Disney Genie announcement

[Orsino]

I can think of another possibility: (D) you can get another at 1:00 (120 minutes after you got your most recent one).

That said, Seth Kubersky says his tests say the answer is A. This makes a sort of sense - the basic rule is, once you scan into a ride, you can get a new reservation, no matter when you made your previous reservation. Simple, easy to understand.

Hmmm. This looks suspicious to me. While I can believe that Genie+ is currently functioning this way, I don't believe it was intended to be this way. If this is how Genie+ works currently, Disney should fix it as this loophole is kind of glaring.

For example:
Someone who books before 9AM opening for 10:55AM and taps in at 10:55AM will then end up holding one new LL.
vs
Someone who books before 9AM opening for 11:05AM and then books a new LL at 11AM, then taps in at 11:05AM and books another LL? That's crazy different for a small shift in time.

Functionally, Genie+ should be programmed so that you can book if 120 minutes have passed OR you have no Genie+ in inventory. That would be much cleaner.

 

[20KLeagues]

At 7AM, what times are people getting for slinky? I see it’s booking quickly, but at say, 7:05, what time is it booking for? I’m on the west coast so I dont want to get up at 4AM to look, lol! I’m trying to figure out a Slinky/Rise strategy. Can you book for the same party on two devices?

Its getting to late afternoon within 15-30 mins so its fluid.........it will be very different depending on how busy parks are and i wouldnt be surprised if it "sold out" within minutes on the busy days

 

[LSUfan4444]

At 7 am I can’t automatically book a splash LL at 2:15 pm just because I plan to hop there and it’s in my genie plans? I’m a little confused on this part.

Yes. if you plan to hope to MK but have a reservation for say Epcot in the morning. When you log on to MDX at 7 am if you look to book your first G+ reservation in MK, it will not show you morning time windows for Magic Kingdom - it knows you will not be there, only windows that start after you can so there is no need to refresh all day and look for times.

You can actually book LLIA$ in the second park

Correct, I was talking about booking your first G+ at the park you want to hop to. You can book ILLs in any park and pick your window.

If you do this you can book your first G+ to your second (third or fourth park), book your second G+ two hours after your first park opens, again two hours after that, etc.

 

[Jrb1979]

Thats not true......you can book the same number of rides.......2 hour rule still applies

eg.....
7am: book 2pm for SDD
9am park opens
11am, book MSFR for 3pm
1pm, book ToT for 4pm
3pm, book RnR for 5pm

To me to get the max value for Genie+ is book the popular ride in your first park right away then after riding that or 2 hours later depending on your return time book another ride in that park.

Then book something in the park you are hopping too. To book the most popular rides only makes it not worth paying $15. For me to make it worth it I want to get 6 to 7 rides a day.

 

[Orsino]

OR, what about when I land at MCO (at 9:30) I should be able to pop onto my phone and check for a later LL time then, right?

It depends on how popular LL is for the attraction you want. Genie+ serves up the soonest block available. To get afternoon LL, that means all the morning ones have to be taken by other people. If they aren't biting, you won't get afternoon LL. You aren't allowed to choose with Genie+.

 

[MakiraMarlena]

It's not a busy time, but the only thing I have seen "sell out" is Slinky Dog. There are some rapid movers at each park such as Test Track, Millennium Falcon, Jungle Cruise.

ILLS for Rise sell out very early, I haven't seen anything else sell out in these 3 days. (If you want to book RISE after 9:30 that probably won't work)

also as have been noted, they offer the next available time. You don't get to pick and choose what time you want, if you want a later time you might have to wait to pick until one is available This system appears to be designed to work from inside the park, not for picking rides while you are still on your flight.

 

[Disturbia]

We bought the MagSafe iPhone battery packs specifically for this reason. After hitting 2 parks the last two morning/early afternoon the packs have been drained to about 20% and phone holding around 80% (they aren’t designed to fully charge phone). Then we recharge for dinner/evening: even after boo bash the same pattern held. I’m not sure how our phones would have managed without the battery packs but to be fair we use them heavily in line, on transport, etc.

edited to add: we have iPhone 13 pros and this is a review on the battery packs we have.

https://www.theverge.com/22588777/apple-magsafe-battery-review-size-iphone-12-mini

Why don’t they have wireless charging stations for phones? I take my battery pack and wire and remember to plug in my phone while dining. I’ve almost left it behind at Pecos bill, but now with all the monitoring the app we have to do that’s less likely.

Maybe in the future all the windows will have AIs and facial recognition and suggest where to go next vs looking at our phones

 

[amylevan]

But you would have to wait until availability for 2 pm starts right? At 7 am I can’t automatically book a splash LL at 2:15 pm just because I plan to hop there and it’s in my genie plans? I’m a little confused on this part.

I know for ILL I can definitely book whatever time I want for whatever park I want as long as it’s after 2 pm if it’s my my reserved park.

Yes, if you chose a ride at your hop park, the availability will start at 2, Even if it’s regular availability for those in the park is earlier.

 

[twincruisers]

Yesterday was my first day with G+ going and I must admit the standby lines are considerably slower with LL fully in play. Especially on LLI$ rides. HS ride times had quite a few differing times than what Touring Plans was predicting and a lot of it seemed LL filled lines.
I also heard from a few people they bought G+ for Mon and Wed due to the EEH extended benefit to park hop and use G+ there

 

[leeniewdw]

I think the only option is to keep refreshing until a time that suits your needs is offered. Now your G+ efforts just got more expensive…..IF you have to pay for WiFi on the plane so you can spend your whole flight with your nose in your phone..before you get to the park and spend the rest of the day with your nose in your phone!

Yup -- our trip is short 3 park days but it's with our kids (20s) and their SOs who all haven't been since they were in Middle School. We're going to bite the bullet and use all the options, what's another wi-fi cost (but just pray it works!?).

The problem I have is that using the 7am/11am/1pm slots to grab rides are lost unless I'm using a 2nd park-hopped strategy. But if we have to all tap into the first park it just seems dumb. Like, you've got 6 park hoppers, 6 G+ and I still can't use the "system" to maximize our time on arrival day.

 

[LSUfan4444]

To me to get the max value for Genie+ is book the popular ride in your first park right away then after riding that or 2 hours later depending on your return time book another ride in that park.

Then book something in the park you are hopping too. To book the most popular rides only makes it not worth paying $15. For me to make it worth it I want to get 6 to 7 rides a day.

On very busy days, I would agree. On less busy days I think you would do better using standby "right away" and booking your first G+ for when crowds build longer standby times. Booking early and looking to add, at some point, if you want to do the headliners will cause to wait. Maybe on a park bench, maybe at Picos Bill toppings bar, maybe in a gift shop but at some point if you spend all morning G+ the attractions that give you the fastest return time you will run unto a long wait somewhere (maybe Splash, Thunder, Haunted Mansion, etc).

It doesnt matter how many you use it on if you save very little on most attractions but end up waiting longer for the headliners.

 

[jennypenny]

To book the most popular rides only makes it not worth paying $15. For me to make it worth it I want to get 6 to 7 rides a day.

But if a person wants to use Genie+ like the old FP+, booking the rides they most want to ride is more valuable than booking the most rides in a day. Everyone's definition of 'value' is different. And if your kid has their heart set on riding X, I don't blame parents at all for booking X first, regardless of popularity.

 

[Disturbia]

Yes, if you chose a ride at your hop park, the availability will start at 2, Even if it’s regular availability for those in the park is earlier.

I thought you can book your Genie+ even earlier (starting 7 am) and the system will only show you passes after 2 pm because that’s the park you are hopping to; allowing you the ability to book another pass 2 hours after park opening for park 1

Optimally, say MK is park 1 and opens at 9 am; Epcot is park 2
I can book Jungle cruise at 7 am for 9-10 am and then 2 hours after park opening, at 11 am I can book the 2 pm Test Track.

Can I keep getting passes after JC say 9:15-11?

 

[Miffy]

But if a person wants to use Genie+ like the old FP+, booking the rides they most want to ride is more valuable than booking the most rides in a day. Everyone's definition of 'value' is different. And if your kid has their heart set on riding X, I don't blame parents at all for booking X first, regardless of popularity.

Not just parents, but I'm pretty sure my sister and I will buy G+ and/or ILL$ for all the rides we absolutely want to do. And we'll be RDing basically every day.

 

[OhDannyBoy]

Why don’t they have wireless charging stations for phones?

Because they rather you rent their crappy recharge battery.

 

[Orsino]

The problem I have is that using the 7am/11am/1pm slots to grab rides are lost unless I'm using a 2nd park-hopped strategy. But if we have to all tap into the first park it just seems dumb. Like, you've got 6 park hoppers, 6 G+ and I still can't use the "system" to maximize our time on arrival day.

I agree. I've been contemplating if a strategy would work for us on arrival day, but the "need to tap in" requirement messes it all up. Not worth it.
If I were staying at Beach Club or Boardwalk, I could see doing it for DHS since tapping Epcot would be so easy. Otherwise, I don't think the strategy makes sense for us.

 

[LSUfan4444]

I thought you can book your Genie+ even earlier (starting 7 am) and the system will only show you passes after 2 pm because that’s the park you are hopping to; allowing you the ability to book another pass 2 hours after park opening for park 1

I think ya'll are both saying the same thing and are both correct.

When you log on at 7am you can book your first G+ to your second (third or fourth park) and when you do the return windows begin when you can actually hop so there is no need to refresh or wait for a time window in the afternoon. I mean, if you want something a 4 or 5 or 6 pm you may have to refresh a little but not all day as if the windows started at 9am.

You can then book your second G+ two hours after your first park opens, again two hours after that, etc.

 

[LSUfan4444]

Not just parents, but I'm pretty sure my sister and I will buy G+ and/or ILL$ for all the rides we absolutely want to do. And we'll be RDing basically every day.

No doubt...and use those ILLs splashed around for a couple of things.

 

[LSUfan4444]

Optimally, say MK is park 1 and opens at 9 am; Epcot is park 2
I can book Jungle cruise at 7 am and then 2 hours after park opening, at 11 am I can book the 2 pm Test Track.

You can if there is something available at 11 am. But, alot of people booking test Track at 7am will take those 2pm time windows and thats one reason those time windows jump to like 4:30/5pm on the more popular G+ attractions.

 

[leeniewdw]

This system appears to be designed to work from inside the park, not for picking rides while you are still on your flight.

heh, but they've already got 3 rooms on site, 6 park hoppers worth of admission and 6x$15 for G+. Shouldn't a guest be able to maximize that expense regardless of where they are at the moment? We are doing exactly what Disney wants, gobbling up these extra fees and staying on site. But I still can't plan my afternoon/evening in the parks in a logical fashion (imho).

(If I could have found a direct early morning flight, this wouldn't be so much of a problem, but I can't control that and am still willing to hand over a lot of money for a half day, I just want to use all these features I'm paying for. Using the park hopping strategy, ,I could conceivably arrive with 3 LL passes and 1 or 2 ILL$, but I'd have to drag our whole traveling party to "tap in" a diff park first. )