The Genie Usage, Tips and Strategy ONLY Thread

[Doingitagain]

can multiple people try to get LL for the party at the same time, in case someone has the infamous glitch? Or will we lock each other up?

 

[Westerner]

can multiple people try to get LL for the party at the same time, in case someone has the infamous glitch? Or will we lock each other up?

I've seen reports of people having 1 person booking $ILL and another booking G+, using different phones and the same MDE account. I wouldn't try to have different booking attempts on G+ simultaneously, that seems like it could cause conflict. What I would suggest is use the most reliable phone you have for booking. Probably a more modern/faster phone with more RAM will be better and there might be a difference between Android and iPhone in this regard. Next time I might bring my tablet to have more screen real estate.

 

[scrappinginontario]

Hi there,
should I delete my post? I certainly don’t want to break any rules. Just trying to figure out how common it is for glitches to happen on the app thank you!

Your post is fine. It does not need to be deleted.

can multiple people try to get LL for the party at the same time, in case someone has the infamous glitch? Or will we lock each other up?

Yes, multiple people can try at the same time.

 

[Tom_E_D]

This morning I made a BTMM Genie reservation for DS and DH for later in the afternoon. (I made a different reservation for myself and DS.) I then made a different Genie reservation for all 4 of us at 12:54. DS is napping late so I tried to modify BTMM to a later time - obviously can’t modify so tried to cancel it and pick up a new time but it says none of us can make a new reservation til 2:54. Is this correct - if you cancel and try to rebook you basically lose the earlier Genie slot? I thought the 2 of them would be able to rebook right away after I canceled but I guess not..

Based on earlier posts in this thread (e.g. post 3083), only canceling your most-recently-booked G+LL entitles you to book another.

 

[Disney102015]

Based on earlier posts in this thread (e.g. post 3083), only canceling your most-recently-booked G+LL entitles you to book another.

Yup - learned this the hard way today. Ugh. Wish there was some kind of alert before you cancel, or better yet a modify button. Live and learn!

 

[mjf]

BTW, on the subject of SDD, I logged in right at 7 ET this morning to see how quickly the return times for SDD would go up.

How are you able to check the return times on the tip board without a reservation. I think I am missing some important sticky or FAQ? My tip board says "Something went Wrong" try again.

 

[Disneyhanna]

Just back from a trip from 2/24-2/28, I could write many paragraphs but my main tip for small groups (we were a group of 2) is to REFRESH the tip board.

As a group of 2, we were able to ride almost everything in MK and HS without having a full day in the parks. (For MK we arrived late as we ran the 10K that morning, and for HS we did early entry but left at 4:30). We found having your first reservation well before 11:00 (for a 9AM open) was key, as you could scan into the ride and then make a new reservation before everyone else as 11:00, thus getting you "ahead" for the day. I would edit my tip board to 2-3 rides and just refresh constantly for those. Pulling down the tip board over and over to refresh it for minutes at a time, usually I could find a window within an hour after 5-10 minutes of refreshing. It does get a big harder by the late afternoon, but we found this really successful in the morning and early afternoon. We missed many windows as we did not click fast enough, but we learned quickly to not even think, just tap! We generally skipped any times that were not within an hour or so as more refreshing would usually get us what we wanted. It's pretty impossible to get on everything if you have two (or more) hours between every reservation. It's such an adrenaline rush to be refreshing and refreshing and suddenly get a window for something like Big Thunder in the afternoon in just 10 minutes, it was like a game to us. I know not everyone wants to be "glued" to their phone, but an average of 5 minutes of refreshing per ride for us meant we barely waited in any lines. Most lines this weekend were well over an hour so I would rather be on my phone for 5-10 minutes on a bench than wait in those lines. Our feet were noticeably less sore these days since we didn't stand in long lines.

We did the same thing for mobile order dining windows, refreshing until we got an immediate window.

We did a half day at MK today without Genie+ because we left early and it was dreadful, we barely rode anything. I definitely think it's a must for MK and HS unless you want to spend half the day in lines.

We did not do Genie+ in Epcot or AK and were fine with that decision, though we have gone enough times that we don't feel the need to get on everything anymore. I might lean towards getting it if I wanted to ride Frozen, but we just skipped it this trip as we did not rope drop or do early entry at Epcot.

 

[AquaGlitter]

Just back from a trip from 2/24-2/28, I could write many paragraphs but my main tip for small groups (we were a group of 2) is to REFRESH the tip board.

As a group of 2, we were able to ride almost everything in MK and HS without having a full day in the parks. (For MK we arrived late as we ran the 10K that morning, and for HS we did early entry but left at 4:30). We found having your first reservation well before 11:00 (for a 9AM open) was key, as you could scan into the ride and then make a new reservation before everyone else as 11:00, thus getting you "ahead" for the day. I would edit my tip board to 2-3 rides and just refresh constantly for those. Pulling down the tip board over and over to refresh it for minutes at a time, usually I could find a window within an hour after 5-10 minutes of refreshing. It does get a big harder by the late afternoon, but we found this really successful in the morning and early afternoon. We missed many windows as we did not click fast enough, but we learned quickly to not even think, just tap! We generally skipped any times that were not within an hour or so as more refreshing would usually get us what we wanted. It's pretty impossible to get on everything if you have two (or more) hours between every reservation. It's such an adrenaline rush to be refreshing and refreshing and suddenly get a window for something like Big Thunder in the afternoon in just 10 minutes, it was like a game to us. I know not everyone wants to be "glued" to their phone, but an average of 5 minutes of refreshing per ride for us meant we barely waited in any lines. Most lines this weekend were well over an hour so I would rather be on my phone for 5-10 minutes on a bench than wait in those lines. Our feet were noticeably less sore these days since we didn't stand in long lines.

We did the same thing for mobile order dining windows, refreshing until we got an immediate window.

We did a half day at MK today without Genie+ because we left early and it was dreadful, we barely rode anything. I definitely think it's a must for MK and HS unless you want to spend half the day in lines.

We did not do Genie+ in Epcot or AK and were fine with that decision, though we have gone enough times that we don't feel the need to get on everything anymore. I might lean towards getting it if I wanted to ride Frozen, but we just skipped it this trip as we did not rope drop or do early entry at Epcot.

Great tips! Question, which rides did you book first for MK and HS? Did you prioritize popular rides (e.g. SDD) or just go for whatever was available soonest? I keep changing my mind as to what might be the best strategy!

 

[Westerner]

We found having your first reservation well before 11:00 (for a 9AM open) was key, as you could scan into the ride and then make a new reservation before everyone else as 11:00, thus getting you "ahead" for the day.

This. Getting a key LL booking to start the day with return time before park open+2 hrs sets you up for success b/c you get your 2nd pick before everyone else.

 

[Disneyhanna]

Great tips! Question, which rides did you book first for MK and HS? Did you prioritize popular rides (e.g. SDD) or just go for whatever was available soonest? I keep changing my mind as to what might be the best strategy!

My memory isn't perfect but I'll try to recall!

HS: I always prioritize SDD! If you're not confident at booking exactly at 7:00, I think I might rope drop this (assuming you do not rope drop RotR) as I imagine this is the fastest to go and a late return time isn't great as it forces you to wait out the 120 minute rule from the start. The strategy after that was to prioritize time > popular rides. We ended up getting Aliens for 1:05 next, which was over two hours out unfortunately but we were able to snag an early afternoon time for Runaway Railway after waiting our 120 minutes. After scanning into Aliens we basically got incredibly lucky to get an immediate Smuggler's Run so did Aliens, Runaway Railway, and Smugglers within an hour. We booked Frozen show next as it was basically immediate after that and nothing else was available. We saw lots of 6:00 return times for TSM but we were not going to be in the park that late. Saw 8:00 return times for stuff like RnRC but again we were not going to be there that late. Looking back we probably should have refreshed more instead of taking Aliens but it still worked really well for us.

MK: We actually did poorly at the start of this day, our strategy wasn't great but we eventually got on track. We did the 10k and weren't sure what time we'd make it into the parks, so I booked a Space Mountain window for somewhere around 1PM just after 7am (during the race ). I didn't book 7 on the dot as I didn't want an early window. We ended up making it to the park just before 11 (I think) and we regretted not having any earlier times. At 11:00 we booked the first Splash we saw which was about 3PM, as this was a priority ride for us given the hot weather. Again, maybe not a great decision because it meant we still had 2 hours before our Space window and another two hours after that until Splash. We had a breakthrough when we waited 45 minutes in standby for Pooh and it went down and we got anytime passes, which made our future plans more flexible since we knew we could get one one "good" ride that we didn't get a Genie+ for. We eventually were able to start stacking more FPs and I think I refreshed for some early-mid afternoon times for Big Thunder, Haunted Mansion, Buzz, and Pirates. I just took whichever of these "bigger" rides had the soonest time. Looking back at the day overall, I would definitely prioritize getting immediate windows as you can just get more done that way rather than being stuck on the 120-minute schedule. I had great luck refreshing for the bigger rides in the afternoon and so I regretted taking such late times for Space Mountain and Splash, when we could have been riding some of the smaller stuff like Pooh or Buzz much earlier in the day back-to-back.

 

[AquaGlitter]

My memory isn't perfect but I'll try to recall!

HS: I always prioritize SDD! If you're not confident at booking exactly at 7:00, I think I might rope drop this (assuming you do not rope drop RotR) as I imagine this is the fastest to go and a late return time isn't great as it forces you to wait out the 120 minute rule from the start. The strategy after that was to prioritize time > popular rides. We ended up getting Aliens for 1:05 next, which was over two hours out unfortunately but we were able to snag an early afternoon time for Runaway Railway after waiting our 120 minutes. After scanning into Aliens we basically got incredibly lucky to get an immediate Smuggler's Run so did Aliens, Runaway Railway, and Smugglers within an hour. We booked Frozen show next as it was basically immediate after that and nothing else was available. We saw lots of 6:00 return times for TSM but we were not going to be in the park that late. Saw 8:00 return times for stuff like RnRC but again we were not going to be there that late. Looking back we probably should have refreshed more instead of taking Aliens but it still worked really well for us.

MK: We actually did poorly at the start of this day, our strategy wasn't great but we eventually got on track. We did the 10k and weren't sure what time we'd make it into the parks, so I booked a Space Mountain window for somewhere around 1PM just after 7am (during the race ). I didn't book 7 on the dot as I didn't want an early window. We ended up making it to the park just before 11 (I think) and we regretted not having any earlier times. At 11:00 we booked the first Splash we saw which was about 3PM, as this was a priority ride for us given the hot weather. Again, maybe not a great decision because it meant we still had 2 hours before our Space window and another two hours after that until Splash. We had a breakthrough when we waited 45 minutes in standby for Pooh and it went down and we got anytime passes, which made our future plans more flexible since we knew we could get one one "good" ride that we didn't get a Genie+ for. We eventually were able to start stacking more FPs and I think I refreshed for some early-mid afternoon times for Big Thunder, Haunted Mansion, Buzz, and Pirates. I just took whichever of these "bigger" rides had the soonest time. Looking back at the day overall, I would definitely prioritize getting immediate windows as you can just get more done that way rather than being stuck on the 120-minute schedule. I had great luck refreshing for the bigger rides in the afternoon and so I regretted taking such late times for Space Mountain and Splash, when we could have been riding some of the smaller stuff like Pooh or Buzz much earlier in the day back-to-back.

This was incredibly helpful thank you! Good on you for dealing with all that after a race

 

[mateezy]

I’m going to HS in a few days with a group of 8. Accounts are linked, but we all bought our tickets separately. Can I get Genie+ for everyone or does each person need to get it on their own?

 

[wisblue]

How are you able to check the return times on the tip board without a reservation. I think I am missing some important sticky or FAQ? My tip board says "Something went Wrong" try again.

The “Something Went Wrong” error messages come up occasionally. Refreshing or closing then reopening the app should take care of that.

Normally you can check standby wait times and LL return times without a park reservation.

 

[Avery&Todd]

Question - I was chatting with a friend yesterday who has just returned from Disney last week and I told her for Epcot that our plan was to book an ILL$ for Rat, and then get a G+ for TT and then go to Frozen first and hope we can ride Frozen and then back track to TT to ride it before (1.) the non-resort guests are let in and (2.) before our G+ time so we can ride it twice...

and she said that TT can be down a lot in the am and therefore my G+ could turn into an "anytime" FP - in that case can I still book another G+ for TT since I technically never used my G+?

thanks!

 

[CarolynFH]

I’m going to HS in a few days with a group of 8. Accounts are linked, but we all bought our tickets separately. Can I get Genie+ for everyone or does each person need to get it on their own?

As long as you can see them in your F&F list and are set to plan with/for them, you’re good. Be aware that if you book an ILL$ for everyone, the cost will be charged to your payment method, and y’all will have to work out the compensation process.

 

[mjf]

The “Something Went Wrong” error messages come up occasionally. Refreshing or closing then reopening the app should take care of that.

Normally you can check standby wait times and LL return times without a park reservation.

I've refreshed multiple times and restarted app. I can see current wait times but I can't see LL return times in the Genie page.

 

[wisblue]

I've refreshed multiple times and restarted app. I can see current wait times but I can't see LL return times in the Genie page.

If that happened to me I would first make sure I had the latest version of the app installed. Then I would sign out of the app and sign back in (Not just close and reopen it) If that still didn’t work I would delete and reinstall the app to see what happens.

Anything beyond that is out of my pay grade.

 

[BOST99]

My experience last week was rough. We used Genie+ in HS and MK. We rope dropped Rise (waited 45 mins) and Remy (waited 30 mins).

Our troubles were with the technology. We had a variety of phones, iPhone, Google Pixel, Samsung S9+, and Genie+ would only work on the iPhone. All apps were updated. It was very frustrating and essentially useless on Android.

We couldn't do anything with our booked experiences but view. If we had to cancel or make a new one could only use the iPhone. Unfortunately it took our first park day at HS to figure that out so a total waste of money.

Yesterday was tough to get service in MK. I think too many people in the park all trying to use the same network.

 

[MMSM]

If that happened to me I would first make sure I had the latest version of the app installed. Then I would sign out of the app and sign back in (Not just close and reopen it) If that still didn’t work I would delete and reinstall the app to see what happens.

Anything beyond that is out of my pay grade.

When I practice this has happened a lot to me. But only for HS. Never freezes or glitches for other parks. It’s got me worried about day of. It locked me out for about 3 min and when went back into HS stuff was gone.

 

[mjf]

I've uninstalled and reinstalled the app but getting same results. I can see my park and hotel reservations, friends, current wait times, etc.. But still getting "something went wrong" on tips page. I have a new pixel 6 Android which is up to date. I'm located in Canada right now if that matters.. Really really hoping I am misunderstanding something. I want to get familiar with the app now so we are prepared for our trip in March. Appreciate any help anyone can provide. Thank you!