3:15, so that gives you a lot of flexibility.

This is freaking genius. I saved this post and when we go back in August, I’m following this exact plan. I wish I had read this before we went with my mom last week! We would’ve been so much more productive park hopping to DCA!

 

[sweethannah]

I think Genie plus actually works best with park hopping. The schedule below shows how I stacked LL's on a crowded June day where we rope dropped DL, hopped to CA at 1pm, took a long hotel break from 3-8pm, and then went back to DL from 8-10pm. Basically, while we were at DL in the morning, I was "stacking" LL's for CA for 1-3pm. And then during our afternoon break, I "stacked" LL's for DL for 8-10pm. (I also purchased ILL's for Rise of the Resistance on this day. You can buy those anytime, independent of when you get your Genie+ LL's.)

-------------
While waiting at the rope in DL: got LL for Guardians of the Galaxy with return time of 1pm (even though the actual LL return time was 8:15am, we automatically got a return time of 1pm since that's the earliest time you can hop to CA)

8-10am: Rode our favorite DL rides standby with almost no lines: Big Thunder, Indiana Jones, Jungle Cruise, Haunted Mansion, Buzz (Pirates was closed or we would have done that too)
Checked on Rise of the Resistance ILL return times every now and then--bought them around 9am when the return time was 11am

10am: got LL for Soarin with return time of 1pm

10:30am: Went to Galaxy's Edge and enjoyed the ambience. Rode RotR with our ILLs. Rode Smuggler's Run single rider. Had lunch.

12pm: Got LL for TSMM at 2:30pm

12:30: Walked to CA

1-3pm: Entered CA and rode Soarin' (LL), GotG (LL), Radiator Springs Racers (single rider), Incredicoaster (single rider), TSMM (LL), and Grizzly River Run (single rider)
At 2:15pm, got LL for Indiana Jones with return of 7:15pm

3pm-8pm: back to hotel for nap, swim, and dinner. At 4:15pm got LL for Matterhorn at 8:30, at 6:15pm got LL for BTMR at 8:30

8-9pm: Back at DL, rode Indiana Jones (LL), Big Thunder (LL), and Matterhorn (LL). At 8:15, used the refresh trick to get LL for Smuggler's Run with return of 9pm

9pm: Went back to Galaxy's Edge for a night view. Rode Smuggler's Run (LL)

10pm: Rode Star Tours standby with no wait as we left the park.
------------------

In all, we rode 18 rides, and never waited more than 20 minutes for a ride. And I didn't feel like I had to be on my phone all the time. I just set a timer for 2 hours later each time I made a LL selection. When the alarm went off, I looked over all the current return times and picked the one that was farthest out that fit into the hours when I was trying to stack rides (1-3pm in CA, and then 8-10pm in DL). If you look through the list of rides and none of the return times work for you, just wait a bit for the return times to get later, or if you want an earlier return time, try refreshing the screen a few times in case someone else cancels their LL for the time you want. And remember if your LL time is 2pm, you can check in for the ride any time between 1:55 and 3:15, so that gives you a lot of flexibility.

Amazing
But I'm a bit confused, what was your actual return time for GOTG if you couldn't hop until 1pm and you rode Soarin before your LL? We'll be hopping too so I'd like to try your approach

 

[sweethannah]

Can anyone let me know if a MEP can be carried over to the next day? For example we book Guardians for 930pm but it's down. That would convert to a MEP however 30 mins to close options are limited. Can we go to guest services and request it to carry over to the following day? Thanks!!

 

[pdx]

Amazing
But I'm a bit confused, what was your actual return time for GOTG if you couldn't hop until 1pm and you rode Soarin before your LL? We'll be hopping too so I'd like to try your approach

Our actual return times for GOTG and Soarin were both 1pm, even though both of them actually had earlier return times when I made my selections. When you go to make your LL selection, it will list the earlier return time, but after you choose it, the return time will be 1pm (for rides in the other park). Of course, if the ride already has a return time after 1pm, you'll get that time rather than 1pm. You can see that when I made my TSMM reservation at noon, the return time was 2:30, so that's the time I got. That's why you want to choose the ride with the farthest out return times whenever you can. GOTG is a good first choice since it fills up fast. At 10, I looked to see whether Soarin or TSMM was filling up faster that day--it varies from day to day.

Since we had 1pm LL return times for both GOTG and Soarin, we could ride those any time between 12:55 and 2:15, and we didn't have to ride GOTG first.

 

[sweethannah]

Perfect thank you! I wasn't sure how broad the return time window was, again very helpful information. Thank you!

 

[Pluto468]

Can anyone let me know if a MEP can be carried over to the next day? For example we book Guardians for 930pm but it's down. That would convert to a MEP however 30 mins to close options are limited. Can we go to guest services and request it to carry over to the following day? Thanks!!

The ones we didn't use were gone the next day, but I hadn't thought to ask about carrying it over. I haven't heard of that as an option.

 

[denisejk]

I am trying to understand all the ins and outs of Genie+ strategies, and I think I am following along until this detail...

Our actual return times for GOTG and Soarin were both 1pm, even though both of them actually had earlier return times when I made my selections. When you go to make your LL selection, it will list the earlier return time, but after you choose it, the return time will be 1pm (for rides in the other park). Of course, if the ride already has a return time after 1pm, you'll get that time rather than 1pm. You can see that when I made my TSMM reservation at noon, the return time was 2:30, so that's the time I got. That's why you want to choose the ride with the farthest out return times whenever you can. GOTG is a good first choice since it fills up fast. At 10, I looked to see whether Soarin or TSMM was filling up faster that day--it varies from day to day.

Since we had 1pm LL return times for both GOTG and Soarin, we could ride those any time between 12:55 and 2:15, and we didn't have to ride GOTG first.

I'm sure this makes total sense and is true, but I can't figure out the reasoning.... maybe because this is not something we tried to do with the old (free) FastPass system. What am I missing? Why is it important to choose the ride with the farthest out return time whenever you can? Is this specific to park hopping or also when selecting a LL for the park you're in? I think if I can understand the logic behind it, I will do a better job of using it.

Thank you!

 

[GBRforWDW]

Depends on your strategy. If you are park hopping and stacking for the park you're hopping to, it helps if your first selections aren't all at 1pm, however, with DLs Genie, that's hard to avoid.

Also, the next pass selection is based on last chosen. So, when you select 3 rides and get them all for 1pm, if you go first to the most recent selection, you can make your next selection right away, instead of waiting out the 2 hour window, so if your first 2 ride selections are at 2pm Instead of 1pm, and your 3rd is at 1pm, you can use that one and get your 4th pass without worrying about how to get to all 3 right away or forgetting which one you need to use first to be able to book another.

If you are using the passes in the park you start in, it's best to get passes for sooner so you can use it and get your next pass.

But, if you have 2 days per park, you don't really even need Genie. I didn't even use it on one day per park. I did buy a couple individual Lightning Lane passes tho. If you can take advantage of rope drop and low attendance for the first couple hours and single rider lines later, you can knock out several of the higher wait time rides with little to no waits.

However, it can still be a nice to have feature once you are in the middle of the day to skip a few more rides, or as I mentioned, stacking for park hopping.

 

[pdx]

I'm sure this makes total sense and is true, but I can't figure out the reasoning.... maybe because this is not something we tried to do with the old (free) FastPass system. What am I missing? Why is it important to choose the ride with the farthest out return time whenever you can? Is this specific to park hopping or also when selecting a LL for the park you're in? I think if I can understand the logic behind it, I will do a better job of using it.

Thank you!

@GBRforWDW is correct that it depends on your strategy. If you're staying in one park, you might want to always go for a return time that is soon (and maybe also close by), so you can get another LL quickly. Since I knew that I was only going to be in DCA from about 1-3pm, I wanted to make sure that we didn't miss out on a ride that we really wanted to do. GOTG is really popular, and it often gets to a late return time earlier than other rides. So if I didn't choose that one early, it might have had a 5pm return time by the time I tried to get it. It was like a puzzle where I was trying to figure out when to get each LL so that the ride would have a return time that could be used from 1-3pm. In practice, that meant that I was choosing the most popular rides earliest.

 

[Markonefive]

I have a question I hope someone can answer. We will be a party of 6 all linked in one Disneyland account. If I want to book a LL, can I select which members of the party need the LL? Some don't want to ride Space Mountain, for example.

 

[starlite_]

I have a question I hope someone can answer. We will be a party of 6 all linked in one Disneyland account. If I want to book a LL, can I select which members of the party need the LL? Some don't want to ride Space Mountain, for example.

Yes, you can select the ones you want the LL for.

 

[BroadwayHermione5]

So conceivably i could stack t 7 am for the morning in one park and then throughout the day at the other park after the respective time opens (i say this as someone going to DLR right when both HM and Monsters will be reopening)

 

[Turk February]

WDW vet headed to DL this week and using G+ for the first time. If I have everyone's tickets scanned into my DL app, I will be able to make LL reservations for everyone, correct? It doesn't matter if we aren't all on the same reservation for park passes, right? Just need their tickets in my account.

 

[GBRforWDW]

WDW vet headed to DL this week and using G+ for the first time. If I have everyone's tickets scanned into my DL app, I will be able to make LL reservations for everyone, correct? It doesn't matter if we aren't all on the same reservation for park passes, right? Just need their tickets in my account.

That's correct.

 

[starlite_]

Wanted to thank DLRExpert and everyone on this thread. Thanks to Indy being broken most of saturday we were able to get not 1, not 2 but 4 MEPs which made our day absolutely perfect. So thank you for the tips ♡♡

 

[Jrog92]

Wanted to thank DLRExpert and everyone on this thread. Thanks to Indy being broken most of saturday we were able to get not 1, not 2 but 4 MEPs which made our day absolutely perfect. So thank you for the tips ♡♡

How did you get more than 1 MEP?