The Genie Usage, Tips and Strategy ONLY Thread

[kiddo76]

Is there a specific amount of time you have to tag in on the LL? I noticed you had 10:10 but it was over 50 minutes later that you tagged in. I thought it was a more limited time frame?

The app gives you a 1 hour slot return time. I did not try using any past that time.

 

[Donna M]

We were at the MK on Thursday. Here´s our experience with Genie+, we stayed at WL and got into the park at 8:45 with a 2 yo and 3 yo. While at the resort I got a ll for JC at 10:45 We did Perter Pan with a 20 minute standby, Barnstormer 3 times walk on, Dumbo, the carousel, Small World, Tea Cups all about a 5 minute wait, no ll. Then we went over to JC for our first ll around 11:00. A little after 11:00, I got a second ll for Pirates for about 15 minutes after our jc. After we did those two we headed back to Fantasy Land and had overlapping ll for the rest of the afternoon. We went back to the resort for dinner and showers and returned for more rides without any waits, getting ll for the fun of it, but not needing it.

Genie+ was worth it to avoid the 55 min wait at JC; and not having to wait even on 20 minute lines was worth it for us since we had a 2yo boy who was not patient at all! We ran into a lot of app usage issues: it bumped me out about 6 times so that I would have to log in, enter a code they emailed me, and then when it wouldn´t let me in I was locked out because I tried too many times! Luckily, we were ready to head back to the resort for dinner.

A problem happened at 7:30 am when I reserved the first ll for JC, by the time I got back into the park and got reconnected to their wifi, I had to make a new JC reservation.

All in all it was good. We are heading back on Tues and might not get Genie+ because we didn´t ¨smell the flowers¨ because we were doing so many rides.

 

[kiddo76]

Is there a specific amount of time you have to tag in on the LL? I noticed you had 10:10 but it was over 50 minutes later that you tagged in. I thought it was a more limited time frame?

The app gives you a 1 hour slot return time. I did not try using any past that time.

 

[aeasterling]

Has anyone figured out if there are additional “drops” throughout the day for particular rides the way there used to be with FP+?

We were running a little late today and tapped into our Soarin LL 5 minutes past the end time. Got in no problem.

 

[aeasterling]

Today was a successful day combining early Entry, Genie+ and hopping. We are staying at the Swan and had HS res today, along with park hoppers.

Right at 7, I got at LL for SDD at 11:15. Walked into HS at 8:20 and they were letting guests in the park. Walked to GE and into MFSR at 8:30. Rode MFSR 2x and TSM all walk on by 9:40, then waited 30 min to ride RRC (our longest wait all day), then watched 10:30 Frozen show. We had a 11am ADR for Sci Fi - during lunch I grabbed a 12:50 LL for TOT, so now I had two stacked. Rode SDD (60 min standby) then TOT (50 min standby) then back to hotel.

After riding SDD, I was able to grab a 5:40 LL for TT. Back at hotel by 1:30, 3 hour break and then walked to EPCOT. Grabbed a 6pm Soarin LL before tapping into TT to keep stack going. Rode TT (40 min standby - LL took 20). Rode Soarin (20 min standby). At this point everything else was 5 min waits, so no LL needed. Now waiting for fireworks to start.

All in all, I'd say Genie+ was worth it. Except for TT, no LL took more than 5-10 minutes. Granted, we rode MMRR and ROTR already this trip, so they weren't priorities.

 

[katyringo]

You couldn't stack with maxpass?

Maxpass did work this way. Folks who studied maxpass could easily stack them up this way. There was a shorter grace period but it still worked this way. The difference was you had to have entered the parks to use maxpass. So you couldn't start stacking for a later arrival.

 

[soniam]

So I had this happen to me this week. I managed to snag a 9am LL for Slinky Dog, but it wouldn't let me book another until 10am. I had tapped in just after 9 but the system still wouldn't let me book my next LL until 10am. It might be that they were not using the second tap-in that morning. I actually tried to use it anyway (given reports that the second tap was needed) but we were rushed through the queue before it could turn green. Luckily, it was a low crowd day at HS, and I still managed to construct the stack I wanted at 10am and noon without any problems.

I have experienced both FP+ & Maxpass not registering as used before the full 1 hour window, even if I had tapped into all points. So, it has been an occasional problem for a while. Did you try to cancel to see what that would do?

 

[Leahc117]

Can you guys help me plan genie+ for Mk am - HS pm park hop day? I’m still a little confused at why stack for later when you could just be using genie+ in the morning. However I assume I won’t have a chance at getting a later LL for SDD without stacking? I would assume RD SDMT or PPF after making SDD at 7 am for later afternoon/evening. Then at 11am use the “second” LL for whatever I can get at MK? We will be up late the night before for the extra hours at EPCOT so how necessary is rope drop? We usually always rope drop but with stacking LL later on is it still necessary? Thanks for suggestions.

 

[JETSDAD]

Can you guys help me plan genie+ for Mk am - HS pm park hop day? I’m still a little confused at why stack for later when you could just be using genie+ in the morning. However I assume I won’t have a chance at getting a later LL for SDD without stacking? I would assume RD SDMT or PPF after making SDD at 7 am for later afternoon/evening. Then at 11am use the “second” LL for whatever I can get at MK? We will be up late the night before for the extra hours at EPCOT so how necessary is rope drop? We usually always rope drop but with stacking LL later on is it still necessary? Thanks for suggestions.

If I were doing MK first then I personally wouldn't make LL's for my second park until I was done with MK. If you do decide to stack for your second park then RD becomes more important because you're then hoping for shorter standby rides in the first park. Now if you wanted to have a slower morning and show up later at MK then making a LL for the evening should be fine and then start making MK LL's when you show up (once 11 hits).

 

[Wood Nymph]

We were at the MK on Thursday. Here´s our experience with Genie+, we stayed at WL and got into the park at 8:45 with a 2 yo and 3 yo. While at the resort I got a ll for JC at 10:45 We did Perter Pan with a 20 minute standby, Barnstormer 3 times walk on, Dumbo, the carousel, Small World, Tea Cups all about a 5 minute wait, no ll. Then we went over to JC for our first ll around 11:00. A little after 11:00, I got a second ll for Pirates for about 15 minutes after our jc. After we did those two we headed back to Fantasy Land and had overlapping ll for the rest of the afternoon. We went back to the resort for dinner and showers and returned for more rides without any waits, getting ll for the fun of it, but not needing it.

Genie+ was worth it to avoid the 55 min wait at JC; and not having to wait even on 20 minute lines was worth it for us since we had a 2yo boy who was not patient at all!

All in all it was good. We are heading back on Tues and might not get Genie+ because we didn´t ¨smell the flowers¨ because we were doing so many rides.

Agree -
We were at MK on both Tuesday and Thursday of this week and thought that the only ride you really needed Genie+ was for Jungle Cruise. Otherwise, we walked on lots of rides without buying Genie+

 

[aeasterling]

Can you guys help me plan genie+ for Mk am - HS pm park hop day? I’m still a little confused at why stack for later when you could just be using genie+ in the morning. However I assume I won’t have a chance at getting a later LL for SDD without stacking? I would assume RD SDMT or PPF after making SDD at 7 am for later afternoon/evening. Then at 11am use the “second” LL for whatever I can get at MK? We will be up late the night before for the extra hours at EPCOT so how necessary is rope drop? We usually always rope drop but with stacking LL later on is it still necessary? Thanks for suggestions.

It depends on your priorities. Is SDD a must do? If so, i would get a LL for that at 7 - it will give you a time after 2 if its not your reservation - and rope drop MK.

If you want a later start at MK, then I'd use the LL there. I've found most of the rides you can get a LL right away. Maybe get PPF at 7 since that one can fill up. Then just watch SDD and grab it if it starts to get late in the evening. Your only risk that way is that you might miss SDD (or have to stand in a long line for it). Good luck!!

 

[baozi]

Agree -
We were at MK on both Tuesday and Thursday of this week and thought that the only ride you really needed Genie+ was for Jungle Cruise. Otherwise, we walked on lots of rides without buying Genie+

I tracked the waiting time on Thursday -- it was a very lightly crowded day. The entire afternoon FOP was like 5 minutes wait. Look at the same for today -- you might need it for many rides.

 

[JMommyof3]

Can you guys help me plan genie+ for Mk am - HS pm park hop day? I’m still a little confused at why stack for later when you could just be using genie+ in the morning. However I assume I won’t have a chance at getting a later LL for SDD without stacking? I would assume RD SDMT or PPF after making SDD at 7 am for later afternoon/evening. Then at 11am use the “second” LL for whatever I can get at MK? We will be up late the night before for the extra hours at EPCOT so how necessary is rope drop? We usually always rope drop but with stacking LL later on is it still necessary? Thanks for suggestions.

W/O rope drop at MK I would
7am make PPF LL (probably 9-10 or 9:30-10:30)/buy 7DMT ILL$ for anytime before 2
Arrive MK tap into PPF (10am?) then make SDD LL. By that point it might be later in the afternoon/evening, maybe 6-7pm, check around the thread to see what times SDD is pulling at various times.
10-12: Do any short waits/ILL$/get food
noon-get new LL for MK or if standby is looking good, start evening stacking for HS. continue stacking as needed.

If you do decide to rope drop
7am PPF LL (9-10)
RD 7DMT, then hit PPF(9:15). You should be able to get an earlyish (4pm) SDD. Then at 11:15 start stacking again.

If you don't want to pay for 7D, that should be your RD ride. After that I'm I'm not sure what the wait times for PFF would be in standby but I think they've been pretty long which is why I would still LL that as your first if that is a priority. The only difference b/w RD and not RD would be possibly buying ILL$ for 7D and getting an earlier pull time for SDD.

 

[CBMom01]

Sorry if this has already been covered, but is anyone concerned by the inability to plan on Genie+ times during very busy weeks? We will be there around Christmas and I don't feel like I can plan on Genie+ times being available for everything we want, let alone near the times we want. Anyone have thoughts on that?

 

[Bevo in VA]

Sorry if this has already been covered, but is anyone concerned by the inability to plan on Genie+ times during very busy weeks? We will be there around Christmas and I don't feel like I can plan on Genie+ times being available for everything we want, let alone near the times we want. Anyone have thoughts on that?

You might take a close look at how things go during T-Giving week. Crowds should be similar. You can go to thrill data afterwards and see what G+ times were available throughout the day which might help you out with your planning.

 

[starryagain]

My husband and daughter will be at Hollywood Studios tomorrow. I am connected to them through My Disney Experience (or whatever it is called now). Can I book paid Genie+ experiences for them as they are driving there? They will be driving from 6:30AM-8:00AM and would like to book them an experience at the 7:00AM timeslot.

 

[PepperjackDragon]

Sorry if this has already been covered, but is anyone concerned by the inability to plan on Genie+ times during very busy weeks? We will be there around Christmas and I don't feel like I can plan on Genie+ times being available for everything we want, let alone near the times we want. Anyone have thoughts on that?

No one knows yet. Safe bet is that they will scale up LL availability so that both LL and SB will be longer.

 

[TB'sWidow]

Maybe this has been asked sorry haven’t read all pages but does each person have to purchase their own Ll pass for say ROtR? Or can one person purchase for all ? Thanks sorry if it’s been asked before

 

[Leahc117]

It depends on your priorities. Is SDD a must do? If so, i would get a LL for that at 7 - it will give you a time after 2 if its not your reservation - and rope drop MK.

If you want a later start at MK, then I'd use the LL there. I've found most of the rides you can get a LL right away. Maybe get PPF at 7 since that one can fill up. Then just watch SDD and grab it if it starts to get late in the evening. Your only risk that way is that you might miss SDD (or have to stand in a long line for it). Good luck!!

We are taking my in-laws on their first Disney trip in 30 years. I would like SDD and that line always freaks me out - we’ve always had a FP or rope drop!

 

[PepperjackDragon]

Can you guys help me plan genie+ for Mk am - HS pm park hop day? I’m still a little confused at why stack for later when you could just be using genie+ in the morning. However I assume I won’t have a chance at getting a later LL for SDD without stacking? I would assume RD SDMT or PPF after making SDD at 7 am for later afternoon/evening. Then at 11am use the “second” LL for whatever I can get at MK? We will be up late the night before for the extra hours at EPCOT so how necessary is rope drop? We usually always rope drop but with stacking LL later on is it still necessary? Thanks for suggestions.

My suggestion would be to book an animal kingdom prior to 8am. Then you could do pretty easy SB at MK from 8:30-10am. I believe at 10am you should be able to book your second a LL, cancel the animal kingdom and start double stacking The easier MK. I would do that until SDD got to a time as late as I was happy with doing it and then book SDD. At this point I would assume it’s fairly close to lunch and book something a couple hours out like JC or PPF, plan to do the carousels or other short waits, eat lunch, then pick up a double stack for the rest of MK and go into the HS evening with three.

To try to simplify:

A1: 7ish am (could sleep until 750): book any AK
B1: 10am MK LL
A2: 10:01 cancel AK and book MK LL2

keep and eye on JC, PPF and SDD if any of them reach your maximum desired time get it.

Keep stacking until you hit a good lunch break or HAVE to reserve those higher demand rides (or of course of a convenient time pops up), then do whatever until your third slot opens up.


However:

it might be unnecessary depending on the day

if it is REALLY busy you might have to switch the AK out straight to SDD (if you really insisted on a SDD LL), foregoing the early double stack at MK, but you should be able to tell that by 9am so won’t lose anything by waiting and trying. (Edit: Even then it would probably work out better to just wait on SDD rather than tie up your LL until late evening, would make sense to me if you were able to get a 4-5 pm around 11:30 and get a second MK running after a natural break for lunch etc, but definitely not a 7pm at 7am-that would obviously be a waste. )

this is based on my understanding that the 2hr wait time starts from park opening of your first reservation, regardless of having reserved the park as your primary destination.