The Genie Usage, Tips and Strategy ONLY Thread

[Disturbia]

So buy Remy, get Genie+ Frozen between 7-7:30 am for 5-8 pm and then at noon (2 hrs after park opening) book Test Track. Hope to refresh around 2 pm for something else.

The Epcot waits in the morning don’t seem too bad, but people are probably park hopping to Epcot in the evening. Next week due to sold out parks it will probably be the opposite as people book a Epcot as their first park and then hop to say HS.

We are going in 3 weeks and the week before Epcot opens at 8:30 am. I signed up for Touring plans (paid).

 

[wisblue]

So looking at Mar.4 data, there was basically NO lightning-lane rides available AT ALL for Slinky Dog... How is that possible? What the heck is wrong with the I.T behind the Genie+ system?

This thread has some detailed comments about getting LL slots for Slinky and ROTR.

Slinky and ROTR Genie+/ILL$ Tips and Experiences | The DIS Disney Discussion Forums - DISboards.com

I haven't spent as much time looking at other attractions in the other parks, but when I have the same pattern seems to occur.

The lesson is to not overreact to comments that things "sell out" in the first minute or panic when you're onsite and you can't get something right at 7:00.

 

[GBRforWDW]

So buy Remy, get Genie+ Frozen between 7-7:30 am for 5-8 pm and then at noon (2 hrs after park opening) book Test Track. Hope to refresh around 2 pm for something else.

The Epcot waits in the morning don’t seem too bad, but people are probably park hopping to Epcot in the evening. Next week due to sold out parks it will probably be the opposite as people book a Epcot as their first park and then hop to say HS.

We are going in 3 weeks and the week before Epcot opens at 8:30 am. I signed up for Touring plans (paid).

Sorry, here's test track. Unfortunately they both kinda follow the same path. I'd say LL the one you really want and standby the other

 

[leeniewdw]

This was our DHS day on Saturday, 3/5. Our plan was to RD and get an early LL return (so we could grab another before the 11am slot). Leave park late morning and return for evening with LLs stacked. This is how it worked out:

7am: Grabbed MFSR for a 9:25am return
7:15am: walked on to Skyliner (staying at POP)
7:45am-ish: got in line for RNRC standby, literally people 4 & 5*
8:15am-ish: line started moving into building, skipped the studio and went RIGHT onto the ride
8:28am: off RNRC
8:30am: got in ToT standby line, sign said 40 mins!*
8:57am: while waiting in line, I was looking at the app and noticed RotR was still available and called an audible and decided to go ahead and get a ILL$ for 7:15pm return
9:30am: off ToT headed to MFSR
9:45am-ish: tapped into MFSR and looked for next LL. SHOCKED to see a SDD for 7:25pm return. Grabbed that. Set my phone timer for 2 hours for next LL grab.
Not sure on times, but rode Star Tours standby (no wait) and grabbed an early lunch/late breakfast at Commissary

Break Time, so left Park

11:45am: Grabbed TSM for return time 5:05pm, set timer for 2 hours for next LL grab
*nap and pool time*
1:45pm: Grabbed ToT for return time of 7:55pm, set timer for 2 hours for next LL grab
3:45pm: Grabbed Alien Swirling Saucers I think

So our evening went like this:
Arrived back at DHS a little after 5pm and had these LLs:
TSM
AlienSS
Break at Baseline Tap House
Star Tours (I grabbed this at 5:45pm just because I could, it was still basically a walk on)
Grabbed something to eat at Backlot
RotR
SDD
Oga's (our first time....um, not sure what the fuss is about!)
ToT

I don't think you could have a more perfect day. And we could have grabbed MMRR if we'd wanted to but my DH didn't want to ride it again after riding in Dec, lol.

*My asterisk was related to RnRC and TOT. We screwed up and SHOULD have ridden ToT first at RD because they were only using 1 side. TP "told" me to ride RNRC first and because we did that, we had to wait 45 mins at 8:30am to ride ToT. Has we done it in reverse, we would have done both of them by 8:40am. There were only 20 people in the ToT line when we arrived.

 

[Disturbia]

@leeniewdw: How big was your party?

 

[leeniewdw]

@leeniewdw: How big was your party?

Just 2 adults.

We did think about how if we ever actually get our adult kids/SOs to go with us (we've had 2 scheduled only to cancel for all sorts of reasons), it may be impossible to get them up/out at 7am, but I think RDing will help get you 2-3 more rides for the day.

 

[snikki]

Just 2 adults.

We did think about how if we ever actually get our adult kids/SOs to go with us (we've had 2 scheduled only to cancel for all sorts of reasons), it may be impossible to get them up/out at 7am, but I think RDing will help get you 2-3 more rides for the day.

I’ve been hearing more and more reports of groups of 2 getting much better LLs, especially at DHS. You guys had a great day using it!

 

[Rivergirl2005]

I’ve been hearing more and more reports of groups of 2 getting much better LLs, especially at DHS. You guys had a great day using it!

Same! Glad to hear groups of 2 are able snag some. Wonder how groups of 3 are doing.

 

[MainMom]

Same! Glad to hear groups of 2 are able snag some. Wonder how groups of 3 are doing.

How about groups of 7?

 

[wisblue]

This was our DHS day on Saturday, 3/5. Our plan was to RD and get an early LL return (so we could grab another before the 11am slot). Leave park late morning and return for evening with LLs stacked. This is how it worked out:

7am: Grabbed MFSR for a 9:25am return
7:15am: walked on to Skyliner (staying at POP)
7:45am-ish: got in line for RNRC standby, literally people 4 & 5*
8:15am-ish: line started moving into building, skipped the studio and went RIGHT onto the ride
8:28am: off RNRC
8:30am: got in ToT standby line, sign said 40 mins!*
8:57am: while waiting in line, I was looking at the app and noticed RotR was still available and called an audible and decided to go ahead and get a ILL$ for 7:15pm return
9:30am: off ToT headed to MFSR
9:45am-ish: tapped into MFSR and looked for next LL. SHOCKED to see a SDD for 7:25pm return. Grabbed that. Set my phone timer for 2 hours for next LL grab.
Not sure on times, but rode Star Tours standby (no wait) and grabbed an early lunch/late breakfast at Commissary

Break Time, so left Park

11:45am: Grabbed TSM for return time 5:05pm, set timer for 2 hours for next LL grab
*nap and pool time*
1:45pm: Grabbed ToT for return time of 7:55pm, set timer for 2 hours for next LL grab
3:45pm: Grabbed Alien Swirling Saucers I think

So our evening went like this:
Arrived back at DHS a little after 5pm and had these LLs:
TSM
AlienSS
Break at Baseline Tap House
Star Tours (I grabbed this at 5:45pm just because I could, it was still basically a walk on)
Grabbed something to eat at Backlot
RotR
SDD
Oga's (our first time....um, not sure what the fuss is about!)
ToT

I don't think you could have a more perfect day. And we could have grabbed MMRR if we'd wanted to but my DH didn't want to ride it again after riding in Dec, lol.

*My asterisk was related to RnRC and TOT. We screwed up and SHOULD have ridden ToT first at RD because they were only using 1 side. TP "told" me to ride RNRC first and because we did that, we had to wait 45 mins at 8:30am to ride ToT. Has we done it in reverse, we would have done both of them by 8:40am. There were only 20 people in the ToT line when we arrived.

Very nice. Your day sounds very much like what we have done, and plan to do again when we visit in two weeks.

Was this a day that official opening was 9 AM so EE was officially 8:30 AM and they let you in to RNRC a little early?

I am a staunch advocate of starting a day at DHS at TOT. The wait for the rides to open is much more comfortable than at the other top attractions and the crowds there build up much less quickly.

 

[leeniewdw]

Very nice. Your day sounds very much like what we have done, and plan to do again when we visit in two weeks.

Was this a day that official opening was 9 AM so EE was officially 8:30 AM and they let you in to RNRC a little early?

I am a staunch advocate of starting a day at DHS at TOT. The wait for the rides to open is much more comfortable than at the other top attractions and the crowds there build up much less quickly.

Yes, it was a 9am opening and 8:30am EE. The CMs kept saying we wouldn't enter the ride until 8:30, but we were off the ride by 8:28 so that wasn't correct. (People were asking not because they were impatient, but rather wanting to have someone from their group go back and get a coffee or soda and didn't want to return to find the line having moved.) It seemed like CMs wearing "white" came out and joined the ride-themed CMs and we started to move shortly after that, probably 8:15am. We were in the first "ride" but we did wait at the 'launch point' for a few minutes before the ride actually took off.

I agree that going to ToT/RnRC first was very chill. It also allowed us to just hit the Skyliner at 7:15am with absolutely no line waiting there. I would do it again.

 

[wisblue]

So, when you arrived at DHS the gates were already opened and you were able to walk casually down Sunset Boulevard and the number of people in the TOT and RNRC lines were still both very short?

That‘s how it worked for us on our two previous trips, and I have been hoping that hasn’t changed.

I have been able to get in line while others in the party stopped at Starbucks.

 

[leeniewdw]

So, when you arrived at DHS the gates were already opened and you were able to walk casually down Sunset Boulevard and the number of people in the TOT and RNRC lines were still both very short?

That‘s how it worked for us on our two previous trips, and I have been hoping that hasn’t changed.

I have been able to get in line while others in the party stopped at Starbucks.

Yes, exactly a casual walk! I meant to include that the gates were open and we basically just walked right in. I presume it had been a bit since I can only imagine that huge crowds headed to RotR and SDD and when we arrived it seemed like each tapstyle only had like 4-5 people going in.

I know we got on the Skyliner at POP at 7:15am (we made our 7am LL in the room and stopped at the food court for a Diet Coke before heading to Skyliner). So with the 2 Skyliner segments (short line at CBR), getting in and walking to RnRC/ToT, I think I first glanced at my watch in line and it was 7:45am. We were # 4 and 5 in line for RnRC and probably would have been #s 20, 21 for ToT. Of course, the lines got longer before they "opened".

My DH went back for another D Coke (lol) while I waited. He went all the way back to the entrance to get a bottle soda and was back in plenty of time. I wouldn't push it beyond 8:15am since that's when they had the line move. One more thing. They said that the ToT line might move forward into the queue before RnRC because their line was growing longer and if it got back to the intersection, they'd move them forward. That didn't happen, both lines moved at the same time.

It's still really early to be up/out on "vacation", but since I had to be up at 7am for the LL stuff, it just made sense to keep rolling instead of trying to go back to sleep (which we tried in December and were unsuccessful). However, I don't generally mind getting up early on vacation, I like to maximize my day -- I'm the one who gets up for sunrise every morning if we're at the beach!

Last edit! I just checked TP and they predicted a 7 day, but said it ended up being a 6.

 

[Disturbia]

Yes, it was a 9am opening and 8:30am EE. The CMs kept saying we wouldn't enter the ride until 8:30, but we were off the ride by 8:28 so that wasn't correct. (People were asking not because they were impatient, but rather wanting to have someone from their group go back and get a coffee or soda and didn't want to return to find the line having moved.) It seemed like CMs wearing "white" came out and joined the ride-themed CMs and we started to move shortly after that, probably 8:15am. We were in the first "ride" but we did wait at the 'launch point' for a few minutes before the ride actually took off.

I agree that going to ToT/RnRC first was very chill. It also allowed us to just hit the Skyliner at 7:15am with absolutely no line waiting there. I would do it again.

The skyliner was already running at 7:15 am AND it took you about 20 mins from Pop? Just the line at CB was 40 mins around 9 am for us back in Nov

 

[leeniewdw]

The skyliner was already running at 7:15 am AND it took you about 20 mins from Pop? Just the line at CB was 40 mins around 9 am for us back in Nov

That was our experience, yes. It was our first time RDing from POP so I don't have anything to compare it to. When we stepped off the Skyliner at CBR, we walked right into the queue lined up for the next leg but it was just 5-7 mins maybe? So, no wait at POP, but a 7 minute wait at CBR? I wish I'd kept track of the times specifically, but I know the first time I looked at my watch actually IN LINE in front of RnRC it was 7:45am. It might have been after my husband left to got get a drink, so perhaps we got there a few minutes sooner even?

But based on our day grabbing LLs (SDD around 9:40am, RotR easily -- several time frames to pick from -- at 8:57am) it wasn't a hugely busy morning of activity at DHS! AKA we got lucky.

What time did you get on the skyliner at POP when it was a 40 minute wait? We may have just timed it perfectly that the initial queued up lines were already handled and there was no more backlog?

 

[garada3]

This was our DHS day on Saturday, 3/5. Our plan was to RD and get an early LL return (so we could grab another before the 11am slot). Leave park late morning and return for evening with LLs stacked. This is how it worked out:

Studying for a July trip -

It appears that taking an early LL gave you an advantage as you picked prior to that 11am (two hours from park opening) rush and set you on the path to successful use of G+ at DHS with a break in the day. Interesting - very interesting!

Did you just take the earliest first LL visible in the app or did you target MFSR?

Did you use this same strategy at other parks?

What time did you leave the park?


Thanks for the details on the day!

 

[wisblue]

I think one lesson from your experience, which is consistent with ours, is that if you start your day at DHS by going to TOT and RNRC first, it isn't necessary to be there an hour before EE starts, when they first let people through security and into the park.

You can do those two rides and take care of that area of the park and still get to a third ride before the line gets too long. We have gone to TSMM just after they open the park for everyone and pretty much walked on. If you have an ILL for ROTR and a LL for something else (Slinky or MFSR) you have quite a few of the top attractions accounted for and won't have to look at your phone until your next LL window opens (either two hours after park opening or after using your first LL).

 

[HydroGuy]

Studying for a July trip -

It appears that taking an early LL gave you an advantage as you picked prior to that 11am (two hours from park opening) rush and set you on the path to successful use of G+ at DHS with a break in the day. Interesting - very interesting!

Did you just take the earliest first LL visible in the app or did you target MFSR?

Did you use this same strategy at other parks?

What time did you leave the park?


Thanks for the details on the day!

As talked about at length on this forum, it would all be so much easier if the time you chose for G+ LL was the time you actually got (give or take a few minutes like in the FP+ days).

Regardless, I have concluded that getting a G+ LL at 7AM for a return window before 11 AM (assuming the park opens at 9AM - so before two hours after park opening) is critical - especially on busy days and especially, especially at DHS (which seems to have the most in-demand G+ LLs). If you do this, you are set up to get a good option on G+ LL #2 (before 11AM) and #3 (before 1PM), etc. You are always ahead of the 7AM mob.

 

[leeniewdw]

Studying for a July trip -

It appears that taking an early LL gave you an advantage as you picked prior to that 11am (two hours from park opening) rush and set you on the path to successful use of G+ at DHS with a break in the day. Interesting - very interesting!

Did you just take the earliest first LL visible in the app or did you target MFSR?

Did you use this same strategy at other parks?

What time did you leave the park?


Thanks for the details on the day!

It just turned out that my DH loves MFSR and I thought that was a good choice to get an early return time. And it worked out. We never expected to get SDD after tapping in at 9:40am-ish, so that was just luck based on crowds I suppose. We opted for ToT/RnRC because they are so close together and we thought we'd be okay even with not being in Skyliner line 90 mins before EE. So we presumed we'd get 3 rides in and then have breakfast and decide what we wanted to do next. In the end, we did RnRC, ToT, MFSR, food break, Star Tours (stand by), an ice cream stop, and headed back to hotel around....11am?

This was a very quick trip and we only did EP and DHS over 2 days. So no hopping and we didn't use G+ at EP.

As talked about at length on this forum, it would all be so much easier if the time you chose for G+ LL was the time you actually got (give or take a few minutes like in the FP+ days).

Regardless, I have concluded that getting a G+ LL at 7AM for a return window before 11 AM (assuming the park opens at 9AM - so before two hours after park opening) is critical - especially on busy days and especially, especially at DHS (which seems to have the the most in-demand G+ LLs). If you do this, you are set up to get a good option on G+ LL #2 (before 11AM) and #3 (before 1PM), etc. You are always ahead of the 7AM mob.

Yes, that was our "plan" (even though you don't know what you'll get until you try!). After grabbing my 2nd LL after tapping into MFSR, I just set my phone timer for 2 hours, so I'd know when to grab again and continued to do that every 2 hours because we were no longer in the park (we returned around 5pm or so).

 

[scrappinginontario]

That was our experience, yes. It was our first time RDing from POP so I don't have anything to compare it to. When we stepped off the Skyliner at CBR, we walked right into the queue lined up for the next leg but it was just 5-7 mins maybe? So, no wait at POP, but a 7 minute wait at CBR? I wish I'd kept track of the times specifically, but I know the first time I looked at my watch actually IN LINE in front of RnRC it was 7:45am. It might have been after my husband left to got get a drink, so perhaps we got there a few minutes sooner even?

But based on our day grabbing LLs (SDD around 9:40am, RotR easily -- several time frames to pick from -- at 8:57am) it wasn't a hugely busy morning of activity at DHS! AKA we got lucky.

What time did you get on the skyliner at POP when it was a 40 minute wait? We may have just timed it perfectly that the initial queued up lines were already handled and there was no more backlog?

I think one thing we're seeing is that the times DHS and Epcot open make a big difference in Skyliner lines. The earlier the parks open, the shorter the lines appear to be as less people are willing/able to join the line early in the morning than they are on the days when the parks open a bit later.

A planning strategy we used was that the later a park opened, the longer we allowed time to get to the park.