Everything Genie, Genie+ and Individual Lightning Lane - Please Read Posts 1-7

[thanxfornoticin]

Question about using a LL for shows like Festival of the Lion King and Finding Nemo. Do you book the LL for any show or is it specific for the next show that is showing on Genie?

All LL selections are next-available-time listed. So it would be for the 'next show' listed in MDE.

 

[conandrob240]

So using Genie+ for first time. I could not hate it anymore. Awful.

 

[thanxfornoticin]

So using Genie+ for first time. I could not hate it anymore. Awful.

As is very clear by the billion comments out here about G+, some hate it, some love it, some are in the middle. We've had a chance to use it a few trips now (not everyday, but some days each trip). The more we use it, the more comfortable and more effective we feel we are using it. So we really disliked it at first (especially paying for it), but have moved more into the middle - doubt we'll ever 'love' it! We find it bumped up a notch with the functionality of the 'modify' option - we use it often.

 

[conandrob240]

Well I’m square in the hate camp. I understood how to use it, it just stinks in every way. And to think I PAID for it actually makes me sick to my stomach.

 

[Boardwalk III]

Well I’m square in the hate camp. I understood how to use it, it just stinks in every way. And to think I PAID for it actually makes me sick to my stomach.

Agreed, completely horrible! And yes I am a planner, and yes, I understand how to use it. We only visit about once a year, so our trip next week will be our 3rd time using it. We’re going to take advantage of the deluxe resort evening hours at MK and Epcot, and also pay for an After Hours event at DHS. I’m hoping this will help minimize the number of days we have to even consider using G+

 

[conandrob240]

After this week, I’ll never buy it again. I’ll never visit again when it’s even moderately busy (at least not with the kids). And I will not buy/renew annual passes again if this is the pass system moving forward. I wish I hadn’t bought new annual passes at all last week honestly. That’s how turned off I am after today.

 

[conandrob240]

Who loves it? And what do you “love” about it?

 

[blistex]

Hello!
I booked G+ for my In-laws today for magic kingdom and ran into a few issues. First I thought I knew how to pin a couple attractions to the top but the ones I selected never showed up. Second when choosing or attempting to modify there weren’t times listed until you selected (and by then of course the times were too late). My in laws don’t have very high expectations but we are meeting up tomorrow for Epcot and I want to make sure I’m ready with G+!! Thanks for any advice!

So this happens a lot during the busier morning bookings (7 AM, 10:30/11 slots) and the best thing I found is just click on it like you're going to select it, it will then show you the time you got on the confirmation screen. If you don't like the time, just use the back button on your phone to go back to the screen and keep doing that back and forth until you see a time you like. They are flying at those times so the times you get almost never matches the time on that first screen anyway, something I'd warn everyone to pay attention to as twice I gave up times for worse times accidentally, not paying enough attention to that second screen.

 

[conandrob240]

And if you modify a time, it resets and pushes out your next pick 2 more
Hours. This destroyed us today

 

[scrappinginontario]

It really seems to be dependent on when you visit.

G+ is most helpful on mid-busy days. During a week like this, the LLs disappear so quickly that many don't find it's worth the cost.

On lower crowd days (e.g. early Sep) it's often not needed as standby lines aren't too crazy.

I tried it. Thought it was okay but didn't love it, especially as it was an added cost to the budget. Will use it when needed for a few days of our trip.

 

[Boardwalk III]

And if you modify a time, it resets and pushes out your next pick 2 more
Hours. This destroyed us today

Wait, what? I thought I had read several times that modifying doesn’t change your original 2 hour window. Interesting.

 

[Boardwalk III]

After this week, I’ll never buy it again. I’ll never visit again when it’s even moderately busy (at least not with the kids). And I will not buy/renew annual passes again if this is the pass system moving forward. I wish I hadn’t bought new annual passes at all last week honestly. That’s how turned off I am after today.

In addition to not personally liking it, I think there’s a bigger issue in terms of ongoing demand. I’m not sure what percentage of people are using Genie+, but I suspect it’s pretty high. When you have that many people using the system it really limits availability. Don’t kill me, but I’d pay a lot more for it on a daily basis if KNEW I could get 5-6 decent attractions out of it (without having to have my head in my phone more often than not throughout the day!)

 

[SLThomas318]

And if you modify a time, it resets and pushes out your next pick 2 more
Hours. This destroyed us today

This is interesting news, early reports have said this isn’t the case…. Did Disney make a change?! We used it over Thanksgiving when it was $29 a day but prior to being able to modify and of all the times we’ve used it, it worked really well (tried it Nov 21 and June 22). I questioned whether the modify option would bog the system again on the super crowded days… wonder if Disney is playing with things again?

 

[scrappinginontario]

And if you modify a time, it resets and pushes out your next pick 2 more
Hours. This destroyed us today

If you get G+ again, please test this again. We’ve had many, many people share their experiences here re: modifying, plus many bloggers share, that this is not the case.

If a guest cancels and rebooks a LL this may resent the click but modifying does not affect the time you can book your next LL..

 

[Claire-Bear]

Would you say it's worth getting a LL for the parade over a ride (once we've secured PPF)? Does it save a lot of time sitting out in the sun to secure a good spot? Or is it worth securing another ride instead?
I have no idea how far in advance is needed to get a good parade spot anymore! So unsure of how this compares to ride wait times.
Just to add, we are going in late August

 

[yorkieteacher]

We were surprised that the price ranged from$18:to $20 a day for weekdays in early February. We could have done without it on Animal Kingdom and Epcot days, but instead we opted to go into those parks later. I awakened at 645 to get Genie+ and book our first ride, then everyone else slept later. You really only need it for Frozen, Remy and Test Track in Epcot, and Navi River and Safari in Animal Kingdom. Our first Epcot day we stayed in World Showcase except for Test Track, rode those big three with LL’s and enjoyed Festival of the Arts. We didn’t enter until 10am. On our second Epcot morning we did rope drop Frozen, then rode Soarin’, Spaceship Earth, and the other rides in the old Future World sections, while we stacked LL‘s for our Hollywood Studios afternoon. We got went into HS at 2pm with LL’s for Slinky Dog, Tower of Terror, and MMRR we had booked at 7, 11, and 1, then we were able to add TSMM and an Olaf meeting while in the park. We were thrilled with this plan. We rope dropped Peter Pan in MK, rode Small World, Haunted Mansion, Pirates and Magic Carpets before our 10am LL for Jungle Cruise, then kept booking LL’s the rest of the day for. Buzz, Pooh, , Big Thunder, Space Mountain, and even rides like Little Mermaid that had 20 minutes or less waits. We suspected that most ride wait times were exaggerated, but we waited less than five minutes for nearly every ride in MK. We even left the park for lunch at Steakhouse 71 and dinner at Geyser Point. So for us, it was as nice luxury we enjoyed. Would I do it again? Not for Animal Kingdom for sure. Epcot maybe. Studios and Magic Kingsom,for sure.

 

[thanxfornoticin]

If you get G+ again, please test this again. We’ve had many, many people share their experiences here re: modifying, plus many bloggers share, that this is not the case.

If a guest cancels and rebooks a LL this may resent the click but modifying does not affect the time you can book your next LL..

We've used G+ and modify during 2 trips the past couple months - and modify did not reset the 'clock' on getting a new one. We did it many times. Cancel and rebook absolutely does reset.

 

[blistex]

And if you modify a time, it resets and pushes out your next pick 2 more
Hours. This destroyed us today

That's only if you modify the time later - you have a 2 hour cooling off period between picks, but if your pick expires in less than 2 hours then your next pick can happen earlier. Example, at 12:25 I booked a 12:35-1:35 FP so I was eligible to pick again at 1:35 when that expired. I modified the time to make it a 1:35-2:35 FP which changed my eligibility window to 2:25. But when I picked a 4:30 at 12:25 I was next eligible at 2:25 and that was true no matter how many times I modified the 4:30 FP.

Regardless that this sounds like we're talking about complicated math to book PAID reservations at a massive theme park means there's a pretty serious issue with the system. It should be obvious and easy what will happen at all times.

 

[pens4821]

Who loves it? And what do you “love” about it?

I don’t know if love is the right word, but I like it more than the old FP system. So just comparing the two is why I say to keep it. First and foremost the wait for LL was pretty much walk right to the merge point or close. Our last trip using FP (MLK week 2019) we regularly waited in 30+ minute FP return lines. Our most recent trip last busy spring break week I don’t remember waiting more than a couple minutes to get past the merge point. That is a huge plus.

While I hate paying for it, I also like that they charge for it. It limits the amount of people using it, so it goes hand in hand with my first like. I know a lot of people say it prices people out, but we factor it as a cost from the beginning. And I by no means make a lot of money and am probably considered on the very very low end of middle class.

I hated making my decisions on what I’d want to be doing two months beforehand. Don’t forget all the people then complaining about how hard it was to get rides if you weren’t booking 60 days out. While it was nice knowing going in that you’d have three rides for sure, we had no issues getting atleast 5. Hollywood studios did require some refreshing but we rode sdd, tot, rnrc, mmrr, Mfsm, as2 all with LL. It may be even better now that modify is an option.

Then they starting limiting it with the tiers. So not being able to get a second headliner right away at your second pick now isn’t any different than before. We had to keep refreshing then too.

A lot of people say they hate getting up every morning of their trip to book right at 7, but minus a couple rides that’s really not necessary. I know this probably isn’t a busy day (it’s after a holiday and before spring break), but as of right now only slinky and remy don’t have LL availability. So even getting up at 9 would get you what you wanted for the most part. And if one of those is a must you can now modify and try to get one. Or if you’re going to sleeping in most people will probably stay late. So you can get in line at close to close for a low wait.

Like I said, I don’t love it, but I like it. I don’t love adding over $100/day (maybe $200 with ILL a couple days) to an already expensive trip. But if I had to choose between LL and FP as it was I’d always choose LL.

 

[Boardwalk III]

That's only if you modify the time later - you have a 2 hour cooling off period between picks, but if your pick expires in less than 2 hours then your next pick can happen earlier. Example, at 12:25 I booked a 12:35-1:35 FP so I was eligible to pick again at 1:35 when that expired. I modified the time to make it a 1:35-2:35 FP which changed my eligibility window to 2:25. But when I picked a 4:30 at 12:25 I was next eligible at 2:25 and that was true no matter how many times I modified the 4:30 FP.

Regardless that this sounds like we're talking about complicated math to book PAID reservations at a massive theme park means there's a pretty serious issue with the system. It should be obvious and easy what will happen at all times.

OK, seriously. I can’t even follow this and it’s not your fault. I’m ready to throw in the towel!