The Genie Thread! All WDW Info Here

Walt Disney World
2048

Got it, that helps.Thanks @Jeff_AZ and @poohfanclub. In this scenario, it still makes sense to book LL#2 at 11:00 right, and not wait until I tap? Because the 120 minutes will reset a bit earlier?

(I’m trying to figure out how to handle G+ differently on two MK days - one day of headliners with an evening stacking strategy for just my immediate family, and a second morning-heavy day of classic rides that are more 77 year old grandma/grandpa friendly.)

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2049

Yes, I would get a new one as soon as you are eligible, unless you want to wait for a drop time (which is a risky strategy that I wouldn’t recommend for rookies).

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2050

aren’t we all :joy:

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2051

Or if you have a LL with a window before 11 like in your example I like using it before 11, remember that everyone (who understands the system) and hasn’t already booked a second LL is eligible at 11 for a second LL, you’ll find earlier return times if you book your second before them.

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2052

The best thing to remember is the rules for getting your next LL is from either tapping into or waiting 120 from your LAST ACTION LL (last LL booked).
Revised, long day!

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2053

Right, this seems like an important thing to understand! In this scenario it seems like the best bet would be to tap into Peter Pan right at 10:15 or as soon as you are able, and then start working on finding the next LL. I think people don’t always realize they don’t need to wait 120 minutes if they have already tapped in before that — and I agree that getting off the times everyone is looking (like exactly 11) is probably a good strategy.

10 Likes
2054

Found this “stack insert” technique in the comments of TP’s Genie 302 Youtube video:

during one of the downpours last week in MK we wanted to jump into a show to get out of the rain, so did everyone else and the lines were exploding. We held a late evening reservation for big thunder already, but noticed that there was a current reservation available for PhilharMagic. We dropped big thunder, picked up PhilharMagic, tapped in LL then rebooked big thunder and was able to get almost the same return window (only 15 min. later). we rolled the dice and it worked…milage may vary.

7 Likes
2055

Our spring break trip was last week. In advance, I read through this topic on the discussion board regularly, and was so grateful for all the helpful info! I posted a full trip report yesterday, but wanted to provide a report here, focusing only on how we utilized G+ and ILL during our 5 days in the parks (you can look at the trip report post to see the rides/shows/etc. that we did without LL and how those fit in with our use of G+). We bought G+ with our package; didn’t have park hoppers; were onsite, so used EE and combined RD and a good touring plan with G+ and ILL to really do a lot and had an excellent trip (even though every 7am was SOOO unnecessarily stressful!). So here are our LL/ILL selections/return times for each park:

Day 1 (3/8) at AK:

  • At 7am, grabbed:
    • 5pm ILL for FoP (we could have gotten FoP for an earlier time, but we RD’d Pandora and then wanted to end our day there)
    • 8:25am LL for KS
  • Tapped in at KS, got 9:30LL for FoLK
  • Tapped in at FoLK, got 4:20pm for NRJ
  • At 11:50 (2 hrs after getting the NRJ LL), got Kali River LL for 1:30
  • Tapped in for Kali and grabbed Dino LL for 5pm
  • My take-away: G+ and ILL allowed us to do FoP and NRJ twice and avoid the lines everywhere else. For us, that was worth it, but if we only wanted to do Pandora once (or could have stayed until close when those lines may have gotten shorter again), we could have done without G+.

Day 2 (3/9) at MK (with long break in the middle of the day):

  • At 7am, grabbed:
    • ILL for 7D for 4:05pm (we RD’ed 7D so wanted it for after our mid-day break)
    • Splash LL for 10:40am (plan was to RD HM and BTMR after 7D, so selected Splash because the PPF return times were still pretty early at 7am and we wanted to ride that after our break)
  • Tapped in 5 minutes early for Splash, and grabbed PPF for 3:50
  • After the FoF Parade at 11:30, we went back to the hotel to rest and stack LLs:
    • At 12:36, got Space Mtn for 5:15
    • At 2:37, got Buzz for 4:55
    • At 4:43, got IASM for 7:05
  • Later in the evening, we grabbed/used LLs for Speedway, Barnstormer, and Under the Sea (and hit up things with short lines in between)
  • My take-away: Without park hopper, it was hard to get later return times early in the morning, but a combination of an earlier first LL, stacking for the afternoon, and then grab/use in the evening was perfect for us. I think G+ was definitely worth it.

Day 3 (3/10) at EP:

  • At 7am, grabbed a 9am LL for TT (we RD’d Remy and then FEA, so didn’t need ILL or LL for either of those)
  • Tapped into TT at 8:55am and grabbed Soarin’ LL for noon
  • At 10:55, grabbed Spaceship Earth for an immediate ride
  • After we tapped in for SE, got Land LL (can’t remember the exact time, but we rode that before Soarin at noon)
  • In between, we did rides with short/no lines.
  • After eating lunch, grabbed Figment to use right away with no wait (it was starting to rain, so I think the SB lines there were longer than usual, although still not long)
  • My take-away: As most have concluded, didn’t really need G+ for EP, but it did enable us to do every ride other than Figment and 3C by lunchtime, which was what we were aiming for, and allowed us to avoid crisscrossing the park, so I was glad we had it. Hard to get LLs for both TT and FEA (or at least to get both with return times before nighttime), so suggest RD-ing one of those.

Day 4 (3/11) at HS:

  • At 7am, grabbed:
    • ILL for ROTR for 2:35pm (it was earlier on the first screens, but had jumped to 2:35 by the time we paid; but I was happy to have something before 3pm just in case of breakdowns—which happened while were on it; it turned into an anytime, so we went back and rode around 6pm)
    • SDD LL for 10:15am (I really wanted a return time before 10:30 so I could be ahead of people going for their next LL 2hrs after park open, so I was happy with this; and frankly too scared to wait for the drops at 7:08, etc., because we had only one day in HS and wanted to see it all!)
  • Since I wasn’t sure what would still be available after tapping in for SDD, we RD’ed ToT (only one elevator working, so wanted to get that done first), followed by RNRC, then over to MFSM before the wait was too bad. So we got all of these in without LL.
  • Tapped into SDD and at 10:19, got a MMRR LL for 4:20
  • At 12:19, grabbed TSM for 5:45
  • At 2:32, there were drops for ToT, but I didn’t grab right away because my boys really wanted RNRC which I didn’t see pop up with any availability and in the time I hesitated, ToT was gone—but we had already done both ToT and RNRC, so I was OK with that. I don’t think we got any additional LLs for the rest of the day because everything was sold out.
  • In between our LLs, we filled in with shows, food, shopping, and rides with lower waits.
  • My Take-away: G+ was most stressful at HS. Somewhat frustrating that most LLs are sold out by 2 or so, but by combining RD with strategic use of G+, we were able to do every headliner in the park. We only had one day at HS, so it was definitely worth it and it saved us long lines for those rides where we had a LL/ILL. If we had had multiple days in HS, could probably have done the same things without G+ just using RD and good touring plans.

Day 5 (3/12) at MK (left park by 5pm; really bad storms around 10-11am or so):

  • At 7am, grabbed:
    • ILL for 7D for 10:55am (due to weather, this turned into an anytime)
    • JC LL for 9:10am (was happily surprised by the early return time, because that meant we were eligible to select again sooner)
  • Tapped in for JC, and grabbed BTMR for 12:15
  • At 11:10, got WTP for 12:35
  • Splash was down, but decided to grab it anyway after WTP, for a 1:35 return, thinking we would either get Splash (which all would have been happy to do) or an anytime/any ride, and it did turn into an anytime LL good for most rides, so we used it to do BTMR again
  • After tapped in for BTMR (the second time), grabbed Buzz for 2:35
  • Got Barnstormer LL for 4:15 (wouldn’t have had a terribly long line without LL, but we really didn’t want to wait 20 minutes for this one; return times for Space and other popular rides were already after 5pm, so didn’t select those)
  • In between we shopped, grabbed food, saw shows, and did rides with shorter lines.
  • My take-away: G+ in MK was also worth it this day, even though we were not doing a full day. The early return for our first LL put us in great shape for getting subsequent LLs. Focusing on the harder to get LLs first and then switching to a grab and use would have worked well had we been staying in the park later. And definitely look for rides that are down but still issuing LLs (especially with a close to immediate return time), since there is a good chance they will convert to anytime/any ride passes.

All in all, I think G+ was worth it with the possible exceptions of Epcot and Animal Kingdom, but even in those parks, I was glad we had it for the reasons explained above.

Thanks for all the tips, tricks, and strategies posted here. They were extremely helpful!

18 Likes
2056

Was there ever a definitive answer on when you can book your 2nd LL when hopping per the 2 hours after opening rule, as to which park opening hours are used?

Post 1 wording appears to leave it open:

  • Two hours after official opening (i.e., not the early entry opening) of the park where the selected LL attraction is located (this may be the park you are hopping to after 2pm).

emphasis added

3 Likes
2057

It’s the park where you booked your first LL. Sorry, the “may” here just means you “may” have selected your first attraction at the hopping park, not your original park. Not meant to imply ambiguity.

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2058

Sorry if this has been asked already, I try to keep up with these posts, but I don’t recall seeing the answer.
Now that there is only one ILL available to book in each park through the end of May, are we only able to book one ILL per day, or can we still book 2 different ILL’s if we are park hopping? Did they also decreased the number ILL’s that could be booked since there are currently fewer ILL rides?

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2059

I think you can still book two but someone please correct me if I’m wrong.

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2060

I feel stupid asking this and probably no one will see it in time, but how do I add genie+ in the morning without adding it to my whole ticket? Just one day. Does a different option show up after midnight? Thank you!

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2061

Yes, you’ll have the option to buy it in the app for just that day, starting at midnight (so you should see it now)

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2062

Everything I’ve read says you can still book two per day, but will have to have PH tickets because each park only has one available.

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2063

Perfect, thank you!

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2064

This may have already been answered but can I book a ILL for RoTR on my arrival day at 7AM. It would need to be later in the day as we won’t arrive until around 2PM.

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2065

Yes you can.

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2066

Ok so I need some help/clarification. I am planning my friend’s trip and want to give them the order of booking for G+ I am going to use @Jeff_AZ super handy list from the lead post (thanks!) but now that FEA, MMRR and SM are G+ where do they fit?? Are they automatically first? ie should I get FEA before TT? If anyone has thoughts that would be great! For reference here is the usual order -
MK: JC > PPF > BTMRR > Splash > HM > WtP > PotC > (everything else)
HS: SDD > MFSR > RNRC > ToT > TSM > AS2> (MV3D, ST, Shows)
EP: TT > Soarin > MS> (TTwC, Seas, SE, LwtL, Imag, Pixar)
Thanks for making me look good to my fiends :rofl:

4 Likes
2067

FEA and TT is a tie. Go for the one you must do. (Or do FEA if you are ok doing SR line at TT.)

SM would be my first pick at MK, but it depends on how you compare it to JC and PP - I’d get the one of those three that is your top priority. Based purely on availability, JC runs out first, then SM and PP is a tie.

MMRR runs out about the same time as RNRC. Lately ToT has been running out before either of those two - I’d get that first unless patterns change again.

Here’s a summary of new priorities. Note that you may only be able to get one out of each pair or trio of attractions in a row, so pick your favorite first!

MK: JC > PPF/SM > BTMRR > Splash > HM > WtP > PotC > (everything else)
HS: SDD > MFSR > ToT > RNRC/MMRR > TSM > AS2> (MV3D, ST, Shows)
EP: FEA/TT > Soarin > MS> (TTwC, Seas, SE, LwtL, Imag, Pixar)

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