The Genie Usage, Tips and Strategy ONLY Thread

[Dulcee]

The DHS/Epcot combo allows us to stay parked and not deal with buses/ parking twice.

The additional twist here is we have an older woman (79) with us so we can’t run and we can’t zigzag/backtrack all over the parks. We have to minimize walking if at all possible.

How close are handicapped parking spaces at the parks to the entrances? How close will
They be for afternoon hopping?

Handicap parking at park opening was always great for us (Spring break last year). Up front, super convenient, readily available. Afternoons were rough at some parks and they have no other options if it was full aside from dropping the handicapped party at the front of the park, parking, and then meeting up. We ran into the problem most while attempting to hop to Epcot.

My dad (70s) really wanted to do some park time with just his cane but we learned quickly in the evenings having a scooter was a necessity just due to having to park so far away at times.

 

[conandrob240]

She won’t do a scooter but I appreciate all of the insight/ advice.

 

[conandrob240]

I’m not sure if there is a spot that will give you expect tricks, but I can tell you what I would do.

How many people will you have getting passed at 7am? Epcot then hop DHS is going to propose your greatest challenge. Slinky and Rise both almost always go early, and almost always are totally gone by the time to pick the 2nd LL. If possible I would pair DHS morning with MK night.

I am going to stick with your plan for the moment. I am also assuming your on site. Make sure and purchase genie before 7, 650 or earlier. You don’t want to purchase it at 7 it will delay the first booking.

For MK/AK day at 7am book FOP (ILL) for desired return time. Then book space.
If you book space first you’ll be able to pull almost any LLs all morning at MK except jungle cruise, PP and some meets for pretty quick returns. Ones you’ll def be able to pull are buzz, small world, thunder, dumbo, pirates, haunted mansion. You should be able to get those all in. As soon as you tap into the 2nd tap if there is one pull your next genie.

While doing this watch EE at AK and when it hits your desired return time book it.

I don’t monitor EE often but I don’t think it will be to early when it hits a 2pm return.

AK/MK is not a bad time if PP, Jungle Cruise or Mine train aren’t must dos.

Your wish list for Epcot/DHS is harder and ideally will need 2 or more people booking.

At 7 you need someone to purchase ILL for guardians or VQ, someone to book Slinky, and someone to purchase ILL for rise.

Slinky usually wont last till 2nd LL booking (2hours after park open), it may be that’s a risk IMO. Other issue is since it’s your 2nd park booking right at 7 you need to get an after 2pm return time, so you need to wait like 15/20 seconds and hope it’s after 2. For context we hit it right at 7 and got 1130-1230 yesterday.

But this plan will most likely not yield Remi, you can easily do Sorain at rope drop with limited wait, test track may be an issue.

You could also pick remi over slinky and replace the 7am LL with remi and try for slinky later, and wait stand by for slinky if you don’t get it. If you get remi you maybe able to pull a test track after remi if your time is early enough. Def will be able to get a sorian.

Hope this was a bit helpful. If possible I would pair DHS/AK and Epcot/MK

If we do AK then MK our 2nd day, how long can I expect SpaceM to have LL availability? Will I be able to get an evening time for it if we grab it around 11am?

Any advice on parking for that combo? Just drive to both parks?

 

[scrappinginontario]

If we do AK then MK our 2nd day, how long can I expect SpaceM to have LL availability? Will I be able to get an evening time for it if we grab it around 11am?

Any advice on parking for that combo? Just drive to both parks?

Thrill-Data is your best way to track LL availability for any attraction. This link is for Space Mountain.

Yes, your only option for hopping from AK to MK when driving is to move your car. AK closes earlier than MK so if you take a bus to MK you would need to hire private transportation to take you back to your car later.

 

[NJlauren]

If we do AK then MK our 2nd day, how long can I expect SpaceM to have LL availability? Will I be able to get an evening time for it if we grab it around 11am?

Any advice on parking for that combo? Just drive to both parks?

I think at 11 (assuming 9am open) you should have zero issues getting space, but remember it needs to have a post 2pm return. Now check what time AK opens cause if its before 9 you can book 2 hours after park open, or when you tap into first lighting lane. Say your first LL is EE and you tap in at 940 you can book your 2nd LL right then, you don’t need to wait till 11 or the 2 hours after park open.

I think driving between the parks is the best/only option.

 

[conandrob240]

Thank you all very much!

 

[Claire-Bear]

Would you say it's worth getting a LL for the parade over a ride (once we've secured PP)? 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!

 

[piglet1979]

Would you say it's worth getting a LL for the parade over a ride (once we've secured PP)? 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!

I have typically not gotten passes (this was pre-covid) for the parade. If you watch the parade in the back of the park by Frontierland, you don't need to get a spot too much earlier. I think we got a really good spot up front like only 15ish minutes before the start. It fills in as the parade starts. I am not sure if this has changed though.

 

[Disneycrazymom]

I am not sure I understand the time to get the next Lightning lane from Genie + correctly. I plan to get Slinky Dog at 7am for as early in the day as possible. Say I get lucky and get at return time of 9:00am, do I still have to wait until 2 hours after park opening (10:30) to get a 2nd LL OR am I allowed to book a 2nd as soon as I check in at Slinky Dog? So hypothetically at 9:00?

 

[CJK]

I am not sure I understand the time to get the next Lightning lane from Genie + correctly. I plan to get Slinky Dog at 7am for as early in the day as possible. Say I get lucky and get at return time of 9:00am, do I still have to wait until 2 hours after park opening (10:30) to get a 2nd LL OR am I allowed to book a 2nd as soon as I check in at Slinky Dog? So hypothetically at 9:00?

You would be allowed to book when you scan into Slinky. The 2hr wait after park opening only applies if you don't book your first ride within that first 2hrs.

 

[wind79rain]

I am not sure I understand the time to get the next Lightning lane from Genie + correctly. I plan to get Slinky Dog at 7am for as early in the day as possible. Say I get lucky and get at return time of 9:00am, do I still have to wait until 2 hours after park opening (10:30) to get a 2nd LL OR am I allowed to book a 2nd as soon as I check in at Slinky Dog? So hypothetically at 9:00?

You can get a second LL as soon as you tap into your most recently booked (or two hours after park open for a pre-park open booking or two hours for a LL booked after park open).

So in your scenario, if you tap into SDD at 9 am that’s when you can book your next LL. For rides like SDD with two sets of taps, I’m pretty sure it doesn’t come off and allow you to book the next one until you’ve gone through both sets of taps.

 

[Disneycrazymom]

Thank-you both! That is very helpful. Is there somewhere to see what the likely return times might be?

 

[wind79rain]

Thank-you both! That is very helpful. Is there somewhere to see what the likely return times might be?

Check thrill-data.com

Slinkly LLs go quick. You would need to be fast at 7 am to get an early return time.

 

[Disturbia]

Thank-you both! That is very helpful. Is there somewhere to see what the likely return times might be?

If you’re going during holiday season (summer), I would plan on SDD being late afternoon. I’ve been able to get it twice before 10 am but that was when Genie+ was not being used as much and it had just come out. The price was $35 today so demand is really high.

At HS aim for 3-4 rides at most that would save time (you can refresh by going to modify and then to the ‘Select a New Time’ screen and click ‘Change to this time’ but don’t finalize by clicking ‘Confirm change’ and just keep bouncing back and selecting change to this time screen (puts you ahead of someone still on the modify pass screen). This works even if no times are visible and then suddenly something pops up (you are again ahead of people who are on the previous page). When you’re tired you can accidentally click confirm, so be careful!

https://www.disneytouristblog.com/modify-lightning-lane-ride-reservations-genie-plus-gamechanger/

RnRC and MFSR have single rider queues (age 7 and up).

We end up waiting in line for 2-3 more rides with 20-40 min waits.

I can confirm that you do need to tap onto the second LL tap near the ride loading area before you can book your next Genie+ (tried Jan 2023).

 

[Disneycrazymom]

Thank-you! 1 more thing I just thought about. If I buy a LL and my grandson 7 (who says he is riding everything he is tall enough for) gets in line and then changes his mind and he and I take the Chicken exit. Would someone else be able to use our paid LL for a ride? Or do we just loose the money because we have tapped in already?

 

[scrappinginontario]

Thank-you! 1 more thing I just thought about. If I buy a LL and my grandson 7 (who says he is riding everything he is tall enough for) gets in line and then changes his mind and he and I take the Chicken exit. Would someone else be able to use our paid LL for a ride? Or do we just loose the money because we have tapped in already?

Once tapped in that LL will be used.

 

[DVCMem100]

I agree that it will be luck to get Slinky right at 9am
Lets say Studios opens at 8am and you do get Sliky at 9am then you can get your second pass when you tap in.
If you get it much later you can get your second pass at 10am.
We managed to stack quick a few.

 

[piglet1979]

We just got back a few days ago. Genie + was a must with being at Disney during spring break. This was not our choice. Our kids went with their marching band and got to march in Mk on Easter. Thank you for all your help with planning Genie+ before our trip. It worked great.

Our first day we went to HS. This was the day we flew in and didn't go to HS until the afternoon. Our flights landed at the perfect times to make my selection. We landed in Baltimore right before 7 and I was able to get Slinky. I did have to continue to modify it until the afternoon though.

We landed in Orlando right in time for my next selection. I was able to MMRR. I continued to modify this until the afternoon as well.

I was then able to get Toy Story Mania, Alians and Smugglers run. We ended up not using Smugglers and was able to get right on using the single rider line.

Our second day, we bought $LL for Rise and I got a LL for the Safari. After using the LL for the Safari I was able to get Slinky, MMRR and Toy Story Mania. All for the after noon. We did wait in line for Flight of Passage. It was about an hour but the line never stopped moving.

Our third day was in MK on Easter. I got a LL for Jungle Cruise, Pirates, Aladdin. We rode Small World, Haunted Manion and Thunder Mounting during extra hours or just after.

Our fourth day I don't think we really needed it but it was nice as we were able to skip a lot of the que. So less walking. We went to AK in the morning and EPCOT in the afternoon. I got LL's for Dinosaur, Spaceship Earth, Nemo, Living with the Land, Figment, the Movie Shorts and Test Track.

Our 5th day we were going to go back to HS in the morning and then EPCOT in the afternoon. Last minute I was able to change the reservation to EPCOT for the day. The plan was to do Frozen during extra hours and then head out and come back in the afternoon to do Remi. We got a LL for Remi and ended up trying to do that one during extra hours and then Frozen and then also have the LL's for the afternoon. Well Remi broke down (we were the 3rd family in line). We got an any time for Remi and switched our LL to Frozen. So we did Remi, Frozen and Guardians in the afternoon.

Our last day we went to MK. Got a LL for PP and then Buzz. We pushed Buzz out to the afternoon. Got a LL for Haunted Mansion and Pirates in the afternoon. When we went back to MK after our break the plan was to do Haunted Mansion, Pirates, buzz and watch the fireworks. Haunted Mansion kept breaking down so we missed Buzz.

 

[DisneyKidds]

Once tapped in that LL will be used.

If he uses a “chicken exit” and doesn’t ride, can’t hurt asking a Cast Member as you ask for said exit whether there is any way they can allow for that ILL to be used by someone else. You never know what CMs are able to do until you ask!

 

[DisneyKidds]

I’m glad to see this thread still active after all this time!

Chiming in with my best tip/strategy. We’ve had good experience with booking G+ LLs for rides that show as down. It’s like a golden ticket, having a LL for a closed attraction converted to an Anytime LL, so I’m always in the lookout for opportunities to book rides that are down for some reason!