The Genie Usage, Tips and Strategy ONLY Thread

[5kidsmommy]

I have been to DW many times, but this is my first time since G+. We are visiting Epcot one day only (Sunday, Feb. 5). I want to be sure to ride Remy and GotG. I also love Soarin and Frozen but the two new rides are my must. We are staying on site and will drive to the park. I have made my reservations for the park. I have a few questions. I know I need to purchase G+ first thing in the morning (how early can I purchase?). If my husband has the app downloaded on his phone, it sounds like we can both work on doing this at the same time. Can I be logged in to his app and mine? I start with booking Remy for a G+ and do I have my husband working on a VQ for GotG right at 7? Or do I just plan to purchase the ILL for GotG? Thanks!

I have no clue but I'm curious about the same thing. We are doing one day at Epcot (2/16) and one day at MK (2/17). We are staying onsite but won't arrive at Epcot until after park opening. All I really care about is GoTG and Remy since they weren't open last time we went. I'm hoping it should be relatively easy to get both since I'm willing to pay for ILL$ and G+. I am assuming I need to make sure I'm on the app and ready to go at 7am. This is a trial run for a bigger trip next January.

 

[kilik64]

I have been to DW many times, but this is my first time since G+. We are visiting Epcot one day only (Sunday, Feb. 5). I want to be sure to ride Remy and GotG. I also love Soarin and Frozen but the two new rides are my must. We are staying on site and will drive to the park. I have made my reservations for the park. I have a few questions. I know I need to purchase G+ first thing in the morning (how early can I purchase?). If my husband has the app downloaded on his phone, it sounds like we can both work on doing this at the same time. Can I be logged in to his app and mine? I start with booking Remy for a G+ and do I have my husband working on a VQ for GotG right at 7? Or do I just plan to purchase the ILL for GotG? Thanks!

You can buy g+ at midnight, but realistically just get in and buy it at like 6:50 or so and you'll be good to go right at 7am. Make sure to filter rides through the selection process deal and ONLY pick Remy so it will be at the top of the app when you swipe down at 7am to refresh. Saves you a few seconds finding it and tapping through if you are trying to get an early ride time.

Ive not done the VQ before personally, but as long as you are in a party together in MDE, he should be able to do the VQ for both of you at the same time as well. Try for that first, if you dont get it in it, immediately try for the $ILL if you are good paying for it. If you miss both you can try again for the afternoon VQ.

 

[Runnsally]

You can buy g+ at midnight, but realistically just get in and buy it at like 6:50 or so and you'll be good to go right at 7am. Make sure to filter rides through the selection process deal and ONLY pick Remy so it will be at the top of the app when you swipe down at 7am to refresh. Saves you a few seconds finding it and tapping through if you are trying to get an early ride time.

Ive not done the VQ before personally, but as long as you are in a party together in MDE, he should be able to do the VQ for both of you at the same time as well. Try for that first, if you dont get it in it, immediately try for the $ILL if you are good paying for it. If you miss both you can try again for the afternoon VQ.

The $ILL for GoG is not particularly hard to get - makes sense to prioritize Remy and the virtual queue first.

 

[piglet1979]

I am working on a plan for our first trip with Genie +. Can you let me know if this plan looks like it might work? On our arrival day we plan to go to HS in the afternoon. We are planning a total of 3 half days in this park so I am trying to split each time to a specific area of the park. This first day I am thinking MMRR and Toy Story Land. The next day will be Star Wars and Muppets area. If we get more done each day we will. The third day I haven't gotten to. Might be a catch all for anything we want to do again or didn't get a chance to do. Below is what I am thinking for the first day with booking Lighting lines.

7am -- Slinky Dog
10:30 -- MMRR
12:30 -- Toy Story Mania
2:30 -- Alien Swirling Saucers
4:30 -- Fantasmic (not sure on this one)

 

[snayak]

I am working on a plan for our first trip with Genie +. Can you let me know if this plan looks like it might work? On our arrival day we plan to go to HS in the afternoon. We are planning a total of 3 half days in this park so I am trying to split each time to a specific area of the park. This first day I am thinking MMRR and Toy Story Land. The next day will be Star Wars and Muppets area. If we get more done each day we will. The third day I haven't gotten to. Might be a catch all for anything we want to do again or didn't get a chance to do. Below is what I am thinking for the first day with booking Lighting lines.

7am -- Slinky Dog
10:30 -- MMRR
12:30 -- Toy Story Mania
2:30 -- Alien Swirling Saucers
4:30 -- Fantasmic (not sure on this one)

The tough thing about G+ is trying to forecast what time you can book the next attraction and what the corresponding return window would be

Check out Thrill Data to see what the return times for MMRR would be at the times you want to book. From what I see - if you try and book at 9:30am (immediately after riding SDD), the return times don't happen until after 11am.

Depending on the crowd levels, I would suggest doing early entry for DHS - we were able to do MMRR, TSMM, and Alien Saucers before 9am as basically walk on - most folks rushed to queue at SDD or Star Wars. Unfortunately the 2nd time we visited, MMRR had a delayed opening so we couldn't do that during EE so we grabbed a lunchtime LL (booked at ~9:20am).

 

[piglet1979]

The tough thing about G+ is trying to forecast what time you can book the next attraction and what the corresponding return window would be

Check out Thrill Data to see what the return times for MMRR would be at the times you want to book. From what I see - if you try and book at 9:30am (immediately after riding SDD), the return times don't happen until after 11am.

Depending on the crowd levels, I would suggest doing early entry for DHS - we were able to do MMRR, TSMM, and Alien Saucers before 9am as basically walk on - most folks rushed to queue at SDD or Star Wars. Unfortunately the 2nd time we visited, MMRR had a delayed opening so we couldn't do that during EE so we grabbed a lunchtime LL (booked at ~9:20am).

This day we would not get to the parks until the afternoon. Our flight lands around 10:30. I do have 2 afternoons in HS and one morning. That morning we will be there for the early hour. So for this day I would be just staking for the afternoon. I will take a look at Thrill Data.

 

[kilik64]

This day we would not get to the parks until the afternoon. Our flight lands around 10:30. I do have 2 afternoons in HS and one morning. That morning we will be there for the early hour. So for this day I would be just staking for the afternoon. I will take a look at Thrill Data.

So you are wanting to stack rides for the evening? If so, then you'll be making a g+ selection starting at 7am and then every 2 hours after park open like you listed earlier, the problem is when you book slink for 7am you'll most likely get a morning return time. BUT since they added the ability to modify, you can just keep looking until it changes to a return time that works and modify to that WITHOUT it resetting the 2 hour clock, so should work well. I think you'll only have this issue with slinky, by the time you can book MMRR you should be into the afternoon returns. But even if not, just book it and then modify it later, since you can modify now its best to just book what you can to start the clock again then try to modify it to another time.

 

[piglet1979]

Awesome. Thank you.

 

[thanxfornoticin]

We have found the modify approach is really nice. If you want to get SDD for say, 3PM, don't hesitate to grab the first time slot you can so you have it. Then you'll need to monitor how the time windows progress until you can modify for something closer to 3PM. The fact it doesn't reset your time for the next reservation is very helpful.

 

[ChrisM]

Has Genie+ ever sold out for the day since they switched to the daily "only after midnight" purchase requirement?

 

[Tom_E_D]

Has Genie+ ever sold out for the day since they switched to the daily "only after midnight" purchase requirement?

Not at Walt Disney World, although it has at Disneyland in California.

 

[scrappinginontario]

Has Genie+ ever sold out for the day since they switched to the daily "only after midnight" purchase requirement?

Never at WDW.

 

[piglet1979]

Thank you everyone with helping with my first park and making sure I am prioritizing rides correctly. Now I am looking into our second day. This will be AK in the morning and HS in the afternoon. This day we would like to get done Na'vi, Tough to be a bug, Lion King, Safari, and Flight of Passage at AK. As of right now we are not paying for Flight of Passage. Looking to go here first in the morning (during early hours) and hope for a shorter line.

At HS we are looking at doing Rise (not paying for this either) Smugglers Run, Muppets and Star Tours. We are going to get in line for Rise close to park closing and hope for shorter lines.

Here is the order I was thinking to get Lighting Lanes. Smugglers Run, Safari, Na'vi and then Star Tours.

I should also add that I am not riding Smugglers Run, Star Tours possibly Rise (jury is still out on this one) and Flight of Passage. DH will want to ride these though.

When would I be able to book the 2nd lighting line? 2 hours after AK opening or 2 hours after HS since that is where my first selection is at?

 

[thanxfornoticin]

That's a pretty ambitious schedule, but best of luck with the execution of your plan. One item to keep in mind - since HS is your 'hopper' park, you won't be able to schedule a LL there until the times for the attractions reach 2PM at the park. So if you're thinking Smuggler's as your first selection, it might not be available until later in the morning, when the return times have reached 2PM.

You can get your second LL 2 hours after the opening of your first park.

If you have folks who want to ride FOP and/or Rise, with the day you're looking to do, I'd highly recommend not giving up on the ILL idea - it might make your day way less crazy from a scheduling standpoint. Then you could also use the early morning at AK to do Nav'i and/or Safari. We found when at AK 2 weeks ago, Nav'i LL was going surprisingly fast during the morning.

 

[piglet1979]

That's a pretty ambitious schedule, but best of luck with the execution of your plan. One item to keep in mind - since HS is your 'hopper' park, you won't be able to schedule a LL there until the times for the attractions reach 2PM at the park. So if you're thinking Smuggler's as your first selection, it might not be available until later in the morning, when the return times have reached 2PM.

You can get your second LL 2 hours after the opening of your first park.

If you have folks who want to ride FOP and/or Rise, with the day you're looking to do, I'd highly recommend not giving up on the ILL idea - it might make your day way less crazy from a scheduling standpoint. Then you could also use the early morning at AK to do Nav'i and/or Safari. We found when at AK 2 weeks ago, Nav'i LL was going surprisingly fast during the morning.

Thank you. I am not against paying for DH to ride both. He is a bit against it but that might change after we get there. So far he does not understand all of this. It took me a week to just get him to understand that Genie + was not a pay per ride rather just a daily fee (easiest way to explain it to him). I think I am getting him there though. Thankfully we are not going until until Early April (I know the worst time and not a time I picked or would have picked. Kids are marching in the parade with school so we are on their schedule of when they were going to go).

I am ok if we don't get everything as I know it will be busy. We do have another AK morning and another morning in HS. Would you suggest getting Na'vi or the Safari before trying for Smugglers?

 

[thanxfornoticin]

Thank you. I am not against paying for DH to ride both. He is a bit against it but that might change after we get there. So far he does not understand all of this. It took me a week to just get him to understand that Genie + was not a pay per ride rather just a daily fee (easiest way to explain it to him). I think I am getting him there though. Thankfully we are not going until until Early April (I know the worst time and not a time I picked or would have picked. Kids are marching in the parade with school so we are on their schedule of when they were going to go).

I am ok if we don't get everything as I know it will be busy. We do have another AK morning and another morning in HS. Would you suggest getting Na'vi or the Safari before trying for Smugglers?

It might sound a little dumb, or excessive, but I'd take a look at MDE and the tip board over the upcoming weeks, and actually look at the trends for LL with regard to Nav'i and Smugglers and Safari, etc. It would give you some idea of how those attractions are doing with the LL reservations - might help you with your own strategy.

 

[Runnsally]

That's a pretty ambitious schedule, but best of luck with the execution of your plan. One item to keep in mind - since HS is your 'hopper' park, you won't be able to schedule a LL there until the times for the attractions reach 2PM at the park. So if you're thinking Smuggler's as your first selection, it might not be available until later in the morning, when the return times have reached 2PM.

You can get your second LL 2 hours after the opening of your first park.

If you have folks who want to ride FOP and/or Rise, with the day you're looking to do, I'd highly recommend not giving up on the ILL idea - it might make your day way less crazy from a scheduling standpoint. Then you could also use the early morning at AK to do Nav'i and/or Safari. We found when at AK 2 weeks ago, Nav'i LL was going surprisingly fast during the morning.

If you are stacking for later in the day, it really doesn’t matter what you book initially as long as you book something (which you can then modify) and start the clock for your next selection.

 

[thanxfornoticin]

If you are stacking for later in the day, it really doesn’t matter what you book initially as long as you book something (which you can then modify) and start the clock for your next selection.

Sorry - not sure I understand your comment. If you're hopping to another park later in the day and hoping to stack in that park, you cannot make your first LL reservation at the 'hopping' park until those LL time windows reach 2PM.

 

[bluezy]

Thank you. I am not against paying for DH to ride both. He is a bit against it but that might change after we get there. So far he does not understand all of this. It took me a week to just get him to understand that Genie + was not a pay per ride rather just a daily fee (easiest way to explain it to him). I think I am getting him there though. Thankfully we are not going until until Early April (I know the worst time and not a time I picked or would have picked. Kids are marching in the parade with school so we are on their schedule of when they were going to go).

I am ok if we don't get everything as I know it will be busy. We do have another AK morning and another morning in HS. Would you suggest getting Na'vi or the Safari before trying for Smugglers?

I tell people to look at the fees for Genie+ and ILL as paying to be able to ride more rides in a day, not as a fee for paying to ride a specific ride. My example is always 7DMT. We chose to buy an ILL for that rather than trying to be part of the stampede for it at rope drop. So while hundreds of other people headed straight for that ride at rope drop, we hit 3 other rides during the first 30 minutes of the park being open and still had time to get over to Frontierland before the park opened to the general public and be near the front of that rope drop. So, is it worth $12 (or whatever the price for 7DMT ILL is on any particular day) to ride 7DMT? No, not for us. Is it worth paying $12 so you can ride 3 other rides during the time you would be waiting in line for 7DMT at rope drop and then ride 7DMT later in the day with no wait? For our family, yes.

As far as FOP and Navi...when we were there in June, our entire group (11 of us) wanted to ride FOP so we bought an ILL for that. Some of the group wanted to ride it twice that day so we did rope drop. The FOP riders in our group were very close to the front of the pack at rope drop. They hustled to the ride. It took about 40 minutes for them to get through the line and ride...and keep in mind, they were very close to the front of the pack. The rest of us split up at rope drop. A few casually walked over to Dinosaur and walked on that that while the rest of us casually walked to Navi and walked on that. In fact, we got off and immediately walked on again. And then we had some breakfast snacks at a nearby stand. And in the meantime, the Dinosaur group walked over and rode Navi which by that point (30 minutes after rope drop) had about a 5 minute wait. We were all sitting on a bench for a few minutes before the FOP group got finished with their ride.

As far as Smugglers and RoTR... I would seriously consider purchasing ILL for RotR. That ride goes down frequently and often for over an hour at a time. When we were there in June, it was down for 2+ hours starting about 15 minutes before our return time on our ILL. When it was up and running again, they didn't reopen the standby line for another 30 minutes or so because there was such a huge back-up of ILL holders (I felt bad for the CMs who had to constantly be telling guests they could not get in line nor could they start a line 10 feet away from the Stand By entrance). When the standby line did reopen, the wait time was 2.5 hours and after talking to someone later that evening, it was truly close to a 2.5 hour wait. Smugglers Run still had availability throughout the morning (with afternoon/evening return times) when we were there in June. My daughter was there on Monday and she scheduled SR at 11:00 and got a return time of 12:30 (that will vary depending on crowd levels obviously). She and her friends also rode it via the single riders line later that afternoon and had no wait -- walked right on. They were a group of 4 and knew they wouldn't get to ride together that time but it worked out that 2 of them rode in one vehicle and 2 rode in another. They were pleasantly surprised by that.

 

[Runnsally]

Sorry - not sure I understand your comment. If you're hopping to another park later in the day and hoping to stack in that park, you cannot make your first LL reservation at the 'hopping' park until those LL time windows reach 2PM.

for instance, you have an Epcot park pass…at 7am book slinky dog at DHS - you’ll likely get late afternoon. you can dither around with that slinky lightening lane until your heart’s content…