This is the thing with G+ - especially as contrasted against FPP - one never knows what the net gain will be, or even if there would be one. It’s almost a complete gamble.
There’s another thread about how to improve G+: Step 1 - Put it in the trash and revert to FPP
So true!
I don’t get why they don’t. I mean fine you can still charge I guess but at least people can plan and not wake up at 7am. Guest will be happier because they will know ahead of time what they got not day of after missing sleep. I’m dreading this for my Fall trip, I hope they improve it.
Previously I would have said Genie+ may not be worthwhile for a half day but we actually had terrific luck using it on our departure day 2/05 when we were only in the park from about 1:00-4:30. Arriving late on a Saturday afternoon I figured we’d only do low-demand shows and such. But, DD5 fell in love with Space Mountain the night before and suddenly we had to do ALL the coasters again before we left. At 7 I booked Peter Pan and ILL 7D. At 11 I booked BTMRR. At 1 booked Buzz and ILL for Space. We used Buzz LL ASAP and then I focused on getting and using more LL as quickly as possible. Went back to the old standby, refeshing repeatedly and it often worked! In 3.5 hours we rode: 7D, PP, Laugh Floor, Buzz, Space, BTMRR, HM, Magic Carpets and Pirates. Everything was LL except for Laugh Floor. It was a great send-off!
That said, for arriving at 5:30 you’d really only have 2-2.5 hours when Genie+ would be useful, although if you could line up 4 LL rides in advance (7, 12:30, 2:30, 4:30) then that would be fabulous. By 8:00 lines will be low due to fireworks, and of course there is no LL during EE hours. Alternatively you didn’t say how long you would be in MK for the other morning, but it is difficult to get very many desirable LL in the morning. Although if you made a point of using “soon” LL it might be fun to see how many you could get through like we did in an afternoon. If I took that approach I’d buy ILL for 7D, rope drop other more popular priorities and try to get and use as many early LL as possible for medium-priority rides. Either way you’ll have a great time! Good luck 
!!
We did G+ at MK for our arrival day. At 7am EST (6am CST) I booked JC (kept refreshing, took a couple of minutes to get into the 4:30-5:30 time slot). Then got on a plane. We landed at MCO at 12:15pm - booked PPF for 5:30-6:30. Then kept stacking every two hours - 2:15pm booked POTC for 5-6; at 4:15pm booked IASW for 6-7 (DD7’s choice). I had looked at ThrillData beforehand to know which order would be the best chance of landing in the right time returns given our late arrival.
Rolled into the park right as flag retreat was happening (which was so cool!). Had to “walk with purpose” but the grace periods really do work. We did POTC first, then JC, then PPF, then IASW, and could have then kept booking other attractions but we were tired and had a 7pm ADR at Tony’s to get back to the front of the park for.
I thought it was money well spent. The time saved in the JC and PPF lines alone made me feel like I was cheating the system in the best way.
Stacking works well if MK has park reservations available that day. Here is a run down:
Make a park reservation at AK. When you get Genie+ at 7 am the system will see you are hopping to MK. It will automatically make your first LL at 2:00 or later. For your first one at 7 am, make it for Jungle cruise. Just wait a few minutes and it should be for later in the day.
If the park opens at 8 am, than at 10 am you can make your second LL. Usually Peter Pan will be for later in the day. After you make your Peter Pan reservation switch your park reservation to MK.
I was going to say the same thing earlier. But the problem is that they aren’t arriving until 5:30-ish.
Although it probably isn’t a bad idea anyway. Because you know in the mornings after say 7:10am for many rides, there will be two sets of G+ times, the pre-2pm and the post-2pm times. So, someone with a matching park reservation might get 11am and someone without might get 4pm.
But wouldn’t we have to tap in at AK before going to MK?
They said
“After you make your Peter Pan reservation switch your park reservation to MK.”
which may be risky depending on the day but might work
Oh right. Yeah, a bit risky. That’s our Extended Evening. I’d never forgive myself if I screwed that up.
You would still be able to park hop. If MK isnt available, your back up plan is go to AK, tap in, then go to MK.
Actually, I am pretty sure (and someone who has done this please correct me if I’m wrong) that the park opening that triggers your 2 hours is the park where you make your first LL reservation, not the park where you have your park reservation.
So you don’t really need to make your park reservation at AK. You just need to wait until LL return times for JC are for later in the day.
Interested to see if this hold true. I know you can make LL for multiple parks, but havent tried it this way.