The Genie Thread! All WDW Info Here

[Jeff_AZ]

I think what’s clear is that you will want to park hop on days you use Genie+ if you are going to AK or EP. You could either do AK in the morning and EP in the evening, or combine a morning at AK with an evening at MK, and morning EP with an evening at HS. That way you can use Genie+ for enough rides to get your money’s worth. Then you could do another day at those same parks without Genie+ to hit the rides you missed.

[heathernoel]

Fair enough. I was conflating misinformation with information that was not valuable and these are 2 different things.

But you still lose your credibility with both

[heathernoel]

@Jeff_AZ

Yes this is how it works. It can be tricky, but when doing this with MaxPass, I could usually get a pass for one or two lesser rides while waiting for my preferred ride return time to come up. Or while taking a break outside the park, keep checking the app to see what the return time is, and then getting one when it hits the sweet spot I need.

I agree but to add, and touch on something @DeepInTheHeartofTexas mentioned, the advantage (?) of Genie+ is that “refreshing” will get you different times.

So while MaxPass gave you predictability- you had no option but to hit that sweet spot. Genie+ adds an element of randomness whereby you can refresh over and over and maybe get what you want sooner.

My jury is out if this is an advantage or a headache. Maybe both depend on how deep you are willing to go.

[Minnie27mouse]

@Jeff_AZ

I read on TP blog that it is only activated for standard park hours - no early entry, evening extra hours, special events, or parties.

Interestingly, DAS is also only active once the park officially opens (new TP blog article about DAS today). So you cannot use it during the 30 minutes early entry at each park.

[Alewis678]

We are park hopping our trip and I’ve debated whether to just get G+ for the whole trip or just certain days. We are going to rope drop, take a break in the afternoon, then hop to another park. This schedule was planned before G+ came out and my ADRs are planned around it.

11/28: AK AM and HS PM
11:29: HS AM and MK PM
11/30: MK AM and Epcot PM
12/1: Epcot AM and MK PM (will will not be taking a PM break this day, but planning on sleeping in. Epcot opens at 11am at this point)
12/2: MK AM and Epcot PM
12/3: HS AM and PM (although if we get all of HS accomplished, then we may go to a different park in the PM).

I’m leaning towards just getting G+ for the whole trip, but I’m still kind of on the fence.

[bebe80]

@witol0821

will there be a thread on how or if you should combine info from TP with Genie & ILL?

Yes I have been sharing touring info here, and will keep watching for more and post them.

Park Touring and the Genie+ & ILL option

One of the big questions ahead of trips will be, do I need to purchase G+ and/or ILL. Touring Plans has us covered with crunching the data and providing tips and advice. Probably one of many articles to come.

Adding:

@len

We’re setting up LL and Genie+ predictions in the app and touring plans.

I’m guessing that Genie will not work directly with Genie+. That is, I don’t think that Genie will know you’ve got Genie+ and tell you when to get your next reservation to minimize your wait in line. But we’re working on that for Lines.

As far as release times go, we want Genie and Genie+ to roll out first, so we know exactly what rules are in place around usage. My guess is that we don’t yet know all the rules, and some of them will change within a month of starting.

[nuclearali]

I don’t like that you need to cancel before refreshing. With FP+ I would grab whatever ride I wanted (who cared if it was for 8 hours later) and then refresh refresh refresh until I got a time in the next 10 minutes. This worked for almost all rides except the headliners. Now when I see a Genie+ for an hour later, I won’t know if I should take it or not- will refreshing bring up a sooner time or not? And if I grab the one an hour later, I’ll be annoyed if I lose it trying to get a sooner time.

I really hope Disney will change it to be similar to FP+, in that you can see the times available and also change your time without cancelling first.

[Sophia818]

One thought I had on park hopping and G+. Since many people won’t get it for EP and AK, there shouldn’t be much competition there. I’m also pondering a plan that alternates next available and stacking the second park. That assumes that the next available isn’t that far out, so you don’t lose much in your stacking ability. It is nice that they offer 2pm+ for the second park, rather than making you wait until the first time hits 2pm.

[heathernoel]

Interestingly, I can’t get the times to hope around as much now as I could before by refreshing. Maybe times are more stable as opposed to the morning when everything is moving fast. Or maybe they are narrowing the range of times available.

I completely agree about being able to modify.

[pixarprincess]

I’m wondering how many people will catch onto this and if there will end up being a lot of availability in parks around 1 pm. The ability to “start” with 2 pm times is very unique.

[Nicky_S]

Can someone remind me how to pin this to the top and keep it there please?

[Jeff_AZ]

See this post for instructions:

Current same day FP drops

Important! This post will unpin itself after you’ve read it unless you follow these instructions. I will be updating it if the drop times change, so keeping it pinned will be the easiest way to find it. First, click on your profile icon in the top corner, and click on the gears symbol. [image] On the drop down menu under Account, choose Interface. [image] Uncheck the box that automatically unpins topics you have read. [image] Still with me? Great! For those who don’t know, WDW usually…

[Jeff_AZ]

Here are the pasted instructions from that post:

[missoverexcited]

You can also scroll to the bottom of a pinned thread and change it to pinned there if it has unpinned itself.

[Nicky_S]

So I had that box unchecked, and the bottom of the thread is saying it’s pinned, but it isn’t pinned to the top for me, it keeps slipping down.

[MTrib]

Hmm. We aren’t park hopping in December and ADRs are great so don’t want to change things up too much. Wondering if you need an actual PH ticket to tell G+ you are hopping? Here’s my scenario:

Day after Christmas party we are sleeping in and going late to Epcot. Won’t likely get to the park before 1 or 1:30pm. Can I make an AK APR and tell G+ we are hopping to Epcot, stack some afternoon LLs at Epcot using the earlier AK opening time, then change my APR to Epcot after it opens? This assumes APRs won’t “sell” out since Disney doesn’t seem to be actually limiting park capacity anymore.

I realize I won’t necessarily NEED G+ for Epcot but it’s Christmas week and I’ll use it for all the other days so might as well buy it for the whole trip and not have to worry about making that purchase before my ILL for TT at 7am.

[Nicky_S]

I don’t know the answer, but Test Track isn’t an ILL. At Epcot it’s Remy and FEA.

[missoverexcited]

I don’t know what to suggest then, sorry. Are you viewing by category, latest, new?

[Jeff_AZ]

@MTrib

Can I make an AK APR … then change my APR to Epcot after it opens

Everything else aside, this is risky because APRs are likely to sell out at some parks around Christmas, even with increased capacity. I wouldn’t do it regardless. I’d book your APR for Epcot.

@MTrib

tell G+ we are hopping to Epcot

You don’t have to tell G+ your plans - you just have to select an attraction for Epcot.

All that said, in order for your plan to be beneficial, you’d have to book a LL reservation for AK at 7am (any old one) to get the benefit. So here is how you would carry out your hypothetical plan:

• Book an APR for AK
• At 7am, get a LL reservation for the earliest possible time (maybe an 8:00-9:00am for DINOSAUR)
• At 9:00am (the end of your return time), your LL will be considered “used” and you can book a 2nd LL reservation with a (for example) 2:00-3:00pm return time at Epcot.
• At 11:00am (2 hours after booking your 2nd one), you could book a 3rd LL reservation with a (for example) 3:00-4:00pm return time (for a total of 2 at Epcot)
• At 1:00pm (2 hours after 3rd booking) you would be eligible to book a 4th LL reservation with a (for example) 4:00-5:00pm return time (for a total of 3 at Epcot)
• When you arrive just before 2:00pm you would have up to 3 stacked LL reservations, you could enter your 2nd LL reservation and immediately book a 5th. (and so forth)

Here’s how it would look with an Epcot only APR:

• Book an APR for Epcot
• At 7am, get a LL reservation for early afternoon (maybe an 1:30-2:30pm for Test Track)
• At 12:00pm (2 hours after presumed Epcot opening - I think it will change to 10am for your dates), you can book a 2nd LL reservation with a (for example) 2:00-3:00pm return time
• When you arrive just before 2:00pm you would have up to 2 stacked LL reservations, you could enter your 1st LL reservation and immediately book a 3rd. (and so forth)

While it sounds nice to have 3 vs. 2 stacked LL reservations upon arrival, it may not be necessary since TT is the only one that is selling out quickly. You will probably arrive with TT + Soarin’ and then be able to easily get on all other G+ attractions (either with a LL or standby).

[davej]

@OBNurseNH

they will be unhappy

You mean Genie’s MK itinerary of Country Bears, Tiki Room, Treehouse, Carousel, PhilharMagic, Magic Carpets, Laugh Floor and the highlight attraction of Small World isn’t going to leave them with a magical feeling?