Everything Genie, Genie+ and Individual Lightning Lane - Please Read Posts 1-7

[disneylover102]

Back in November, there were 2 lines, one for standby and the other one for the ones that paid. The second one was very long, we did stand by and like I said, and it was not bad at all. I think that now, and especially next week, it may be another story as far as crowds. I think that we better buy it at 7am.

That’s strange. That’s definitely not normally the case. Sometimes LL does get a little backed up when people need to scan their magic bands, etc but there’s not any switchbacks or anything like there is in standby

 

[vinmar4]

Obvious answer is depends on how busy a day/time or year. Although dis hotel guests have a jump on you ( with 7:30 opening now its not a big jump) and Avatar is the only ILL$ in AK now ( with Everest out) it may be tough to secure a morning slot. Then again ILL$ allows you to book the time when its best for you if available so some may have a desire to go later in the day making availability possible in the AM.

Like us, we would buy it for around 1-2 PM !

 

[vinmar4]

That’s strange. That’s definitely not normally the case. Sometimes LL does get a little backed up when people need to scan their magic bands, etc but there’s not any switchbacks or anything like there is in standby

Yeah, we were confused also, but we asked, and we were told that the longer line was if you reserved a time and paid. We looked at each other and jumped to the shorter line, the stand by one.

 

[Westerner]

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[Sweettears]

Been watching G+ availability of many attractions over the past few weeks. It is clear there is a problem with DHS as most of the big attractions are long gone before noon ( MMRR, RoR - for ILL$, SDD, MF, TT, RnRC, and often TSM). SDD is instantly gone and others a gone not long after 11 (when the 2 hr rule kicks in). Sure it can be used on things like the muppets and star tours and some of the shows but availability on standby or and long waits are usually not a problem for these. When we went recently we did ILL$ for MMRR, RD for ROR, G+ for TT (but couldn't get it until 11:15 at a 7A hotel guest hour). While waiting for our TT reservation Went to TSM standby and single rider RnRC. Got to reservation at 11;15 but on way tried to get something new G+ at 11 with 2hr rule and nothing from any of the above were available or available the rest of the day. Basically paid $15pp extra to do TT. Sucked it up with an almost 2 hr standby at MF and didnt care about SDD (have teens). Guess we saved 2hrs for the additional $15pp on our TT wait....but definitely the service is not worth it in that park. And seems to be the case as I watched most of the big attractions gone by late morning consistently. And in the off season one can argue it isn't worth it in general like at AK or EP....at MK where there is more availability it is helpful. the OPs stacking post isn't reality especially this time of year and busier times. And while possible it is rare new G+ pop up for these in the afternoon.

I made a comment earlier about this or maybe in a different thread. I found that G+ works best if you use it to plan for an afternoon/evening visit. I was able to ride most of the more popular attractions by doing this and stacking them for later use.

 

[my523]

I already booked a package with 6 day tickets. I didn’t pay for Genie+ at the time. Would you recommend adding it now or waiting to add later in case something changes with it? Will I still pay the $15 per person per day?

 

[scrappinginontario]

We chose to add it once there because we didn’t need it most days. We had 8 day tickets, added it 3 days and that was lots for us.

 

[my523]

We chose to add it once there because we didn’t need it most days. We had 8 day tickets, added it 3 days and that was lots for us.

I feel like I have no idea how we will ride most things without it. Plus, the time-saved with 4 littles. I know I need to read more on here about tips and strategies.

 

[Sweettears]

We chose to add it once there because we didn’t need it most days. We had 8 day tickets, added it 3 days and that was lots for us.

I think that it is totally dependent on when you go and where you are staying. I just came back from a trip staying off site and would have been tremendously disappointed with the trip if I hadn’t purchased Genie+

 

[scrappinginontario]

I think that it is totally dependent on when you go and where you are staying. I just came back from a trip staying off site and would have been tremendously disappointed with the trip if I hadn’t purchased Genie+

Exactly why I carefully worded my response as I did.

We chose to add it once there because we didn’t need it most days. We had 8 day tickets, added it 3 days and that was lots for us.

The OP asked if they should add it now or wait until later. I shared what worked for our family and why.

There is no one response for all situations so nobody can truly tell someone else what they should/should not do.

We are hearing story after story in this thread, the Genie Strategy and the Here Now thread of families purchasing G+ and being able to ride only 3 or 4 additional attractions. For this family it’s around $100/day to add it. That’s a lot of money to possibly do only a few extra attractions, especially at parks like AK and Epcot where there are not a great amount of attractions for young children.

 

[Sweettears]

Exactly why I carefully worded my response as I did.



The OP asked if they should add it now or wait until later. I shared what worked for our family and why.

There is no one response for all situations so nobody can truly tell someone else what they should/should not do.

We are hearing story after story in this thread, the Genie Strategy and the Here Now thread of families purchasing G+ and being able to ride only 3 or 4 additional attractions. For this family it’s around $100/day to add it. That’s a lot of money to possibly do only a few extra attractions, especially at parks like AK and Epcot where there are not a great amount of attractions for young children.

I don’t disagree with most of what you are saying. However you won’t know whether or not you needed it until it’s too late unless you do it ahead of time. With a shorter trip not having it could spoil the experience.

 

[scrappinginontario]

I don’t disagree with most of what you are saying. However you won’t know whether or not you needed it until it’s too late unless you do it ahead of time. With a shorter trip not having it could spoil the experience.

There is absolutely nothing stopping someone from purchasing G+ the days they want to. It would take less than 2 minutes to do so and they could do it just before 7AM.

I look at the finances of it. How many attractions at AK would a family with 4 young children be able to use G+ for that would have long lines? Many family attractions at AK are shows with large capacities.

I cannot in good faith (since OP asked) say yes to adding it to every day of their trip. They have 6 day tickets!! That’s not a ‘shorter trip’ to many people. $600 is a lot of money to many people when they could just as easily add it for the days they wish just before selecting their 7AM LL choices on the days they choose to purchase it.

On the days it’s not needed that $100 would feed them a meal or purchase souvenirs.

 

[jbish]

I already booked a package with 6 day tickets. I didn’t pay for Genie+ at the time. Would you recommend adding it now or waiting to add later in case something changes with it? Will I still pay the $15 per person per day?

As others have pointed out, you should make that decision based on what works for you and your family. But I did want to warn you about something that just happened to us when we decided to add G+ to the length of our stay: we bought our tickets and linked to MDE before the recent ticket price increase. When I added G+, I was charged $15/person/day PLUS the incremental ticket price increase for each of our tickets. I'm in the process of trying to ask Disney for a refund on that as there's nothing noted in the pricing of this add-on that would indicate that I should pay for any additional ticket price increases. We'll see how sympathetic they are. But I did want to point that out in case you bought the tickets before the increase (which I think happened around 2/20?).

 

[my523]

As others have pointed out, you should make that decision based on what works for you and your family. But I did want to warn you about something that just happened to us when we decided to add G+ to the length of our stay: we bought our tickets and linked to MDE before the recent ticket price increase. When I added G+, I was charged $15/person/day PLUS the incremental ticket price increase for each of our tickets. I'm in the process of trying to ask Disney for a refund on that as there's nothing noted in the pricing of this add-on that would indicate that I should pay for any additional ticket price increases. We'll see how sympathetic they are. But I did want to point that out in case you bought the tickets before the increase (which I think happened around 2/20?).

Oh no! I’m so sorry!
I bought my tickets after the price increase, but I worry they may either increase ticket prices Or the cost of Genie+ by December.

 

[staggalee]

At Hollywood, assuming not riding SDD, what is the current best strategy in order to get in Smuggler’s, RocknRoller, Tower, Mickey& Minnie & Toy Story?

We’ll have genie+, early entry & will be up at 7a to book. Will $ILL ROTR.

What’s best to book at 7? What’s best to rope drop? What’s best to stand-by after rope drop ride? What to book at 120min?

thanks for any help/advice

 

[scrappinginontario]

At Hollywood, assuming not riding SDD, what is the current best strategy in order to get in Smuggler’s, RocknRoller, Tower, Mickey& Minnie & Toy Story?

We’ll have genie+, early entry & will be up at 7a to book. Will $ILL ROTR.

What’s best to book at 7? What’s best to rope drop? What’s best to stand-by after rope drop ride? What to book at 120min?

thanks for any help/advice

In your situation I would know the attractions I want to ride and then if I'm planning on being in the park all day, choose the one with the latest return time as it's the one filling fastest. I think it will be harder to try and get them in a specific order as opposed to knowing I want to ride these 5 attractions and choosing one of them then next time choosing a different one. We did it that way and it worked well, especially as we were able to book TSM, ST, SDD and RotR all with return times within a 2 hour window so we moved from attraction to attraction with little/no wait.

 

[sailored]

This may have been asked previously by another user, I didn’t see any mention of this in the intro posts.

We will be meeting up with some friends while we are there, for EPCOT and Animal Kingdom. We have each other linked in friends and family, but it appears we only show plans that we share so we are unable to see each other’s tickets. Would we be able to book ILLs and G+ rides together in one group, or will we have to book them separately?

 

[my523]

There is absolutely nothing stopping someone from purchasing G+ the days they want to. It would take less than 2 minutes to do so and they could do it just before 7AM.

I look at the finances of it. How many attractions at AK would a family with 4 young children be able to use G+ for that would have long lines? Many family attractions at AK are shows with large capacities.

I cannot in good faith (since OP asked) say yes to adding it to every day of their trip. They have 6 day tickets!! That’s not a ‘shorter trip’ to many people. $600 is a lot of money to many people when they could just as easily add it for the days they wish just before selecting their 7AM LL choices on the days they choose to purchase it.

On the days it’s not needed that $100 would feed them a meal or purchase souvenirs.

Thank you for that perspective. And, yes, it is ultimately up to us if it’s worth it. I almost think that if it saves us time in even one line, it could be worth it….in those parks like AK and EPCOT. I can’t imagine waiting longer than 45 minutes with our kids. But, it also depends on those ILL$ And what Disney decides those are on my dates. Since those have changed!

 

[HydroGuy]

At Hollywood, assuming not riding SDD, what is the current best strategy in order to get in Smuggler’s, RocknRoller, Tower, Mickey& Minnie & Toy Story?

We’ll have genie+, early entry & will be up at 7a to book. Will $ILL ROTR.

What’s best to book at 7? What’s best to rope drop? What’s best to stand-by after rope drop ride? What to book at 120min?

thanks for any help/advice

We are in the same exact situation. No SDD for us. Staying onsite. Using ETPE. Below is my two cents from reading the forums diligently the last several weeks. I am curious to your thoughts...

I have been to the Galaxy's Edge at DLR a couple times pre-COVID and ridden the GE rides there multiple times. DW has never been to GE and hence ridden none of the rides. That and ROTR+MFSR are thus a high priority for us.

Not sure how big your crew is, but we are just DW and me. It sounds like small groups of 2 have a lot more flexibility getting G+LL and ILL$. Our day has 8:30 park opening. ToT is running at reduced capacity because of work being done so that is a little higher priority than normal because the lines get so long.

Our goals are the following: ROTR and MFSR once, MMRR once, and ToT/RnR/TSM twice each. So we need to get to ToT/RnR/TSM in early morning standby for a first ride and hope for G+ to get a second ride on each.

Also, now that DHS is opening at 8:30AM (for the coming weeks at least) I am going to try to gather from others here which ETPE rides open right at 8AM and which cheat open a little earlier - and target those that cheat open earlier than 8AM.

1. 7AM book ROTR w/ ILL$ (for late morning or afternoon if possible). Try hard to get a G+ LL #1 for a return window that opens before 10:30AM as that seems to give much better options for G+ LL#2 and #3. Will likely target MFSR for first G+LL, but if not available for an early window then ToT will be the next priority.

2. Will try and get to the DHS gates by 7:30AM for an 8AM ETPE.

3. Ride ToT

4. Ride RnR

5. Ride MMRR

6. Ride TSM

7. Hopefully use G+ LL#1 before 10:30AM and get LL#2 - probably/hopefully for MFSR if I did not get it at 7AM. Otherwise RnR.

8. Hopefully get LL#3 for TSM (or RnR)

End of night close to 9PM - possibly try for ride #2 or ROTR through standby line.

 

[scrappinginontario]

Thank you for that perspective. And, yes, it is ultimately up to us if it’s worth it. I almost think that if it saves us time in even one line, it could be worth it….in those parks like AK and EPCOT. I can’t imagine waiting longer than 45 minutes with our kids. But, it also depends on those ILL$ And what Disney decides those are on my dates. Since those have changed!

Based on this and since you feel it would be worth it for even 1 shorter line then I would go ahead and purchase it now while you know the price of it. You have nothing to lose if you're planning to add it anyway.