Disney Genie announcement

[Avery&Todd]

This is where I have a question. If at 7:30am as you are boarding, the "next LL timeslot" is earlier than you'd be able to make it... then what? It's my understanding that the G+/LL only offers the next available timeslots. I did see talk about refreshing if the timeslots are later, but my concern would be that at 7:30 am, you choices are more like pre-noon, instead of 1pm. Like at this very moment, BTMRR LL time is 11:55am. There's not a way to force it to later.

That's my problem too - it's just that my arrival time is much later than yours.

well, I guess I could always try for an earlier LL time for Thunder, but I was giving myself "wiggle room" in case we were slower getting to MK since we also have to activate our APs before we can tap in - I guess that whole morning I'll just have to keep refreshing the app to see what times are coming up for LLs....

ugh

 

[20KLeagues]

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.

I agree....but this strategy is for people that only tour the parks in the afternoons and evenings (like us)

we sleep in and go to pool, have lunch in room and usually hit the parks from 3pm til closing

 

[Disturbia]

We're in the same boat except our non-stop flights from RDU will arrive at MCO at 9:30am - so still after the park opens.

And DH and I are AP holders, so I can't purchase Genie + until that morning, after midnight and before 7am, so I'll buy those and then literally as I'm boarding our 730am flight, I'll be selecting our first LL attraction for probably BTMRR about 1pm, then once we tap into the park, we should be able to select another LL attraction, probably Jungle Cruise, and maybe ride that before Thunder, so that after we ride Thunder we'll be able to book another...I THINK that's how it will work..

what I'm not banking on is having to wait 2 hrs from the LL that I booked once I tapped into the park that I can hopefully ride before my Thunder LL @ 1pm...

I'm hoping over the next 3 weeks there are other AP holders flying in can report back on what they did...

You don’t have to wait 2 hours; if you ride BIG Thunder by 1:15; you can get another genie+ for 1:20-2:20 pm; that’s how people rode 12+ rides by 5

 

[VAtink]

Park reservations are rarely selling out anymore. Only on certain very popular days.

We had Epcot sell out on us two days during our trip in early September, so it is possible during lighter crowd periods to not be able to switch your park reservations as well. We had wanted to switch to Epcot one of those days but weren't able to. At least with FP+ we could have gone to the park we wanted that day even if our FP+ were in another park. So while it may not happen all the time, it does happen on random weekdays during slower times of the year. It may not seem like a big deal that parks selling out happens occasionally, but when it happens to you and impacts your trip, you find yourself cursing the idiot who came up with the park reservation system!

But to bring this back to genie+, I'm cautiously excited to try it. Don't think it's needed in all parks, but it looks like especially at MK it can be really useful!

 

[Disturbia]

well, I guess I could always try for an earlier LL time for Thunder, but I was giving myself "wiggle room" in case we were slower getting to MK since we also have to activate our APs before we can tap in - I guess that whole morning I'll just have to keep refreshing the app to see what times are coming up for LLs....

ugh

If you miss your Genie+ (There is a 14 min confirmed grace period) then you can’t ride it again

 

[leeniewdw]

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.

You gave me an idea (still crappy but). We're at PoP. We could arrive, drop bags, use the skyliner to hit EPCOT, have a drink (or if I'm lucky use a ILL$ for Remy) and then skyliner to DHS for later LLs. Still would have to use the "wait for the timeslots at DHS to be do-able", but I guess that could work. That wasn't at all the plan we had for arrival day, but maybe it could work.

Of course, flight delays could just totally sabotage the whole thing.

I am just imagining myself trying to explain this to the traveling party at Thanksgiving. Um, we're going to go to EPCOT, but only for like an hour then we have to leave.

 

[Disturbia]

Thanks to you both. Makes things more complicated for a travel/day1 parks, but good to know!



I'm not sure I'm following. This is our travel/day 1 itinerary. Flight departs RDU around 11am arriving around 1pm. We won't be in the parks until probably 2:30. I'd like to be able to start making our LL selections at 7am. I might even be able to make 2 additional reservations before we take off. But at 7am (and possibly the next 2 time slots I can request add'l LL), the timeslots are going to be too soon for us to actually use. If I select a diff park then our reservation, the system knows I won't be there until 2pm.

I really don't want to make 6 people, travel, arrive, tap into the morning park, just to immediately turn around and head to the park where we have LL! Does anyone have a suggestion?

If I just use our park reservation for the park we want to visit upon arrival, I'll have to keep refreshing until I see a time slot that we think we can use -- AND I can't use the morning to stack LLs. I mean, we're paying for park hoppers for that day and only using half the day AND paying for G+, it seems like we should be able to use G+ to our advantage without a time wasting tap in.

I meant you don’t have to hop. Just select the park you’re going to as your park for the day. Genie asks you what you’re planning to do that day and what hours you’ll be there

https://wdwnt.com/2021/10/guide-park-hopping-with-disney-genie-at-walt-disney-world/

 

[Orsino]

You gave me an idea (still crappy but). We're at PoP. We could arrive, drop bags, use the skyliner to hit EPCOT, have a drink (or if I'm lucky use a ILL$ for Remy) and then skyliner to DHS for later LLs. Still would have to use the "wait for the timeslots at DHS to be do-able", but I guess that could work. That wasn't at all the plan we had for arrival day, but maybe it could work.

Of course, flight delays could just totally sabotage the whole thing.

No. You don't have to wait!
The current state of things has Disney doing something logical for once. If you have Epcot as your park reservation and have hopping on your ticket, when you book Genie+ for DHS, it will automatically serve up times after 2PM.

 

[LSUfan4444]

You gave me an idea (still crappy but). We're at PoP. We could arrive, drop bags, use the skyliner to hit EPCOT, have a drink (or if I'm lucky use a ILL$ for Remy) and then skyliner to DHS for later LLs. Still would have to use the "wait for the timeslots at DHS to be do-able", but I guess that could work. That wasn't at all the plan we had for arrival day, but maybe it could work.

Of course, flight delays could just totally sabotage the whole thing.

If HS is your second park you should be able to see return time windows only available after 2pm so it can make things easier to see whats available after you land.

Look how many people here are directing their attention to adding their G+ first thing in the morning to try and grab a second one earlier. Those looking in the afternoons should be able to do pretty well.

 

[DavidNYC]

Park reservations are rarely selling out anymore. Only on certain very popular days.

I would say it’s much easier to switch parks with this new system if you aren’t going Xmas, Easter or Thanksgiving weeks. With FP+ you would be screwed if you had a FP+ for FOP, SDD, SDMT and a few others and had to switch the park that morning. Chances of getting those in the next few days we’re slim to none. It happened to me one trip. We had to leave AK and I lost Navi and never was able to get another the rest of the trip. It wasn’t a big deal but I’m glad it wasn’t FOP because we really wanted to ride that.

The only reason you're OK with FOP and SDMT is if you now pay per person for them . . . so I'd debate many people are better off. But at least I understand the value of that - I just don't like the idea of it for Disney. For SDD? Better be up at 7am to get your pass for that or you'll be riding at the end of the day . . . and now you'll be likely stuck in that park and losing the ability to hop because of how late your ride it - hope you weren't planning on doing that. And we're also already seeing the reports on how fast people are draining their batteries under this . . . it's one thing to say you like it better this way. It's another to try to say this takes less planning and before you had to plan your entire day - you're planning on your phone a lot more than you were before - it's just during your trip rather than before it. And frankly - if you want to ride more than one headliner - you better plan out your day in advance anyway and study the trends on what rides go at what pace to make sure you can do what you want. This will in the aggregate take a lot more work and a lot more planning to get full benefit from this. And if you're not planning on staying in one park from rope drop until end of day (mid-day break? arrive late? want to hop to another park for dinner?) you're really going to have to do a lot more work than before.

 

[LSUfan4444]

I meant you don’t have to hop. Just select the park you’re going to as your park for the day. Genie asks you what you’re planning to do that day and you don’t select hopping

https://*****.com/2021/10/guide-park-hopping-with-disney-genie-at-walt-disney-world/
View attachment 615104

Pretty sure what she is saying is she can't hop to a park she doesnt have a park reservation for until she goes to her first park. So although she could add G+ reservations, she can't get in the second park until she goes to the first park.

 

[Orsino]

I meant you don’t have to hop. Just select the park you’re going to as your park for the day. Genie asks you what you’re planning to do that day and what hours you’ll be there

Whoa! This is new information for me. Are you saying that if you indicate your times in the park on Genie, then Genie+ will serve up LL times that fit?

 

[leeniewdw]

I meant you don’t have to hop. Just select the park you’re going to as your park for the day. Genie asks you what you’re planning to do that day and what hours you’ll be there

https://*****.com/2021/10/guide-park-hopping-with-disney-genie-at-walt-disney-world/
View attachment 615104

Yes, but then I wouldn't be able to select an LL at 7am. I'd have to wait until afternoon slots are open for selecting. It would prevent me from using my morning time to stack up > 1 LL.

No. You don't have to wait!
The current state of things has Disney doing something logical for once. If you have Epcot as your park reservation and have hopping on your ticket, when you book Genie+ for DHS, it will automatically serve up times after 2PM.

Yes, I understand that. The problem is, if we're not getting to the parks until 2:30 or 3pm and we STILL have to go to the park where the reservation is first, it's just a colossal waste of time. I agree the 2pm thing is smart for park hoppers, but it's not great for people who aren't arriving into the parks until afternoon on arrival day.

If HS is your second park you should be able to see return time windows only available after 2pm so it can make things easier to see whats available after you land.

Look how many people here are directing their attention to adding their G+ first thing in the morning to try and grab a second one earlier. Those looking in the afternoons should be able to do pretty well.

But we still will have to tap into park #1. For people already losing a half day+ in the parks on arrival day, having to tap in is a time waster. I realize this is a specific situation.

 

[Disturbia]

I think Remy will be standby within the next few weeks.

I think it’s less likely as there is no room on that area of the park to have a long standby line

 

[MomDoc_99]

Someone above said you can split up your group and get one G+ pass for some and a different one for others, then come back and get the next G+ pass for everyone.

The question I have is, "How easy or difficult will it be to get different G+ passes for the 2 different groups at a similar enough time to make it actually work?" With FP+ it was usually easy since you could pick your own time. With G+, not so sure.

 

[Jennasis]

The 7am time doesn't bother me. As a farm owner we are typically up at 6am daily. No amount of laying in bed will cause me to fall back asleep...even in vacation. So I often grab my phone and just lay there checking email and what not. So using that time at 7 am to buy and book G+ if I think we need it or purchase the ILL$ isn't a problem for us. I very much acknowledge that it is a huge deal for others.



I'm kind of over Lightning Lame though.

That wasn't a typo.

 

[LSUfan4444]

And if you're not planning on staying in one park from rope drop until end of day (mid-day break? arrive late? want to hop to another park for dinner?) you're really going to have to do a lot more work than before.

Only if you try to build your G+ portfolio before lunch. Most of what you said about being on the phone all day and refrsshing can be avoiding by planning and focusing your G+, and ILL strategy to where you are hopping to, not from. Anything you get in the first oark two hours after it opens is a bonus. Those who rope drop will yield the most success in that first park since wait times are the lowest.

Rope drop + hopping to where your G+ and ILLs are waiting will allow guests who commit to the afternoon and evenings will make things easier for alot of guests...not all, but alot. The earlier guests plan their G+ the more they will be on their phones and just waiting for the one big time jump for something they really want to do and are now forced to wait for something in a place they don't want to wait.

 

[leeniewdw]

Whoa! This is new information for me. Are you saying that if you indicate your times in the park on Genie, then Genie+ will serve up LL times that fit?

If you have a park hopper pass and try to select a park/ride that is not in your "park with reservation" it will automatically know you can't go there until 2pm, so they won't serve up the timeslot before then.

 

[LSUfan4444]

But we still will have to tap into park #1. For people already losing a half day+ in the parks on arrival day, having to tap in is a time waster. I realize this is a specific situation.

I understand but there is no way to plan around the park reservation. You have to chose the best method for you.

Attend the park you made a reservation for and stay there with less options for G+ windows that fit your schedule OR go to a park, scan in and move to the park where your G+ are better suited for your itinerary.

 

[michaeldorn1]

Looks like we can (phew - as I have built up quite a pile of them): https://blogmickey.com/2021/10/how-to-purchase-an-individual-lightning-lane-with-disney-genie/

Thanks for the link, but I didn't see a mention of gift cards as payment, unless I missed it. Truth be told, I didn't actually read Every word though. LOL